Competition prints, the basics

Print competition is coming soon, well at least is is usually coming up somewhere most of the year. Unlike years ago where the labs had to engage in a very labor intensive effort to produce prints for competition, nowadays photographers can do the heavy work, i.e., the creative work on their own as a direct result of the digital revolution. You can shape and place your image in the file with creative use of backgrounds and accents. When preparing files, be sure to size them correctly. Either size at 16×20 at 200dpi or 8×10 at 250 dpi, any more than 250 dpi is overkill. Keep backgrounds and accents simple and subtle. Remember the overall presentation is judged, not just the image. Placement of the image is part of the composition. Doing your own work inevitably increases your skill level in Photoshop, imagine that! Be very careful in making adjustments especially saturation and levels. What may look dramatic on the monitor usually doesn’t translate to paper. A good rule of thumb is to back off by about 50% of that “dramatic” look. Over saturation leads to “neon” colors and overdone levels leads to loss of detail in the whites and blacks. Since prints are made darker for competition, loss of detail in the blacks is very sensitive. Helpful guidelines for PPA level competition can be seen by clicking on this link: http://www.ppane.com/merit_image.htm At LustreColor the competition prints can be ordered easily through LabLink Plus. The price includes a glossy print on the regulation thickness mount. If you want the lab to put file together for you, the backgrounds and accents are priced a la carte. Just tell us what you want. I like to use a pinstripe accent very narrow and offset about a 1/4 inch from the image. Some photographers like it directly adjacent to the image. What do you think? When using a background other than black, I prefer to avoid the “blank color” look by adding a texture such as a grain look to the color to combine visually better with the image area. What do you think? Above all stretch yourself, be creative and have fun.

Weddingprints.com….Keeping it Simple!

In our transient society, many wedding clients have moved before their albums can be designed.  One of the great features of www.weddingprints.com is that your client can design their album online, anywhere in the world. England is the farthest I have experienced, between weddingprints.com and e-mail, we had a finished design in less than 9 e-mails back and forth.  I would encourage you to take a look if you have not tried the album builder portion of the website.  Not only can you design Bridal albums, but parent album sizes are also there.  This is a great service to educate your clients about.  You can even order sample albums for display in you studio at a discount.  

Apple updates Safari to 3.1

Apple has updated Safari for both Mac & PC.  Faster page loading, better Java implementation, improved security to name a few.  The update seems to have improved functionality with the album builder portion of weddingprints.com.  Happy Downloading!

What to use for cleaning your camera’s Sensor

I have been made aware that there are two types of sensor cleaners available.  Cameras that use newer CMOS and CCD chips should not use a Methol based cleaner (Original Eclipse).   Sony USA recommends Eclipse E2.  Here is a link to Photographic Solutions website http://www.photosol.com/cameras_bymfg.html .  You will find the latest list of compatible cleaners for your camera.

Quantifying and Reducing Variability Part Two.

Studio lighting is a great unknown to many photographers in the Wedding world.   Color Temperature, UV coated Flash Tubes, Clear Flash Tubes, Ambient Light, Florescent Light, Incandescent Light, Reflectors, Power settings, Flash Duration, Umbrellas, and Soft-boxes, Camera F-Stop and Shutter Speed, all have an affect on the color balance of an image.   Daylight is approx 5500 Kelvin, as the kelvin temp drops, the light becomes warmer (yellow), as it increases, the light becomes cooler (blue).  Each of these light sources have a different color temperature.  Example, let’s say a Mono-light with a reflector has a color temperature of 5800 Kelvin at full power, that same mono-light at minimum power may now have a color temperature of 5100 Kelvin.  Take the reflector off and place a softbox and now the color temp could be as low as 4200 Kelvin.  If you where using all the same type of strobes with the same reflectors or soft-boxes at the same power, everything would look very similar, no problem.  Here is where it gets sticky!  Many times you may be mixing light sources to produce a particular effect in a photograph.  Daylight mixed with strobe can give you some interesting colors in your shadows and highlights.  Incandescent mixed with strobes can also cause issues.  It is what I like to call cross contamination.  Know your equipment.  When you use several types of light modifiers, have color correction filters on hand to fine tune your strobes for better color.  Take a look at Rosco for these filters.