A Beautiful, Elegant Process

Cloud Study 2

"I believe as a photographer it is a continual journey. I find things out as I wander along, and they’re wonderful discoveries. Photography is a beautiful, elegant process. It’s not my primary goal to create the perfect masterpiece that somebody can put over the sofa. I much prefer this ongoing relationship. The more I create the more satisfying it is."

— Michael Kenna

To See the Innocence

Cloud Study 1

"So many times I’ve photographed stories that show the degradation of the planet. I had one idea to go and photograph the factories that were polluting, and to see all the deposits of garbage. But, in the end, I thought the only way to give us an incentive, to bring hope, is to show the pictures of the pristine planet – to see the innocence."

— Sebastião Salgado

Freeze Frame Reception at Blue Line Arts

Ephemeral Wetland

The 3rd Saturday reception for Blue Line Art's Freeze Frame open juried photography exhibition is tomorrow night from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. My prints Ephemeral Wetland and Path Through Oak Woodland will be on display, along with work from some of the best photographers in the area. I hope to see you there!

November 28, 2015 – January 9, 2016
Freeze Frame (juried show)
Blue Line Gallery
405 Vernon Street, Roseville, CA
3rd Saturday Reception: December 19, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
More Information →

Resolution

Digital Silver (Durst Theta on Ilford RC)

Archival Pigment (Epson P800 on Canson Baryta)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently transitioned from outsourcing my prints to a hybrid digital/silver service bureau, to printing in-house on my own archival pigment printer. I'd been using Digital Silver Imaging and Miller's, and was reasonably happy with the quality of the prints from both sources. The tones and gradients were very good (neutral and smooth), and the deep blacks were also excellent. The one nagging issue was that the prints were generally on the soft side, which worked fine for some subjects at some scales, but they could badly break down on some images in areas with high fidelity detail (as above).

The scan on the left is a digital/silver print. It's showing fairly extreme softness and a lack of fine detail in the vegetation. The scan on the right is a print from my Epson P800. It's showing far better detail, clarity, and separation of tones. These are magnified scans, and these differences might not be noticed by the average person at typical viewing distances, but for the type of work that I do (F64 style landscapes), this level of detail is a real benefit (and more satisfying on a personal level too).

Here's a related bit of information for my photographer friends who do their own printing. There's a long standing debate regarding how to handle print resolution when printing out of the Lightroom print module. No less an authority than Jeff Schewe (author of The Digital Print) recommends upsampling to the native resolution of the printer when printing out of Lightroom (360/720 for Epson, 300/600 for Canon). For images under 360ppi he's recommending upsampling to 360ppi, and for images between 360-720ppi he's recommending upsampling to 720ppi. On the other hand, both Martin Evening (author of The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book) and Julieanne Kost (Principal Digital Imaging Evangelist, Adobe) are recommending leaving the "Print Resolution" box unchecked, which is, in effect, setting the output resolution to "Auto". So, we have three of the top experts on Lightroom in disagreement on this critical point. On paper, Schewe's method makes the most sense and seems to provide the most control. Interestingly though, I've been running dozens of test prints using these and other output resolution settings, and in most cases, I have to agree with Evening and Kost; I've gotten consistently cleaner and more highly detailed prints with the resolution box unchecked. I can't (yet) explain technically why this is the case, but I'm a big fan of empirical evidence when it comes to things like the look-and-feel of prints.

Toning

From Wikipedia:

"In photography, toning is a method of changing the color of black-and-white photographs. In analog photography, toning is a chemical process carried out on silver-based photographic prints. This darkroom process can not be done with a color photograph. There is debate as to whether a toned black-and-white photograph should be considered to still be black-and-white, as simply being monochromatic is not a sufficient condition for an image to count as black-and-white. The effects of these processes can be emulated with software in digital photography."

My prior print process involved sending digital files to a service bureau that printed the images to traditional darkroom photographic paper using a very expensive commercial printer. The printer projected my digital files onto silver paper using a laser, exposing the paper which was then processed in traditional darkroom chemicals. The resulting black and white prints were about as close to neutral in tone as possible. This was generally not a bad thing, but at times I longed for the ability to control the tone of the prints.

Now that I’m printing black and white on a color archival pigment printer, the options for toning are nearly infinite. I’ve been experimenting with various shades of warm to cool, with different proportions in the shadows and highlights. The image on the left is a neutral black and white conversion with zero toning. The same image on the right has a subtle warm tone applied only to the shadows, with the highlights left completely neutral (this is called "split toning"). It’s interesting to see how the addition of a little warmth in the shadows increases the impression of depth in the photo, while also subtly altering the mood of the image.

The Alexander Gallery

Big Leaf Maple at Deer Creek

Angkula Seo Suspension Bridge

Nisenan Forest Sunrise

I am pleased to share that I am now represented by the Alexander Gallery in Nevada City. The Alexander Gallery (formerly known as the Mowen Solinksy Gallery), has been the premier gallery in Nevada County since it was established in 2004. They feature a wonderfully eclectic mix of artwork from local artists as well as established artists from around the country. I feel very fortunate to be sharing the walls with well known photographers such as Huntington Witherill, Richard Murai, Michael Paul Cole, and Steve Solinsky.

The images shown above were taken this fall in the Nisenan Forest, just southwest of Nevada City. The image on the left, titled "Big Leaf Maple at Deer Creek", captures filtered light illuminating a big leaf maple nestled within a thick grove of pines. The middle image is titled, "Angkula Seo Suspension Bridge". "Angkula Seo" is the traditional name used for Deer Creek by the local Nisenan People. The suspension bridge ties together the northern and southern sections of the Deer Creek Tribute Trail, about a mile west of Nevada City. And on the right is "Nisenan Forest Sunrise". This image was taken up a steep slope on the south side of the Deer Creek canyon. It was captured just as the sun was coming over the bluff early in the morning. There was only one beam of light that made it though the forest to the lens.

All three images are available as limited edition, framed prints at the Alexander Gallery. They were printed by me on Canson Baryta Photographique museum-grade paper using UltraChrome HD pigmented inks. The frames are dark gray stained hardwood, and all of the internal framing materials are conservation quality. Each image is 10"x10" within an 18"x18" frame. If you're in Nevada City for the holiday festivities, be sure to drop in. The gallery is located at 225 Broad Street, just one block up the hill from Highway 49. 

The Alexander Gallery →

From Silver to Pigment

Path Through Oak Woodland

According to a study conducted at San Jose State University, the release of heavy metals into the environment by retail photo processing labs declined by 73% between 1996 and 2006. This is an obvious result of the decline of film and the ascension of digital photography.

Over the past 4.5 years, my process has been digital up to the final step where I would outsource to a hybrid digital/silver pro lab. The prints were beautiful, but I've often wondered about the environmental impact of continuing to use a silver-based printing process. Though it's impossible to get precise information from the labs regarding their disposal procedures, it's clear that those toxins eventually end up somewhere in the environment, most likely in our rivers.

With that weighing on my mind over the years, I've finally decided to go to an in-house pigment-based printing workflow; in other words, I recently purchased a professional inkjet printer. My process is now 100% digital from start to finish, giving me full control over the waste products (at least until they go to the recycler).

So how do the new prints look? Amazing! Inkjet printing has fully matured over the past few years to a point where image quality and archival longevity surpass even the best darkroom prints. These new prints are a definite step up from my old silver prints. They show finer details, deeper blacks, and beautiful tonal transitions. The biggest advantage though, is in the wide selection of papers that are now available for archival pigment printing. Many of the manufacturers of the best fine art papers for watercolor painting and printmaking are now offering similar papers optimized for inkjet printers. Most notable is Canson, the venerable paper maker established in France in the 16th century. I'm particularly fond of their Baryta Photographique, a gorgeous paper that is reminiscent of the best fiber-based baryta darkroom papers. Prints on this paper are deep, rich, and highly detailed.

I'm still in the transition phase, but I'll eventually go through and re-print many of my favorite images using the new printer. It's hard to resist the temptation of seeing how the old images will look in this new medium.

Freed from Gravity

Big Leaf Maple, Study 2

"Wrapped in the deep fragrance of the forest, I listen to the flapping of the birds' wings, to the stirring of the ferns. I'm freed from gravity and float up--just a little--from the ground and drift in the air. Of course I can't stay there forever. It's just a momentary sensation--open my eyes and it's gone. Still, it's an overwhelming experience. Being able to float in the air."

— Haruki Murakami