Best photo paper for black on black image

Hello,

I have been having issues trying to print out my grandson's graduation photo. The image (https://www.dropbox.co​m …%20-%20brightest.jpg?dl=0) has been edited to have the black gown pop from the black background, but this is hard to accomplish when it is printed. I have lustre samples, and you can barely make out the gown. While it may be a calibration problem, I had a pro photographer color correct it on a calibrated monitor and sent over to me. I am thinking it may be a paper issue. What would the best type of paper be for such an image? Matte? Metallic? Lustre?

I would appreciate any advice.

Thank you.

What is essential when printing a photo like that, or any photo really, is to soft proof the image in Lightroom or Photoshop, using an ICC profile for the exact paper you are printing on, preferably for use on your exact printer model. And then print with ICC Color Management turned on using the same profile.
With that, you can see the clipping and saturation that will likely occur with each specific image. This is something the pro photographer could not have done without knowing the paper type and having the profile for it to install on his system.
He could only correct it to look good on a properly calibrated monitor.

I downloaded it and checked a softproof against a couple of papers that I use. None really provided much separation between the background and the areas particularly around the shoulders & the cap.

If anything, a glossy photo paper gave better results over a matt or fineart paper.

This short of shot really cries out for a backlight &/or highlight style of lighting.

Maybe a different way to approach the issue would be to mask out the subject and lighten the existing BG to a gray color (just enough to provide some contrast between the gown and the BG). That's probably the route I would go with a photo like this.

jra wrote in post #17612624
Maybe a different way to approach the issue would be to mask out the subject and lighten the existing BG to a gray color (just enough to provide some contrast between the gown and the BG). That's probably the route I would go with a photo like this.

This is the purpose of soft proofing. Viewing the problem areas and making adjustments either overall or by masking specific areas to be brought more into the gamut of the printer/ink/paper.

This thread hits close to home because I'm a fan of smoke created images which require being shot against a black background.
When displayed on the web, they look really dramatic...as do a lot of flower images. Black imparts drama.

That being said, it's quite another thing to have them printed and hanging in your living room where, IMHO, they take on a somewhat
trashy look reminiscent of black velvet art that was popular in years past.

You can soft proof until the cows come home and it will give you an idea of what various papers look like but...
gives you no clue about "what will it look like hanging on my wall" and "how/if I should light it".

I would like to hear from anyone that has something hanging that has used the afore mentioned black background.

One thing to consider is specifics of "presentation". For example, some photos will "stand out" best if matted with a chosen color/tone matte, especially if not matched to the wall in the background.

calipol2009 wrote in post #17610461
I had a pro photographer color correct it on a calibrated monitor and sent over to me..

if you want a pro color correction guy to have a hack at it, let me know and I will post my results. I'm confident i can get you a version that will print much better.

chauncey wrote in post #17616709
This thread hits close to home because I'm a fan of smoke created images which require being shot against a black background.
When displayed on the web, they look really dramatic...as do a lot of flower images. Black imparts drama.

That being said, it's quite another thing to have them printed and hanging in your living room where, IMHO, they take on a somewhat
trashy look reminiscent of black velvet art that was popular in years past.

You can soft proof until the cows come home and it will give you an idea of what various papers look like but...
gives you no clue about "what will it look like hanging on my wall" and "how/if I should light it".

I would like to hear from anyone that has something hanging that has used the afore mentioned black background.

I've viewed some of your smoke images and your correct, they look great on a monitor but can understand your disappointment with some prints. For your images, I would suggest a metallic semi-gloss paper (Breathing Color Velvet Metallic). I print a lot of milky-way/star trail images and have found this to be the best medium for this type of image with such a large area of black. I am printing on a HP Z2100 which profiles its own paper.

chauncey wrote in post #17616709
This thread hits close to home because I'm a fan of smoke created images which require being shot against a black background.
When displayed on the web, they look really dramatic...as do a lot of flower images. Black imparts drama.

That being said, it's quite another thing to have them printed and hanging in your living room where, IMHO, they take on a somewhat
trashy look reminiscent of black velvet art that was popular in years past.

You can soft proof until the cows come home and it will give you an idea of what various papers look like but...
gives you no clue about "what will it look like hanging on my wall" and "how/if I should light it".

I would like to hear from anyone that has something hanging that has used the afore mentioned black background.

I think most of your images would really look good face mounted on acrylic, some of the darker ones would look even better printed on backlit film then face mounted and then lit from behind.

I appreciate the advice guys.

I'm not at home yet - send me PM in couple hours - i'll tell you the best paper for BW in the world /did my exhibit on those/.

BONJET Matt Etching.
It was an Epson printer for B/W, but I don't remember the model.
Anyhoo - the blacks are so deep - never saw better.

Aah...let's assume that I don't print my own stuff and that I create some really large prints...
suggestions on who to use and what substrate might I use...would like metal from adorama?