bluphoto

<p>Haleh has some beautiful work, but the model is still very prominent in the frame. I'm looking for images which are more 80% landscape, 20% nude, or 90/10 - 95/5 even.</p>

<p>How about <em><strong>a guy </strong></em>who isn't a "guy trying to take photos of a naked woman"?<br>

Stereotyping is so... unfortunate</p>

<p>Hi all.<br />I can hold my own in the studio as far as fine art figure stuff is concerned, but I really want to start trying some outdoor work.<br>

We are talking Scottish highlands - mountains, lochs, rock formations etc.<br>

Does anyone know who the masters are at fine art figure work in the landscape - somewhere I can go for inspiration?<br>

thanks<br />Guy</p>

<p>Hi there,<br /> I have an R2880 which I use completely and solely for fine art mono printing. I have a continuous ink system which is completely EMPTY in all but the three grey/black tanks. The empty cartridges and ink galleries normally used for color are flushed with isopropyl alcohol and allowed to dry.<br /> Of course the major PITA with the 2880 is the lack of support for both MATT and PHOTO blacks at the same time. What kills me is that to switch between blacks on a printer fitted with a CIS is like performing major heart surgery!</p>

<p>So I go thinking, why can't I use one of the other "unused slots" in the printer to house the photo black, as well has keeping the matt black where it is supposed to be. Lets say I fill the "light cyan" cartridge with photo black, for example.<br /> Now isn't the point of printer profiling to customise the ink delivery depending on the type of paper / ink combination used? Is there any way I could build my own profile which would take photo black from the light cyan cartridge instead of matt black from the "normal" location?</p>

<p>I get the feeling this COULD be done and boy would it be a huge boost to my productivity and a whole lot less stress while printing, but where to start?</p>

<p>any suggestions? (PS - please no suggestions of a printer upgrade... I'm not a professional, but an amateur looking for an easier life!)</p>

<p>Guy</p>

<p>Sorry guys. Was just spouting some thoughts. Looks like I was way off base.<br>

Feel free to either ignore this pointless thread, or if you prefer, continue to rub my nose in it.</p>

<p>What is the definition of an artist? Someone who translates their artistic vision into a medium which can be enjoyed by others, perhaps? Someone whose passion is for the creation of beauty above anything else? Someone whose mind works in a particular way, often countering the logical processes present in the mind of those with a more technical, mathematical way of thinking?</p>

<p> What makes an artist successful? Why are most successful artists dead?</p>

<p>I am certain that, historically, this is because the mind of a true artist strives solely for the act of creation, and not for recognition or success. The success comes only from the appreciation of the work by someone with a more logical thought process – which, in the case of so many of the “Grand Masters” arrived only posthumously.</p>

<p>So where does the title of this article “The Artists Laptop” come into play?</p>

<p>The laptop, or other computer, is by its nature a very technical piece of apparatus, as are the vast majority of modern digital cameras. With the countless images pouring into our hard drives, it is becoming a necessity to have some sort of “system”, to keep them filed and organised. The digital workflow is a minefield of processes, flowcharts, high-tech equipment and backups. This goes directly against every fibre in the mind of a true artist. Can you imagine Van Goch’s or Rembrand’s studios with huge filing cabinets of alphabetically sorted canvases, with rolodexes of lookup information containing image tags, dates, names etc? Of course not.</p>

<p>So the modern digital photographic artist is faced with a dilemma. Can the passionate, creative expressive mind required to realise ones artistic vision exist in the same head as the logical, mathematical mind required to handle the digital workflow, and business of digital photography? Perhaps, but surely each may only exist to the detriment of the other - with a "half-and-half" mindset, ending up merely "acceptable" in both areas.</p>

<p>Can people “switch” modes at will, from expressive and passionate, to calculating and logical? Psychologically, are there dangers to this switching on and off of these inherently opposing traits?</p>

<p>Interestingly, perhaps coincidentally, most of the people I know who have the ability to switch these "states of mind" at will are women. So why, then, is digital photography such a male dominated passtime?</p>

<p>So I've finally decided to take the plunge into professional (LTD) commercial photography. I tell myself that I already own the vast majority of the equipment I'm going to need, so I won't need to have much initial outlay.<br>

But on the other hand, I wonder how I go about the asset management for my photography equipment - insurance, depreciation etc when the equipment isn't actually owned by the company. Do I just "rent" the equipment to my company, or do I sell it to the company, or do I just use it and not worry about it?<br>

Can I use it in the same way as using my personal van? ie pence per mile (perhaps pence per image)<br>

I'm in the UK. Any pointers welcome.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I think that if we value our images enough to hope that they are kept or even valued or treasured by our descendants would be if there was some form of contextual information associated with the photograph.<br />I know that the majority of the images I have of my ancestors have some text written on the back, explaining either who is in the image, or where and when the image is taken etc. Perhaps include other information too, which at the time, you might think irrelevant. Little things like "we drove to the lcoation in our 2010 Ford Whatever" - each item adds that tiny bit of the jigsaw puzzle.<br />Of course, one of the other problems is that historically, with paper photographs, only a few may be passed down - that said, only a few existed in the first place. I would never expect one of my descendants to sift through tens of terabytes of images to find the few that may be of interest. I think we have to "cherry pick" our own images.<br>

Choose the ones you really want to survive and make them as interesting as possible.<br />Make sure that this information is attached to the image file, so the two become inseparable. Future generations will, no doubt, be able to extract text from an image as a matter of course.<br />Think about how people will access photographs in a hundred years - it will almost certainly be on the web (or something like it). Perhaps tie the images, (or a list of image caches) up to one of those "family-tree" websites. We have to make them "discoverable". How long might it be before we start seeing gravestones sporting messages like:<br />Here lies Joseph Bloggs, beloved husband of Mary, Father of John and Jane, and webmaster of <a href="http://www.photo.net/profiles/joebloggs">www.photo.net/profiles/joebloggs</a><br />If you found a 5 1/4" floppy disk in your attic right now, just what lengths would you go to to discover what was on it? My guess, not very far, so the medium is important. Will DVD drives still be around in 100 years, 50 years, 20 years, next year?!?!?!<br />Discoverability, Accessibility, and Interest.<br />Of course, a web based image is fine as far as family interest or even historic interest is concerned, but would the Mona Lisa be as valuable if LdV had simply posted it on YeOldePhoto.nette? Of course not, as everyone would have a copy. If it's artistic recognition you're after, then you need to go down the printed road. For that, you are looking for the archival quality / durability of an ink/paper/canvas combination. Again, make sure that there's some interesting information physically attached to the image. Look for durability in techniques. Perhaps even attach "care instructions", so if someone discovers it in their attic in 100 years, they'll know how to handle it.<br />Make sure any physical container you keep them in is labelled clearly. Thousands of old suitcases are skipped every day without ever opening them. Pay attention to the chances any particular web-cache has of surviving that long? Does it have to be accessed once every six months or the images are deleted? Perhaps set something up so it stays refreshed.<br />Be aware of new technologies. Don't assume you're limited by the technology of today - keep your "survival plan" fluid. Revisit it at least once overy five years to see if a better way exists.</p>

<p>How much of this have I done. None - but it has opened my eyes!<br />Guy</p>

<p>I have a softbox I bought a couple of years ago (2m x 0.7m) on which one of the rods has burst through the corner, and the other one (on the other side of the same short end) looks like its about to go the same way.<br>

Is there a good way anyone knows of to re-capture the rod-end and retain it within the little pockets in the softbox corner?<br>

All I can think of is maybe snipping a couple of the fingers off a heavy duty gardening glove and super-glueing them into the burst corner pockets - and probably the "not-yet-burst" ones as well, as they'll probably go sooner or later!.</p>

<p>many thanks<br>

Guy</p>

<p>Can I ask what sort of suspicious activity you're talking about? I use that username and password on a few sites - not just PN.</p>

<p>All,<br />Our camera club resumes from the summer break in late August. More often than not, we get a lot of beginners with new cameras coming along at the start of the season, tailing off nearer Christmas as the new hobby gets more mundane.<br />We've decided to run a "beginners" evening on week#2 to give new members a bit of a low down on how to work their cameras, basics of exposure and composition.<br />I've been tasked with running the composition part, though I'd like to make it a little broader than just the "rule of thirds".<br />I was wondering if you guys had any bullet points or suggestions I might use. I'm guessing that the cameras/sensors/lenses part will take no more than about 15 minutes, the exposure basics will take about the same, but the composition/aesthetic part could take a bit longer.<br />I don't want to bamboozle all the new users going in to great depth, but would like to cover the main points, to give them a few tools to inprove their photography.<br />I want to show a decent cross section of photographic subjects, whether landscape, wildlife, still life, studio portrait, outdoor portrait etc.<br />rgds,<br />Guy</p>

<p>I love my 1V-HS, though it's been in the cupboard with half a roll of film in it for the last year as the battery died.<br>

I bought it on ebay from California - mint & boxed - lovely. I'm in the UK, and the seller didn't want to ship out of the US. My boss was visiting his family in Houston that week, so I had it sent to him. When he brought it back to the UK for me, he'd thrown away the box (didn't fit in his suitcase apparently!). "Hell that's okay, I didn't need it anyway... sir ....mumble...mumble...mumble!".<br>

I also didn't get a charger with it when I bought it, and the only decently priced charger I could find was in Singapore - I'm in the UK. I think it was about £40. The Canon charger is over £200! My far eastern charger went up in smoke, so this lovely camera is languishing in its peli-case, which hasn't been opened in a year or more!.<br>

But for the dozen or so rolls of film I put through it, I was in love!<br>

I'd love to get back to it - just need to find me a charger.</p>

<p>Is it possible to "profile" a printer to correctly use matt ink through a gloss cartridge?<br>

I have an Epson R2880 with an 8 channel CIS (replacing my faulty 9 channel CIS). With the 9ch setup I always used the matt black and never the "photo black". The thing is that my new 8ch system ONLY has a photo black cartridge, integrated in two blocks of four cartridges.<br>

My question is... Can the driver be profiled to meter the correct amount of matt black ink, even though a photo black cis cartridge is installed. Should it be profiled on matt paper, like what I will be using normally?<br>

Also, assuming the printer "thinks" it has a photo black cartridge installed, how can I select the correct matt paper in the driver settings?</p>

<p>rgds,<br>

Guy</p>

<p>Patrick - you never fail to come up with the goods! I wish I had such a specialist store near me, but alas, 'tis not to be.<br>

There's a lot to be going on with here, though right now I'm liking the look of the French "Photo" magazine, suggested by Andrew.</p>

 

<p>Ray,<br />Judges differ in what they like and dislike every but as much as photographers (or nurses or policemen for that matter). Of course in an ideal world they SHOULD judge on technical ability, aesthetic (the artsy bit) and concept.<br />In my opinion, there are many individuals on this site who posess the ability to judge objectively in this way, but may not have the time, the inclination, or the geographic location.<br />Similarly, there are many idividuals who have the time, the inclination and the right location, but not the ability!<br />In truth, people who posess the time, the ability, the inclination and who are in the right location are going to be few and far between.<br />In most cases, one or more of the above values has to "give", and as time, inclination and location are prerequesites, the value that gives ends up being ability - and in most cases , more specifically, objectivity.<br />As such, club level judges often go with their "gut instinct" rather than performing an objective analysis. In most cases, a judge, like any individual, has a preference to a particular type of photography, and these will often be favoured as a result. It's just a fact of life.<br />Of course, the "snapshot" club competition entry (even if it's a "once in a lifetime shot" will never score particularly highly - if pitted against a well planned and executed image.<br>

The fact that an event is not likely to occur again in your lifetime does not automatically make every picture of that event a masterpiece.<br>

Remember, what is being judged is your ability as a photographer, not your luck!<br>

<br />Hope this helps,<br />Guy</p>

<p>I was wondering what there was out there in the way of good “coffee table quality” fine art photography magazines / periodicals. I’m in the UK, but have subscribed to Photographie magazine from Germany, which I find good, but has become much more editorial and less pictorial in the last couple of years. That said, it has changed publisher in the last month or so, so may have a resurgence, or perhaps it will go down the tubes altogether!</p>

<p>I know there’s Carrie Leigh, but that’s devoted to the nude – which is fine, but it’s a little bit TOO specialist for my liking. That said, I haven’t seen a hard copy – what do you guys think of it?</p>

<p>I don’t mind the language, as I can make at least some sense out of most printed European languages.</p>

<p>There was a good magazine a few years ago that I found excellent, though it ended up getting pulled and the online side of the magazine in my opinion crossed the line from fine art photography to adult entertainment, which was a real shame.</p>

<p>British photography magazines seem to be very technique, equipment and advertisement biased, rather than containing quality pictorials and interesting editorials. Most of them also seem to be cheaply printed (Digital Photographer is the best UK mag IMHO)</p>

<p>Ideally I’d like to see pictorials including figure, fashion, portrait, travel, with the emphasis on the aesthetic with articles about current photographers and those who shaped the genre historically. I am not interested in advertisements (though I understand that these are a necessary evil to subsidise the publication) or in equipment reviews. Some photographic technique articles might be enlightening, though I can’t stand photoshop tutorials in an art magazine!</p>

<p>Do any of you guys have any experience of such publications? I'd appreciate any pointers you could give me.</p>

<p>Best regards,<br>

Guy</p>

<p>My card is PCI-E I think, though I'm using one monitor on the DVI port and another on the VGA port. Not sure that this constitutes dual head. It only has one of each.</p>

<p>The only difference I see in using a 5D (or other full frame camera) is that macro "technically" is defined by the image of the subject being the same size or greater than the subject itself. With a larger sensor, you can take a photograph of a larger subject and still call it macro. Shooting the same subject with a cropped sensor would make the image smaller, which might mean it's smaller than life size.</p>

<p>Not sure what all that actually means, but it's the only thing I can think of which makes the term macro vary from camera to camera.<br>

I think technically any contact print is "macro" as it's a 1:1 representation of the subject.</p>

<p>By "System" I'm talking about monitor AND printer.<br>

If I "calibrate" my monitor, and create an image in photoshop on my computer, then print it on my "calibrated" printer, then can I be sure that an image that I get back from a lab, for example, will have the same tones as the one I printed myself?<br>

As do many if not most graphics professionals (though I'm not one), I have dual monitors using an extended desktop. How do I calibrate both screens to have neutral greys, for example? One thing I HATE is having pinky, bluish or orangy scrollbars / toolbars in various applications such as word or excel. I want neutral greys in photoshop and neutral greys on my Photoshop and office toolbars etc. Right now, when I move an image from primary to secondary monitor etc, my greys change colour considerably.<br>

If my friend calibrates their monitor and printer, then is the idea of calibration that I can rest easy that my images will look and print the same on his system as it did on mine (eg, being able to "just" see tonal separation between model on background in a low key shot)?<br>

I guess most of these are no brainer questions to many of you, though I'm just a little perplexed.<br>

PS. My system is Win7Ultimate/CS4/Landscape Dell Ultrasharp 24"/ Portrait Dell 22" (not sure model) & Epson R2880, if that makes a difference?<br>

Many thanks<br>

Guy</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the multitude of options presented. I'll let you know how I get on...</p>

<p>I'm looking for a basic tutorial on retouching the tones (eg dodging, burning, masking etc) across the body of a

car, like those seen in new car brochures. You know, the reflections of light banks on the roof and bonnet of the car,

for example.<br>

I want to be able to apply this technique to studio figure work, but whenever I try, the result looks awful.

Of course, cars tend to have flatter panels than people, so I guess that adds to the problem.<br>

That's why I thought I could try it out on cars first.</p>

<p>many thanks<br>

Guy</p>

<p>I know this forum is for EOS queries, but my G9 is in need of a part - namely the circuit board on which the thumbwheel resides.<br>

It weighs about the same as a spoon of sugar and would pretty much fit inside a matchbook. There are no integrated circuits on it, but my Canon repair specialist wants GBP£40 for it.<br>

I wonder if anyone either has a G9 they're breaking, or has details of a supplier of spare parts who would be willing to post to the UK.<br>

Alternatively, does anyone know if this piece is the same as for the G7 or any other of the G-Series?<br>

Best Regards,<br>

Guy</p>

<p>"This is all overhyped rubbish that will never actually restrict us in pratice, and certainly won't affect my freedom of taking images in my local city (Aberdeen, North East Scotland)."<br>

This is what I thought, until last Thursday night when I was amazed to discover that photographers are targeted by the authorities EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR CAMERA WITH THEM!<br>

As an active member of a local photographic club I was leaving one of our weekly meetings when I received a phone call from another member, who had left about twenty minutes earlier. He sounded a little upset and asked if I could wait for him outside the club.<br>

What transpired next astounded me completely.<br>

In summary, a Police van pulled up and out got my friend from the back. The police officer asked me if my colleague was a member of the club, and then suggested that we can't be too careful with all the suspicious, potentially terrorist activity around the country. My colleague is of Indian descent, and was apparently miding his own business walking home after the club meeting when he'd been stopped and questioned. He had mentioned that he was on his way home from the camera club and they wanted him to prove it!<br>

The police officed then proceeded to ask ME if any of our club members had been out takign photographs that evening. I explained that we have around 70 members and only thirty or so were at the meeting so it was quite conceivable. I was asked if our members regularly took pictures in the city, as someone had (allegedly) reported seeing a person taking photographs... By this time I'm getting more and more confused!<br>

The police had put two and two together and come up with about twenty-three, in assuming that my colleague was the "perp" (though he didn't actually have his camera with him!?! Just admitted that he was coming from a camera club meeting).<br>

They offered to give him a lift home, though I suggested to them that he may be more comfortable coming with me.<br>

So I'm now joining the ranks of the enlightened. What is the world coming to?</p>

<p>Guy</p>

<p>They certailny do look interesting, though I think The AB's and the White Lightnings ship only to the continental US (or otherwise out of Australia which is opposite me on the planet!)</p>

<p>I'm in the UK.</p>

<p>Thanks for those suggestions, guys.<br />I'll definitely look into the RX heads, and perhaps even the BXRi's.<br />It's just that I want to "freeze" the motion, and with dancers swirling cloth around them while being mid leap from a run, I can see the danceers hands doing 30mph easy.<br />30mph = 13500mm/second, so 1/1500 sec = 10mm (near enough), meaning hands would be visibly blurred.<br />Of course, this assumes that the light switches OFF after 1/1500 sec, which is only true (to all intents and purposes) if these are the t=0.1 times. If these are t=0.5 times then that would mean I'd see a blur of well over an inch in any fast moving body parts etc, and over half an inch in all body parts doing more than 10-15mph, which with dancers is pretty much everything!<br />I'll certainly compare these lights to the flash durations of my D-Lites.<br>

Of course, the blurred bits would all be illuminated far less than the "snapshot" taken at peak illumination. say double the duration at one stop down, and triple the duration at two stops down, so maybe the effect wouldn't be as obvious as I think it might.<br>

As you guys say, gonna have to do some experimenting!<br>

Many thanks<br />Guy</p>