It's always about the light!

[john borrelli]

I recently had this experience after picking up a print from my favorite lab and I thought I'd share it on the forum. My new print appeared a little dark and flat to me. I took the print home, framed and matted it and put it on my wall as I usually do, still dark looking, so I then dug up a full spectrum flourescent bulb that I used for my Aquarium. When I turned the light on and positioned it correctly, the print absolutely glowed! I then found a color print that had some back lit Autumn foliage WOW!, this print now glowed so much it reminded me of a transparency on a light box. Yes, it worked for my black and white prints too. I feel kind of silly now being in photography so long and not realizing the importance of properly lighting the photo after it has been taken. I am thinking of maybe looking for some inexpensive track lighting I could install and am wondering how do other forum members illuminate their framed prints.

[Walter Calahan]

Works in most museums and galleries. I haven't done it in my home.

[alec4444]

Yes, lighting is crucial particularly when evaluating a print in the darkroom. What looks good in incandescent light won't look good in other lights.

I use a rental darkroom, and I try to evaluate the print in natural sunlight or in halogen light. At home, my gallery (read: long, narrow hallway) is illuminated with halogen flood lights on a track. The lights have UV filters in front of them so as not to damage the photos. Been thrilled with it!

--A

[john borrelli]

Thanks for the responses. I went to my local museum(MFA) yesterday and along with looking at the art I occasionally looked up at the ceiling as well. There seemed to be a lot of halogen-type spot lights up there. I think halogen because the light often seemed a little yellow instead of white or blue. Alec I am not sure if a Home Depot will carry exactly your type of flood lights but I think I'll head down there when I can. I'll look for track lights with a UV cover, as well. Incidentily, I did a quick search of my references at home like Stroebel and back issues of View Camera but no luck, maybe I'll search through this forum a little more as well. I think this topic may not be very "sexy" but I am thankful for any info available.

[Jack Flesher]

I use halogen spots on tracks in my hallway gallery. Works well enough for me.

The track was easy to install and not horribly expensive. Actually the track itself is really cheap; it's the light fixtures that can cost. I went with basic, small heads sized for the regular-base small Halogen spots. Looks fine and definitely works.

FWIW,

[Bruce Watson]

...so I then dug up a full spectrum flourescent bulb that I used for my Aquarium. When I turned the light on and positioned it correctly, the print absolutely glowed!

A full spectrum aquarium fluorescent may produce some UV which will literally make some optical brighteners glow. They also tend to be "spiky" in their response curves with a two or three large peaks (corresponding to the phosphors used to make the bulb). They often have a fairly low CRI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index).

If you want to see your print at its best you'll need a light which is both a higher color temperature than conventional tungsten or halogen, and with a very high CRI (at least 95 in my book).

One you could consider would be the Solux (http://www.solux.net/) bulbs. I think of them as artificial sunlight.

[Don Boyd]

I installed halogen track lighting in my home and used Solux bulbs and it made a huge difference in the luminence and vitality of my framed prints. I use one of their desk lamps and bulbs in my office to review prints and use their bulbs with track lighting that runs off of a battery and converter when I do art fairs. Even in daylight, under a canopy the lighting makes a eye-catching difference.

[Bill_1856]

My print of Ansel Adams "Moonrise" was exhibited in his last commercial show at the Witkin Gallery (1975?) along with the announcement that from this time he would only be filling standing orders and not accepting new ones. I was in love with this glorious print, and knew that it was buy it now or never, but Jesus, it was $750! They had to call American Express to get my card approved for that enormous purchase.
Several months later the print came. It was dull. It was printed much too dark. It was a terrible disappointment. How could I have wasted nearly a thousand dollars (including framing and shipping)?
A panic call to Witkin gave me the good news and the bad news. The good news was that they would take it back and refund my money (less shipping). The bad news was that Moonrise prints were now selling for $2000, and if I wanted a replacement that I'd have to pony up the difference, and there was a two year wait. I gulped hard and said, "Never mind."
For some months the print hung gloomily on my wall -- a constant reminder to be more careful with my money. Then as the sun moved north, on one day just before sunset, a few rays fell directly on the print and it was transformed into the dazzling, glowing image of that incredibly peaceful, almost living scene. I could almost feel St. Ansel's excitement as he puts his car into the ditch and frantically assembles his 8x10 then almost loses the shot as the sun disappears!
That print now hangs in my dining room, with its own spotlight above it. It's not quite like seeing it in the direct rays of the setting sun, but it is definitely transformed from a grunge into Adam's greatest masterpiece.

[john borrelli]

Wilhelm, I saw a print of Moonrise at an Adams exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston MA. The print was as wonderful as any art I have seen at the MFA, before or since. I enjoyed your description of that moment in your home when a similar light illuminated "Moonrise", a similar light that Adams himself may have experienced when he first captured the image in New Mexico. Thanks also to everyone else for their input, I'll definitely save this thread for future reference.

[Ed Richards]

The flip side of this is thinking about the display light when you are printing. The best tonal range will be for bright light, but if your print will not be displayed in bright light, it will always look muddy. I am curious what people do for prints for sale - do you print to the lower light that you can be pretty sure people are using?