I skipped my normal 4 miles Saturday morning and got into the darkroom around 8:30. Except for a short lunch break I didn’t come out until 6:30 … conveniently just in time for dinner! It is pretty unusual for me to print more than two new images in any one day. My routine is fairly efficient and I can complete a finished print short of the final selenium toning steps in about and hour and a half to two hours (I wash and dry the prints, then store them until I have a sufficient number to tone). So about four hours plus set up and clean up is about what I am good for.

However, in the last couple of sessions my prints have required relatively little dodging and burning and things have gone faster. During my last printing session completed three prints. On Saturday I finished six! Strange! Probably a rare stroke of luck, or maybe I am becoming less critical – I hope not!!! Maybe it has to do with the paper I have been using recently. Maybe it’s due to good clean living… or it’s just a fluke. In any event, I’m sure not going to complain!

After the demise of Zone VI paper I used Forte VC FB glossy paper for a number of years and truly loved it. Unfortunately it also went the way of many great papers and stopped being manufactured. While I still have 5 boxes left in the freezer, I knew it was time to find a replacement.

I read that Bruce Barnbaum loved Fomabrom Variant III. Bruce also used Forte and his use of that fine paper originally convinced me that I should give it a try. However, several years ago he found Fomabrom Variant III to be its superior. In fact he found it to be superior to Bergger and Adox as well. Enough said – I purchased a 25-sheet package of 8×10 glossy FB and gave it a whirl.

I did a little more research on the Internet and discovered that Arista EDU Ultra was apparently re-badged Fomabrom Variant III at a less expensive price. OK, I’m game. So I bought a 100-sheet box of glossy FB.

And guess what … as best as I can tell the two papers are in fact the same.!

Now that I finally finished my final bag of Zone VI print developer I have been using Photographer’s Formulary Liquidol, said to be a replacement for that fine product. As the name implies it’s a liquid concentrate that mixes 1 part to 9 parts water and develops most papers in roughly 1 minute … nice! So far so good and I think it will be a keeper.

One interesting item of note is that the paper’s manufacture says you need to use a red safelight instead of the normal OC safelight. This is necessary as the paper is orthochromatically sensitized. No problem; I am grateful to my workshop attendee that told me about red LED bulbs available on the Internet that can be used for safelights. Yup … and less then 3 bucks each!! I have tested them; they are completely safe and will last for years!

So how is the paper? First off, it’s nice and heavy. I like that. With Liquidol, it’s neutral to slightly cool with a bright white base. Prints like a dream with super highlights, deep blacks and fantastic shadow detail. And at least with the negatives I have just printed so far, very little manipulation needs to be done. I really can’t explain it. So I won’t try. In short I think it’s great (Note: I have not toned it yet and I will report back in Part 2 once have done that)!

That’s the good news. Now for the not so good news. Once I finished the Fomabrom and started using the Arista I noticed something I hadn’t seen before … residue left in the developer. I wasn’t sure what it was at first. Then I realized that some of the emulsion was peeling off the edges of the paper while in the developer!!! As I got deeper into the box, it happened more frequently $#@%^#$%^&* Fortunately, it never peeled as far as the image area on the paper, but as you can imagine, most disconcerting!

I don’t remember this occurring with the Fomabrom, so I am a little disappointed. Not sure if this is an anomaly, a problem with the rebranded paper, or with both the Arista and the Fomabrom papers. If anyone has any thoughts or similar experiences please chime in!

I’m just about at the end of the box now. I like the paper so much, that despite the creepy molting emulsion, I will buy more. Except the next batch will be Fomabrom. We will see what happens. Stay tuned.