Iceland is a popular destination for so many reasons. This trip will be special in that it comes at the end of winter at what is essentially the best time to photograph the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis in the next decade. We’ll have 8 days and 7 nights to explore and photograph this amazingly beautiful country, and all expenses except airfare, gratuities, and alcohol are included. The trip will be co-led with Lance Keimig and Tim Vollmer (whose photographs illustrate this page). Having three instructors promises lots of one-on-one attention with participants!

Northern Lights:

If you have ever wanted to see or photograph the northern lights, this is your last best chance for the next 11 years. This winter is the period of Solar Maximum, or greatest solar activity in the Sun’s 11 year cycle. This year is predicted to be great for viewing the Aurora, and there are already great reports of almost nightly sightings in Iceland. The best time for viewing them is at night from October to April.

Itinerary:

Our itinerary will focus on the south of Iceland, and we’ll make the most of our time with a balance between seeing as much as we can, and not being constantly on the move. The proposed itineray below will be modified to fit the weather and interests of the group.

March 29-30
Leave on a short overnight flight to Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city. Plan to arrive in Reykjavik by 8 am on March 30.
 The three of us will meet you at the airport and get everyone checked in to our guest house, and then give you a walking tour of the capital city. Overnight in Reykjavik.

March 31
Leaving Reykjavik this morning, we drive to the south coast and then eastwards to visit the spectacular Seljalandsfoss and Skógarfoss waterfalls, and then on to see Reynisfjara black sand beach and Reynisdrangar sea stacks. Dinner and overnight in Smyrlabjörg

April 1st
Vatnajökull glacier towers over this region and has immensely affected the landscape. We will visit many of Vatnajökull’s outlets and outwash areas, the stunning Skaftafell, Iceland’s second largest national park were the landscape has been formed in thousands of years by different influences of fire and water (volcanic eruptions and the glaciers). The glacial scenery continues with a visit to the Jökulsárlón lagoon, a famous glacial lagoon full of icebergs were we can take a short boat tour and sail among the huge icebergs, an unforgettable experience!
Dinner and overnight in Smyrlabjörg

April 2nd
Continuing around the east coast and northwards today, we drive through the breath taking landscapes of the remote Eastern fjords to the town of Egilsstadir. We continue over the barren highland areas to Lake Mývatn.

April 3-4
Mývatn is one of the country’s most fascinating places, and we’ll spend a couple of days exploring the area. The unique ecology of the lake and its unusual environment has made it one of northern Iceland’s greatest attractions. Lake Mývatn is famous for sea birds, and for the beautiful landscape influenced by volcanic activity and boiling sulfurous springs.Some of the places we’ll see and photograph are:
Skútustaðargígar pseudo craters: A cluster of colourful and beautifully formed pseudo craters situated close to Skútustaðir and easily accessible from there by foot.
Höfði, Nature Park: With rich flora, fauna and a beautiful view of the lake.
Dimmuborgir: Translated as “Black Castles”, a landscape of rugged crags and strange lava formations.
Hverfjall: A huge explosive tuff crater.
Námafjall: A mountain ridge singed and boiled by sulphurous vapours.
Grjótagjá: One of Iceland’s most well known chasms, half full of hot water, which made it a popular bathing spot for a long time, but has recently become too hot for bathing.
Krafla: A high temperature field with active volcanic craters, where a steam-powered electricity generating station has been built.
Leirhnjúkur: Part of the Krafla fissure complex. It is one of the most interesting sights in the Mývatn area. A highly active volcano and a small but very colorful high-temperature geothermal field.
Dettifoss waterfall, Europe’s most powerful waterfall.
Hólmatungur Nature Reserve, with colourful rock formations and rich flora.
The Nature Reserve of Hljóðaklettar (The Echo Cliffs)
Ásbyrgi, a natural horseshoe-shaped rock enclosure sheltering fertile and lush vegetation.

April 5
We leave Lake Mývatn and drive to Akureyri, and then complete our circumferential journey around the coast of Iceland, arriving back in Reykjavik for our last night in Iceland. Akureyri boasts some beautifully restored timber buildings. Because of its excellent natural harbor and good communications, Akureyri has become the northern center of education, culture, trade and industry. After a short stop, we will pass Goðafoss waterfall, one of Iceland’s most beautiful and renowned waterfalls before continuing through the farmland of North Iceland back to Reykjavík.

April 6
We leave Reykjavik and head to the Blue Lagoon, for a relaxing dip in 38°C therapeutic geothermal water before we head to the airport for the afternoon flight home. Most flights depart around 5 pm, please schedule yours for 4 pm or later.

What To Expect:

This photo tour will feature long days and nights with intense periods of photography. It’s not a workshop- there is no formal instruction, lectures or critiques. There won’t be time, as we’ll be photographing day and night. This is not to say that it won’t be a learning experience, but the first and foremost goal of this trip is to provide you with a comfortable and organized opprotunity to create images of the dramatic landscapes of iceland and of the Aurora. You’ll be working closely with people of varying levels of photographic experience, and we’ll all learn from each other and making friends along the way. The three of us will be available to work with you in the field offering both creative and technical advice, but again this is primarily a working tour, not a workshop. There may be time for casual sharing and review of images, especially if there is some weather.

Weather:

Expect temperatures just above freezing day and night. It may rain, snow, be windy, or all three. It may be sunny and dry. It’s best to be prepared for everything from wet days in the upper 20′s to sunny days in the upper 40′s. Waterproof gear, gloves, hats, and boots are essential.

Meals, Accommodations, and What To Bring:

We will be staying in guest houses and hotels that are simple, but absolutely clean and comfortable, and used by photo tour groups led by Tim and others. All meals through breakfast on the last day will be included during the tour, with breakfast and evening meals generally being taken at our hotel or guest house, and lunches being mostly packed lunch picnics on the go. There will be lots of seafood- but other choices as well. Alcohol, especially wine, is expensive.

Fine Print:

The price of this trip includes:
* Transfer from/to airport upon arrival and departure
* 4 nights in a hotel in the country
* 3 nights in a hotel in Reykjavik
* Full board from dinner on day one to breakfast on day 8
* Flight from Reykjavík to Höfn
* Boat trip on the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon
* Entrance to the Blue Lagoon and towel
* One on one time with professional photographers Lance Keimig and Tim Vollmer
* Day and night photography
* With a little luck, the Aurora Borealis

The price of this trip does not include:
* International airfare from your home city
* Travel insurance
* Equipment insurance
* Alcoholic beverages

The minimum group size is six, the maximum is ten.
The base price of the trip is $3995 based on two people sharing a room.
The price for couples is $7695 (a $300 savings)
The supplement for a single room is $300. If you wish to share your room, but we cannot find a suitable roommate, you will be required to pay the supplement.
If you have a group (six or seven people), there will be a small group surcharge of $400.

Your deposit of $300 guarantees you a spot on the tour. (use button below)
A payment of $1000 will due December 1, 2012
A payment of $2000 will due January 1, 2013
A final payment of $695 (plus any supplemental fees, when applicable) are Due February 1, 2013.

Credit card deposits are accepted for the initial deposit. Further payments are requested to be paid by check. Credit cards will be accepted for any balance due, but subject to a 3.5% credit card transaction fee.

Money handling for this workshop is provided by Lance Keimig Photographics. Photos on this page are © 2012 Tim Vollmer

Lance Keimig and I invite you to join us in Death Valley in March. We’re shaking things up for this workshop and doing several things diffrrently than we normally do. Unlike our usual Full Moon Night Photography workshops, this one will take place in the waning stage of the lunar cycle which will offer us some dark skies full of stars. I’ve come to love this time of night after the sun has gone down and before the moon comes up. It will be a great chance to rely upon light painting and make some ‘galactic sky’ images. We are also going to some unusual and remote locations in the park that most workshops don’t get to.

There will also be lots of opportunities for light drawing as well as light painting. Adding add to these scenes will be an important process towards getting a satifiying image. This intensive workshop is intended for photographers with a good grasp of photographic principles and for those who are comfortable with their equipment. At least minimal experience or familiarity with Night Photography and light painting is recommended, as working in the desert without the aid of moonlight can be challenging. We’ll be pushing you to step outside your comfort zone, to test the limits of what you and your camera can do. With some luck, our good friend Russell Brown from Adobe will join us as a special guest.

Shooting in remote locations means long drives both before and after shooting hours, so expect some late nights. One night in particular will require a 3-4 drive on a rough road that requires a 4WD high clearance vehicle. We expect to carpool to this location and take a few vehicles as possible.

We are thinking of this as a class for those looking to expand your photographic horizons, recharge your creative batteries, share ideas with friends and colleagues, and to go home with some exciting images from this unique landscape. Locations may include the famous Racetrack Playa, sand dunes, Badlands, charcoal kilns, Goldwell, and more. Discoveries await.

Lance and I will offer an optional, full day Adobe Lightroom class on March first. If you are new to Lightroom or want to brush up on your LR skills, this is the way to dive in deep and really get to know Lightroom. It will also offer an additional night for you to explore and make images on your own before the workshop.

Accommodations

The workshop classes will be at Stovepipe Wells. This location offers the most affordable rooms and will be closest to most of the remote locations we will be visiting in the north part of the park. While we encourage everyone to stay at Stovepipe Wells, there are also two other options in the park (listed below). Wherever you stay, plan to arrive on or before February 28 if you plan to take the Lightroom class, or March 1st for just the Night Photography workshop. Check out March 5th or later. Since we’ll be sleep deprived at the end of this workshop we encourage you to stay an additional evening to rest and develop images before making the journey back home.

Stovepipe Wells lodge – 3 types of rooms, ranging from $90-150/night. Nothing fancy. Breakfast options are lacking but lunch and dinner options are good. The Deluxe rooms are the best value, IMO. Call 866-315-2980 or book your reservation online.

Furnace Creek Ranch has a nice national park feel with rooms from $210-275. Several excellent good dining options. 25 minutes from Stovepipe Wells. Call (800) 236-7916 or book your reservation online.

Furnace Creek Inn is first class, gorgeous with fantastic dining. Historic charm and luxery. Rooms are $350-500. There are currently rooms available for $380 during the workshop. Lunch is less expensive than anywhere in park ($10-14), dinner is pricey at $25-45 per entree. Breakfast $6-15. Call (800) 236-7916 or book your reservation online.

Farabees Jeep Rental is next to the Furnace Creek Inn and is the place to rent modified 4WD Jeeps for remote locations like the racetrack. Ice chest with ice and water included. $175/2dr/day, $195/4dr/day 760-786-9872

Getting there

Death Valley is located in eastern California, 2.5 hours west of Las Vegas, NV. There are several ways of getting there. If you will be flying, fly into Las Vegas and take this route. Here are route recommendations for those coming from Los Angeles or from San Fransisco

Registration

The price for the workshop is $1200 with the Lightroom class or $975 without. Lodging, meals and vehicles are not included. 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 deposit with the button below.

Money handling for this workshop is provided by Lance Keimig Photographics. After reserving your space in the workshop, book your reservation at Stovepipe Wells or one of the other options listed above.

Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee 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 January 15, 2015. If you need to cancel after January 15, 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 © 2012 by Scott Martin.

With photography changing so quickly, I especially enjoy opportunities to discuss the challenges this presents for higher education professionals. None of us can afford to stick to our old ways. There are just too many exciting changes and implications to stand still. Tools like Photoshop are last-decade technology while a new frontier of applications are emerging that better fit our workflows that are intertwined with high volumes of imagery and processes like time lapse and video.

Please let me know if you’d like to discuss the evolving medium of photography at your university.

We’ve been living in the dark ages with our ~72ppi displays. We’ve been seeing not the true nature but a facsimile of our images. Things like sharpness, noise and grain just don’t look right on a low res screens like they do in print. With HiDPI displays we can actually visualize these things and make better informed decisions while we’re developing our images. I think this will improve our relationship with images in our modern, digital workflows tremendously.

So what brought this on today? Adobe released a release candidate of Lightroom 4.3 at Adobe Labs this afternoon. It’s the first version of their applications that has support for HiDPI displays like those found in Apple’s Retina MacBookPros. Expect to see HiDPI support in future versions of Photoshop, InDesign, etc next year. Before we know it, we’ll have 30″ HiDPI desktop displays to enjoy this to an even greater extent.

Try it out if you can. I’ll think you’ll have an “Ah ha” moment and perhaps a “Oh shit, this is the way everything is going to be in the future” moment as well.

If you haven’t already starting using LR4, launch LR3 and optimize your catalog(s) before using them in LR4. This isn’t a required step – it’s just a good idea. Quit, launch LR4, and open this
optimized catalog which will convert it to a LR4 catalog leaving the old one alone. There’s no need for you to do any manual backups or file duplications – Lightroom is doing this for you already.

Upgrade Lightroom 4.0 to 4.1, to access several goodies that weren’t quite ready for 4.0. Goto Help>CheckforUpdates… to initiate this process. All of the screen grabs you’ll see in this article are for 4.1

Set your background color to white when using the Develop module by right clicking on the background area (as shown below). This juxtaposition with paper white allows us to get a better idea how our images will print and helps avoid the “my prints are too dark” effect. Lightroom’s dark grey interface is wonderful to look at and use in all other modules but I think you’ll find it super helpful to leave it on white when developing images.

As a side note, checkout LR4′s excellent new Soft Proofing feature in the Develop module that also converts the background to white. Feel free to set the background to the more pleasing dark grey when using the other modules.

Check the “Automatically write metadata into XMP” checkbox under the metadata section in the Catalog Settings. This checkbox is off by default but I’ve long encouraged my clients to check it. The performance penalty is insignificant on new computers, relative to it’s benefits. By embedding your Lightroom work directly into your image files in addition to the catalog, you’re lessoning the likelihood of disaster should your catalog get corrupted or your images separated from it. I’ve witnessed a number of disasters that could have been avoided had this checkbox been checked, and similarly, seen a number of disasters averted due to it’s use.

I will add that you can alternatively embed your metadata by selecting images in the Library module and choosing Metadata>SaveMetadataToFile (Command-S Mac / Control-S Win)

Make a time-saving develop preset that you can use during each and every import session to reduce common Develop module adjustments. If you haven’t made Develop Module presets before, now is the time to get started. It will save you from the repetitive tasks you’re probably doing in the Develop module everyday and speed up your workflow. Here are the minimum items I suggest including in your import preset:

1) Sharpening Amount. Since sharpening is so subjective, everyone has a favorite sharpening amount value. This value can also vary on a per-lens basis. Regardless, if you find your self using one number quite often you might as well save it as your default.

2) Remove Chromatic Aberration. Fixing Chromatic Aberrations is now as easy and checking a checkbox. It works fantastically well, and fixes more kinds of aberrations than ever. Why its unchecked by default is beyond me. [The chromatic aberration pictured below is as it appears in LR 4.1 which is slightly different than the way it appeared in LR 4.0] Read more about chromatic abberation and the new de-fringing tools. If you regularly use Lens Profiles, you could also enable them under the Profile tab.

3) Set vignetting parameters for better vignettes. I personally find Lightroom’s midpoint and feathering defaults to be rather poor. Because I use subtle vignettes often and want them to look good, I like to dial the midpoints down and crank the feathering up. I recommend setting the Lens Vignetting to -1,0 and the Vignette Effects sliders to -1,0,0,100,0 as pictured here:

5) Include any other trends in your development process. If, for example, you find yourself dialing the Vibrance down to -5 for 90%+ of the images you develop, put this in your preset so that all of your images have these settings immediately after import. The idea here is to save time and automate trends in your development process.

Save a Develop preset with these preferences, by clicking on the + button in the presets panel in the left panel.

Next time you import images select this preset in the Import dialog box as pictured here:

Lastly, if you work with critical color or use unusual lighting, you might consider making custom DNG profiles for your camera and lighting scenarios. Not everyone benefits from doing so, especially those that are in the “pleasing color” business. But color critical catalog photographers and those that make images in weird artificial lighting will see nice, if modest, improvements from making custom camera profiles. The XRite ColorChecker Passport is a $99 passport sized device that comes with easy to use software for this purpose. A lot of my clients keep one in their camera bag and use them when needed. Naturally I can walk you through this process if you’d like.

That’s it! Wishing you a smart, efficient workflow and great moments worth sharing.

- Scott Martin

Smart workflows allow people to spend more time making images and less time at the computer. I encourage image-makers to reduce their dependency on Photoshop and rely more heavily on parametric applications like Lightroom and Capture One for their workflow.

These private sessions are for professional photographers looking to perfect their process and image quality. If you’re upgrading to Lightroom 4 and want to make sure your workflow is super smart and automated I’d love to help. I help pros in their studios and also offer training sessions at my studio at a reduced rate. Email me for details.

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.