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Author Topic: Who makes best prints?  (Read 19196 times)

John Camp

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Who makes best prints?
« on: February 04, 2006, 09:06:52 pm »

Setting aside the people who work for this website (like Michael and Alain Briot) I would like some opinions of who is making the best digital prints of landscapes -- somebody who not only shoots excellent landscapes, but then prints them (personally, on an Epson) as well as it can currently be done. Probably in B&W, though really exquisite color would be okay, too. Somebody with a website, so I can look at it on-line before buying it. I want straight photography, not the creative manipulations of somebody by John Paul Caponigro.

I set aside people who work for this landscape because I already know their work; I want somebody that I don't know and about whom I have not formed any opinions. (Not that my opinions of Michael and Alain are in any way negative; in fact, I like their work a lot. The shopping cart photo puts me in mind of Aaron Siskind, and Alain has some beautiful pieces on his website.)

Any ideas? The one best guy?

JC
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Tim Gray

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2006, 09:38:57 pm »

How could there be a "one best guy"?

Check out http://www.nasheditions.com/  for a bunch of "best guys"
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BryanHansel

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2006, 11:27:17 am »

I don't know if he prints his own, but how about Tom Till?  His photos are a joy to look at.  

Tom Till
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Bryan Hansel
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John Camp

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2006, 01:24:57 pm »

Quote
How could there be a "one best guy"?

[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=57437\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

There can't be, obviously. I should have said, "If somebody put a gun to your head, and said, 'Blurt out the best landscape photographer/printer that you know,' who would it be?" Those are the names I want.

Tom Till is interesting, but his prints are mostly Ilfochrome. Nash Editions -- interesting. I'll keep my eye out for one I really like. This could be an excellent source, but they have an oddly limited website.

What I want to do is to hang a really exquisite, fairly large, top-line b&w Epson print next to some really exquisite top-line silver prints that I already own, and look at them for a while, and see if I get a feel for the technical differences/possibilities in a side-by-side comparison. (The silver prints include Adams' Moonrise, Paul Caponigro's Running White Deer, and a flower print by Mapplethorpe.)

JC
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Geoff Wittig

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2006, 03:36:55 pm »

I would suggest Charles Cramer and Bill Atkinson. Mr. Cramer has been a large format color landscape photographer for years, and moved from traditional darkroom to digital printing, using high-end Epsons and the newer HP Designjet printers. His work shows amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail. Bill Atkinson is the color science guru who laboriously created the terrific profiles for the 7600/9600 available on Epson's website. These two gentlemen teach classes together in digital fine art inkjet printing, unfortunately all on the West Coast, too far for me.
Also consider Joseph Holmes, who does beautiful color landscape prints on the larger Epsons. He notes that the measurable dynamic range and D-max from Epson's K-3 printers exceeds that of Ansel Adams' prints. Good enough for me!
Finally, consider Roy Harrington, author of the excellent Quadtone RIP shareware for B&W printing from Epson printers. His black & white landscape photos are beautiful, and he wrote the software to get more control over the printer for artistic purposes.
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Mark D Segal

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2006, 04:22:40 pm »

There are many people doing excellent work. This thread makes little sense to me, but that's just me................each to his/her own!
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Johnny V

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2006, 12:31:15 pm »

Quote
....I would like some opinions of who is making the best digital prints of landscapes -- somebody who not only shoots excellent landscapes, but then prints them (personally, on an Epson) as well as it can currently be done. Probably in B&W, though really exquisite color would be okay, too.
I set aside people who work for this landscape because I already know their work; I want somebody that I don't know and about whom I have not formed any opinions. Any ideas? The one best guy?
JC
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Tyler Boley has my vote for the most accomplished B+W printer and photographer.

I’ve meet him and have seen his personal work and output for clients...one word comes to mind is “exquisite!”.

He has a custom digital printing business in Seattle:

[a href=\"http://www.custom-digital.com/aboutus/index.html]http://www.custom-digital.com/aboutus/index.html[/url]

http://www.piezography.com/site/piezo-month-may.html

John V.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2006, 12:41:16 pm by Johnny V »
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BernardLanguillier

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2006, 07:45:53 am »

I think that it is probably me.

Cheers,
Bernard

Mark D Segal

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« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2006, 09:12:28 am »

Cummon Bernard, I thought is was really me   ,

- and great post - expresses in a nutshell the value of this thread, apart from making us more aware of the well-known fact that there are quite a number of people out there doing excellent work, none of whom are doing it for contests.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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BernardLanguillier

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2006, 08:13:58 pm »

Quote
- and great post - expresses in a nutshell the value of this thread, apart from making us more aware of the well-known fact that there are quite a number of people out there doing excellent work, none of whom are doing it for contests.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=58599\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Mark,

Glad you got my point.  On the other hand, it is indeed interesting to hear about some reference names, but:

- I will probably never have the chance to see prints made by these masters "in the flesh"...

- because of the nature of this site, most names will be NA based, which leaves Japan and Europe as 2 "un-touched" territories. There is for instance one LF  Japanese nature photographer whose name is Tenji. His work is just amazing, but I don't know to what extend he prints himself for the fine art market. The quality of the print in his books is breathtaking though.

Cheers,
Bernard

John Camp

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2006, 09:48:14 am »

For some reason, a couple of people have been offended by the, what, temerity (?) of this question, perhaps because it suggests that there may be some printers who are better than others? The request was actually a casual one, not meant to be at all offensive.

But, in my search for really exceptional stuff, which has been conducted mostly on the web, I have found more amazing photography than I was really aware existed; certainly much better than most stuff you find in magazines. I can't explain the whole search, because it gets too complicated; and I couldn't have done it if I hadn't had an illness in the familiy that kept me around the house, and in front of a computer. In any case, I went out on some links suggested in this thread (as it turns out, I'll probably buy my contemplative print from a Nash Editions photographer) and found some absolutely amazing stuff. Of all the sites I looked at, Luminous is the best for landscape and for a general assessment of the state of photography technique and equipment; the place is a fantastic resource. But if you go here
http://www.in-public.com/site/index.php
and start looking at photos, and following links, it'll blow your mind, if you have a particular kind of mind. Also, for a certain kind of color that might appeal to people interested in design, look at this:
http://www.clairejamessteinberg.com/

Anyway, a simple idea like trying to find The Best Printer, even though he/she doesn't exist, is paying off.

JC
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Mark D Segal

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2006, 10:16:32 am »

John, if I am one of those people you had in mind, I was not the least bit offended. I just thought the question was unanswerable in the way it was phrased, but if meant as a challenge to seek-out good work, it makes sense and the website you brought to our attention are indeed very, very good. Thank you very much for that.

Mark
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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BernardLanguillier

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2006, 05:50:51 pm »

Quote
For some reason, a couple of people have been offended by the, what, temerity (?) of this question, perhaps because it suggests that there may be some printers who are better than others? The request was actually a casual one, not meant to be at all offensive.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=58819\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

No offense at here John, my answer was meant as a joke, even if I really find that there simply isn't a best printer.

Regards,
Bernard

gkroeger

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« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2006, 09:42:15 am »

I would put Joe Holmes near the top of my list. His artistry is matched by his deep understanding of the technical details of color management. His work in developing large color spaces and his system for controlling saturation through colorspace is superb.

www.josephholmes.com

Glenn
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ericevans

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2006, 02:47:04 pm »

http://www.gavrilisphotography.com/ I like this guys work . Some of his prints just blow me away .
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pobrien3

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Who makes best prints?
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2006, 10:27:11 pm »

Bernard, I'm glad you noticed too - apparently there exists the occasional talented photographer who doesn't live on the Northern American continent!   .

Not sure if this chappie sells prints, but if it's inspiration from superb photography you're after take a look at Li Shaobai.  There are a great many photos on the site, it's worth taking time to trawl through them for some particularly stunning shots.  Being a denizen of Hong Kong I've been to the great wall and the forbidden city several times, but my pictures don't come close to this man's.
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Mark D Segal

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« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2006, 10:51:19 pm »

Peter, thanks for bringing Li Shaobai to our attention. He is truly a photographer's photographer - tremendous vision and skill - no question about it. Clearly he also has privileged access to places such as the Forbidden City at the best times of the day for artistic photography - early morning and late evening when the light is at its most dramatic and the place is closed to the flocks of tourists at other times milling about every millimeter of the place. That helps, but you need the vision to be able to take advantage of that, and he has it.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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pobrien3

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« Reply #17 on: April 16, 2006, 11:02:00 pm »

I find his Great Wall shots in particular truly inspiring.  One can access the Forbidden City quite freely these days, but you're right - the mass of tourists makes it hard to take pictures.  I've also found that the number of visitors in the early morning is substantially lower, and a Beijing colleague tells me they'll happily open up a little earlier for you, and it's customary to express your thanks with a few packs of cigarettes!
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Brian Gilkes

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« Reply #18 on: April 17, 2006, 08:39:19 pm »

An extremely gratifying part of being a photographer and printer for the last 30 years or so  has been meeting some extremely talented artists from all parts of the world. North America has , and is producing much extraordinary work. So though have artists in England, France, Poland, Italy, China, Japan and just about every other country , even including Australia. I really don't think it is of value to name people here, for there would be so many that I would do an injustice to by their inevitable omission.
I will though, tell a very short story.
Whilst I was accompanying a group of students through Vietnam about ten years ago I met a professional photographer in a small coastal town. During the course of a number of conversations I asked him what he was doing during, what they call in Vietnam, "The American War".
"During the day", he said I fought the Americans. At night I was in my darkroom making my landscape prints and portraits to send to London for judging at The Royal Photographic Society."
He knew, and greatly admired, the work of all the leading American and European photographers.
It's a strange thing , this art of ours.
On another forum, one of the moderators who is also a frequent contributer of sound council, resides in a country of extreme violence. He said once that his involvement somhow relieved his precarious situation and offered avenues of hope for the future.
I would like to think that the practice of our common love for photography , the mastery of it's exposition and the conversations between us on forums such as this, might somehow contribute to a world with more talk , more understanding of our commonality and less conflict.
Cheers,
Brian
www.pharoseditions.com.au
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Brian Gilkes

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« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2006, 05:22:24 pm »

Sory Folks,
I didn't mean to drop another threadstopper!
On the otherhand maybe that wasn't a bad idea, although it was
not my intention.
There are lots of excellent printers around. Ansel can rest soundly.
And there are lots of us out here attempting to be better every day.
That's no mean feat either with the complexity and rate of change of the 21C technology.
Back in the old days of Metol and the rest, 40 or 50 tricks and you had the game wrapped up.
No longer. All the same it's lots of fun, and certainly keeps the brain stirred up.
Contributers to these threads help a lot too.
Thanks
Brian
www.pharoseditions.com.au
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