Folks....
I attended the Epson Print Academy in Chicago yesterday and thought I would give my impressions.
For me, I thought it was very educational, inspirational, and very worth the price.
For the entry fee, you had access to the expo area where vendors were offering up some really sweet deals, 9:30 - 5 PM worth of listening and learning by some real cool and knowledgeable people, a lunch, and as an extra deal thrown in, the ability to look at some really cool prints set up in the expo area!
Although I don't remember the exact agenda and exactly who did what, I can tell you that our day started out with our very own (notice how I tie Andrew "Digital Dog" to our little forum here? ;-) ) laying down the foundation for the day with a dicussion on Color Management. Andrew is, ahem,.....somewhat knowledgeable on this subject (LOL), but actually is a really great guy and made this session INTERESTING. This could have been a snoozer, but Andrew did a great job and laid the foundation for the day, because without proper color management everything else is wasted time.
Jeff Schewe gave us a soft-proofing demo from LR - PS - LR which including the actual printing of an image. Hmmmmmm.....I can't WAIT to see LR v3 because I'm sure it will incorporate an end-all/be-all "kick-a**" softproofing function....yippee!! I'm confident that it will incorporate all of the individual steps that must be done manually in Photoshop to make soft-proofing "really" work.
We saw a demo of some of the plug-ins from onOne software and excerpts from the video of Henry Wilhelm being interviewed by Michael Reichmann (as provided on this site previously). An in person visit by Henry during this academy was a nice surprise, and probably due to his close proximity to the Chicago event. During our lunch break, I was fortunate enough to meet Henry as he arrived on site. What a super nice guy! He is extremely generous with his time and talked to many different people. I was having lunch with two photographers from Iowa when Henry showed up. Turns out both of these gentlemen had purchased some of Henry's print washers from the old days...and Henry remembered them! All in all it was very, very cool. I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of Henry's book and he signed it for me at the end of the event. Henry also pointed out Arnold Crane in the audience, an elder gentleman whose personal collection of photography through the ages was purchased by the Getty museum and formed the core of thier initial collection (if I understood these details correctly).
We also viewed a few videos of Jeff Schewe interviewing a different tech guys from Epson; they definitely seem very passionate about "getting it right" for photographers.
Also during lunch, I had a chance to check out the expo area where vendors were selling items with NO SALES TAX; my guess is that the tax was picked up them or Epson or someone...whatever...but meant that you could get a great deal. IT Supplies had refurbished Epson 3800's there for $699!! These came with a full inkset and a 1 year warranty....no tax! That's a pretty good deal. I picked up a box of 25 sheets of 8.5x11 Epson Exhibition Fiber for $40.....no tax! I thought that was a pretty good deal too.
The other thing that I thought was really neat (for me) was a series of prints at the one end of the expo center; maybe about 15-20 of them. There were all printed on an Epson 9900 with the HDR inkset; and all but one on Epson Exhibition Fiber; the lone exception being a portrait of Paris Hilton on Epson Premium Luster. Wow.....that's about all I can say. Each print had one or two Solux lights attached to them and as far as I'm concerned (I did ask a few others that were there as well)....these prints were "lights out" good. I found myself going back on every break just to be mesmerized by their gorgeousness!! Hmmm....maybe I need to get out more. ;-) Seriously, I found that these prints alone provided HUGE personal inspiration for me....maybe almost worth the price of admission alone because of the way it touched me personally to see creative potential. Way cool... Prints from Jay Maisel, a portrait OF Jay as well, Greg Gorman, Jeff Schewe, and I particularly liked John Paul Caponigro's piece which was an abstract with fantastic color from his "Reflections" collection.
After lunch we learned about printing from Photoshop and then John Paul Caponigro took us to the end of the session. To be honest, I was very impressed (perhaps the most) by this last session. I'm really not a Photoshop user and the techniques that JP effortlessly took us through started to give me that "glazed eye" kinda feeling. But I think I enjoyed this segment the most. JP's masterful use of the tools and his artistic vision really made this one special. He's got at least one new fan because of that session and his amazing print on display in the expo area.
Throughout the event there were several raffles for various items; including an Epson 4880 which someone from our session won. Giveaways included a signed copy of Henry's book, two poster prints (that were done onsite) by JP Caponigro, memory cards and readers and some Solux light bulbs.
I was able to attend this event because it was a gift to me from my very thoughtful wife for my birthday.....and what a great gift it turned out to be! And although I'm not really a professional photographer, I did attend track two as I thought it would be the most fun. I was not disappointed.
To summarize, this participant had a great time, learned a lot, met some very interesting and very cool people, saw some truly inspirational work, and most importantly, came away invigorated and inspired to better my photography and prints.
I would attend next year in a heartbeat.
Cheers....
Todd in Chicago
