Darkroom work Musings

[NB23]

Hello friends,

I’ve been marathon printing for the past 15 years. Lately I’ve been going through all my xpan negatives that got printed 10”x24” or 8”x20” and I’m now printing on 4”x10” paper for the past 3 months.

This past year has been exceptionnaly busy for me, printing non-stop, and yet when I look at what’s left to print, negatives that I haven’t even looked at yet, I realize I haven’t even done a lot. There is so many left. Definitely, without the lockdowns we’ve had, I simply would never have been able to finish my work.

Here is what I printed in the past 3 months, about 3000 prints, all Fiber (ilford warmtone, ilford art 300, foma) sulfide toned and signed. Packaged in the bags Ilford supplies with their paper.
Please don’t tell me this is bad storage or I’m gonna go insane, and no I will not be buying special acid-free boxes costing thousands of dollars, because I would need A LOT of them and they are expensive. My money goes on paper and wine.

My conclusion to this insanity, besides being a totally worthless and blind endeavour? Don’t look back at your prints and I should stop using FB papers.
While printing I am doing my very best and there is obviously a sense of pride in all the extreme hard work, but when I revisit prints I am always APPALED by the shitty job I’ve done. Yes, I am a perfectionist and negatively biased although there are true masterpieces burried in there. But the general sense is “what was I thinking? Was is so hard to realize that I needed to use a filter #3 instead of #2?” or “was I blind?....”

Or uneven sulfide print batches. Some print batches are gorgeous, then some other batches are pinkish... but I seem to “clearly see” only months later. Oh well.

And now about FB prints. No matter how EXQUISITE AND ADDICTING it is to Touch, Feel and Look at Fiber prints and Ilford Art 300 paper, it is Triple hard work. Quadruple, even. Quintuple? Yes, can be. And there is always the drydown that shows up on the next day: what you found beautiful the day before is not so beautifully exquisite the next day.
And it’s expensive.
And the Pile of Prints you see here would be Half smaller if it were RC.
And only 5 minutes wash...
Cheaper
What you see in the fixer tray is exactly what you get once the print is dry!

Ok, no, I’m not switching to rc, at least not until I finish my fb papers stash that I’ve been hoarding. Maybe after, we will see.

Once I finish my xpan prints (about 1000 printe to go), I’m switching to my squre format work. So much fun ahead.

Thanks for reading this totally useless post. Feel free to comment on my “archival packaging” and share your thoughts/archiving/prints...

 

[bernard_L]

1. Respect!
2. I've had second thoughts about printing on FB. And concluded that most of my time is spent exposing and printing test strips. The long wash times are batch and off-line. Admittedly, drying and flattening needs special attention.
3. I don't understand why Ilford et al can't imitate air-dried FB. Supposedly, the difference between FB and RC is behind the emulsion, not in front. And I've seen first-hand that molding can reproduce texture quite well. Anyway, I don't understand, but there must be a reason why we can't have an RC imitation of FB.

 

[NB23]

1. Respect!
2. I've had second thoughts about printing on FB. And concluded that most of my time is spent exposing and printing test strips. The long wash times are batch and off-line. Admittedly, drying and flattening needs special attention.
3. I don't understand why Ilford et al can't imitate air-dried FB. Supposedly, the difference between FB and RC is behind the emulsion, not in front. And I've seen first-hand that molding can reproduce texture quite well. Anyway, I don't understand, but there must be a reason why we can't have an RC imitation of FB.

ilford Art 300 is a mix of rc and fb in a broad sense and it fits the bill. Dryes flat, has a nice feel. But it’s a pita to wash and needs a very well dialed-in methodical workflow. Almost robotic. The prints float like cork so you must have a definitive twist with the whole process, and to gain that twist it costs a lof of money... that paper is double expensive, which kills it.
If I was rich I’d only use that paper.

 

[NB23]

Oh actually I remember! There was one rc paper I loved. The closest thing to FB in feel with all the rc benefits. The feel is
Silky smooth, the weight was perfect.

Ilfospeed matte RC. The matte finish was the smoothest thing I saw in a paper, with fine tooth. Unfortunately it seems ilford only makes glossy and pearl in the ilfospeed line... peal is a finish I dislike. I will try the ilfospeed glossy, maybe that’s the paper I’ve been looking for all along. But it, too, is expensive.

 

[howardpan]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed and was really impressed by your perseverance to make 3000 prints over 3 months.

I decided earlier this year to print everything on RC. Shorter processing time (from test strips to final wash and press) means I have less of a mental hurdle to get into the darkroom. I like the feel of FB and the look of semi matte, but it’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make.

By the way, have you tried the new Ilford RC portfolio paper? It has the same weight as FB. But it currently only comes in pearl.

 

[mshchem]

Hello friends,

I’ve been marathon printing for the past 15 years. Lately I’ve been going through all my xpan negatives that got printed 10”x24” or 8”x20” and I’m now printing on 4”x10” paper for the past 3 months.

This past year has been exceptionnaly busy for me, printing non-stop, and yet when I look at what’s left to print, negatives that I haven’t even looked at yet, I realize I haven’t even done a lot. There is so many left. Definitely, without the lockdowns we’ve had, I simply would never have been able to finish my work.

Here is what I printed in the past 3 months, about 3000 prints, all Fiber (ilford warmtone, ilford art 300, foma) sulfide toned and signed. Packaged in the bags Ilford supplies with their paper.
Please don’t tell me this is bad storage or I’m gonna go insane, and no I will not be buying special acid-free boxes costing thousands of dollars, because I would need A LOT of them and they are expensive. My money goes on paper and wine.

My conclusion to this insanity, besides being a totally worthless and blind endeavour? Don’t look back at your prints and I should stop using FB papers.
While printing I am doing my very best and there is obviously a sense of pride in all the extreme hard work, but when I revisit prints I am always APPALED by the shitty job I’ve done. Yes, I am a perfectionist and negatively biased although there are true masterpieces burried in there. But the general sense is “what was I thinking? Was is so hard to realize that I needed to use a filter #3 instead of #2?” or “was I blind?....”

Or uneven sulfide print batches. Some print batches are gorgeous, then some other batches are pinkish... but I seem to “clearly see” only months later. Oh well.

And now about FB prints. No matter how EXQUISITE AND ADDICTING it is to Touch, Feel and Look at Fiber prints and Ilford Art 300 paper, it is Triple hard work. Quadruple, even. Quintuple? Yes, can be. And there is always the drydown that shows up on the next day: what you found beautiful the day before is not so beautifully exquisite the next day.
And it’s expensive.
And the Pile of Prints you see here would be Half smaller if it were RC.
And only 5 minutes wash...
Cheaper
What you see in the fixer tray is exactly what you get once the print is dry!

Ok, no, I’m not switching to rc, at least not until I finish my fb papers stash that I’ve been hoarding. Maybe after, we will see.

Once I finish my xpan prints (about 1000 printe to go), I’m switching to my squre format work. So much fun ahead.

Thanks for reading this totally useless post. Feel free to comment on my “archival packaging” and share your thoughts/archiving/prints...


View attachment 274367

Looks like you glued the red dot to the battery cover. You're a hard worker. Man!

I have always loved fiber paper. I loved then hated and now back to love Art 300. The buoyancy thing just now came back to me. Makes sense now that I think about it.

I love Fomatone!!!

 

[NB23]

Thanks!

I have 1000 ilford postcard papers to go through, which is actually the rc portfolio line. Yes, double thickness but also double-plasticky.

I am extremely fond of my experience with Ilforspeed RC matte, I was floored by how great the touch of that paper was. Maybe that explains it’s higher price. I have a 5x7 glossy box I plan to try within the next few months. Might be a revelation.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed and was really impressed by your perseverance to make 3000 prints over 3 months.

I decided earlier this year to print everything on RC. Shorter processing time (from test strips to final wash and press) means I have less of a mental hurdle to get into the darkroom. I like the feel of FB and the look of semi matte, but it’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make.

By the way, have you tried the new Ilford RC portfolio paper? It has the same weight as FB. But it currently only comes in pearl.

 

[NB23]

Yes! Thanks.

The red dot has been floating around the house for at least 10 Years until I fou d a use for it... it appears the battery cover is an exact fit. I don’t like the look but I don’t bother taking it off...

Looks like you glued the red dot to the battery cover. You're a hard worker. Man!

I have always loved fiber paper. I loved then hated and now back to love Art 300. The buoyancy thing just now came back to me. Makes sense now that I think about it.

I love Fomatone!!!

 

[Dusty Negative]

While printing I am doing my very best and there is obviously a sense of pride in all the extreme hard work, but when I revisit prints I am always APPALED by the shitty job I’ve done.

Huh. And here I thought I was the only one with that conviction.

 

[NB23]

Huh. And here I thought I was the only one with that conviction.