I'm planning to spend some time this winter in the darkroom doing some of those tests that we all think about doing, but never seem to get around to. You know, dry down tests, developer time and/or dilution comparisons, etc.
One of the things I want to do is prepare some prints that will show the difference between a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 (fibre based) paper to be used as reference in future printing sessions. As I thought about how to do this test, I realized I wasn't sure whether I'm testing for highlights or for shadows, so here's my dumb question:
Should I print for the high values and let the shadow values fall where they may? Or, should I print for the shadows and let the highlights fall? I'm assuming it's the former, and thus, I'm testing the difference in the two papers' ability to show shadow values. However, I would be interested in opinions or guidance on this.
I suppose it might be useful to test both approaches, but I think one is more logical than the other.
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