I've received my Whitewall order. Only black and white for this test order, and I explored their 2 black and white paper products: Ilford black and white paper standard, as well as baryta. In addition, I had three baryta prints framed.
- For the three framed images, 2 were 35mm scans, one Kentmere 100 and one Fomapan 200. I had them both printed at 37,5x25cm size plus 5cm passepartout, plus frame. For the 6x6, it was an Ilford Orto 80 scan, and I had it printed 25x25 plus 5cm deep passepartout. I went for the museum-grade matte glass.
- For the non framed images, I went for a variety of formats and shapes, and had 2 pictures printed 2 times: both in baryta, and standard Ilford B/W, to allow me to compare the two materials. All scans where from Tri-X in D76 1:1.
I prepared the files and finalised the scans as 16bit grayscale tiffs saved in Gray gamma 2.2 space. I deactivated all Whitewall enhancements, sharpening, etc in their options menu. All images were scanned using my standard workflow in 4000dpi using my Nikon Coolscan.
For 2 images, I also had available old darkroom prints done from my original negatives by a professional printer connected to the Fotoimpex shop in Berlin, who printed according to my specifications - I can't remember the paper, but I think it was Ilfospeed grade 2. This was a few years ago now.
Now on to the Whitewall order:
To say I'm satisfied with their work is an understatement. The quality is exceptional. The baryta prints are particularly beautiful: beautiful weight, thick paper, beautiful texture, and the tonality is spot-on -
exactly what I had visualised on my screen at home. They absolutely nailed it. The standard Ilford black and white prints are also stunning, the most obvious difference from the baryta being that the paper is quite a bit thinner. Had I not seen or handled the baryta prints, I would have been perfectly happy with the standard black and white prints on Ilford paper.
Detail is phenomenal: I have attended hundreds of exhibitions, and I keep doing so when I can, many of which from artists printing their own work, and these prints are exhibition grade: there is no discernible difference, to the naked eye, from a darkroom print of the same material, based on my 'controls' above. I haven't checked with a magnifying glass though. The difference between these prints and some amateur inkjet prints of the same scans I had attempted to make at home on an Epson photo inkjet printer using colour inks is truly obvious. Is it mostly due to my lack of skills in digital printing? I suspect that plays a big role, yes.
For those of you who buy and collect photobooks, these prints are Steidl or Aperture-quality.
I'm sure the darkroom wizards amongst you will match or exceed the quality of these, and will derive immense enjoyement in the process of creating your own darkroom prints, but for me, as someone interested chiefly in the part of the hobby happening before pressing the shutter, this company is a godsend, and I can see myself using them again in the future. I only need to check my wallet: they are not cheap, but they are
much cheaper, and possibly faster, than having a darkroom printer and a framer do this work for me to this standard (I have noticed a lot of variability in 'service' darkroom printers, at least where I live). Getting a beautifully produced and framed print directly at home within a week of placing your order is insane. My next order will be to ask them to blow a 6x9 frame from my Texas Leica up onto their biggest baryta size.
I can warmly recommend this company to other film/hybrid photographers like me who don't have the time/space/inclination to set up a darkroom but want to experience proper, beautiful prints of their work! Thank you all for advising me on barytas etc and also thank you
@dokko @RalphLambrecht and
@Nitroplait for your recommendations in this and in the other thread, which encouraged me to try this company.