Below is a list of the classes, workshops and speaking engagements I currently have scheduled for this year. Hope to see you at an event in the near future!

March 3 Lightroom at Boulder Digital Arts
www.BoulderDigitalArts.com

March 20 Epson Printing Seminar
Lone Tree, CO
Details and registration here

March 25-27 Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts (PPAM)
2011 Annual Conference
www.PPAM.com

March 31 Designing the Photograph at Boulder Digital Arts
www.BoulderDigitalArts.com

April 16-17 Lightroom Class in Denver
www.LightroomClasses.com

April 30-May 7 Italy Photo Tour
www.Italy-Photo-Tours.com

May 12-15 Moab Photo Symposium
www.MoabPhotoSym.com

June 8 Outdoor Photography at REI
7-8:30 PM Park Meadows Store
Online registration coming soon

June 4 Photo Workshop at Garden of the Gods
Details and registration here

July 22-24 Wildflowers in Crested Butte
Details coming soon

August 13-15 Colorado Photography Festival
www.ColoradoPhotographyFestival.com

Sep 29-Oct 2 Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole with Bret Edge
www.JacksonHolePhotoWorkshops.com

Nov 4-5 Loveland Photo Society
www.LPS.cc

Sunday, March 20
1-5 pm
Lone Tree Civic Center
8527 Lone Tree Parkway, Lone Tree, CO 80124

Great photographs aren’t truly finished until they’re printed. For generations of photographers, the final print has been the culmination of the creative process and the ultimate expression of the artist. And in our age of digital photography and imaging, everyone can make make prints of their photographs easily and inexpensively.

Unfortunately, many photographers don’t make prints of their photos because they lack knowledge or confidence. Have you resisted printing your work because you don’t know where to start, had prints made by a lab and been disappointed with inferior results, or tried doing it yourself only to find it a frustrating waste of time and money?

Join us for a special presentation by photographer, master printer and Adobe Certified Expert Nat Coalson, who will demystify the process of digital printing and give you the knowledge and confidence to print your work like a pro.

Whether you work with a print lab or make your own prints, this seminar will give you the information you need to get exceptional results.

Nat will demonstrate the state-of-the-art in fine art inkjet printing systems with the brand new Epson Stylus Pro 4900, one of Epson’s latest generation of printers capable of incredible detail, accurate, vibrant color and gorgeous black and white prints, too. You will be introduced to Epson’s new Signature Worthy line of fine papers and will also see demonstrations of color management solutions from X-Rite, including the ColorMunki.

You’ll learn all about the modern digital printing workflow, including:

• Correctly calibrating your display
• Using ICC profiles
• Choosing the best paper for each image
• Soft proofing
• Printing from Lightroom and Photoshop
• Making black-and-white prints from color originals
• Preparing files for printing at a lab
• Archival considerations
• Coating, laminating, handling and storing prints
• … and more!

This seminar is sponsored by Lone Tree Photo Club and Digital2You.cc and is offered exclusively to members of Denver area camera clubs. Space is extremely limited and advance registration is required. The cost of the seminar is only $49 per person.

Digital printing doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Regardless of the kinds of photography you do, if you’re ready to take your work to the next level and start producing beautiful prints, you owe it to yourself to attend this seminar!

Reserve your spot today by emailing Nat@NatCoalson.com or calling Nat at 720-936-1015. Payment accepted by check or credit card.

For more information visit:

www.NatCoalson.com

www.CoalsonEditions.com

www.Digital2you.cc

www.LoneTreePhotoClub.com

I’m teaching a three hour introductory class on Lightroom at Boulder Digital Arts next Thursday, March 3. If you’re new to Lightroom or not sure if it’s for you, come check it out. Details and registration are at http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=181

I’m leading a week-long photo tour in northern Italy this spring (April 30-May 7).

Details are at Italy-Photo-Tours.com

Epson and a host of other sponsors are putting on a competition of panoramic photography; details are here.

B&H is running an amazing deal on WD Passport 500GB portable drives for just $69.95; see it here.

I’ve used WD Passports for years and they have been utterly reliable (knock on wood

PPC, the local chapter of Professional Photographers of America, is holding their annual convention March 4-6, 2011. I’ll be at the trade expo with plenty of Lightroom books (I’m sharing a booth with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS)).

Click the image to see a larger version of the official flyer; more details and registration are at PPColorado.com.

This looks to be a great event, with lots of great folks and very experienced pro photographers in attendance. Hope to see you there!

A question from a client:

“I am needing to understand file size and how a raw file goes from 15mb to a 13mb tif to a 6.2mb jpeg.  And how do you get that raw file to a 24mb jpeg preferably as an 8X12 image. My son-in-law and I are working on a website on Photo Shelter and I am trying to get some images ready to upload.  I am not figuring this out.  I use a program called PhotoZoom Pro for upsizing and I am still not getting the outcome that I need.”

My reply:

“I use, love and recommend Photoshelter highly. Get the Lightroom plugin for Photoshelter and you can export photos directly from Lightroom into your Photoshelter account. You don’t need PhotoZoom for resizing.

The file size issue is not directly related to image resolution. A raw file does not contain pixels per se; its size is based on the amount of data it contains (though it does have a native resolution).

When you convert a raw file to a tif, the resulting file size will be larger, even if the resolution remains unchanged. When you convert a raw file to a jpg, the file size goes down because a jpg file uses compression to eliminate redundant data and make a smaller file size.

To say you need a 24mb JPG is off base. Regardless of the actual file size on disk, what matters are the dimensions (8×12) and the resolution (eg 300 ppi). With JPG, this might still only yield a file of 8-10 MB and that’s fine.

With Lightroom, all you need to do when exporting is enter the dimensions and resolution you want and Lightroom does the rest.

Again, you don’t need any other software for resizing photos.

I’ve been building an entirely new web site of my own, on Photoshelter, and over the past 6 months have used the export plugin to upload nearly 800 photos to my account. It really works.”

Note: stay tuned for the announcement of my new web site launch!

This video from Photoshelter is centered around online portfolios, but there’s a ton of other useful business info for professional and aspiring professional photographers… might just be the most productive hour you can spend (for free!) in getting straightforward, practical advice from a true industry professional.

The call for entries has gone out for photography submissions to the 9th annual Lone Tree Photographic Art Show and Sale in Colorado. The deadline is March 4th so get your entries in soon! You can download a PDF of the prospectus here or visit the club’s web site at www.lonetreephotoclub.com for more details.

Next Lightroom class April 16-17; details and early registration discount available now at http://www.lightroomclasses.com