Just about the time you think you’ve got everything under control, more or less, something insists on changing.

At least, this is a happy change.

After some years of being convinced that digital was not for me — not, at least, for serious work and for lasting prints — I’ve finally figured out how to make digital black and white prints that satisfy me on all counts, from artistic quality to permanence. (Printing with pure black carbon ink on watercolor paper is about as good as it gets for permanence. It looks great, too.)

So what I’ve been up to lately is a kind of retrenchment: Not abandoning film, but bringing digital onboard as an equal partner, if you will.

That means figuring some things out: What are the best print sizes for me to make? What’s the best paper to use? How should prices for digital prints compare to traditional hand-colored black and white prints?

I believe I know the general answer to that last question: Digital print prices can be quite a bit lower, given the lower cost of production and the smaller amount of time invested in making each print.

So I’m working on setting up a whole new wing of the sales gallery that will have digital black and white prints, matted and ready to go. Just as soon as I figure out how much to charge for them…..

One of the things that convinced me is the series of photos I’ve made lately of grape leaves in the garden. They have a lovely, clean, crisp and almost ghostly quality to them.

photo: Grape leaves, digital black and white, 2010