Re: [Leica] Epson paper/ink question

[Mark Rabiner <mrabiner@concentric.net>]

Anthony Atkielski wrote:
> 
> From: Lee, Jonathan <Jonathan.Lee@hrcc.on.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 20:47
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Epson paper/ink question
> 
> > I've been mulling over digital darkroom stuff for a
> > while, and I was wondering whether there is a site
> > anywhere out there which has silver printed and
> > scanned and inkjet printed images of the same b+w
> > negative?
><Snip> 
><Snip> 
> I scan everything directly from film.  While I enjoy taking pictures, I don't
> like lab or darkroom work at all, so I keep all my photos in the digital realm
> and play with them there.  Once you get used to Photoshop, it's a thousand times
> easier and more pleasant to use than any darkroom technique, and it's about a
> thousand times faster as well.
> 
>   -- Anthony

In the last week I have had my first experience with dealing with one of my
images scanned directly from a neg. It was a shot of an Ape at Lincoln Park zoo
in Chicago shot on Tri X Rodinal 1:50 I did five years ago. When I brought home
the scan on a Zip I quickly had fun tweaking it on Photoshop which I have been
playing with for years on downloads and so on achieving some authority with it.
So I "printed" the neg in Photoshop and then brought that in with 3 others to be
outputted to a slide. These I sent to Chicago for Projection at the LHSA On
Saturday October 23rd. 
But here's the crux of the issue. I had great fun and precision doing my Ape neg
digitally but this week sitting where I sit now but then I brought it into my
real darkroom almost reluctantly. I don't have an Epson and I needed hard copy
for myself.
Was I surprised. As I don't quite print the old fashioned way as I print sequent
illy with the Aristo head first the blue filter then the green. The results I
then achieved and the manner in which I was able to re-realize the neg was
invigorating and captivating. I now have an Archival Fiber 8 by 10 of that neg
and with all the controls available in Photoshop (and I am aware of most of
them) the previous time around now the tonality of this print was most
satisfying. And I got much more so that poignant "OH my god its somebodies
grandfather" effect from the ape picture this time round from the silver print
than I did in my previous world of pixels and slide output. When I get my Epson
and so on in November I'll be making much more of these comparisons.
Mark Rabiner