Garden Muse, 2001

I think we can all agree that the digital  age has ushered in an era of unparalleled  access to image making. There is a Photoshop plug in for nearly every look that Hollywood and pop culture has thrown at us. I do have to admit, though I like the “Thermopylae” setting in OnOne Software’s Photo Tools plug in for Photoshop.

Thermopylae

Original

Digital imaging has made available to the masses whole worlds that were previously the domain of only a select few. Almost anybody these days can go out and make a Baraka, or shoot models and have them look like they where shot by David LaChapelle. It’s incredible

Sometimes though, I feel like I’m cheating. I feel that at some point I lose the connection with my work. I know some of you out there feel the same way. You feel like there is a lack of process. There is no darkroom. There is no light sensitive emulsion or concoction of chemicals with  fussy temperatures and rituals of submersion and agitation. At some point it’s just an automated parade of 1′s and 0′s.

For those of you who aren’t in the know, you’ve come to the right place. There are several movements afoot that put process back in the hands of the digital image maker. Pioneers of Alternative Photo Process such as Dan Burkholder and Christopher James have written tomes about coating substrates with various light sensitive emulsions and exposing them through digital negatives.

There are others, such as myself, who’s approach lends itself more towards the printmaking end of the spectrum. Class, this shall be the main point of our discussion today.

I’m sure there are a few of you out there who did Polaroid Transfers back in the day. There are probably even a few that have experimented with various transfer techniques using inkjet media, transferring with acetone or gel medium. So, how many of you have heard of using Purell Hand Sanitizing Gel to facilitate  image transfer? I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I’m absolutely serious. See Exhibit A.

Purell transfer on to Rives BFK paper

So, I guess your wondering how its done. Well, it goes something like this.

1. You need to print the image (reversed or rotated horizontally) on to some kind of clear film. I typically print on HP Clear Film. If you don’t have a printer that accepts rolls, your options shrink substantially, but don’t despair. InkPress recently introduced a Clear Film (not to be confused with Transparency Media, Transparency Media will not work for these kinds of transfer processes) that is available in sheets and rolls.

Purell Transfer on Rives BFK. Image transferred from Inkpress Clear Film

2. You need to pick a substrate. I find that printmaking papers such as Arches 88 or Rives BFK work the best. However, I do like to experiment with various fine art papers.

Purell Transfer on Fine Art Paper

For this exercise I’ll assume you have chosen a print making paper such as Rives BFK. You will need a few more items, also.

A. Purell hand Gel

B. 11×14 piece of glass, lexan, or plexi

C. a Brayer (Speedball Hard Rubber works the best for me)

3. Place your paper on your piece of glass, lexan, or plexi.

4. Pump a few squirts of Purell Hand Gel onto the paper. Use the brayer to spread it around, eventually coating that entire side.

5. Flip the paper, if you have excess Purell on the edges use the brayer to work the excess back onto the paper. Pump a couple more squirts on to the paper and work it evenly with the brayer.

6. Flip the paper over again. Make sure the paper is evenly coated with Purell, but not to wet. At this point you are are ready to apply the image, usually I start at the edge, (printed side facing the paper) bowing the image away from my body. Slowly roll the image out to ensure there is even contact between the image and the paper. Then take the brayer, applying a moderate amount of force, roll it back and forth across all areas of the image.  You can stop and lift a corner to see how the transfer is progressing. If your having a problem spot, you can use the backside of a spoon to burnish that area. It shouldn’t take more then 3 minutes to obtain a decent transfer. This is all about practice and developing technique.

This is pretty cool right? But wait, there’s more! This is all pretty simple, and cool because it is a legitimate process that ensures a unique result.  For me though, it’s not always enough. Sometimes I like to take something sharp and scratch the hell out of the image before I transfer it. You get the idea here, the image can be modified, degraded, etc. numerous ways prior to transfer.

Purell Transfer, with scratches applied prior to transfer.

Sometimes this still isn’t enough. That is why I’ve saved the best for last.  How many of you have heard of a little company called InkAid? InkAid makes inkjet precoats. This means that you buy a jar of this stuff and it will allow you to coat almost anything you can fit into your printer. I’ve coated aluminum, canvas, and hand made fine art papers with this stuff and then run it through my printer (Canon iPF6200) with amazing results (which will be the topic of a coming blog entry). Anyway, turns out you can coat acetate or in this case Duralar with it. Specifically InkAid Clear Gloss Type II.  All you do is paint on a couple of coats as per the instructions, and then print on it like any other clear film. The results are interesting, and as you become more proficient, you can achieve more interesting effects based on how you paint the precoat on. Not to mention the Duralar can be re-used. Below is my example.

Purell Transfer from Duralar coated with Ink Aid Clear Gloss Type II

As you can see there is a whole world of possibilities that exist when you combine digital imaging with basic print making techniques. I can assure you that this is just the tip of the ice berg. It is possible not only to re-connect with your photography, but to take it to levels you never knew existed.

I firmly believe that for any society to endure it must place paramount importance on art and free expression. When you think of New York City, what thoughts come to mind? Sure, first maybe the bright lights of Times Square;  the incomprehensibly high Empire State Building, the sea of yellow cabs flowing on 5th Avenue; people walking shoulder to shoulder in Midtown, the subways thundering underneath.  But what does New York City symbolize to you? Think about that while you read the rest of this post.

As some of you may be aware,  I sell my photography in Union Square Park in New York City. For those of you who have know idea where or what Union Square is, I have a short analogy for you. New York City is very much a living, breathing entity. Union Square is the heart that keeps the blood flowing. It is the convergence of the NRQW, 456, and L trains. The amount of people above and under ground at Union Sq at any given moment is just staggering.

My endeavors there are why it is so hard for me to keep up with this blog, and for that I apologize. Anyway, enough of the BS. The long and the short of it is this; Michael Bloomberg and his flunkies at the NYC Parks Department are seeking to revise the rules with regards to the Artists that sell in 4 NYC parks.  The Artists of Central Park, Union Square Park, Battery City Park, and the High Line Park are in the cross hairs of these revisions. Currently there are 60 pages of rules that regulate what we can and cannot sell, where we can and cannot set up, and the size of our displays, etc. Currently there are no regulations on how many artists can set up on a given street, or a given park. The new rules seek to change just that. The old rules remain in effect, however the proposed ones severely limit how many artists can set up in the a fore mentioned  parks. Below are the proposed numbers:

* Battery Park, only 9 artists allowed
* Metropolitan Museum of Art (between 79th and 81st streets) 12 artists.
* Fifth Avenue (between 84th and 85th streets) 12 artists.
* Union Square Park 18 artists allowed.
* Columbus Circle, 4 artists.
* Wein Walk (near the Central Park Zoo) 8 artists
* High Line Park, 3 artists
* Central Park South, 5 artists
* Grand Army Plaza (by Plaza Hotel), 8 artists

So as you can see Union Square is only allowed 18. I took a head count on Saturday, and by 11AM there where 127 vendors present. I guess what you are all wondering now is why? Surely there must be a reasonable and logical justification for this.. I will present an excerpt from the Statement of Basis and Purpose of the new proposal as the argument for revising the existing rules.

These rules are promulgated pursuant to the authority of the Commissioner of the
Department of Parks and Recreation (the “Commissioner”) under sections 389, 533(a)(9) and
1043 of the New York City Charter.  The Commissioner is authorized to establish and enforce
rules for the use, governance and protection of public parks and of all property under the charge
or control of the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The proposed rules provide reasonable opportunities – by and through limited time,
place, and manner restrictions – for expressive matter vendors to display and sell their wares on
parkland.  These rules not only provide greater clarity for vendors regarding where and how they
can operate on parkland, they also ensure that our parks do not become so congested that they do
not provide the public with enjoyable and accessible open space.

The Department determined that it was necessary to promulgate these rules to address
concerns raised by park visitors, vendors, and other members of the public, as well as
Department staff, related to the proliferation, in certain parks, of expressive matter vendors and
the impact they can have on parkland and other park visitors.  In fact, in the absence of
Department rules regarding expressive matter vendors, the number of these vendors combined
for Battery Park, Central Park, and Union Square Park has almost tripled since 2001, when the
Department ended its old lottery system for vendor permits in these parks pursuant to the New
York City Administrative Code.  This dramatic increase in the number of vendors has resulted in
changed conditions in certain parks, which required the Department to develop regulations in
order to strike a balance between expressive matter vendors and other park visitors, and address
other concerns related to maintaining and operating open space under the jurisdiction of the
Department.

For example, expressive matter vendors at Union Square Park have increased, and
continue to increase, in number to the point where they occupy almost the entire south-west
corner of the park.  This not only presents a concern regarding potential hazardous and unsafe
conditions stemming from undue congestion and pedestrian gridlock, it also detracts from the
experience of those park visitors who wish to experience and enjoy the park in other ways.

Now I realize to many of you I may seem predisposed to bias for favor of the artists, so before I issue my counterpoints, I will provide a few links in the interest of being fair.

Robert Lederman: Robert is a NYC artist and activist (He is the head of a pro artist group called A.R.T.I.S.T.). Thanks to Robert’s tireless vigil we are able to display and sell (continue to display and sell) our art on the streets and in the parks of NYC.

Squaring Off: Post from NYC artist, writer, and dear friend Richard Kriheli  that offers more insight into the Parks Department’s motivation for requesting approval in amending the rules for vending.

NY Times: NY Times article presenting arguments for and against the proposed rule changes. Includes a full copy of the Dept. of Parks resolution.

Ok kiddies, here we go!

I’m not going to go in to all the 1st Amendment hoo ha, and allegations of privatization, those are arguments that have and are being made by others much more eloquent then I. My rebuttal represents the situation on the ground at a place I spend more then 40 hours a week, every week at.

1: The term “Expressive Matter Vendor“. This is a derogatory term and it is one I especially detest. While technically it is correct, it serves no other purpose then to offer no delineation between artists who create art and those who merely vend art. I’ve spent a lot of money on my education, and nearly all my adult life honing my eye and my craft. I am an effing Artist and don’t you forget it!

2: According to the Statement of Basis and Purpose “..the absence of
Department rules regarding expressive matter vendors, the number of these vendors combined
for Battery Park, Central Park, and Union Square Park has almost tripled since 2001, when the
Department ended its old lottery system for vendor permits in these parks pursuant to the New
York City Administrative Code.“

Absence of Department Rules? Are you kidding me? There are 60 plus pages of rules and regulations pertaining to vending on NYC Streets and in NYC Parks.  If you compare the Vending Rules for Artists as they have existed for at least the last ten years to what the Parks Department is proposing, you will find thing only thing that changes is that now they want to regulate number of artists in certain parks. The only thing that is absent is the enforcement of the existing rules. We will get into that one more later in this post.

3: “…the number of these vendors combined
for Battery Park, Central Park, and Union Square Park has almost tripled since 2001″

Ok, so where are these numbers coming from? Did the Parks Department conduct a census of artists in 2001, and then again in 2010? And where is the breakdown of numbers for each park and each year between 2001 and 2010 to substantiate such a claim? How many Artists and vendors where in the parks in 2008 vs. 2010. Do these numbers reflect the severe recession that is going on and the record number of people are unemployed? (nearly 10%) In any case there is a serious lack of evidence other to back up that statement. I would also like to point out (and this is a very important point they very conveniently leave out) There are numerous people who illegally vend in the parks. In NYC and under the 1st Amendment, Artists are allowed to sell and display their art on the streets and in the parks without a vending permit. If say you want to sell bullshit that is made in China you have to get a nearly impossible to obtain Vendor Permit. That being said, many vendors circumvent this by attempting mingle in with the artists in the parks. The day I counted 127 vendors, I counted 42 people illegally vending (selling jewelery, clothes, nick knacks, coffee mugs, cigarette lighters, dream catchers, pan flutes, beads, salt and pepper shakers, all manner of stuff deemed illegal to vend by the current rules). By days end nearly all of those vendors where still present.

4: My last point. “…For example, expressive matter vendors at Union Square Park have increased, and
continue to increase, in number to the point where they occupy almost the entire south-west
corner of the park.  This not only presents a concern regarding potential hazardous and unsafe
conditions stemming from undue congestion and pedestrian gridlock, it also detracts from the
experience of those park visitors who wish to experience and enjoy the park in other ways.“

Only on days where the Green Market is present  do the artists take up the south west corner of the park. And that is because the Market forces the artists to begin setting up in that location. In all honesty, when the Green Market is busiest (Saturdays during the summer months) it takes of the entirety of the north and west sides of the Park. As for “pedestrian gridlock”, anyone who attempts to venture through the Green Market on Saturdays will experience that to an infuriating degree. Even on the busiest days, it is still possible to move freely though the corridor occupied (in accordance with existing rules) by the artists. “…This not only presents a concern regarding potential hazardous and unsafe
conditions stemming from undue congestion.”

What a joke! I cite Exhibit A!

Pillow Fight, Union Square, April 2010

Ok, so they are so concerned with preventing hazardous and unsafe conditions due to the presence of a bunch of artists, but sanctioning a pillow fight involving  (with no permit and requiring dozens of police officers to regulate ingress and egress) a couple thousand and more people beating each other.  Maybe to you a pillow fight seems benign, but I saw first responders carting off people that had passed out in the fray, and in my own display they where treating a 7 year old boy (not even a participant, just passing through the park with his father) who was bashed in the face and covered in blood. Are you effing kidding me? This is acceptable to the Parks Department? Events like this pose no hazard to park goers?

In conclusion, the reasons for changing the existing rules have no basis in reality. They definitely do not reflect the situation on the ground. Last Wednesday I attended a Community Board Meeting (#6). At that meeting the chairman asked Deputy Parks Commissioner Bill Castro about enforcement of the existing rules, and if he felt there had been adequate enforcement for the rules as currently exist. The response was that he did not believe the rules have been enforced to the degree that they could be. I can personally vouch for that. There are days where I have literally spent 20 or more hours in the park. There are no shortage of PEP Officers (Parks Enforcement Police). I watch them stroll up and down the walkways occupied by artists. I watch them flirt with cute girls illegally vending jewelry. I watch them shake hands and do fist pounds with vendors who engage in the practice of buying and selling spots (completely illegal, and an act of privatization) .  Rarely do I see them issue tickets, and even rarer is the instance of removing a vendor who is operating illegally. In short the enforcement of current policy regarding “expressive matter vendors” is completely non existent. They want us to believe that if these rules are allowed to be changed, they will create a better park going experience. They want us to believe that after 10 years of virtually no enforcement they are suddenly going to enforce policy knowledgeably and fairly? Yeah right.. So now the PEP Officers are going to be on duty 24 hours a day in order to insure the 18 spots in USP are delegated fairly. PLEASE!  Need I remind you that 15 years ago Union Square Park was a redoubt for junkies and criminals (hence the name “Needle Park”). Most people avoided the area like the plague. If these rules are passed, they will do nothing more then secure an embarrassing legacy for all those involved. It will guarantee new additions to the unemployment rolls, already at an all time high. It will create an artist diaspora that will be felt city wide.

Around 2200 words ago I asked you what NYC symbolized to you? To me it symbolizes the epitome of the American Dream. It is the only place where there is a market for anything. It is the only place where the mantra “if you can dream it, you can do it” exists. How many movies have been made about the dreamers who come from humble origins to endure trial and tribulation to attain success they never thought possible. That is NY. That is the essence of this city that courses through my veins everyday. For all of its sometimes seamy underbelly, I love selling my art in the park. I love the many talented artists I have met, most of whom I call friends. Never in my life have I had the good fortune to work with and befriend people from all over the world. It truly is amazing and sublime. And it is the quintessential New York experience. If they take it away, they will be taking away and essential piece of the cultural fabric of  New York City.

Don’t let them!

There is a public hearing at Chelsea Recreation Center (430 West 25th Street) on April 23 at 11AM. There will be a protest at 10AM. In addition you can write and voice our opinion to the following before April 23rd:

Alessandro G. Olivieri, General Counsel, Department of Parks &
Recreation, The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 Fifth Avenue, New York, New
York 10065, by April 23, 2010. You may also write him at this email

address: alessandro.olivieri@parks.nyc.gov

You should also send the same email to the Parks Commissioner,
Adrian Benepe.
His email address is:
Adrian.Benepe@parks.nyc.gov

Finally I will leave you with a link to this video. It is an inspiring and informative speech given to the USP artists by Robert Lederman last Saturday.

Deconstructing Coney Series

For those of you who don’t know, I spend most of my weekends (and sunny days that I have off from work), selling my photography at Union Square in Manhattan. Union Square is a major hub for the subway (the NRQW, 4,5,6, and L train) and is also the site of a rather large park which hosts a Farmers Market 4 days a week, as well as a Christmas Market from the last week of November – December 24. That being said thousands of people pass through everyday; myself and a large cadre of artists set up tables and proudly display our work, hoping a passerby will stop and leave with a one of a kind work of art. It’s a funny way to make a living really, relying almost entirely on the impulse sale to pay rent.

A lot of what I sell are original Image Transfers. Similar to Polaroid Transfers, but without all the caustic nasty chemicals. Each time I make a transfer the image comes out different. Each time it is unique, and one of a kind. So what if I happen to make a transfer, and really really like it? If I sell it, well then it’s gone.. I could scan it, and make prints of the scan to sell.. I have far to many images in my inventory as it is. And since I’m a voracious shooter, I’m constantly adding new images to the rotation. Still it was a notion that I found intriguing.

Hence the purpose of this post. I think it is high time we had some audience participation on this blog. I have decided to do a little experiment. Below you will see a poll, these are my top selling images. Of these you will pick your favorite. The three top lucky images will be put to the Degeneration test.

What I intend to do is to make transfers of the three lucky images. After they are all dried and set I will scan them. When the first transfered images sell, I will make transfers from the scans of those images, instead of the original image files. You see where I’m going with this? It’s the whole copy of a copy of a copy thing. I will keep repeating this process until the images degrade to the point of being unrecognizable, or they stop selling (probably the later). I will post images of each generation so we can all see how the transfers change over time. I’m really curious to see how long it takes, and at what point people will stop buying. Or as each image gets more abstract an unrecognizable, will that spur sales of those images?? We will see. The first step is to vote on which images will be our lucky contestants. Polls close April 22nd. Giddy up!

Sunken Garden Muse 2001

My Lighting for this was pretty simple. I used Lowel Rifa 88 with Fabric Grid and the main light at camera left. I used a Lowel Rifa 66 with Fabric Grid behind the subjects as a backlight. I positioned this light slightly camera left, behind, and above the heads of the subjects. I used the Primatte tool in Apple Motion to eliminate the background. I also used Motion to create the background graphics. After I had run all the clips through Motion, I used Final Cut Pro to assemble and edit the footage. Below is a look at keying one of the outtakes in Motion.

Apple Motion

After making a few adjustments with the various tools for keying, you can achieve very reasonable results

Here is the video.

He are a couple other fun outtakes.

As I said before, I was only able to use the video function of the 5D MK2 at 640 X 480 resolution. 1080p is a little much for my single processor G5 (don’t laugh) to handle. But still, the quality is pretty amazing. Also, I am not a video person per say. I have used Final Cut Pro a handful of times, and this is the first time I’ve done Chromakey with video. All in all I’m very happy with the results. I’m still in awe of how easy this whole process was. I did a very simple lighting set up for my subjects, and didn’t have to worry about lighting a Chromakey background precisely. Once I captured the footage it was a breeze to load into my computer and import into the various applications I had to use. You know, it was just plain fun. I can only imagine how things would be with a faster computer, updated software, and more time to really spend with it. Here is the end result of the nights endeavors. A music video in the tradition of the Ipod commercials we know and love. Enjoy!

Canon 5D MK2 Mounted on Zacuto DSLR Indie Kit. Lowel Rifa Lights, Datavideo CKL-100 Chromakey System

 In my last post, Bling for Your Canon 5D MK2, we talked about one very cool, and sometimes very necessary accessory; the Zacuto DSLR Indie Kit. In the next couple of posts we will dive even deeper down the rabbit hole. In my past life, I worked in the Pro Lighting Department at B&H Photo in NY. At least 5 times a day someone would come to me looking for a way to do Chromakey on the cheap and easy. Well, there are ways, but things get problematic when doing full length, especially with regards to lights casting shadows onto the background. I of course would also get requests from still photographers looking for a chromakey solution. Usually this was for school or event photography, so it was a little easier to accommodate those requests. But, what if your shooting with a camera like the Canon 5D Mark 2? A camera that shoots both video and still photos? I recently came across a product from a company called Datavideo. The CLK-100 Dual Color Chromakey Light System is Chromakey light system that does not require the user to light a background. Basically the background is made from a highly reflective material that produces a nearly perfect green or blue key when illuminated by the the included LED ring light. Since the LED Ring Light mounts on the front of the lens the background is always perfectly illuminated corner to corner; edge to edge; regardless of the orientation of the camera to the background.

The bottom line is that you focus on lighting your talent, and not fighting with trying to totally evenly light your Chromakey background. When I saw this, I knew I had to try it. I wanted to shoot both video and stills and to see how easy it would be to drop the key in both. So, I did what I always do, I got on the horn with Datavideo and got them to send me a kit to evaluate. I should tell you right now that I have done plenty of masking with still images in Photoshop. I have however, never tried keying out a background with video. But since the 5D MK2 came out, I’ve been wanting to try lots of new things. Anyhoo, the kit arrived promptly from Datavideo and was very easy to set up. It comes complete with a 10 ‘ X 8′ background, the Ring Light, adapter rings and a power supply that is both AC/DC (Nice!). It will fit lenses up to 82mm in diameter.

Its scary how easy this is to use. The only caveat for me was the size of my apt. It was very small so I found myself setting up the background and lights in one room and shooting from another. I found that it’s good to keep your subject about 3 feet from the background, and about 9 feet or so for the subject to camera distance. The first thing I wanted to do was a still shoot with continuous lighting. Lowel was kind enough to let me borrow a set of Rifa Light 88′s, and a Rifa Light 66. I also obtained a Fabric Grid for one of the 88′s, and the 66. Fabric Grids are great on soft boxes as they give you directional soft light, and minimize spill. for this shoot I used 1 Rifa 88 with the Fabric Grid. Set it up camera right 45 degrees from and over Angelia. I used the Rifa 66 with a Fabric Grid as a backlight, I boomed it over Angelia using a C-stand with a Grip Arm. When doing Chromakey, having a backlight works nicely in most situations to eliminate spill from and give your subject separation from the background. I bounced the other Rifa 88 off the wall camera left and used it as a weak fill. Once I had Angelia seated I used the Live View function on the 5D MK2 and the Z-focus on the Zacuto Indie rig to focus while I gave Angelia direction. It is nice to work this way, just a quick glance to LCD display while using the Zwhip to quiclky adjust the focus , and actually be completely involved with what is going on in front of the lens. I was really impressed at the settings I could use with these lights. These days you can easily shoot at and around ISO 400 with no appreciable degradation in image quality. After a few shots I had the one I wanted and, set about importing it into DPP and then Photoshop. 

Canon 5D MK2, 135mm F2L, ISO 500, F2.8, 1/250 sec, Zacuto DSLR Indie, Lowel 88, Datavideo CLK-100 Dual Color Chromakey System

For elimination of backgrounds I use an application from OnOne Software called Mask Pro 4. It is extremely easy to use and does an amazing job if extracting your subject – hair and all from even poorly lit backgrounds. I figured this would be a cinch.

Mask Pro 4 Photoshop Plugin

Isolating the subject from background.

This is a really simple technique in OnOne software. Simply select the colors you want to omit, and the colors you want to keep. After you simply use the brush tool on the edge of your subject. After, you drop the background.

Green background is easily eliminated, leaving subject intact.

Once I eliminated the background I brought the image back into Photoshop and selected a background to put Angelia on.

Composited image processed with OneOne Mask Pro4 and Photoshop CS3.

Not bad for 20 minutes!

When my colleague asked me to research accessories, I was a little stumped. I am so used to thinking about Digital SLR’s as just that. Accessories to me are things like memory cards, batteries, filters, cleaning supplies. So I was thinking, what would somebody shooting video on the 5D need. After a little thinking cap time it occurred to me that one of the coolest things you can do with video the new 5D, its great big sensor, and cadre of fast glass is”pull focus”. ” Pulling Focus” is a common technique used in film making, basically it is changing focus from one subject to another during the shot. So after a little bit of hunting I came across a manufacturer by the name of Zacuto.

Zacuto DSLR Indie Kit

This kit allows you to do amazing things with your Canon 5D Mark 2. You are like a true Hollywood DP with this bad boy. Once your camera is mounted to the baseplate you are using the new 5D like a high end shoulder mount video camera. It is also counterweighted in the back so it’s nice and balanced, it will help to make much smoother hand held camera moves. The Z-focus module in the front will allow you to do pull focus with just about any lens you can mount on the camera.

So, I guess right about now you want to see some results, some test footage if you will.. Well sorry.. I’m not really into testing out cool gear.. Just kidding! The people over at Zacuto are very cool, and sent me a DSLR Indie Kit to evaluate. The first thing I’ll say is that Zacuto knows what they are doing. All their products are made in the USA and made extremely well. The fit and finish is beautiful. The kit assembles very easily and I found no need for instruction. After I was set up I grabbed Angelia for some Pull Focus goodness, shooting on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Canon 5D Mark II on Zacuto DSLR Indie Rig Minus Counterweight.

It is quite interesting to use the Zwhip to focus the lens rather then using the focus on the lens itself. I’m sure you could imagine how difficult it would be to get an acceptable shot if you had to focus on the lens while hand holding the camera. One of the nice features of the Z-focus is the white plastic ring on the side. This allows you to a dry erase marker to mark you focus points. This ensures repeatable takes when pulling focus during a scene. The caveat with this system doesn’t lie with the Zacuto. It’s an amazing system, and works exactly as it is supposed to. The caveat lies with certain Canon lenses. The 24 -70 f 2.8, 105 F2 and 85 f1.2 I was shooting with lack hard stops. Meaning the focus ring keeps spinning after you’ve gone passed minimum or infinity focus. Also the throw on these lenses is quite long. Depending on the distance between your focusing points you may easily find yourself having the turn the focus puller again.That sort of ruins the continuity of a pull focus shot. Still I was quite happy with the results. There are many work arounds for this situation. Not the least of which is simply finding other prime lenses with a shorter throw and hard stops. Did I mention that this system costs a little over 3k? Well, this is where perspective reigns supreme. This is what products of this caliber and level of use cost. They have always cost this much. They are deigned to be used and tortured, and withstand the rigors of heavy Hollywood style use. Think about this though. What is the least expensive camera that shoots HD video on a full frame sensor cost?? I’ll give you a hint. Starts with R ends with ED. A 5D MK2 with a full compliment of lenses and the Zacuto system still falls well short of what the Red with everything you need to use it costs. One last thing I highly recommend with this system. A small monitor mounted to the Zacuto and connected to the 5D will make your life so much easier.

One last video I would like to share is a quick one I grabbed of Angelia while we where waiting for the train. Even if your not using the Z-focus mechnasim for pull focus it, it is so much easier and precise to use while in video mode then the conventional focus on the lens.

Sarah

There are never enough hours in a day. Especially when it comes to photography. There is so much involved with the capture and processing of images these days, that sometimes it just takes the fun out of being a photographer. Thats why, to me, photographing with the Diana is so much fun. There are few settings to consider, and to use this camera is an exercise in the revelry of imperfection. 

For this shoot, I chose to shoot with Rollie Infrared 400. It’s a perfect choice for creating images with an emphasis on the mysterious. I have been wanting to shoot in the stairwell of my building for quite sometime now. Its a perfect location because it is old, grungy, and poorly lit. I decided to use my friend Sarah for a Noir style shoot. I wanted inky blacks, and raking shadows, so I brought out my Elinchrom 400BX’s, gridded them up and blew off a couple rolls of infrared. For my main light I went with a 30 degree grid, and for the fill light I used a 40 degree grid. I love shooting with harsh light this way, especially for eliciting the mood of noir films from the 50′s. On a couple of shots I shot through the bars on the staircase. The one thing I will say is that the Rollie Infrared has a very soft emulsion and scratches easy. That was readily apparent after this shoot. The way to mitigate that is by placing electrical tape inside of the camera on the areas that make contact with the film. Some lessons you learn the hard way. The scratches don’t bother me much with this particular series because it accentuates the idea of timelessness. I am always amazed at the images I get with the Diana, it continues to be one of my favorite cameras to shoot with.

We are just about to the end of our run with the Photographing Flat Art series. This is where the the culmination of all our efforts will pay off. In the last part of this How To, we will discuss post processing, and considerations thereof. Please feel free to email me any questions you have, and I will answer them promptly. So lets get to it!

I preface this post by stating the following is a bit subjective. There are many thoughts and bitter arguments on workflow as it deals with digital photography, as well as post processing of images. I merely wish to keep things as simple as possible and reach for what I believe is the ultimate goal; a faithful reproduction of the artwork being photographed. The following demonstration features the artwork of Angelia Lane. You may know her as my partner in crime. The images used to introduce the series where created by a very talented artist by the name of Anita Dhekne. 

Before we begin I feel that we should briefly cover a topic that will help us enormously to achieve our goal of achieving faithful reproductions of the art work being photographed. That topic is Color Management. Before attempting the adjustment of tone and color of our images, it is paramount to make those adjustments on a monitor that is color calibrated. Making adjustments on a monitor that is not calibrated will result in prints or end results that do not accurately represent the colors in the original artwork. This does not mean that you have to run out and drop $1500 on a Eizo display, or the top of the line color management software  / hardware package. It does mean that your should at least  consider a minimal investment  in a color calibration system for your monitor. There a quite a few to choose from that are quite reasonable in price. Here are a couple I highly recommend:

1: Datacolor Spyder 3 Pro. Datacolor offers a range of color management products. At $149.00 you can easily calibrate your CRT or LCD display to accurately represent the colors you are trying to reproduce. Datacolor also offers a more comprehensive package that will allow you to calibrate multiple devices, including your printer.

2: Colormunki, The Colormunki is a relatively new product. Launched in 2008, it offers an all in one solution to color management. It will calibrate multiple devices, from CRT and LCD displays, to digital projectors and printers. It’s price point is $429.

Keep in mind, I’m not being paid to endorse any products. I am a fairly objective person, and my recommendations  are based on my  real world experience with these products. 

So, we have discussed color management and it’s importance in the end result. Now what? We have a memory full of images captured in raw, where do we go from here? We need an application to organize, make adjustments to, and finally output our images. I recommend Adobe Lightroom. At $269.00 Lightroom is an extremely robust and easy to use platform for organizing, editing, adjusting and outputting images. In many cases Lightroom can be used instead of Photoshop. In a nutshell it is digital workflow from beginning to end. If you don’t have Lightroom, Adobe is kind enough to allow you to download a fully functional 30 day trial.

At this point we have imported our images into Lightroom. Where do we start? The first thing I would do is crop off the excess edges with the first image in the series you photographed. The Crop Tool can be found in the Develop Module.

Make sure to select “Custom” from the Aspect menu next to the “Crop” Icon. Also make sure to click on the little Padlock Icon so that it appears as unlocked.

You may be looking at the image and thinking that it looks flat and has a strange color cast. You will remember that in Part 2 of this series the first image we photographed was one with a Color Checker, or gray card. We are going to start with that image (the one you initially cropped) and we are going set a neutral white balance for it by using the White Balance Selector in the Develop Module of Lightroom.

Now we select one of the neutral gray patches in the chart and create a custom white balance for this image. This should get rid of any color cast and neutralize the image.

You are essentially using this image as a “master”. You may be wondering what the use of the Color Checker is for. The use is simple. The way we all perceive color is highly subjective, and everyone perceives color differently. Complications further arise from viewing conditions (the ambient light in a room, time of day, type of illumination in a room) all of these factors contribute heavily towards our perception of color. The Color Checker is handy because the chart is composed of a series of chips with known color values. Here is a link that gives you the the RGB and LAB values for each chip. You should print out the PDF and keep it for reference. Lightroom contains numerous tools to adjust tone and color. It can be very hard to look at your painting and adjust the colors to get them to match. It is much easier to have the Color Checker in front of and adjust the colors of the chart on the screen until they match as close as possible. By doing so you should be able to achieve a faithful rendition of your artwork.

At this point you may be thinking, “well great, I’ve made all these adjustments to this image with a big chart in the middle, now I have to go and figure out how to transpose all these adjustments to the image I’m going to use.” Don’t you worry, this is where the true slickness of Lightroom comes into play. I have kept the Left Module Panel hidden So You could view more of the image and adjustments I am making. F7 will toggle the Left Module Panel on and off. When you toggle the panel on you will notice Copy and Paste buttons on the bottom. 

You can use this to copy all the settings you have just made. Once you have copied these settings you can now paste them to image you wish to use.

Assuming that the camera was in the exact same position as it was when you photographed the image with the Color Checker or Gray Card then all of your settings will copy exactly. This will save you an enormous amount of time. At this point you may be completely happy with the image. You still may want to tweak it. At any rate if you are satisfied then you can use Lightroom to export your image for any use, or if you have a printer you can use Lightroom to make prints. More on this later.

At this point you may be comparing this image to your original and finding that it lacks detail, or that some of the subtleties of your original aren’t appearing in the image on the screen. Keep in mind that with digital cameras you get what you pay for. There is a reason why Medium Format Digital Camera Backs cost $30,000. You might be thinking to yourself that in Part 1 of this series I said that even an entry level digital slr can achieve fantastic results. 

One well exposed image from a entry level digital slr using the techniques outlined in this series will give you a image that is light years in quality beyond what you would get if you simply propped up an image and shot it with the on camera flash. But there is a way to take it even further. There is a way to get an image from a entry level digital slr that will yield far more of the detail and subtleties of your original. Drumroll please….

This is a technique known as HDR (High Dynamic Range) Imaging. This technique is used a great deal by Landscape and Architectural Photographers to capture all the details and tones of contrasty scenes. It involves combining a series of images taken at different exposures and merging them into one image that reveals all of the details. Consider the following:

This Image was captured by a Canon Eos 1DS Mark III and processed in Lightroom.

This image is composed of a series of images captured by the Canon 1DS Mark III, and merged using the HDR technique. Notice how many new details an subtleties are readily apparent.

The difference between one normally captured and processed image, and an image produced using HDR is night and day. You might be saying, “ok, thanks for showing me images captured with Canon’s top of the line camera. Consider the following:

This is an image captured by the Canon Eos 40D and processed in Lightroom. This is a crop from a 100% view.

This is the same crop from the same camera, only its from a series of images combined using the HDR Technique.

For the sake of argument I will show you another series of 100% cropped HDR’s made with the Canon 40d, the Canon Eos 1DS Mark 3, and the Kodak DCS 760. For those of you not familiar with the DCS 760, it was cutting edge technology; 8 years ago.

100% Crop from Canon 40D. HDR applied.

The same crop from the Canon 1DS Mark 3. HDR applied.

100% crop from Kodak DCS 760. HDR applied.

As you can see, the use of HDR seriously levels the playing field in terms of achievable quality from any given camera. Obviously images from higher end cameras benefit more, but the point is that with a Digital Rebel series camera, entry level Nikon, or any digital camera for that matter you can make amazing renditions of your original artwork, that are works of art in and of them selves. I know your probably getting a somewhat tired at this point. I recommend rubbing your eyes a little bit, grabbing a beer, puttting on some good tunes, and I’ll show you how it’s done.

If you have Adobe Photoshop CS3 or CS4 you can use it to create HDR images. Personally my luck has varied using Photoshop. I’m assuming at this point that you do not have Photoshop. There is an amazing application available for both Windows and Mac called Photomatix. It is very inexpensive, only $99.00! It is easy to use, and also available as a trial download, so you can try it fro free before you buy. Photomatix will allow you to easily create and adjust HDRs.

So what do we have to do first? You will remember in Part 2 of this series I instructed to capture a series of images of your artwork at different exposures. Lets refer to those now in Lightroom.

So we will select all the images from our bracketed series. Lightroom allows us to something really cool. You’ll recall how earlier we copied and pasted our settings from the image with the Color Checker to the image with the best overall exposure. With that image selected as part of our bracket we can “Sync” those settings to the series of images we’ve selected. You simply press “Sync” and select the setting you would like to apply. If I have made adjustments to the Curve I will uncheck them that because Photomatix will take care of tonal adjustments. After you Sync the images and all the adjustments have been applied we will export the images as 16bit tiffs.

In the Export Dialogue box, you can name the file; choose it’s destination; choose the type of file to export; the size; the color profile; etc.. I export my files as 16 bit tiff files using the ProPhoto RGB Color Space. This maintains optimal quality and image integrity. Make sure to leave “The Resize to Fit” box unchecked. Hit export and wait while Lightroom exports your files.

Here is where the fun begins. If you haven’t already downloaded Photomatix, do so now and open.

Click on “Generate HDR Image”. It will prompt you to locate the images you would like to use. Select your series of images and click “Select”. It will then prompt you with a dialogue box containing your files. Press “Ok”. 

Keep the settings that Photomatix recommends and press generate HDR. It will take a little while for it to work its magic. After the HDR is generated I suggest saving the HDR file.

After you save the HDR file, click on “Tone Mapping”

Tone Mapping will allow you to adjust the “look” of your HDR. It takes some experimentation with the sliders to get your image to look how you want it. Again this is highly subjective, and relies on a little patience and trial and error. I suggest reviewing the tutorial before hand to get a sound understanding of how the software works. I was able to get amazing results after only 15 minutes the first time I used this software. It’s a real testament to how easy it is to use. After you are done hit Process. After the image is finished processing, simply go to “File”, then “Save As” to save your HDR as a TIFF file. From there you can re-import the image into Lightroom, Photoshop, or whatever. Thats it. How easy was that? From an entry level digital slr, and a little help from Photomatix you are able to achieve results that are stellar and can be used for whatever reproduction needs you may have.

HDR Merge created using images taken with the Canon Eos 1DS Mark 3 & 85mm F1.2L

With regards to final output. I briefly touched on Lightrooms’ ability to export images in numerous ways. The quality of the output really depends on you.It is paramount to capture your images in RAW. I can’t say that enough. Lightroom can be used to make prints, resize and export images for numerous uses such as wide format printing, CMYK output, images to be printed as slides, and images for display on the web. It can also be used to generate Web Galleries. That is the true value of this software. It is one that I depend on, as well as most of the professional photographers I know. As you build up a library of images of your artwork I’m sure you will agree. I hope that you learned a great deal from this series, and as I said before, if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask!