Awhile back I wrote about not getting around to printing. I started thinking about it again because I sense there are a lot of folks out there who have darkrooms or access to them, but don’t print very much or just don’t print at all. Soon they are drawn by the allure of digital. So much easier and the gratification is almost in real time. You can figure out what you want to do in Photoshop then print the thing during the commercial break while watching television. Someone actually told me they’ve done that!

There always seems to be lots of excuses. Let’s face it – good craft is hard and time consuming. Well football season is almost over, so how about it?

I previously said that assuming you at least get your film developed; make sure to do your proof sheets in order to determine whether there is anything worth printing!  You don’t have to print right away.  Some people wait a certain amount of time and then print only what they consider the very best of what they have accomplished.  That’s pretty much what I do and what I’m in the process of doing now. Over the holidays I printed nine new images from 2018, but I have more to go. Then there are all the others I want to print from previous years that I have now decided to do after giving them another look. It’s a lot of work. But isn’t that what this is all about?  Why go out there in the first place and make photographs if you are never going to print them and bring your vision to fruition?

It doesn’t matter what your way of doing things is.  Just make sure you print.

Here’s my recommendation – if you have dropped out of the game for a while don’t put so much pressure on your self. Instead, take a deep breath, relax and do the following:

1. Photograph – try using one camera with one lens for awhile (e.g., a 50mm or its equivalent depending on the format)
2. Develop your negatives
3. Make proof sheets
4. Spend some real quality time examining them; be ruthless and determine which images are the truekeepers
5. Decide which picture you like best
6. Set aside some time from your busy schedule and only make a print from one negative; give it your best effort, taking as long as necessary to do what you have to do in order to say what you want to say
7. Mount your print and spot tone
8. Examine the results over some time to determine whether the print is good as is, needs further tweaking, or isn’t really that good after all
9. Reprint if necessary or move on to another negative if need be

Now if you have done all of this you will have accomplished what few are willing to do in today’s world – that is taking the time and making the effort to do the best possible job you can to see something through to its logical conclusion … instead of taking the easy way out by not doing anything at all, or just giving up and going digital.

Just get the first print completed to your satisfaction. Then how about putting a nice overmat on it and framing it. Now you can find a place on your wall and admire your achievement!

You are now ready to make more prints of your best negatives – and you will want to find the time to do it!  You may even be motivated to get out and make more photographs! You’re on your way. One negative and one print at a time.  No rush and no pressure to print a certain number of images. Remember – a small number of truly great images in one year really is really productive.

Don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise.