The Color of Black-and-White with David Halpern

One of my colleagues once observed, “Halpern says color is a crutch.“ I never said it, but there is some truth in the statement.

I’m passionate about the black-and-white image. I loved standing in the darkroom with my hands in trays of developer, stop bath and fixer, smelling the chemistry and watching the images magically appear. I delighted in my ability to render values in the print that mirrored my feelings upon seeing the subject on the ground glass of my large format camera. And I’ve learned to see those values in my mind before I record them digitally or on film.

Recently, students have asked me to teach them to “see in black and white.” Not literally of course, but to help them make decisions that produce better black-and-white images. In the process, I’ve found that "seeing in black and white" improves our ability to see subtleties of color and can help us all better express ourselves in our color images.

Learn more from David in his workshop:

Seeing in Black and White
with David Halpern
October 26 - October 29, 2011

And see what he's up to on his web site, www.davidhalpern.com

To Photograph, To Print, To Share with Stephen Johnson

We photograph because we react to something we see. In landscape photography, that might be the magic of the light, the wonder of the land form, or those moments when light and form join to make a scene of immense beauty.

A print should be an object of beauty, regardless of the subject. I treasure the seductiveness of a print in my hand. I work hard to deliver the vision and craft needed to transform a file into a "ready-to-print state, and love deep discussions of what constitutes a print of beauty.

I teach because I care about lovers of photography deepening their skills, and becoming better able to capture and hold the wonder of what they see. With more than 30 years of accumulated experience in my head—more than 20 of those in digital—I'm anxious to share what I can to make a positive difference for people's photographic aspirations.


Learn more from Stephen in his workshop:


The Land, the File, the Print
with Stephen Johnson
October 19 - October 22, 2011


And see what else he's up to on his web site, www.sjphoto.com