Review: PDN/Pt Workshop

[Timothy]

This workshop took place here in Toronto, on Dec 7, to the 10th and consisted of six attendees at the outset. Unfortunately one attendee had a family emergency half way through and was unable to complete. Over all, I feel that the workshop was an exceptional value and I am very grateful to Bob Carnie for organizing it.
Sandy King and Mark Nelson are a perfect team for this workshop. Mark has developed a brilliant system for taking control of the materials, using Photoshop, but the most important thing that he has accomplished is to make that system easy to understand and use. In person, Mark is patient, listens well, and has a friendly, easy manner. Sandy is a master Platinum printer, among other accomplishments, and his "down to Earth" - but no nonsense- guidance through the printing process was invaluable.
I have heard people say that one aspect of "Alternate Process" in general, that they like, is the element of surprise, the fact that you can never be sure what the finished result will look like. Using the Precision Digital Negative system of printing, this is just not the case. The PDN system starts by using tests that are produced by the actual printer that will produce the negative. This ensures that the inks, the ambient conditions, and every variable possible, is taken into account. In 3 or 4 simple steps, the "toe" of the curve and the "shoulder" of the curve are determined for current conditions, and then a very specific Characteristic Curve is produced to be used on every negative. Then, any number of adjustments can be made for contrast, local burning or dodging, and of course, size to be printed. The real master stroke in the PDN system is the use of a "Color Density Range" pallette. Again, this is produced on the printer that will be used to print the negative. Its use makes it possible to take advantage of every gradient of tone that it is possible to produce with the materials at hand at the moment.
For anyone curious about this system, Mark has a very informative website and for anyone contemplating the purchase of his E-Book, you can get a preview of what it contains by looking at the Appendix E, to the book "Platinum & Palladium Printing" Second Edition, by Dick Arentz. If you are considering Pt/Pd printing at all, or if you would like to improve your Pt/Pd printing, I would highly recommend this book anyway.

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Tim R

 

[donbga]

This workshop took place here in Toronto, on Dec 7, to the 10th and consisted of six attendees at the outset. Unfortunately one attendee had a family emergency half way through and was unable to complete. Over all, I feel that the workshop was an exceptional value and I am very grateful to Bob Carnie for organizing it.
Tim R

I just don't see how they could do all of this inside of an Elevator.

Don Bryant

 

[Jeremy]

Tim, did you use Curve Calculator II for the workshop?

 

[sanking]

Tim, did you use Curve Calculator II for the workshop?

Hi Jeremy,

We used the original version of PDN at the workshop. I started working with Curve Calculator II this past week in order to calibrate a few new carbon tissues I am currently working with and I am very pleased with the roesults and the speed of operation. CCII is not better than the original PDN, but it is certainly faster. I tried a previous version of CCII about a year ago but it was unstable and I did not have a chance to try it again until this past week. I am not having any problem with the current version.

I would like to than Tim for his nice review of the Toronto workshop. I enjoyed working with Mark and all of the participants and it was a good example of how much more we are able to accomplish in a 3-4 day workshop with a system like PDN than in the old days when we worked with in-camera negatives.

Sandy King

 

[Mark Nelson]

Thanks Tim

Tim,

Thanks for your kind comments!

It was great to be in the great city of Toronto and work with Bob Carnie and his staffthe participants in the workshop were a great and talented bunch of folks.

Working with Sandy was a delight! We almost had too much funa lot of laughter was shared.

Mark Nelson

This workshop took place here in Toronto, on Dec 7, to the 10th and consisted of six attendees at the outset. Unfortunately one attendee had a family emergency half way through and was unable to complete. Over all, I feel that the workshop was an exceptional value and I am very grateful to Bob Carnie for organizing it.
Sandy King and Mark Nelson are a perfect team for this workshop. Mark has developed a brilliant system for taking control of the materials, using Photoshop, but the most important thing that he has accomplished is to make that system easy to understand and use. In person, Mark is patient, listens well, and has a friendly, easy manner. Sandy is a master Platinum printer, among other accomplishments, and his "down to Earth" - but no nonsense- guidance through the printing process was invaluable.
I have heard people say that one aspect of "Alternate Process" in general, that they like, is the element of surprise, the fact that you can never be sure what the finished result will look like. Using the Precision Digital Negative system of printing, this is just not the case. The PDN system starts by using tests that are produced by the actual printer that will produce the negative. This ensures that the inks, the ambient conditions, and every variable possible, is taken into account. In 3 or 4 simple steps, the "toe" of the curve and the "shoulder" of the curve are determined for current conditions, and then a very specific Characteristic Curve is produced to be used on every negative. Then, any number of adjustments can be made for contrast, local burning or dodging, and of course, size to be printed. The real master stroke in the PDN system is the use of a "Color Density Range" pallette. Again, this is produced on the printer that will be used to print the negative. Its use makes it possible to take advantage of every gradient of tone that it is possible to produce with the materials at hand at the moment.
For anyone curious about this system, Mark has a very informative website and for anyone contemplating the purchase of his E-Book, you can get a preview of what it contains by looking at the Appendix E, to the book "Platinum & Palladium Printing" Second Edition, by Dick Arentz. If you are considering Pt/Pd printing at all, or if you would like to improve your Pt/Pd printing, I would highly recommend this book anyway.

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Tim R