my introduction - more appropriate here than anywhere else...

[Michael Slade]

Hey folks,

Just a brief introduction...(it seems more appropriate to be introducing myself in this forum than in just about any other).

I'm a commercial photographer who has recently re-entered graduate school to get my MFA in photography. I'm attending Utah State University studying under Craig Law. I got my BA from USU in '95 and am very excited to get back to my fine arts roots.

I've been working for the past 10 years in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada shooting various commercial jobs for some very interesting clients...some big, some small.

Getting tired of the commercial rat-race and am looking forward to rediscovering my inner-artist (whatever that is...).

I'm planning my thesis on doing very large platinum/palladium prints, carbon prints and photogravures using the Nikon D2x as the image generating instrument. Printing with Pictorico OHP onto my Epson 4000 printer. The plan is to make very large negs, 12x20 and create a portfolio of images both digitally generated and also generating 12x20 traditional negatives and display them together as a unified body of work. We'll see where this takes me.

Anyway, I see some names that are familiar...I was on the alt.photo mailing list for a while and got to know a few that I see here a bit.

Looking forward to learning and hopefully contributing as I work my way through the next few years.

To learn more about me, feel free to visit my website...www.tawayama.com

Thanks!

[Dave Miller]

Welcome Michael, I look forward to your contributions.

[Jeremy]

I'm always curious about those pursuing graduate work in the fine arts. Are you planning on teaching at the college level?

Welcome to Apug!

[Michael Slade]

I'm always curious about those pursuing graduate work in the fine arts. Are you planning on teaching at the college level?

Jeremy,

Yes indeed I am planning on teaching at the college level. In fact, I've applied to a few positions, and in each case it is my lack of an MFA degree that is holding me back.

I have been thinking of teaching for several years, and now I'm in a position to go to grad. school and learn what it has to offer.

I don't know if Sandy remembers this, but I actually spoke with him (you), for about an hour one afternoon about a year ago. Asking about the program, etc., and ended up speaking with Sam Wang about doing an extension degree. Alas, that didn't happen.

I have been accepted as a non-matriculated student at the school that I recieved my BA from. I have explored going to other schools, many of which were too far away, one of which decided not to offer an MFA program. Utah State University is 100 miles away, but near enough that I'll be able to attend when I need to.

My commercial career is flexible enough that it can work around school, which is good.

So, now I need to produce some 'art' and get my application in order. I can churn out the commercial shots to no end, but getting back to the art side of photography will be a challenge I'm looking forward to.

Thanks for the welcome...we printed Kallitypes today. I recieved some digital negative software, got some OHP Pictorico yesterday, and now tonight I'm sure I'll be up until the wee hours playing with curves and making prints.

Woohoo!!!

[Jeremy]

Cool! Hop on in, the water's fine. Just started grad school myself (though not in photography).

[sanking]

Hey folks,

I'm a commercial photographer who has recently re-entered graduate school to get my MFA in photography. I'm attending Utah State University studying under Craig Law. I got my BA from USU in '95 and am very excited to get back to my fine arts roots.

Hi Michael,

Welcome to this forum.

You are fortunate to be studying with Craig Law. Although I have never met Craig I have heard many good things about him. He was doing carbon printing when virtually no one else was, and some of his rock art work is just fabulous.

Just curious, is Craig still doing carbon?

Sandy

[Michael Slade]

Hey Sandy,

Yep, Craig's still going strong on the Carbon's. I mentioned your name today in a grad student meeting with him. Although he mentioned that he didn't know you, he had heard of you. BTW, it was mentioned in the same sentence as Dick Arentz, so you are in good company.

One of the most exciting reasons for me to re-attend at USU is the fact that Craig is still doing Carbon prints. He has lectured at RIT, and goes to Rochester to print negatives in carbon that they won't let anyone else.

I did a bunch of carbon prints when I studied with him back in the early '90's, and we'll be doing carbons in the next month or so in the 19th century processes class. So far we've worked through Cyanotypes, Kallitypes and we're doing Gum's next tuesday.

I hear you have a Carbon book. I'd like to get a signed copy if I may.

Don't know if you remember the telephone conversation we had, but Clemson was on my list.

This forum is fortunate to have you, and I consider finding it a tremendous resouce and blessing.

EDIT: I've just barely (really, only within the last 10 minutes), opened up the .HTML file included in Mark Nelson's e-book 'Precision Digital Negatives'. I've realized that you are instrumental in it's creation. I have Burkholder's book, butr when I learned that Dick Arentz used this system, I had to buy it. I've met Dick, have leafed through several of his portfolio's and consider him the benchmark for Pt/Pd prints.

I should have known that you were involved somewhere. I look forward to reading the book, losing 15 pounds and not having my dog leave his busines in the living room.

This'll be a good read and a great forum! Now I'm doubly excited!

[sanking]

Hey Sandy,

Yep, Craig's still going strong on the Carbon's. I mentioned your name today in a grad student meeting with him. Although he mentioned that he didn't know you, he had heard of you. BTW, it was mentioned in the same sentence as Dick Arentz, so you are in good company.

One of the most exciting reasons for me to re-attend at USU is the fact that Craig is still doing Carbon prints. He has lectured at RIT, and goes to Rochester to print negatives in carbon that they won't let anyone else.

I did a bunch of carbon prints when I studied with him back in the early '90's, and we'll be doing carbons in the next month or so in the 19th century processes class. So far we've worked through Cyanotypes, Kallitypes and we're doing Gum's next tuesday.

I hear you have a Carbon book. I'd like to get a signed copy if I may.

Don't know if you remember the telephone conversation we had, but Clemson was on my list.

This forum is fortunate to have you, and I consider finding it a tremendous resouce and blessing.

EDIT: I've just barely (really, only within the last 10 minutes), opened up the .HTML file included in Mark Nelson's e-book 'Precision Digital Negatives'. I've realized that you are instrumental in it's creation. I have Burkholder's book, butr when I learned that Dick Arentz used this system, I had to buy it. I've met Dick, have leafed through several of his portfolio's and consider him the benchmark for Pt/Pd prints.

I should have known that you were involved somewhere. I look forward to reading the book, losing 15 pounds and not having my dog leave his busines in the living room.

This'll be a good read and a great forum! Now I'm doubly excited!

Hi Michael,

Contact me by email at sanking@clemson.edu about the book. Will be very pleased to send you a signed copy, but with a teacher like Craig who is so expert in carbon I probably don't have much more to offer!

I sure don't mind being mentioned in the same sentence with Dick Arentz. Dick is a good friend and someone from whom I have learned a lot, as I did also from one of his former teachers, Phil Davis.

With regard to Mark Nelson's PDN system, I am very pleased to have been able to offer some advice to Mark at times about process controls, and I beta tested many of his concepts. And I definitley encouraged him to write his book, as did my friend and colleague San Wang. But the genius of the PDN system is due to Mark, and Mark alone.

There may be easeir methods of making digital negative, but if you really care about ultimate control there is nothing that beats PDN, IMHO.

Sandy

[Michael Slade]

There may be easeir methods of making digital negative, but if you really care about ultimate control there is nothing that beats PDN, IMHO.

I have been building the foundation for my master's thesis for the past 4 years. Ultimate control is what I am all about these days. The Burkholder book was going to be my reference text for the creation of digital negatives. Now that I've discovered the PDN system, have heard the accolades from those I trust and recieved my CD in the mail today, one of the last pieces of technology is falling into place.

Re-taking the 19th century processes class from Craig will refresh me on the three techniques I will be executing my thesis in...namely Pt/Pd, Carbon and Photogravure.

I have the image capture device, the output device, a strong knowledge of digital workflow and calibration, and with the PDN system, look forward to generating negatives that will allow the conversion of the digital files to the print.

Hopefully somewhere my photographs will aquire some soul, and I won't be looked at as just a pixel pusher.

If you want to learn more about the process I've been going through, you can read about it on my website HERE.

I haven't updated the page with the aquisition of the D2x, but from looking at that page, I think you get the idea of where I'm heading.

I'll e-mail you about the book tomorrow...I gotta get back to reading the PDN text. Hehe.

[sanking]

I'm planning my thesis on doing very large platinum/palladium prints, carbon prints and photogravures using the Nikon D2x as the image generating instrument. Printing with Pictorico OHP onto my Epson 4000 printer. The plan is to make very large negs, 12x20 and create a portfolio of images both digitally generated and also generating 12x20 traditional negatives and display them together as a unified body of work. We'll see where this takes me.


Thanks!

I am just curious how you plan to generate the 12X20 traditional negatives? In another messasge you indicated that you would not be buying a 12X20 Canham camera. Did you change your mind?

Sandy