A little rant about contrast, beginners, and gaining experience printing

[brian steinberger]

A horrible day printing is better than an average day doing anything else, at least for me.

So true. And even on those horrible printing days you still learn.

[jglass]

I'd just like to say, to prevent beginners getting discourage: YOU CAN TAKE UP WET PRINTING AND GET BEAUTIFUL RESULTS VERY SOON WITH VERY LITTLE OUTLAY, in time and money.

Bob Carnie and you other great printers are talking about working towards mastering the craft and I'm sure you are right on.

But beginners should also be assured that there is an incredible amount of enjoyment and satisfaction -- and lovely prints even --even before you hit 100 hours. That's been my experience.

[stradibarrius]

I am a violin maker and make custom "handmade" violin for professional musicians. Several years ago, I sat down and calculated the number of man hours I had spent in the work shop learning my craft. Reading books studying violins made by Stradivari and Guarnari. Making saw dust so to speak. Some complete failures and some successes. At that time I calculated that I had spent more than 11,000 hours working, taking baby and giant steps forward. Making mistakes that became firewood...but in the end there is no substitute for putting the chisel to the wood.
So I agree that the only real way to truly learn what you are doing is to "do it", whatever "it" is. You will either find the journey, success and failure, enjoyable and continue to move forward or decide that you are satisfied with being where you are or maybe even that this journey is not for you.
Obviously there are some people that have more success during the learning process. They seem to have a "talent" for music, photography, painting etc. and find their calling.
Having said all of that, forums like APUG provide a virtual classroom so that the people with experience and proven results can become the professors for those of us who have yet to achieve the skill level necessary to find our own way. Your experience helps shorten the journey and keep us from wasting time and resources in a direction that is completely wrong. There is an old saying "where there is a will, there is a way" and if you want to learn you will find a way to move forward.
Unlimited time and money make make the journey faster but may not shorten the distance. For me and my violin making skills, I have not reached the destination and continue to move forward in my quest to make the next violin better than the last.
For all of us beginners, a single failure does not equal defeat, it is only another step in the learning journey.
For all of you "professors" be patient with you "students" and try to remember when you knowledge base was small and you asked the basic questions that beginners ask.

Your passion for the endeavor will determine the distance you are willing to travel down the path.

[tim k]

I am a violin maker and make custom "handmade" violin for professional musicians. Several years ago, I sat down and calculated the number of man hours I had spent in the work shop learning my craft. Reading books studying violins made by Stradivari and Guarnari. Making saw dust so to speak. Some complete failures and some successes. At that time I calculated that I had spent more than 11,000 hours working, taking baby and giant steps forward. Making mistakes that became firewood...but in the end there is no substitute for putting the chisel to the wood.
So I agree that the only real way to truly learn what you are doing is to "do it", whatever "it" is. You will either find the journey, success and failure, enjoyable and continue to move forward or decide that you are satisfied with being mediocre.
Obviously there are some people that have more success during the learning process. They seem to have a "talent" for music, photography, painting etc. and find their calling.
Having said all of that, forums like APUG provide a virtual classroom so that the people with experience and proven results can become the professors for those of us who have yet to achieve the skill level necessary to find our own way. Your experience helps shorten the journey and keep us from wasting time and resources in a direction that is completely wrong. There is an old saying "where there is a will, there is a way" and if you want to learn you will find a way to move forward.
Unlimited time and money make make the journey faster but may not shorten the distance. For me and my violin making skills, I have not reached the destination and continue to move forward in my quest to make the next violin better than the last.
For all of us beginners, a single failure does not equal defeat, it is only another step in the learning journey.
For all of you "professors" be patient with you "students" and try to remember when you knowledge base was small and you asked the basic questions that beginners ask.

Your passion for the endeavor will determine the distance you are willing to travel down the path.

Very well said.

[goldenimage]

I used to teach art, most of my students were older folks that wanted to take oil painting lessons, i enjoyed it very much. one of my students was very proud of her paintings and she showed them to a friend of hers who was an "accomplished artist" (whatever the hell that is) her friend told her that not everyone can paint, you are either an artist or you arn't, but she should continue taking the class because she seemed to enjoy it so much. that student never returned to my class, and her painting ended up in the trash can . I think that everyone is teachable, I read a quote one time that read "the greater the artist, the greater the doubt, perfect confidence is given to the less talented as a consolation prize."

[Bob Carnie]

Lith Tip

Ever notice how your first print of the day does not have the same tone and look as your better prints??

When you mix fresh lith chems, I always throw in the dev a lot of old paper exposed to light and let it sit and develop out in the tray for about 10-20 minutes.
Kind of ages or perks up your developer and your first prints get the look.

[Tom Stanworth]

Or add 'old brown' - seasoned lith dev.

Printing takes HUGE time and experience to be able to do a great job on pretty well any neg. Years ago i could print some negs great, but others frustrated me. Now I am a whole lot better, thanks to small improvements over years. Getting attuned to flashing and fogging help, and solving the mechanical niggles that can frustrate like reflections off easels, all help to build a more enjoyable experience.

I am currently shooting a reportage project and using a pro to do the printing due to time contraints when back in the UK. but I am still printing. Some of the prints exhibited will be mine, but others will not be. I have set the quality bar very high and just dont have the time bck home to be able to work to that standard in all cases. Those that I did not pull off too well, contribute to better experience, as do those I get to the standard I want. Still, I feel I am getting stronger on my printing with every failure and hard won 'great print'.

It might sound odd, but it took a lot of work to transition from landscapes to people prints. It requires a different visual appreciation and skill application IMO and after a couple of years working at it, I feel I am mostly there. alrthough some of the skills are 'technique' bases and can be taught, a lot is about your eye and that just takes time and experience. There is no short cut, only the 'learning bin.'

[Worker 11811]

I used to teach art, most of my students were older folks that wanted to take oil painting lessons, i enjoyed it very much. one of my students was very proud of her paintings and she showed them to a friend of hers who was an "accomplished artist" (whatever the hell that is) her friend told her that not everyone can paint, you are either an artist or you arn't, but she should continue taking the class because she seemed to enjoy it so much. that student never returned to my class, and her painting ended up in the trash can . I think that everyone is teachable, I read a quote one time that read "the greater the artist, the greater the doubt, perfect confidence is given to the less talented as a consolation prize."

Many years ago, I entered a couple of my photos in the county fair. They didn't win any prizes but that's not what disappointed me. The thing that upset me was the photo that won. It was an out of focus, badly exposed, flash photo of a cat sitting on a living room rug which was obviously taken with a disposable "Instamatic" camera!

There were other photos that I thought were better than mine. The way I figured, I could have taken honorable mention. There were at least three that were better than mine but none of those won any ribbons either!

No black and white photos won any ribbons. No photos that were simply dry mounted won any ribbons. (Frames were not required by the rules.) There was no theme requirement for the exhibition which would disqualify a photo because of the subject and, on the tag you have to affix to the back of your entries, there is a box where the judges make a check mark if you are DQ. They also have to write a reason for DQ-ing an entry.

It's bad form to complain at a competition so I just took my stuff and went home. I mentioned it to my family and none of them even understood what I was saying. They all gave me platitudes and told me I was a sore loser. (The top prize was $10 and a blue ribbon. - Even if I took the award I thought I deserved it would have been a gold star.)

After that, I put my camera away and I probably shot a roll of film with it in the last 20 years. It's only recently that I have regained interest in shooting photos again. Even now, it is highly unlikely that I would ever hang a photo on the wall ever again.

I never thought I would be another Ansel Adams. It might be nice but, in truth, I don't think I want to be.

I never intended to make money or win lots of awards. That's not why I like photography. I like photography because I think it's fun.
I got hollered at my my first photography teacher in high school because I took a penlight and drew squiggly lines on an 11" X 14" piece of photo paper and developed it. He shouted at me for wasting paper. I promptly spouted, "Photographer means 'One who paints with light.'" He just grumbled, "Don't waste paper again." as he walked away. The point is that I just like the process of making photographs and I'm not in it for fame or fortune.

The surest way to discourage any artist is to invalidate his work. I don't mean negative criticism. I'd rather have 100 people tell me that my photos are crap than to have one person tell me they are good. I mean lack of recognition of a work of art... lack of criticism, positive or negative... lack of understanding of the creative process... not giving the artist his due in making art for the sake of making art.

goldenimage;

That woman who dropped out of your class because her "artist" friend put her work down probably felt the same as I did when I saw the blue ribbon awarded to a crummy photo at the fair. It is that kind of invalidation that KILLED my will to make photos. I would have rather had somebody drive a stake through my heart! She probably got a stake driven though her heart too!

When I show a photo to anybody I expect them to say things like, "Your focus isn't sharp." or, "You use too much contrast." I can even understand it when people say, "Why do you greenhorns always use too much contrast?!" After that, I would, probably say something like, "Okay! Show me how it's done!"

If that "artist" who put down your student had just said something like, "You need to learn how to use color." or "You need to make better brush strokes." I bet she would have stayed in your class.

I don't care what the craft or art form: Violin making, glass blowing, painting or photography or anything else." The surest way to kill off an artist and, eventually, to kill off art in general is to invalidate the art.

[2F/2F]

Interesting about "spiking" your new batch of lith chemistry with a shot of old brown. I always do exactly the opposite. I use "old brown" as the base of each batch, instead of fresh water. I simply spike it with a shot of fresh chemistry when it seems to be pooping out. With a 2 L batch of solution, I add 100 mL of A and 100 mL of B to the tray, and swish it around a bit. I save 1.75 L of old brown at the end of the session, and chuck the rest. (I found a perfectly-sized 1.75 L OJ bottle for stowing the old brown.)