MorseBlog

It has become a bit of a habit now. After a session in the darkroom I take my better images and make notecards with them. Originally I did this as I had offcuts and scraps that were too numerous to become mere test strips. Now I make the notecards with more intent. They are useful and make good gifts. This time around I made some on Ilford MGFB Classic paper and I cut three sheets of 12x16 paper into six 4x8" strips that I will fold in half to make 4x4" cards. My latest negative was already in 'The Beast' from yesterday's printing session. I had to raise the easel up to the lens to get an almost 1:1 image. At 3.5 inches (8.9cm) long the print is basically the same size as the 6x9cm negative. I could have contact printed it but that is a lot of trouble without a frame and I worry about handling a negative too much.  One criteria I have for cards is to make the printing simple. This means I avoid images that require a lot of dodging and burning.   Enlarger Setup It ...

This past summer I wrote twice about making notecards Making Notecards in the Darkroom Paper Scraps: More Notecards! In both cases I used scrap photopaper and made them in the darkroom. They have proved popular by recipients. I was contemplating making more and wanted to look at a less labor-intensive method using Giclee or ink-jet printing. The photopaper versions have been made on Ilford Art 300 paper which is a heavy 300 GSM 100% cotton rag paper from Hahnemuhle the German art paper maker. It has a pleasant coarse texture like water color paper. In the past I have made C-prints on Fuji papers but never ink-jet. Peak Imaging my go-to film developer and print maker does make ink-jet prints and exclusively on Hahnemuhle ink-jet papers. So I decided to dip my toe into this world. I ended up selecting 4 different papers to see what they were like.  Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm Hahnemuhle William Turner 310gsm Hahnemuhle Bam...