Hey, Louise, you need to read up on what VC paper is all about! The paper allows you to use specially made filters to get different degrees of contrast. This way low-contrast negatives and high-contrast negatives can be printed on paper from the same box, and you need not buy graded paper, each sheet of which has only one contrast. As has been suggested, you may be printing a real low-contrast negative, and without the right filter, the VC paper just isn't contrasty enough to give nice blacks and whites. Ask your camera-store guy to show you some filters.(posted 8549 days ago)