Next issue: Choice of paper

I am primarily shooting Nature shots. Avian and some landscape. If you have a special photograph that you are printing to "hang on the wall" what paper choice would you make?

Peter

Again, there are no right or wrong choices here, just personal preferences. I have tested quite a few different papers, and I decided on Moab Entrada Natural. It's archival, has a nice texture, and IMO, looks as nice as the more expensive Hahnemuhle paper. It's a matte finish, which I greatly prefer to glossy. I wasn't happy with the free Moab printer profile however, and decided to purchase a Chromix custom profile, which is fantastic!

Ilford Gallerie Smooth Pearl is my favorite used with Epson Ultrachrome K3 inks. The Ilford .icc profile stinks. Roll your own.

Like Bill said, this is a very subjective choice. I would suggest getting 8x10 sample packs from different manufacturers to compare the look. Most places that carry photo-quality papers also carry the sample packs (e.g. type "inkjet sample pack" into the search field at B&H's site).
I recommend looking at samples from Ilford and Hahnemuhle.

Guy

Sample packs. I didn't know about them! Thanks for the tip it is exactly the kind of information us new guys need.

Peter

Peter, if you want to compare prints from your printer against ones from a pro lab you can also request free print samples on various papers from some labs (e.g. West Coast Imaging). These are also useful to have around if you need to use the lab to order prints larger than what your printer can accommodate.

Guy

Guy,

Now I have done that too!

With appreciation,
Peter

I was a Moab Entrada user. I recently switched to Hahnemuhle Photo Rag. The Moab is slightly warm for my tastes. Samplers are a good idea.

Our own Michael Gordon did a great custom profile for me for my paper. Sometimes the generic profiles work fine, but it can't hurt to have a custom profile done. His price was extremely reasonable with very quick turnaround.