My conversion to digital imaging
by Jeff Grandy

Since 1978, I've lived and worked in Yosemite National Park. For the last eleven years I worked at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley, part of that time as the assistant curator. The gallery is still owned and operated by the family of Ansel Adams, and sells Ansel's original work, as well as photographs by many other great photographers.

It was a pleasure, as well as a great learning experience, to be involved in the gallery. They represent the work of some wonderfully talented photographers--primarily landscape--in both color and black-and-white. It was fun to bring a client into the viewing room, and watch their reaction as I pulled image after image out of the boxes, and set them under the viewing lights. Many of them had purchased paintings before, but never a photograph. They sometimes expressed wonder at the lush color and realism of a good print. It was, they often told me, the first time a photograph had moved them emotionally.

Let's face it folks. As hard as we work to capture the image, it takes a great printer to bring the life out of the film and put it onto the paper. Most color photographers don't print their own work, and they all have horror stories of trying to find a good printer. I've got my own.

When they finally find a good printer, they either keep their mouths clamped tight (they don't want the printer to get too busy or too expensive), or they are so excited they can't keep quiet about it. If you make part of your living from selling fine prints, I'll tell you what I saw at the gallery. A great image printed poorly sold poorly. And the same great image printed well sold much better. I saw this in my own work.

This was especially evident when a new generation of prints began to emerge in the mid- 90s. A new way of printing began to appear involving the digital darkroom, and various printing devices. But it wasn't until the Lightjet 5000™, by Cymbolic Science arrived on the scene that things at the gallery began to really take off. We began receiving prints that were bigger, sharper, and had more life to them than ever.

About that time we had a show on the wall by a well-known photographer. One of his best-selling images was printed in a 20 x 24 Cibachrome. When he brought in the same image printed on the Lightjet, we immediately had him hold it next to the print on the wall. The difference was astounding! Minutes before we thought the Cibachrome image was beautiful. But the new print was so superior, the photographer immediately wanted to take it off the wall because it looked so poor compared to the Fuji Crystal Archive print.

My own prints (taken with a 645 Bronica) took on a new life that I never experienced with traditional printing. Part of the reason was the small piece of film I started with. Making traditional 20x24's from my images was out of the question because they just lost that sharpness I wanted. But my Fuji Crystal Archive 20x24's look great--sharp, with exceptional color and contrast control. The reaction from the customers was wonderful. The sales showed in true black that they loved the new process.

Many were skeptical of a computer being involved until they saw the results. If they still had reservations, I would hold a Cibachrome print of the same image, if we had one, next to the new print. The reaction was always the same: the Fuji Crystal Archive Print blew that Cibacrome out of the room in terms of visual impact. This, along with the fact that the Fuji Crystal Archive paper will last about 60 years in display life versus 25 for Cibachrome, and the quality became even more apparent.

I left Yosemite to work at West Coast Imaging because I'm so excited about this process. It is a thrill to watch the photographers when they see their images as Fuji Crystal Archive prints for the first time. Man, they look good! As a photographer you should care that we at West Coast Imaging are all photographers, too. We KNOW what a good print should look like.

There's so much more to say, but here's the bottom line from me: I realize the initial expense seems a bit shocking. But once the original scan and digital work are complete, these print prices are competitive with any high-end process.

So try this: Give us just one of your favorite images. Maybe choose one that has sold well, or one you've had printed before. I know from my own experience that you'll love the results. We'll work hard to make sure you do.