Making Pilot Prints

In the previous film, Fred Picker explored where the high value was correctly exposed in each test strip for both grade 2 and grade 3 papers. In this one, he will simply make Pilot Prints for each paper grade. It means he will make unmanipulated print of the two papers to see which one has the best atmosphere according with what he visualized when he took the photography.

He insists that it is much safer to make pilot prints instead of trusting in his own experience, and he recommends keeping always this system. He puts a special attention to the way he works with the print timer in order to keep the same procedure that he used to evaluate the correct print time when he made the initial test strip.

Picker was involved in manufacturing of 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 large format field cameras.. He taught a highly successful photography class known as "The Zone VI Workshop," and authored a book by the same name that has become recognized as the golden standard of photographic instruction. His uncanny sense of "photographer's intuition” and his passion for the art was a unique combination. Always opinionated and oft times controversial, his dedication to large format and black and white photography was unsurpassed.