I wrote a previous entry titled A Strip of Wood and Why It May Be Your Most Important Piece of Equipment. In it I discussed how most today will never see their photographs hung on the wall and that the overwhelming majority of pictures posted daily on the Internet are hopelessly boring, even if technically sound. I stated that using this wonderful tool would help you determine whether the print you are made was a statement of what you saw in your minds eye and deserving, or whether it needed more work or wasn’t very good after all.

What I didn’t discuss in that entry was how important it really is in the first place that you only print those photographs that are meaningful to you — that you believe really have something to say. In the end, if they disappoint you for some technical or other aesthetic reason, that’s what the garbage can is for! On this, John Sexton said “I find the single most valuable tool in the darkroom is my trash can – that’s where most of my prints end up.”

It takes time to make a good print. If I have never printed a particular photograph before, I find that it can take up to two hours or more to get it right, and I think I have a pretty efficient mode of operation. Maybe it will take you longer, maybe a little less, but arguably it is a significant investment in your creative time. Time that should not be wasted on a so-so picture!

As mentioned in another previous entry, Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” Think about that for a moment. He made thousands of images most of us would die for, yet very few made the cut. I’m not Adams so I have to be pretty ruthless and don’t print a lot. I think many could benefit from this way of thinking.

Don’t print a picture that doesn’t satisfy all that is important to you. Don’t print what you think others want to see. In the end it is a waste of time and mental energy and looks like what everyone else is doing.

Printing an also ran is not only a terrible wasted of time, but a waste of materials. So while it may take me only around two hours to make a new print, I may go through ten or more sheets of paper before I am happy. Then once the print recipe is finalized I need to make three or four final prints in order to make sure I have extras just in case there is a screw up in toning, spotting or mounting of the print. I also want to have an extra one or two for my portfolio, or to sell. Last time I checked box of 8X10 black and white fiber paper was at least $100 and then there is the cost of chemicals, etc.

So wasting your time on a boring print that you really don’t care about that much is a waste on many levels.

Being ruthless and only printing your best pictures doesn’t mean your guilty of not doing a lot of work or under utilizing your darkroom investment. It means that you are putting a lot of creative juice into only what you truly care about. The personal rewards are so much better!

So make your proof sheets and study them carefully. Mark only the pictures on them that really speak to you. Then print only those pictures and give it your best shot when you do. After they are mounted, study them for a while (by placing them, if possible, on a strip of wood attached to the wall).

You will know, and it will be right.