[Leica] silver prints

[saganicc at MSKCC.ORG (Saganich, Christopher/Medical Physics)]

I agree, when I was a student we were instructed to make negative contact 
sheets using AZO paper. I once asked the teacher why the contact sheets 
seemed to look better then the final prints in many cases.  They had 
indescribable lush qualities which were missing from the final prints.  
Also, contact sheets made with normal paper never looked good to me after 
that.  Only after reading about large format techniques did I make the 
connection between high quality prints and contact printing.

Chris Saganich

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+saganicc=mskcc.org@leica-users.org 
[mailto:lug-bounces+saganicc=mskcc.org@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Tim 
Atherton
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 4:59 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: RE: [Leica] silver prints


> I was up at the Getty Museum this weekend visiting one of their photo
> exhibits. One thing that always strikes me is the quality of the
> vintage b/w silver prints. They are incredible lush and rich. Their
> tonal scale is to die for with a creamy smooth tonal scale all the
> way from the shadows to the highlights. I've never seen a modern
> print that looks remotely as good. So, what is it? Certainly the
> uncoated lenses (taking and enlarging) may have something to do
> with "the glow", but my guess is it's the paper. True? False? Maybe?
> Does anyone still make anything even remotely like that today?
>

They may also have been printed on one of many silver chloride contact
papers, the only one of which that is still around being Kodak Azo (which I
am just beginning to experiment with) - Azo in Amidol will give that long
tonal scale and sense of depth, with black blacks and detailed highlights.

tim


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