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View Full Version : Defend the Darkroom Workshops . Toronto May 2013



bob carnie
12-Mar-2013, 12:21
Elevator is hosting a series of workshops this May in conjunction with Toronto's Contact Photo Festival.

The workshop leaders are all well know members of this community and really excellent teachers in their respective workflows.
I hope some of you find this of interest and join us.


DEFEND THE DARKROOM WORKSHOPS

1. DIGITAL NEGATIVE TO PICTORICO NEG

Palladium Printing from Digital Negatives made with QTR
Ron Reeder, Instructor

Course Description
We will learn to work with the QuadTone RIP, a third party printer driver that affords complete control over the inks of an Epson ink jet printer. With QTR we will learn to make digital negatives that are precisely tailored for contact printing on a palladium emulsion. Such negatives make prints that equal or surpass anything made from analog, wet darkroom negatives. While calibrating the negatives we will also be learning how to make an optimal palladium print, with clean highlights and a full tonal range extending to a deep black. We will be printing in palladium because it is actually one of the easiest and most reproducible of the "alternative" photo printing processes to learn.

The first part of the workshop will be lecture and demonstration. However, there will also be time for students to make negatives and prints from their own image files.

Students should have a working knowledge of Photoshop (or else the learning curve will be very steep!). All work will be done on Mac computers and Epson printers. Students should bring some image files to work on. Ideally they should be grayscale in 16bit depth. But in fact, we can work from any digital file. If students have a laptop running Photoshop, they should bring it as well as a memory stick to transfer files from one computer to another.



Dates, Fees and Location

This is a two day intensive workshop and will be held at Elevator's main location - # 5 - 105 Vanderhoof Avenue. This workshop will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis. If this workshop fills, Ron has agreed to consider a second round if numbers warrant.

Fees will be $350 per participant with a $50 lab fee. This gives each student enough pictorico and palladium solution to make test prints under Ron's guidance. A $200 deposit will be required to reserve your spot. There is a cutoff date for cancellation and the full balance will be required by March 31 2013 to confirm your spot. The workshop will run on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27. The second workshop (if numbers warrant) will be Sunday, April 28 and Monday, April 29.



2. MONOCHROME CARBON TRANSFER

Carbon Printing with Digital Negatives
Sandy King, Instructor

Course Description
Carbon is one of the oldest of all photographic processes, having been introduced more or less in its present form in 1864 by the Englishman Joseph W. Swan. Carbon is a contact printing process that gives a final image that consists of a pigment suspended in hardened gelatin. Carbon is without question the premier photographic printmaking process in all of history. Carbon prints have a unique image quality characterized by surface relief and a very long tonal scale with an almost absolutely straight-line curve. Prints can be made in a wide range of colors and tones, the choice limited only by the availability of suitable tissue, and when suitable pigments are used the prints are extremely stable. Our approach in the workshop is hybrid, combining the best of the old, the carbon process, with contemporary methods of image controls through Photoshop and the production of high quality digital negatives with Epson photo printers.

In the carbon transfer workshop in Toronto the students will learn everything necessary to make their own carbon prints. There will be discussions of all the materials, equipment and supplies needed for printing with carbon, including information about light sources. The participants will learn to make carbon tissue, starting from the raw materials of gelatin, sugar and pigments, and will use this homemade tissue in printing. All of the various steps in making a carbon print will be explored in depth, including sensitizing carbon tissue to make it sensitive to UV light, preparation of final support papers, mating the sensitized and exposed tissue with a final support, and development of the carbon print in warm water.

There will also be a very thorough session devoted to using Epson printers and the QTR driver to produce high quality digital negatives that can be used for carbon printing, or with appropriate curve modifications, with other alternative processes.

For more information about Sandy King and his work see www.sandykingphotography.com


Dates, Fees and Location

This is a three day workshop and will be held at Elevator's main location - # 5 - 105 Vanderhoof Avenue.

Fees will be $600 per participant with a $50 lab fee which will cover materials to make prints and negatives for this course. A $300 deposit will be required to reserve your spot. There is a cutoff date for cancellation and the full balance will be required by March 31 2013 to confirm your spot. The workshop will run on Friday May 3, Saturday May 4 and Sunday May 5.

3. SILVER PRINTING

Steve Sherman, Instructor

Course Description
A working knowledge of Silver Printing should be a prerequisite as I plan on covering a number of little known printing techniques through a half day's demonstration. These techniques will be applied to Multi-Contrast silver materials which are currently available. My style and goals in teaching are to share the hows and whys certain controls work rather than just demonstrating. This approach leads directly into the students having a hands on experience while I and my assistant will problem solve the remaining two days. Archival printing and toning methods will be demonstrated during all phases of the wet process. Split contrast printing, print flashing, bleaching, and toning are just a few of the techniques I will explain and demonstrate.

I plan on showing some of my own finished work and encourage all to bring work of their own, preferably problem negatives that can be used for teaching and corrective discussions.

Steve is from the Rocky Hill Connecticut USA. He is a master printer of Silver Gelatin Prints. His work is collected internationally and is in the permanent collection of the University of Louisville Photo Archives as well as this year's SNAP live auction.

One of Sherman's images and personal endorsement was used by the Agfa-Geavert Company to promote their printing papers in an early 90's ad campaign. For years the Robert Klein Gallery in Boston, MA represented his work where he received numerous positive critiques from art critics. One reviewer described his work as "absolutely breathtaking with clarity and depth indescribable." Currently Sherman's work is represented by the Paul Paletti Gallery in Louisvile, Kentucky, USA.

For more than 30 years Sherman has been printing silver gelatin in the wet darkroom using the finest single graded papers employing a host of techniques to manipulate the image to his liking. The past 10 years Sherman has used Multi-Contrast papers and finds those same techniques allow for greater darkroom manipulation and creative control over the graded papers of years gone by.

Dates, Fees, Location

Fees will be $400 plus $50 lab fee, which will cover chemistry and some paper. A deposit of $200 will be required to reserve your spot. There is a cutoff date for cancellation and the full balance will be required by April 10th, 2013 to confirm your spot.



This will be a two and half day workshop where the first after noon will be at the main darkroom at Elevator's main location (# 5 - 105 Vanderhoof Avenue) where Steve will go over the in's and outs of making a fine art enlargement on silver gelatin paper. The next two days will be again at Elevatord main location where each participant will have an enlarger to work with and, under Steve's guidance, will craft prints using your own negatives.

Friday, May 24 - 1pm - 5pm
- Nothing required to bring other than enthusiasm to watch a master carve out an image on Ilford Warmtone
Saturday, May 25 - 9am -5pm
- You will be assigned an enlarger with appropriate lens and negative stage, bring your negatives. And Portfolio for review with Steve
Sunday, May 26 - 9am - 3pm sharp
- same details as Saturday

Considerations and Expectations for all three couses

- Attendees will want to become familiar with the different process they are considering .
- These courses are aimed at those who have some understanding printing in a wet darkroom
- Clothes should be old and an apron is recommended.
- Lunch will be available for purchase by order.
- Beverages will be available for purchase.
- There will be an assistant to help you during the day while the instructor is busy with others if you are getting stuck.
- We ask that Mobile devices are turned off while the instructors are teaching and we expect everyone to be on time and ready to learn and work with others.
- Each participate will have equal access to equipment. Thse courses are not about volume printing.

Mark Sawyer
12-Mar-2013, 13:03
DEFEND THE DARKROOM WORKSHOPS

1. DIGITAL NEGATIVE TO PICTORICO NEG
Palladium Printing from Digital Negatives made with QTR...

2. MONOCHROME CARBON TRANSFER
Carbon Printing with Digital Negatives...


Alas, a sign of the times... :(

Andrew O'Neill
12-Mar-2013, 14:39
Yes, but it's certainly helping keep these old processes alive.

sanking
12-Mar-2013, 20:40
Alas, a sign of the times... :(

It is a wonderful thing that some people find a way to work with analog negatives, especially large format and ultra large format, with silver gelatin and alternative printing processes. And having made hundreds of prints with alternative processes like vandyke, kallitype, pt/pd and carbon transfer via large format and ultra large format negatives exposed with cameras ranging in size from 6X7cm to 20X24" my "pedigree" in the realm of the purely analog is not bad, all things considered.

On the other hand, I find it equally wonderful that we are able to keep alive old processes like carbon transfer, truly one of the aristocrats of photographic printing processes, and platinum, with modern hybrid type printing methods which may involve either digital or film capture. And not only keep them alive, but create a enriched imagery. Over the years I have been privileged to be involved in workshops with photographers with very diverse ideologies about format, type of capture, and goals. Inspiring images, in any photographic medium, can be made with pinholes, zone platees, meniscus lenses, Holgas, Leicas, DSLRs as well as large format and ultra large format film cameras.
Sandy

JMB
13-Mar-2013, 05:50
Alas, a sign of the times... :(


War is peace, the banal is conceptual.

ghostcount
13-Mar-2013, 07:25
Alas, a sign of the times... :(

"Can we all (just) get along?" - Rodney (R.I.P. June 17, 2012)

Mark Sawyer
13-Mar-2013, 13:05
Sorry, guys, didn't mean to come across quite so negative. It just seemed odd that a "Defend the Darkroom" series had so much digital content, but I suppose it's the new normal...

We just do whatever we do, it's all good...

bob carnie
13-Mar-2013, 13:38
Mark

We have secured two url's Defend the Darkroom.net and Defend the Darkroom.ca

We emailed Ilford to ask permission to use this name, which we were granted. It is part of their campaign of introducing products that can be used in a darkroom. We plan to move forward with this web name to showcase exactly what a darkroom is capable of and the joys of enlarger printing and yes contact printing from larger film produced in different ways.
Too many people diss the darkroom and our intent is to vocally defend its attributes. I cringe every time I hear someone here talking about how glad they are working in a lightroom and have dumped all their darkroom gear, and how great their new prints are vs the old. I just guess they were lousy printers and the darkroom was too much of a challenge.

Steve Sherman's Course has no digital element , but is strictly enlarger based and we are 2 spots from sold out on his workshop.

In no way are we trying to diss analoque negative methods of making Carbon Prints or Pt Pd, but yes it is a new normal for us as we are trying to entice young photographers to see more options of producing their work via converting their digital files to BW and making digital negative for contact purpose.
We are seeing a great interest in alternative printmaking and encourage any way of getting their digital files to archival materials. Most of our students are young or young of heart and to watch Sandy work his magic is wonderful for me.

We were going to have Bill Schwab do a wet plate workshop this series, with his ether mobile trailer but because of his Kickstarter project we cancelled to give him some breathing room.

FWIW we have a Cannon 5d and a Hassalblad phase back onsite now for over five years and to date I have never taken a digital photograph. I am using 8x10 century Camera and 4x5 Sinar to expose film and solarize, which I then print on our big enlargers.
I do think that once I master the carbon process and able to add colour pigments , I will pick up the digital camera to work on a colour project using old and new methods.
I am lucky enough to have Jobo processors and a Fuji account to get their film cheap when specials are announced for labs and dealers, and since we scan and print I have never felt the need to pick up the digital camera.

Pictorico is a amazing way for those not blessed with ULF cameras to make film, We have figured out how to put real film through our Lambda and make negatives for those who would like to work from silver rather than inkjet negs. But its all good as far as I can tell , as we are all using the same end products to make the prints and with more people experimenting and buying product the better for our community as a whole.

All this happening in a ten year stretch, who would have imagined.


I lied , I have a Nokia camera phone which I do use.





Sorry, guys, didn't mean to come across quite so negative. It just seemed odd that a "Defend the Darkroom" series had so much digital content, but I suppose it's the new normal...

Mark Sawyer
13-Mar-2013, 16:53
I'm sure it will be a great workshop, Bob, and the attendees will get a lot out of it. I'm just a grump who still can't adjust... :rolleyes:

Zero_Equals_Infinity
13-Mar-2013, 19:32
Bob, please keep in mind that Pictorico is no longer distributed in Canada, and that quality paper is also hard to come by up here. (I am sure you know this already.) People who want to purchase Pictorico can get it from either B&H, Mitsubishi Imaging or Bostick & Sullivan. Wolfitz was selling Arches Platine, (they still may be), but the last batch I was working with suffered from the dreaded black spot plague. Bostick & Sullivan offers a number of papers. Do keep in mind with any orders, (other than to B&H who seem to have worked out a reasonable cost for shipping), that shipping can set one back 50% or more of the purchase price. That is truly sad, and driving to Bostick & Sullivan is not a day trip.

One other thing: Sandy King has been working with using the Jon Cone inkset for digital negatives. Jon takes a lot of the pain out of creating QTR curves by providing curves which should only require minor tweaking in photoshop using his Method 3. The link points to Sandy's article, posted with permission on Jon Cone's website.

See http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPress/blog/sandy-king-on-carbon-printing-with-piezography-digital-negatives/

Also, if anyone has any feedback on their experience with the reworked Revere Platinum paper, I am all ears, as I am on the verge of pulling the trigger on an order from Bostick and Sullivan, (even though the transportation costs are high.)

Frank_E
14-Mar-2013, 06:08
Bob, I looked for the sign up information on your message and couldn't find it. Also couldn't find it on your web site. The new URL you mentioned for this workshop doesn't seem to be active yet. Can you post how we sign up. Did send a message to Elevator through your web site.
Thanks.
Frank

bob carnie
14-Mar-2013, 07:36
Hi Frank

send me a direct email bob@elevatordigital.ca and I will get you the direct link.

glad your interested.. two spots only left on Steve Shermans, then it goes to waiting list.

regards

Bob

Bob, I looked for the sign up information on your message and couldn't find it. Also couldn't find it on your web site. The new URL you mentioned for this workshop doesn't seem to be active yet. Can you post how we sign up. Did send a message to Elevator through your web site.
Thanks.
Frank

Andrew O'Neill
14-Mar-2013, 09:50
Bob, please keep in mind that Pictorico is no longer distributed in Canada

I buy pictorico-like film from a local silk screen supply company in Vancouver. I swear it's the same stuff. They have stuff for laser and inkjet printing. Check your area for a screen printing supplier.

bob carnie
14-Mar-2013, 10:36
We purchase online from the States with no issues, we in the past have ordered it through Henrys here in Toronto they had it in stock. If we go further down this wormhole we will ask Henrys to stock it for our clients. As well we are soon to launch our silver negs off the lambda with our bulk printing service. www.pressandgo.ca
So making / getting the film is a no brainer.

I buy pictorico-like film from a local silk screen supply company in Vancouver. I swear it's the same stuff. They have stuff for laser and inkjet printing. Check your area for a screen printing supplier.

Zero_Equals_Infinity
15-Mar-2013, 03:34
We purchase online from the States with no issues, we in the past have ordered it through Henrys here in Toronto they had it in stock. If we go further down this wormhole we will ask Henrys to stock it for our clients. As well we are soon to launch our silver negs off the lambda with our bulk printing service. www.pressandgo.ca
So making / getting the film is a no brainer.

That would be a tremendous service. Be sure to have some preprinted step wedges available so that a client can run their own calibration exposures for printing. That way we can apply a correction curve in Photoshop before sending the file to you. I do Pt/Pd printing with a Nuarc 26-1K, and wanted to try fumed silica treated Revere Platinum as the paper. In conjunction with that, what if we sent you back a print of the step wedge you provide? Could you then for an additional charge create and store a custom profile for the Lambda to be used when we send in a file to be printed as a negative on film?

This is tremendously exciting, as it would lift a tremendous burden from the alternate printer. For once the alternate printer will be grateful for living in Canada.

P.S. Now about stocking paper and chemistry .... ? (Ok, a bridge too far, but a person can dream.) But pooling orders to Bostick and Sullivan could help with the expense which is transportation. I still get ticked at transportation adding a 50%+ surcharge to a purchase from the U.S. in some cases.

Addended to add, that the folks at Bostick and Sullivan are passionate about alternate printing, and are great people to deal with.

Len Middleton
15-Mar-2013, 06:26
Bob,

Thank you for your prior advanced notice when we met last year, but alas will be out of the country working in Africa at that time.

I will be expecting you to tell me how much I missed when I next talk to you after it is all over.

Good luck and thank you for your considerable efforts in organizing this event.

Hopefully it will be successful enough that you will have it again next year and I might be able to attend then,

Len

gene LaFord
15-Mar-2013, 15:12
These are great workshops. Having seen both Sandy King and Steve Sherman in action, if you can sign up for their classes do so!

gene

bob carnie
16-Mar-2013, 02:07
Thanks Len and Gene , the support is appreciated.


The new home for our workshops and things related to the darkoom and us can be found at www.defendthedarkroom.ca this site just went up its barebones as we need a place to direct people to the things our Lab and clients are doing throughout the year.
Like I said its very rough right now but the links to pay for the workshops are live and for some that was a concern as we signed up a couple of people from this site, the hard way.

bob carnie
18-Mar-2013, 12:46
Steve Sherman has one spot left, after that it would be waiting list.

bob carnie
18-Mar-2013, 12:58
Steve Sherman is fully booked , we will only take waiting list , at this point.

Kodachrome25
18-Mar-2013, 17:27
Steve Sherman is fully booked , we will only take waiting list , at this point.

Whew, that made it easier, I need to get my darn passport renewed...

bob carnie
2-Apr-2013, 14:40
We are about a month away , spots still left for Ron and Sandy's course.
Steve Sherman has sold out, we would squeeze one person in if so desired, Sherman has lost a lot of weight this past year so there is a bit more room in the darkroom.
92547[ATTACH=CONFIG]92548

bob carnie
28-Apr-2013, 04:16
94178
So the first workshop is finished, Thanks Ron Reeder for a wonderful session, Paulette beside Ron, organized a nice workshop and as you can see
all participants walked home with some pretty nice pt pd prints , Using Rons QTR method.
We are getting set for the next workshop with Sandy King in five days and I will post an image of the group with their Carbon Prints.

Frank_E
28-Apr-2013, 05:36
Great workshop, great instructor (and a real fun guy, with a wonderful artistic sense), great camaraderie, great prints (left with 5 very nice prints), great sushi afterwards. Bob, thanks for organizing and hosting, I am now committed to doing more of this type of printing

(by the way, that's me fourth from the left…..)

bob carnie
28-Apr-2013, 05:39
Oh ya , I am the one on the left that looks like Brad Pitt with Glasses, Laura my lovely wife is at my side.
Thanks Frank for participating.

joho
28-Apr-2013, 06:43
I am interested in exchanging views and practical experience in different processes.
especially from classical LF to digital and back to a permeant ikon.

bob carnie
28-Apr-2013, 06:45
Maybe a workshop in Toronto is in your future.

I am interested in exchanging views and practical experience in different processes.
especially from classical LF to digital and back to a permeant ikon.

sanking
28-Apr-2013, 09:34
So the first workshop is finished, Thanks Ron Reeder for a wonderful session, Paulette beside Ron, organized a nice workshop and as you can see
all participants walked home with some pretty nice pt pd prints , Using Rons QTR method.
We are getting set for the next workshop with Sandy King in five days and I will post an image of the group with their Carbon Prints.

Congratulations to Ron and to all of the participants for a productive workshop. Sounds like you fellows had a great time.

I am looking forward to the carbon workshop later this week. BTW, it has been very cold here in South Carolina the past few days. Hopefully it will be warm and balmy in Toronto?

Sandy

Dave Wooten
28-Apr-2013, 13:12
I recommend the carbon workshop.
Sandy is a thorough and knowledgeable instructor.
His prints are "jaw droppers"!

bob carnie
7-May-2013, 09:18
94687

Sandys workshop has finished, you can see that many enjoyed his expertise and walked away with a great appreciation for Carbon.

The only downturn was the silly hat Sandy brought up for me.

sanking
7-May-2013, 11:00
Sandys workshop has finished, you can see that many enjoyed his expertise and walked away with a great appreciation for Carbon.

The only downturn was the silly hat Sandy brought up for me.

Having a good idea of Bob's taste in hats I tried to find the ugliest Clemson cap on the market to take him as a gift. I appear to have exceeded even my expectations in terms of ugly!

It was good to visit Elevator Digital again and see in person such high quality printing, mounting and framing. This is one of the class outfits in North America and if you have printing needs that can not be done in your work space Elevator is a place that can most likely satisfy your standards, be it for color printing, B&W digital inkjet or digital silver, or silver printing from negatives on silver fiber papers. Bob is a contemporary master at what he does, and in spite of his meek and humble manner, one of the best printers in the business.

And whenever you see Bob with his hat I know you will want to yell, "Go Clemson".

Sandy

gene LaFord
7-May-2013, 17:46
Having a good idea of Bob's taste in hats I tried to find the ugliest Clemson cap on the market to take him as a gift. I appear to have exceeded even my expectations in terms of ugly!

It was good to visit Elevator Digital again and see in person such high quality printing, mounting and framing. This is one of the class outfits in North America and if you have printing needs that can not be done in your work space Elevator is a place that can most likely satisfy your standards, be it for color printing, B&W digital inkjet or digital silver, or silver printing from negatives on silver fiber papers. Bob is a contemporary master at what he does, and in spite of his meek and humble manner, one of the best printers in the business.

And whenever you see Bob with his hat I know you will want to yell, "Go Clemson".

Sandy

Pictures... we want pictures!!!!

bob carnie
27-May-2013, 11:02
95854

So we have finished Defend The Darkroom workshops for this Contact Photo Festival with a Steve Sherman Silver printing weekend

Steve and Tim (climbabout) were great and we all had a good time.


I would like to thank Ron Reeder, Sandy King and Steve Sherman for imparting their collective wisdom with our people.
Next year April , May , June and July 2014 we are bringing all three back and have confirmed Christina Anderson (gum) Bill Schwab and I would like to see our friend Sam Wang come back to Toronto.
We are open to others wanting to showcase their skills that end up with wet prints and encourage you to email me at bob@elevatordigital.ca with your proposals.


These workshops should fit into my idea of what is possible in a Darkroom and the mixing of Digital and Traditional is a seem-less evolving trend in Photography and I am
happy to be part of DEFEND THE DARKROOM movement.