On Becoming a Better Photographer - PART 3

What are the instances in which technical quality becomes more important?

The answer depends on what you mean by technical quality. Few would argue that good color management, for instance, is unnecessary. Most photographers would see a significant increase in quality just by using a well calibrated monitor - the first step in color management. Print quality is another fundamental area but one that’s far harder to quantify. What’s the difference between a great print and an okay print? It’s like many other things - you know it when you see it but it’s very hard to define. Let’s just say that experience in looking at fine prints helps one know the difference. In general, a fine print has a balanced, “real” quality comprising a wide range of tones, sharp details, information in both shadows and highlights (not just black and white) rich blacks, clean highlights, accurate or at least “realistic” colors, a sense of “balance,” correct contrast and saturation… the list goes on. It also has no significant obvious defects such as scratches, excessive spots or other artifacts such as stains. (Though I can think of exceptions to just about every one of these criteria.)

When might higher cost equipment/technical solutions be necessary? (This is not a comprehensive list but rather a few instances.):

• Technical Imaging - Medical, scientific and other forms of technical imaging may be worth whatever the cost might be. If the most subtle detail can help with a diagnosis, produce a more accurate map, or insure that a part will work better in an expensive machine then cost is hardly the issue.
• Answering Important Questions - If a higher resolution sensor can help answer a meaningful question, for instance, “Is there a planet circling that star?” then it is likely to be worth whatever it costs.
• Very Large Images Viewed Close Up - If your objective as a landscape photographer, for instance, is to capture the finest details in a scene and have them be clearly visible, sharp and with minimal distortion or artifacts when reproduced large, then a state of the art system might be justifiable.
• Highly Cropped Images - The same as above…
• Motion Analysis, Fast Action, Sports - Applications that are demanding of both high resolution and high frame rates (frames per second) almost always require more expensive equipment. Faster chips, bigger buffers, speedy image processing are all necessary and not cheap.
• General Professional Imaging - When your images require reliability in all conditions system quality becomes paramount. Redundancy, versatility, a comprehensive range of accessories, mechanical build quality, weather proofing, great optical qualities, high enough resolution for most everything you might encounter are all expensive but necessary criteria. Your equipment may need to sit for extended periods of time in the 130-degree trunk of your car; be tossed about by luggage handlers or subjected to freezing temperatures in arctic or lab conditions; when you might need to have access to replacements quickly and easily no matter where you are; when capturing the right image might be critical to success or failure; in these instances, among others, cost trade offs become less important. But always keep in mind that someone has to be willing to pay you sufficiently to justify the purchase of such equipment. (Renting can be an excellent alternative.)
• Art Reproduction - Quality art reproduction doesn’t come easily. It requires versatile lighting, high resolution, and superlative color management. The ability to control lighting ratios top to bottom and left to right, for instance, is critical to creating the kind of shadows that help define the 3D, “reach out and touch it” feel of oil and acrylic painting reproductions. High resolution scanning or capture may be necessary to preserve detail or create a very large print.
• “Future Unknown” Archives - No one knows what the future holds and, in some instances, it might be deemed worthwhile to capture as much information about an object or phenomenon as possible. Might the critical original vanish in an earthquake or fire? Might it deteriorate over time? Might it disappear in a fraction of a second? In such cases, maximum technical quality and resolution might be necessary to capture and preserve such things. It would be hard, for instance, to make a detailed life size image of a whale if it’s species became endangered or disappeared. The same can be said of temporary phenomenon such as the creation of sub-atomic particles. 

To be continued in PART 4

On Becoming a Better Photographer - PART 2

For most of what you do what’s most important? First, the majority of DSLRs and many point & shoot cameras are more than adequate from a technical perspective. An 8-megapixel DSLR is a good starting point. More pixels do not always equate to better quality! In fact, the output from a “clean” 8 megapixel sensor will always be better than the output from a poor quality, noisy 16-megapixel sensor, all things being equal. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for higher resolution. Relatively affordable options are available these days at up to the mid-twenty-megapixel range and soon higher. The Canon 5d MkII is an excellent example. The Nikon and Sony full-frame ranges are as well. But remember, in this territory, lens resolution is  the limiting factor - not sensor resolution. The sensors in most high-end DSLRs already exceed the resolution and sharpness capabilities of most of their lenses!

On the other hand, I wouldn’t rely on the quality of a Holga, Diana or iPhone camera for most images unless their particular quality attributes meet your aesthetic or creative goals. They’re certainly not sufficient for most professional or commercial work. They can, however, produce some magical images, especially when reproduced online or at small sizes. Is the trade off in technical quality an obstacle for you? Only you can tell.

On Becoming a Better Photographer - PART 1

I recently wrote on our facebook page an anecdote about an “ultimate quality” camera system based on a 6x9cm view camera body with a 50+ megapixel back on a micro-adjustable precision ball head using state of the art large format digital lenses optimized for medium-format sensors that set the photographer back about the cost of a new top of the line Lexus Hybrid. This photographer is well known in the photo community, he’s a famous online blogger and always in search of the technical best. His images are technically superb. They also tend to be boring, lacking in meaning and devoid of emotional content. In other words they’re “perfect” but “sterile.” I am not sure I understand the value in spending in the high five digits to achieve this kind of perfection for one’s own photographs - professional or otherwise. Certainly, in this economic climate, it’s a poor investment decision with little prospect of any kind of reasonable payoff.

On the other hand, I have seen and printed a wide variety of technologically unsophisticated images from Holga and Diana toy cameras (less than $25.00 on EBay) and from some point and shoot digital cameras and iPhones that were full of meaning, life and important content. For my own personal work content trumps technical quality (assuming at least a minimum professional quality baseline) whenever a trade off is necessary (and isn’t it always?).

Please understand that I am NOT talking about the reproduction and printing work I do for others, a case in which our use of a $200k scanner; state of the art printing equipment, inks and papers; and other forms of digital image capture and reproduction are a necessity. I am never cavalier about client quality. I AM talking about the images people make for their own art, art for sale and most forms of commercial photography. In these realms, it is important to note that most images never exceed some output average between 5x7 and 40x60 inches in print size - and in these sizes quality is achievable at relatively modest cost.
To be continued in Part 2

While I usually print for "you..."

I now have been privileged to be the featured photographer on the Griffin Museum's home page this month and am hoping for a physical exhibition in the not-to-distant future. You can access the museum's home page (by the way, New England's only photography museum) at least through September and early October at http://www.griffinmuseum.org. If you miss it there, you can access the featured portfolio, called "Secrets in Plain Sight" at http://www.rickcolson.com.

Our “Consumer/Amateur Photographer” Experiment - Snapshot Prints

Since starting the lab, I have been deluged with requests from snapshooters and other amateur and consumer image makers for less expensive, yet green, 4x6 up to 8x12 prints. Being a high-end custom lab we have been focusing exclusively on discerning and demanding artists, photographers, art buyers/art consultants, galleries and museums. Our museum quality work demands time, labor, impressive color management, skill and only the finest, most archival materials.

We have recently decided to create an experiment - the world’s first virtually 100% green snapshot print service for amateur photographers and consumers (and, coincidentally, they also make great proofs for professionals). We launched the experimental service quietly with the merger and new name EcoVisualLab. We are now offering 4x6-inch non archival prints for as little as $1.00 each and archival prints for as little as $1.50. Larger 8x12-inch prints cost $4.50 each and $6.50 respectively. We’re carefully evaluating the impact on our workload as the process, though not custom and more automated, is still far too labor intensive to be scaled. If, however, demand seems to be great, we’ll look at alternative automated ways of accomplishing this.

To see more, visit http://www.ecovisuallab.com/consumer.html and let us know what you think.  If you like what we offer, please tell your snapshot friends to give us a try. Just not too many of them please!

Museo Papers - The world's most green inkjet papers

I've had a lot of inquiries from people about how they can make their own prints more green. Short of contracting with a local paper company (of which there are few) it's been difficult to find suitable domestic papers. The Museo line of papers, however, is domestic. It's also 100% cotton, acid free, archival, museum quality and unlike many of the most popular imports, has no optical brighteners. Museo is available in a variety of surfaces and weights. Last, it's chlorine free and totally tree free. (This is important because chlorine, mixes with wood pulp to create dioxins - the most carcinogenic group of chemicals known.) For many people Museo has also been hard to find. For that reason, we have created the online Museo Store at EcoVisualLab.com. Visit us at http://www.ecovisuallab.com/museosales.html

We want to know what you think about our new store and other new products we're introducing. Stay tuned....

Rick

Introducing EcoVisualLab

I am pleased to introduce www.EcoVisualLab.com's new blog reflecting the recent merger of EcoVisual Communications and greenphotoprint.com. All of greenphotoprint.com's content is still here but all posts from today will reflect the new company.

In the past, this blog was the "poor stepchild" of our Website but I promise to add new, useful content regularly and I welcome your suggestions for the green imaging, photographic and art-world topics we'll cover.

Thanks for your loyalty and comments,

Rick Colson