I just came across mention of Hahnemuelhle Sugar Cane print paper, which is apparently made from a combination of 75% sugar cane (bagasse) fiber and 25% recycled cotton fiber. I wonder how well this stuff works? It sounds good – they claim that it is naturally white without optical brightening agents and that it is archival.
Tag Archives: print
Canon EOS 5D II: Notes on Today’s Photograph
Since today’s photograph (“Redwood Forest, Morning“) was one of the first landscape photographs I shot with my new Canon EOS 5D II, I was interested to see how the camera would perform and what print quality might look like.
This photograph was a bit trickier than may be apparent. It was overcast and early in the morning, I was in the bottom of a deep valley, the wind was blowing, and the light was constantly changing. In addition I used a 85mm lens (the excellent EF 85mm f/1.8) on a full frame DSLR, so I had to shoot at a rather small aperture for DOF reasons, necessitating a very slow shutter speed in order to work at my preferred ISO 100.
With all of those challenges, when I made the first small test print of this photograph last night I was very impressed with the level of detail in the photograph and I’m certain that it will work as a very good sized print – in fact, this particular image almost needs to displayed large.
When a new camera body is introduced there always seems to be a string of reports of poor performance. Sometimes there is some truth to the reports, but it is my opinion that many of the reports are the result of poor technique, unrealistic expectations, obsession with “issues” that are irrelevant in actual photographs, and general mistrust of any Big Company that sells expensive camera equipment. I read these reports and think about them a bit, but I don’t assume that they are correct until I see evidence – preferably evidence that I produce myself. The first direct evidence comes from looking closely at photographs on the monitor as I work on them in ACR and then in Photoshop, but the real evidence comes when I make a print. After doing both of the above – and contrary to some rumors you may hear – there are no issues with noise in the shadows and the overall image – even with the increased number of photosites – seems excellent in every way to me.
Does my Canon EOS 5D II produce excellent image quality? Yes. Am I seeing unusual or troubling amounts of noise? No. Are banding problems in the shadows impairing my photographs? No. Do carefully made photographs using this equipment have the potential to produce excellent prints? Yes.
Am I pleased with the results from my 5DII at this point? Yes.
Notes on Today’s Photograph
I have posted a revised version of this message above.
A ‘Thank You’ to Jim M Goldstein
Late last year, photographer (and blogger and podcaster) Jim M. Goldstein came up with a great way to reconnect photographers and fans of photography with the experience of the print – “Buying Prints from your Favorite Photographers.”
I was very pleased with Jim’s interest in my work, and with his selection of one of my favorite recent photographs:
Submerged Boulders, Lake, and Cliffs. Sequoia National Park, California. August 6, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Since I am a fan of Jim’s work as well, we decided to trade photographs and I ended up copy of his very lovely and mysterious “Primitive Coastline” seascape. And, yes, I’ll post my image of his framed photograph here before long. We met back on a rainy winter evening during the holidays and had a chance to “talk shop” a bit, and it was a joy not only to see his work but to meet him.
Yesterday Jim posted a photograph of my now-framed photograph at his blog, along with some very kind and much appreciated words about my photography.
Thanks, Jim!
(I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my gratitude to landscape photographer and master printer Charles Cramer for his invaluable help finding out how to best “see” this photograph as a print. Thanks, Charlie! :-)