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The Fine Digital Print – Seminar – Total Solution

Event - Seminar  Comment
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Today I present a seminar The Fine Digital Print.
One of the things I discuss is that print quality is a product of a total a solution. It can be challenging to compare the many new offerings from multiple manufacturers. Breaking the systems down into their component parts and understanding what impact each has on print quality is essential to achieving a balanced well-informed viewpoint. Here are five items to bear in mind.
PRINTER
INK DELIVERY SYSTEM
PAPER DELIVERY SYSTEM
SELF-PROFILING
INK
DMAX & GAMUT
FAST DRYING
LONGEVITY & DURABILITY
SUBSTRATE
ISO BRIGHTNESS DMAX & GAMUT
COATINGS – DRYING AGENTS & BRIGHTENERS
LONGEVITY & DURABILITY
DRIVER
INK LIMIT
PAPER FEED
DOT STRUCTURE – SIZE & PLACEMENT
SEPARATION – WHICH INKS ARE USED WHERE
16 BIT
RIP – POSTSCRIPT COMPATIBILITY FOR VECTOR GRAPHICS & TEXT
PROFILES
HIGH QUALITY PROFILES ARE EASIER TO GENERATE IF …
PRINTERS ARE LINEARIZED (AT FACTORY) & STABLE
INKSETS ARE CONSISTENTLY FORMULATED
Check out my free Printing downloads here.
Check out my workshops here.

Extending Dynamic Range – Seminar – Contrast Ratios

Event - Seminar  Comment
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Today I present a seminar Extending Dynamic Range. Extending dynamic range is one of the fundamental challenges of photography since it’s invention. All forms of visual representation map the appearance of a high dynamic range scene into a low dynamic range medium (typically print). There have been many approaches to solving this problem throughout history. Now, with new technology, there are new approaches. HDR merges are popular now. In time, all of our imagery will be able to incorporate increasingly high dynamic range information.
Here’s a comparison of contrast ratios from very high dynamic range self-luminiscent objects to low dynamic range prints.
sun to starlight                                 1,000,000,000,000:1
human vision w/ dark adaptation      100,000,000:1
Spherocam HDR camera                    50,000,000:1
Brightside monitor                            200,000:1
human vision – single  view               10,000:1
b/w negative film                              10,000:1
typical DSLR                                      500:1
LCD monitor                                      400:1
CRT monitor                                      200:1
paper – best possible                        100:1
paper – typical                                   50:1
Check out my free downloads here.
Check out my workshops here.

Fine Art Workflow – Seminar – Barriers of Flexibility

Event - Seminar, Software - Photoshop  Comment
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Today I present a seminar Fine Art Workflow with R Mac Holbert at PhotoPlus East in New York City.
Flexibility is one of the things we both emphasize in our seminars and workshops. Flexibility is an essential quality to preserve in your worfklow(s). You may change your mind in the future. You might have missed something in the past; you might learn something new; you might form a different opinion; things change and your workflow and files should be able to accommodate change. (Of course, this means allowing deliberate change not introducing unintentional change.) You want to be able to make a change as quickly and precisely as possible, without having to change everything
or repeat all your other successes. The practices you adopt in your workflow will determine how much and what kind of flexibility you preserve. Knowing what to avoid is as important as knowing what to do. Avoid practices that limit flexibility.
Here are 11 barriers.
1   resample resolution (lowering is worse than raising)
2   lower bit depth (8-16 bit)
3   convert to smaller gamut editing space
4   crop (mask instead)
5   erase pixels
6   work directly on the background
7   rasterize type
8   rasterize Smart Object and Smart Filters
9   apply masks permanently
10   merge layers
11   flatten
Can you name more? Comment here!
Check out my free download Barriers of Flexibility here.
Check out PhotoPlus here.
Check out my workshops here.

Ken Carl – Extreme Low Light Shooting

Alumni, Photography, Workshop  Comment
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Ken Carl has attended every one of my Fall Foliage workshops. Over the years, he’s turned pro. Just when I think he’s done, he keeps coming back for more. After a long day of shooting past sunset at Pemaquid Point, Ken walked up the streets of Damariscotta while the rest of the group was being seated for dinner – and got some great shots. After dark? Hand held? ISO 8000? Really? And it’s actually useful, with surprisingly little noise by traditional standards. You’ve got to try it to believe it. The LCD on the back of the camera actually shows you more than you can see at that moment. Add a tripod to the equation and you’ll see even more. Today’s cameras can capture more than you can see at any one moment in time. With a little experimentation, you’ll find hours of new possibilities at the beginning and ends of the day. This weekend we tested shooting in many extreme lighting situations. Participants are seeing in new ways. I’m seeing in new ways. I recommend frequently testing new techniques to expand your repetoire and your vision.
Check out Ken Carl’s work here.
Check out my workshops here.

Test Exposure Time Onsite

Photography, Workshop  Comment
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Sometimes the camera eye sees very differently than our eyes. So, it’s really useful to try new experiments. Getting a preview on screen (back of the camera or portable camera on location) give you immediate feedback. Then you can put that newfound knowledge to use on the spot.
Today in my Fall Foliage workshop, I tested time for everyone. The same stream had many different rates of flow so what worked in one situation wasn’t optimal in another. Here, 1/250th of a second with is compared with 30 seconds. At a waterfall upstream motion wasn’t frozen until 1/1000 of a second and 4 seconds was best for streaking as after 8 seconds the waterfall began to turn vaporous rather than streak.
Check out my workshops here.

GPS Metadata

Photography, Workshop  Comment
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The digital r/evolution brings new habits. In my workshops we take GPS coordinates and location name (with my iPhone) and post them on a bulletin (along with a white balance target). Participants photograph the data at the beginning of each session/location. That way everyone has two pieces of useful information in one shot. It can be used for folder and file names and/or metadata.
I’ve been waiting to incorporate GPS data in my workflow until GPS is built right into my camera, but the inevitable hasn’t come as fast as I hoped for. If my cell phone has it built in, why doesn’t my 1DS Mark III? It’s probably time to buy a GPS attachment. Or should I go with a stand alone GPS unit that has a touch more accuracy and later sync the tracks? Either way, the message is just get started. The data’s too useful right now. And the longer I wait, the longer it will take to update all my old files.
Do you use GPS coordinates? What do you use? Comment here.
Check out my workshops here.

Jeff Schewe on CS4 at Digital Photo Pro

Software - Photoshop  Comment
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Adobe alpha tester and all-around digital master Jeff Schewe takes us on a tour of the improvements to the new version of the Adobe Creative Suite, CS4
Here are two excerpts.
“Probably the single largest engineering effort has gone into completely changing the way Adjustment Layers work. No longer are the adjustments locked into modal dialog boxes; they now live in a live Adjustment Panel. Click on an Adjustment Layer and you have live access to the adjustments. This was major engineering to do although you may not yet see the benefits, but they’re there. Plus, a new Adjustment, Vibrance (inspired by Lightroom), has been added.”
“Another new panel is the Mask Panel, which allows for nondestructive adjustments to layer masks for functions such as feathering and mask density. These mask adjustments remain fully adjustable as long as you don’t do a destructive manipulation, such as running a filter on the mask. You have direct access to the Refine Edge tool that was new in CS3. It should be noted that Refine Edge isn’t nondestructive. For those who make a lot of selections using Color Range, a new functionality called Localized Color Clusters allows selections to be regionalized directly in the dialog.”
Read the rest here.
Check out more from Schewe at PhotoshopNews.com.
Check out the rest of my CS4 posts. Click on the category Photoshop.
Learn CS4 in my workshops.

PhotoPlus East – Expo

Event - Seminar  Comment
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PhotoPlus East starts next week.
It’s the premiere photographic tradeshow in the US.
The presentations at manufacturer booths are free.
The seminars are fee based.
Both are are excellent.
I’ll be presenting a number of sessions.
Thursday, Oct 23
9-12             Fine Art Workflow (with Mac Holbert)(TA10)
3:30-4:15     Lightroom 2 – Fine Art Output (Adobe Booth)
Friday, 10/24
9-12              Extending Dynamic Range (FA7)
2-3                Epson Poster Signing (Epson Booth)
Saturday, 10/25
9-12              The Fine Digital Print (SA9)
12:30-1:15     Lightroom 2 – Fine Art Output (Adobe Booth)