WeArePhotogs Blog

Blog: The Age of Quality, a new Renaissance is coming!

Thu, 08/19/2010 - 16:46

by Andy Shafer

It appears today that there is an over-saturation of images in the marketplace and the big question is “Are we being reduced to mediocrity because we are inundated with so many photographs that do not measure up to standards set by those aficionados that have set the bar in the past.

I have been in the publishing industry for 30 years and still find a high demand for quality imagery from photographers. Choosing stock photography is an option when the choice of budget and speed of the project limits choices. Aside from stock, I look to the professionals to interpret my concepts and leave me with excellent results.

I disagree with those who believe that we have been reduced to mediocrity. It’s all about the numbers. Before now, we have never seen such a saturation of photography since the introduction of the first Polaroid when the public was enamored with new instant technology.

Plan ahead is still the mantra when taking thoughtful photographs. The need for professionalism will always be in demand as long as we demand high standards from our products. It is hard to compete against high standards, a fundamental principal in the marketplace.

When planning, allow ample time to gather props, if necessary, and prop options in case you have to punt during the shoot (prepare for the unexpected). During the shoot, have a layout in mind (or on paper) of the project, but be open and democratic about suggestions, if and when they enhance the message.

Do not compromise your standards. It’s your name attached to the photography, whether photographer or director or stylist. Refine your options by taking several angles and f-stops. In the digital age, it is not the number of frames that you can shoot, it’s the best shot that you plan to take.

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Blog: Some Color Ink in That Black and White Print?

Thu, 08/12/2010 - 17:04

By Steve Terlizzi

Printing B&W photos to a standard color printer may not be as easy as pushing Print. Many consumers use their four color printers to make B&W prints with marginal success.

What are we looking for in a good black and white photo? It depends on the purpose of the photo...a simple family photo in a frame – not a big deal…but a fine-art black and white print for the wall – big issues.

The issue is the accuracy of the black, whites, and grays. Unfortunately, most black inks in consumer printer are more dark brown than black. In order to compensate, consumer printers mix small amounts of color to create the desire tones in the photo. Depending on the quality of a CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) ink printer, the black and white photograph may have a slight color-cast to it.

A 4-cartridge CMYK printer has one black. A professional-level inkjet printer, like an Epson Stylus Pro 9900, may have 11-cartridges, of which three are different levels of black. The price tag on professional printers are in the $5,000 range, so one better be selling fine-art B&W prints at a good price. Each ink cartridge starts at $90 for 150ml tank, a whopping $1,000 for a full set.

My trusty old Epson 2200 has 7 cartridges with two blacks inks. I could purchase a grayscale ink set from a third-party vendor, but it’s a rather steep learning curve to improve the black and white output. I usually depend on the standard cartridge setup with the standard printer driver for casual black and white outputs. If I need something special, it’s simpler to send it to a professional printing house that specializes in black and white or color printing.

For those who have a simply 4-cartridge CMYK printer, I recommend sending it out to a professional print shop. One could have a lot of prints made for the $1,000 it costs for ink alone, on the Epson 9900.

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Blog: Your Photography and the Wonderful Magic of Mathematics

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 10:19

By Steve Terlizzi
Photographer: Alexandre Duret-Lutz
Click on Photo to Enlarge

Creative Commons -- Some rights reserved by gadl

A quick quiz for you. What is the next number in this series – 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, x? Why the SAT revival? What does this have to do with photography?

Well, he correct answer is 34 and it is the next number in the Fibonacci Series. The Fibonacci numbers are such that the next number is the sum of the previous two numbers after starting with the initial 0 and 1. (Great Steve, thanks for the math trivia...now I am set if I decide to go on Jeopardy, but how does this help my photography?)

When you invert the numbers use that to segment the view in the viewfinder (i.e. 1/2, 1/3, 1/5 etc.) into boxes you can create an interesting spiral pattern called the Fibonacci Spiral (see right from wikipedia). When you start looking for the Fibonacci Spiral, you'll be amazed how often you see it in nature as well as in various human designs.

Let's take a look at the above photo submitted to the Creative Commons by Alexandre Duret-Lutz. You can find his Flickr stream here. The dominant subject is the interesting spiral of roman numerals and the various hands pointing to different times as you are swept into the picture. Just goes to show that you can find a spiral pattern in other interesting places besides a spiral staircase or a Nautilus shell.

So plan a day where you go out expressly to find spiral shapes. It will help you see interesting photos where maybe ones were not readily apparent. And don't thank me...thank the magical wonders of Fibonacci.