PSW EST: 1972

* PhotoSnowdonia Workshops *

and the

Zone 8 Photographic Society EST: 1977

PRESIDENT: Bruce Alexander Carter, FZPS . . . . FIRST & PAST PRESIDENT: Kenneth A Nelson, Hon.FZPS

 

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Updated: Monday 22 May, 2006 21:37 (Webpage updated but not content)

CONVENTIONAL & DIGITAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES

(NOTE: This has been extensively updated and available to members, with a wide range of other technical information leaflets, on the Members Only Forum. Articles will not be updated any more on this website, so updated versions will only be available to members. However, it is left for visitors as the principles remain valid)

NOTE: New printers have been introduced since this was written but the principles remain the same

Our recommendation (still at March 2006) is to get the Epson 1160 A3+ printer - while you can or failing that, the 1290! Later printers, like the Canons for example, use all the colours for printing B+W images - which brings into question image stability matters

The following is as written "at the time" and updated several times. Per above, principles remain the same but fully updated information is now only available to members of the Zone 8 Photographic Society on their Members-Only FORUM

 

We have been using for the past couple of years, very successfully, the Epson 1200 Inkjet Printer, which has the variable-dot technology not only for the colour inks but importantly - for B+W workers - also for the Black Ink too. Hooray! It is possible, at last, to achieve remarkably smooth gradation using only the black cartridge and our latest work to A3+ size compares to conventionally produced - in the darkroom - photographic B+W prints.

We have gained, over the past 28 years of workshops, an enviable reputation for our teaching methods and our own work to the highest  archival fine-print standards, so those who know we can be relied on for information will understand the significance of stating that equivalent B+W prints can be achieved to match our own high standards.

From our preliminary tests (NOTE: now a few years ago), the best results had been made on the latest Epson Photo Paper (which replaces the former thin Photo Glossy Paper which could yellow in colour fairly quickly); this new material has a "soft gloss" reminiscent of high quality conventional photographic printing papers and the slightly warm colour of its base is very suitable, with the standard Epson black ink, of producing an image that resembles a good selenium toned print, with that nice warm-black image tone with a hint of purple-brown too. However, it is our belief that this material will not produce archival quality as the plasticizers react in time with the inks.

We now use watercolour and cartridge papers, including Bristol Board. Hot-pressed are smooth, Cold-pressed are more textural in their surface, Black ink prints, via the Epson 1200, resemble prints made via the Platinum process using these quality materials.(For our latest recommendations on papers to use, see the article on Inks & Media - link in left column) More is posted for members on the ZPS Forum.

We have no connection with Epson as a Company and get no favours from them in any way. If you want to visit Epson's site for specifications of printers, etc. just click on this link: http://www.epson.co.uk/ OR http://www.epson.com

Over the years - way before digital imaging was even a gleam in some robot's eye (perhaps we should have said some extremely wealthy robot's eye!) - we had conventional photographic techniques. Lots of lovely sloshing about of smelly solutions, stains on the carpet and clothing and a new meaning to the term "after shave" or "deodorant". Yes folks, you could always tell a REAL photographer, whether downwind or not!

The fascination of cameras and lenses and all those lovely things that could be put on the font of optics, either properly or with the aid of such items as Blu Tack - or chewing gum in earlier years, of course - meant that anyone could dream of becoming a real photographer - Cor! Camera clubs appeared and became hotbeds for discussing the latest virtues of equipment and how wonderfully the lenses performed. Mostly these discussions were generated by people who had no idea of what to use them for, in terms of image production. Many, many camera buffs who "knew everything" (?*!?) about cameras knew precisely nothing about making good pictures. There were but few who really delved deeply into technical quality topics in order to use those techniques to further their image creation ideas.

The same has applied over the years and it does seem strange that the vast majority of self-proclaimed photographic enthusiasts, even after over 160 years of photography, are still unable to guarantee the highest quality, preferring to muddle along, trying new films and new processes in the hope that they will light on a miracle cure for their distress! The truth is, the means to produce high quality images has been there since the beginning. Suffice to say that it took the likes of Ansel Adams and Minor White to bring before the masses the means to fine quality, via their books and images.

Of course, they were not the only photographers of note and thankfully, the world of photography has embraced quality conscious photographers interested in many different forms of expressing themselves through the medium of photography. However, though the means was there to produce fine work - after all, great photographers only used the same cameras, lenses, films, enlargers, developers and papers available to everyone else - they just took the trouble to find out how to use them to effect. Most people who bemoan being able to produce quality work cannot be actually bothered to make a little effort to get their technique right, based on information available from many sources.

Conventional Fine-Print Monochrome Prints, to archival standards, still have an important place in Photography, with a capital "P", of course! The fibre-based images can have an extraordinary life span of many hundreds of years, if properly cared for and superb examples will become as valuable as images using other art forms. Whether fibre-based enlarging papers will continue to be available for a long time is probably conjecture. Certainly, for many years, there will always be a niche for perhaps specialist producers, when all the major players have perhaps deserted us for richer pastures - and the same could apply to conventional films, though it is perhaps more likely, in time, we will all be forced into using colour or at least chromogenic films for monochrome work, because the main outlet for B+W films has almost vanished, now the Press and Educational Establishments are virtually all using colour negative emulsions, simply converting into monochrome images as required. OoooErrr!

Additionally, when such revered agencies like Reuters convert lock, stock and barrel to Digital Cameras, as has happened recently, "The End Is Nigh". Oh, Calamity! So for the keen, conventionally inclined worker, let's hope some small firms can see their way to fulfilling the needs and indeed demands of perhaps a reduced but still lucrative specialist market for B+W films and papers.

Many established photographers are now exploring digital imaging techniques. The very serious workers are mainly seeking to find whether their conventional production of negatives, via camera and film and darkroom processing in favourite solutions, can be married to perhaps the outputting of the negative images into positive pictures via digital printing. The answer is a definite YES! See our additional page on using the Epson 1200 (and 750). We would mention here that from our own experience, scanning a print MADE for scanning (meaning softer and full of detail compared to a conventional B+W print made for viewing) is the best way to ensure quality final prints. Scanning from 35mm film seems to produce granular end prints for monochrome, though colour seems to be OK. We believe this is due to some form of interference between the grain of the small negative and the dpi of the scanner resolution. We know from feedback that some people have blamed the Epson 1200 for such granular output yet we know this is not true - they need to scan on a good flatbed scanner, even from a D&P colour en-print, then make a print to see the printer does not in itself produce a granular end image.

As the new 1200 printer will print on A3+ Paper and it can print banner formats = almost any length by that width on suitable banner paper this could well suit most monochrome workers as it is round about the actual image area generally produced on conventional 20"x16" enlarging paper, allowing for margins for mounting under an aperture mount. Yes, I do know that some would want maybe 14 "- 15" wide but it is a perfectly usable size for most people. This can be compared to the width of printing offered by the older Epson 1520 inkjet printer, that would produce a printed width of 345mm on A2 paper, so the difference in the