Printing the Image - Q2MR Day Images
I’ve mentioned this before, but the ultimate test for an image, image quality in particular, is the print. How does it look when printed? As good as an image can look on a monitor, it’s frequently very deceptive (and forgiving . . . sometimes not), even when the monitor is calibrated. So recently I decided that I had enough decent images to revisit, redevelop and raise to a print quality level. And, of course, to then print them.
This was still a learning process and re-working the images reminded me that these Monochrom sensor images are not quite like working with converted color sensor images. They simply don’t seem to respond in the same way, so it took me a while to figure out how to get the best out of them. Part of that was to try different techniques, which can be fun, or frustrating (when you try a couple of different techniques that don’t quite work out the way you thought they would and you have to go back at it, yet again . . . ).
I decided that I was going to try and print them on one of my old favorites - Moab Juniper Baryta Rag. It’s a baryta coated paper, which means the whites should be very bright and the blacks very black - in theory perfect for black and white images. I say in theory because once I set the ICC profile to aid in developing the images, I realized there was a reason why it was an “old” favorite and not one of my current favorites. I had a difficult time getting the deep blacks to be deep without going totally black. That’s the thing about ICC profiles, they bring out unique peculiarities about the papers and inks you’ll be printing with. There are some generalizations you can make about different papers, but they’re just that - generalizations. Sometimes, odd things happen with particular papers and this was one of those times. Anyway, after awhile I got a feel for how to get the images to be what I wanted them to be and then developing the images became no big deal.
I experimented with the first couple of prints because there were printer settings to figure out with the Monochrom images and I wanted to see what they would produce. So the first image I printed using the ICC profile (in theory a color profile using the full range of color inks) and then letting the printer manage the black and white profile (with will print only with black and gray inks unless you want to “tone” the image). Strangely (or perhaps not), the ICC profile did not have a color cast to it (which can happen if you’re printing B&W from a color sensor image), nor did the printer-managed profile (of course). Still, the ICC print seemed a bit darker than the printer managed profile, which looked the way I had developed the image.
I of course had selected a variety of images, in part to see how the various camera crops printed, in part to see how various qualities of subject matter would print. The first image was one where I used the digital crop at its maximum and involved some interesting lighting on metallic, concrete and glass surfaces. The print shimmered like I hoped it would, nothing really lost from the digital crop. Granted, these were only printed on 8.5”x11” paper, but I’m sure it could have printed a bit larger and been just fine.
The second print was again printed twice. This time the question was whether I should print the image with maximum quality or with maximum quality and a carbon black over-layer. Both prints looked more than acceptable, but given the types of images I was printing, I decided to default to the carbon black if I wanted the image to be dramatic.
With the images above and below, I wanted to see how the reflections on the glass would render, as well as the tonal gradations on the mannequin heads. In both instances they printed very well. Though I think with the image below, I probably should have turned off the carbon black layer given the print loses some of the dark subtle reflections in the lower left of the image.
I’m glad I left the carbon black layer on for the image below. In the print, the reflections of the clouds really come out, as does the contrasting details in the building reflections on the left. Sometimes something in a print will jump out at you in a way that escapes you when viewed on a monitor. With this image, it was the clouds you see through the windows on the lower right of the frame. They contrast nicely with the reflections above and are much more apparent in the print than on a monitor.
The next couple of images were more normal images, though they had their own contrast range issues to deal with. The key to developing them was to have a real sense of textures on both the bright lit walls and in the shadow areas.
This is perhaps where I think the Monochrome really shines. Raw file has so much detail and so much ability to get detail to appear to where you want to be. That’s the main advantage of the incredible dynamic range of the sensor. Sure, images often look a bit flat to start with if its anything less than a bright sunny day, but when you’re in a high-contrast situation, you tend not to lose any detail in either the highlights or the shadows if you expose the image correctly. With both of the images, the shadows cast upon the bright walls are simply lovely.
I was particularly excited to see how the image below would print. I worked hard to get the pipes to glow in a way I knew they could on a silver paper print. The print was largely successful. The textured wall is a great background, and the pipes simply glow in the central portion of the print.
I may need to work a bit more on the upper part of the pipes. On the print they appear a bit duller, which seems to take away from the glowing effect of the pipes. It’s another of those print-revealing-more-than-the monitor things. Like I said, it’s a learning process. Still, the fact I was able to get the pipes to glow on an ink-jet print as I would have anticipated I could get from a wet-darkroom print means I should be able to produce some very fine work from this camera.
Well, that was it for what I considered the “normal” images. Stay tuned to find out how some of the night shots printed!