Sometimes my day to day life as a photographer is so wrapped up in new technology that I forget all about the basics of photography. In an era when digital cameras and electronic imaging are threatening to blow conventional silver-based...

OK, so I have on the meditation tape and have done my breathing exercises and now I’m ready to print on Hahnemühle’s Bamboo paper, which they dub prime for “spiritual black and white and color photography.” Made from 90 percent bamboo fibers and 10 percent cotton, and washed in “pure spring water,” the paper comes with a bit of New Age hype but at the end...

Part of the fun of making inkjet prints is the wide variety of printing surfaces and weights from which you can choose. You can go the budget route and have some fine papers to work with, or choose papers that have brand cachet and a price tag to match. That cachet generally pays off in a level of quality and durability that many printmakers both admire and hope to discover in their printing...

It seems that every week brings at least one new paper announcement that promises to change the way we do our printing. Where a few years ago it was common to use only the paper and ink sold by the printer manufacturer, today many photographers are using third-party papers for the wider variety of surfaces and weights available.

Although media choices are still more...

Inkjet printmakers have nothing to complain about when it comes to paper choices. There are glossy, semigloss, and matte surface papers galore, each with their own charm and cachet. Regarding the latter aspect, Somerset is no slouch, having established a reputation in both inkjet and other art papers many years back.

Their latest entry into the inkjet market is Somerset Museum Rag, distributed by Moab. This 100 percent cotton, 300 gsm paper displays a smooth matte surface, a considerable, but not yellowish warm tone, and while strong and fairly thick, is actually quite supple. The paper is single-sided, which means the tooth is on one side only, and telling the printable from the backing side is not something that will be immediately apparent. For that reason the packaging comes with a stick-on label that says “printable THIS SIDE.” You would do well to keep the original cellophane packaging until you get a good feel for the surfaces. I found that if you rub your thumb along the surface the differences become clear, with the printable surface evoking somewhat of a higher pitch.

With printer manufacturers introducing better and better printers, particularly affordable high-end dye-based inkjets and consumer-oriented pigment-ink printers, all media manufacturers have lined up to bring us products that will expand the horizons of these output devices. Of particular interest to me was one company's refillable ink system designed for a consumer...