Kevin Ames found that perfect wasn’t and imperfect was, while he was a special guest during a special session of my Fine Digital Print workshops this week. After years of doing top notch commercial photography, to get the most expressive results from a developing body of work, he first had to follow the lead of a very happy accident. Replicating the look and feel of a color crossed, soft focus, grainy original from pristine originals challenged him to be clear about every move he made. Ultimately, he found that rather than going back to lesser tools to distress his images he had much more flexibility and freedom when simulating the look using high quality originals. The results became perfectly imperfect. In the end, given the subject matter and his treatment of it, a perfectly lit, perfectly processed original was just too perfect - and far less emotive. It wasn’t easy to go in the opposite direction years of good habits had taken him. He had to give himself permission to do so - and was encouraged unanimously by the other participants to pursue his unconventional results. Even then, it took repeating the results with several images to get the final confirmation he needed. The results were undeniably strong.

Tell him what you think! Comment here!

Check out Kevin’s website here.

Check out my Fine Digital Print workshops here.

Category: Alumni, Printing, Special Guest, Workshops
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Justin Hartford perfected his black and white palette during a special session of my Fine Digital Print workshops this week. He’s printing his high contrast landscapes right to the ragged edge. Deep blacks with very faint traces of detail and very bright highlights with only traces of detail. He’s using those in localized planes not in the same object. This makes extreme dynamic range a visual code for space (recession/progression). This distinctive palette combined with a larger than classic scale gives his work a very contemporary look to a classic subject (the American southwest).

Tell him what you think! Comment here!

Check out my Fine Digital Print workshops here.

Category: Alumni, Printing, Workshops
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Charlotte Rush Bailey printed her African portraits at a variety of scales in a special session of my Fine Digital Print workshops this week. It took physically experiencing them with her own body to find out how they were working. She held them up to her face. When the portraits are larger than life they take on a more graphic quality evoking mass media presentations. When they’re life size the representational quality of them is heightened. When they’re small the intimate quality of them is emphasized. Scale had a big impact on her subject. Only certain subjects function this way. Making life-size or larger than life-sized representations of vistas (landscape, cityscape, seascape) is often impractical if not impossible.

To a limited degree you can preview scale by projecting an image before printing. But nothing is a substitute for actually experiencing the final print. In addition to evaluating technical aspects of a print, it’s important to identify associative qualities as well. They can make a big difference.

Tell her what you think! Comment here!

Check out my Fine Digital Print workshops here.

Category: Alumni, Printing, Workshops
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Don Ross knows that little things can make a big difference.  He brought many beautiful prints to a special session of my Fine Digital Print workshops this week. He was looking for “that extra something”. We identified one of the strongest images/prints that would give us a lot of information relevant to the rest of his body of work. Further resolving this one image would unlock the keys to how most of the other images need to be handled. How much saturation? How much contrast? How much sharpening? What kind of sharpening? Applied selectively? What paper? How big? He spent the better part of two days fine-tuning the image. At the end of it, he turned a good print into a great print. It was time well spent. “It’s a strange thing. When it comes to making really good work. It’s almost as if, little things make all the difference.”

Now that he knows how to resolve this one image, he knows how to resolve similar images. I’ll bet the next great print comes in a matter of hours. It was time really well spent.

Tell him what you think! Comment here!

Check out my Fine Digital Print workshops here.

Category: Alumni, Printing, Workshops
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NEC 2690WUXi Monitor

October 2, 2008 | 1 Comment

It’s the best monitor I’ve ever used.

The softproofed image onscreen has never looked so accurate. This LCD monitor has proprietary hardware technology that compresses the highlights to more accurately represent images in print. The monitor has hardware calibration technology that virtually eliminates color banding and provides excellent color uniformity across the screen. An internal stabilizer keeps colors consistent and the screen brightness to a level that more accurately represents images in print. Most LCD monitors are too bright to simulate images in print as accurately. The NEC 2690’s wide gamut encompasses over 90% of Adobe RGB. And it’s high resolution.

26″    2690WQXi   $1199.99

30″    3090WQXi   $2245.99

My workshop participants get to see it in action and receive discounts directly from the manufacturer.

Read about it on NEC.
Read user reviews at Amazon.

Category: Equipment
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Insights Is Coming

October 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

My free enews Insights broadcasts tomorrow. What’s in this issue? 4 new free PDFs, workshops discounts, seminars advance notice, interviews, free desktop calendars and more. And a chance to win a free DVD.

Sign up today! Get it tomorrow!

Category: Insights Enews
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Adobe has announced Photoshop.com. What is it? Mix Photoshop Elements with social networking, online sharing (Myspace/Facebook), and online archiving with services and free tutorials to support it. Imagine Flickr with free online image editing. Then add mobile computing (on cell phones and PDAs) - Photoshop.com Mobile. It’s not a professional solution (fully featured, capable of handling high resolution - Lightroom or Photoshop) - yet.

Does this herald the future of all Photoshop products? Will we be renting rather than purchasing our software in the future? Perhaps our upgrades will be automatic and managed for us. This is speculative futurecasting. For now, find out what’s happening online with PhotoshopExpress. It’s too interesting not to check it out.

Check it out here.

Read more

Category: Software
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PhotoshopCafe has launched it’s CS4 online Learning Center. Read an illustrated overview of new CS4 features. Watch four new free videos online - Retouch and Panels, Content-Aware Scale, New Interface, GPU Viewing Options and an interview with John Nack (Photoshop Principle Product Manager). It’s excellent content. It’s free!

Visit PhotoshopCafe’s CS4 Learning Center here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Check out my DVDs here.

Check out my upcoming seminars here.

Learn Photoshop CS4 in my workshops.

Category: Photoshop, Software
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Photoshop Cafe just launched a new online magazine. The premiere issue offers 67 information packed pages covering the Adobe’s entire Creative Suite 4. It’s free!

Download the CS4 Superguide PDF here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Check out my DVDs here.

Check out my upcoming seminars here.

Learn Photoshop CS4 in my workshops.

Category: Books, Photoshop, Software
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PhotoshopCafe offers a Lightroom 2 online Learning Center. Read an illustrated overview of new Lightroom 2 features. Watch four new free videos online - Dual Monitors, Photoshop Integration, Smart Collections, Local Adjustment and interviews with Tom Hogarty (Lightroom Senior Product Manager) and Frederick Johnson (Lightroom Senior Marketing Manager). It’s excellent content. It’s free!

Visit PhotoshopCafe’s Lightroom 2 Learning Center here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Check out my DVDs here.

Check out my upcoming seminars here.

Learn Photoshop CS4 in my workshops.

Category: Software, lightroom
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The Photoshop Guys at NAPP have put together some great short video tutorials that will help you get up to speed on CS4. Here’s the list.

Scott Kelby
Camera Raw Adjustment Brush
Graduated Filter Tool
Post-Crop Vignette

Corey Barker
3D Improvements
Mask Panel

Dave Cross
Bridge Updates
Content Aware Scaling

Matt Koslowski
Adjustment Panel
Dodge & Burn
On Image Controls
Live Brush Preview
Vibrance Adjustment

RC Concepcion
Dodge, Burn & Sponge
Blend Focus
Flash Panels
Zoom, Toss & Rotate
MultiTouch Gestures

See all the videos here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Learn Lightroom 2 and CS4 in my workshops.
Check out my DVDs here.

Category: Photoshop, Software, Uncategorized
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If you’re a National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) member along with your next issue of Photoshop User magazine, you’ll be also receiving a special free bonus “All CS4″ issue of the magazine. Each time Adobe comes out with a new version, NAPP / Photoshop User produces a special bonus issue for members. There are lots of other benefits to being a member. Check out NAPP here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Category: Photoshop, Software
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10 Reasons to upgrade to Lightroom 2.

Scott Kelby and Matt Koslowski detail 10 reasons to upgrade in their free online videos.

1    New feature overview
2    Photoshop Integration
3    Keyword Improvements
4    Adjustment Brush
5    Finding Your Photos
6    Slideshow Improvements
7    Multiple Monitor Support
8    Printing
9    Smart Collections
10  Post Crop Vignetting

Look closely at the Lightroom vs Photoshop discussion (bottom of right menu topics).

It’s well worth a visit!
Check it out here.

Learn Lightroom 2 and CS4 in my workshops.
Check out my DVDs here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Category: Software, lightroom
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Martin Evening weighs in on CS4 on PhotoshopNews.

“I would say that Photoshop CS4 is an excellent upgrade, not just for the features I have listed in Photoshop Camera Raw and Bridge but for lots of other significant little changes to the program.”

The new CS4 interface
Spring-loaded keys
Open GL performance
Adjustments panel
Color Range selections
Masks panel
Content-aware scaling
Depth of field blending
Photoshop CS4 extra items
Camera Raw 5
Bridge CS4
Collections
Large image previews

Read the full story with great illustrations on PhotoshopNews.com here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Martin’s books are among the very best on both Lightroom and Photoshop. Check out Martin’s books here.

Learn Lightroom 2 and CS4 in my workshops.
Check out my DVDs here.

Category: Photoshop, Software
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There’s a joke that’s been going around. Photoshop is just a plug-in for Lightroom.

What do you do with Lightroom and what do you do with Photoshop? It’s a question many have been asking since Adobe released Lightroom. As Lightroom continues to grow in power the question becomes increasingly important.

Martin Evening has some great answers on Lightroom-News. Find them here.

Martin’s books are among the very best on both Lightroom and Photoshop. Check out Martin’s books here.

Learn Lightroom 2 and CS4 in my workshops.
Check out my DVDs here.

Category: Photoshop, Software, lightroom
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Deke Weighs in on CS4

September 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Deke McClelland’s irreverent and uncensored video series offers a candid and highly opinionated review of the new software. “Photoshop CS4: Buy or Die” shows all facets of the program. In just five minutes, you’ll know whether you want to upgrade or not. “Either you buy or it dies.” It’s refreshingly simple.

Watch it here.

Oh. And, if you haven’t seen it. Check out Deke’s 101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes. This much lauded MTV inspired music video informs and entertains.

Watch it here.

Seen it? Like it? Comment here!

Category: Photoshop, Software
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Senior product manager offers a great inside look into the many improvements in CS4.

“I’m a perfectionist, and I deeply, viscerally want to smooth & polish every aspect of Photoshop.  Doing it all in any one cycle is impossible, but I’m proud to say we’ve put a ton of effort into sweating the details in CS4.

You’re going to see tons of flashier features in other write-ups, and of course I’ll cover them here, but for this cycle I want to lead with the little stuff–things you might not read about otherwise, but which can make a big difference while working.”

Read his extensive list of advances in CS4 here.

Category: Photoshop, Software
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Adobe CS4 - New Features

September 25, 2008 | 2 Comments

John Loiacono emphasized three key concepts during his keynote address at Photoshop World in Las Vegas. Timesavers (real speed increases), Integration (transparently with Macromedia products), and Cutting Edge (daring new features). Check out my previous post on this event here.

What’s new in Adobe Photoshop CS4?

Here’s a short list.

Adjustments panel
Masks panel
Auto-blending of images
Extended depth of field
360-degree panoramas
Fluid canvas rotation
Industry-leading color correction
Better raw image processing
Improved Adobe Photoshop Lightroom workflow
Efficient file management with Adobe Bridge CS4
Adobe Community Help
More powerful printing options
File display options
Higher performance on very large images (Windows only)

Get more information on all of these items here.

Should you upgrade?
Sometimes it’s just one feature that makes all the difference and makes an upgrade totally worth it.
Which items make big differences for you?
Comment here!
Check the Comments for my number one reason.

Learn Photoshop CS4 in my workshops.

Category: Photoshop, Software
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What’s the difference between Adobe Photoshop CS4 and CS4 Extended? In a nutshell the Extended version adds advanced analysis and 3D capabilities.

Compare them in this check list.

What would you use CS4 extended features for?

Comment here!

Category: Photoshop, Software
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Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Web Standard, Production Premium, Master Collection …

What’s in all the different editions?

See this check list here.

Which version do you / will you use? Tell us why. Comment here!

Category: Photoshop, Software
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The Epson Print Academy is gearing up for another tour. There are two tracks.

Track I programming includes …
Jack Reznicki seminars and hosts.
Video presentations by top industry experts.

Track II programming includes …
Andrew Rodney    Color Management
Jeff Schewe        Raw Conversion
Greg Gorman     Black and White
Mac Holbert     Fine Art Workflow
J P Caponigro    21st Century Dodging & Burning and The Art of Proofing
Video presentations with Michael Reichmann, Henry Wilhelm, and Epson Professional Product Managers.

Which track should you attend? Find out here.

Nov 8, 2008       Atlanta
Nov 16, 2008     Washington DC
Dec 6 , 2008      New York
Dec 13, 2008     Dallas
Jan 31, 2009      Seattle
Feb 7, 2009       San Francisco
Feb 21, 2009     Los Angeles
Feb 28, 2009     Boston
Mar 14, 2009     Chicago
Mar 21, 2009     Toronto
April 4, 2009      Minneapolis
April 25, 2009    Denver
May 3, 2009       New York
May 9, 2009       Los Angeles/Orange County
May 16, 2009     San Francisco
May 23, 2009     Vancouver

Get more details on dates and locations here.

Track 1 costs $79.95. Track 2 costs $149.95. This is one of the best deals around. Sign up now!

Check out Schewe and Reichmann’s video tutorial here.
Check out Holbert’s DVD The Dirty Dozen here.
Check out my DVDs here.
Check out my Fine Digital Print workshop series here.

If you attended the Epson Print Academy tell us what you liked and what you’re looking forward to. Comment here!

Category: Epson Print Academy, Event
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Adobe Announces CS4

September 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment

This morning Adobe announced CS4 with a web broadcast demonstrating many new features across the entire product line. In it, John Loiacono (senior vice president of Adobe’s Creative Solutions Business Unit) described CS4 as “The most compelling release in adobe’s history.”

Here are three stunning new Photoshop features.
1    Real time panning and zooming in huge high resolution files (440mp 2gig).
2    Creating spherical 3d images and easily compositing new elements into them.
3    Content aware scaling.

There’s much more!
You can find out about many of the new features on Adobe TV.
Check these videos out.

See Bryan O’Neil Hughes’ - Photoshop Bridge CS4 Feature Tour here.

See Zoranna Gee (Product Manager) show the new CS4 Extended features here.

The Russell Brown Show - Content Aware Scaling here.

The Russell Brown Show - Spherical Panoramas here.

(And yes, all of my workshops and seminars will be updated for Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4.)

Category: Photoshop, Software
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Known for his engaging personality, “Johnny L” (senior vice president of Adobe’s Creative Solutions Business Unit) discusses his thoughts on the future of imaging and how Photoshop plays a part of that. He gets it. He really gets it. And he’s got an inside track on future imaging technology. Among the many key ideas he addresses is what I consider to be an extremely important issue, enriching the experience of engaging high density information (beginning of video 2). Check out these videos for a glimpse into the future and one of the minds helping guide us there.

And check back here tomorrow for news on an important announcement from Adobe tomorrow.
Are you ready for something brilliant?




Category: Photoshop, Software
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Recently Rayhaan Traboulay interviewed me for his online magazine thirdeyephotozine. Here’s an excerpt.

RH I recently had a discussion with a friend about creativity within people. I
find that people either generally “have it” or don’t. I believe that you
can’t really teach it too much. Theres room for improvement and critiques
and so on, but I find it is either innate in someone or it’s not. Would you
agree or no?

JPC I disagree - strongly. To be a successful creative person in any field, it
takes perseverance, intelligence, hard work, skill, talent, and luck - in
that order. Everyone is creative. Different people have different creative
strengths. It helps to find the areas each of us are strongest in and to
develop skills within other areas to become more versatile. Creativity is
not contained to the arts. Some of the most creative people in history and
with us on the planet today work in the fields of science and business. We
all have something to offer. And something to learn from each other.

Do you think you can learn to be more creative? Comment here!

Read the rest of the interview here.

Read more interviews here.

Read and hear my comments on my images here.

Find free PDFs on making artist’s statements here.

Hear my free tips on becoming more creative here.

See my images and get free portable galleries here.

Category: Creativity, Interviewed
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How do you reduce forgery? One way is to issue certificates of authenticity. The artist issues a certificate of authenticity with the artwork. There are many ways to handle this. The artist can give the certificate to the client. The artist can keep the certificate on file for clients. Or, the artist can give one to a client and keep a duplicate. Ultimately a certificate can be forged. But holographic seals can’t. The Hahnemühle Certificate of Authenticity (certificates and holographic seals) was designed to help reduce the risk of forgery.

There are many steps you can take to reduce forgery.

1 Share digital files only with trusted sources and post low resolution files to the web

2 Insert copyright information in the file (as a layer, in the file info fields, in metadata).

3 Sign and number all prints(even if issued in an open/unlimited edition). Sign only saleable prints.

4 Keep good records of sales.

5 Note provenance (production history) on the back side of prints.

6 Use certificates and seals.

What other steps do you/could you take to ensure authenticity? Comment here!

Learn this and other tips and techniques in my Fine Digital Print workshops series.

Category: Media, Printing
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Finding the side of a paper that’s optimized for printing can sometimes be challenging. Here are a few tips to help.

1 Look for the logo - the logo is always on the back.
2 Compare whites - the coated side is often whiter.
3 Feel the surface - the coated side is smoother.
4 Lick the paper - the coated side sticks more.
5 Feel the edge - paper is cut coated side up leaving a tiny lip/edge on the back side.

If you have other tips for finding the coated side of paper, comment here!

Learn this and other tips and techniques in my Fine Digital Print workshops series.

Category: Media, Printing
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World reknowned landscape photographer William Neill recently released his new digital book Impressions of Light containing all new work with a twist. “Throughout my career, I have been seeking to inspire passion for the natural world and convey my emotional response to the subjects I photograph - that of awe and wonder. In 2005, when I learned a new way for me to convey such an emotional response by the use of camera movement during exposure, I began creating a new body of work entitled Impressions of Light. Inspired by color photographers Ernst Haas and Freeman Patterson, and of course the great Impressionistic painters, this work is simply another way. See how experimentation reinvigorates a contemporary master’s process in this new work.

Containing 100 pages with 69 photographs, Impressions of Light is available as a downloadable PDF only. A special introductory price of $15.00 USD is available until October 1 - thereafter $19.95.
Read more about and see more of William Neill’s Impressions of Light digital book here.

Category: Artists, Books
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The Art of Arranging

September 17, 2008 | 1 Comment

Proximity and sequencing matter. The first sequence suggests an approaching storm, while the second suggests clearing skies.

How you present your work may be almost as important as what work you present. It’s the art of arranging. And it is an art, which involves specific techniques that can be learned. What are some of the guiding principles involved? Here are a few.

Sequence matters. Start strong. Finish strong. Make getting there interesting. Whether it’s a symphony, a novel, or an exhibit. It’s good advice for arranging any creative product.

To sequence a project, you can use the metaphor of building a fence. The strongest pieces can be thought of as posts. The less strong pieces can be thought of as rails. You want to start and end with very strongest pieces to create a strong structure. You want to periodically reinforce runs of less strong units with one or more stronger units. You don’t want long runs of rails without posts or the structure may fail. A fence made only of posts becomes something else entirely, a wall with no variation or grace. The number of strong pieces you include determines how long a fence will be, though the number of other images you include may modify length somewhat …

What tips do you have for sequencing? How have you used this potential for your work? Comment here!

Check out the rest of this article in my column Illuminating Creativity in this month’s AfterCapture magazine.
Check out AfterCapture.com here.
Find 6 related PDFs here.
Learn these and other techniques in my Fine Digital Print Expert workshop here.

Category: Creativity, Magazine
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Printing - Humidity

September 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment


Extreme humidity can impact print quality. This is particularly true for but not exclusive to matte papers, which are more absorbent.

We printed for my Annual Exhibit in high humidity. The paper had absorbed a lot of moisture and so there was substantially more dot gain. The prints were coming out substantially darker and we were having trouble maintaining shadow detail. It’s made me want to store all of my paper in a climate controlled environment (using a dehumidifier or air conditioner). Or, climate control my entire studio. Rather than reprofiling for an atmospheric condition that changes unpredictably, we compensated with proofing. We lightened the files selectively before printing. With a little testing, we came up with standard adjustments that could be used on multiple images, with customized shadow masks for individual compositions. It pays to think about the impact of humidity on your printing. Control humidity when you can. Compensate for it when you can’t. You get better prints.

What do you do to compensate for excessive dot gain due to environment or overinking? Comment here.

Check out my Printing downloads here.

Check out my DVD The Art of Proofing here.

Find out about my The Fine Digital Print Workshop Series here.

Category: Printing
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Printing - Proofing

September 15, 2008 | 2 Comments

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Proofing is an essential part of making the finest prints possible.

While color management and softproofing get you 90% of the way there, there are all kinds of things you still need to check in hardcopy - materials, ink limit, sharpening to name a few. Every time I print an image, I create a BAT (a final proof) that I archive for future reference. The next time I print the same image the BAT tells me how I got the best results the last time it was printed. That then becomes a starting point for future improvements. Combine advancing technology (printers, ink, substrates) and good color management / proofing practices and you’ll find your print quality will constantly evolve.

Do you proof? What kinds of things do you routinely proof?

Check out my DVD 6 Simple Steps to Good Color Management here.

Check out my DVD The Art of Proofing here.

Check out my Proofing downloads here.

Find out about my digital printing workshop series The Fine Digital Print here.

Category: Printing
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Congratulations to the winners of Blurb’s Photography.Book.Now contest.
The winning photographers and their books are …

- Grand Prize:                            Beth Dow, In The Garden
- Category Winner, Themed:       Jonathan Smith, The Bridge Project
- Category Winner, General:       Talia Chetrit, Reading
- First Runner-up, Themed:        Cara Phillips, Singular Beauty
- First Runner-up, General:         John Lehr, Something is Happening
- Second Runner-up, Themed:    Panar, Johnstown / Lowy, Iraq Perspectives (tie)
- Second Runner-up, General:     Michael Corridore, Roadworks

Which Blurb books you enjoy most? Comment here!

Find out about the contest here.
Check out all the winners and the honorable mention and preview their books online.
Check out my Blurb book Antarctica here.

Category: Books, Contests
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