Resizing Images

Again, not something I’ve really looked at in detail before this project but I discovered that my camera has a maximum image size of 5616 x 3744 at 300 ppi which translates in inches to a 18 x12 picture without any resampling.  Following my decision to print some of my images large scale I thought I might need to do some research.  Resampling, I discovered, is when the image pixels decrease when cropping smaller and when photoshop creates more pixels when the image is cropped larger and resolution is kept constant.  By turning off the resampling box the pixels remain the same but the size box or resolution box change according to which values are the priority.

As many of my images were cropped to large scale I turned off the resampling and adjusted the resolution from 300ppi to 240ppi which allowed for a larger image without the need for photoshop to add in any new pixels.  For the smaller images I used the crop tool, photoshop automatically resamples the image when resizing this way but the resolution should be stated.  I used 300ppi for all my smaller images

Generally though, if using the image size box to resize, from reading the help section in Adobe I found that it is recommended that when cropping images smaller it’s best to reduce the number of pixels in the image otherwise a blurry affect can occur.  This can be done by turning on resampling before changing the image size.  By selecting the ‘bicubic sharper’ in the dialogue box, the image will stay sharp when the resizing occurs.
For upsampling, making an image larger, select the ‘bicubic smoother’ which gives the pixels a smoother outline.  I found this example on the internet.

Resampled to 4088x6144 pixels using resample box and Bicubic Smoother (magnified to 300%)

Bicubic smoother

Print Profiles and Colour Management

I think I am in danger of over thinking all of this but it would be an understatement to say I wish I’d never heard of print profiles and colour management.  This all came up way too far into my project to be useful.  New knowledge actually ended up creating panic, more work and a lot of stress.

In the past I have used my own printer for final project work.  It’s an Epson Ultra Chrome R2400.  Great for colour and black and white prints but especially good for black and whites. 

I suppose the issues really started when I decided to present my work as large scale layouts.  My printer doesn’t print beyond A3 so I looked around for an outside printer to use.  Loxley Colour was the obvious one for me as I’d seen a lot of their work at trade shows and was impressed with their results.

Bearing in mind all my test prints had been done on my home printer I had all the results that I wanted already worked out. By the end of April I was in good shape and ready to make some decisions on size, layout etc.

That’s when I got into trouble.  I followed the instructions on the Loxley website, downloaded the print profiles and made sure that the colour management suggestions were adhered to in colour settings in Photoshop.  In my case this went from ‘preserve embedded profiles’ to ‘convert to RGB’ and from ‘Gamma 2.2’ to ‘Dot Gain 20%’.  All my images had been converted in RAW to black and white producing Gamma 2.2 embeded images.  Had I been working in colour the images would have entered photoshop untagged they would then have taken on whatever profiles I had set photoshop to work with.  Confused?  I was.  So the moment they entered photoshop for further manipulation my black and white images were converted to Dot Gain 20%.  Why?  Did it change anything in terms of quality? Aparently this is the default workspace for most inkjet printers, Loxley included and reputedly best for density, contrast and shadow separation.  The output result from these changes were images that were completely different to those from my own printer in terms of tone and detail and they were extremely dark.

Where do I go from here?  I spent a weekend agonising about what to do.  I tried changing the printer settings, lightening the images in levels.  Nothing seemed to work and I wasted a lot of printer paper and ink.  If I’d been married it would have been divorce.  I’m prepared to admit to being hard to live with for the duration of this problem.  It doesn’t help that this side of photography doesn’t interest me in the slightest.  I’m probably what you’d call technically challenged.

Anyway, to move on.  My test prints from Loxley came back and the problem with dark images was repeated.  I eventually spoke to someone useful at Loxley and whilst I had an image on screen he looked at the same image on his calibrated monitor.  Basically his instruction was to increase the midtone values in levels in photoshop by around 0.5 (it took a little bit of playing around with each image to hit the right amount) and then to increase the contrast to compensate.  On my own printer I turned off ‘printer management’ and turned on ‘photoshop management,’ set printer settings to ‘Epson premium glossy paper’ and the resulting images were much closer to the Loxley versions.

The next set of test prints from Loxley came back much better.

Before

After

Having said all that, I spent an awful lot of extra time on each image as a result of these new profiles but I’m not sure I can say that the moral of the story is that I need to know what printer I am going to use before I start working on my images because I don’t think I will always know that information so far in advance. 

New Work flow

(based on Loxley profiles)

Convert images in RAW process

Save as PSD

Open untagged images in photoshop (RGB profile will embed at this stage)

Convert to black and White (Dot Gain 20%)

Manipulate

Resize

Sharpen

White Balance

I’ve always found this a little confusing.   I’m a skier so I notice that the colour of snow changes according to the time of day and what kind of light is illuminating it.

For starters the sun on the snow acts as a second light source so I find it easy to get so much glare on the background that it looks like a snow storm.

Some tips I’ve found for cloudy days are to centre weight or spot the camera’s metering and change the EV by -0.7 or -1.0.

On blue sky days I’ve found it even more difficult to expose correctly.  I tend to get this awful blue cast to my images which is apparently due to the cameras inability to accurately determine white in different light conditions.  A clean, even patch of snow can be used to set the custom white balance to white, but beware of shadows as this can throw the picture out in terms of colour cast.

Actually using a white piece of paper when you are in the custom or manual white balance setting also works to get an even white. Just fill the frame with the image and make sure no other elements creep into the shot.  Take the picture. Then you need to go into the custom white balance menu and select the image.

For me it’s a little bit easier because I tend to shoot in RAW all the time so when I’m processing the image later I just play around with the green-magenta to take away any unusual colour casting.

Following a Master

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Vivian Maier!  What an amazing photographer she was.  I love her ability to capture the detail.  How she managed to focus the viewer on what she wanted us to see in the picture.  She had an incredible eye for the interesting, the absurd, or simply life in all its ordinariness.  I found myself looking for those kinds of shots in my own pictures.  I have tried to plan (to a degree) what shots I might take, how I would set them up, how I could make the same picture more interesting by coming at it from a different perspective.  I think she’s made me braver with my picture taking too.  I’m not afraid of chopping peoples heads off if I think it will help to define better, the important elements of the photograph.  Although a lot more gritty, I found Darcy Pardilla’s work (Darcy was part of a previous April blog) reflected this.   Some favourites

draft

12/04/2011

by Michelle

Delete

Some examples of her influence in my own work

1 sand crab

2 boy eye drops

3. Mirror

4. Orator

5. Expressions

What Makes a Successful Freelancer?

Where to Start

I was quite ill a few weeks ago and being the kind of person that doesn’t sit still with any grace I had my reluctant partner carry my laptop and printer upstairs to my sick bed. 

One of the areas I decided to focus some attention on was how to go about setting up as a freelance photographer.

Joining an agency that can help with marketing your photographs, information about freelance jobs available and advice and information on different aspects of photography.  The BFP is one such agency, The Bureau of Freelance Photographers, Freelance UK is another.

Sources of income

Magazines

Magazines have traditionally been the largest source of work for freelancers and with reader expenditure increasing by 60% over the last 10 years it is still an important source of work.

Since 1992

-                      circulation has increased by 113m copies or 9.4%

-                      consumers spend £605m more each year on magazines

-                      The number of consumer magazines has increased by 35% up since 1992

-                      The magazine market is currently driven by a constant churn of new magazines

The Freelance Photographers Handbook report that there were more than 8000 titles being published on a regular basis just in Britain, by the time the publication was written in 2004.

Newspapers

Many national and local newspapers will use freelance photographers.  At most of the major events there will be a large number of agency personnel as well as freelancers and the freelancers have just as much chance of getting that all important shot as the majors.

-                      Almost half of all regional press titles in ABC membership (44%) has increased its sales July-December 2003

-                      The weeklies – 80% of all regional newspaper titles in ABC – showed the stongest performance, with 51% showing circulation gains

Books

Many books require heavy photographic illustration.  The main drawback is that its difficult for an individual to predict what is needed and when.  Book publishers will rely heavily on photographic libraries but there is still scope for an individual to provide image specific material or to work to order.

Cards, Calendars and Posters

There is a growing market for companies producing photographic products, requiring links with established photographers.  The postcard market, requires thousands maybe even millions of sights and scenes to send home by holiday makers so the demand for  up to date pictures is ongoing.

The Web

There are many online stock image libraries that fuel the need for good quality images for both web and print design. With the web growing at an astounding rate and individual companies requiring imagery for their own web sites and traditional marketing materials, demand is always high.

Indivduals

There is always a demand for freelance photographers to take photos of individuals in a local studio or for weddings and on location portrait commissions.

Research

-     if being a freelancer is the way forward, financial viability is something to consider

-     know outgoings

-     estimate Demand for specific work

-     work out how to put a figure on charges to the client

-     join a trade association for useful advice

-     talk to other freelancers for their perspectives

-     work out a personal competitive advantage based on price, quality, delivery, customer service, terms of business, other features or services.

-     if initial findings are encouraging a business plan is next in order to set and track objectives and to raise finance

-     home/work balance needs to be assessed and goals set

-     look at personality characteristics, do they match the freelancer’s role

-     what level of investment is required both in terms of time and finance

-     what support system is available for ideas discussion

Whats in it for the client?

Companies like to use freelancers for a number of reasons:-

-                      they are usually more flexible over hours etc than permanent staf

-                      they are easier to hire and fire – and are not a long term commitment

-                      they provide skills the in-house team may not have

-                      they complete one off or small, regular tasks that do not require a full time employee

Additionally, companies like freelancers because they save them money.  Employees are eligible for sick pay, holiday pay, redundancy pay and employers national insurance, freelancers are not.

Personal Benefits

-                      being your own boss

-                      potentially more earning potential – freelancers are usually paid more

-                      freedom – to work when it suits, take holidays, what jobs to take

-                      variety – there is the potential to develop very varied experience and an impressive CV

-                      less tax – freelancers can potentially reduce the amount of  tax they pay according to professional advice

Pitfalls

-                      less security, freelancers have less job protection

-                      Uncertainty, usually there is no guarantees of another contract

-                      Hassle, form filling, rules to obey, accounts to keep

-                      On your own, loneliness, no holiday or sick pay

What makes a successful freelancer?

-                      knowing what the goals are

-                      being comfortable in a leadership role, clients sometime need guidance

-                      being decisive, to achieve success, chasing payments, form filling

-                      self motivation,

-                      knowing the financial implications of going it alone

-                      adaptability to new situations

-                      a willingness to help others without criticising their mistakes

-                      intuitive to know when someone requires advice and when they don’t

-                      being aware of all potential business at clients sites

-                      not restricting business potential to Lets Agencies

-                      will keep potential clients up to date with contact information

-                      delivering a quality product on time and on budget with great communication skills

-                      keep it fresh, stay ahead of the crowd, regularly review the market

-                      liability insurance

-                      create a winning portfolio

Inspiration

Reportage Photographers

I had a bit of a wander around the internet the other day, looking for a number of things, inspiration for my own pictures being one but also some real life photographers practising reportage.  I came upon a website called FiftyCrows.  The site was devoted to the promotion of photographers that had been given grants to cover specifically agreed social topics.  One of the things I found interesting was that they didn’t just submit hundreds of pictures around a central theme but they had their own mechanic or device to enable the viewer to focus on what was important.

Darcy Padilla, chose to follow the struggle of people living with the complexities of poverty and AIDS.  In particular JULIE BAIRD, an aids afflicted woman whose life she has documented over 16 years.

What I particularly like about her work is how she embraces the gritty reality of the locations of the photographs, there is no sugar-coating, no cropping out the bits that jar the eye.  Just like life, the detail is there to be dealt with.  In 7 images she portrays a womans life, her pain, her grudging acceptance of what she has been dealt and the little ray of light she finds in her children.

Donna DeCesare, in 1 image is succinct in her portrayal of tough love.  A small child lovingly clutches a pigeon to her chest in the kind of act of love one would associate a child having for a doll or a teddy bear.  Beside her in her grubby room lies a handgun.  In her world childish playthings take on a new meaning. Her ‘toys’ are a sinister reminder of her innocence

Ed Kashi

I like his thinking.  The relationship between photographs is explored using triptychs, rather than relying on one isolated image.  They have a storytelling quality, that either shows comparisons or contrasts between landscapes or subtly highlights the gestures that we universally take for granted.

I haven't yet decided on a mechanic for my own storytelling but there are some interesting ideas here.

A Lesson in Lighting

I was actually intending to be a fly on the wall this week, whilst those wanting studio practice got on with things.  A little bit of reportage of amateur photographers was what I intended but it didn’t quite work out that way. 

Having said all that it was a useful exercise in reminding me about the control needed to get the kind of lighting you want, in order to achieve a specific kind of effect.

Starting with Marcus we had a two light setup which, if we used one as the key light and one as the fill light initially left us with an interesting picture of the subject but with quite heavy shadows. The camera was set to F11 1/125 ISO 100.  A third light would have been useful for lighting the background and getting a whiter backdrop.

The following images were created using a key light with a honeycomb filter and a fill light with soft box. 

Using the honeycomb spot as key light the image shows strong shadows.  To create this effect we moved the light close to the subject and the subject close to the background

To soften the shadows we tried turning up the power of the fill light; soft box. The image also shows that the key light is too strong

  

His personal makeup artist acts as a natural diffuser of the key light

By moving the lights further away from the background and more onto the subject,  the background becomes darker

By putting a diffuser over both light sources the light across the face becomes more even

By moving the subject closer to the background and directing light onto the background we achieved a whiter backdrop.  By holding a reflector below the subject and reflecting light back onto the face the shadows under the chin are reduced