Print Viewing Stations

[johnwolf]

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I just read George DeWolf's excellent book on BW printing with Lightroom. He urges everyone to have a print viewing station. I priced them at B&H, but they are over my budget and take up too much space, so I made the setup shown below. I'd love to hear how others fill this need.

 

I ordered a 4 foot tracklight section from Solux, with the plug option, and three heads and bulbs. I got a 4 foot strip of thin 1" steel from Home Depot, spray painted it white, and double-side taped it to my office wall. The little magnets are also from Home Depot.

 

Just wanted to share this with the group. The whole setup was about $140. What a difference it makes for analyzing prints.

 

John

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[Jeff S]

I bought a pegboard and an inexpensive shelf...cost maybe $40...to put in a "work room" that I created to view prints, to store prints and photo related materials, and to cut mats and frame finished prints.

 

The critical issue for me is to see the print in the same light, and angle, that I might hang it. The work room has the same lighting I have elsewhere in the house. Of course this is impossible to do if you sell your photos to others who might be viewing the print under different light. And, adding glass over the print can also subtly change the viewing experience, so this is compensated for in the final print process.

 

This is the same process I used in my darkroom days, except then I had the added step of using a plexiglass viewing stand in the sink (over which I had the same house lighting) to see the print. Back then, however, I also had to compensate for the drying down effect. The 'lightroom' experience is far easier.

 

BTW, I really like George DeWolfe's writings (other than his occasional, but not too heavy handed, self promotion of products). Did he do a separate book on Lightroom, or are you referring to his Masters series book entitled 'B&W Printing...Creating the Digital Master Print'?

 

Jeff

[johnwolf]

Jeff, yes, that's the book I'm referring to. I agree the promotion for his plug-in is a bit much. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt -- that he really believes in his product. Plus, it's the best book I've seen so far of BW and LR.

 

I am a little concerned my setup may not represent typical viewing conditions, if there is such a thing. But at least I can be confident that what I want to see in a print is actually there.

 

John

[glenerrolrd]

Thanks for sharing that as I was about to start work on improving the digital darkroom.

I assume you had the Solex lights or were they in your $140 budget? Where did you get them? The white metal board and magnets is a great idea.

 

Roger

[johnwolf]

Roger, the cost included the Solux bulbs. You can order them from the Solux web site:

 

http://www.solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/infopages/index.html

 

I saw the lights at the Epson Print Academy in Chicago, where they lit many fine prints in a traveling gallery. Solux offers many fixture options other than track lighting, but the track solution is cheapest.

 

I think you might be able to get similar track and heads at your local hardware store, and still use the Solux bulbs.

 

John