Calibration! Yay!
Today I finally got to get some paper wet after doing the calibrations mentioned in this post. I’ve only ran one so far, but it is very exciting to see a strait print holding full shadow detail, and highlights, without having to do endless dodging and burning. I feel so liberated having a completely usable print on a piece of paper where any dodging & burning that will ultimately will be done, will be because its is something I want to change, not just to reach this point.
What I’m wondering now, is how did I get through a whole series of college courses and never once have a professor offer a one week assignment where each student calibrated their materials? I had such a roadblock back then doing complex dodging & burning, just to get workable prints, that I had such little time remaining to “Express my emotions.”
Oh well. The secret has been unveiled to me, time to go back into the darkroom.