i need to find out what i should look for in photopaper

[Snively Dowrong]

hmm yes, it appears im in a bit of a pickle. im looking to explore the advantages of different brands and types of photo-paper. but how can i do that if i dont know what are the differences. ive seen labels saying warm and cold tones, neutral and rich tones, and many other perplexing things. can any one help to enlighten me on the meaning of these words and what are advantages of different types of paper?

 

[Torus34]

Warm and cold tones are just that. A warm tone paper will have grays which are slightly to the brown side of neutral gray. A cold tone paper will have grays which are slightly to the blue side of neutral gray.

Resin coated papers have a coating which protects the paper base stock from absorbing water during processing. This reduces washing time.

Variable contrast papers change their contrast according to the color of the light exposing them. They require an enlarger with a color head or an external set of filters.

Which should you get? It depends on your personal taste. Few have gone wrong purchasing Ilford.

 

[joyride]

Look into just starting out with the small packs (25 or so sheets). That way you can experiment with everything. Also, You will always get into that situation when you need a ceratin type of paper. And you can probably find the Illford stuff in the 25+15 packs for around $15 (gotta love free paper!)

I have used Illford paper and it works very well. I typically use Variable contrast RC (resin coated) pearl in 8 X 10.

One thing that Torus forgot to mention is the finish of the paper. Illford has matte, pearl (luster), and glossy. The matte has no gloss to it, the pearl has a little, and (obviously) gloss has a lot. I find that the pearl is a nice medium, that can work for almost any shot.