Warm vs Cool Toned Paper.

I was wondering if anyone has any examples comparing papers. I normally just use the Ilford FB glossy stuff, but I'm wondering what the Ilford Multigrade FB Warmtone Fiber paper does. I know the best way to tell is to just buy and test it out, but the warmtoned is even more expensive than the normal paper I buy. Granted all the headaches of scanning images in, and all the color differences in monitors, does anyone have examples of these two?

Correction* I use multi contrast paper, not cool toned.

Hundreds of examples, but you need to try this for yourself. Black and white papers are bromide papers, whereas warm toned ones are chlorobromide. The difference is in the warmth of the image and my general preference was always for warm tones. The classic paper was Kodak Bromesko White Fine Lustre, but that is long gone.

I moved on to Agfa papers, which were also beautiful, but today I guess that the choice is becoming more limited.

There's also a place for standard black and white of course, it depends very much on the image. It's part of the creative choices you have available to you and you no doubt need both. Exploring the nuances of black and white darkroom working could take you a lifetime.

I was quite a good printer. My friend Len worked commercially and he was an excellent printer, based on making 300 prints a day, every day for over 20 years. But I've even seen better than Len, so there's no ceiling in what you could aim for.

A good black and white print, warm toned or not, should "sing" from the paper. It should stop you in your tracks with its pure beauty. Not every print will achieve this!

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Best regards, John

PS I should mention the competition judge that had Len outraged and the whole club very amused.

The Judge peered myopically at Len's darkroom print and declared, "It's a bit pixelated...."

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Best regards, John