Saturday, November 7, 2026 | 9:00 – 10:00 am | 311 Van Metre Hall – FREE!
Presentation Description
In this class we will help you answer the question, “Is It Time to Print Your Own Photographs.”
For any serious digital photographer, an important question inevitably has to be answered. Should I make my own prints or have prints of my photographs made for me? This is a major decision. There are costs involved (a printer, inks, paper). There is a learning curve to be able to consistently make quality prints. But there are also significant tangible and intangible benefits to printing. The ability to make prints when you need them, without the turnaround time of having someone else make your prints. The subtle, but very real advantage of making a print, seeing the possible processing or printing improvements that could be made and then making those adjustments and printing again. Every time you decide to make changes and re-print, there are costs. But you’re getting your photograph closer to your true vision of what you want it to look like. Printing for competitions, for exhibits or just for your walls truly brings your photographs to life!
In this overview class, we will discuss the following topics, and more …:
- What makes a great print?
- The importance of making your own prints
- The real cost of printing yourself versus using a third-party
- Selecting the right printer, if you make that decision
- The impact of different media choices (glossy, matte, metal, canvas, exotic)
- The differences in making a color print versus a black and white print
- Printing from Lightroom versus Photoshop
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Speaker Information
Alan Sislen has been an avid photographer for more than 50 years. Landscape and architectural photography are his passion. Alan has studied with well-known British landscape photographer Charlie Waite, former National Geographic photographer Bruce Dale, digital experts Thom Hogan and Eliot Cohen, fine art photographers Vincent Versace, John Sexton, Julia Anna Gaspodarou, Charlie Cramer, and photographic artists and Photoshop and printing masters John Paul Caponigro and Bill Atkinson.
In 2005 Alan was juried into Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia, and was juried into the Torpedo Factory Artists Association (TFAA) as a Resident Artist in 2006. In 2025, Alan became director of the digital program at Photoworks at Glen Echo Park, where he continues to teach digital classes and workshops. As a long-time member of North Bethesda Camera Club, he has served on the Board and been selected as Advanced Color Print Photographer of the Year, Black and White Photographer of the Year and Advanced Electronic Photographer of the Year. His work is in numerous private and corporate collections, and his photography has been widely exhibited for more than 20 years.
