Preparations

I've spent a lot of time in my darkroom lately, working on prints for my upcoming exhibitions.  I have a total of 13 new prints that are being included in these upcoming shows.  A few of these are upgrading images the the Procession West exhibition.  But, we also had to come up with a new show that was not in conflict with Procession West.  This is the one we are calling AG2.  It is essentially Procession West II.  It includes a few images from the Procession West package, that there was not room to include, plus a few new ones.  This selection will be shown at the Leighton Center in Calgary as part of the Exposure Festival, and then will travel further south to the Lebel Gallery in Pincher Creek.  Since September I have been down in the darkroom on a regular basis working on these new prints.  First I needed to make unsharp masks of the negatives, and then gradually work towards producing the final exhibition prints.  Checking my notes I see that I was printing on at least 12 different occasions, and produced a total of nearly 120 prints.  These are a mix of 11"x14" prints, and 16"x20" prints.  I struggled with a few of negatives, and returned to the darkroom on more than one occasion in an attempt to improve on my previous versions.  I thought I was finished a few days ago, but then realized that one of the negatives had been printed in reverse.  It was a natural scene, with nothing to suggest that the image was flipped, but I knew... and it bothered me.  The last of my prints are now in the washer and I think and hope that I am done with this part of the project.  As I write this I am flattening all of these prints in my dry mount press.  Tomorrow I will move on to cutting mats and mounts for the 13 that will become part of these exhibitions.

In all honesty I truly believe that I invest as much time in producing an exhibition quality print, as a painter might invest in creating an original painting.  Often to capture the original image I return to a location several times to photograph it in the right light and at the right time of year.  Then there is the processing of the original film.  This is followed by the selection process, to choose the best negative to print.  Then I usually create an unsharp mask to be used in the printing of the negative.  This involves exposure, processing, washing and drying of the piece of film that will become the mask.  This is followed by the print session, sometimes to be repeated, to achieve what I am trying to convey with the final print.  These finished prints are then cleared, toned and extensively washed, sometimes with an intermediate step of bleaching select highlights.  Then, once the finished prints are dried I have to flatten them, dry mount them, and cut overmats and mounts so that they can be assembled into frames.  A lot of hours and a lot of dollars are invested in what eventually ends up to be an exhibition quality print.  

I typically attempt to sell these for something in the range of $450 to $800.  Keep in mind that the gallery usually takes a commission of 25 to 40%.  The framing materials usually cost me $60 to $100, depending on the size.  People generally don't understand how much time is involved in creating a fine print.  I am always amused when I overhear people at shows talking amongst themselves and saying things like...  "I could have taken that shot", or... "I've got an image of that", or "this is nothing special"...  For me it is a labor of love...!!  I'm not complaining as I enjoy every minute of it, and the reward of hearing positive comments from viewers just reinforces it for me.  To sell anything is a bonus, and not the end goal of any of this.