Question: Behind glass paper choice

[Kalin Bucholz]

Hi all!

My senior project is almost done and I have one more shoot to go and while im waiting for that im hung up on my paper choice. My project has to do with body landscapes, there is a lot of black and warm skin tones. My model is african american and ill be pring 13x19 on an epson 3880.

I was sure I was going to use the exhibition matte but now im not so sure. I picked up some nice boarderless glass with backing and gallery clips. Would my choice of matte be lost behind glass? Also I know that the print has to breath behind glass and printing glossy is problematic behind glass. And when I go for something I go all out and im neck deep in paper choices. I picked up the Canson discovery pack and truthfully I could not tell much difference in the rags, and the other textured papers. Most of them had better D values then the epson exhibition matte also. I did like the photosatin kinda like luster.

I guess where i comes down to is best paper choice for behind glass. Ive printed fiber in the darkroom and the Epson exhibition fiber has a awesome d value something I really need in my project. But then again its a glossy paper and the printer will use the photo gloss to print. For how expensive the textured paper is I have seen nothing that really jumps out at me as far as quality, look, gamut range and d value. Most of the paper in the size I need is around 100$ for 25 sheets. The Baryta is also a glossy and had great results but is around a luster in terms of reflections.

Anyone have experience in mounting behind glass? Im trying to figure out if printing high quality paper and putting it behind glass is worth it? Normally I dislike anything glossy and at the very most I would consider a satin, luster or semi gloss, and yes i know those 3 overlap mostly.

[Jerome Marot]

What do you mean by "mount behind glass"? With the glass in contact with the paper (don't do that) or, as is traditional, with a passe-partout? And what kind of glass? There is (expensive) anti reflexion glass typically used in museum exhibitions, which is almost invisible.

As to paper: matte (uncoated) does not look nice on large extents of dark zones as may be the case with a dark skinned model. Anything else is entirely a question of taste and the difference are smaller than one would believe once the pictures hang. Even a cheap paper like the Calumet museum line looks perfectly fine once printed big.

Last but not least, we would need to see an example of what you intend to print to give any meaningful answer. Not necessarily the exact pictures if you don't want to publish them before the exhibition, but something similar.

[Kalin Bucholz]

Ill have to give a example later today when im home from work. Ill use something thats not being selected.

On the subject of the kind of glass ill put a link here of it. Keep in mind im hanging 10 prints on a student budget and im also paying the model out of pocket.

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discou...lip-frames.htm

[Jerome Marot]

Even if you are a student, make sure you use a passe-partout. Your university/school certainly has the means to cut them. Ask your teachers.

[Kalin Bucholz]

Thanks Jerome I will.