Scott Martin's digital imaging newsletter
thoughts, news and techniques for digital imaging professionals
Finding your way in the dark: night photography from capture to print at Mono Lake
Mono Lake, California, USA
August 14-17, 2008
$975
Lance Keimig and Scott Martin team up to present a four day and night photography workshop at Mono Lake, California August 14-17, 2008. This remote location is a favorite for hikers and especially 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 include the dramatic granite moonscapes of Tioga Pass in Yosemite, and the world famous Bodie Ghost Town.
This workshop will have both field and classroom instruction. We will be in the classroom each day 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. We will have discussion and assistance while in the field each day. Techniques and inspiration will be constantly discussed, demonstrated and put into practice. We will all work closely together, sharing our knowledge and experience.
Lance brings his extensive experience with night photography to the workshop with composition techniques, night photography guidelines and inspiring slides shows of historical and contemporary night photography. Scott will bring his digital imaging training experience and take 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 and fine art printing. We will examine the history of digital fine art printing processes, and look at all the processes available today complete with sample prints. RIPs, ink technology, color management and recommendations will all be discussed.
This workshop is specifically for digital photographers who want to learn night photography techniques, from exposure to image processing and printmaking. Participants will leave this workshop with the knowledge they need to photograph at night by natural and artificial light, and how to optimize their files for printing.
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, learn from each other and to grow as image makers.
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 recommend the El Mono Inn or Murphey's Motel in Lee Vining. 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 the 13th, and checking out on the 18th, and the workshop begins at noon on the 14th. Participants are responsible for booking their own accomodations. We have reserved all available rooms at Murpheys, and several at The El Mono for the workshop. The accommodations in town are almost full already, so you will need to 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!
registration
The price for the workshop is $975. To reserve your place, please visit the workshop page at www.on-sight.com and pay in full or make a $300 deposit using the buttons at the bottom of that page. Payment is due in full by July 1. If you prefer to pay by check, send Lance an email for further directions. The workshop is limited to a maximum of 14 students.
Photos in this article are copyright Lance Keimig. Please visit www.thenightskye.com to see more of his work.
greening the photograph
The Green-In-Print review, written by Onsight client Dr. Joe Zammit-Lucia in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, provides photographers and exhibitors with the tools necessary to choose more environmentally-friendly photo papers. The review provides suggestions for manufacturers to improve the environmental friendliness of their papers and to provide appropriate environmental information on their paper products. A Green-in-Print rating scale is provided allowing manufacturers to rate their papers on a scale from 0 to 5 trees according to their environmental friendliness.
Download the Green-In-Print Review
Visit www.jzlimages.com to find out more about Dr Joe Zammit-Lucia's and his photography.
xRes gigapixel imaging
If you think 39 megapixel images are hot stuff then try 1000 megapixel, or gigapixel, images on for size. Eric Hanson and Greg Downing at xRes studios have been working with extremely high resolution gigapixel photography utilizing specialized panoramic shooting and stitching techniques. Eric is a visual effects designer specializing in the creation of digital environments and effects for motion picture films. Greg specializes in technical photography and image-based 3D technologies. Together their work can be found in countless movies, museums and private collections. Their site features several interactive gigapixel images that are randomly loaded each time you visit. Visit xrez.com and zoom into their images to get a feel for extreme resolution. You may also check out Eric's personal photography at http://www.visuraimaging.com/photo.html.
Yosemite extreme panoramic imaging project
Later this month, I will have the opportunity to participate in the Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project. The project began in summer 2007 as a discussion between xRes studio's Eric Hansen and Greg Stock, staff Geologist of Yosemite National Park, about constructing a high res gigapixel image of the valley walls. Such an image would become a tool for Greg's work in researching rockfall in the park, an ongoing hazard given the large percentage of vertical faces present in the valley. Utilizing cutting edge technologies in high resolution photography as well as 3D rendering techniques, the final image will be one continuous, unwrapped panorama of all valley wall faces.
Taken from twenty different locations spread throughout the valley, we will expose 500 overlapping images in unison in order to achieve a congruency of light. Later, in postproduction, the 20 image sets will be stitched and draped onto a 3D terrain model recreating all shooting positions in an extremely high resolution 3D database. From this model, a synthetic camera will create the experience as if one was flying down the center of the valley, resolving all of the gigapixel images shot into one of the largest terrestrial based images ever created. Interactive displays, large exhibition prints, visitor center installations and fine art posters will all be final tangible results of the historic project. Image completion is expected by August 2008.
Visit the Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project site and/or Download the project proposal PDF
terapixel imaging
As long as we're talking about super high res imaging I might as well mention that the first terapixel image has been created with over one trillion pixels. Medical Imaging specialist Aperio has stitched together a bunch of high res oil immersion ScanScope scans from 225 pathologoy slides to show incredible detail of breast cancer tissue. Since files this large aren't supported by modern applications like Photoshop they created with own format called bigTIFF and have offered it to the public domain.
They really just stitched together 225 different and very similiar looking 4.57 gigipixel images which isn't the same thing as a terapixel image of a single object or scene. Nonetheless, the first terrapixel image has been made and the image format is availble for future development. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing xRes come up with their first terapixel image.
feedback
As always, I love to hear from you. Please drop me a line and let me know how everything is going for you. Comments and suggestions for this newsletter are appreciated too.
Scott Martin
www.on-sight.com
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