Photo Technique 2010-06-05 by Tomas Novotny

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Contents Portfolios

Light in the Dark

Spectrum Suite

Dark Fauna Expressing mood through still life photography Carlos Tarrats

Commentary

Nightclub Photos: a unique approach to building a portfolio Ashton Boni

HDR at Fort Point and Alcatraz Uwe & Bettina Steinmueller

Feature

Preparing a Show Comments on the exhibition process David Vestal

A Photographic Series In Three Movements Larry Vogel

Next Issue...

Waiting on Image and other featured artists w/ portfolio names 7KH 3DUNLQJ 0HWHU 6HiQ 'XJJDQ

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY Douglas Dubler

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY Lou Manna

THE STETSON CAMPAIGN Tyler Stableford

PHOTOGRAPHING THE BALLET Michael Nelson

CREATING A DIGITAL ARCHIVE Jean-Christian Rostagni

CORRECT DIGITAL EXPOSURE Barry Haynes

NEW METHODOLOGIES IN PHOTOSHOP Dan Moughamian

PHOTOGRAPHY OF STEVEN KATZMAN A.D. Coleman PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY Sein Duggan

PHOTO Techniques

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Among the many directions that are included in contemporary photography are the creative ways photographers push the traditional processes. Carlos Tarrats’ dramatic imagery is one outstanding example. In the silver processes alone, cameraless photography experiments like those of Nolan Preece (photo technique, Jan/Feb 2010) and Christina Z. Anderson’s chromoskedasic printing in this issue continue the exploration of what can be done creatively in the wet darkroom. The May/June issue offers another direction in macro photography, with subjects far different than the insect world photographed by Gene Fedorov in our last issue. Larry Vogel’s use of colored gels on common natural objects evidences creative studio work. Creative lighting investigations in this issue include that of Uwe and Bettina Steinmueller, who return to photo technique to show interior views of Fort Point and Alcatraz that would not be possible without the new photographic capabilities of high dynamic range exposures. John Siskin offers creatively pragmatic guidelines for interior lighting of architecture. Lighting becomes a challenge of a different nature within the scenario of photographing in a nightclub. Ashton Boni not only manages the light, but also uses it creatively to visually enhance the fervor of the people and the setting. David Vestal returns with some insights into how to put together an exhibition, which should be helpful to all fine art photographers considering gallery or museum presentations. photo technique continues to showcase the many possibilities of contemporary photography. Offering editorial content for both the analytic strengths of our past and the potential synthetic capabilities of our future exempliﬁes why the medium of photography is more powerful now than at in any time in its history.

Paul Schranz, Editor photo technique magazine

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PHOTO Techniques

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Tech 12

Chromoskedasic Printing Revisited

Revealing silver in the darkroom Christina Z. Anderson

An Approach to Interior Lighting

Steps to effective architectural illumination John Siskin

pg. 38

Innovations 35

Unified Color: HDR PhotoStudio 2

SilverFast Archive Suite

Natural looking HDR 64-bit high dynamic range scanning with infrared dust removal

NEXTO EXTREME ND2700 Storage on-the-go

Lexar Professional 600x UDMA Compact Flash Card Reaching the virtual continuous burst

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Preparing a Show David Vestal Parents of school children were recently asked to determine whether their children were stupid or just lazy. In the case of this photo-exhibition, the answer is: I’m just lazy. The show in question is experimental. It consists entirely of un-mounted prints with no mattes held against the wall under glass, and that’s all. On seeing a couple of my un-mounted prints, the people who have to hang this show accepted my unorthodox approach. In somewhat more respectable words they said, “No problem.” Un-mounted prints with white margins all around are all I sent. Well, not quite all. In the package with the prints were two CD ROMs of all of the show’s photos: one disk in high resolution, in case they want to reproduce something on paper, and the other in low resolution, 72dpi, in case they want to put something on the internet. The History Preparing prints for local shows a few years ago, I not only mounted and matted up to 50 prints per show, but also put them in aluminum section frames, complete with backboards and picture wire. This ran to such expense and so much labor that I began (gasp!) to think. Just mounting and matting a printɎ never mind framing itɎ was costing me considerably more time, labor and cash than it took to make the print. This was crazy. For shows from which prints would be sold for respectable prices, it’s worthwhile to hire a framer, but my little local shows had no such expectations. In gallery shows aimed toward sales, no problem: the gallery does the mounting, matting and framing. Museums that buy my photos prefer un-mounted prints. After a few years of professional photography, making photos for magazines and portraits for actors, etc., I quit. I was tired of photographing as clients wanted it done, so I reclaimed my amateur standing. Since the middle 1960s, I have photo-

graphed just as I please, not as others might require. To earn a living, I wrote and edited for photo magazines and taught, privately at first, then at schools. These days it’s workshops, preferably together with Al Weber. Our quite different opinions and approaches show students that anything that works is good. We hope they will work like themselves, rather than like either of us. Meanwhile, photography accidentally became capital-A Art, and many in the art business became instant experts without learning anything about photography as a long-established small-a, or real art. Dilettantes took over the field. Years have passed, and now a few photo art dealers, curators, critics, editors and so on actually know what they are doing, but as with painting, they are outnumbered by people who know only what’s in fashion and care only for fame and money. One of those, high up in the fine art photo trade, solemnly said to a wise photographer who told me about it, “You and me, we understand: You got to have a gimmick.” That sums up the present situation. It’s a bandwagon I don’t what to ride, so I feel I need to go through ceremonial fine-arty motions, which include, for instance, limited editions. (I made a survey. Based on what the photographers surveyed reported, the limited edition photographers averaged about six times as many prints per picture as the non-edition photographers. This ensures “valuable rarity”?) Matting, mounting and framing prints are other ceremonies I don’t perform, although I used to. The First Experiment In 2003, I was invited to show at a university in St. Louis. Here was a chance to try what I’d been thinking. I had not yet begun to think of digital photography, but I had long been leaving oneinch margins around my silver prints. I proposed to send a show of un-mounted prints, and this was accepted. On the way to St. Louis, one box was

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treated roughly, and a few print corners were bent. But that’s what margins are for, to take the damage and dirt and spare the picture area. So the show was hung that way, with the prints just under glass against the wall. When I got there, it was open and people were looking at the pictures. No one said anything about the absence of mattes. The show was well received, and all the prints were returned with no further damage. No one seemed to care about slightly rumpled corners on the margins of some prints. The viewers looked at the pictures, not at the details of their presentation. This was encouraging. A little later I began to try to learn digital B&W printing. No teacher was available here. I had a vague hope that someday I might be able to make inkjet prints that would be almost as good as silver prints from the darkroom, although that seemed unlikely. For a couple of years I fumbled with scanning silver prints and making digital inkjets, with disappointing results. I had an Epson 1520 printer that was fairly good when it managed to move the paper through without destroying it. Weary of fumbling, I finally decided to get methodical. Instead of scanning a photo, I scanned and printed a Kodak Gray Card together with a Kodak Gray Scale and kept detailed notes of what I’d done. I had not yet learned to print lighter or darker using Photoshop’s “levels,” but I had a working knowledge of the characteristic curves of negative and print tones, and I played with raising the contrast slightly at both ends of the scale. On my eleventh try, I got a reasonably decent print of the card and the gray scale. At last I began to know what I was doing. I felt I was in business. When the 1520 printer pooped out, I got an Epson 2200 Ɏmuch, much better. It required different, far more restrained, curve changes. The changes I’d made with the 1520 produced disgustingly flat midtones. By then I had some feel for what to do, and to my amazement, I began to get inkjet prints that were not only as good as the silver prints they were scanned from, but distinctly better. About then I discovered “levels” and the whole thing opened up. Three increasingly good printers, and a few years later, I almost know what I’m doing in black and white inkjet. An inkjet show at Ben Fernandez’s Almanac Gallery in Hoboken, NJ was my first look at how un-mounted inkjets perform on the wall under clear plastic. With that show, neither Ben nor I used the word “inkjet,” so it didn’t affect casual viewers. I was pleased to

see the prints in that show just as photo prints, no medium named, and they looked good. Now I have a show at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, where I have never been, and it’s all un-mounted B&W inkjet, under glass. As I write this, the prints are there, but not yet on the wall. How it will pan out is still anyone’s guess. This show has had more advance preparation than any show I’ve had before. This is the first time I’ve printed every picture for a show, instead of choosing to exhibit pre-existing prints. That’s a new experience. Information about the space indicated that there’s room for up to 70 prints, but experience says that’s too many. Museum fatigue tends to set in after about 50, and Milica Popovic, who is in charge of the show, said that 50 would do nicely for her, so I started picking with 50 in mind. This is hard, because after photographing for many years, there are so many picturesɎa few that many people have seen and more that no one has seen. What to do? I made rough prints of a preliminary pick of 100 on 3 x 5 cards, laid them all out on a table, and started to eliminate. Before long I got down to 50, no theme in mind. The only criteria were that I like these more than I like most of my photos, and felt I could make good inkjets of them. All they have in common is that I made them. While I was printing, a few of the rejects complained bitterly about being left out, and they seemed to be right, so I let five of them back in. I somewhat resisted the college’s wish for an “artist’s statement”Ɏit seemed pretentious Ɏbut finally wrote a short one that says something like I photograph what I want to show you because I like seeing it. I forget what words I used. I also made a list of all 55 photos and decided what the labels under the prints should say (more like “New York, 1960” than “Transmutation #92”). I don’t give my photos titles, but they all have print-catalog numbers that positively identify each picture. The CAT numbers of the 55 are on the list, which also gives a little where, what, who, when information about the pictures. It should be posted somewhere in the show to satisfy curiosity. We’ll see how it goes.

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Light in the Dark Uwe & Bettina Steinmueller

The above photo was one of the ﬁrst pictures we took at Fort Point in 2004. The interesting part is that we did not get any usable version until about two years later. While the image looks like it was made in a reasonably lit space, it is not. Why did it take two years to get this version? If you take just a single image, it is quite challenging (at least in 2004 and even today) to master the dynamic range from the bright windows to the darker shadows. This is why we took three exposures then, hoping to use some HDR software to create a better result. Neither the HDR software available in 2004, nor our skills at that time, allowed us to get an image that pleased our eyes. The important part was that

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we had multiple exposures, and two years later when both the HDR software and we were ready for prime time, we got an image we liked. It is not easy to describe what we ﬁnd so fascinating about places like Fort Point. It is all about the mood and the textures created by the decay of the fort. In some way nature is taking back possession of a man-made structure. All the patina creates urban organic colors that we like. The play of light from the outside adds an extra dimension to the mood. From an aesthetic point of view, it is always a balance of how dark we want the ﬁnal print to be. If the viewer looks at the image in a good gallery light, the print can be pretty dark with still enough details in the shadows; a dark version of the photo best portrays the mood. However, the photo is not often viewed in ideal light. This is why we produce slightly lighter versions. We know this is a compromise, but it helps to make the photos more accessible for the viewer.

Some people find HDR photographs “unnatural” looking. Adversely, they often find “normal” photos natural. Normal pictures only seem “natural” to us because we know the world more from photographs than from our own experience. Even our own experience fools us if we remember the scene in our memories. It is also clear that our eyes can deal much better with a higher dynamic range setting than what is presented in most photographs. This is because our eyes are able to adapt to the lighting in a setting in reality. For example, when you first enter Fort Point all is dark, and then after a short period of time it appears to get brighter because of our visual adaptation.

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We don’t want people who view our images to be overly concerned with the question, “Is this HDR?” Our goal is to share the fascination we have photographing these places. On the other hand, we are ﬁrm believers that we need HDR to present places like Fort Point in the manner that shows what we

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feel about them. In general we believe that our Light in the Dark images manage quite well to avoid the “HDR look.” We have other photographs that do have the “HDR look,” and we like them, too, because these images are meant to have a particular artistic expression, and even over the top HDR can help at times. In our Light in the Dark series, the textures, colors and light of the original places are so strong that a so-called “natural” look is just ﬁne. Once we managed to get pleasing results from our Fort Point HDR photos, we started to really like the HDR process. Nearly all the photographs in this portfolio were created using HDR merging and tone mapping software. It turned out to be excellent timing, because shortly after this initial success, we had a unique opportunity to photograph at Alcatraz (as part of a special workshop). At Alcatraz

we had the same situation (dark rooms that were only lit from the slightly opaque windows). Again the textures, unique setting and the light were fascinating to us. These images have become some of our best-known work. There was one ﬁnal shot, the “Golden Gate Sunset in Alcatraz,” that was more of interest to us because of its inherent irony. This requires some explanation. What you actually see through the window is the sunset directly under the Golden Gate Bridge (the room inside was very dark so that we needed flashlights). The prisoners may have viewed the sunset this way. While we cannot easily repeat the photo session at Alcatraz, we have come back to Fort Point quite a few times. We now know Fort Point pretty well, but

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always discover new scenes, lighting, textures and angles. This is one of the more challenging shots. Keeping the detail in the light shafts, having no artifacts where the light meets the shadows, and still some detail in the dark shadows is a challenge for nearly all tone-mapping software. Also the choice of lenses makes a big difference. Our favorite lens right now is the Zeiss 21mm f2.8 ZF Distagon on a full frame camera. We ﬁnd a top fixed focal lens at about 21mm to be close to ideal for Fort Point. Actually, we most often shot at hyper-focal distance settings. Today we take at least 5 to 7 shots to cover an even wider dynamic range at 1EV apart. There are likely many other buildings that can be explored in this way, and we would love to photograph them all. Finding such places is not easy. It’s even harder to get legal access to photograph.

Methodology: · Frame the scene on a very sturdy tripod · Use cable release and mirror lockup · Take 3 to 7 exposures at 1EV apart to cover the full dynamic range · Create a HDR ﬁle with Photomatix (proved to be the most reliable tool for us because other HDR tools sometimes introduce nasty artifacts) · Tone-Mapping in Photomatix Detail Enhancer (we recently also tried some alternative tools which may show up in our future workflow) · Add some global contrast (using our own commercial Photoshop scripts) · Detail extraction and sharpening (again using our own commercial scripts) · Sometimes distortion and perspective corrections in Photoshop · Some selective color tuning if needed

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Over the last few years, HDR has been a proven technique to capture some of our work. We nearly always create bracketed shots. This is a blend of classic bracketing, so that we can pick the best exposure. It also enables us to use HDR as we feel it is appropriate. In places like Fort Point or Alcatraz, we know that we will use HDR and hardly ever shoot only a single frame. $OO LPDJHV DUH FRS\ULJKW 8ZH %HWWLQD 6WHLQPXHOOHU *HUPDQ SKRWRJUDSKHU 8ZH 6WHLQPXHOOHU DQG KLV ZLIH DQG SDUWQHU %HWWLQD FDPH WR OLYH DQG ZRUN LQ WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV RYHU D GHFDGH DJR 7KH\ FRQFHQWUDWH RQ WDNLQJ SKRWRV IRU ÀQH DUW SULQWV PDLQO\ QDWXUH DQG XUEDQ ODQGVFDSHV 8ZH KDV DXWKRUHG QXPHURXV ERRNV DQG DUWLFOHV DERXW GLJLWDO ZRUNÁRZ +H LV DOVR WKH RZQHU DQG HGLWRU RI 'LJLWDO 2XWEDFN 3KRWR ZZZ RXWEDFNSKRWR FRP _____________

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Chromoskedasic Printing Revisited

A decade ago there was an intriguing article in PHOTO Techniques magazine entitled “Silver Mirror Printing and other Unusual Black and White Print Development Processes” (William Jolly, pp. 32-36, Jan/Feb 1999; also “Silver Mirror Printing Update,” p. 11, July/Aug 1999). The process looked fascinating. A freshly developed, but not yet ﬁxed, black and white print is subjected to two mild photographic solutions, an activator and a stabilizer, in the darkroom and out under room light. The activator is a dilute potassium hydroxide; the stabilizer

Christina Z. Anderson

is an acetate buffered thiocyanate. Colors appear where there is white in the print: orange, brown, yellow, pink, purple, green and blue, as well as silver on normally monochrome black and white paper. All of these colors are the result of the “Mie” effect. The ﬁrst actual article explaining this effect was in Scientiﬁc American (Dominic Man-Kit Lam and Bryant W. Rossiter, “Chromoskedasic Painting,” pp. 80-85 and 136-7, Nov 1991). Lam discovered the process in 1980, but it wasn’t until 1989 that Rossiter explained how the Mie effect

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&+52026.('$6,& 35,17,1* &+5,67,1$ = $1'(5621 was responsible for the colors that appear and gave a name to the process. Rossiter’s choice of “chromoskedasic” is Greek for “color by light scattering.” Very soon, another article appeared in View Camera magazine, by Alan Bean (“The Black and White Corner; Chromoskedasic Painting,” pp. 40-43, Sep/ Oct 1992). At the same time, Professor Jolly, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Berkeley, began extensive research into the whys and hows of “chromo.” Lam obviously inspired many. Jolly’s first article on the “chromo” process preceded the 1999 silver mirror printing article by years (Darkroom and Creative Camera Techniques, “Chromoskedasic Duotone Pseudosolarization Using Development Fogging,” pp. 30-31, Nov/Dec 1992). His enthusiasm for the process is quite apparent, as he ended the article with this statement: “I have not worked out all the details of this method, but I feel that it is such an exciting process that I should not delay in letting the readers know about it, even in its present imperfect state.” Jolly wrote another update to the process in the same magazine in 1993 (“Chromoskedasic Pseudosolarization Update; Popular Technique Improved,” pp. 28-31, Sept/Oct 1993), and then five years later, the article on silver mirror printing. The Mie effect states that a black and white print is normally monochromatic because the silver particles that remain in the print after fixing absorb all color and reflect black. In chromoskedasic printing, the silver particles are carefully managed with different chemicals, with or without exposure to light, to become different sizes. These different-sized silver particles scatter light in different ways to produce the different colors. Smaller particles will look yellow; larger particles will look red. In 2000, I, too, became fascinated by the chromo process. That year I began to teach photography at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. In my Experimental Photography class, one full lab day was devoted to Sabatier processes based on Jolly’s techniques. In this very wild and crazy lab, 18 students learned traditional and duotone Sabatier (usually incorrectly called “solarization”) and “chromoskedasic pseudosolarization” (what a mouthful) all at once. Yells of “Flashing!” preceded short bursts of light in a normally darkened lab. Yet as much as traditional and duotone Sabatier had become predictable for me, successful chromo with appreciable plated silver remained elusive. Students had no problem achieving unusual colors of red, yellow, bronze, pink, etc., but the silvering out was intermittent at best.

PHOTO Techniques

Three serendipitous happenings occurred to change this unpredictability. The ﬁrst was a chance meeting with Alan Bean in 2007. Many emails have gone back and forth between us, and my process outlined below rose out of Bean’s tray chromo process equally as much as Jolly’s and Lam’s processes. The second serendipitous happening came from Freestyle Photo’s Eric Joseph, Sr. V.P. of Merchandising and Product Development for Freestyle Photographic Supplies. Because I am a member of Freestyle’s Education Advisory Board, Joseph asked me if there was anything Freestyle should carry that they didn’t already. I told him of my frustration with the discontinuation of the two chemicals required in the chromo process, S2 Activator and S30 Stabilizer. It was no longer possible to teach chromo in my Experimental Photography class because of this. Over the last year of R&D, Joseph found a company willing to create the chemistry, and Freestyle is now supplying it (see freestylephoto. biz). Another company that makes similar chemistry under a different name is Clayton (Industrial X-Ray Activator and Stabilizer).

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The third serendipitous happening occurred from a mistake on my part. I was still trying to achieve predictability with chromo, as well as find a way to make the process more student-friendly. Jolly’s formulas were pretty complex: 117 parts here, 123 parts there. I needed to simplify the formula to a quick and easy method. On one particular day of messing with different chromo formulas, immediate and gorgeous silvering out occurred all over the face of the print, on the very first print through the bath and every one thereafter. I was ecstatic! It was quick, easy and predictable! All my testing in the darkroom had finally paid off. Or so I thought. The following day, I went back in the darkroom again, mixed up a tray of chemistry expecting the same glorious results and…nothing. What had gone wrong? In retracing all steps, I realized the only difference. The day before I had used a different developer in the mix—Tektol Standard (available from Freestyle and other places). I assumed from the name similarity that Tektol was generic Dektol,

completely inter-changeable. Not so, I found out. Consulting the MSDS sheets on Freestyle’s website (thank you, Freestyle!) I found that the ingredients in Tektol have little in common with Dektol. Could a more predictable success depend on Tektol then? I threw out the freshly made tray of Dektol-chromo, and remixed a new tray, using Tektol instead. Instant silvering out occurred. I repeated this experiment with success several more times. Being a bit more cautious, now, to assume anything, I felt that one last test remained to cinch the deal so I could share the results in print. (Please note that the name “Tektol” is changing to “Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer.”) I was due to teach an experimental photography workshop at Tennessee’s Carson Newman College. I wondered if there might be some factor in Montana where I live that was responsible for the successɎ water? Humidity? Temperature? Surely Montana and Tennessee differed widely enough in all of these. What better way to rule out these variables than to use Carson Newman College students as my guinea pigs? We would have either great success or perhaps disappointment, and I would feel like a failure. I held my breath as I watched the ﬁrst student’s print go through the chromo bath. Instant silvering out occurred in Tennessee, too! Jolly’s explanation for silver plating is as follows: “The fogging developer contains thiocyanate, which dissolves the silver halide by complexation. The complexed silver ion then undergoes so-called ‘physical development’ on the emulsion base, much as silver is plated out on a glass surface in the traditional chemical method of making silver mirrors. The rate of silver deposition is enhanced by making the second developer highly alkaline with potassium hydroxide (“Silver Mirror Printing,” p.35).” My recent experiments corroborate Jolly’s explanation. The more activator used (the potassium hydroxide of the equation), the more silvering out occurs, within certain limits. Small pieces of unexposed photographic paperɎ perfect because they are completely white Ɏ can be run through several mini-baths of different mixtures of the Chromo Tray 1 to observe the different rates of silvering out and different colors from silver to bronze. Why Tektol works so well and Dektol is less predictable is something for chemists to discern. If Lam could work for nine years with the process before Rossiter explained the scientifics behind it, I can, too. At the end of this article is a list of all the chemistry involved for those who would

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like to solve the puzzle. My guess is that it might not be just the Tektol at play here, but perhaps other factors as well, such as water temperature or paper age. Who knows? I still encourage readers to go ahead, put play back into the darkroom, and give chromo a try. Buy the few inexpensive chemicals and recommended papers necessary: Chromoskedasic Activator about $10, Stabilizer $14 and Tektol Standard (Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer) $13.

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If you are a teacher, there is one predictability aside from silvering out that I can guarantee. With this process, you will open up new avenues of discovery for your students that will make the wet darkroom come alive. It is a process that cannot be created in a computer. It is a process that requires hands-on experimentation and an attitude of willingness to accept what happens. How enjoyable it is to see excitement and adventure return to the darkroom once again!

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7(&+ THE PROCESS Materials needed: · Best: Ilford, Multigrade Warmtone (glossy is best; RC or ﬁber both work well) or Arista.edu Ultra paper · Arista Premium B&W Chromo Activator · Arista Premium B&W Chromo Stabilizer · Silvergrain Tektol Standard or Tektol Black (Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer) · Normal darkroom chemistry (developer, stop, ﬁx, hypoclear) Chromo Tray 1 to make 1 liter: · 500ml warm water · 25ml Silvergrain Tektol Standard or Tektol Black (Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer) stock solution (can use 70-125ml) · 250ml Arista Premium B&W Chromo Activator · 125ml Arista Premium B&W Chromo Stabilizer

In a liter container, add 500ml water. Add 70-125ml Tektol (Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer) stock solution (undiluted). Add 250ml Activator. Add 125ml Stabilizer. Cap and lightly shake. The solution will smell strongly of ammonia, so letting it sit a while may help. At time of use, pour this in a tray large enough to allow you to gingerly pick up a print with tongs by the edges. Better yet, use nitrile gloved hands to move the print from tray to tray. An 11x14 ﬂat-bottomed tray is best for 8x10 prints. If doing prints larger than this, use a 16x20 tray. With the latter, you will need to double the amount of chemistry to allow total submersion of the print. Chromo Tray 2: · 900ml water · 100ml Arista Chromo BW Activator

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In a liter container, fill with 900ml water. Add100ml Activator. At time of use, pour enough into a tray to be able to submerge the print under a thin layer of solution. Procedure: 1. Expose and develop a print for 2/3 the time in any paper developer until print looks tonally completeɎdarks are suitably dark and there is some detail in the highlights. 2. Drain, rinse in water, and slip face up into Chromo Tray 1. Agitate for the first 30 seconds or so and then watch for silver to plate out over the whole surface. This will take 30 seconds to several minutes. In the darkroom it will appear as a creeping, massive gray fog. Look at the print obliquely in the tray to see if it fluoresces silver. When it fluoresces, remove it and place it face up in Chromo Tray 2. 3. Bring the Chromo Tray 2 with the print out into room light for however long desired. Color shift will occurɎpinks, mauves, peaches and even blues. This part of the process moves slowly. Plan time to nurse the print along while watching. If the print looks perfect after Chromo Tray 1, you have the option of not doing Tray 2, in which case stop bath, fix, wash and hypoclear the print as usual. 4. When the print looks good, bring it back into the darkroom and stop bath, fix, hypoclear, wash and dry as normal. You must not touch the surface of the print until dry or it will mar permanently! This means either separate trays to wash each print or an archival washer with individual print slots, and no squeegeeing. Dry face up. Once the print is dry, you can polish it with a soft cloth just as you do with any silver object.

A MORE PAINTERLY BRUSH METHOD Materials needed: · Same as above · Three separate plastic cups · Assortment of brushes: small and larger, fat calligraphy brushes work well Mix these three solutions in separate cups: 1. 10ml Arista Premium B&W Chromo Stabilizer in 90ml water (10% solution; can use 10-20%).

2. 20ml Arista Premium B&W Chromo Activator in 80ml water (20% solution; can use 10-20%). 3. 15ml Tektol Standard or Tektol Black (Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer) in 75ml water (15% solution, 1.5x as concentrated as working strength Tektol Developer). Procedure: 1. Expose and develop a print as above. /HIW

2. Drain developer off, rinse with water, and bring out into room light in a ﬂat bottom tray.

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3. Immediately paint a layer of the 10% stabilizer over the entire print and watch the darkening color turn to pale yellow. After a bit, paint on some 20% activator in places where you desire a dark brown shift. It will slowly shift in time, and the amount of each solution you use will determine that—for instance, more activator and less stabilizer on the print, quicker change. If it moves too quickly, paint on some more stabilizer.

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4. Paint on some of the Tektol (Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer) solution. This is when the silvering out usually occurs.

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7(&+ There can be a color shift with some of the colors when the print is fixed, as well as when the print is dried. The blues and purples dry down to silver, which will fluoresce blue and purple in oblique light. The pinky reds will dry browner. If you want to preserve these colors as close to as they are, you can use a solution of one part of 5% sodium thiocyanate with five parts of water instead of the usual fix. Agitate in this for about 20 seconds. Make sure the developer used remains fresh or you may get a layer of amorphous, black, sludgy silver on the surface of the print. This can be wiped off gently with dampened cotton balls.

CHEMISTRY INVOLVED Tektol/Legacy Pro Ecopro BW Paper Developer (pH 10.35) 5. The rest of the process is a repetition of these three steps, with these three solutions. Pay attention to your mark, making sure your painterly strokes are contributing to the image. When the print is how you want it, rinse, stop, ﬁx, hypoclear, wash and dry as you would with any black and white print, being careful with the tender surface. Do not squeegee or touch it harshly.

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Most of the time, stabilizer is brushed on ﬁrst after development, and then activator. Stabilizer leans toward yellow; activator leans toward orange; developer leans toward red-orange and deep redbrown. Most often, stabilizer to activator is in a 1:2 proportion with almost all formulas I found on the process. The more concentrated the solutions, the deeper the colors; the less concentrated the solutions, the paler the color. As Jolly has found, the color obtained is related to the pH of the developer. High pH leans toward the red end of the spectrum and low pH leans toward the blue end of the spectrum. Activator increases the pH, hence redder colors. To increase pH, you can use more activator or even some sodium carbonate powder. To decrease pH, use either 28% acetic acid stop bath or 3.5% borax solution. The more developer used in the mix, the more the orange moves toward deep and rich redbrown. If color forms too slowly, raise the pH(more activator). If color forms too quickly, reduce the pH (more stabilizer). However, changing the pH will affect the color.

Weight% 10-25 7-10 5-10 1-5

Chemical Name potassium carbonate sodium sulﬁte sodium isoascorbic triethanolamine

Kodak Dektol, for comparison (pH 10.2-10.4) Weight% 50 – 55 30 - 35 5 - 10 1-5 1-5

Chemical Name sodium carbonate, monohydrate sodium sulﬁte hydroquinone bis(4-hydroxy-Nmethylanilinium) sulfate potassium bromide

Activator (pH 14) Weight% 5-10 5-10

Chemical Name potassium hydroxide sodium sulﬁte

Stabilizer (pH 4.85) Weight% 15-20 5-10 1-5

Chemical Name ammonium thiocyanate sodium metabisulﬁte acetic acid

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Nightclub Photos: a unique approach to building a portfolio Ashton Boni Nightlife photography has been the key to my success in more ways than one. In 2004, I was at a crossroads in my photographic journey, having photographed, at that time, all of the pictures that were ﬂoating around in my head. I was at that “What do I do now?” stage when I found that nitevibe.com, an Emagazine that focuses on the nightlife of San Francisco, was looking for photographers to take photos in clubs, concerts, music festivals and similar events. It seemed like a great ﬁt, because before I’d picked up a camera, I had been a DJ for 22 years. The opportunity was right up my alley! I put together some examples of nighttime shots I had taken on my recent travels and submitted them. To my surprise, I was hired. I became Nitevibe’s senior photographer, a position I held for over three years.

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3257)2/,2 The beneﬁts of club shots Nightclub photography has helped my portfolio immensely by adding diversity. I learned long ago that I don’t like shooting ﬂowers, sunsets, babies, mountains, animals, or elderly social functions. I knew that young, hip people were what I was interested in shooting, and well… young, hip people go to clubs and concerts, don’t they? Different people, weird people, colorful people and silly people all attend these soirees, and I was blessed to have had full access to all of them. It gave me a chance to glimpse their world through my camera. I also love shooting weddings, portraits, layouts and non-club events. When I began using the techniques I gained photographing nightclubs, it helped me think outside the box. Every client I’ve shown my work has commented on the edgy youthfulness it displays. Shooting nightlife photos also helps attract my target clientele: young, forward-thinking adults ages 25–45. /HIW '- DW :RUN $VKWRQ %RQL

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The lessons I learned I realized the key to taking nightlife photos is all about anticipation and putting yourself in the best position to capture those moments. It is one thing to have the right equipment, but quite another to use it efﬁciently. I’ve spent many nights reviewing my photographs and ﬁguring out how to make them better. David Hobby’s site, Strobist.com, helped me understand using light to my advantage. One important thing I realized is that blurry lights are just plain old blurry lights, but they become interesting when there is a face associated with them. Then the light becomes a living thing and the image becomes fluid and alive. The power of blurred motion tricks the eye by creating the illusion of movement. Dragging the shutter speed creates just that. I use somewhere between 1/2 to 3 seconds. The aperture is almost always wide open and the ISO is from 50 to 1000, depending on the amount of ambient light and how much shutter drag I need. To add more blur after I feel the mirror slap, I often move my hand (shaking or dragging) to create a richer image. It’s like painting with light a la Jackson Pollock.

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3257)2/,2 Capturing people who are oblivious to being photographed is also key. I don’t look at the subjects. I pretend I’m focusing on something else and shoot using my peripheral vision. My camera is either at chest level or just hanging naturally on my hand. It’s the off camera flash that I move in place before I press the shutter. Then I move quickly away from the subject and pretend my camera has malfunctioned. They never suspect a thing. The best tool for these “no look” shots is a wide focal length between 16 - 24mm and my trusty Canon ST-E2 transmitter, which emits a cross hatching red light to help the camera focus in low light. I also use it like a laser site to help me point the camera in the right spot (usually the face). The last critical tool is a lens that focuses quickly. Sometimes my ﬁnger is on the shutter button for a while, and I’m just moving my body accordingly to keep the subject within that focused area. When the time is right, I take the shot, a technique that has eventually become second nature. I live in a low light world; it’s the most comfortable environment for me where everything is constantly changing: the lights, people, the mood, the sounds, and the intensity. I try my best every time I’m on an assignment to capture the soul and fun of an event. Yes, I take all the ‘look at me’ shots, but I primarily hunt for the details and the heart of the evening. There is one particular club in San Francisco where I’ve photographed over 100 times. To constantly challenge myself I always look for one great shot on every assignment, something I can use for my portfolio. Thinking that way helps my motivation and keeps me striving to get better.

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Essential gear For club work I recommend a full format camera and use two Canon 5D’s, (one stays in the car), and fast wide angle lenses. These are critical because they enable me to take group shots up close. Most of the time the club is crowded, and you can’t back up, so shooting a group with a focal length between 16mm to 24mm is key to getting a good photo. A wide angle lens is also best for taking atmosphere shots. To get the full scope of a club, you have to shoot wide. Any combination of a 16-35mm f2.8, 35mm f1.4, 135mm f2, 70-200mm f2.8 and a fisheye works best. It’s also important to get the flash off the camera any way you can; it’s critical for creating images that stand out from the rest. I use a STE2 transmitter to help get those “no look” candid shots, and two 580EX II flashes (one stays in the car)

off camera. I use a quarter cut CTO (color temperature orange) on all my flashes to turn my flash into a tungsten temperature, which flatters the human skin much better than a bare bulb flash. I’ve found that getting the flash off camera is more important than using fast lenses. However, using fast lenses comes a close second; an f2.8 is great but f1.4 is better. I also like to bring an off-camera flash cord because nightclub strobes wreak havoc when the transmitter is trying to speak with the flash. Best kind of clubs/events Find work in the best clubs in your town, because not all clubs are the same or excitingɎ BELIEVE ME! I find the electronic music scene that plays nonradio (underground) dance music offers the best subjects to shoot. Events like raves and electronic music festivals are my favorites. Generally the people who attend those events strive to be unique and hate being considered the “norm.” I love that in them! (That’s where I met my beautiful wife.) I try to stay away from clubs/events that play hip hop and mainstream dance music; the people who attend those events, in my opinion, are boring and predictable from a photographic standpoint. They all dress alike, look alike and have the same attitudes. I wish I had a dollar for every guy who posed in that “I’m a weekend thug” pose and 50 cents for all the insecure women who said to me, “I don’t like that picture, take another one.” The only thing remotely interesting in these clubs is the B-boy dancers (talented hip hop dancers). Do’s and Don’ts of shooting a club/music event: DO get there early so you can find good parking and you can check out the “lay of the land” (catch the manager before he gets too busy to pay you). DO find out who is the evening’s entertainment and what time they go on, so you can place yourself in the best position to shoot them. Find out where they’re going to enter and exit. Sometimes big name talent won’t let photographers get close, so you just have to go for it when they enter the club. DO make friends with the head bouncer and manager. They can help you get into the places you need to be. DO work sober. This is self explanatory. I dare anyone to try to shoot for 12 hours on any drug and be creative and professional. DON’T focus on the same old stuff! Look for diversity! There’s nothing more boring than a gallery of a thousand shots of the same hot couple or entertainer.

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3257)2/,2 DON’T submit your photos without editing them ﬁrst. If you have images that are similar in composition, move them around or maybe flip a few horizontally to make a better viewing experience. DON’T show people the photographs you’ve just made of them; you don’t need approval for any photo you take. Also, it’s always the beautiful girls who tell you, “I don’t like it! Delete that and take another!” Just say, “thank you” and move on. DON’T shoot anything until the manager pays you! What to look for when you ﬁrst arrive at an event First I look at the light: where it’s coming from, how it moves, how it changes and the rhythm of the changes. All of these things direct me how to work with it. A faster lens comes in handy, especially in those clubs that have minimal lighting. You can get great background detail in the lowest of lighting situations with fast lenses. A lens with an aperture of f1.4 or better is best. %HORZ %ULQJ WKH )RJ $VKWRQ %RQL

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Then I look at the people: the unique people, the pretty people, the drunks, the entertainers, the celebrities. I try to ﬁgure out the best time and angle to shoot them. Avoid rushing to take a picture of someone. Figure out the best background, and turn your subjects around if you need to. To me there is

nothing more boring to look at than a person with a black background. The last piece of the puzzle was incorporating the abundant talents of Suzanne Sease (suzannesease. com) who helped to create the right branding and marketing that maximized the potential of our work. I am also in debt to the skillful and talented people at livebooks.com who helped create a website that showcases our unique style. I don’t know any photographer who hasn’t struggled with building a professional and unique portfolio. I’ve just spent the past four years creating nightclub photographs that do just that. )RU D GHFDGH $VKWRQ %RQL KDV SKRWRJUDSKHG RYHU HYHQWV LQFOXGLQJ ZHGGLQJV IDVKLRQ VKRZV DQG JOREDO PXVLF IHVWLYDOV VKRZFDVHG ZLWK WKH OHDGLQJ JOREDO FRPPXQLW\ 6PXJPXJ ZZZ ___ VPXJPXJ FRP +H DQG KLV ZLIH 6WHSKDQLH DUH WKH IRXQGHUV RI ________ %RQLLPDJHV FRP ZHGGLQJV DQG SRUWUDLWV DQG ERQL SKRWRJUDSK\ __________ _________ FRP HYHQWV ___

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Carlos Tarrats’

Dark Fauna Interviewed by Paul Schranz

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Looking at the work of Carlos Tarrats gives the ﬁrst impression of looking at a heavily manipulated digital image. It is anything but. Tarrats is an amazing conceptualist who follows a deﬁnitive premeditated approach to his work.

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He quotes George Bernard Shaw, “Some people see things as they are and ask why? Others dream things that never were and ask why not?” In his still life photographs of plant life, Tarrats constructs within each scene the elements of life, death, hope and conﬂict. He explains that his realization of the subjectivity of seeing guides him to create images in a metaphorical and abstract way, allowing the viewer’s imagination to explore. He openly accepts interpretations of the images that might vary from his own. He says, “I like to use flora because, for the most part, it has no singular inherent meaning,

and what meaning a particular species may have is typically not universal to all cultures or regions.” Tension among the elements in each piece is a key to their intent. Tarrats says that he ﬁnds the versatility of plant life crucial to creating a sense of conflict, a sense of uncertainty of the outcome for the subject of each scene. He spends considerable time working with contrasts of color and composition to heighten that tension. Tarrats’ message is so important that he refers to these plant photographs as “portraits.” He adds that these are not primarily self-portraits in any metaphorical sense, but rather more general investigations into life’s brief but extraordinary moments of being. He asks, “What if all of those moments were compressed into a single frame? How do you visually represent the sum of those moments?”

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The view seen in the images in this portfolio is admittedly a dark one, and Tarrats is willing to concede that the work may be more about what he sees than he realized when he began the project. Seeing the work, one might insist that the images are the result of digital manipulation. Not so. Works of this portfolio are all straight, un-manipulated photographs taken with a Hasselblad 503CW and a 120CF Macro Planar lens. He uses both 160 and 400 Kodak negative film. His images are printed digitally. Although trained as a digital photographer, Tarrats finds this methodology gives him the hands on approach that he doesn’t find using a computer. He has both a BFA degree in Photography and a BA in Art Studio, dual foundations that guided his path to an alternate aesthetic. In Tarrats’s photographs, all of the physical elements in the images are realɎthe plants, colors,

scratches and props all exist on a set that he builds and photographs. Reality may be visually distorted, but never changed structurally. These are real places that once existed, he says, thought their appearance has been greatly altered in the photographs. He prepares a small still life area and hand paints his backdrops with colors to evoke the mood. His set construction is both amazingly simple and powerfully evocative. He carefully chooses live plants that will reflect the message of each particular scene. With the backdrop in place and the live plants on the set, Tarrats then takes a sheet of Plexiglas and spray paints, paints with a brush, scratches and sands this front plane until it creates an additional visceral window to the still life. He reworks this plane until the final mood he seeks is revealed. Tarrats makes a reference to Velasquez’s paintings and that artist’s use of layered surfaces as an influence on his own

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work. In his constructions, light not only reﬂects off the plant/portraits, but also projects through the front plane of Plexiglas. Occasionally, a perpendicular plane with black foil is placed between the background and the Plexiglas front plane. Through a hole in this shelf, Tarrats is able to show both the plant’s aboveground plane and the below-ground roots. Dirt is glued onto black foil. Some settings are further embellished with other artifacts, including nails. The whole operation appears as an eerie story of life above ground and torment and chaos below. The result might be interpreted as images of hope in an environment of darkness. Tarrats explains that working with medium format Hasseblad gives him the ﬂexibility of a handheld camera while keeping a large negative size. He

uses Elinchrom 200 and 400 WS studio flash units, and occasionally, simple hardware store reﬂector lamps. He varies his exposures to balance or exaggerate the color of the tungsten light and his strobe lights. 7DUUDWV SULQWV GLJLWDOO\ DQG RUJDQL]HV KLV ZRUN LQ D VHULHV ZLWK ² SULQWV LQ DQ HGLWLRQ %DVHG RXW RI /RV $QJHOHV &$ &DUORV 7DUUDWV GRHV ERWK FRPPHU FLDO DQG ÀQH DUW SKRWRJUDSK\ +H UHFHLYHG D %$ LQ $UW 6WXGLR DW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI &DOLIRUQLD 6DQWD %DUEDUD DQG D %)$ LQ 3KRWRJUDSK\ DW WKH $UW &HQWHU &ROOHJH RI 'HVLJQ 3DVDGHQD &$ +LV ZRUN KDV EHHQ IHDWXUHG LQ ERWK H[KLELWLRQV DQG SULQW PHGLD QDWLRQDOO\ +H LV WKH ZLQQHU RI WKH ,QWHUQDWLRQDO 3KRWRJUDSK\ $ZDUG IRU )LQH $UW 6WLOO /LIH

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,1129$7,216 Unified Color: HDR PhotoStudio 2 HDR photography has opened new ways to capture high dynamic range than ever dreamed of in photography. Although photographers like Dan Burkholder and Bettina and Uwe Steinmueller have incorporated this effect into a strong and purposeful aesthetic, many photographers are using HDR to create the “HDR look” of exaggerated color and contrast boost. While it was unique a year ago, the HDR look is getting overused. Fortunately, a new product called Unified Color HDR PhotoStudio 2 has been released for both the Mac and PC. Simply stated, this is high dynamic range photography, but without the halos and exaggerated colors. While HDR PhotoStudio 2 can give you all the pizzaz and punch, it also creates a really normal extended range photograph. In most HDR programs, you merge to 32-bit, then tone map down to 16-bit. In HDR PhotoStudio 2, you stay in 32-bit and then make adjustments with each control independent of the others. Because you stay in 32-bit throughout all of the adjustments, there is very little degradation in the image quality. A special note is its integration with Photoshop Lightroom. There is a direct transfer of RAW files from Lightroom that aligns and starts the merge automatically in HDR PhotoStudio 2. Not only is HDR PhotoStudio 2 intuitive, it also has tools placed in line for an organized workflow. The first tool, the Veiling Glare tool, identifies a black point and then you set its darkness amount. Moving to the Brightness and Contrast controls, you set your Brightness and Contrast that will yield the HDR halo effect. However, in the same box, there are tools to remove it. The next control tool in line adjusts Highlights, Shadows and Midtones. There is a tool to set White Balance and another great tool for adjusting individualized color saturation based on the six additive and subtractive primary colors. Last, but not least, is a Noise Elimination tool that offers an automatic Zoom for critical control. The file is then saved in HDR PhotoStudio 2’s proprietary BEF format. HDR PhotoStudio 2 comes with a BEF plug-in for Photoshop, where the image is finally taken down to 16-bit and further enhanced using all of Adobe’s tools. For more information, go to www.unifiedcolor.com.

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,1129$7,216 SilverFast Archive Suite SilverFast, a company known for making remarkable software that gets more from a scanner than the manufacturer’s software can, has taken quality to the next step. SilverFast has released the SilverFast Archive Suite. This is a two-disc set. The ﬁrst is the SilverFast Ai Studio that now allows not only 64-bit HDR multiple scans, but on speciﬁc scanners (we used the Epson V750 Pro), it even unlocks the infrared channel. In a second, I will explain why that is so critical.

Before

After

The 6400 dpi HDRi scan of a 6x7cm transparency creates a huge file of 1.35 GB that is rich in data. With HDRi scanning, there are no corrective controls available. You are truly getting a RAW scan. The image will appear darker than you would like, but this is only the first scan. You can also scan in 32-bit HDRi grayscale. Scan all of your images and save them in a folder. In the second part of the Suite, reopen the SilverFast Launcher, but this time, activate the 48BIT HDR Studio. This opens the VLT (Virtual Light Table) where you will see the images you previously scanned. It is in the HDR studio that you make your general image adjustments from the information collected in the RAW scan. Now comes the really cool part. Click on the SRD (Scratch Removal) button to change the button to iSRD (infrared Scratch Removal). Then click it on again to open a second button for an SRD control window. What took place during the HDRi scan is that SilverFast Archive Suite unlocked the infrared channel. This is now going to be used to identify and remove dust and scratches. This is a very different approach than previous dust and scratch removal, which also lowered resolution by diffusing the image to remove debris. Check the iSRD button, and then click PREVIEW to reveal the infrared channel of the scan. What comes up next is a highly magnified section of your image with a lot of red splotches. This is all of the dust, scratches

and miscellaneous debris on your transparency or negative. Either adjust the Detection slider or check the AUTO button. The red splotches will grow considerably. Next, hit the PROCESS button and the infrared channel will be used to remove the debris. Most importantɎit does so without softening the image resolution. The above images show the full image and two sections, one with the dust and the other with the dust removed using the infrared channel. The results are amazing. You can also lasso more difﬁcult debris and use regular SRD controls to remove them. With the transparencies I tested, the little debris left over was easily removed with the HEALING TOOL in Photoshop. For more information, contact ____ www. SilverFast.com. ____________

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,1129$7,216 NEXTO EXTREME ND2700 Storage on-the-go Laptop computers are smaller and memory cards have increased storage capabilities, but having a small back-up device for image files can be extremely helpful. Most compact devices have viewers that duplicate what can already be seen and analyzed on the camera display, with a respective cost (i.e., 80 GB with view is $200). But if you’re just looking for someplace to unload files, verify that files have been copied, and back up cards or clean cards for further use, the Nexto Extreme is worth a look. The Nexto Extreme is a small portable device (5"x3"x7/8") that runs off a Lithium Polymer battery or an AC charging cord and works like the Swiss Army knife of on-the-go storage. It has input for CF cards (both 1 and 2), SDHC/ MMC and MMC Plus that will take just about any available micro card with an adapter. Put the card in, and it automatically detects the card and asks whether you want to move or copy. Select Move and the card is cleared after the file transfer has been verified. Nexto states that a 1GB card will download in about 40 seconds. While there is a listing of files and an indicator showing files are being transferred, there is no image preview window. Verification notice is both accurate and mind settling. It also checks

the integrity of each file. The Nexto won’t copy a duplicate of a previously transferred file. A Lexar 4 GB 300X UDMA card with 189 RAW files downloaded in 145 seconds. Later, download the Nexto Extreme to your computer using the USB port with included cable, or hook up using an eSata cable, providing your computer has that input. The Nexto Extreme will back up 60 GB of data in a single charge, increased by an additional 80 GB with an optional external battery. With the USB cable, you can download directly from your camera, camcorder, smart phone or another USB card reader. It has an eSata hard drive in 160, 250, 320, and 500 GB configurations, and choice of an optional 64 or 128 GB solid state drive configuration. Use a larger capacity setup and the Nexto Extreme backs up an entire computer hard drive. Cost: $210 for the 160 GB unit. For more information, go to www.nextodi.com.

Lexar Professional 600x UDMA CompactFlash Card Reaching the virtual continuous burst The 600x UDMA CompactFlash card has a minimum sustained speed of 90 MB/s. While this number is certifiably tested, I decided to do a test in real terms in the field. I used it with a new Canon 7D at full RAW where the camera fired a continuous burst for 95 frames and then fully processed the card in under 8 seconds. On a full frame 5D Mark II, with an older processor, it recorded a continuous burst of 18 frames, with only a minute slowdown (approximately 2 frames per second), then continued through the rest of the card. Clearing also took under 8 seconds. A download speed test using a Lexar UDMA Firewire 800 card reader was 79 seconds for 2.24 GBs of files. The 600x CF card comes in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities. The Lexar Professional 600x CF card includes the latest version of Lexar Image Rescue™ software. For more information, go to www.lexar.com.

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An Approach to Interior Lighting John Siskin

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Please understand I am not offering rules, but an approach to architectural lighting. First examine the room for existing light sources, everything from lamps to windows. Then classify those resources, something like friend or foe. So a window that throws diffused light into a room is a friend, and a mercury vapor lamp is a foe. Fluorescent lamps are generally foes, but they can be used under some circumstances, especially with digital. This understanding of the lighting of the room will give you the information you need to choose the dominant color spectrum you can use in your shot. If you have a lot of daylight, then you would certainly light with daylight balanced lights, but if your light is mostly from tungsten sources, traditional bulbs and halogen lights, you will want to work with a color balance of 3200ºK, as this is closer to the color of the bulbs. While I would use strobes for any architectural lighting situation, I would balance the strobes to a spectrum similar to the room, using a variety of gels. One of the advantages to filtering strobes is that these lights will definitely not be included in your picture, which means that you don’t have to hide the filters. When I first examine a room I am more interested in the choice of color spectrum than the details of how I will work in that spectrum. Color spectrum is somewhat similar to the key of a piece of music; it tells you what will fit easily and what will be dissonant. You really have three choices: daylight, tungsten and fluorescent. Fluorescent is the most difficult spectrum to work in because the bulbs can be wildly different.

Next consider light placement where you can place a light and keep it out of the frame. Generally there are only a few places you could possibly put a light. Lights outside of the frame are easy to make look natural; a light from either side can always look like a window. A light inside the frame must be subtle. You can put a light on the far side of a kitchen island as a fill. Another important source is bounce light off the ceiling, providing it is white and not part of the image. Finally, look at the room in terms of the best camera positions. Circumstances, such as important characteristics of the room and the client’s requirements, will come into play here. Of course, I will integrate these considerations into the decisions about light and camera, but the first action is to place the camera. Shadows and reflections are only important from the camera’s point of view. Camera position needs

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$1 $3352$&+ 72 ,17(5,25 /,*+7,1* -2+1 6,6.,1 to be designed to show the key characteristics of a room, so if you are trying to show size, you don’t want to back up and use a normal lens. Rather, you would use a wide-angle lens to emphasize size. The height of the camera can also affect the feel of a room, so be aware that eye level is not always the best position. Architectural photography is a very detail oriented specialty. To be sure I get everything right, I will tether the camera to a laptop computer whenever possible. You may want to take a quick capture of the shot, which can be done on auto exposure, but it will be the last automatic shot that you’ll take. The first test involves ambient room light. Examine the shot for angle and any particular problems. Lighting is the trick. In almost all circumstances, I will set up my first light as near to the camera as practical and as high as possible. I use a 750 wattsecond monolight for this. I will bounce this light off the inside of a 60-inch umbrella; I would use a larger umbrella if I had one. A large light source lights a subject from more angles, so the shadows have a softer transition, and it creates more bounce light that will fill in all the shadows. Most of my umbrellas have a white satin interior with a removable black back, as this facilitates bouncing light and shooting through the umbrella. I have a couple of silver umbrellas for cases where I want a little harder light or where I need the extra light

of this kind of umbrella. Often I need one or more strobes with umbrellas at the far sides of a shot in order to keep the light even. Since light is reduced the further you are from a light source, it makes sense to add lights to the sides of a wide shot. The purpose of this light is to open up any shadows from the existing light sources, which brings down the contrast. The large umbrella softens the light and makes any shadows from this light source smaller and lighter. Since the light is above the camera, shadows will fall behind objects and reflections may not go toward the lens. Next, try to bring the light into the same spectrum. If you are shooting daylight spectrum with strobes, you don’t need to do anything, but if you are shooting in tungsten, you will want to put a Rosco 3407 CTO, or equivalent, filter over your strobe. This will make the light about 3000ºK, which is a movie light spectrum. You may need additional filtration, but you won’t know until you shoot a test exposure. If I am trying to balance to fluorescent tubes, I will probably use the Rosco 3315, which is the 1/2 Plusgreen. It has worked better for me than the Fullgreen. You can change the color of the light sources in your shot, but this is not always necessary. If you control the exposure so that the light source has a very bright value but doesn’t add much light to the surroundings you may not need to worry about

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color. So if the lamp is bright but the light doesn’t fall on anything, you are probably ok. If the lamps are critical, you can replace a tungsten bulb with a photoflood BCA bulb. This runs at almost 5000ºK, similar to daylight. It is also MUCH hotter than a normal bulb; only turn it on when you are actually exposing. You can use a Britek or similar strobe with an Edison base, but these do not spread light like a bulb and don’t always look natural. Additionally, you can put a Rosco 3202 CTB Fullblue over a light bulb, but this will substantially reduce the bulb’s output. You can also use a Rosco 3308 Minusgreen filter over a fluorescent light source, but because fluorescent tubes are so unreliable, this doesn’t always work. The colors of various tubes are very different. It is also annoying when tubes may have been replaced at different times with different tubes. If you want to change a window to tungsten balance, you can do this, too. The Rosco filters are available in rolls, so you can attach the filter to the outside of the window. I would suggest the 1/2 CTO 3408, which is the Halforange, rather than the Fullorange, as the additional blue will make the color feel a little more natural. The filter

material can be reused, which is good because it is expensive. You can certainly do much of this color control after the shot in Photoshop. There are good reasons for doing so, including the fact that you don’t need to buy filters or bring them with you. However, I think it is always advantageous to reduce post-production so you can deliver images to your client sooner. As long as you are within the flash sync shutter speeds for your particular camera, adjusting the shutter speed is another way of controlling lighting. Changing shutter speeds can effectively change the continuous light sources in your shot without changing the light from the strobes. For instance, if you have too little light from the windows, but everything else looks good, you can just increase the shutter speed and the strobes won’t change. Alternatively, if your light fixtures are too bright in a shot, just decrease the shutter speed; the lighting from the strobes won’t change, but the lamps will. This property, and the capability to change the power of the strobes, gives you a lot of control over exposure. If the contrast is too great, I would try increasing the power of the strobe. If the windows are too dark, you need to increase the shutter speed. If a single lamp is too bright, you could put metal window screen over the bulb to reduce the light from that lamp or put a smaller bulb in the lamp. Metal window screen is also helpful at reducing the light from a strobe. You will also need to examine the color and look for problems with the strobe placement. Of course, this is also a good time to look for reflections or problem shadows. I also use lights with just a reflector much of the time. This delivers more light to a specific part of the shot. In addition, a light with just a reflector will add contrast to the area illuminated. This can help identify some part of the shot as a focal point for the image. I almost always use a barn door attachment when I use hard light in a shot. This lets me control what part of the shot gets the light. I also take along some cine foil, which is a kind of heavy-duty black aluminum foil that is incredibly useful for controlling light. It won’t burn, but you can certainly make it smoke, so you might not want to put it on top of a tungsten light source. A small amount of hard light on top of a softer light from an umbrella can add a sense of three-dimensionality to an image. So I will sometimes use hard light from a similar angle to an umbrella. The tools in Photoshop that I find most useful are perspective control and lens correction. I usually use perspective control with the cropping tool,

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$1 $3352$&+ 72 ,17(5,25 /,*+7,1* -2+1 6,6.,1 which makes my workflow a little faster. While I have a perspective control lens, I prefer the perspective of a lens wider than 28mm, so I need Photoshop for this. I have noticed that my lens has some barrel distortion. Straight lines bow outwards a little, so I really like lens correction. You’ll ﬁnd this tool in filters under the Distort menu. Photoshop also allows you to fix a number of problems with an architectural image, especially reflections. If there is a reflection of one of my lights in a window, I will make a second capture of the shot with my lights turned off. In Photoshop, I can then use the image without the reflection to fix the image with all the lights working. While I would like to be able to fix everything while I’m shooting, I can’t always get my lights to cooperate. Of course it requires some patience when you try to make everything work together. I often find that I am working with half a dozen lights, so sometimes I don’t know where the problem is. An effective technique is to turn off each light individually to help you locate the problem. I emphasize working tethered to a laptop, which will save you hours of grief. It is also important to remember that musicians like Eric Clapton and Luciano Pavarotti practiced so that they could perform.

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Spectrum Suite A Photographic Series In Three Movements

Larry Vogel

I have always viewed myself as an artist who uses a camera, rather than a photographer. Over the last several years I have made many changes in the way I approach photography. In the past, I spent many years traveling the country with a 4x5 view camera and photographed the landscape with black and white ﬁlm. I believed then that this was what I would do with the camera the rest of my life. Then one day I came to a new conclusion and challenged myself to break out of the box I had placed myself in. I began to view my approach to photography with a new insight and began to work with a new format, working within the context of projects. Each new project would have a beginning, middle and an end.

My Spectrum Suite series is one such exploration. It all began as a single photographic project, but has grown over the past several years to include what I have called A Photographic Series in Three Movements. The Spectrum Suite was conceived as a project title because of the many colors employed in the series. When the colorful images are viewed in their context of three joined projects, they ﬂow and blend with the rhythm of a musical composition, in a suite of colorful notes.

This new working format meant that I would no longer remain in a ﬁxed position. I was open to explore the world of photography and art with the wide-eyed wonder of what if. I once heard another artist proclaim, "My diversity may become my claim to obscurity." Sometimes I feel that way too. However, the ability to continually re-invent myself through creative exploration grants me an artistic life ﬁlled with endless possibilities.

The First Movement of the Spectrum Suite series uses flat angular rocks I gathered from landscape supply yards. The strong angular shapes of the rocks provided me with the first of the three elements: form. To create the second element, texture, I used strong side lighting fitted with parabolic reflectors and color gels. The reflectors I used produced a hard edge lighting effect which exaggerated the surface textures of the rocks. One studio strobe,

This series began as a simple photographic adventure. My intention was to create a project that would examine and explore three basic elements of art: form, texture and color. My equipment for this project was a Sinar 4x5 view camera and Broncolor studio strobes. /HIW 6SHFWUXP 6XLWH /DUU\ 9RJHO

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PORTFOLIO: None of the color effects in this ﬁrst series were added digitally. Movement Two of the Spectrum Suite series became an extension of the First Movement with its primary elements: form, texture and color. This time the form is more fluid and less angular. The subject material and fluid shapes are pieces of eucalyptus bark. In this Second Movement the texture is still elemental but subtle, due to the smooth surface of the bark. The color and lighting are more dramatic than we see in the ﬁrst series.

with a warming filter, was set to one side of the rock, which would light the front surface with warm light and leave the opposite side in shadow. The third and final element, color, was achieved with a second studio strobe fitted with a strong color gel filter. This second light was set to the opposite side of the first main light, which filled the shadowed edge of the rock with strong beautiful color. To produce the blackest background possible, I used a black suede cloth, similar to velvet. My idea was to have the rock appear sculptural in the final imagesɎ more like an object being photographed, rather than an abstract image of the rock. $ERYH 6SHFWUXP 6XLWH /DUU\ 9RJHO

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The images were all shot with a 4x5 view camera and color transparency film. Using the 4x5 camera gave me the ability to get in close and reveal the texture and graphic shapes of the rocks. In some cases the camera bellows are extended to near maximum to achieve the desired close-up. I chose the 4x5 format because I knew I wanted to make the final prints very large. After processing, the film was scanned and color corrected in Photoshop.

The set-up for the Second Movement is identical to the one used in the First Movement, with the exception of the filtered lights. This time I used two strong color filtered gels on the reflector strobes. The filtered lights are set up on opposite sides of the eucalyptus bark in such a way to light the bark and fill the shadows with two strong colors. In some images, there is a third color which appears when the two filtered lights blend together on the surface of the bark. The same camera, film, scanner and Photoshop color corrections were used to produce the images in the second series. Once again, all colors and effects are produced in camera and on film. The Third Movement in the Spectrum Suite series represents a radical departure in the techniques I used to produce the first two movements. However, I held to the original premise of the first two movements: form, texture and color. Rather than using a camera and film to record the images, I used a flatbed scanner and relied heavily on digital technology to achieve the final images. I began by collecting 12x12 inch slate tiles from local hardware and flooring stores. The slate tiles were placed directly on a flatbed scanner and scanned to produce very detailed, high resolution files. This time, the form comes from the organic shapes present in the surface of the slate. I looked through hundreds of slate pieces to find the most interesting designs and shapes in the tiles. I have always felt the organic shapes of nature can provide the best inspiration for design. The texture in the slate images is partially from the existing surface textures, but the textures have also been exaggerated by the sharp, high resolution

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PORTFOLIO: barely visible. I equate this part of the process to a "paint by numbers" approach. The shapes and designs are manipulated with multiple masking techniques, color fill layers and layer blend modes in Photoshop, which transforms the pieces from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The Spectrum Suite images are all digital inkjet prints. The digital printing process has made possible the presentation of work in many unique ways. I am currently using an Epson 9800 for all of my inkjet printing. For quite some time, I have wanted to get my photographs out from behind the glass of traditional framing. When I first decided to print this series of photographs, I wanted to make them large. Recently, some of the Spectrum Suite images were printed for an exhibition, and the images for that show were printed in sizes up to 38"x54". Because I wanted to eliminate the glass from the framing process, I needed to print the images on a material that would be durable. I chose to print them on canvas and coat them with a polymer varnish specially formulated for inkjet canvas. The varnish is applied to the canvas with a commercial spray gun and air compressor. I applied several coats to insure a durable print surface. The canvas is stretched and stapled onto heavy-duty stretcher bars. For the final presentation, I chose a black metal edged floater frame designed for framing canvas. The final images and their presentation are very contemporary. Using these same materials and techniques, I have produced photographs up to 10 feet wide Ɏ something I would have thought impossible back in my old darkroom days.

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scans and digital process. Because I used a scanner, no specific lighting techniques were employed to photograph the image. Compared to a camera, the scanner has very little depth of field. However, the scanner does a great job recording the slate tiles’ smallest details because the tile has a very shallow surface depth. The color is the result of many Photoshop techniques. The organic designs on the surfaces of the tiles were highly manipulated in Photoshop to obtain the resulting colors and details. Most of the colors in the final images were nonexistent, or

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