One Week Only
We're having a most excellent Print Offer this week. The first one in some time.
Comet Hyakutake Coma, Brooks, California, 2003
Our friend and former TOP columnist Ctein (it's pronounced "kuh-TINE" and it's his only name) was for many decades a master custom printer, a renowned expert in the arcane art of color dye transfer printing. He's also a photographer in his own right whose portfolio, prior to the closing of his darkroom in 2013, consisted of several hundred approximately 16x20-inch photographs superbly printed as dyes. After carefully archiving extra copies of his own full-sized dye transfer prints for years or decades, Ctein very likely will not be able to take these with him when he emigrates to Ireland. He'd like to sell as many as possible before he leaves.
So for the next seven days, starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on May 30th and ending at 10 a.m. PDT on Friday, June 6th, he's offering his entire remaining archive to TOP readers, for prices way below normal. Orders benefit Mike and TOP as well.
Cost: The prints cost $690 each for the first two. The regular everyday prices for these same prints are now in the low thousands of dollars.
Bonuses: There are bonuses for those ordering more prints. After the first two, the price drops in half, to $345. That is, if you buy three prints, the first two will cost $690 each but the third only $345. There is no limit to the number you can buy, and if people want to get together with friends to combine orders to get the discount, that's fine, so long as it's all in one order, shipping to one address.
Fresh Pahoehoe, Mother's Day Flow, Hawaii, 2002
Selection: The ordering instructions are a bit unusual! Please persevere. :-) We are standing by to answer questions should you happen to get confused.
Very Important! It's advantageous to get your order in early to stand the best chance of getting the prints you want. There are 240 different photographs, but there are in most cases only one to a scant handful of prints of each (the number available is noted in red under the print title on the Selection Page). It's not strictly "first come, first served," although it's weighted that way, as explained below. It's a good idea to provide him with three alternative choices, so he stands the best chance of making you happy. (He'll update the web page every day to reflect the changes in stock.)
Go to the Selection Page ( https://ctein.com/dyesale.htm ) and pick out the photograph(s) you'd like. Send Ctein an email at [email protected] first indicating the number of prints you'd like to buy and then listing your titles in order of preference. Be sure to tell him how many you actually want to buy! Don't send any money at this point—wait to get a confirmation of your order.
Each day, Ctein will take all the orders that came in that day and allocate prints (mathematically! Because Ctein) to make sure that the maximum number of people get the print or prints they most want. In the past, he's had a 98% success rate at being able to fulfill people's requests. He'll then email you with a confirmation the following day, informing you of what you'll be getting and how much the total price will be. If all is acceptable to you, only then should you send payment.
(Note from Ctein: "Requesting a photograph with no alternates won't improve your chances of getting that print, because the popularity varies by more than a factor of ten from photograph to photograph. The odds are the one you lust after will be lusted after by others. If you don't provide any alternatives, you might get lucky...or you might not." In other words, it's better to send him some alternatives, along with your top choice, ranked in order.)
Shipping: Shipping is $50 per order to anywhere in the world, no matter how many prints you order. All orders will ship within 30 days of receipt of payment. You'll get a confirmation email when he receives your payment and another one when the prints ship.
Payment: Ctein prefers payment by check (drawn on a U.S. bank) but you can pay by PayPal if that's more convenient or if you're in a country other than the U.S.
Guarantee: We know you can't see the prints before you buy, so we offer an unconditional 100% guarantee: live with your purchase for a week and if you're not happy, send it back in the original packing for a full refund. You're protected. However, this time we have no way of replacing pictures damaged in shipment. They will be packaged extremely well to minimize possible damage, but in case of shipping damage you'll have to decide either to keep it for full price or send it back for a full refund.
Malachite and Azurite, American Museum of Natural History, 1999
That's about it. If you have any questions, please ask. One of us will get back to you promptly.
As Ctein said the other day:
"My hope is that this sale will help these inimitably fine and rare prints to find exceptionally good homes, among people who love photography. I hope your original dye will become a prized possession, a conversation piece, and a source of enjoyment for you for years to come. And, come October, I'll be off to Ireland!"
Mike
Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
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