Deer Creek Falls, Grand Canyon National Park
With my travel schedule, I haven't updated in a while about the Print-a-week Challenge in the lead-up to PhotoCamp 2010. I did make some prints last week, shipped them straight away. This week I am working on a project I've had on the back-burner ever since the Grand Canyon rafting trip last April.
My goal is to print this with my Epson 2200 on Legion Moab Entrada, probably on the 8.5x11 paper, as gifts for my shipmates from the voyage. It might be a Christmas gift at the rate I'm working on it, but this week, I got started by locating the RAW files, making an initial file selection, and working on my RAW interpretation. I started by printing a basic, uncropped work print, a baseline to carry into different lighting conditions. Next I'll go back to the RAW file to make global changes in color temperature, contrast, black-point, and a pre-sharpening, before undertaking any detailed Photoshop work.
Lately when at my computer, I have been listening to audio files from my collection of LensWork Extended DVDs*. Brooks Jensen has a segment, "Assume You'll Do it Twice (Issue 80)" that struck a chord with me. He said, "You almost can't do something for the first time brilliantly--it just doesn't happen. The first time you try anything, it's going to require a repeated effort. Why do we not remember this going in?" I learn something from every first print, so long as I'm critiquing the print and not myself for failing to produce a miraculous perfect-on-first-try print. That perfect first print hasn't happened for me yet, and cutting myself some slack, as Jenson suggests in his podcast, makes the process far more pleasurable.
Printed anything this week? Did you enjoy the process?
* I highly recommend the LensWork magazine and Brooks Jensen's essay books. The magazine showcases entire photo projects and essays, with insightful interviews with the photographers themselves. Jensen's books address how photographers can work on the development of creativity, craft and personal vision. You can download free PDF samples from extended.lenswork.com.
