From: Sandy King (sanking@clemson.edu)
Date: 07/30/02-12:38:59 PM Z
Bob,
My remark about silver gelatin prints and slaving away in the
darkroom was not entirely tongue-in-cheek. In fact I dislike working
in the dark, as in film processing, and tend to avoid it entirely by
developing in tubes and drums. I can abide printing with a safe-light
but if truth be known that is not one of my favorite experiences
either. This is one of the reasons I have printed primarily with
alternative processes since the early 1980s.
As for comparison of the archival qualities of silver and Epson
pigment ink prints, the best information suggests they are about
equal, though I am inclined to believe that a print made with a
pigment ink like carbon black will in fact be more stable than a
silver print. However, since archival qualities are in the 200+ range
for both type of prints I don't think we should be overly concerned
about this issue.
However, assuming the above is correct, ie. silver gelatin and
pigment ink prints have about the same archival qualities, one must
admit that the range of corrections and enhancements possible with
digital prints makes them hard to beat. I have made a few digital
prints of 13X19" size from high quality scans of 5X7 original
negatives (with corrections and enhancements in PhotoShop) and
compared them to silver prints made from the same negative. I have to
be frank about this. The digital prints have it all over the silver
prints in terms of apparent sharpness and control of tones. I suspect
that as master silver printer could apply unsharp and contrast
control masking and come close to the quality of the digital print,
but it would take a lot of work.
Sandy
>Sandy,
>
>You are right about color. I use a Mac G4 and an Epson 2000P and I
>love it! But I assume that remark about silver/gel B&W prints and
>slaving away in the darkroom was tounge-in-cheek but I will respond
>as if it were not. ;-)
>
>Digital images are great. I do them and love the look, but I also do
>a lot of alternative process including daguerreotypes simply for the
>look one gets with these processes that cannot be duplicated using
>digital methods ( my geeky digital art friends would debate this
>statement).
>This, of course, is the same reason I do silver-gelatin prints. But
>also, I love working in the darkroom. Spending several hours in a
>very dark, humid room, sloshing around in trays of toxic chemicals
>and breathing I don't know what (although I do have a good
>ventilator) is
>my idea of a good time especially if I emerge with some great prints.
>
>An archivally processed fiber base, silver print that has been
>selenium or gold toned should have a lifetime of 100-300 years. My
>Epson 2000P
>color prints are supposed to have a lifetime of 100-200 years.
>
>I always tell people who buy my prints that if they (the prints)
>fade any time in the next 200 years, they can bring them back and I
>will make them new prints.
>
>Bob Schramm
>
>>From: Sandy King <sanking@clemson.edu>
>>Reply-To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>>To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>>Subject: Re: Another one bites the dust.
>>Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 22:52:05 -0400
>>
>>Bob Schramm wrote:
>>
>>>Just learned today that Olympus is discontinuing the OM series of cameras.
>>>
>>> My question, how will profs. teach real photograpy if there are no
>>>more manual cameras?
>>
>>Probably with digital cameras. But, exactly what is real photography?
>>
>>> Second question. Is silver-gelatin about to become an alternative process?
>>
>>
>>Yes, and probably not a very popular one. After all, why would anyone
>>want to slave away in the dark to make monochrome silver prints that
>>are less archival than digital ink-jet prints? As for color, the
>>Epson pigment printers are already vastly superior to all wet
>>processed color prints in terms of stability.
>>
>>
>>Sandy King
>>
>>
>>>
>>>Bob Schramm
>>>
>>>Check out my web page at:
>>>
>>> http://www.SchrammStudio.com
>>>
>>>also look at:
>>>
>>> http://www.wlsc.wvnet.edu/www/pubrel/photo.html
>>>
>>>_________________________________________________________________
>>>Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
>>>http://www.hotmail.com
>>
>>
>>--
>
>
>Check out my web page at:
>
> http://www.SchrammStudio.com
>
>also look at:
>
> http://www.wlsc.wvnet.edu/www/pubrel/photo.html
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
>http://www.hotmail.com
--
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