Deep & Rich

A noticeable difference between Ilford Multigrade IV and V paper.

Sharifa — 8 x 10” Hand printed on Ilford Multigrade V RC glossy.

This portrait of Sharifa was taken in the stairwell to an underground car park on a typical overcast day. I was drawn to the darkness and the direction of the light as it illuminated the steps. I knew if I stood looking down, forcing the subject to look up, the light should land on his face. This was going to be a great location and the image I had in my head was exactly how it came out on film. It scanned well but let’s see how it would print.

I made my first test strips on Ilford Multigrade IV RC Glossy with some pleasing results. But I knew I should be getting some deeper blacks, especially in the darker areas of the image. I changed filters to add more contrast but the blacks were still charcoal grey. I made some prints and checked them again when they were dry. They did darken slightly but I knew I had to get the final print as close to the scene as I remembered it.

I switched paper over to a fresh pack of Multigrade V and made a couple of test strips, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 seconds at f11. Develop, stop and fix. Instantly the blacks appeared deeper, richer and heavier while retaining moody shadow detail.

To be fair, my pack of IV paper was bought second-hand but sealed and as new, so it could be that it had been stored badly. Maybe, but hard to say for sure so I’ll just keep the IV paper for playing and the V paper for Sunday best.