Picking Pictures for a Sigma fp-M Print Sale

Well this should be great fun for a Sunday!

Ctein and I have agreed in principle on having a print sale of the Sigma fp-M test shots, so you can see for yourself what prints from a full-frame sensor converted to monochrome look like.

Car Coming

They will be rather large—what Ctein considers full size for his own work, on premium 17x22" paper with generous borders. There will be three, plus a premium. One of the prints will be "Car Coming," which you can see here. Another will be an 8x10 of "Wet Asphalt," which will be a free premium for anyone who orders the set of three.

But what should the other two be? Here's the folder.

I have a few more to upload, which I'll do this week, but nothing special enough to think it would be a pick.

Some history
I started this idea way back in the '90s at Photo Techniques magazine, as the "Collector Print" series. The idea was to give people excellent examples of various techniques, so people could see for themselves what the techniques looked like. One of the earliest sales at PT was of prints made from the first affordable digital camera, the Canon D30 (no, not the 30D!), a 3-MP(!) digital SLR that cost "only" $3,000. It was the Canon of the Millennium, announced in very early 2000, and people were very excited about the possibilities it offered going on 23 years ago now. Those prints were by a Canadian fellow named Michael Reichmann, who later became famous as "MR" of The Luminous-Landscape, one of the most important enthusiast websites of digital's early years. I'm sure many of you remember him with fondness, as do I.

Over the years we offered a great variety of prints: examples of true darkroom unsharp masking (it took a whole day just to make the mask); Cibachromes; real dye transfers; Peter Turnley prints made by Voja Mitrovic, the master printer who at one time made all of Henri Cartier-Bresson's and Josef Koudelka's and Sebastiao Salgado's prints; contact prints from large- and ultra-large-format negatives on true contact printing paper; real platinum-palladium prints; a super-large print made with the medium-format digital Leica S; the "father and son" diptychs by Paul and John Paul Caponigro, the former a master of older traditional techniques and the latter one of the very earliest artists to commit to digital means and methods, long before most others did; and many more. Even, most lately, prints from iPhone pictures, of all things. Apart from being technical examples, many of the prints we offered in the past were beautiful and unique in their own right.

As we always try to do if we can, we'll ship to anywhere in the world and all the shipping will be the same (reasonable) price. So as not to exclude anyone on account of logistics.

There's a lot of preparation that goes into a print offer, and we're just getting started. I just asked him yesterday and heard back from him this morning. But you'll be kept apprised as we make progress.

Mike

Book o' the Week

Annie Leibovitz. At long last, the unlimited trade edition of the humongous, limited Sumo edition by Taschen. Mind you, this is still a huge book—15.4 inches high, 556 pages, and almost 13 pounds. And the price! (But that's nothing—the Sumo weighed 57 pounds and cost $7,500.) This is the closest ordinary folks (with ordinary shelves) will get to the ultimate Annie.

The book link above is a portal to any purchase at Amazon. You're very kind use our links, as they help support the site.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

David Drake: "Hi Mike I initially quite liked the image 'Corn at Harvest' for its simplicity of subject and tonal range, but it doesn’t really have lasting appeal. I think I would go for 'Vultures Eating' (though it’s unfortunate that a vulture is flying out of the frame—though it does add some tension to the image perhaps?), as the drama and tonal range of the scene is fantastic! Or the 'Rain Across the Valley,' as the lighting is beautiful especially on the foreground corn."

Geoff Wittig: "Thanks, Mike! I have been slowly accumulating a small but lovely collection of photographic prints spanning the range of available printing technologies, including platinum/Palladium and dye transfer, almost all courtesy of TOP and for very reasonable prices. We have you to thank for this opportunity. I'm a landscape guy, but I'd have to cast my vote for 'Interior.' The palpable sense of space and light is wonderful."

Comments

[Herman Krieger]

Car Coming?

[Daniele Chiesa]

"Corn at the Harvest" for me, thanks!

[Wayne Pearson]

My choice would be the wheel against the barn and the interior view with the staircase.

[Terry Burnes]

I won't be buying prints but I vote for Interior and Corn at the Harvest.

This whole monochrome thing you've been doing has me thinking of how much I like that and thus intending to take some monochrome photos on an upcoming trip to AZ. Maybe I should commit to monochrome for the whole trip.

[John Krumm]

You've been busy! I say Vultures and Rain Across The Valley.

[Rusty]

Corn at the harvest is an obvious choice

[Steve Deutsch]

Pond & Birds
Gulls, Keuka Lake

[Sam]

Cows in search of shade

[Bob G.]

Mike, here’s some considerations:
Shadow/Sunlight Test, Two Birds, Osprey Nest, House Covered in Ivy, Sun After Rain, A Perfect Day.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I would propose Landscape OOC and Miami Motel as the two additional prints. However, if one were choosing them primarily for their value as sensor / rendering tests, different choices might be better. (I'm more interested in them just as photos so my choices are on that basis.)

[Herman Krieger]

Train Coming-

[Ben]

I’d say
“Two Birds”
“Miami Motel”

And “Barn Wall” as a runner up.

[Robert Roaldi]

Barn Wall and Gulls Keuka Lake

[Christine Bogan]

Mike, what a gifted photographier you are! We see it to seldom at your Page!
Christine

[Nico.]

›Cows in Search of Shade‹ & ›Sun After Rain‹.

[darlene]

I will not be purchasing a print, but I want to add my 2 cents of art appreciation. I cannot help but love "Butters on Alert" for obvious reasons, as I am an animal lover. However, "Vultures Eating the Remains of a Deer" is exceptional in composition and tonality to my visual cortex. Good luck with the sale, Mike.

[Rob Griffin]

Wow! I asked what you workflow was going to be for printing your excellent Sigma fp test images. You have provided a great answer, one that I had not anticipated. I have no doubt that Ctein's prints will be beautiful.

My choice for the other prints offered in your sale would be Flowers at the Edge of a Field and Honda in the Rain. I would like to see Car Coming and Honda in the Rain hanging side by side but that's just me.

[Chris H]

As Car Coming and Wet Asphalt are givens, others that I'd think a print would be nice would be, in no particular order: Rain Across the Valley, Corn at the Harvest, Flowers at the Edge of a Field, Chapel Door (for some reason I like the idea of a small print on this one, maybe because it has a small amount of real estate on the composite Flickr page? hmmmmm), and Gulls, Keuka Lake.

[calvin amari]

Notwithstanding the slightly mephistophelean mood lighting, I'd go with the large-framed Bach. It will give you the opportunity to riff on the Ansel Adams:Bach (and highly structured music generally) connection. See, eg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHKUxrgC0U

A subject well worth a Johnstonian meditation.

[Dave Jenkins]

Another vote for Corn at the Harvest. Best in your portfolio, to my eye.

[Simon]

Not a vote/nomination or for public consumption, just some thoughts for you Mike...

In recent months have picked up my OM2n again and started using it with the 40/2 Zuiko and some very out of date B&W film. I have no idea when I'll get round to seeing the results but the process is as enjoyable as it ever was.

These images have prompted me to consider subject matter that I might previously have discounted. The most notable examples for me are Pan-Focus and Rain Across The Valley. These seem to be communicating a real sense of place and have prompted me to rethink the assumption that a landscape image (or any subject for that matter) needs to have strong lines or shapes to be of interest when it is presented in monochrome.

I have enjoyed looking at the others too, it's great to see thoughtful B&W work posted. I look forward to seeing more of them when you have the opportunity.

[Randall Teasley]

There's something lyrical about Miami Motel. I just love the play of the shadows of the neon tubing against the face of the sign, the flowerbed underneath and the crisp white of the building. It's pure poetry. If I had to make a second choice I'd go with Corn at the Harvest.

[Albert Smith]

Here's a print sale article that is not so nice. Hopefully we won't be getting fake Mike Johnston product. 😉

PetaPixel: FBI Arrests Gallery Owner for Forging Ansel Adams Photos.
https://petapixel.com/2022/10/17/fbi-arrests-gallery-owner-for-forging-ansel-adams-photos/

[robert e]

I have no budget for art these days, so I'm just kibitzing, but "A Perfect Day" gets my vote for a big print. I like the action-packed "Vultures Eating", too, but that many "looking down the road" pictures would make it a theme.

I know it's "just" a test shot, but I still enjoy the warmth and coziness of "Interior", especially contrasted with the outdoor vistas, so that's my second vote.

[scott kirkpatrick]

I liked Miami Motel and Cauliflower. Also Two Birds and Osprey Nest. I sorta liked Rain across the Valley, but it felt a little gloomy for sustained viewing.