ABOUT PRINTS

A Tale of Two Prints
 

When I started out in photography it was all about the silver gelatin print – the traditional wet darkroom print that people my age grew up with in Photography Class in school. Yes, there were (still are) historical, alternative print types such as Platinum, Palladium, etc., but the great majority of photographs made when I was learning photography were silver gelatin.
 

I was always a pretty good printer, but working with large format negatives you cannot avoid dust – I don't care how careful you are. Even if you load your film holders in a clean room and vacuum the inside of your camera out after every use, once you take it out in the field dust can, and will, get inside. The most beautiful image can be ruined by dust. Yes, it can be retouched, but that is a pain in the you know what, and it has to be done for each print, every time.

Enter the digital age. I have learned several "hybrid" workflows that combined film negatives and digital prints. I will use film to my last day, but I have found that I can do all the "darkroom magic" in Photoshop. This includes dust removal and enhancements... burning, dodging, contrast control... all the things you did in a wet darkroom. The great thing about this hybrid workflow is that you only have to do it once. And I have found that I can make a much better print this way than I could ever do in a darkroom.

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