Originally Posted by
Michael Alpert
David,
I read this thread yesterday in disbelief. I wonder why no one has told you that photographic printing is a craft. You need to know your materials thoroughly, and you need to have a realizable vision of your completed work. You are just now beginning to process film. It takes years of sustained effort to learn how to print very large traditional photographic prints with skill. Every little problem in your negative--such as softness, dust, uneven development--will be magnified in your large prints and will ruin them. And I am not even talking about ART, which is a whole demanding level of consciousness in itself. Your budget for paper alone should be about $1,500, given that you will be using a lot of it before you start to approach a final large-scale print. I suggest that you first have negatives IN HAND that are aesthetically complete and that you know will print well in moderate enlargement. I also suggest that you take a workshop with a master printer. The money you will save in materials and time will more than pay for the tuition. All of my unasked for-advice is given in an attempt to be helpful. I wish you well.
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