Crystal Shards

The Autumn Complete Photographic Process for Black & White

Instructor: Bruce Barnbaum
November 1 - 6, 2026
At Bruce’s home/darkroom, Granite Falls, Washington

Workshop Fee: $2,150.00 (includes complete lab fees)

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

• Working with film/darkroom is a deep commitment…a very rewarding one. This workshop clarifies exactly why. The thinking that goes into composing, exposing, and developing a negative, followed by the strategy of printing that negative to its maximum potential demands time and thought, the heart of all art forms.

• The traditional darkroom, with today’s exceptionally brilliant enlarging papers, offers the most luminous, yet subtle black-and-white images imaginable. Using today’s variable contrast papers combined with Bruce’s methods for burning, dodging and bleaching, give you all the tools you’ll ever need to make exceptional prints.

• Understanding light, and how to work with it outdoors or indoors, and how to mold it to your desires in the darkroom is central to this workshop. Combining important subject matter with light and composition will give you photographs exhibiting exceptional depth and emotional power. This is the essence of meaningful communication between you, the photographer, and your viewers.

• We begin with a full explanation of the Ansel Adams Zone System of negative exposure, showing how useful — and how simple — it really is. We’ll put it to use in the field, then translate it into the darkroom, as you develop and print negatives you 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 Bruce has made and 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.

• 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, followed by darkroom printing to fulfill that vision. The days are filled with information dispensed in a fun-filled atmosphere. Bruce’s dogs make the week even more pleasurable.

The workshop begins on Sunday morning, November 1 after breakfast at Bruce’s home, so we request participants arrive Saturday, October 31. 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 6, 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 and multiple farm animals), 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”). The $250 deposit in nonrefundable, but holds your space in the workshop. Th full payment is refundable, minus the deposit amount. 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.