"A photographic print is the final realisation of an image, the end of the journey."

 

After the shutter has been fired there is so much that can be done to a digital file to influence the resultant print. I am not a heavy manipulator of images, my sole objective is to reproduce what I saw and felt when I took the shot. With digital photography we now have many opportunities to correct for deficiencies within an image, (contrast, variations of brightness, tonality, colour balance and saturation). While I strive to capture the best image possible, adjustments invariably need to be made to produce a satisfactory print.

 

I print using a Windows PC, a colour profiled NEC SpectraView monitor, and an Epson R2400 fed with Fotospeed Ultra 4K inks using their CIS (Continuous Ink System). Prior to this I used Epson cartridges but was constantly frustrated by the seemingly constant need to replace them, and the associated costs that this generates. (Epson printer ink seems to be more expensive than the finest champagne!) The luxury of printing without the printer's ink light flashing all the time is liberating!

Papers

There are a wealth of inkjet papers available to us today, from many different manufacturers and distributors. Broadly you get what you pay for, and anyone who prints on economy papers would do well to at least try using a better quality product and assess the difference. I guess it's probably true to say that if you've got a stunning image it will do well printed on anything, but the paper choice can play an important part in the success and finish of a completed print.

The paper I use is heavily influenced by the type of image I am printing. The aesthetic appeal of a rich lustre, the tactile quality of a texture, and the way each paper offers variations in tone, colour and surface should not be ignored.

 

Following Fotospeed's sponsorship I tested quite a few of their products, examined swatches, and have now arrived at a small number of paper's that suit my work well. An excellent and award winning general purpose paper is Fotospeed's PF Lustre, which I use for a lot of my prints. If I want just a little bit of extra depth and quality I use Platinum Gloss, which is superb. When printing monochrome images again Platinum Gloss is my normal choice, although the new Fotospeed Platinum Baryta, (which has a smoother surface), can work well, particularly if I want a slightly warmer print tone.

 

 

Probably 80% of my work is printed using these 3 papers, but if I want to print a more painterly or artistic image then matt surfaces are utilised. For prints with a smooth surface I generally use Fotospeed Matt Ultra, (with a bright white base), or Platinum Matt. I use textured papers too and the recently introduced NT Bright White is excellent.  (I was thrilled when Fotospeed selected my Icelandic Ponies image to launch this paper, - a real honour!)

Profiling

In all my photographic ventures I always strive for the very best possible quality, and in order to achieve the nicest prints it's important to utilise profiles. These not only ensure accurate colours, but also dictate the correct supply of ink. Consequently I use a Gretag MacBeth eye-one display 2 to profile my monitor, and Fotospeed supplied profiles for each paper that I use. (This free service is quick, easy and accurate).

 

"What you see..."

It is important to realise that one can never achieve exactly what you see on your computer monitor in a completed print. Because the monitor is displaying an image by transmitted light the viewed image will often look brighter, be more contrasty, and have a bit more impact. By comparison a print relies on either dyes or pigments that are laid onto the paper by the printer, so the resultant print will often look different to the image on the monitor. Ultimately it is what the print looks like that is important, so although I will work upon an image until I think it looks right, a test print will often dictate further tweaks and modifications until I arrive at a satisfactory result. 

 

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