These days the Epson R1900 is getting a lot of publicity and Epson is offering discounts.

One of my consulting clients sent me the following email:

“I’m interested getting up to speed with a good-quality printer at home. (Am planning to use you for higher-end printing.)  You mentioned some new technology is coming out.  When I see promotions like this, I figure new capability must be in the pipe soon.   I generally like to buy technology at then beginning of its lifecycle. Do you have any insight”

My response:

This printer is still at the beginning of its life cycle and represents Epson’s latest efforts/improvements; I don’t expect any newer technology advances from them in at least this calendar year.

Right now Epson’s latest offerings are the addition of orange and green inks on “prosumer” models and Vivid Magenta on “professional” models.

But neither represent a huge leap forward in color reproduction.

If you’re ready to take the next steps toward more “serious” printing this would be a good solution; even better would be the R2880.

I suspect the aggressive pricing in the R1900 is in response to market threats from Canon and to a lesser degree HP. I haven’t really kept tabs on these other printers; I’m sticking with Epson for the time being.

Click for more info about the Epson R1900

Many of my students as me how they can make their photographs better. Usually, my answer is “put it into words”.

When you write words about your photography it lets a different part of your brain engage in the creative process. Jotting down notes about your creative process, documenting ideas, making sketches, etc. can really solidify a creative concept and help get rid of the clutter, resulting in stronger, more well-conceived photographs. Plus, when asked, you’ll be able to easily describe your work to others.

Language is essential for people conveying complex concepts to one another. A picture is worth a thousand words? Most photographers want to make pictures that people can talk about.

In the same way, when you write about your photography, you are communicating with your self, and the work becomes a third party. (I believe the work needs to have “a life of its own”.)

Writing makes the creative process easier to understand; ideas become more clear and concise. And you may even learn new things about yourself.

Writing while shooting in the field or studio can really energize a session. Writing about your work at other times, such as during editing or after waking from sleep, creates stronger connections in your mind and allows you to more quickly generate ideas.

The real point of writing is to learn to think about your photography more frequently and in ever-expanding ways. Actively participate in the creative process; be the director. Integrate writing into your photography and I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the effects on your photography.

I’ve just released a new collection of abstract photographs titled “Drydock I”. This is one of the images, all of which depict closeups of boat hulls.

See the new work here

I’ve mentioned this topic in several previous posts, now I’m devoting this entire article to the critical issue of Lightroom database backups and, to a larger extent, the nature of the .lrcat and databases in general. (Admittedly, this isn’t sexy stuff, but you need to treat your Lightroom Catalogs with loving care!) This article will help you understand the Lightroom Catalog and to develop healthy workflow habits for maintaining the Catalog in optimum condition.

Note: in official Lightroom-speak, the database is referred to as the Catalog. In this article I will use the two terms interchangeably… Catalog = database.

Data at the Core
The database/Catalog is one of Lightroom’s great strengths. Not only does it make finding and organizing things easier, it’s what allows the wonderful flexibility of non-destructive editing using metadata. The unlimited History maintained by Lightroom is one example; another is Virtual Copies – also one of Lightroom’s greatest features – made possible by the database.

Read more…

February 2008

To see more of my photography click here

Cleaning the sensor of a digital SLR camera is not difficult but you must use care and the right tools. Read more…

If you’ve downloaded and installed Lightroom 1.4 Adobe is recommending you uninstall it and go back to v1.3.1.

Info on the Adobe web site:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

I’ll be in Las Vegas for the PMA show Thurs-Fri this week, then shooting Death Valley for a few days. Will return Tuesday Feb 4.

I just returned from a great trip to Florida for Imaging US where I met a lot of interesting people and saw some really great new products. One that I’m really excited about is inkjet-printable metal, which I will definitely be adding to my list of available substrates. I will be posting more info about the latest photo and imaging developments soon… stay tuned!

Wishing you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2008!

I just returned from a wonderful week shooting the fall colors in Maine. New gallery is online now!

Photograph made last weekend at the Grottos area on Independence Pass, near Aspen, Colorado. Shot in color on Canon 30D, Tamron 18-200 XR Di II. Converted to BW in Lightroom, PhotoKit sharpening and minor dodging/burning in Photoshop CS3.

Many of my students ask about additional resources and recommended reading. Below are some books I’ve found very helpful.

Photographing the World Around You – Freeman Patterson
The Tao of Photography – Gross & Shapiro
Learning to See Creatively – Bryan F. Peterson
Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography – Brenda Tharpe
Photography and the Art of Seeing – Freeman Patterson
The A-Z of Creative Photography – Lee Frost

A recent question in an email from a client:

“I’ve got a question: one differentiator Apple mentions for their Aperture application is the “RAW-focused workflow from capture to output”. Is that different to Adobe Lightroom, and how does that work with digital printing, wouldn´t I need to convert the picture to the ProPhoto or Adobe RGB gamut anyway before printing?”

My answer:

Aperture and Lightroom are positioned directly the same. Both Lightroom and Aperture are designed to work with RAW files from capture to print. After using both Lightroom and Aperture extensively (as well as CaptureOne Pro and Bibble), I much prefer Lightroom over all the others. And although the Aperture interface is beautiful, when it comes to workflow and image quality, Lightroom is the clear winner, for several reasons: Read more…

From a recent email…

“Question for you…

I downloaded a trial of Lightroom to get a feel for it – like most Adobe programs, it’s not extremely intuitive w/o the help of a professional. Would this be worth the investment if I were (1) taking 40-50+ photos per week and (2) took a class on using it.

And I think this is pretty much equivenlent to Aperture – would you recommend one above the other?”

- End quote

My reply: Read more…