[Leica] was Portraits.....now Print Exchanges

[bensonga at gmail.com (Gary Benson)]

Leo (and all LUG members),

The digital B&W and Color print exchanges that Jayanand and I have
participated in for oh so many years are a great opportunity to 1)
share your work 2) see the work of others and 3) perhaps learn
something new from folks who are also seeking to perfect the craft of
making really good prints (sometimes even fine art prints) using the
latest in digital inkjet printing technology.

The digital B&W printing group was originally founded by Tom O'Connell
about 10 years ago (which is nearly an eternity in technology years).
That was a time when producing a good B&W inkjet print (ie on par with
a decent gelatin silver print) was not easy to do.  We learned a lot
in those early days (custom mixed carbon pigment inks, special
Quadtone raster printing software) and we struggled with clogged ink
jet nozzles etc.  Thankfully, inkjet printing technology has come a
long way forward in the past 10 years.  I know some people will
disagree.....but in general, it's now possible to produce beautiful
looking B&W prints from the latest inkjet printers on papers that look
a lot like my favorite Ilford Galerie fiber of days gone by.  I've
seen these prints with my own eyes being created every month by
photographers like Jayanand, Tom O'Connell and many others.

Many of us who participate in the DigitalBW and DigitalColor print
exchanges still shoot with film and then scan to create the digital
image files which we print on high quality inkjet printers (I use an
Epson 3880 myself).  This is not about digital vs analog (film)
capture.....many of us have our feet in both worlds in that regards.
It's simply an opportunity to exchange prints made with digital inkjet
printing technology and learn a lot from many excellent printers (and
photographers) around the world.  We have regular participants from
the USA, India, the UK, Norway and other countries.

So....I'd like to offer a special invitation to all LUG members who
might like to give this whole print exchange thing a try.  If you
participate in one of our B&W or Color print exchanges in 2011, I'll
throw in a print of my "Minneapolis Diner No Smoking Section" image
for free (ok it's true, all the prints are free, but this is a bonus
free print!).  Keep in mind.....this is probably the best photograph
that Gary Benson has even taken and likely ever will take!   It was
one of very few prints selected for the Alaska Rarefied Light juried
photography exhibit a few years ago....so someone besides myself
thought this was a pretty cool photo.  And remember....this a piece of
Minneapolis history....the diner doesn't even exist anymore!  :-)

I've been a participant every month since October of 2004 and I can't
imagine a month going by without seeing the amazing prints that 11 of
my friends from around the world have been able to create and freely
share with their fellow photographers.  Jayanand and I will be happy
to answer any questions you have about how the print exchanges work.

Remember these words of wisdom......."It's all about the print son, so
just show me the print".

In this age of digital this and digital that.......for some of us, a
print is still the "holy grail".  I know it is for me.

Gary Benson
Eagle River, Alaska



On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 5:45 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> Leo,
> Gary & I have been on the same Print Exchanges for many years now, in fact
> he is the administrator of the exchanges, one for B&W and one for colour
> (some of us have volunteered and taken the B&W exchange load off his
> shoulders for 2011, though). Both are for digitally printed images only. In
> addition both of us also belong to a UK B&W Print Exchange run by another
> regular member, Michael King:
>
> B&W (every month):
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBW-PrintExchanges/?yguid=225735631
>
> Colour(every alternate month):
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalColor-PrintExchanges/?yguid=225735631
>
> UK B&W:
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/UK_BW_PrintExchange/?yguid=225735631
>
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 8:06 AM, LeoWesson <leowesson at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Bw print exchange? ? What's that?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Leo Wesson
>> 817.733.9157
>> www.leowesson.com