site: Outcast of Originality (Chip Simons, via EP)

Need a creative kick in the butt? I love this guy...

Chip Simons:

I have always strived to be original and different than everyone else. I am often asked where I come up with ideas and how I can reinvent myself over and over. I give a lot of talks so I have some pre-rehearsed lines like….

Shoot whatever you want that makes you happy and gets you excited about shooting more and more.

Don’t try to be like everyone else... think how you can be the opposite.

Change your perspective... don’t ever show me something from 5 foot 9... I know what it looks like already.

Show us something we have not seen before... and not your naked body.

Don’t be so obsessed with taking great pictures... that’s a horrible pressure to put on yourself.

Stop making sense.

The original post, complete, is here.

Chip's site is here.

on digital photography, visualization and investment

I think only now we are seeing the impact of digital photography on photography... how digital photography is making a change in the timeline, in the history of photography. That impact is seen in the absolute explosion in the popularity of photography. Still, and video images too, are possible wherever there is a cell phone. ...and that is everywhere. Photographs are everywhere, publishable, shareable with the click of a mouse.

This has confirmed the fears of many photographers back in the early years of the digital revolution. There has been an overwhelming wave of really pretty mediocre, if not just bad, photography. But, there are a lot of people having a lot of fun.

As a serious photographer, however, there is a subtle, but profound effect. That is because of the process, the ease of creating an exceptionally high-quality image with a minimum investment of time, money, and effort.

Here's the thing... a friend of mine was talking to me about what it's like to shoot with an 8x10 camera. He said, "man, when you take a picture with an 8x10, you know you've taken a frikkin picture!" Well, here is my problem with that. After you've gone to the effort of setting up the camera, and making the exposure, and processing the film, if you don't think there is a good image there, then you feel like you've wasted your effort. You've invested too much in the image to see it for what it is... and that may well be just a bad image.

There's an old joke about high-maintenance cars... if you spend a ton of money buying, and then maintaining a car, you're going to either believe that car is the best thing on the road, or feel like a sucker. Shooting most film cameras is much the same... after you've gone to the effort, you have a hard time dismissing it as a poor image.

Let's look at shooting with my little pocket Canon G9. I have it with me everywhere. It makes an absolutely remarkable 16x20 print. I have shot gigabytes with it since I got it, and some of the images are, well, quite good. There are two major things at play here... first, I am shooting everything and anything, pretty much at the drop of a hat. If in doubt, I shoot. Second, I edit ruthlessly.

I am not overly invested in any one image. This frees me to see the images for more what they are... and allows me to pull only the best, and set the rest aside.

After all is said and done, this is really, for me, the most significant change... I am free to explore and imagine, to try and experiment, and to see and learn, and am objective and dispassionate enough to make a good cut.

...once I have made that cut, then I get passionate.

review: ColorMunki Photo (part 4, summing up)

So, finally, what do I think of the ColorMunki?

Well, I think it's a good start. It's a good start for XRite, putting together a new package that makes Color Management easier (but the printer profiles are not there yet). It's a good start for someone trying to get their system color managed with a minimal effort and equipment (but the printer profiles aren't there yet...)

The interface is the best I have seen, and I'm pretty sure I've seen them all. The display profiles are great, and, if you have a need for them, the bundled software, specifically the Photo ColorPicker, may be worth the price all by itself.

Would I run out and buy it? Not until the printer profiles look better. Unlike the Huey, this is cool AND does a good job on your display, but, honestly, when the i1 DisplayLT is selling for under $200, I can't really see the Munki being worth the $500 tag. It kind of reminds me of Aperture when it was first released. It was pricey, hard to understand, took a lot of effort to see how it fit into the puzzle of my workflow, and, it had a couple of real fatal flaws.

Maybe v2. Check back later.

Raw Pipeline SOLD OUT in Boston!

wooHOO!

well that proves there are at least THREE people who bought it... ha!

Get if from Barnes and Noble... here:
Raw Pipeline (Barnes and Noble)

Book Release Party! wooHOO!

The Raw Pipeline Release party is ON!

Come to the Panopticon Gallery on Monday night, June 9th from 6-8 to join me in celebrating the new book! (AND the Color Pipeline... and well, a few more to come!) Wine, cheese... good friends, AND the closing of my good friend Bill Lyons' show "Convergence"!

Here are the deets:
June 9th (NOT a Sox night) 6-8pm
Panopticon Gallery
Inside the Hotel Commonwealth
617-267-8929
502c Commonwealth Ave,
Boston

Bills show is here, and his main site is here. The Panopticon main site is here.

I want to thank Tony Decaneas of Panopticon for his help and support of, not only this, but the whole Boston Photo community!

RSVP if you could, so we can stock up: ted@teddillard.com

See you there!

-Ted

cleansing the palate: Ellison rant

how about a Monday diversion? I LOVE this rant... makes me think of my buddy Nick. Just substitute the word "photographer" for the word "writer".

site: The Acadia Project

OK, enough of the Munki (for now).

I wanted to share this little dream/project I had not too long ago, of organizing a photographer's retreat at Acadia (Mount Desert Island). If you've never had the chance, look at the rich history of Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine... it has, since the turn of the century, and to this day, been an artist retreat/colony, and has a rich history of talent springing from that community. The Acadia Project is the same idea... only based out of Bar Harbor, Maine, and working around Mount Desert Island, and the Acadia National Park.

Acadia is a very special place... geographically unique on the coast of the Northeast, but also rich in a host of other features, yielding an incredible array of potential subjects for photographic study. There is so much more there than the "postcard" photos you're used to seeing.

The Acadia Project is an idea I had to get a bunch of people up there with diverse styles, but a common interest in taking digital photography to the highest level.

Please have a look at the Acadia Project, excuse the random website design, and if you're interested it pushing it a step further, use the form there to let me know.

The Acadia Project site is here.

(photo courtesy of the Acadia Nat'l Park)

review: Photo ColorPicker Overview

This is a pretty clear explanation of what Photo ColorPicker is all about... from the Munki Help site.

Photo ColorPicker empowers you to create and share your own palettes, and synchronize them with commonly used applications. Select colors from many sources: included Munsell and PANTONE® color libraries, color measured with your ColorMunki device, and colors extracted from your images. Preview palette colors using PrintSafe. Synchronize palettes across Adobe® Photoshop®, Illustrator® & InDesign®, and QuarkXPress®. Share your palettes with others using a variety of formats.

Consider that whether you're a photographer, graphic designer, or other content creator, you are increasingly responsible for project design and content considerations, in addition to the photos that will be used. For a particular image, or set of images, you can build palettes based on colors in those images, and have related colors suggested. Then build a custom color scheme for a web site, or design layout, as a color palette, and have it synchronized with your applications. Or export the palette in a multitude of formats to share and collaborate with others.

While I'm at it, DigitalPouch is explained here:

DigitalPouch allows you to communicate and share color accurate images. Each DigitalPouch file contains images of your choice, an associated ICC profile (used to describe the colors in your images), and a lightweight, color managed viewing application. You can send DigitalPouch files to others and they can view your work color accurately by simply opening the DigitalPouch file.

review: ColorMunki Photo (part 3, other stuff)

This is really cool. Not for a minute will I pretend I know much about this, but it's one of the two extras that you get with ColorMunki Photo- The Photo ColorPicker. It looks like a killer tool for looking at, understanding, and even cataloging and organizing color relationships. It certainly bears some more research. Note that it also syncs with your Lightroom or Aperture Libraries.

You also get this thing called the DigitalPouch, which I can't really see the purpose of... Looks like another Library, maybe if you're not using Appy or LR you'd use this? I think they bill it as sort of a color managed folder... I'll have to look into it more.

And, of course, you get projector profiling, not something I've spent much effort on, or had much luck with, frankly. Mostly because most projectors, even good ones, are just plain bad. (What's the expression? Polishing a turd? eeeew.) But still, a nice feature. If you have it, you can try it. Try it, you might like it.

review: ColorMunki Photo (part 2, printer)

Here is a look at the process of building a printer profile with the Munki. They've done a great job walking you through every step... even including a timer to get you to let the ink dry down before you measure it.

Take a look...



This is the first target... it's very basic, measures easily and quickly...



This is great. A timer. Purists, like Bill Atkinson, will dry a test target down for almost two weeks... but the ten minutes at least keeps the ink from smearing, when you measure it.



Here's the second step... the first target is used to generate a second set of patches. These second patches allow the program to fine-tune the primary color readings, sort of like smoothing out the rough edges, mathematically.



This is the second target.

This two-phase process is trying to simplify the steps and make it faster and easier. I'm not sure, but I think it is the same process as what you get on the big HP printers, like the Z3100, with the on-board profiling (also an XRite product).

It really is a great process. I've used the old Kodak system, Monaco, and of course, i1 Match, and they keep on getting better. Back in the day, you'd be measuring a great stack of patches, and the software would error out, and you had to start over at the beginning. It, well, sucked. The Monaco Pulse was the first system that was, actually, well, kind of fun. I always liken it to agitating film... sort of soothingly repetitive. This software is clearly an evolution of that.

The only question is... can we do any better on the performance of the profiles? It's a great process, I just don't see the results. Before I come to any conclusions, I'm going to see if I can get to the bottom of these profiles, and see if it is just how they are, or if it's something I'm doing wrong.

review: The Munki print profiles

on the left, the Munki. on the right, a box-stock Epson profile (Premium Gloss)

I've done it 3 times, same result... Munki profile is saturated, blocked up shadows, really yellow skin tones. What you see here is pretty close to the truth.

Sorry Munki. Not too impressed.

Color Managed printing in Leopard (Epson)

OK they have changed the Epson printer drivers in Leopard, and combined the "Print Settings" and the "Color Management" windows. For assigning the profile in Photoshop, just select "Color Management" and pick "Off".

Here is the Photoshop side...





...once you hit "Print", you go to the Epson drivers:

Subject: Useful book

TD,
Your new book has really been a big help in my studio.
I don't know how I functioned without it.
G

SEE?? I TOLD you it was helpful!

review: ColorMunki Photo (part 1, display)

Well, XRite got me the Munki to test... woohoo!

I started out, today, by doing a simple display calibration. Essentially, the Munki has the same controls and easy interface as XRite i1 Match. A few controls, such as where, and what name to save the profile under, are missing, but otherwise it's a nice clean process. Screen shots are below... as well as a ColorSync Utility comparison of the display profile made by the Munki (shown in full color) and one made by i1 Match and the really big, expensive XRite system (shown as white "frame").

The device itself is really kind of nice. All self-contained, and unlike the low-end systems, it does do a baseline calibration of itself.

One issue, the "install" disk is really just a shortcut to a 165mb download. Good luck if you don't have a high-speed connection.

I'm going to run some printer profiles today and post those results... I'll also post all of the actual profiles so you can tear them apart yourself.

More Orphaned Works...

I know this comes as a shock, but apparently Bush is not the only moron in Washington.

What follows is a very thoughtfully composed letter from a CONGRESSMAN in response to a letter sent out regarding this legislation. Apparently the CONGRESSMAN thought that we were talking about ORPHANS WORKING.

"I support free trade, and I work diligently to promote global human rights. I will continue to work to see that practices such as child labor are ended. Rest assured, should legislation come to the House floor to encourage U.S. trading partners to grant their workers some basic level of labor standards in return for the opportunity to trade with the United States (or penalties if trading partners do not adhere to basic worker rights), I will certainly keep your views in mind."

wow.

just, wow.

I have no idea who that picture is.

site: Orphaned Works legislation

As long as we're on the subject... do this. It will only take a second.

This is the Legislative Action Center, and has a bunch of resources for making your position known to our government. The site is a collaboration between the IPA, ASIP, AF and APA.

It is in response to The Orphan Works Act of 2008, and The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008, primarily... Please read over these and take some action.

Anyone with a stake in intellectual property rights has a stake in this legislation.

(thanks cody!)

site: Copyright for Clients, FotoQuote

This is a great site I just heard about: Copyright4Clients, which was put together by a photographer group, AOP (Assoc. of Photographers). It's pretty much exactly what I tirelessly repeated to clients (who should have known better) for eleventy million years.

Also, that endless discussion of pricing... This guy has been working on this for, jeesh, 20 years now? FotoQuote is as close to a standard as this nutty industry has... It's well worth every penny.

history: digital Holga

OK, thanks to Christopher James, I unearthed this gem. This is a caper I pulled in 2004 or so, slapping an Imacon (now Hasselblad) digital back on a Holga body. As far as I know, and it has not been refuted, I took the very first digital Holga photograph in all the world. heh... That claim is supported by holgaholgaholga, the Yahoo Group that invited me to join them (!), and the posts can still be found on that group.

I even found the snappy ad copy I wrote for the EP Levine online store:

"The only DIGITAL HOLGA available in the WORLD!
Skillfully modified to work with any Imacon Ixpress digital back, (not included) this Digital Holga sets a new standard of creative photography. Complete with Continuous Elastomer Retaining Devices (rubber bands) to hold your Holga securely in place, and a detailed Instruction Manual, the Digital Holga is ready to unleash your vision. A Hot-Shoe adapter and a Sub-Mini to PC cable is needed to make it all work. A "Holgaroid" Viewfinder is also a helpful accessory."

Yes, we sold them. ...about 40 of them, in fact. And yes, we DID get questions about if the digital back was included, for only $50... great stuff! Apparently the stunt gained me some infamy back at the Imacon (Hasselblad) homeworld, where they still mutter my name when Holgas are mentioned.

Today, there is a little more sensible approach, to bolt (or glue, actually) a Holga lens onto a DSLR body cap, much like a "digital pinhole" body cap. Here are a couple of links:
jpmag.com
HowCast
...but there's a guy who sells them, too: here.

...and HERE is a little bit of that history! (can't believe I found it!)

G9 test shot

Ok here you go.

This board setup has brought cameras to their knees, and this camera ROCKS it. I shot it at ISO 80, f5.6 at 1sec, hot lights. Not the optimum, but I don't have the hot-shoe pc adapter to shoot it with my strobes yet.

The jpeg is here, and the RAW file with the XMP file is here. (13.6mb)

(Please show it to whoever you want, but credit this site. It is copyrighted. I will send my spiders to get you...)

cameras: Canon g9

Well, I just have to gush about a camera today. I picked up a Canon G9 a little over two weeks ago. I can’t say enough good stuff about it.

First, and most important, the RAW files are incredible. At ISO 100, at 180ppi they print at 16x20”. The noise at higher ISO is probably not as good as a similar-price ($500) DSLR like a Nikon D40 or something, but it’s acceptable, and better than 35mm film. The color accuracy right into Camera RAW rocks, and I’m starting to LOVE the SD cards… a 2GB SD card is $15.

Frankly I bought this camera so I’d have a RAW-capable camera with me at all times… I have 2 more books under contract, and I need to provide about 250 images per book. I have to take my own advice: shoot your butt off.

More than that, this camera has brought me back to the days when I used to carry a camera with me rock-climbing, mountaineering and backpacking… my dream was to have a pocket-sized 2 ¼ format camera, an impossibility with film, even with folding models.

The camera I fell in love with was the Olympus 35RC… a semi-automatic rangefinder point-and-shoot, and even the Leica CL didn’t match up to that camera, for what I needed. The G9 is every bit as perfect a solution, with file quality that surpasses most 2 ¼ film. And this is not a claim I make lightly.

And here is the surprise. The LCD viewing screen is my new obsession. Why? Composition.

One of the things you learn when you shoot with a “ground-glass” camera like a 4x5 view camera, a twin-lens reflex or an SLR like a Hasselblad, is that the ground-glass gives you a nice little picture… almost a preview of the photograph. You don’t get lost in the viewfinder, whether it be a rangefinder or a prism, you see this nice little 2-dimensional frame of your image. Except, of course, it’s usually backwards, upside-down or both. The LCD on the G9 does exactly the same thing… it’s just like viewing a ground-glass, except the image is right-side up. It also has a histogram on it, if I want, as well as all sorts of other information. The LCD allows me to see my composition, and visualize my photograph, real-time, with the actual aperture (so I can see the depth of field).

Once I made the adjustment to this radically new way of shooting with a digital camera, yet one firmly rooted in tradition film shooting, I was out of control. I just love it. Beyond that, I can’t really see much through most viewfinders these days… since my glasses it’s just never been quite the same. Heh…

Finally, (and I don’t add this lightly… this is one of the most important factors in choosing a camera), the thing just feels and looks sweet. It has even more of a solid feel than that old Leica CL. It’s metal. It has knobs. This is important, frankly, because if there is one thing I learned from the years I worked selling cameras, it’s that us photographers simply like working the machinery, almost as much (and more, in some cases) than taking pictures. If you’re trying to decide between two cameras, I’ll always tell you to pick the one that feels best to you.

I’ve intentionally stayed away from product reviews and endorsements on this site, but I just can’t stop myself on this camera. It gets my highest form of praise: a resounding “SWEEET!”.

Your turn! survey...

so HEY!

I've had this blog up for a few months now... I'd love to hear some comments. Give me some feedback by doing this quick survey here. It will only take a minute, and is completely anonymous...

Tell me what you think, what you love and what you hate.

Thanks!

- Ted

GEEKZONE: Masking Layers by the Steps

Step 1. Prepare the tools
Brush Settings:
Mode- Normal, Opacity- 50%, Flow- 50%
Foreground/Background color: white/black (default) .
Layers Palette: visible. (Window>Layers checked)

Step 2. Create Layer, and Mask.
Select black/white circle (“Create new fill or adjustment layer”). Make adjustment… for example, make the image darker.
Select Mask (white rectangle next to Adjustment icon.) Turn black with keyboard shortcut Command I.

Step 3. Make Mask selection.
With the (now black) mask selected, use the Brush tool to “paint” white on the black mask, in areas that you want to become visible, or active. This shows a small area of our adjustment that will “show through”. If the adjustment makes the image darker, this is the only area that will be darker… etc.

Tips and Tricks.
“{“ and “}” makes your Brush a smaller and larger diameter.
Command x switches the foreground/background colors.
“Painting” black over a white area of the mask “covers” the edit, allowing you to fix and change your selection.
The “Opacity” button on the Layers palette (different from the “Opacity setting for the Brush Tool) allows you to decrease the overall effect of the Adjustment Layer.

HA! my Yahoo page...

this is cracking me up... Ansel peering into my Yahoo page.

Remember... this is an RSS feed, so if you're checking back here frequently you can add it to your Yahoo page or other RSS subscriptions. Even the Dashboard Widget I made ... linked below.