I know it is cheap. But, I did not know that it would do this. The image that I just posted was the best result from about 6 attempts at printing. I had three sheets of Ilford paper (both Pearl RC) and I got fantastic results, but the print was skewed on the page so I could not submit it for critique.
Everything just looks so flat on the Arista paper, the image is printed with a Kodak Polymax 4 filter.. it should be verging on high-key, but as you can see, it is not.
Anyone know of any tricks for this paper or should I put it on the shelf destined for Lith Printing?
I think that you are either overexposing your paper, or your paper is fogged.
There are no clean white tones in any of the the examples you posted. In the second photo, Temple Isreal 2, I am seeing splotches that suggest to me that the image came up real fast in the developer and you pulled the print out early to keep it from going totally black.
How long are you developing your prints for? I always give my prints at at least two minutes in the developer, with my usual developing time being 3 minutes. I never pull a print out of the developer early because it is coming up too fast.
Use the exposure time to favor the highlights. Once you have the highlights where you want them, look at the darker ares of the print. If the blacks are not right, change the contrast grade or filter to get them where you want them. Do not use exposure to bring in the blacks. If the highlights look good but the blacks look weak, increase the contrast. If the highlights look good but the blacks are too dark, decrease the contrast. Don't forget to make a new test print if you change the contrast. Again, adjust the exposure to favor the highlights, letting the blacks be determined by the contrast grade or filter that you use.
You say that this result came from 6 attempts at printing. Do you mean that you used 6 sheets of paper to try to print this negative ? Or, did you struggle with this negative and the Arista paper over the course of 6 different darkroom sessions? Try again with known good chemicals and the Arista paper and see what happens.
I am assuming from your blog that you are still learning to print.If this is true, take notes of everything you are doing in the darkroom so you will know what you did when things go right. This will also make it easier for you to figure out how to correct your errors when things go wrong.
It just occurred to me that your fixer could also be shot and the whites are not clearing completely. I had to deal with overused chemicals in some of the school darkrooms I worked in, because nobody was keeping track of how many prints were going through the chemicals. Because of this, I preferred to print my assignments at home whenever possible.
Don't know if this will help, but at least I'm not charging for my advice
You are perfectly welcome to think that I am full of crap if you wish!