I haven't produced any serious colour prints for a long time. It is both a fault and a strength on mine that when I tackle a problem I do it very intensively. Everything else gets left until the final solution is reached. So it has been with my black and white work, something that I never saw myself doing a few years ago.
This last week I have turned my attention to producing some colour images. However, all the images that I now have to work with were all captured on my 5D. Already I have learnt that I can't process them like I did my medium format scans. A RAW file processed through Lightroom does not give the same starting point as a TIFF produced on a Nikon scanner. After printing one image, I had to get an old print out to remind myself of what a really sharp well toned colour image looked like. The other problem was that I have got used to looking at gloss papers, and the blacks on matt paper do not have the same apparent density.
Two things have struck me, the contrast on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag is dramatically better than on Epson Archival Matte, and secondly I have to learn the principles of noise control. I have got Neat Image, but have not seen noise as an issue with black and white prints. However, the above image, 5D with 70-200 f2.8 IS lens, ASA 100 does not have the smooth tonal graduation in the clouds. Neat Image's help is not very helpful, so it's back to the web and another learning curve. It's a good job that I enjoy the process!
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