Fair warning, all my prints will go offline at DAPrints in about a week. I'll be setting up shop somewhere else sometime next year.

This does not reflect dissatisfaction with DAPrints. I have other reasons, and frankly, I'm one of DAPrints' biggest fans. I've had little issues here and there, and had to struggle to rectify by 1.8 gamma workflow with their 2.2 process, but it's long been my belief that DAPrints has been a tremendously valuable service here. And I have never felt that the profit-sharing arrangement has been unfair.

In fact, I'd give DAPrints credit for inspiring a major turning point in my work, way back in 2003, and my obsession with quality beyond the bounds of efficiency. My whole book-in-progress owes much of its origin to DAPrints. I think their value is especially great for those who come here and are nurtured to take their work to the next level. DAPrints offers an excellent opportunity to do that. That's what it did for me.

But, I am taking them down in about a week, so if you want to order one, now is your last chance for the foreseeable future.

Virtually all of them have been proofed by me, and I'm completely satisfied with the results, other than the following exceptions:

Eye on the Prize and Promise to Keep (and maybe The Honeymoon is Over) are slightly dark, but still gorgeous.

Every Little Thing She Does and From This Day Forward are unacceptably dark (my fault, really) and are not available. (I don't have the means to fix them this summer, to my regret, since they're two of my favorites.)

Yes, You became too light after my last revision, and has also been deactivated. All That You Can't Leave Behind might be slightly too light, but acceptably. (Both from the same shoot? But developed months apart? Interesting...)

However, I had proofs sent to me in Saudi after my last major overhaul, and most of them now look exactly as I'd always intended - luminous. Especially the "nearly black and whites" (that actually have hints of color) of Lauren, and my only true black and white photograph, Life by the Horns.

So if you want a sliver of my personal artistic history, get one while you can. They probably won't be available again until sometime next year, and through a different channel linked from my own website.

Again, I've got no beef with DAPrints - it's not about that.

____________

Personal update:

Life back in the States in strange. I'm loving the quality time with my cat, hating what this country is doing to my allergies, and strangely off-balance in my attempts to enjoy my old social life. Pretty cash-strapped, so avoiding opportunities to go out and spend money. (Which also means avoiding the coffee shop and its wireless internet. Have got a smoking Windows laptop on loan from my job overseas, but no Photoshop on it, of course.)

But the return is doing one thing that I hoped. It's recharging my jets to get back to my G5 iMac in the Kingdom, and get back to work on my art and book. Had lost my mojo in January, but I can feel it raging back to life now. Might have a very rewarding model shoot or two before leaving the States again. (I.e., she's fabulous!)

Got my entire music collection ripped onto a hard drive (a true uncompressed backup of about 300GB, except that my Abbey Road is missing), which will increase my quality of life there. And also bought a car right before I left, so will be more mobile and independent next year as well. (Now if I could only get that country to chill out about cameras! Spent most of last year dreading confiscation.)

Will be making a pretty major announcement in about a week. Still lining up the details.

Love to you all.