Teaching & Consulting
I consider my role as an educator, both formally and informally, to be an essential part of both my personality and my artistic practice. I offer one-on-one teaching or consulting on a wide variety of topics including printing, photography, the business of photography, and digital processing tools at a rate of $75/hr, $275/half day, and $500/full day. Simply contact me with details of what you would like me to teach, and I am happy to prepare my teaching materials accordingly.
I also teach more formal workshops through the Maine Media Workshops. You can find out more about my workshops below, and please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Photography and Environmental Advocacy (Online) (February 6th - March 26th, 2024, Five Tuesdays from 1-4 pm Eastern via Zoom)
The need for advocacy of environmental issues relating to climate change, environmental justice, pollution, conservation of land, and the like is acute. Photography can serve as a vital advocacy tool because of its power as a visual form of communication and as the basis for storytelling.
This workshop will begin with a discussion of the history of environmental advocacy by photographers and other artists, including contemporary advocates. We will discuss a variety of strategies for environmental advocacy and how different styles of photography such as documentary, journalistic, and expressive fine art photography can play a role in these strategies.
A key part of this workshop will be applying environmental activism strategies to each student’s photography by reviewing portfolios, discussing strategies appropriate for each student, and developing an action plan for moving forward in using photography to create positive change.
The Craft and Art of the Fine Digital Print (July 22nd-26th, 2024)
In this course, students learn a workflow for creating fine digital prints. The workflow includes digital capture, digital processing in Adobe Photoshop and/or Lightroom, printing on an inkjet printer, and handling the finished print. Digital processing and printing topics include maximizing image quality at capture, color management, sharpening and noise reduction, black & white printing, proofing, matching screen and print, and making local and global edits to color and tonality.
You will also discuss the qualities and characteristics of a fine print, many of the plethora of options for inks and papers available to today’s printers, and how best to produce a print to realize an artistic vision, including choosing the best paper for a particular project. As the week progresses, we will focus on assessing prints, judging how best to improve them, and then demonstrating how to make those improvements.
Particular consideration is given to making large prints. Students have the opportunity to examine the challenges of printing on a large scale and to learn a wide range of techniques for maximizing overall print quality and for creating and handling large prints.
Students will work with Epson printers and will be printing primarily with Epson, Canson, and Hahnemuhle papers. We will also discuss printing on non-traditional substrates such as rice papers. Additional papers may be purchased from the Digital Service Department on campus.
Mastering the Fine Digital Print (Sept. 30TH - Oct. 4TH, 2024)
Building upon The Craft and Art of the Fine Digital Print, students in this course will learn to take their inkjet printing to the next level by exploring different print media, fine-tuning settings, and making subtle adjustments to enhance the final print and to make it consistent with their artistic vision. We will also discuss printing on non-traditional substrates such as rice papers, learning the settings and other changes necessary to succeed with these unique and lovely papers.
In this course, we will make prints, learn to evaluate and assess how to improve them, and then demonstrate how to do so using digital darkroom techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop. Students will also learn how to develop their print statement for a body of work to help create a harmonious and successful printed portfolio.
Students will learn additional ways to enhance the completed print, such as by creating deckled edges, applying protective sprays, and presenting their work in different types of portfolios.
Making prints for bookmaking is increasing in popularity as a way of presenting work and as a unique art form in itself, and students will learn about considerations for making prints for this purpose, such as handling paper grain, printing on both sides of the paper, and choosing an appropriate paper for a book project.
Students will work with Epson printers and will be printing primarily with Canson, Hahnemuhle papers, and Awagami papers. Additional papers may be purchased from the Digital Service Department on campus or students may bring their own favorites.
Completion of The Craft and Art of the Fine Digital Print or instructor permission. Students should be comfortable printing on different papers, should be experienced editors in the digital darkroom, and should be familiar with color management.