Response to how to evalulateand compare negatives

Bill, you asked a good question and you appear to have gotten some equally good answers, hints, encouragements, etc. My suggestion is rather simple: Spend less time worrying about good/bad negatives and more time in your darkroom (or someone's darkroom) actually developing prints. You'll find that there are as many ways to print a negative, whether it is considered good or bad, dense or thin, etc. You'd be amazed how you can print a good print from a negative so thin that your eyes can barely see any image. But printed through 200 magenta of filtration, you can achieve rich blacks and white whites and maybe even grays. Much of the fun of B&W photography begins in the darkroom. Close the door, turn on some favorite music, switch on the safe lights and go for it. Good luck!

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