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Color Processing and Printing Workshop – Part 1

Saturday February 29, 10am—4pm
Technology Engagement Center
306 Minerva Drive
Murfreesboro, TN

Fee – $150 per student

This workshop is designed to teach you the processing tools and techniques that have allowed me to make beautiful prints for myself and for my professional clients in over twenty years of fine art printmaking. To maximize the learning potential, this class is limited to four participants. 

This is part one of a series of workshops. We’ll start the day with an overview of the tools and techniques we’ll be working with, and then spend the rest of the day applying those techniques as you process and print your own images. Working hands-on allows us to solve your problems with your images, working towards achieving professional quality results. 

We’ll be working in Photoshop, taking advantage of some of its unique properties that are difficult to replicate in other software. You do not need to be a fluent Photoshop user, but you should be comfortable using editing software and have some experience in file processing. This class is meant to teach foundations, so you don’t need to be an expert! The tools are actually very easy. Learning to “see” how to use them is the hard part, and the aspect we will focus most on. 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/color-processing-and-printing-workshop-part-1-tickets-92033102487

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Hard Drive Costs Late January 2020

Current hard drive costs at a glance with links to purchase from Amazon. I recommend Seagate hard drives because they continue to test as some of the longest lasting drives at backblaze.com.

Highlights for January include a minor price increase on 6Tb and 10TB external drives, as well as slight changes to internal drives as noted. The days of storage prices dropping quickly seem to be over as drive capacities become so large. Also of note is that 2Tb external drives are now all “portable” meaning they are 2.5″ laptop drives that are bus powered. For my main storage I prefer to have external 3.5″ drives that are plugged in to an external power source, so that means buying a 4TB drive or larger.

10TB external drives are still a big savings over 10TB Internal drives. Also, on a cost per TB basis, 10TB drives are getting close enough to the sweet spot of pricing to make them attractive if you need that kind of storage. But I generally don’t recommend buying more than a year’s capacity at a time to protect from price changes. Also remember that a properly backed up “storage set” requires three drives, so buying more than you reasonably need (over provisioning) can suck up a lot of money.

Sometimes external drives are less expensive than internal drives. Advanced users may want to explore “shucking” external drives to save money as the external drives are often, but not always, SATA drives that can be used as an internal drive.

EXTERNAL

2TB $59.99 ($30 per TB) 2.5″ USB powered portable drive
4TB $89.99 ($22.50 per TB)
6TB $109.99 ($18.33 per TB) +$10Change
8TB $139.99 ($17.50 per TB)
10TB $199.99 ($20 per TB)+$20 Change

INTERNAL

2TB $49.99 ($25 per TB)
4TB $79.99 ($19.99 per TB)-$10 Change
6TB $131.99 ($22 per TB)
8TB $149.99 ($18.75 per TB)
10TB $252.98 ($25.29 per TB)+$12 Change
12TB $327 ($27.25 per TB)+$15 Change
14TB $439.99 ($31.40 per TB)
16TB $484.99 ($30.31 per TB)+$6 Change

I’m an Amazon affiliate so I receive a small commission from each sale.

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Canon PRO-100 Printer for $179.99

B&H has a great rebate on the Canon PRO-100 printer for the next few days if you are looking for a bargain printer to print photos at home. This is the same printer I’m currently using on my workshops because it’s portable and produces pretty good quality. Larger printers don’t like to be moved because they can spill ink and they are heavy, so this is a good choice for my workshops needs when I need to bring a printer.

This printer first shipped in 2012, so it’s not the latest technology, but it does offer three shades of gray ink which helps B&W photos look better. If you want something better, you’ll be spending in the $600+ range. The PRO-1000 will offer you much better print quality, but the PRO-100 (confusing names, right?) is a great choice for someone who wants to print at home with good results but wants to spend as little as possible.

Printers are “disposable” items. The cost of a full set of ink for this printer is $125, and a print head is in the $200 range, so you are basically getting a free printer. And if it dies, the cost effective solution is to just buy another one. Or buy the Canon extended warranty from B&H when you purchase.

A couple buying tips here.

Buy the Extended Warranty

Always buy the manufacturer extended warranty for your printers. There are all kinds of ways they can fail, and with more expensive printers, it can cost you a lot of money. Buy the extended warranty and roll it into the total cost of ownership. If your printer dies out of warranty, it’s often more cost effective to just buy a new printer.

Wait for Rebates/Sales

Canon and Epson are always running sales and rebates on their printers, so never pay retail! Wait for rebate. Rebates are often vendor specific, so it pays to look at multiple vendors when you are ready to buy.

Printers are “Disposable” Items

A full set of ink for this printer is $125, and a print head is in the $200 range, so you are basically getting a free printer. If it dies, the cost effective solution is to just buy another one. Or buy the Canon extended warranty from B&H when you purchase and let them deal with it.

It’s a great deal while it lasts if the more expensive printers don’t fit your budget.

FYI, I am not a B&H affiliate, so they aren’t paying me to write it. 🙂

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Canon, how about a PDF manual?

Frustration this morning that the manual for the Canon Pro-100 printer is their proprietary document application that will stop working with future versions of the Mac OS. Imaging if there was a Portable Document Format (you could name it PDF for short) that would let you put the manual into a format that could be read on any platform like every other manufacturer does. Canon isn’t the only one that does this but it gets my ire today, and earns a spot on my gripe list. I get that no company is perfect, but this should be so obvious at this point.

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Danger of Sneaker Waves

Surf and Rocks, Big Sur, California

A tragic story out of Cannon Beach, Oregon this weekend as a father and his two children swept out to sea, with one child dead and the other missing. died, should remind us all that there can be real danger in photographing near the ocean.

There are lots of ways to get yourself in danger from fast rising tides to sneaker waves. Sneaker waves are usually large waves that suddenly appear out of no where, and can put you into life of death situations. They are rare, but they do happen, and it’s scary to see a wave twice the height of the normal sets appear out of nowhere.

The ocean, particularly the rugged Pacific coast, is a very wild area that demand your respect and tests your knowledge. Even with long hours spent observing and learning the conditions, you can still put yourself in danger. I know of several close calls with photographer friends, and the tragedy this weekend is a sobering reminder of what can happen.

High surf days are incredible to behold, and very photogenic, but never turn your back on the ocean. Make sure you gain the knowledge you need to stay safe. No photo is worth your life.

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Robert Glenn Ketchum & Eliot Porter: On Seeing Color

Booth Museum, Cartersville Georgia
March 7 – July 26, 2020

Robert Glenn Ketchum is one of America’s foremost conservation photographers, working to protect wilderness from development with landmark books “The Tongass: Alaska’s Vanishing Rain Forest”, numerous exhibits, and his leadership in the International League of Conservation Photographers. 

This upcoming exhibit explores the influence Elliot Porter’s work had on Ketchum, with an in depth display of Ketchum’s work through the years.

Of special note to my photographer friends is the planned panel discussion on March 7th. Ketchum has worked in most of the major color mediums of the 20th and 21st century, from Dye Transfer, Cibachrome, Fujicolor prints, Metal, and Inkjet, fighting through the technical challenges of each medium to convey his vision. Part of the panel discussion will be sharing those experiences. 

I’ll be posting more details about this show soon. I am planning on attending the opening, and look forward to seeing so much or Ketchum’s work in the magnificent setting of the Booth Museum. The show includes several large format Fuji Prints that I and my team at West Coast Imaging made for Ketchum that I have never seen in their final framed state. Hope to see you there!