So... what is missing with the wonderful Epson ET-8550 ?

Perhaps only when you really want colors to be - let's say " extra saturated" - then there is actually / or appears to be a limit in that regard. (I have no comparison really, because I don't know how other printer & paper combinations actually work, for example with pigmented ink)

What I am saying is, that you can't get anything like "Cibachrome De Luxe" saturated colors, if you wish to. OK, that comparison was a bit exaggerated. Cibachrome de Luxe was one of a kind, in terms of color saturation. And normally that posed a lot of problems for portraits and other motives where such strong "poster" colors were not desired.

I notice that some motives, which contain pretty strong colors or color nuances, just don't turn out as saturated as i see them on the screen. (It could also e that i keep my images a bit lighter - which does lessen the color saturation. Once you make it darker, the colors also get a bit stronger)

Luckily however - most of my images don't have such strong colors to begin with, which means in reality, the saturation isn't an issue.

• They look small - but are A4 sized prints

The beauty of my current ET-8550 printer

is, that the color integrations and transitions are just so beautiful. That most color images and their colors are translated into really good looking prints. I am marveling at that I almost never need to discard a print due to "wrong" color balance.

That is quite astonishing !

When do you not need a pigmented ink printer ?

As of now - I don't consider it to be worth the high cost of (pigmented) inks (and additional pigment ink based printer) to be worth it for home use. The current dye based inks from Epson hold up long enough, like traditional C prints, especially if you frame them - the Claria ink based photos might even last longer. And in darkness, both types can last beyond 125-200 years. (Pigmented ink based prints in darkness - around 400 years if i recall it correctly).

I am truly satisfied with what I've got - which is so much more than i ever could have dreamed about. After all - this move to print my own photo up to the size of A3+ was really not planned. Now that it is a reality fact - i love it.

Paid already off half the cost of the printer :-)

By the end of October - I have already paid off half the price of the printer ! By the end of December, there is just 40 € left to pay and then it is done. Of course, I spent additionally a thousand Euro on buying various papers and sizes i had to stock up. But now I have really plenty of papers for a longer timer.

The "Diminished Return"

Sure - One/You can always strive after something "better" (whatever that is, I don't know) - but those relatively small "pro" enhancements often cost you disproportional a lot more - sometimes a little fortune. It is called the "The diminished return", for every step you try to push the envelope. (and sometimes you get more often in trouble, or get disappointed" while trying to quench out a theoretical better quality. (it's an act of balance, and common sense should be one of your primary guides in such decisions - to avoid the worst errors).

It is like with cameras. The benefit of returns becomes sometimes ridiculously small, while you pay a large price for such small "enhancements" / if any at all.

As long i am not a commercial photographer who sells his art - there is no need for me to acquire a more advanced printer. This Epson ET-8550 is as good as it possibly can be. I do mark my prints, and tell people, at least not to put up photos in direct sunlight indoors.

Man, do i have fun to print images.

It is simply amazing. Not that I know what to do with all the prints... but it is fun. It really is. Also; being relatively affordable, makes it easy for me to be generous to give away images to family and friends. And to re-do prints, if i feel some are too dark or something feel off about the photo print. I also don't get a heart attack from experimenting with using a lot of ink "as expensive as Gold" - like 21 years ago, which sort of killed the spirit of wanting to print back then. Also consider this; 21 years ago printing on chemical paper (C-41 process) cost a tiny fraction of what a full set of tiny pigmented ink cartridges the printer cost ! It was a HUGE difference. Well, and then add also that printers easily got damaged / clogged / became unusable.

So, there was that. And nothing made really sense for an enthusiastic home user in 2003. And how many photos did i make from the printers before they broke down ? NOT MANY ! It must have been the by far most expensive prints i have ever made in my life. *LOL*

The issue with / about people in the past 20 years

I know that the impact of giving away home made prints, isn't really that large. People are... let's face it, quite a bit dull and spoiled. I settle for that, even if i sometimes find it irritating that people show so little appreciation. It is as if all my life i am have been "running after people", and then wondering - what the heck am I doing.

I still have not fully penetrated the veil of my conflict in this regard. How this is connected, and how the true dots are connected (beyond one's possible projections / reflections etc). There is always a risk of that I might misinterpreting people ? However, in general - what I sense and see about people from the past 20 years - the development ever since is that they appear today a lot more spoiled. I see more more lazy interactions among people in general. A self-oriented tendency, where not much seem to bother or exist beyond their local horizon (read; other people).

And there is also the risk, that I myself might have changed as well (got colored by similar behavior / thinking / lack of thinking) - but don't recognize it in me ??

But the overall tendencies are sad to my eye. From the perspective of an unspoiled child, so to speak. Maybe it is the child in me, who reacts to these observations and doesn't know how to handle it in my adult body ?

Could be.

Joy

BUT - it is a joy to make prints, and to give them away. I know a few people do appreciate them a lot. Like Sal's mom - she loves them. And her walls are filled with images from the past 100 years, showing many generations of the family. it is like a treasure to walk among her images, to study them... to see the people along life. It is fascinating ! She treasures them - powered by a strong, kind spirit.

Leti, Sal's best friend is another example of someone who treasures personal gifts. To make image surprises for her, is always a delight for me - and i do not expect anything. I just love to surprise her. I love to make her happy with a gesture.

Leti is such an extraordinary woman, like few people in this world. One of a kind. And i love her. And her daughters who are simply awesome. Ludo and Cecilia.

One Major Printing Issue

When I make large images... I realize something really embarrassing...

Most of my photos are simply not good enough, not engaging enough, to stand out in a way, that makes you want to frame it. I suddenly realize that i am way, way behind my game. That most of my photography has turned into mush, without any truly artistic streak. Something that would stand out in such a way, making it worth to frame it, looking at it for a long time.

I almost feel that i would have to return to studio photography in order to get there again. To create WITH people.

All the sudden I realize that 98% of my photography isn't up to that high standard (i mean from the content / motive). Of course are beautiful clouds, colors and exciting lighting. I DO enjoy such motives ON THE COMPUTER SCREEN.

But on the wall.... meh ! Perhaps not so much.

That's something I didn't expect. It isn't until you have the physical print in front of you, that things "suddenly changes". What stands out - and the many that do not. Still nice prints - but still a big step away from actually being something special or outstanding... ? *pondering*

It is really embarrassing to admit. (I do prefer the truth over illusion, though. Ripping off the band-aid)

I think it is good to realize and admit that

Perhaps change my type of photography, so it suits better for representative large prints you want to hang up on the wall. Now, beautifully frame photos with passepartout do usually look a LOT better than the "loose print" in your hand. I have noticed that many times in the past, when i made prints in the darkroom. Once those were framed - it looked much better than i thought.

"Kill Your Darlings"

There is a saying in photography: "KILL YOUR DARLINGS".

I think that is an excellent, in fact humble and straight recommendation - allowing a photographer to grow. By looking beyond your/ones prints / photos. To get around your ego, so to speak.

To realize, that hey dude, you (I am just not that good that the motive is worth to be hung onto a wall. I am not talking about personal images, though - they are a call of its own) I am talking about really good photography. Here, I am afraid, i have failed in that regard, 98% of my time in the past 17 years, especially in the age of digital "fast food" photography.

I do like my images in my Diary - as digital photos seen on a computer screen - yeah. I love them (mostly). I have no problems with what i have done in my Diary.

But I wouldn't want to hang them up, like a framed print on a wall.

Where do you want to go, Ralf ?

I suspect that going back to projects with people would or could be a classic. People. Portraits. Spontaneity, even if people are aware in front of the camera. I like slow-motion / standing still type of studio photography. I dislike fast movements there. I want to "sculpture" people with light and positions.

Let me go back to my roots of photography.

"The reflection has changed a little"

Now the question is... Do I really want that ? I am not sure, really. I am not the 28 year old who makes experiments in a home studio. The ages of people in my surrounding / friends / buddies also have changed. Or like the woman in the Titanic movie said "The reflection has changed a little"

The whole psychology has changed; the people I know of, are not the same in "spirit" like when they were young. When the spirit of time was different back in the early 90s. When digital photography wasn't a thing. When Facebook wasn't a thing. When people still got fascinated by looking at handsome prints from a physical darkroom.

• In the earliest beginning of my studio photography, testing with Per-Olof / goofing around (1992)

• Goofing around with Per-Olof in the home studio 21 years later (2013)

• Portrait of Per-Olof in my home studio 11 years ago (2013)

I still have to fix the Photo background !

This is now highest on my list. I've got the ink, the bottles to spray. My aim is to recreate the old photo background i made in the 90s. It will also bring down the somewhat too bright gray paper roll, by adding dark ink spray across it all in an uneven pattern. I bought all the ingredients to do this - including protection plastic, so that the surrounding in my apartment doesn't get sprayed with black spots

Can you image. The original background, I made when i was slightly drunk. it was at night in my tiny apartment at Nynäsvägen Highway 300. I used the bigger bottle of pigmented ink from the second failed printer - put it into a flower spray bottle, diluted it with some water... and sprayed around.

Just like that. *rolling my eyes*

Turned out pretty cool

and the originally plain gray background, turned into a timeless, kind of interesting "old classic" mottled background - which was easier to steer later, when i made prints in the darkroom. As i could either make it brighter, or darker (fading into dark gray).

The only problem with my project was, that in some areas there were too blotchy dark spot visible. I tried to correct them later with Retouch gray paint, with various shades - but did such a lousy job, that it made things worse. This was only a problem when i made color images - because suddenly those blotches would stand out as cold gray spots, ruining images. Yet, my main photography back then was almost all in Black & White - so it wasn't a problem

But early 2010s, digital photography became now a far better high quality options, high resolution (Think Canon EOS 5 Mark II). With that color photography come back into the studio for me of course. As well the pesky spots returned.

Sure I can clone them out... But one has to do that in every single photo. Not so fun nor smart. The paper background showed its age by 2020 - and i had to discard it, after another - major - failed attempt to use real acrylic spray "to even out the blotches".

The spray was of low quality, creating particles / soot - like a layer. As soon you put a finger across the surface - the soot detached.

So; i had to throw it away.

It is time, to create a new one. The mottled background I find far more interesting, compared to a smooth one. I can still use the smooth one - by simply rolling out the 11 meter roll further out. That way, I can choose, to either use the mottled background, or the smooth one.

On top we also have a light gray background, and a black one. I will decided later, if i spray mottle them, too.

• Ralf (2002) showing the mottled background better

Spray Mottled paper background

Here is an old self-portrait in the studio, where the mottled background better visible. Now today, I have been making some changes to the wall where our background rolls are hung up. I took away the bulky closet which was a bit too deep and replaced it with a thinner shelf. That way - when rolling down the photo background - nothing will lean against the paper from behind (preventing the paper background from buckling).

So, it should be very interesting to see how the new background turns out.

If I can recreate it the exact same way ? I don't know. I realize that when I did this while being tipsy back in the 90s, the spray bottle created tiny droplets - as well fewer larger drops. I like that combo very much, but doubt that my current spray bottle will make the same pattern. Perhaps I should again use a cheap flower bottle ?

We will of course make some tests first - and then see, what works best.