Mono Lake winter kayaking

[Buck Forester]

I may take you up on the website thing, I'm like a fish out of water learning this stuff. As far as Calypso, if you only make a single print they're expensive, the next one is much less, and if you make 3 or more of the same (in the same order) it's not too bad. For example, to print a single 16x20 is $93.00 - ouch!, but the second one is $23.50, and each one thereafter is only $14.00. So if you just want to blow up one of your photos, it's expensive. But if you wanna crank out 20 prints of the same image to sell, it's not so bad. Considering Galen sells his non-limited editions for $450-ish, that's quite a markup. And I'm sure they get even better pricing. So if I sell an image for $150-175 for a 16x22, after a few it would have paid for the drum scan and the initial high print costs as long as I printed quite a few upfront. I'll sell images to those who request them directly from forums like this, and the emails from people who saw them in the Sac Bee photo contest for much lower than that. I've had quite a few requests from the Sacramento Bee exposure and I'm just honored people want them, so those will be around at-cost. Boy I sure do type fast. Thanks again!

[mountaineer]

Use http://www.slideprinter.com/home.html! Pro drum scans for $30 and for a 20x30 glossy print it is 31.25 for the first print and 25.00 for additional prints. The super glossy display prints are awesome! They run a bit more though. 42.20 for the first print and 33.75 thereafter. The pro scan will make a print up to 30x45.

I just had this image printed from a 35mm slide in 20x30 and it is impeccable quality. I have been using The Slideprinter since before the digital age, about the late 70's.

[Buck Forester]

Thanks, mountaineer®! I have heard good things about slideprinter. I had thought about them as well as a couple other well reviewed services. But when I checked into what Galen Rowell and Frans Lanting and Vern Clevenger and all those guys use, the best of the best, they use the services of Color Folio with their Heidelberg Tango drum scanner and make their prints at Calypso Imaging with a Lightjet 5000 on Fuji Cyrstal Archive paper. And it's not nearly as expensive as I first thought it would be when making multiple prints. Actually Calypso Imaging just purchased a Heidelberg Tango drum scanner and they are offering 35% off their drum scans. But I still may go with Color Folio for now because there's a lot more to scanning than just having the high-end equipment. It takes great skill and knowledge and experience to nail those scans perfectly. Windwalker gets great images (and sells them!) using an online service that prints them at a fraction of the cost and he says they are outstanding, but I'm in such awe at Galen's gallery and the "technical" quality of the prints (even beyond just the outstanding images themselves) that I decided that's the way I'm gonna go for now. But this is all new to me so who knows!

[mountaineer]

I am not trying to make a living with my photography. It is a hobby and a couple times a year people contact me and request a print. I was completely new at this whole digital thing also and started my own website a couple of years ago. I used Tripod Sitebuilder. I just wanted a place to put all my pictures instead of various galleries around the 'net. BTW, the image above was scanned by The Slideprinter and was good enough for the Ansel Adams Gallery in the valley for a couple of days.

Galen Rowell's gallery STILL amazes me. I was there for the umpteenth time on Friday and added yet another of his books to my collection.

[Buck Forester]

I just bought a book tonight on Dreamweaver to help me build this dang website! I'm way out of my comfort zone with this stuff! As for selling images, heck, I have no clue how it will go. If I can help pay for gas and film now and then I'll be happy... if I can even make some extra moolah, that would be even better yet. I've had quite a few requests but we'll see if it's just flattery or not, ha ha! I may end up with 42 prints of the same unsold image hanging on my walls!

[mountaineer]

Here is my site. First attempt. It serves its purpose although I would have to tweek it quite a bit to set it up commercially. I just have my slides filed and numbered. People e-mail me and request a print and give me the number. I then send it off to the Slideprinter. Kind of clumsy, but someone REALLY has to want one of my prints to go to all that trouble.

http://www.sierramountainphotography.com/

[Buck Forester]

Hey mountaineer®, I just spent some time on your site and it's fantastic! Well done!

[mountaineer]

Thanks Buck...My real problem is that I don't have the patience to really take the time with the scans. They don't look very professional. The original slides look better than the presentation on the monitor. Oh well. The only image that has been professionally scanned has been the one of Seven Gables I posted above. The others have been done on my $220 Minolta DiMage Scan Dual IV with adjustments done with ACDSee software.

None of my stuff looks NEAR as good as yours!

[madeintahoe]

Buck..Im sorry but I have not been able to find the magazine up here in Tahoe yet I know they sell them...maybe they have not got them in yet. I will keep checking and looking for it...so I can see your beautiful picture in it

Mountaineer very beautiful pictures! The one of Seven Gables is wonderful, that is such a beautiful peak

[doug395]

Congratulations Buck. Not everyone is going to end up on Mono Lake in a kayak during a winter storm; the story that went with those images adds a lot of appreciation for high adventure in special places.