Crystal Shards

The Autumn Complete Photographic Process for Black & White

Instructor: Bruce Barnbaum
November 2 - 7, 2025
At Bruce’s home/darkroom, Granite Falls, Washington

Workshop Fee: $1,825.00 (includes complete lab fees)

Classical b&w film-based photography and the classical darkroom are alive, well and resurgent! This workshop proves why.

The most important part of photography is seeing, and the second most important thing is carrying that seeing through to a final image that conveys your thoughts to others. This workshop will dramatically enhance your seeing, and your ability to produce meaningful photographs. You'll learn about effective composition, about creating a mood and interpreting a scene to turn it into your own vision and how to express yourself photographically.  

Traditional film has an enormous brightness range that few users are aware of. Today's traditional b&w darkroom offers powerful tools to make use of that extended range. Taking full advantage film’s extraordinary range and the darkroom’s immense power and flexibility, we begin with a full explanation of the Ansel Adams Zone System of negative exposure. We’ll put it to use in the field, and in the darkroom, as you develop negatives exposed in the field.

Following negative development, Bruce will demonstrate darkroom printing techniques using the highest quality enlarging papers, including unique tools for burning and dodging (tools that you can make yourself at virtually no cost). You’ll learn about potassium ferricyanide reducing — bleaching — for refined control and additional print brilliance. The workshop also includes selenium toning of prints, full archival processing of prints, plus mounting and spotting of prints for display. And you'll produce prints yourself because the workshop is hands-on: you print your own work in Bruce's fully equipped, state-of-the-art darkroom, with feedback from him throughout. We do not know of another workshop that offers this opportunity. And you’ll experience one other thing: the darkroom becomes your refuge, a contemplative place conducive to creating fine art.

The triumph of this workshop is the complete integration of the photographic process. You'll learn how to envision your final print while standing behind the camera viewing the scene, and then to create a strategy of negative exposure and development, and darkroom printing to fulfill that vision. The days are so filled with both information and fun that you'll find each day to be a great pleasure. You'll get wonderful refreshments throughout the day prepared by Bruce's wife, Karen, and fabulous breakfasts that she prepares each morning. Their dogs make the week even more pleasurable.

The workshop begins on Sunday morning, November 2 after breakfast at Bruce’s home, so we request participants arrive  Saturday, November 1. That evening at 7 p.m., we’ll have an informal get-together at Bruce’s home/studio to meet one another and see the facilities we’ll be using during the workshop. The workshop runs through Friday afternoon, November 7, closing at about 1:00 p.m. Please plan your travel to allow full participation in this workshop. 

Workshop Setting and Accommodations:
The workshop couldn't be in a more beautiful setting. An hour's drive north of Seattle, Bruce's home is surrounded by over a hundred acres of forests, meadows and marshes, with immediate access to forest and mountain hiking trails on U.S. Forest Service land in the rugged North Cascade Mountains. Participants can stay in Bruce and Karen's home or guest house, at a wonderful guest ranch, Paca Pride (featuring lots of alpacas), just 2 miles down the road, plus camping on their property, or at U.S. Forest Service campgrounds nearby. Once you return your application, we send you complete information about all accommodations. We'll make all reservations on your behalf, beginning the Saturday night prior to the start of the workshop, thru Thursday night prior to the close of the workshop on Friday afternoon. (If you would like to arrive early or stay late, we can arrange for that, as well.)

To register and reserve this workshop, click “add to cart” at the top of this page, please specify your option via the “pricing option” (“Deposit” or “Pay in Full”). When we receive your application, an email will be sent to confirm your registration. If you register with a deposit, the remaining balance is due approximately 8 weeks prior to the start of the workshop. You can pay the remaining balance by specifying “Pay Difference” in the “pricing option” on the workshop page.

The website accepts all major credit cards. We also accept registration with a check made payable to Bruce Barnbaum and mail the check with your completed application to the address below. We will notify you with an email to confirm your registration.

Bruce Barnbaum

P.O. Box 1791

Granite Falls, WA 98252

If you have specific questions, please contact Bruce by phone at (360) 691-4105 or by email barnbaum@aol.com.