Photography's Goal: a black and white print, part 2. Even the development of the black and white print is no cut and dried operation, as it normally is with black and white film, carried on out of sight and controlled automatically by clock and thermometer. The temperature of the black and white print developer solution and the time allotted for the process must be held within limits recommended for the materials, it is true, but these limits are not nearly so narrow as those set for black and white film. The development process can be watched, so that the black and white photographer himself can decide when it has gone far enough. He sees the black and white image forming before his eyes, appearing with tantalizing slowness at first as the shadows of the scene suggest the beginning of the black and white picture. These darken fairly rapidly while details slowly build up in the brightest areas of the scene. It takes a bit of experience to learn how to judge when development is completed. There is a great temptation to pull the black and white print out of the developer too soon, for the black and white picture always looks darker in the dim illumination of the safelight than it will later in ordinary room light. But a bit of practice soon brings the ability to sense the balance of tones required of a fully developed black and white print. The shadow areas are the first clue, for they should become a rich, deep black, yet not so dark that details are obscured; at the same time the brightest areas must not turn gray but remain a clear white while still indicating their own fine details. In every stage of black and white printmaking, opportunities for influencing the final result exist and judgments based on artistic rather than technical considerations must be made. The choice of such basic equipment as the enlarger has an effect, for it can produce soft, gently modulated tones or crisp, sharp ones, depending on the way its optical system spreads light over the negative. The selection of enlarging papers, too, permits great creative latitude. There are literally hundreds of kinds of black and white printing papers on the market, providing various options of texture, finish, tint and black and white image tone. In addition, each kind of paper comes in several "grades," which determine the contrast between the tones of gray. By manipulating these factors - and influencing them through the choice of developer, which also affects the tones and the contrast-the black and white photographer is able to control the mood and impact of his black and white prints, emphasizing the brilliance and the detail of one black and white picture, and giving an black and white image warmth and softness in another. Such choices demand a steady exercise of taste. The consequences of each decision are almost immediately visible - a wrong choice can be easily repaired by simply making another black and white print. Small wonder, then, that black and white printmaking is so enjoyable, for it gives the black and white photographer an opportunity to enhance the black and white image that the camera saw.