This photo of the Merced River roaring through Happy Isles was taken on April 22, 2009. This was my first outing with the Canon 5D2 digital camera in Yosemite, and I was particularly interested to see how the 90mm Tilt-Shift lens would perform.
I have a permanent display at Gallery Los Olivos. I am usually at the Gallery the first Thursday of each month. If you'd like to come by and talk about B&W photography (or anything else for that matter), please stop at the Gallery on one of these Thursdays.
For information on Gallery Los Olivos, click here..
If you are interested in copies of any images on the web site, please contact me. My internet prices are the same as those through Gallery Los Olivos; so you can also order through them and use a credit card as opposed to the PayPal that I use.
Most of my latest black and white printing inksets and workflows use 100% carbon pigments, avoiding the weaknesses inherent in having any color pigments or dyes in a B&W print. These inksets produce the most lightfast and stable inkjet images, in the league with silver prints.
To see more photos of the area and learn about the photo workshop, click here.
For more information about the Golden Tout Camp Workshops, in general, including the natural history sessions, click here. And if you have any questions, or need further information about these workshops, contact me.
How long will these carbon-pigment B&W prints last? No one knows for sure, but it's probably best measured in centuries. For the best stabillity, 100% carbon pigment is the meduim of choice. While inksets with some color pigments in them -- the vast majority of B&W inksets -- may last a long time, the color pigments will fade more quickly than the carbon, and they will fade at differing rates, resulting in color shifts in the print.
Carbon pigments on cotton (rag) paper should be even more stable than the traditional wet darkroom prints due to the buffered paper that has never had to deal with acidic processing chemicals like the wet darkroom prints. Carbon pigment writing inks have been found that are over 30 centuries old. The first image-forming use of carbon pigments may be in the Paleolithic Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave in France. They look rather good after 30,000 years.
So, while it is true that not all carbon pigments are equal, the carbon-carbon bond is nature's strongest, and the best carbon pigments are probably our best B&W image-forming substance, while the best substrate remains high quality cellulose -- for example cotton/rag paper. As such, I describe my medium as "carbon on cotton," and I think it is the most archival photographic medium we have available to us.
For an index of specific ink and printer information, including details of the inksets, settings, and curves, click here.
Thank you for visiting my humble website.
All Photographs -- Copyright 1980-2008 Paul Roark -- All Rights Reserved