Cone Editions Press 2017 Digital Print Workshops
27 March, 2017 by
Cone Editions Press 2017 Digital Print Workshops
Jon Cone

CONE EDITIONS PRESS DIGITAL PRINT WORKSHOPS IS THE LONGEST RUNNING WORKSHOP PROGRAM IN THE WORLD. CONE EDITIONS PRESS PIONEERED DIGITAL PRINTMAKING IN 1984 AND BEGAN OFFERING WORKSHOPS SHORTLY AFTER.

The program is designed by Cathy and Jon Cone, the founders of Cone Editions Press.

Cathy is the Creative Director at Cone Editions Press and leads the group critiques or can provide one-on-one guidance if you prefer.

Jon Cone is the Master Printer of Cone Editions. Together they have designed these workshops to offer you a fabulous experience.

There are dozens of workshops being offered by organizations all around the globe and Cone Editions Digital Print workshops are the only in which printing is not the secondary activity.

Cone Editions has taken printing, long considered to be the most difficult-to-master aspect of digital photography, and pushed it to the forefront of instruction. Quality is the primary purpose which leads to printing confidence. What could be better than seeing your work expressed so beautifully and learning workflow that will simplify your studio and unlock your print potential.

If the ultimate experience in printing is what you seek, Cone Editions Press Digital Print workshops are perfect for you. The courses are designed for photographers and artists of all levels. This means seasoned veterans working side-by-side with newbies without diminishing the experience for either. Jon and Cathy have so much to share with you, and you will learn tons from the entire staff at Cone Editions Press.

Meet Dana Hillesland. Dana is a super-experienced Epson printer expert. She has been involved in research and development of several Piezography products. She is the production printmaker at Cone Editions Press, and the person responsible for the printing of, curating of, and inspection of the work that is printed. Her eye for quality control is as legendary as her expertise in making sure that Epson printers don’t misbehave. You may recognize her as the one giving expert printer maintenance advice in our InkjetMall videos. Dana can dispel the complexity of printer maintenance as well as guide you through workflow and even train your eye towards improving the printed quality of your work. 

 

Meet Walker Blackwell. Walker is one of the original Piezographers from way back when and has adopted nearly all of the Piezography systems (which are now in their 6th incarnation).

Walker has owned and operated his own printing studio, established and set up the highly regarded non-profit and open-access print studio Latitude Chicago. He formerly managed LightWork in Syracuse before moving back to Vermont where he now works at both Cone Editions Press and Vermont PhotoInkjet.

Walker is the lead developer behind the new Piezography Pro system. Lots of good things are happening under his influence including our Piezography Communities.

Walker and Dana are both excellent teachers, demonstrators, and make sure that everyone has a chance to do process in a one-on-one situation.

The classroom is in the actual printing studios of Cone Editions Press. Inside the main studio, we have a separate teaching studio where we offer NEC Spectraview and Eizo CG hardware calibrator displays to which you connect your laptops.

The other side of this teaching classroom features printers. It may be the most printer packed classroom in the World! It’s not only an R&D room. It is also the studio in which Jon Cone worked side-by-side with James Nachtwey for two years in the production of his last museum show. It is the smallest room at Cone Editions Press and it is reconfigured constantly. The main studio is more spacious and filled with tons of larger format printers. You’ll be able to see how Cone Editions Press handles professional level print production. If need be, we will take our printing into the main room. 

We also make sure that you’ll eat well! 

Spencer Cone is our resident chef. He cut his teeth in some of the best kitchens of NYC. Now back in Vermont, he has joined our family business and manages our ink line and production. Our defect rate is now literally nil. Spencer runs the production line like a high-profile kitchen.

We enlist Spencer to make our lunches with an eye to your dietary restrictions. We have a professional kitchen on property and he dishes out the deliciousness of locally sourced natural and organic ingredients.

For example….

And weather permitting, I’m known to serve up quite the Paella party on the deck behind InkjetMall. InkjetMall is located on the same property as Cone Editions Press and sponsors the workshops with a 20% discount on products purchased during the workshop (that can help offset workshop costs!) InkjetMall generously sponsors the Paella with the best ingredients. This is also a good evening to share work and stories.

The paella above is a Spring Paella with Spanish chorizo and artichokes, Florida Gulf Shrimp, and locally sourced Vermont organic chicken and fiddlehead ferns from a farm just around the bend…  We do however depend upon our attendees to bring their favorite libations. (hint hint wink wink)

Where to stay?

There are three rooms available 5 minutes walk from us at the Back in Time Bed and Breakfast. Hosts Glenn and Burnice Dow serve up a wicked good breakfast there. Then stroll up the road to our studio. Book early with Back in Time if you want to be in our village.

Otherwise there are plenty of Air BnB in the area as well as a hotel within a 30 minute drive. 45 minutes if you wish to stay in Hanover, NH where Dartmouth College is located. We actually have quite a few campers who take our workshops and there are campgrounds all around us including in Groton State Forest and in the next town over at East Corinth, VT. You can download the information pdfs from the Learn More link on any of our workshops to get an idea of places to stay.

And if you’re curious where we are in Vermont – our house is on the cover of a Milton Bradley puzzle. Our Studio was not yet built. We had just moved here from New York City! I put a red arrow on the picture to show you where we are. The Back in Time in is next to the Church with the spire in the middle of the photograph. When you come to East Topsham Village you will notice that our village has not changed a bit! from this picture.

The airports near us are Burlington, VT (BTV) at 1 hour 15 minutes; Manchester Airport (MHT) at 2 hours 15 minutes; Boston International (BOS) at 3 hours. The Dartmouth Coach are busses that travel between the Yale Club in Mid-Town Manhattan and Dartmouth University in Hanover, NH. It is another option. There is even a train to White River Junction, VT.

Restaurants abound here in Vermont. We have more micro-breweries per capita than any other State. We are also home to countless artisan cheese-makers including several nearby. All of this information is in the Learn More section in any of our online courses.

For more information about our workshops that is not covered by our website please call Cathy Cone at (802) 439-5751 ext 101.

Here is our 2007 Schedule:

PIEZOGRAPHY PRO FEATURED IN THE NEW PIEZOGRAPHY WORKSHOP AT CONE EDITIONS PRESS

 

We will be featuring the new Piezography Pro system along side with Piezography P2 printing systems during The New Piezography workshops at Cone Editions Press this Summer. We’ve also extended our workshops from 3 days to 4 days and from 6 attendees to 8 attendees. Still a small workshop with lots of attention, instruction, and tons of time for making prints! The cost for a workshop is $1,500. $450 is collected as a deposit when you sign up. The balance is due 30 days prior.

The New Piezography Workshop is as it sounds…about what is new and what is the latest. This workshop takes place where Piezography is developed. You may see things no one else has and get access to things prior to release. The amount of knowledge and experience you will gain is huge!

Piezography Pro is an all new ink system of 8 or 10 shades of ink comprised of dual quad or dual quint ink systems that can be endlessly blended in software to produce a million tonal possibilities. There are 100 possible selections ranging from very warm to very cool. There are literally 1000s of off-axis Neutral. There is Neutral (of course). And there rare countless triple split toning combinations. This is the most expressive system we have ever launched!

Piezography Pro features single pass glossy printing. Industry leading dMax you really need to see in order to believe. And Piezography Pro has an optional Linearization toolset. Some of the workshop time will be in learning to use the toolset to produce media profiles, adjust media profiles, create new ink blends. Some of the workshop time will be in making prints that use those results. The idea is to merge creativity with technical learning.

But, it is also an opportunity to refresh your skills and learn if an upgrade to Pro is in your future. Or you can use the workshop to learn if Piezography is in your future and what flavor is your favorite. It is also an opportunity to learn about installing and maintaining these systems. It’s also an opportunity to get guidance on your Photoshop and Lightroom skills. And it’s an opportunity to make some dynamite prints of your images! Wait till you see how dark the new blacks are!

PIEZODN DIGITAL NEGATIVE WORKSHOP

We’re offering several PiezoDN Digital Negative Workshops at Cone Editions Press. The cost for a workshop is $1,500. $450 is collected as a deposit when you sign up. The balance is due 30 days prior.

PiezoDN is our new digital negative system. It does to digital negatives what Piezography does to black & white inkjet printing. It greatly expands the possibilities and standards in your work. It was originally designed to rid the defects that are present in negatives made with color inks. But – it became so much more when we created an easy to calibrate software system. That software is only $75. We call it PiezoDN.

In case you are curious, we recently gave a PiezoDN Platinum Palladium workshop in Shanghai, China. On the right above is Hon Lam Wu who represents Hahnemuhle in China. On the left is Harris Choy who is our exclusive China/Hong Kong representative for Piezography products. The gentleman with the excellent brush technique is head of an important Chinese photographers association and is coating his first ever platinum print on Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag paper.

PiezoDN adapts to any alternative process. But, Platinum and Palladium printing is the only non-toxic process that we can demonstrate at Cone Editions Press. That probably sounds wrong. It’s not. Silver printing is harmful to the earth and can be harmful to you internally. Platinum and Palladium are noble metals and safe for using with country plumbing because no dastardly chemicals are required. We can work in dim light rather than in the dark. Totally enjoyable way to learn the PiezoDN digital negative system. What you learn you can bring back to your darkroom for silver, cyanotype, carbon, salt print, whatever….

The darkroom at Cone Editions Press features a 14 foot walk around stainless steel sink. We have two exposing units (one for backup). And you will be making actual platinum/palladium prints from your digital images. By the 3rd or 4th day you will be working on your own! It’s a wonderful opportunity.

I’ve fallen in love with the medium and believe PiezoDN Pt/Pd prints to be amongst the highest expression of Piezography.

Above is one of my palladium prints shot locally at Bedell State Park in a flood plains forest. An antique lens adapted to a Sony A7R works perfect with the medium!  But, it’s an example of how well our PiezoDN negative works. It takes any and all guess work out. It runs on printers from the Epson 1430 (sub $300) all the way to the Epson 9900! We can show you how to make prints that are typical to the medium or to expand the contrast range (an option with our software).

The heartbeat of the system is a linearization method in which you measure the contact print. No other digital negative system produces this quality and this simplicity. Using an i1, ColorMunki, or Spyder and entering the data into PiezoDN software produces the output “curve” for QTR and a Piezography ink set to print a perfect negative! We will teach you directly in a one-on-one situation. You will be operating the measuring device and using the software. First we’ll demo it. Then you’ll do it. And you can watch while others take their turn. By the time you leave, this part of the process should be as easy as coating paper (yes it’s really not that complicated!)

You’ll learn about the chemistry and how it is mixed; and how the complication of it is replaced with a more simplified version for PiezoDN. You will learn how to brush coat or rod coat Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag paper. You will learn how to prep your images for digital negative. You will learn how to install and use Piezography inks sets and software. You will learn how to print on Pictorico Ultra Premium film using the Piezography ink system. You will learn how to expose the film onto the coated paper, process, wash and dry. You will also learn how to calibrate the system so that what you see is what you get! The PiezoDN system is the highest quality digital negative system available, but it is also the simplest. This is why we can teach both Pt/Pd printing at the same time as Digital Negative and Piezography printing. The reason we teach Piezography printing is because PiezoDN compatible ink sets can also make Piezography prints and the workflow is the same!

One of the benefits of taking a workshop at Cone Editions Press is that InkjetMall sponsors them and offers a 20% discount on materials purchased during the workshop including alternative process supplies like Platinum and Palladium powders and solutions, Piezography inks and software, refillable cartridges, PiezoFlush systems, Pictorico Film, Hahnemuhle and other papers for hand coating, brushes, and other materials.

JON CONE’S PIEZOGRAPHY SANTAFE WORKSHOP

The workshop I lead in Santa Fe, New Mexico is called Piezography Reimagined. And this is the year in which Piezography has been totally reimagined from K7 into Piezography Pro and from the Piezography Digital Negative to the PiezoDN system. Last year in Santa Fe we were printing almost exclusively with Piezography 2. This year’s workshop promises to be worth repeating if you’ve taken this workshop with me before.

There is no shortage of Piezography printers at the Santa Fe studio of Don Messec where I teach the Piezography workshop with Don and Michael Trupiano.

This year we will install at least one Piezography Pro printer, possibly two, and I will bring the Piezography Professional Edition tools software to teach with. It’s an exciting time with so much development in place and all new ink sets. This workshop is 5 days long and room for 12 attendees.

We often try and do a half-day of shooting at a nearby canyon. Michael is not only an extraordinary photographer, printmaker and teacher, but he also seems to know the best canyons at the right time of day. It’s not a guarantee we’ll take a field trip – but it seems like we usually do. If we don’t, you can! Santa Fe is a great place to arrive a little early or stay a little later.

And there is no shortage of chile if you are into Santa Fe chile. I obviously am or I would not have mentioned it. And yes – I make a Santa Fe green chile paella on the Wed or Thur nite to which you can bring your traveling partners.

Don contributes his famous Santa Fe chipotle salmon which we lay on top. If that salmon appears small it is only because the paella pan is soooo large!

Michael Trupiano contributes his amazing chef skills to the Paella! He and I are brothers in spatulas and knives! Fresh peas go on before the shrimp! The local chorizo makes such a flavor impact. Kind of like how our new Ultra HD™ Matte Black impacts the Piezography Pro system.

And you all get to eat it, although everyone seems to take pictures of it first! Please remember that the chefs work up a terrible thirst and all manner of libations are appreciated. We try to set it out in a ritual carrying from the studio where its cooked to Don’s patio where its eaten and without dropping it. 🙂  We haven’t yet! You are welcome to watch us make the paella in the classroom. It’s actually part of the curriculum.

With 12 attendees and lots of partners on hand, this party is always fun!

But, food is not the focus! Piezography is. This is a workshop in which tons of printing takes place. So much in fact, that I often find it hard to pull people off printing and onto a demo. The goal of this years workshop is to slow it down a bit and to get into what Piezography Pro offers. It’s a much more contemplative medium now. With a million potential toning combinations I will be showing you some of my favorite Piezography Pro settings. You will be discovering some of your own, and seeing those of your fellow workshop attendees. We will try and do a Platinum Print PiezoDN digital negative demo so you can see that if Alternative Process interests you.

There is always a critique on our last day. It really surprises me how many prints get made during this workshop.

If you are interested, you need to coordinate with Don or you need to reserve online at Making Art Safely before it sells out! You can find that here. This workshop is run by Don Messec. Of course, I look forward to meeting you and sharing all things Piezography with you. But, if it sells out I can’t get you in. Oh yes….Bring lots of images to print!

Now back to food…if you like chile – some of the best red chile in the Southwest is in Santa Fe! Here’s a picture of my typical red chile breakfast burritos swimming in chile. Don prefers his with extra chile; just wanting to see the peaks of the potatoes above the red tide!

I also know a great place for breakfast tacos. I think they actually kill the chickens there. It’s really fresh. The sauce is killer hot! They make and fry the corn tortillas just before they fill it with chicken, avocado and lettuce. These can make you cry for all sorts of reasons.
Also, if you are into Green Chile Cheeseburgers…I know (and these are fighting words) absolutely who makes the best in New Mexico and probably on Earth. They take the Hatch green chiles and fry them whole. You can order extra ones. They put a small green salad next to the hand cut fries so as to make you think you’re eating healthy. This dive bar is on my agenda if anyone is into it!  David Michael Kennedy introduced me to it. Actually, David is selling collectors prints (palladium prints) from his gallery in El Rito, New Mexico a short 85 minutes drive from the workshop. It’s a great opportunity to add a photograph or two to your collection. Look him up and tell him Jon sent you!

And just so you know I won’t keel over during the workshop from food over-indulgence, I always rent a carbon race bike in Santa Fe for early morning before class road bike rides of about 15-18 miles. If you want to connect on that with me let me know and we can coordinate. The altitude is over 7,000 feet and if you are not used to that (which I never am), it’s really tough but worth it. If you can do 20 miles near sea level, 10 miles is a trick a mile high. By the end of the week you’re altitude fit and you will be surprised how strong you ride when you return back to below 2,000 feet. Unfortunately, it wears off in just a few days.

So, where’s the ink in all this food and where is the paper???  Tons of it – piles of it. This is a workshop to try them all out and find your favorite ink/paper combination in the spirit of the generosity of the great Southwest! I just happen to be acclimated to New England, so Santa Fe is a big deal for me! Big huge skies, lots of friends out there, a totally cool studio atmosphere, and Southwestern food. Did I mention how much I like Santa Fe?  See you there!

This workshop is June 12-16, 2017 and it costs $1,232.30 and requires a $300 deposit. You can register directly on Don Messec’s website by clicking here.

PRIVATE PLATINUM/PALLADIUM PIEZODN WORKSHOPS!

Workshops sound wonderful but not convenient to your schedule?

Come spend an entire day in a private workshop at Cone Editions Press. This can be a learning experience or you can treat it as a print day where we do all the work for you or with you. The idea is to maximize your output or maximize your learning experience. We can have paper coated and ready for you. We will print negatives when you arrive, and already be making Pt/Pd prints in the morning. We will coat paper again before lunch (or you can!) and then a second round of prints. When you leave we will wash and dry everything and send to you. The idea is to print as much as you can! The cost of having platinum prints is expensive. So this workshop is a bargain!

These are private one on one. Our whole studio is dedicated to you and your work during this time. Days are specific and limited. But, if you want something like this on another date – please call the Workshops Director, Cathy Cone at (802) 439-5751.

We have one on one workshops all the time in Piezography, Color Printing, and Pt/Pd. We often have photographers here for several days producing museum exhibitions and portfolios! We even have private technical workshops for University technical admins with the entire day devoted to printer maintenance. You name it, describe it, request it…and we can accommodate it.

Cone Editions Press 2017 Digital Print Workshops
Jon Cone
27 March, 2017
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