Digital BW, The Print

Hello Jesse,

>I mount exactly this way...It is worth the care 
>taken for precision, to me.

Yes definitely.  It's really beautiful and I did it that way for
years. Now in this new era I'm happy that dry-mounting isn't necessary
with carbon ink prints.  I still make the window matt bigger and get
the identical effect and advantages without nearly so much work and
time. Imahappycamper :)


>As far as "being out of favor", like so many things it depends on 
>context.  Prints mounted this way are highly resistant to damage
>from handling.  The mount board is integral to the print, i.e., 
>as if the emulsion were on the mount board.

Agreed, it's a great way to do it.  20 some years ago everyone (famous
photographers, workshop teachers, authors) was preaching to do it that
way.  During the past few years, however, I've heard that collectors
and gallery people now prefer that prints not be dry-mounted. 
Something about it being too permanent or something, in case it needs
to be removed.  Things change I guess, although I'd probably still do
it if I was doing wet printing.  I haven't seen an ad for a
dry-mount press in a long time.  I bought mine from B&H years ago. 
Now you can't find one in the ads. 

Just to make the point, I haven't had any replies from my earlier
post, so I'll mention it again: Anyone want to buy my Bogen model 510
dry-mount press?   

How about my Zone VI 4x5 cold light head with stabilizer and dry-down
control?

How about my Kodak 10x12 safe light?

How about my GraLab electronic timer with foot switch?

How about my Pentax digital spotmeter with leather holster?

Last summer I took a medium format enlarger to Goodwill because I
couldn't find anyone interested in it.  Last month I thought I'd sell
my trusty Minolta 7000i with 35-135 zoom and dedicated zoom flash and
fancy flash bracket.  I looked on Ebay.  There were pages and pages of
35mm cams, most with nobody bidding.  I found a 7000i outfit and
someone had bid $12.  My time is worth more than that so I took it to
Goodwill.

sigh.

But I'm happy.  I love digital BW printing and would never go back.

Long live Eboni! <g>.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm