One thing I haven’t done at all really is play around with different ink jet papers. My thinking is simple – there is so much to master in all the tools I use – Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. – and so many techniques to learn that adding one more variable is something I just wasn’t interested in doing.
I made the decision right at the start to go with matte papers. The paper I chose was Epson Enhanced Matte, now renamed to Premium Presentation Paper – Matte. The decision was based on my desire to produce photographs that look more like paintings. A glossy or even luster surface shouts “photograph!” But people don’t expect to see photographs on matte surfaces. At shows, people frequently ask if my works are paintings.
So Epson Enhanced Matte paper has worked out very well for me and I still stand by my original decision. It’s my paper of choice. But I had no idea what I was getting into.