My Texas Love Bus image has been selected for the 2010 TPS print program. Those joining at the $225 and higher levels can choose to receive a 17×22 print of this image. If you want a different sized print, you know who to talk to.

I’m thrilled to have Calumet choose my “Texas Love Bus” image for their photo of the week. Texas Love Bus is a 2 hour and 8 minute exposure made from 2 to 4am in West Texas. It was a moonless night so the bus was “painted” entirely by flashlight for several minutes. A pack of coyotes howled and played in the foreground during the exposure as I sat and listened in my car a few feet away. They didn’t show up in the final image because they weren’t illuminated on this pitch black night. I was grateful they didn’t bump the tripod as it would have messed up the long star trails I was going for in this shot.

People often ask “what makes the stars go in circles?” when they see this image. The answer is simple: the Earth’s rotation. Star trails are one of the many phenomenal aspects of night photography that we cannot experience with our eyes during the moment. Interested in night photography? Consider joining Lance Keimig and I at one of our night photography workshops in West Texas or California.

2009 has been a year of photographic opportunities and creative invigoration. I’ve had the privilege of teaching a weeklong workshop every month in a variety of exciting locations. Most of all, I’ve made a series of exciting new night images, and just in time for the gift-giving season. I’d like to celebrate by offering a special Holiday Print Sale of 18 images taken this year. These pigment prints are on fiber-based paper and priced at $200 each (plus shipping). They are unframed, unmated and have a 12×18 image area printed on a 17×22 sheet of Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl paper. Below is a gallery of the images. You can view a larger gallery if you like.

Ordering

For those of you in San Antonio I’d like to ask that you pick up your print at my studio Friday December 18th or by appointment. Please email me letting me know which prints you would like for me to have ready. Bring $200 cash for each print. For those out of town, email me with your order and send cash for $200 per image plus $25 for shipping and handling.

For future reference, all images are available in 4 standard print sizes: 17×22, 20×30, 36×54, 54×81. Email me for pricing and more information.

Limited Edition Portfolio Box

In addition to selling individual prints, I am making a few limited edition portfolio box sets with all 18 images.

These elegant, handmade 16×20 portfolio boxes will be availble for delivery in January for $2250 (shipped). You can place your order by sending payment (cash or check) by the end of the month. Thanks, I am very excited to be able to offer these portfolio boxes and prints this year.

Eric Chan has generously responded to a need in the color community by bringing his “Convert to MonacoLAB” application to the Mac OS. Convert to MonacoLAB allows color geeks to measure Bill Atkinson 1728 or 4096 RGB printer profiling targets in either MeasureTool or ColorPort and convert the measurements into the LAB format that MonacoPROFILER requires.

Unlike the previously popular “Extract Monaco LAB” applescript, “Convert to MonacoLAB” is Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6.x) compatible. The Windows version is compatible with XP and Vista; it should also be compatible with Windows 7, though it has not yet been tested on that platform.

“Convert to MonacoLAB” uses a convenient droplet that allows the user to drag and drop a measurement file onto the droplet icon for processing. The processed measurement file retains the original file name and conveniently adds the “MP” suffix at the end of the filename.

You can read more about and download the Mac and Windows versions of Convert to MonacoLAB at Eric’s website. Here’s the direct link to the Mac download and the Windows download.

I’m a big fan of Bill Atkinson’s 1728 profiling targets and have been using Eric’s application in Snow Leopard to get measurement data into MonacoProfiler for generating printer profiles. I’m also a big fan of Eric’s work at Adobe. A big thanks to him for making this utility.

I just started Twittering little snippets of information that although fun, aren’t quite blog-worthy. Twitter seems like it could be a fun way to to get “little bits” out there. If you’d like to follow me you can do so at:

http://twitter.com/scott_martin_

I am excited to announce a schedule of photography workshops for 2009 on the new workshops page. Workshops include 4-5 day shooting workshops in Big Bend, Texas and Mono Lake, California and 1-3 day classroom workshops in an upscale setting (with exceptional food!) in downtown San Antonio. Other workshops are being planned around the country and overseas. Please note the addition of the new “workshops” button at the top of the site – this is a permanent place that can be used to browse and sign up for future workshops.

I will continue offering the one-on-one training for professionals that I’ve been doing for 17 years now, both on-location and at my own printmaking studio (more…)

Another thanks to Michael Mehl for reviewing my Night and Day exhibit on the FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA website. It contains a number of images that illustrate the size of the work and the installation (more…)