Spot measurements with the i1Pro2

i1Profiler v1.3 is required for the i1Pro 2 and is also being released today. With it, one can choose to save UV included (M0) measurements like the previous i1Pro, UV excluded (M2) measurements like the previous i1Pro UV Cut, and M1 measurements as well.

Measurement Modes for the i1Pro2 in i1Profiler

Because of it’s dual lightsourece/ dual measurement capability, i1Pro 2 users will be able to use the Optical Brightener Correction (OBC) profiling mode that was previously limited to iSis users. The Optical Brightener Mode is a great method for fine tuning the gray balance of a profile for pleasing results on bright white papers.

the OBC observation process

i1Profiler 1.3 also includes a list of refinements and tweaks that are far too many to mention here. It also supports some new functionality for all supported devices. Foe example, the “Test Chart” mode makes smaller, smarter target layouts that lead to fewer errors. Advanced users can now modify the white point of printer profiles. The CMYK+N channel modes have been improved and the “Measure Chart” and “Measure Reference Chart” modes allow us to measure any charts, including ProfileMaker Pro charts. For example, I’ve been using “Measure Reference Chart” to measure QTR grayscale targets, and “Measure Chart” for spot color measurements. As always, i1Profiler only supports the i1 family of devices. XRite’s free ColorPort application is provided for users of older devices. ColorPort supports the latest XRGA measurement standard and measurements from ColorPort can easily be used with i1Profiler via drag and drop placement.

the completely redesigned i1Pro2

Users like myself that have carried around dual i1Pro units everywhere for the past 10+ years along with other devices will appreciate the dual light source, UVin/UVex measurement capability and the OBC profiling option that comes with it. I think this is the primary attraction of the i1Pro2. 1Pro owners that have wished they purchased the old UV cut device will be excited about an all-in-one device. I lean towards M2 UVex for the majority of my own measurements and think others will benefit from having this capability. This, and the fact that it’s a new, tight device with excellent consistency and repeatability will make this a must have spectro for a long time to come. Like it’s predecessor, the i1Pro2 is truly the swiss army knife of spectrophotometers.

The last 6 years have been a frustrating time in color management circles. ProfileMakerPro and Monaco Profiler remained stagnate while users desperately awaited updates. The XRite GMB merger swallowed up a huge chunk of time and disrupted communication within the industry. Devices like the DTP70, DTP94 and Pulse were sad to see discontinued and the future of the i1 lineup seemed uncertain. Now that XRite has completed it’s refresh of their product lineup with the new i1 Display Pro and i1 Pro 2 devices, and is regularly pushing out updates to their excellent i1Profiler software, I feel like XRite is back on their feet with a solid, best-of-class lineup of solutions at reasonable price points. I recommend these solutions to my clients over all others.

Visit XRite at http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=323 for more screenshots, a video and details on the different packages available.

i1Profiler is XRite’s new professional level application that anyone can download for free at XRite.com. While some of the features require a purchase or dongle, the “Measure Reference Chart” that we’ll use for this doesn’t require a purchase. Measure Reference Chart is  a new feature in i1Profiler version 1.3 so previous users will need to run the free update process to access this feature. While QTR grayscale measurement will work with the i1Pro, i1Pro2 and iSis devices in i1Profiler 1.3, those that purchase the new i1Pro 2 *must* use i1Profiler since ColorPort and other applications don’t support the new device.

Visit www.on-sight.com/download/ to download the 21 and 51 step grayscale workflow files that I’ve made for i1Profiler.  These i1P workflow files can be installed at the following location:

Mac OS: Library>ApplicationSupport>X-Rite>i1Profiler>ColorSpaceRGB>MeasureReferenceWorkflows
Win XP: \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\X-Rite\i1Profiler
Win 7, 8, and Vista: \ProgramData\Application Data\X-Rite\i1Profiler

I’ve also made my Grayscale and Alt-Process profiling targets available with patches for the i1Pro, and iSis and DTP70 patches on separate layers that can be enabled. These profiling targets have large 21 step patches that come in handy with irregular alt processes and some images to help monitor the tonal scale during testing. The values of the 21 and 51 step targets are exactly the same as those from QTR. Feel free to use these targets for non-commercial purposes.

With the workflow files installed, launch i1Profiler, click on the “Advanced” User Mode on the far right side, click on “Switch to Saved Workflows” in the lower left side, find the “21-step-gray-i1Pro-bySM” workflow and click on it.

Accessing the QTR grayscale workflow files in i1Profiler after installation

Now you can sleet your device, click on the “Measurement” workflow button below, calibrate your device and start measuring the patches. I recommend i1Pro users use the “Spot mode” as pictured below.

Measuring QTR targets in i1Profiler

When you are done and save your measurements, choose the “i1Profiler CGATS CIELab(*.txt)” format option.

Saving grayscale measurement files in i1Profiler

You now have a measurement file that you can drag and drop onto the “QTR-Create-ICC” script to make an ICC Color Profile for your grayscale printing process! Of course, QTR users can also drag and drop this measurement file onto “QTR-Linearize-data” and use the linearization curve in QTR. Tip of the hat to Roy Harrington for his brilliant work on this script which is available for download at www.quadtonerip.com. Roy’s grayscale profiles can be used for soft proofing in Photoshop complete with hue and paper color simulation.

Softproofing with a QTR Grayscale profile displays the image with full color/hue and Dmax simulation

If you choose to open up this measurement file in a text editor, the leftmost column of numbers contain the pertinent Luminosity channel numbers. If any of these numbers aren’t sequential QTR-Create-ICC won’t make a profile. If this occurs you probably have an anomaly in one of your measurements that you can manually fix in the text editor. I sometimes find a single patch in the shadows that is slightly out of sequential order, and adjusting this value so that QTR-Create-ICC can make a profile has no detrimental effects.

Measurement file with non-sequential value that should be corrected to 7.71

Of course, my clients that would rather not invest in a spectrophotometer and all this geek stuff can utilize my private remote profiling service. While I think most will want to do this themselves, it’s always good to have options. I hope this is useful – enjoy making grayscale profiles!

- Scott Martin

B&W inkjet printmakers and Quad Tone RIP (QTR) users in particular will love to hear that I’ve just made it easier than ever to ditch MeasureTool and start using ColorPort. Visit www.on-sight.com/downloads/ to download the 21 and 51 step gray ColorPort XML files that I’ve made for the i1Pro and iSis. These files can be installed at the following location:

Mac OS: [user folder]>Documents>ColorPortResources>refs>cmyk
Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\ColorPort_Resources\refs\cmyk\

I’ve also made my Grayscale and Alt-Process profiling targets available with patches for the i1Pro, and iSis and DTP70 patches on separate layers that can be enabled. These profiling targets have large 21 step patches that come in handy with irregular alt processes and some images to help monitor the tonal scale during testing. The values of the 21 and 51 step targets are exactly the same as those from QTR. Feel free to use these targets for non-commercial purposes.

With the XML files installed, launch ColorPort, and choose the target you wish to measure. i1Pro users should then click on the circular “i” to the right of the measurement device, choose spot or strip reading (I prefer spot measurements), calibrate your device and begin measuring the target patches.

If you click on the circular “i” to the right of the measurement status, you’ll see a nice window that shows your measurements in a variety of modes. Some will appreciate the densitometric values while others might like the spectral visualization of each patch.

Colorport can display the densitometric values of your measurements as well as a spectral visualization. Click to see the full dialog.

Once your measurements are complete, click the “Save Data” button on the lower right. Choose “Tab Delimited” for the format, leave the conversion on XRGA, and make sure that the only checked boxes are “Lab” and “XYZ” with the Illuminant set to “D50″ as pictured here. Save your measurement file.

Important Save As options. Click to see the full dialog.

You now have a measurement file that you can drag and drop onto the “QTR-Create-ICC” script to make an ICC Color Profile for your grayscale printing process! Of course, QTR users can also drag and drop this measurement file onto “QTR-Linearize-data” and use the linearization curve in QTR. Tip of the hat to Roy Harrington for his brilliant work on this script which is available for download at www.quadtonerip.com. Roy’s grayscale profiles can be used for soft proofing in Photoshop complete with hue and paper color simulation.

Softproofing with a QTR Grayscale profile displays the image with full color/hue and Dmax simulation

You can also use this profiling process to color manage Advanced B&W printing modes and alt-process negatives. More on this in another article soon.

If you choose to open up this measurement file in a text editor, the leftmost column of numbers contain the pertinent Luminosity channel numbers. If any of these numbers aren’t sequential QTR-Create-ICC won’t make a profile. If this occurs you probably have an anomaly in one of your measurements that you can manually fix in the text editor. I sometimes find a single patch in the shadows that is slightly out of sequential order, and adjusting this value so that QTR-Create-ICC can make a profile has no detrimental effects.

Measurement file with non-sequential value that should be corrected to 7.71

Of course, my clients that would rather not invest in a spectrophotometer and all this geek stuff can utilize my private remote profiling service. While I think most will want to do this themselves, it’s always good to have options. I hope this is useful – enjoy making grayscale profiles!

- Scott Martin

Update 4-26-12 XRite has upgraded ColorPort to version 2.0.5 to address some issues some users were experiencing and to support the new i1Pro2 device.

This 3 day workshop takes an intense look at optimizing photography workflows from capture-to-print using Adobe Lightroom. As a special treat, this workshop will be held at one of Mexico’s finest printmaking studios, Izote Editions.

Day 1 – Capture and organize
Optimizing exposure for RAW development
An overview of all RAW software available today
The story behind Lightroom and it’s direction
The DNG format and how to incorporate it into your workflow
File Management (several scenarios including transitioning between desktop and laptop)
Organizing your images and preparing for 100,000+ image libraries

Day 2 – Develop
Optimizing RAW development with Lightroom’s Develop Module
Hands-on development of participant images
Making your images sing!

Day 3 – Printmaking
Advanced display calibration
Slideshow presentation
Web authoring procedure and 3rd party solutions
A look at every digital fine art printing process available today
Review sample prints
Printing from Lightroom
Print specification for exhibition
Participants leave with one fine art print of their own work!

Participants are encouraged to bring challenging RAW files of their own images to work on. Participants with laptops and cameras should bring them, although there will be limited time to use them during classroom hours. Participants without laptops will certainly get plenty out of this workshop and should also attend. Lectures will be in English and a Spanish translator will be on hand. Lightroom versions 3 and 4 will be addressed. Participants should plan on bringing cameras to practice what they have learned and make images while in town. Participants can even create a photopolymer gravure after the workshop with Izote for an additional fee. We want you to enjoy being here and get as much out of the experience as possible.

About the instructor

Scott Martin is a fine art photographer and digital photography consultant. As the founder of Onsight, he has been working with digital photography since the 1980s and has been training photographers one-on-one and leading photography workshops since the early 90s though organizations like the Texas Photography Society and the Santa Fe Photography Workshops. With full-time devotion to on-location consulting for over a decade, his experience with a wide variety of imaging equipment, printers, papers, inks and applications allows him to consult with some of the most demanding photographers, pro labs, artists, designers and prepress professionals in the business. His classes are packed with enthusiasm and practical suggestions. Scott used to sit on the edge of his seat waiting for each Photoshop upgrade but now does so for Lightroom.

Target audience

Professional photographers and serious amateurs. As we will be covering this workflow in exhausting detail, even participants with several years experience with Lightroom benefit from this class.

Location

Izote Editions
José Clemente Orozco No. 29, Colonia Coapexpan C.P. 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

Izote Editions is a printmaking studio that specializes in copperplate photogravure. Owner Byron Brauchli has been perfecting the photograpvure for over 25 years. Along with his partners Guillermo Espinoza and Leticia Mora Perdomo, they have sparked a revival of photogravure and other alternative photographic processes via editions of portfolios by artists and photographers. Izote also produces it’s own hand-made inks and other etching supplies locally. Located in the lush hills on the outskirts of Xalapa, Izote is a safe place for foreigners to travel to. Visitors are usually surprised by how lovely Xalapa is. It’s a mid size, arts inspired city with lots of 19th century architecture that’s affordable and easy to get around in. We think you’ll love coming here.

Registration

This workshop is limited to 10 participants. Mexican residents can sign up by emailing us. Everyone else can sign up with the registration button below:

Once you secure your spot you will be contacted with detailed information about the workshop. We encourage you to immediately make flight and hotel accommodations right away, and consider staying several extra days to enjoy the area. Here are a few recommendations for places to stay:

La posada del cafeto, Cánovas 8 Zona Centro, 91000 Xalapa Enríquez, Veracruz-Llave 001 52 228 817 0023 (around $500MXN or US$36 per night)

La mariquinta Alfaro 12 Zona Centro, 91000 Xalapa Enríquez, Veracruz-Llave
01 228 818 1158 (around $500MXN or US$36 per night)

Thanks, I’ll look forward to seeing you there! – Scott Martin

We push participants outside their comfort zones and encourage them to make work they’ve never made before, and more importantly, to engage in the process of making images differently and more fully. This can be difficult. Sometimes people say they don’t want to be pushed, but we push anyway. Some people have a hard time finding and starting their projects. Daily group critique is an important part of this process. This workshop had some challenging, teary moments including a ‘photographic intervention’ but amazing transformations happened by the end of the week. People had grown so much, were trusting their instincts and were intensely engaged in their process of making powerful imagery.

At the end of our weeklong workshop we had a big feast and watched a slide show of everyone’s best images. It was amazing. These are photographers working outside of their areas of expertise – experimenting with whole new styles and genres. Here’s a condensed version of their work:

“I’ve never been more exhausted and never felt more alive. I feel as if my awareness of the world has expanded, and I’ve become more sensitive to the light and moments around me. PhotoMuse changed my way of seeing and showed me how powerful photography can be in a very real and direct way.”
– Danielle Tsi

We’re considering bringing this workshop to NYC, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and other locations. Let me know if you’re interested.

At this year’s Night Photography Festival in Mono Lake, CA, I had a blast teaching an advanced class and making images side-by-side with so many people. But it was all the guest speakers, instructors and fantastic night photographers all in one place that was so unique about this gathering. Lance and I reserved Bodie State Park for two nights instead of one this year so that our group of 40+ could have ample time exploring and making images in the king of all ghost towns. Despite having this exceptional nighttime access to such an extraordinary place, I felt compelled to make portraits of the photographers themselves instead of the ghost town.

Now I’m no portrait photographer, and I don’t have any experience doing this, but I wanted to explore this idea of making portraits of night photographers in their habitat. These are 1-2 minute exposures by moonlight where I’m adding light on the subject with a flashlight (not a flash!). Since I prefer side-lighting from two sides with a handheld flashlight, it was challenging for the subject to keep still during the light painting and throughout the rest of the exposure.

As it turned out, other photographers started adding their own light while my shutter was open and some became a collaborative effort. So a tip of the hat to Lance Keimig, Troy Paiva and Tom Paiva for their added light and all the subjects for their collaboration and enthusiasm with this – it was a blast working with all of you. Perhaps those of you that know their work can pick out their handiwork?

I’ve included the names of these photographers below their portrait. They are all much more experienced photographers whose work I admire – please Google their names and check out their work if you aren’t familiar with them. And feel free to leave comments below.

Night Photographers use a process called “image stacking” that allows us to (among other things) make extremely long, 1-8 hour exposures that would otherwise be impossible due to overexposure. We take several images that are “stacked” or combined into a single, composite image. Over the years I’ve used a variety of applications to stack these images together including Keith’s Image Stacker, Startrails,exe, LR/Enfuse, “Open in Photoshop as Layers” and older versions of Dr. Brown’s Stack-A-Matic script. Limitations of these processes were frustrating and super slow which made it difficult to teach at workshops.

A few months ago I emailed Russell Brown (AKA: Dr. Brown) with a list of suggestions that I thought might make Stack-A-Matic a lot more usable for night photographers and the particular type of image stacking that we do. Russell is a night photography enthusiast and liked this idea. We spent the next month trying out and tweaking beta versions of Stack-A-Matic. It’s become THE way to finish off image stacking projects. You can download the new Stack-A-Matic script from Dr. Brown’s site right now – it’s free. There’s even a demonstration video that’s shows Stack-A-Matic in action.

This new version of Stack-A-Matic (v2.1.6 and newer) requires Photoshop CS5 Standard and purportedly works on CS4 Standard as well. The Extended versions of Photoshop are NOT required. There’s also lots of other great goodies to download. I’ve been a big fan of Image Processor Pro which comes with Dr. Brown’s Services.

Russell joined us at the Mono Lake Night Photography Festival last month to make images with us and to present this new script to an ideal target audience. I got a chance to make a night portrait of Russell and geek out with him for a few nights of image making. Russell and I will be hosting a session about night photography and image stacking at Photoshop World next month. Image Stacking will be a regular technique taught at all of my night photography workshops, and during private workshops/training.

I’m really excited that this process is finally easy enough for anyone to try out. Have fun! Let me know if I can help.

the first copperplate photogravure from a digital positive, 1994 © SM

Bostick and Sullivan moved to Santa Fe and their alt printmaking supply business sky-rocketed, as has the alt-process printmaking niche. Thank goodness. IMO, Dan, Melody (Bostick) and Dick (Sullivan) deserve the lions share of credit for the alt-process resurgence we’ve seen over the last two decades.

But digital negs for alternative printmaking processes don’t make good prints by themselves – you’ve got to jack with them. For twenty years we’ve created convoluted methods of making Photoshop curves with Dmax and Dmin end points, and used complicated 3rd party RIP software and god-knows-what weird scripts to make it all happen. Dan and I, not to mention a handful of wannabees, have flown around the world teaching small groups of printmakers how to make their images come alive on these processes. Some have been more vocal about creating precise negs with the science of colorimetery on their side. I’m all about the color science, but these days I’m also devoted to elegance, and trying to see the bigger picture. I’m ready to jump ship from the very techniques that I’ve helped develop and teach over the years and push forward with newer, easier methods.

Let me tell you, all of this sucks. Not the print making part – that’s where the magic and passion lies. It’s the curves, MeasureTool, QuadTone inksets, weird drivers, scripts, even Photoshop that suck – we’re living in the dark ages. We’re working with glass plates with horrible halation problems.

Cyanotypes as seen onscreen prior to printing © SM

Today I hop on a plane to Mexico to see an old friend. Byron Brauchli left Austin for Xalapa ten years ago to make gorgeous alt-process prints for people who love them. We made the first copper plate photogravure prints from digital positives back in 1994 and taught workshops at Flatbed Press in Austin. This time we’re teaching a workshop on elegance. The elegance of making simple negs for alt-process printmaking without much fuss. We’re using common inkjet printers with their regular printer drivers and making common ICC profiles with free software that, with one easy step, provides print to screen matching and negs that print with perfect tonality. With these simple profiles we can see onscreen exactly how our images will look if printed with cyanotype rich blues or gentle warm palladium blacks. And we can print negs with one easy step that reproduce our images as perfectly as we’ve experienced them in the digital darkroom. It fits into a modern photographic workflow. No overwhelming technical gymnastics involved. It’s very clean. Back to making images, and making prints. Back to making.

Just east of Terlingua is Big Bend National Park that has 800,000 acres of desert, mountain and river environments that hikers and photographers will love. The area is also great for mountain biking, motorcycling, camping and rafting down the Rio Grande. In addition to the area’s natural landscape and rock formations, the desert climate has preserved a number of relics from the 19th and early 20th century that we’ll examine. Big Bend Ranch State Park lies just west of Terlingua.

These medium altitude (2700 – 7000 feet) locations will be around 55 degrees (F) at night while we are shooting and 80 degrees (F) during classroom hours. Combined with about 18% humidity, we will be quite comfortable. If you’ve never been to this part of the world before, you are in for a surprise. The Big Bend region is stark, dry and dangerous but also inviting and majestic.

This workshop will be jam-packed with both field and classroom instruction. We will be in the classroom each day on the porch of the old Perry Mansion from noon until we leave for the field before sunset. Participants can stay out shooting as long as they, or their camera’s batteries, hold out. While in the field each day, photographic techniques and creative inspiration will be discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. During classroom sessions we will focus on developing our images with Adobe Lightroom while also studying historic and contemporary night photographers. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and observations. Each day will have a critique of the previous nights work.

Lance brings his extensive experience with night photography to the workshop through composition techniques, night photography guidelines and inspiring slides shows of historical and contemporary night photography. Scott brings his digital imaging training experience and takes an in-depth look at the entire digital imaging workflow from capture to print with night photography in mind. We will examine the skills necessary for high quality digital image capture, RAW file processing, light painting, light drawing and image stacking.

This workshop is specifically for photographers who want to learn night photography techniques all the way from exposure to image processing and printmaking. Atmosphere, subject matter at night, light sources, equipment choices, painting with light, image stacking and time lapse photography are some of the specific things this class will cover. All participants will be able to work on their own images. We expect that beginners and seasoned digital imaging professionals alike will benefit from the course. Participants should expect to share some of their images for review, as the goal of this workshop is to enjoy the creative process, be inspired and make some great images.

Night Photography Book

We recommend reading and bringing a copy of Night Photography: Finding your way in the dark (by Lance Keimig with Scott Martin, 2010 Focal Press) to this workshop. The 240 page book combines a wealth of information from our 16 years of teaching night and digital photography workshops. The book also includes contributions from Dan Burkholder, Shawn Peterson, Christian Waeber, Steve Harper, Tom and Troy Paiva and others. In this book you’ll find history, theory, and lots of practical instruction on technique, all illustrated with clear, concise examples, diagrams and charts that reinforce the text, plus inspiring color and black and white images from the author and other luminaries in the field.

Accommodations

Workshop participants are encouraged to stay at one of the following options (in order of preference):

The Holiday Hotel – has several suites right around the Starlight theatre in the center of Terlingua ghost town. $115-165/night. Consider sharing the Candililla House with a friend. Call Jeff 432-386-7831 or Gretchen 360-713-3408 for reservations.

Terlingua House –  a short 2 minute drive outside of ghost town, Terlingua House is one of the neatest places in the area to stay. It is remote and private with 3 bedrooms, several living areas and can sleep 3-8 people. $220/night (but less when shared)

La Posada Milagro – Picturesque 4 room hotel with shared bathroom. $150+/night 432-371-3044

El Dorado – Nothing fancy at the base of ghost town $60-90/night 800-371-3588

Chisos Mining Co Motel – the Chisos mining company Motel is a 10 minute drive from ghost town but has lots of basic accommodations including the Easter Egg Village cottages and lots of houses scattered around in the area. Creek house is a funky 2br, 1 double, one twin bed, plus bunk.  Reservations are 90 days on advance. 432-371-2254 $60-$180/night

Getting there

Terlingua, Texas is located on highway 170 between the Big Bend National Park and the Big Bend Ranch State Park. There are several ways of driving to the Big Bend region. Here are route recommendations for those coming from Austin, El Paso, Houston, Midland/Odessa and San Antonio. Those flying into Texas can consider flying into either Midland/Odessa (MAF), El Paso (ELP) or San Antonio (SAT).

Registration

The price for the workshop is $950 plus lodging. If you have taken a workshop from either Lance or myself in the last two years you will be eligible for the $100 off alumni rate. For a workshop with two great instructors and a small number of participants, we hope you’ll find this to be an excellent value. You can secure your spot by paying a $195 deposit with the button below.

After reserving your space in the workshop, call one of the above mentioned hotels to reserve a room.

Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee to cover expenses are available until the payment due in full date. You can make a deposit at any time, but space is available on a first come basis. Payment is due in full by September 1, 2011. If you need to cancel after September 1, 2011, you will be refunded the amount you paid, less your deposit. If the program is cancelled for any reason, you will receive a full refund.

This is going to be a really fun workshop in a very unique and inspiring setting. The past workshops that Lance and I have done in Big Bend have been incredibly productive and satisfying.  Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about this workshop or about traveling to this location.

Workshop Video

One Last Thought

Since our night photography video (that was filmed at this workshop in 2010) came out, we’re flattered that others are starting to imitate our workshop. :-] But intense familiarity with the area, it’s inhabitants and business are needed to make this an exceptional workshop. We don’t stay at the lousy Big Bend Motor Inn trailer park nor do we shoot in the National Park (which, as lovely as it is by day, really isn’t great at night). Our locations are fantastic, unusual, inspiring and off the beaten path. Knowing this area well is a life-long passion that we’re looking forward to sharing with you.

“Both Lance and Scott could, in fact, be some of the best photography instructors on the planet.”
Russell Brown
Adobe Systems

This remote location is a favorite among photographers for its unique geological formations. Mono Lake’s signature monolithic rock structures that extend upward from the lake are ideal for night photography. Other photographic locations may include the dramatic granite moonscapes of Tioga Pass in Yosemite, the Travertine Hot Springs, the town of Bridgeport, and the world famous Bodie Ghost Town. This year we’re going to get into some advanced night photography topics and really take a close look at light painting and mutli-hour star trail image stacking. Techniques and inspiration will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and experience.

Target Audience

This program offers something for everyone. There will be an Introduction to Night Photography workshop with Tim and Lance on June 12 and 13, and Advanced Night Photography workshop with Scott and Lance on the 14th and 15th, Festival guest presentations every afternoon, and photography every night. Workshop participants will have 2 opportunities to photograph at Bodie Ghost Town, people attending the festival without taking a workshop will photograph at Bodie on the last night.

The Festival

The Festival consists of afternoon presentations from 3-5:30 each day by distinguished Night Photographers on special topics, a portfolio review, casual image sharing and trading session, and ample opportunities to photograph the spectacular Eastern Sierra landscape. A schedule of guest presentations will be posted here soon. The cost of attending just the festival is $395.

The Workshops

The introduction to Night Photography workshop will be held on June 12 and 13 from 11:30-2:30 and after the dinner break each night until late. It will cover the basic procedures and techniques for both digital and film based night photography, with an introduction to Light Painting.

The Advanced Night Photography workshop will be held on June 14 and 15 from 11:30-2:30 and after the dinner break each night until late. It will cover advanced digital techniques including optimizing exposure for RAW capture and development, a more detailed exploration of Light Painting, and image stacking combined with Light Painting to create truly spectacular images.

The cost of attending either of the workshops is $750, or 995 for both. Festival admission is included with either workshops. All workshop attendees get to photograph at Bodie for two nights. Festival attendees will photograph at Bodie on the last night only.

Getting There

The Eastern Sierra is isolated. The closest major airport is Reno, NV-140 miles away. Driving from Reno is about 2 1/2 hours. San Francisco is about a 5 hour drive through Yosemite National Park, and Los Angeles is about 6 hours away by car. It’s well worth the effort to get there. If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car from Reno or the Bay Area, let us know, and we will try to connect you with someone.

Accommodations

Workshop participants stay at nearby resorts, hotels or campgrounds in or near Lee Vining. We strongly recommend Murphey’s Motel in Lee Vining. Budget minded travelers can camp in one of numerous nearby campgrounds, or stay in town at the El Mono Motel. Links to other hotels in town, as well as general information about the area can be found at the Mono Lake website. Plan to arrive on the evening of June 11, and checking out on June 16, or later if you want more time to explore the area. There’s plenty to see and do. The program begins on the 12th at 11 a.m., and ends late at night on the 15th. Participants are responsible for booking their own accomodations. We have reserved rooms in the back at Murpheys for the festival. You should request one of the rooms reserved for the workshop when you register, or reserve a something independently as soon as you confirm your spot in the workshop.

Meals

Morning coffee is at the wonderful Latte Da Cafe at the El Mono Hotel. They serve up homemade muffins and strong coffee to get us off on the right foot each day. If you need a bigger breakfast, there’s always Nicely’s, an old fashioned coffee shop. There are a couple of markets in Lee Vining if you prefer to picnic, but most people eat at the fabulous Whoa Nelly Cafe at the The Tioga Gas Mart in Lee Vining. Sounds strange, but this place serves excellent food – everything from omelets, gourmet pizza, and barbecue, to fish tacos, seared tuna, and herb crusted pork loin!

About the instructors

Tim Baskerville, B.F.A., received his degree in photography and liberal arts from the University of San Francisco. He has been photographing at night for more than 25 years, and currently teaches night photography at U.C. San Francisco, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Santa Cruz, and the College of Marin. He has taught at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, Boston; RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco; and the Cape Cod Photographic Workshops on Cape Cod. He has written articles about NPy for Camera and Darkroom, the Friends of Photography with Nazraeli Press, and Photo Metro magazine. He originally curated The Nocturnes, a Night Photography exhibit, in 1991, and founded The Nocturnes.

Lance Keimig is best known for night photography of the built environment. His book, Night Photography- Finding Your Way In The Dark was published by Focal Press in August of 2010. Keimig is the curator of Darkness, Darkness, a traveling exhibit of Night Photography and of the Three Columns Gallery at Harvard University. He has taught at the New England School of Photography in Boston since 2000, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, for the Texas Photographic Society, and the Houston Center for Photography. Keimig founded the Mono Lake Photo Workshops in 2003, and is also a cofounder of The Nocturnes Night Photography Workshops in San Francisco. Since 2001, Keimig has led annual photo tours to Ireland and Scotland.

Scott Martin is the owner of Onsight digital imaging, which is a capture-to-print training business that helps photographic professionals optimize their workflows for quality and efficiency. Scott works on location with photographers, pro labs, artists, designers, prepress professionals and software developers perfecting the techniques and color management needed for top notch work. Scott is known for pushing technology to it’s limits, holds the first ever known degree in Digital Photographic Imaging, and is a beta tester for many products in the industry. His grand format fine art prints are shown in galleries and included in many public and private collections. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 16 years and this will be his 4th workshop at Mono Lake.

Registration

Festival

Intro to Night Photography Workshop

Advanced Night Photography Workshop

Both Workshops

Once you secure your spot by paying a $100 deposit for the festival or $300 deposit for the festival and a workshop, you will be contacted with detailed information about the workshop. Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee to cover expenses are available until the payment due in full date. You can make a deposit at any time, but space is available on a first come basis. Payment is due in full by May 1, 2011. You can still sign up after May 1 if there is space available, but you need to pay in full at that time. If you need to cancel after May 1, 2011, you will be refunded the amount you paid, less your deposit. If the program is cancelled for any reason, you will receive a full refund.

All photos on this page are copyright Scott Martin and Lance Keimig. Thank you, and we’ll see you in Mono Lake!

It was really fun having Angela and Mark Walley out filming during our annual workshop in Big Bend, TX. They are super talented and do amazing work. Between the photographers and videographers the creative process was quite alive that week with image making all day and all night long. You can check out more about WalleyFilms at walleyfilms.com

As a long time still photographer, I’m pretty blown away with the power of video as a communication tool. As our DSLR cameras gain HD video capability I’m enjoying getting my feet wet. I think all photographers need to keep an eye on this medium and think about how we can embrace it and make it a part of our work. This is my first experience incorporating it into my own business and I’m looking forward to more exploration with it.

A: Photoshop wasn’t designed to work with camera RAW files – it was designed to work with film scans. IMO, the Camera RAW plugin and Adobe Bridge represent an inelegant approach to modernizing an application based on 1980′s technology.

Lightroom is the new Photoshop written from the ground up with Camera RAW imaging in mind. It’s a paradigm shift. With it, we inch closer to a workflow that allows us to do everything (adjustments, retouching, printing, etc) directly from the camera RAW files, or our “Digital Negatives” as I like to call them, without cumbersome TIFF and PSD files. JPEGs are a temporary format designed for transportation and internet use. Maintaining a collection of Digital Negatives without all the other files is simple and elegant, takes up a lot less drive space and simplifies file management and archiving.

If and when you choose to become a Lightroom user, I’d encourage you to use it to import images directly from the camera’s memory card, all the way through your workflow including printing, client file delivery and website creation. Think of Photoshop as a temporary retouching tool that you’ll one day be able to retire once Lightroom gains those more extensive capabilities. If you need to goto Photoshop, do so quickly and return back to Lightroom for everything else (printing, client file delivery, etc).

Some people’s work revolves around Photoshop and image compositing. Maggie Taylor and Dan Burkholder are two friends whose work I admire whose creative process has been deeply engrained in Photoshop for decades. Lightroom isn’t necessarily for them, and that’s OK. Photographers that don’t do much compositing or extensive retouching are better off adopting Lightroom for the majority of their workflow, even if it involves Photoshop at times. Those that say “Why use Lightroom when Photoshop does more?” just don’t get it. It’s about simplicity and elegance. It’s about rethinking the whole process of working with images. Lightroom isn’t for all everyone but it represents the future for 90%+ of DSLR photographers. Photoshop will remain a powerful tool for those doing extensive retouching/compositing and for non-photographers like 3D illustrators, architects, graphic designers, etc.

The elegance and simplicity of Lightroom’s workflow has changed my whole relationship to photography. I’m able to spend less time behind the computer and more time behind the lens. I used to spend hours and hours perfecting an image in Photoshop but now I do so behind the camera. When I’m shooting, I strive harder to get it right in-camera because I want to avoid using Photoshop at all costs. Instead of saying “Oh I’ll fix that in Photoshop” I just shoot something else or I’ll work to perfect the lighting. I spend less than 5% of my time in Photoshop now and look forward to the day when I can retire it altogether.

Is it real?
15 years ago I had an exhibition of palladium prints and it really bothered me when someone asked “What did you do in Photoshop? Are these real?” These days when people ask these questions at my exhibitions my response is “all of these images were made completely without the use of Photoshop.” And that means something. For the viewer or print buyer, it’s powerfully confidence building. Someday Lightroom will have a lot more extensive retouching capabilities than it has today. But for now, saying that an entire exhibit was printed entirely with Lightroom means that the retouching is minimal if at all, and that no compositing was done. It looked like that in camera. Some mastery of the craft is evident. It has integrity – similar to in-camera transparency. And it’s “real” – however the viewer is defining that. :-]

Developed in LIghtroom using almost no adjustments. Yes, it’s real. No Photoshop work at all.

This two night workshop is designed to be a quick introduction to the joys of making photographs at night. We will start with dinner and classroom instruction at 5pm in the fantastic new Liberty Bar Restaurant before heading out into San Antonio’s vibrant “Southtown” neighborhood to make images. Participants can shoot side-by-side with the instructors or wander around to discover their own images. Expect Lance and Scott to give a few light painting demonstrations in the field. When out at night, participants can stay out shooting as long as they, or their camera’s batteries, hold out. Shooting by moonlight, streetlights, light painting, multi-hour exposures, and equipment recommendations will all be discussed. Because this workshop has two instructors, each participant will get lots of attention.

Target Audience

This workshop is specifically for digital photographers who want to learn night photography techniques. Night photography beginners who have a sound understanding of basic photography principles, advanced amateurs, and seasoned professionals looking for a fresh approach will all benefit from this workshop. A good working knowledge of photography and an SLR camera are required. Anyone who wants to explore the opportunity to make images at night!

What to bring

Required items to bring are a DSLR camera (not a point and shoot), tripod, flashlight, appropriate clothing and thinking cap. Optional items that are a good idea to have are a cable release (or electronic release timer), colored gels, flash, and willingness to learn something new.

Night Photography Book

A copy of Night Photography: Finding your way in the dark (by Lance Keimig with Scott Martin, 2010 Focal Press) might be good reading before, during or after this workshop. The 280 page book combines a wealth of information from our 15 years of teaching night and digital photography workshops. The book also includes contributions from Dan Burkholder, Shawn Peterson, Christian Waeber, Steve Harper, Tom and Troy Paiva and others. In this book you’ll find history, theory, and lots of practical instruction on technique, all illustrated with clear, concise examples, diagrams and charts that reinforce the text, plus inspiring color and black and white images from the author and other luminaries in the field. While this book is not included with the workshop, you can purchase a copy at Amazon.com.

About the instructors

Lance Keimig is a Massachusetts based photographer and educator who specializes in night photography. Lance studied Night Photography with Steve Harper at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University in the late ‘80s and cofounded The Nocturnes Night Photography Workshops with Tim Baskerville in 1997.  His new book, Night Photography: Finding your way in the Dark has just been released. Lance’s prints are held in numerous public and private collections including The Boston Public Library, The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA, Fidelity Investments, and many other corporate collections. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 15 years.

Scott Martin is the owner of Onsight digital imaging, which is a capture-to-print training and consulting business that helps digital imaging professionals optimize their workflows for quality and efficiency. Scott works on location with photographers, pro labs, artists, designers, prepress professionals and software developers perfecting the techniques and color management needed for top notch work. Scott holds the first ever known degree in Digital Photographic Imaging, is an Adobe Certified Photoshop Expert, and serves on the board of the Texas Photographic Society. His grand format fine art prints are shown in galleries and included in many public and private collections. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 15 years.

Location

The Liberty Bar Restaurant
1111 South Alamo, San Antonio, Texas 78210
This workshop is co-ordinated in conjunction with the Texas Photographic Society.

Registration

The price for this workshop is $335. Space is limited. Contact TPS to register for this workshop.

Today, the NYTimes is featuring an essay of Jenny’s in that very column. It’s a deeply personal piece that reminds us to appreciate what we have, and do what we can while we can. Whither on paper or on your device, please check it out.

I love telling people what I’m doing when I’m shooting and night, and often show images to explain the concept of making this kind of art. But these guys didn’t want to see my images; they called for backup. As we waited for a few more vehicles of military police to show up, I was told not to move. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, and that I really didn’t have anything to worry about, except for my friends who were a hundred feet away around a corner. When 2 more vehicles of solders showed up, things got more heightened. The new arrivals questioned the first solders about me and several were simultaneously talking on walkie talkies. “What kind of pictures are they?” “Did he get the ships?” “Who does he work for?” “What does he look like?” etc etc. Obviously, this “what does he look like?” questions implies that looking a certain way is also suspect. For the record, I’m an average-sized, 37 year old male with short dark hair. That night I was wearing cargo pants and a button-down shirt. By the time they actually decided to talk to me, I have to admit I was struggling to keep a worry free attitude. Being surrounded by military police vehicles with flashing lights and lots of well armed solders in camo and not being allowed to move can be intimidating.

I’m used to getting stopped by police and Border Patrol for making images at night. Working with photography at night is a foreign concept to most people, but easily overcome. In situations like these I don’t panic. Instead I show my enthusiasm for the creative process I’m involved in. I respect their authority, show them example images on my phone, move if they ask me to and express genuine appreciation for them keeping an eye out for us. I also know that US citizens have a right to photograph in any public space in America. People can even take photos of private property, military bases, police on duty, etc, as long as it’s done from a public space. Photographers can’t trespass and should always be respectful of other people and their property while making images. Again, my tripod and I were set up on a sidewalk, a public space.

Gesturing with his hands in one direction and then another the head MP says to me “your talking pictures… and it smells like terrorism!” He says it again, this time slowly with greater emphasis: “your talking pictures… and it smells like terrorism!” He says it one more time, in classic loud, drill sergeant style followed by “Ya see?”

“OK,” I say, “Can I show you the image I was just making?”

“No, no, no” he says and goes on and on about how important this navel base is and how there are lots of ships here. “And believe me, there ARE terrorists in this area!!” he says loudly while making a circling gestures over our heads

Rule number six on the Photographer Rights Card includes this line “Photographing from a public place cannot infringe on trade secrets, nor is it terrorist activity.” What I wanted to say to this soldier was “I’m on public sidewalk under a bright streetlight and can legally make whatever images I like from here, including those of the navel base you’ve just informed me about. If I was a terrorist I probably wouldn’t be so obvious – I’d probably shoot from a car across the street wouldn’t I?” But I didn’t say these things. No need to question their authority. No need to increase my chances fog being detained any further. And that’s what I was worried about at the point – that I might get pushed into a vehicle and taken somewhere for further questioning. Perhaps they would label me as a potential enemy combatant and deny my civil liberties. That might sound extreme, but this possibility was starting to seem very, very real. I overheard the words “confiscate” and “take him” on the walkie talkies as I talked with the soldier. I didn’t want to reveal that I was out with other photographers that were just a hundred feet away, let alone leave them behind when I had the keys to the car.

The officer wanted to know my name and where I lived. Now, what would you do in this situation? Would you willingly do whatever they say or demand that your civil liberties be honored? I was so nervous that I couldn’t even remember that I didn’t have to answer such questions. I told them my name, and where I was from. I told them that I show my work in galleries, and that my images sometimes take hours to make, and often involve painting with light from flashlights. “Come on, let me show you the images I’ve been making tonight.” I said. He initially declined, but curiosity got the best of him. One look at the image above and the others I had made that night and his relief was obvious and his tone went from drill sergeant to buddy. “Awww, so you aren’t taken pictures of tha ships, or tha entrance or nothing are you? Well that’s real interestin’ You’re an arteeast! ” We shook hands and I was glad to walk away and check in with my night photography buddies who, despite all the flashing lights had missed the whole ordeal. “We would have gotten detained in solidarity with you!” they joked. It was nice to feel free, and be with friends.

Unnecessary harassment is getting more and attention in the press lately as our post 9-11 world seems to be getting even more on edge when it comes to citizens with cameras. Things have become so heightened that there are recent stories where police assault harmless, ordinary people with cameras, arrest them and charge them with assaulting a police officer. Police have been known to simply steal cameras out of civilian’s hands and deny the camera ever existed later. In the UK, section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, actually gives police the right to detain and search anyone upon suspicion and seize anything considered to be in connection to terrorism. In the UK, the I’m a Photographer, not a Terrorist campaign has successfully suspended section 44 while it’s under further investigation. In the US, police and citizens alike have always had the right to take pictures in public. Recent events suggest that more dialog and increased awareness might be in order.

How to deal with the authorities when photographing at night is a regular topic that Lance Keimig and I talk about during our night photography workshops and is discussed Lance’s new book. In my opinion, these situations are like any other confrontation. Don’t let the situation get heightened. Don’t be disrespectful or threatening in any way – even in the most slight, psychological way. Don’t demand that your rights be respected. Don’t assume that they will respect your rights, either. Be patient and try not to get offended. They are doing their job and may not be trained as well as they should be. Be patient. These situations can be scary and people act differently when they are scared. If you can control your reaction you’ll probably control the outcome.

I have conflicting feelings about my experience. I’m glad they didn’t automatically assume I wasn’t a tourist, but I wonder what my experience would have been like if I had a full beard, or was wearing a hoodie. I’m glad they are keeping an eye out for suspicious activity. I do think security and civil liberties can co-exist. And a helping of sanity, patience and friendly communication can go a long way.

This one night workshop is designed to be a quick introduction to the joys of making photographs at night. We will start with classroom instruction at 5:30pm before heading around the complex after dark to make images. We have arranged to have access to some of our favorite areas, including areas that are typically restricted. Participants can shoot side-by-side with the instructors or wander around to discover their own images. Expect Lance and Scott to give a few light painting demonstrations in the field. When out at night, participants can stay out shooting as long as they, or their camera’s batteries, hold out. Shooting by moonlight, light painting, multi-hour exposures, and equipment recommendations will all be discussed. Because this workshop has two instructors, each participant will get lots of attention.

Target Audience

This workshop is specifically for digital photographers who want to learn night photography techniques. Night photography beginners who have a sound understanding of basic photography principles, advanced amateurs, and seasoned professionals looking for a fresh approach will all benefit from this workshop. A good working knowledge of photography and an SLR camera are required. Anyone who wants to explore the opportunity to make images at night!

What to bring

Required items to bring are a DSLR camera (not a point and shoot), tripod, flashlight, appropriate clothing and thinking cap. Optional items that are a good idea to have are a cable release (or electronic release timer), colored gels, flash, and willingness to learn something new.

Night Photography Book

A copy of Night Photography: Finding your way in the dark (by Lance Keimig with Scott Martin, 2010 Focal Press) can be purchased with this workshop. The 280 page book combines a wealth of information from our 15 years of teaching night and digital photography workshops. The book also includes contributions from Dan Burkholder, Shawn Peterson, Christian Waeber, Steve Harper, Tom and Troy Paiva and others. In this book you’ll find history, theory, and lots of practical instruction on technique, all illustrated with clear, concise examples, diagrams and charts that reinforce the text, plus inspiring color and black and white images from the author and other luminaries in the field.

About the instructors

Lance Keimig is a Massachusetts based photographer and educator who specializes in night photography. Lance studied Night Photography with Steve Harper at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University in the late ‘80s and cofounded The Nocturnes Night Photography Workshops with Tim Baskerville in 1997.  His new book, Night Photography: Finding your way in the Dark has just been released. Lance’s prints are held in numerous public and private collections including The Boston Public Library, The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA, Fidelity Investments, and many other corporate collections. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 15 years.

Scott Martin is the owner of Onsight digital imaging, which is a capture-to-print training and consulting business that helps digital imaging professionals optimize their workflows for quality and efficiency. Scott works on location with photographers, pro labs, artists, designers, prepress professionals and software developers perfecting the techniques and color management needed for top notch work. Scott holds the first ever known degree in Digital Photographic Imaging, is an Adobe Certified Photoshop Expert, and serves on the board of the Texas Photographic Society. His grand format fine art prints are shown in galleries and included in many public and private collections. He has been teaching photography workshops for over 15 years.

Location

Pearl Brewery Complex, San Antonio, Texas
This workshop is a part of the annual PhotoTexas event held by the Texas Photographic Society.

Registration

The price for this workshop is $135. Space is limited. Visit TPS’s registration page to register for this seminar.

Lance Keimig and I will talk about night photography and be signing Night Photography: Finding Your Way in the Dark by Focal Press. The talk will begin at 5:30pm in the Full Goods Studio. This free event is a part of the annual PhotoTexas event held by the Texas Photographic Society.