Thanks, Kieth.
You’ve made several good points in your reply. I am very grateful for your suggestions because I comparatively am new to Pd/Pt printing. My first exposure (pun intended) was at the Cone PiezoDn workshop in the fall of 2016. Since then, I’ve built a darkroom modelled on Jon Cone’s method. My first 50 prints exhibited excellent range in shadow detail and highlights, but, then I took a break from printing. When I returned to it a couple of months later, I started to see the degraded highlights, loss of shadow detail, and increased graininess. An existential crisis ensued.
Most likely, my print problems are not attributable to just one factor, but, are the result of several variables going slightly awry from my initial good luck. I will continue to refine my process until I obtain consistent and predictable results.
I am particularly intrigued by your perspective on drops. I’ve long suspected not all drops are created equal; it’s easy to see that a drop of Palladium solution is fatter than a drop of FO. Eye droppers of differing lengths and diameters seem to produce differing size drops, too. I will take your suggestion and invest in accurate pipettes. Also, at your suggestion, I’m going to try PO as my developer in my next printing session. I will report back on the results.
Mark