Selecting Paper Grade
Printing with Fred Picker VII/XI
Summary
In the previous film, Fred Picker made two pilot prints of the same negative using two different paper grades: the first one with a paper grade No. 2 and the other one with a paper grade No. 3.
In this film, he explains the criterion to select the best pilot print. According to Fred Picker, to make this selection, one needs to go back to the basics and think about what exactly the photographer wished to capture when he clicked that picture. This is the important criterion to discard one of these pilot prints. After stepping back to reflect upon the overall picture, one needs to evaluate it in terms of light, substance and space. The criterion therefore is a mix of luminosity, depth, emotion and the atmosphere that prevailed while taking the picture.
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.