Digital Printing for the Fine Art Photographer
Seven sessions
of this workshop are currently scheduled for 2009, at the following locations:
(click on name to go to workshop details).
Picture Element Santa Clara, California
The Ansel Adams Gallery Yosemite National Park
Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging Los Osos, California
These workshops will cover what you need to know to make the finest digital prints from your film or digital camera files. From exposure, to adjustment/optimization, to choosing the right printer, I will share the results of extensive testing in my pursuit to make the best possible prints. And beyond the technical details, you will learn ways to make your images stronger and more compelling.
The “Fine Art” in the title just means that you are willing to devote the time and effort to explore and optimize your images to their fullest potential. This class will give you the tools to go beyond your film or digital camera file, and spur your imagination to create stronger interpretations of your images. Much discussion will center on critiquing prints (produced both before and during the class) and exploring what makes an exceptional print. This workshop will engage both the right and left sides of your brain!
There will be a healthy discussion of color management and how to diagnose if a problem is due to your monitor calibration—or your printer profiles—or both! You will receive an invaluable "reference print" that can be used to test your printer, printer profile, and printer dialog settings. The pros and cons of many printer choices will be discussed and demonstrated with actual comparison prints.
This workshop requires homework! About a month before the class, I will mail out my 70 page booklet, Photoshop Techniques: Effective and Efficient Techniques to Optimize Images. This tutorial includes exercise files, so you can practice these techniques at home. You will discover the power of the most versatile adjustment layer of them all—curves. This handout covers what I consider the essential techniques to optimize and fine tune your images. Learning these techniques will not only increase your productivity, but result in stronger interpretations of your own images. I also ask everyone to bring some of their current prints to the workshop for critiques.
I have presented this workshop over sixty times at various locations around the country. As they say, “practice makes perfect”, and I am constantly refining what and how I present the material in this workshop. I strive to eliminate the superfluous, and present just the information that you need to effectively and efficiently process, refine, and print your own images.
Subjects covered will include
WORKFLOW FOR FINE ART PRINTING
The Master file concept
DIGITAL CAMERA FILES
Using Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom
Getting the most of our your digital capture
What to do in Lightroom—and what to save for Photoshop
SCANNING (optional)
Purchase vs. service bureau—do I need my own scanner?
What is a good scan and how to tell
COLOR MANAGEMENT
Using color management to insure consistent results from monitor to final print
How do I get good profiles for my monitor, scanner, and printer?
Using the supplied "reference print" to diagnose your own setup and profiles
IMAGE PROCESSING
Recommended techniques for working on files
Photoshop selection tools—tips and techniques
Setting density and color balance
Retouching, burning and dodging
Preparation of files for output to various printers
Using the “Smart-sharpening” action script (included)
PRINT CRITIQUES
Can my print be stronger? And what to do to improve it
What makes an effective print
PRESENTATION
Archival methods of mounting and matting digital prints
Students will get to fine-tune and print using their own images. I will spend time working with each person individually to discuss and refine the adjustments to your image in RAW development and/or Photoshop. You must be familiar with Photoshop, which would include performing basic tonal adjustments with layers or curves, painting on layer masks, resizing, cropping, etc.
Which workshop to take? All the 3-5 day classes cover essentially the same material. Locations vary, as do facilities and fees charged. The Ansel Adams Workshops include the opportunity to participate in field photography sessions in Yosemite Valley. For the Picture Element Workshops, you will need to bring your own computer/laptop. Picture Element is also offering an "alumni" workshop for those who have survived one of my regular workshops. All the workshops have received excellent ratings from students.
CHARLES CRAMER has been photographing and making prints for 30 years. In 1997, he started scanning his original 4x5 inch transparencies at very high resolution and digitally applying the photographic techniques he used in dye transfer printing. He has taught digital imaging for the Ansel Adams Gallery Workshops, Palm Beach Workshops, Anderson Ranch Workshops, the Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging, the Luminous Landscape workshops, and others. He was also fortunate to have the great Bill Atkinson co-instruct with him at many of these workshops. Charles Cramer’s landscape work has been published by National Geographic Books, Sierra Club, and the Yosemite Association. He has been profiled in PhotoTechniques, PhotoVision, Outdoor Photography (UK), and View Camera Magazines. He is also included in the book “Landscape: The World’s Top Photographers”, now available in paperback! His work can be seen in galleries internationally, and at his website, www.charlescramer.com.
Picture Element
Santa Clara, California (Silicon Valley!)
Three Day Workshops
For workshop description, see the top of this page.
For more information on this class, and/or to sign up, email
Dates for 2009: March 20-22 (session full—waiting list available), June 26-28, Nov. 13-15
Fee for class: $995, plus lab fee of $60 Class limited to 8
Starts Friday 9 AM, ends Sunday 5 PM (with evening sessions on Friday and Saturday)
Since 2001, Bill Atkinson and I co-taught over forty sessions of this workshop at Calypso Imaging. Bill has now retired from teaching workshops, but I will be continuing the workshops at an exciting new facility—Picture Element in Santa Clara.
Picture Element specializes in high-end reproductions of art of all kind, and have a wonderful facility with three large-format Epson printers. Picture Element is also expert in the production of prints on canvas. The classroom is quite large, with an excellent setup for viewing lots of prints at one time. Although they can provide a few computers, most students will need to bring their own laptops with the imaging software that you use.
Photographer Rex Naden will be our full-time assistant. Contact me for information or to enroll.
Alumni Print-Making “Intensive” Session! (Sorry—full! Waiting list available) July 10-12, 2009· Fee: $1095 plus Lab fee of $80 · Limited to 8 · Same meeting times as above · Includes discussions and demonstrations of handling problem images, with majority of class time devoted to helping students optimize and fine-tune their own images, with extra time printing. Prerequisite: Having attended any of my previous workshops.
The Ansel Adams Gallery
Yosemite National Park
Five Day Classes
Last-minute Addition! A special two-day workshop taught with my friend Keith Walklet in Yosemite Making a Photograph: From Field to Print July 18 & 19 Class Fee: $295 This 2-day lecture/demonstration presents highlights from the 3-5 day workshops that Walklet and Cramer present for the Ansel Adams Gallery. This will include valuable insights on photographing in the field, exposure of film and digital captures, and creating effective compositions. Plus techniques that will allow you to optimize these images to their fullest potential using Lightroom and Photoshop, all leading to the creation of compelling prints. This course will "open your eyes" to imagine the many possibilities within your image. The various tips and techniques will then allow you to optimize your images to their fullest and strongest potential. Please email workshops@anseladams.com or call 888-361-7622 for more information and to sign up. |
Dates for 2009: May 13-17, November 5-9 (Sorry—both sessions full—waiting list available)
Fee for class: $1100 Class limited to 8
These five day workshops include field sessions in and around Yosemite Valley. I have chosen the dates for their photographic potential. May will have the freshness of Spring, with lots and lots of water! The dogwood should also be in bloom. The November dates will feature the wonderful variety of Fall color in the Valley. The sun also stays at more of an angle, creating more interesting light.
The Gallery has just remodeled Ansel's workroom (next to his darkroom) for workshop use, so this is a location with lots of history. And the location in the heart of Yosemite Valley is unbeatable. (A few steps out the door, and there's Yosemite Falls!). The Gallery has a collection of excellent printers, including many HP 9180s, an Epson 3800, and an HP Z3100.
I'm proud to have taught workshops for the Ansel Adams gallery for 22 years now, covering subjects from Dye Transfer and Cibachrome Masking to the current digital imaging and printing. (...from the darkroom, to "Lightroom"...)
Rooms have been set aside for workshop participants at Yosemite Lodge in Yosemite Valley.
To sign up , or for more information, go to www.anseladams.com, and click on "Photography Education".
Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging
Los Osos, California
Five Day Class
Date for 2009: August 17-21
Fee for class: $1100 Class limited to 16
The Lepp Institute, founded by George Lepp, has an incredible facility. Fast computers (PC only), dual monitors, and Canon desktop printers for every two people. Theatre-type seating gives everyone a good view of the video projection screen. Los Osos is a delightful smallish town, right next to San Luis Obispo on the central California coast. Morro Bay is also nearby. Although no organized field sessions are planned, there are good spots for photography before and after class. About the last two days of the workshop will be saved for supervised print making using your own images.
For more information, and to enroll, go to the Lepp Institute's webpage