1/30/2006
Thank You J.
Hi Dave,
I received my print on (Skipping Boxes) Friday. It's beautiful and arrived in perfect condition! It will now join your Met Life/Flatiron print on my living room wall.
Thank you!
J.
* * *
I got a couple of e-mails about the search engine not working properly in the photography store. That was because I was trying to kludge the google image search engine for my own site. However, I went back to their text search and that seems to work o.k. Just not as nifty as seeing a thumbnail.
I received my print on (Skipping Boxes) Friday. It's beautiful and arrived in perfect condition! It will now join your Met Life/Flatiron print on my living room wall.
Thank you!
J.
* * *
I got a couple of e-mails about the search engine not working properly in the photography store. That was because I was trying to kludge the google image search engine for my own site. However, I went back to their text search and that seems to work o.k. Just not as nifty as seeing a thumbnail.
Crane's Museo Silver Rag
I asked David at Crane papers for an eta for the Museo Silver Rag paper which I guess I've been raving about. Here is the happy (for me) reply:
Hi Dave,
Thanks for all the kind words. We are having the official launch of this product at the PMA show Feb 26-Mar 1 in Orlando. The paper will start shipping immediately following the show...only 4 weeks to go!
Best regards,
David
Here are some more specs from the PDF that David sent me:
SPECIFICATIONS
Museo® Silver Rag™ is made to archival standards:
• gloss finish
• 100% cotton
• internally buffered
• no optical brighteners
• pH: 7.9-8.5
• weight: 300 gsm
• thickness: 0.015” (380 μm)
• designed for pigmented inkjet inks (bold is mine)
• brightness: 90
• robust, damage-free packaging for
large sheets
I'm trying to time my paper buying now so that there's not much of the old RC type papers left and when this paper comes to market. I suppose it seems strange to get that excited about a paper - but this ink / printer / paper combination is as close to air-dried fiber darkroom print as I've seen. I can't claim to have seen every possible ink / printer / paper combination - nor can anyone, so I think it's fair for me to make this extremely positive appraisal. In other words, I'm using photo black K3 inks with the 4800. Who knows what the results will be with dye-based inks, or other ink formulations.
Here are some more specs from the PDF that David sent me:
SPECIFICATIONS
Museo® Silver Rag™ is made to archival standards:
• gloss finish
• 100% cotton
• internally buffered
• no optical brighteners
• pH: 7.9-8.5
• weight: 300 gsm
• thickness: 0.015” (380 μm)
• designed for pigmented inkjet inks (bold is mine)
• brightness: 90
• robust, damage-free packaging for
large sheets
I'm trying to time my paper buying now so that there's not much of the old RC type papers left and when this paper comes to market. I suppose it seems strange to get that excited about a paper - but this ink / printer / paper combination is as close to air-dried fiber darkroom print as I've seen. I can't claim to have seen every possible ink / printer / paper combination - nor can anyone, so I think it's fair for me to make this extremely positive appraisal. In other words, I'm using photo black K3 inks with the 4800. Who knows what the results will be with dye-based inks, or other ink formulations.
1/29/2006
1/28/2006
day 28
Took today off. I joined a gym yesterday and today went on the old stationary bike for the first time in years. After that I returned home and took a nice long nap.
1/27/2006
Hotel du Rocher
Hotel du Rocher, France
I always think of this image as having the best resolution of any medium format negative I have. Taken with TMX 100 with the Rollei TLR 3.5, and with the camera sitting on a ledge, and with a cable release. You can easily read the name of the hotel on the far left; and the sign in the center talks about "camping rules" and you see the white van at the bottom of the far right crevice? Well in the negative you can make out climbers moving up in the darkness and stretching at the bottom. The resolution is so good that even though the climber may be composed of only a couple of grains - they are three-dimensional.
The shot was taken with a deep orange filter. The mountain was the color of clay - so the resulting negative gave it an extra white "pop" and darkened the sky as well.
Trees, Yosemite
I hate to ruin the illusion but this is not some morning mist, but smoke from a small fire at Yosemite. It was a weird week there. Flooding, and this campfire that got out of hand. I got very excited and setup the TLR on the tripod for this before someone yelled at me to get out of the way. Seems like wherever I go someone is always yelling at me to get out of the way. This was done with the dreaded Delta 400 (my arch enemy as far as film goes).
Day 27
Dave, "On Your Mark" arrived in perfect shape. I've been under the weather for 8 days and only today got glass for mounting.
The tone quality is marvelous. It's a beautiful print and will hang with my other three Beckermans.
Thank you.
K.R.
When it was time to reprint On Your Mark, I saw that I only had an old negative scan that wasn't as good as what I can do now, but that the negative was going to need serious Photoshop spotting and it was going to be a big job to clean this one up. Just a tremendous amount of dust had gotten onto it.
I was tempted to just go with the old scan but I remind myself that every piece that goes out has to be as good as I can get it. That doesn't mean that every piece is great, just that I gave it what I had at the time. So I spent I'd say about three hours touching up this negative and re-working the print.
This sort of thing happens alot as my scanning and photoshop skills improve. Same thing happened yesterday. There was an order for Benches. I had my old scan, but not a new one from the 4990. So I went back to the drawing board - re-scanned it, and then worked on it with the new paper.
I'm just giving myself a pat on the back for the effort.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
One more surprising tidbit about sales. I was curious to see what the ratio was of men to women in terms of print sales. Over the last six months, the ratio is about 3 to 1 in favor of women. I had a feeling that more sales were from women, but I had no idea it was a three to one ratio.
On the other hand the e-mails that come in about technical issues and whatever back-and-forth there is in the blog: 100% male. My theory being that men may not enjoy talking about their feelings, and processing emotions - but put some new widget in front of them and stand back. I admit to being guilty of same (and I've gotten a lot of new widgets lately).
The tone quality is marvelous. It's a beautiful print and will hang with my other three Beckermans.
Thank you.
K.R.
When it was time to reprint On Your Mark, I saw that I only had an old negative scan that wasn't as good as what I can do now, but that the negative was going to need serious Photoshop spotting and it was going to be a big job to clean this one up. Just a tremendous amount of dust had gotten onto it.
I was tempted to just go with the old scan but I remind myself that every piece that goes out has to be as good as I can get it. That doesn't mean that every piece is great, just that I gave it what I had at the time. So I spent I'd say about three hours touching up this negative and re-working the print.
This sort of thing happens alot as my scanning and photoshop skills improve. Same thing happened yesterday. There was an order for Benches. I had my old scan, but not a new one from the 4990. So I went back to the drawing board - re-scanned it, and then worked on it with the new paper.
I'm just giving myself a pat on the back for the effort.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
One more surprising tidbit about sales. I was curious to see what the ratio was of men to women in terms of print sales. Over the last six months, the ratio is about 3 to 1 in favor of women. I had a feeling that more sales were from women, but I had no idea it was a three to one ratio.
On the other hand the e-mails that come in about technical issues and whatever back-and-forth there is in the blog: 100% male. My theory being that men may not enjoy talking about their feelings, and processing emotions - but put some new widget in front of them and stand back. I admit to being guilty of same (and I've gotten a lot of new widgets lately).
1/26/2006
shoes and wheels
Far from Yosemite, Mr. Beckerman was carrying on odd experiments with the new writing tablet. Eeek. The pen skids across the plastic like a bad skater. Eek, my hand has some shake to it. I guess I'll get to used to it. Ouch, hit that built-in button by accident. Let's try this on a picture. Oh, this is a good one, the guy pulling the bottles to the reclaim center.
Oh man, no one wants to see another homeless picture. Okay, let's see what's interesting -- the wheels; the shoe.
Actually it was Park Avenue. You know how it has that slightly uphill curve to it (East to West) around 79th street.
And then the clone stamp was brushed around until an appealing pattern showed itself.
Appealing, I say. No, it's appalling. I probably shouldn't even post this stuff - though what's the harm... You just see the twists and turns of a blindman driving an oldsmobile down a dirt road, at night -- with the headlights out and no brakes. But then that's the only way to get anywhere in this world.
more silver rag
On Luminous Landscape there is a better description of the Silver Rag paper than I can write. Here it is: Silver Rag write-up. The only caveat is, who knows what it will give you with ink from other manufacturers. Most of what I've read and tested has been with K3 inks.
1/25/2006
Church & World Trade Center
When I took this, at least ten years ago, it was just a contrast in shapes.
I always thought that the World Trade Center complex was an awful design and I'm sure that was in my head when I did this contrast with the nearby church.
Here was this tiny, ancient looking church - Greek Orthodox I think - with the towering ultra-modern WTC behind it. And there was a slight touch of light on the Church as well. That's all it was. How history changes things. The little church and the mighty towers - both gone. The world changed forever.
Escalator City
Escalator City, New York 2006
I'm learning my way with the wacom tablet. Fun. For someone with a surreal imagination, this is a great diversion from the so-called real world. At any rate - a while back I did some montages which were getting out-of-hand in terms of processing power, and one of the reasons I wanted the new pc was to be able to finish those montages. I especially want to work on the street shot which was composed of about fifty layers, each with a different object taken in various weather over the course of a few weeks. I also have the printer now so that it can be done at a respectable size which that type of montage needs.
1/24/2006
Montage Tablet
Well, the thing is - I'm doing more surreal montages. The prints for orders are sitting drying. So I hope I didn't make a major mistake, but I went out and bought a Wacom tablet. It's the graphire 4, 4 x5. I printed out the Canyons of New York on the new paper and gosh - that's like my favorite thing in years. Maybe I'm getting too much oxygen since I stopped smoking. It's just fun to look at and watch the city buildings go in and out of the mother of all Canyons. I will definitely put it up for sale.
day 24
January has been the longest month. It is now 24 days since I had my last cigarette. Time has slowed down considerably since last year. My guess - my metabolism slowed. My reflexes slowed. It's going to be tough at my tryout for the Mets this year. You'll notice that most of the very best baseball players smoke or take tobacco or some other substance that comes in unmarked bottles.
Baseball customs differ depending on culture. I know, or at least I heard a baseball commentator say that spitting and chewing tobacco in Japanese baseball was banned. I can understand that. It's not elegant. But what are the rules in other places where baseball is played. Can you chew on coca leaves in Colombia? Wow. Those must be some games.
Do they play baseball yet in Iraq? Wonder what the drug of choice would be for Iraqi baseball players? Probably just strong coffee. Hey, it's not so crazy. The president has compared Iraq to Japan a million times to show how former enemies can become friends and even play our game. So why not Iraq?
Baseball could be the key to the whole world-wide mess. We don't invade any countries that play baseball anymore, do we? Okay, maybe we did try Cuba once, but that was the exception that proves the rule.
Think of those guerilla fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan and what an advantage they'd have if we could draft them into the new pax American baseball league. Only problem is finding some of those suckers.
Day 24. The mind does wander.
* * *
Oh. In case you're wondering what's going on in my photography world - all printing. Doing a mind-meld with the 4800. I didn't know it could actually measure the paper thickness for you. Yes - it can. See manual for more. The printing extravaganza really has to do with what settings work best with the Silver Rag. I go through this process every time I switch to a new paper. And don't tell anyone but I enjoy it.
Baseball customs differ depending on culture. I know, or at least I heard a baseball commentator say that spitting and chewing tobacco in Japanese baseball was banned. I can understand that. It's not elegant. But what are the rules in other places where baseball is played. Can you chew on coca leaves in Colombia? Wow. Those must be some games.
Do they play baseball yet in Iraq? Wonder what the drug of choice would be for Iraqi baseball players? Probably just strong coffee. Hey, it's not so crazy. The president has compared Iraq to Japan a million times to show how former enemies can become friends and even play our game. So why not Iraq?
Baseball could be the key to the whole world-wide mess. We don't invade any countries that play baseball anymore, do we? Okay, maybe we did try Cuba once, but that was the exception that proves the rule.
Think of those guerilla fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan and what an advantage they'd have if we could draft them into the new pax American baseball league. Only problem is finding some of those suckers.
Day 24. The mind does wander.
* * *
Oh. In case you're wondering what's going on in my photography world - all printing. Doing a mind-meld with the 4800. I didn't know it could actually measure the paper thickness for you. Yes - it can. See manual for more. The printing extravaganza really has to do with what settings work best with the Silver Rag. I go through this process every time I switch to a new paper. And don't tell anyone but I enjoy it.
1/23/2006
Canyons of New York v2.0
Canyons of New York
It began with a shot from the Empire State Building. I began futzing with it in idiotic ways: first putting heads of people on the buildings in a Monty Pythonish way. Then I threw that away and forgot about the shot completely. In the middle of the night, I remembered the shot of the Grand Canyon and wondered how the two shots would look if they somewhat melded together.
Got out of bed - almost in a trance - made the adjustments - and went back to sleep. The next morning I looked at it again and thought - it is interesting in that sort of comic-book New Yorker magazine cover sort of way. But it's still pretty rough.
I've spent most of the day working with the roll of Museo Silver Rag. The stuff is beautiful but I'm still struggling with some issues that I think are related to it being on a roll. I'll discuss once they've been solved. No show-stoppers. If the paper was available for sale today, I would be the first to order a bunch.
1/22/2006
New York New York
A helluva town...
So what would you say is the most New York part of New York? What I mean by that is - if you was gonna make a kern (coin) - and you wanted to stick something on the back that was the symbol of New York - what would it be?
So what would you say is the most New York part of New York? What I mean by that is - if you was gonna make a kern (coin) - and you wanted to stick something on the back that was the symbol of New York - what would it be?
1/21/2006
Silver Rag
The Weight of the paper is 300 gsm.
* * *
Yes - Markus came by and I showed him some samples of the silver rag paper comparing them with luster and smooth pearl and we both agreed this stuff has a better "feel" to it and is damned close to a fiber print. I framed a small version of Night Storm on the Silver Rag so it would be under glass, and I know this print very well - and you would need to know what to look for in order to distinguish it from an Ilford Gallerie Fiber print. The paper is 100% cotton, has a heavy enough feel so that you aren't going to run into rippling or other effects due to humidity or lack thereof - and it has a presence which the plasticky RC type papers don't have. As I said to Markus - it makes me want to get closer and really look at the print closely.
So let's hope it hits the stores soon - and let's see what it costs. I hope to do some testing with the roll version I got yesterday to see how it goes through the printer and what the curl is like.
* * *
Yes - Markus came by and I showed him some samples of the silver rag paper comparing them with luster and smooth pearl and we both agreed this stuff has a better "feel" to it and is damned close to a fiber print. I framed a small version of Night Storm on the Silver Rag so it would be under glass, and I know this print very well - and you would need to know what to look for in order to distinguish it from an Ilford Gallerie Fiber print. The paper is 100% cotton, has a heavy enough feel so that you aren't going to run into rippling or other effects due to humidity or lack thereof - and it has a presence which the plasticky RC type papers don't have. As I said to Markus - it makes me want to get closer and really look at the print closely.
So let's hope it hits the stores soon - and let's see what it costs. I hope to do some testing with the roll version I got yesterday to see how it goes through the printer and what the curl is like.
1/20/2006
1/19/2006
Silver Rag
Oh - that is sweet. Crane Museo sent me a roll of Silver Rag to test. Can't wait to see how it goes through the printer. I think they may have made a lifelong friend.
* * *
Jeff posted this bombshell (at least to me) about Konica Minolta withdrawing from the photography business.
* * *
Jeff posted this bombshell (at least to me) about Konica Minolta withdrawing from the photography business.
Day 19
Valentine's Day Sale. At the very least I'm having fun making these web ads. Discovered the curve text button in Photoshop. Hey, get your hot Valentine's Day pictures here. I think I'm going to have a different sale every day.
Anyway - as much as some of you may like my pictures - I discovered something alarming last night: namely that they're not "novel." If anything they all looked like they were taken in the 30's or 40's. Yes, you can tell the era if you look at people's clothing, but the style - the style is strictly old-fashioned. Passe. No wonder I should stay out of salons. Where's the novelty? Where's the flash? Where's the "I never saw that before" appeal? Where's the widget du jour? I can't find it in my images anywhere and believe me, I looked.
Just ordinary things shot in an ordinary way. I need to find the old-fashioned gallery for old-fashioned photographers. Buddy is sitting on the desk watching me type this and purring loudly. I'm not sure if that means he agrees or not. Probably wouldn't know an HCB from a Van Gogh.
Oh well. I'll go to the old-fashioned photographers home soon and hope they've got an internet connection there.
"I wanted to let you know that my brother loved the prints (Poet's Walk and Subway Car). I gave them to him as a Christmas present. I also wanted you to know that your service was impeccable - thank you. "
1/18/2006
Day 18
Not bad. Last night, was the first time since I stopped smoking that I slept soundly through the night. I think the physical part is over and now the psychological cravings kick in. The physical withdrawal, as annoying as it is - has always been the easiest part since it is just being able to endure a lot of pain, which I can do. The more difficult part is when you've forgotten about all the pain you went through - and something emotional sets you off - and you feel like - oh what the hell - I just need one. One cigarette will help me so much.
Now that craving has a time and life of it's own. Usually it last for a few minutes - though if you don't look at your watch you think it's longer than that. But those cravings can go on for days and days and that's when it gets tough.
I haven't run into them yet - but I know that I will. They are always around the corner. Talk to just about any ex-smoker and ask if there aren't times - decades later when some situation makes them think about reaching for a cigarette. That's when it gets real dangerous.
Be that all as it is. I got a lot done this month. Finally got my matting supplies and storage organized by buying a bureau and getting pre-cut mats. My packaging system costs a little bit more, but is much quicker for me. I got out four orders yesterday morning which is a new land speed record for me.
New p.c. and backup system is working well. I even upgraded from Quickbooks 2002 to the current version and did a bunch of things to make entering sales quicker. Compared sales year-to-date this year with year-to-date last year and they've been three times as much.
In other words, I've turned my apartment into a production line. And even bought a new rug and curtains. Anyway - very productive month. My charge card is getting up near its limit - but I have the stuff I need to run the business for another year and my theory is that every year I stay in business brings me one step closer to financial solvency - or is it bankruptcy? I get the two confused sometimes.
Now that craving has a time and life of it's own. Usually it last for a few minutes - though if you don't look at your watch you think it's longer than that. But those cravings can go on for days and days and that's when it gets tough.
I haven't run into them yet - but I know that I will. They are always around the corner. Talk to just about any ex-smoker and ask if there aren't times - decades later when some situation makes them think about reaching for a cigarette. That's when it gets real dangerous.
Be that all as it is. I got a lot done this month. Finally got my matting supplies and storage organized by buying a bureau and getting pre-cut mats. My packaging system costs a little bit more, but is much quicker for me. I got out four orders yesterday morning which is a new land speed record for me.
New p.c. and backup system is working well. I even upgraded from Quickbooks 2002 to the current version and did a bunch of things to make entering sales quicker. Compared sales year-to-date this year with year-to-date last year and they've been three times as much.
In other words, I've turned my apartment into a production line. And even bought a new rug and curtains. Anyway - very productive month. My charge card is getting up near its limit - but I have the stuff I need to run the business for another year and my theory is that every year I stay in business brings me one step closer to financial solvency - or is it bankruptcy? I get the two confused sometimes.
More Secrets
Continuing with my Victoria's Secret campaign tips, I made this replica of what they've got on their site and plastered it on my home page. This is not a new offer. It's just more pronounced. Think about it. Why should anyone charge shipping if the orders are large enough? Hey - no shipping charges on orders over $10,000. I guess it depends on what you're shipping and how.Speaking of shipping - two packages brought to post office for overseas shipping and once again, I managed to fill out the wrong custom form. Remember, you have your two choices, the little green one and the larger white one. Last time I was told that for a package of a certain size and weight (same as today, same as today!) I should fill out the larger white one. But of course when I got to the window I was told to use the smaller green one. Reason? You should use the smaller green one for packages that are under 4 pounds. Really? I never heard that one before. Yep, that's the rule she says: 4 pounds or under. I tell her that every time I fill out a custom slip I get told something different... Oh ---
1/17/2006
Under New Manager
Today, this place is under new management. The new management will cause empty bottles to fill with wine. Wine glasses and table clothes will appear in front of you. It will be a black-tie affair. Your chariot awaits. The new management is here. Keep the faith and have another bit of that excellent caviar. - The Other Worlds' Word
Dave's Secret
In case you've been wondering about the rhyme and reason if any to my last sale, I will tell you my secret. The other day I was walking down 86th street and boys being boys I always look in the window of the Victoria's Secret store, hoping to see something I've not seen before. (That's a story for another time and a more adult audience).
They were having a Semi-Annual Sale. I began to wonder about the expertise that must go into these decisions about what to call a sale, and when to have them. And how they built an empire selling women's underwear and it dawned on me that they may be the best marketers in the world (shows how much I know).
I made a secret vow that whenever Victoria's Secret had a sale - I'd offer one too. We are both in the business of selling illusion.
You know that there will be all sorts of sales during the year: the next one being the Valentine's Day Sale (and I will do same if I'm still playing this game). But each sale will have it's own special aura, and will be for a certain time only.
Or to put it another way - I'll emulate the best and the brightest. If I don't like semi-annual sale, the next sale may be Ten Minute Sale. Yes, if you place your order between 4 o'clock p.m. and 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday the... SAVE - I don't know what, save something. SAVE YOURSELF. SAVE SOMEONE ELSE.
But whatever you do - don't tell anyone about this as it is, Dave's Secret.
They were having a Semi-Annual Sale. I began to wonder about the expertise that must go into these decisions about what to call a sale, and when to have them. And how they built an empire selling women's underwear and it dawned on me that they may be the best marketers in the world (shows how much I know).
I made a secret vow that whenever Victoria's Secret had a sale - I'd offer one too. We are both in the business of selling illusion.
You know that there will be all sorts of sales during the year: the next one being the Valentine's Day Sale (and I will do same if I'm still playing this game). But each sale will have it's own special aura, and will be for a certain time only.
Or to put it another way - I'll emulate the best and the brightest. If I don't like semi-annual sale, the next sale may be Ten Minute Sale. Yes, if you place your order between 4 o'clock p.m. and 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday the... SAVE - I don't know what, save something. SAVE YOURSELF. SAVE SOMEONE ELSE.
But whatever you do - don't tell anyone about this as it is, Dave's Secret.
1/16/2006
Batch Scanning w/ 4990
A while back Jeff asked about the feasibility of using the Epson 4990 for batch scanning 35mm negatives / slides. Last night I had to do something like that for a client. I had about 40 color negatives that needed to be scanned for output at say 300 dpi 8 x 10.
A couple of quick impressions: the 35mm holder is a pain to load. I was doing color negative film. It goes emulsion up into the carrier and boy it wanted to curl up and I had a lot of trouble getting it to lie flat. As you know you can put four strips (6 negs each) into the holder. Yes, there is a little notch to slide the film under at one end, but not at the other. I got the stuff in okay, but it is just not the same as using a good sturdy negative holder for a film scanner.
I was using VueScan. Next problem was that in the preview, I really couldn't get all four strips lined up properly so that I could scan all four strips at once. This might have been easier to deal with if I was using the Epson Twain interface. Don't know. But I lined things up so I could do one strip at a time.
Size @ 4800 dpi input scan is 15 x 23 inches. But in my opinion, you'd be crazy to use this to scan 35mm negs. at that resolution unless your film scanner was broken. Remember, you are adding two surfaces that can and will contain dust, hair, and other unwanted junk. Remember that the negative is just not lying as flat as it would with a dedicated film scanner. In other words - my quick pronouncement is that for 35mm negatives, I'd still use it if I had to do a large scanning job where the quality of individual scans could be mostly for the web or for knowing what you had (indexing). But for the real thing - where you want to get everything you can out of the negative / slide - I'd still jump to a film scanner.
The same, obviously is not true for the Medium Format and large format negatives where I'm dealing with one negative at a time and you can put the negative on the sweet spot of the scanning glass, and you are prepared to clean each neg. up as needed.
A couple of quick impressions: the 35mm holder is a pain to load. I was doing color negative film. It goes emulsion up into the carrier and boy it wanted to curl up and I had a lot of trouble getting it to lie flat. As you know you can put four strips (6 negs each) into the holder. Yes, there is a little notch to slide the film under at one end, but not at the other. I got the stuff in okay, but it is just not the same as using a good sturdy negative holder for a film scanner.
I was using VueScan. Next problem was that in the preview, I really couldn't get all four strips lined up properly so that I could scan all four strips at once. This might have been easier to deal with if I was using the Epson Twain interface. Don't know. But I lined things up so I could do one strip at a time.
Size @ 4800 dpi input scan is 15 x 23 inches. But in my opinion, you'd be crazy to use this to scan 35mm negs. at that resolution unless your film scanner was broken. Remember, you are adding two surfaces that can and will contain dust, hair, and other unwanted junk. Remember that the negative is just not lying as flat as it would with a dedicated film scanner. In other words - my quick pronouncement is that for 35mm negatives, I'd still use it if I had to do a large scanning job where the quality of individual scans could be mostly for the web or for knowing what you had (indexing). But for the real thing - where you want to get everything you can out of the negative / slide - I'd still jump to a film scanner.
The same, obviously is not true for the Medium Format and large format negatives where I'm dealing with one negative at a time and you can put the negative on the sweet spot of the scanning glass, and you are prepared to clean each neg. up as needed.
1/15/2006
1/14/2006
Building #306
Building #306, 1994 (Pentax 67)
BEFORE AND AFTER
Here's the shot as it came out of the 4990 with vuescan, with only resizing for the web. Above is the finished version for the web. It may seem extreme, but if you pick up Ansel Adams' The Making of 40 Photographs you will see similar examples.
2 weeks
Not quite official since the day she ain't over; but this does mark the two-week mark for ye olde addict. It is nice to be able to carry boxes up the stairs without getting winded; and I think there were some unexpected effects such as wanting to shower every 20 minutes, and clean the house, and have some feeling of being organized.
At this point, the physical monkey is supposed to be off ye olde backside; and all that's left is the big psychological monkey. I definitely feel that monkey as a couple of times I went to reach for a cigarette and realized I didn't have any anymore and had given up smoking.
Last night I just about slept through the night for the first time since quitting. But around 5 a.m. was woken by this dream that I swear I've had before.
One of those - I'm late for a test type dreams - where I'm running up flights of stairs. I'm not sure if this school is college, high-school or what, but the stairs have mesh fencing. Everyone is already sitting down in class waiting for a teacher to hand out papers. I get to the top floor and the halls are empty. I don't remember which classroom I'm supposed to go to. As I run down the corridors I open each door and see perfectly geometrical classes of students with their hands clasped, awaiting something.
I'm trying to remember which class I'm supposed to be going to. Spanish? Algebra? History? I have no idea. To make things worse, I can't remember if I'm a student or the teacher. The only thing I know is that I have to get to one of these rooms and do something.
Finally - I open a door to a closet where there's an eraser-cleaning machine. The room is filled with chalk dust and the door slams shut behind me. The machine goes on by itself and I start suffocating on the dust. I hear knocking on the door behind. I can't talk. I want to scream out that I'm drowning in chalk dust but my mouth is too dry. I catch sight of myself in a mirror - white-faced.
The door opens behind me and I jump past this Lincolnesque figure and continue running; but now I'm leaving white footprints in the corridors. I'm running and running and soon I realize that I'm going over my own tracks. I fall to the floor and look through my bookbag. That's it. My bookbag. What books do I have. I open them up, one at a time. They're all the same book: The Anthropomorphic Arcade. But the pages are blank.
Bells are ringing. I find myself - as you do in dreams - at a registration desk on another floor where I'm asking if they have a record of me going to this school and if so what class am I supposed to be in. All stuffy old ladies thumbing through cards. Finally one them recognizes me.
Mr. Beckerman. Are you feeling alright? Why aren't you in your --
At which point I wake up.
Yes, that's day 14 for you.
At this point, the physical monkey is supposed to be off ye olde backside; and all that's left is the big psychological monkey. I definitely feel that monkey as a couple of times I went to reach for a cigarette and realized I didn't have any anymore and had given up smoking.
Last night I just about slept through the night for the first time since quitting. But around 5 a.m. was woken by this dream that I swear I've had before.
One of those - I'm late for a test type dreams - where I'm running up flights of stairs. I'm not sure if this school is college, high-school or what, but the stairs have mesh fencing. Everyone is already sitting down in class waiting for a teacher to hand out papers. I get to the top floor and the halls are empty. I don't remember which classroom I'm supposed to go to. As I run down the corridors I open each door and see perfectly geometrical classes of students with their hands clasped, awaiting something.
I'm trying to remember which class I'm supposed to be going to. Spanish? Algebra? History? I have no idea. To make things worse, I can't remember if I'm a student or the teacher. The only thing I know is that I have to get to one of these rooms and do something.
Finally - I open a door to a closet where there's an eraser-cleaning machine. The room is filled with chalk dust and the door slams shut behind me. The machine goes on by itself and I start suffocating on the dust. I hear knocking on the door behind. I can't talk. I want to scream out that I'm drowning in chalk dust but my mouth is too dry. I catch sight of myself in a mirror - white-faced.
The door opens behind me and I jump past this Lincolnesque figure and continue running; but now I'm leaving white footprints in the corridors. I'm running and running and soon I realize that I'm going over my own tracks. I fall to the floor and look through my bookbag. That's it. My bookbag. What books do I have. I open them up, one at a time. They're all the same book: The Anthropomorphic Arcade. But the pages are blank.
Bells are ringing. I find myself - as you do in dreams - at a registration desk on another floor where I'm asking if they have a record of me going to this school and if so what class am I supposed to be in. All stuffy old ladies thumbing through cards. Finally one them recognizes me.
Mr. Beckerman. Are you feeling alright? Why aren't you in your --
At which point I wake up.
Yes, that's day 14 for you.
1/13/2006
Schurz Park Trees
Schurz Trees in Rain
A few years ago I setup a glass plate in front of the camera for this shot, and put different substances on the glass: water, vaseline etc. I don't remember anymore how this particular shot was done. I guess I could just have bought a fog filter, but I had been reading about effects that were used in motion picture films in the early days and I had wanted to fool around with the idea of shooting through glass that wasn't right up on the lens.
When I looked at the scan of the negative, it still wasn't "enough" diffusion so I ran it through a median filter - and blended it with the original shot. For better or worse - I'm not sure yet.
Day 13
Nothing unexpected here - but here ya go:
"- When I faced what seemed like a wall of used Nikon F100s at Adorama a short while back, I wondered how long it would be until Nikon started paring back their film-camera line. I got my answer today: except for the extremes of their SLR line (the new-ish flagship F6 at one end, the lowly FM 10 at the other), all of their film-based cameras are biting the dust, along with a lot of their remaining manual-focus lenses. There's a lot of demand for the F6, and presumably the FM 10 (the student-shooter's standard, affordable sidearm, courtesy of Cosina)." - Barrett
TODAYS NEW YORK TIMES
TOKYO, Thursday, Jan. 12 - The Nikon Corporation, the Japanese camera maker, said Thursday that it would stop making most of its film cameras and lenses in order to focus on digital cameras.
The beat goes on, and the beat goes on... (Sonny & Cher)
"- When I faced what seemed like a wall of used Nikon F100s at Adorama a short while back, I wondered how long it would be until Nikon started paring back their film-camera line. I got my answer today: except for the extremes of their SLR line (the new-ish flagship F6 at one end, the lowly FM 10 at the other), all of their film-based cameras are biting the dust, along with a lot of their remaining manual-focus lenses. There's a lot of demand for the F6, and presumably the FM 10 (the student-shooter's standard, affordable sidearm, courtesy of Cosina)." - Barrett
TODAYS NEW YORK TIMES
TOKYO, Thursday, Jan. 12 - The Nikon Corporation, the Japanese camera maker, said Thursday that it would stop making most of its film cameras and lenses in order to focus on digital cameras.
A company spokesman said Nikon made the decision because sales of film cameras have plunged. In the most recent fiscal year ended March 2005, Nikon said that film camera bodies accounted for 3 percent of the 180 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in sales at the company's camera and imaging division. That is down from 16 percent the previous year.
By contrast, sales of digital cameras have soared, the company said, jumping to 75 percent of total sales in the year ended March 2005, from 47 percent three years earlier. Scanners and other products account for the remainder of the division's sales....
The beat goes on, and the beat goes on... (Sonny & Cher)
1/12/2006
Your Move
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone," it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."
-----------------------------------
"Well, I was just inventing a new way of getting over a gate - would you like to hear it? "
"Very much indeed," Alice said politely.
"I'll tell you how I came to think of it," said the Knight. "You see, I said to myself 'The only difficulty is with the feet: the head is high enough already.' Now first I put my head on top of the gate - then the head's high enough - then I stand on my head - and the feet are high enough, you see - then I'm over, you see?"
(Through the Looking Glass)
Day 12
I put up Lost Music for sale. That shot has several hidden meanings for me; feelings about my mother who was a musician and the echo effect of the gate's vertical lines and the musical staff; as well as other things that I'm sure are not remotely apparant to anyone else.
But there you go. I can well imagine the guard in the future museum pointing out these "secrets" to the art grazing public. "Now, if you'll step this way, we'll take a look at Lost Music. Of course, the irony is that the music is not lost, it has been found by the photographer. And furthermore, if you look at the hologram closely, you'll notice that the gate echoes the idea of the musical staff." And some future wiseguy can say, yeah, 'cept that a musical staff only has 5 lines in it. So why's his fence have six lines? Huh? And the curator can explain that in the 20th century, photographers didn't like to be too literal.
How does day 12 feel? Better than day 11. My mind is still not into shooting, and I'm not pressuring myself. I went at a pretty good clip for a long time, and I'm enjoying re-working old prints.
But there you go. I can well imagine the guard in the future museum pointing out these "secrets" to the art grazing public. "Now, if you'll step this way, we'll take a look at Lost Music. Of course, the irony is that the music is not lost, it has been found by the photographer. And furthermore, if you look at the hologram closely, you'll notice that the gate echoes the idea of the musical staff." And some future wiseguy can say, yeah, 'cept that a musical staff only has 5 lines in it. So why's his fence have six lines? Huh? And the curator can explain that in the 20th century, photographers didn't like to be too literal.
How does day 12 feel? Better than day 11. My mind is still not into shooting, and I'm not pressuring myself. I went at a pretty good clip for a long time, and I'm enjoying re-working old prints.
Eating Clubs
Not having attended Princeton, I was surprised to hear that they had eating clubs at Princeton, though Judge Alito said he wasn't a member of any. I'm wondering whether these eating clubs were copied from the eating clubs we had at my old high school: DeWitt Clinton. Here are a couple of eating clubs that I remember:
Smashing Face Eating Club
Dumb and Happy Eating Club
My Race Only Eating Club
My Race Only II Eating Club
Get The ?*!* Outa Here Eating Club
And here are a few from Princeton:
Ivy Club 1879
Cap and Gown Club 1890
Colonial Club 1891
Key and Seal Club 1904-1968
Dial Lodge 1907
Arch Club 1911-1917
Cloister Inn 1912-1972, 1977-
Court Club 1921-1964
Prospect Club 1941-1959
Judge Alito may not have been a member of any of these eating clubs, but he does know which side his bread is buttered on.
To read more about these clubs and their history, click here.
Smashing Face Eating Club
Dumb and Happy Eating Club
My Race Only Eating Club
My Race Only II Eating Club
Get The ?*!* Outa Here Eating Club
And here are a few from Princeton:
Ivy Club 1879
Cap and Gown Club 1890
Colonial Club 1891
Key and Seal Club 1904-1968
Dial Lodge 1907
Arch Club 1911-1917
Cloister Inn 1912-1972, 1977-
Court Club 1921-1964
Prospect Club 1941-1959
Judge Alito may not have been a member of any of these eating clubs, but he does know which side his bread is buttered on.
To read more about these clubs and their history, click here.
Lost Music
I'm still working over old images. This one is tantalizing because I can make out bits and pieces of the lyrics and the chords. The phrase Let It Rain is in there twice. A first draft of: The weather outside is frightful? And I can make out that it is for a guitar and what key it is in and the time signature is 4/4.
This interest in a piece of lost music, now really found music - that's sufficient for day 12.
1/11/2006
Winogrand
I've been going through the Winogrand, Figments from the Real World book (yes finally Matt). He comes across as a sort of Kerouac beat photographer - rough around the edges and clicking at a thousand frames a minute. Sort of like automatic typing. And I can understand the flash that such energy imparts into the world. At the same time - I have to admit that neither Kerouac nor Winogrand are my cup of tea.
What? Heresy? It's true. I could never finish On The Road. And looking through the Figments from the Real World makes me want to go find a good HCB book to flip through. And what's even worse is Winogrand was from my old neighborhood - well close enough to call it my old neighborhood.
I know how it happens. The early shots - full of energy - tone - the things that excite you when you first start - get warped over by theory. Or maybe we all just run out of steam at some point.
Throw out the old - in with the new - throw out the technique - replace with something different. Stream of consciousness.
And - to make matters more inexplicable - the shots that I found myself staring at the most were the Rodeo shots; the Texas shots; the application of a New York sensibility to a foreign landscape. Those shots I liked a lot.
I'll just consider this part one for now - and don't know if there will be a part two - but if there is - who knows - my reaction may be completely different.
What? Heresy? It's true. I could never finish On The Road. And looking through the Figments from the Real World makes me want to go find a good HCB book to flip through. And what's even worse is Winogrand was from my old neighborhood - well close enough to call it my old neighborhood.
I know how it happens. The early shots - full of energy - tone - the things that excite you when you first start - get warped over by theory. Or maybe we all just run out of steam at some point.
Throw out the old - in with the new - throw out the technique - replace with something different. Stream of consciousness.
And - to make matters more inexplicable - the shots that I found myself staring at the most were the Rodeo shots; the Texas shots; the application of a New York sensibility to a foreign landscape. Those shots I liked a lot.
I'll just consider this part one for now - and don't know if there will be a part two - but if there is - who knows - my reaction may be completely different.
1/10/2006
Isle de la Cite
Isle de la Cite, Paris
Cities have their special places where the elements meet up. The Isle de la Cite always feels like the spiritual vortex of Paris. The man under the tree knows this. He has removed his shoes but kept his suit and tie on. This is the true sign of a spiritual figure.
Day 10
I don't know if it is the effect of more oxygen or what, but it is a little bit scary to have become so organized during the last ten days. The biggest move I made: I took the unheard of plunge and tossed out the giant boxes I had been storing in case I have to send some piece of equipment back. Screw it. The big Epson 4800 box went out. The Epson 2200 box - tossed. Scanner boxes, One Touch boxes - all gone. This cleared out about 2/3's of what I had up in the loft, and gave me more room to store packaging materials.
If one of these babies does break down, and if it has to be sent back - then I will have to suffer putting a box together, but I'll be damned if I'm going to clog the house with boxes for the rest of my days just in case I have to send the thing back. I'm sure that by now someone is sleeping in the big 4800 box. Sleep well.
As far as how I feel on day 10: I'm still waking up at 3 a.m. and eventually falling back asleep around 5 a.m. for an hour or so - but the days are feeling shorter - and not as interminable as the first few days were. I'm eating better since it is fun to actually taste your food.
One irony is that the cat used to wake me at 4 a.m. - now he's very puzzled because I wake him at 3 a.m. Hey Buddy - it's payback time.
If one of these babies does break down, and if it has to be sent back - then I will have to suffer putting a box together, but I'll be damned if I'm going to clog the house with boxes for the rest of my days just in case I have to send the thing back. I'm sure that by now someone is sleeping in the big 4800 box. Sleep well.
As far as how I feel on day 10: I'm still waking up at 3 a.m. and eventually falling back asleep around 5 a.m. for an hour or so - but the days are feeling shorter - and not as interminable as the first few days were. I'm eating better since it is fun to actually taste your food.
One irony is that the cat used to wake me at 4 a.m. - now he's very puzzled because I wake him at 3 a.m. Hey Buddy - it's payback time.
1/09/2006
Day 9 and 2
Purchased house furnishings at Bed, Bath and Beyond which included:
1 ox blood colored curtain for window
1 tension rod to hang curtains
1 throw rug which has a roughly woven pattern.
Total cost: $124.
This is as much as I've spent on the apartment (not having to do with the photography business) over the last five years. Sort of scary to realize how much money and energy went into equipment and how little went into furnishings.
Also ordered one more Maxtor One Touch 300GB drives. That makes three. I can order the hardware in the blink of an eye. The curtains and such take more fortitude.
My plan for tomorrow is to get the bathroom fixed up a little, and dust off the film developing stuff which has gathered a fine layer of plaster dust from the hole near the steampipe in bathroom. Tomorrow will be Day 10, and that is another milestone. Milestones, in my opinion end on the 14th day, and after that you get to celebrate liberation on a monthly and then on a yearly basis.
1 ox blood colored curtain for window
1 tension rod to hang curtains
1 throw rug which has a roughly woven pattern.
Total cost: $124.
This is as much as I've spent on the apartment (not having to do with the photography business) over the last five years. Sort of scary to realize how much money and energy went into equipment and how little went into furnishings.
Also ordered one more Maxtor One Touch 300GB drives. That makes three. I can order the hardware in the blink of an eye. The curtains and such take more fortitude.
My plan for tomorrow is to get the bathroom fixed up a little, and dust off the film developing stuff which has gathered a fine layer of plaster dust from the hole near the steampipe in bathroom. Tomorrow will be Day 10, and that is another milestone. Milestones, in my opinion end on the 14th day, and after that you get to celebrate liberation on a monthly and then on a yearly basis.
Day 9
The only problem I've been having since giving up my addiction has been waking up at 3 a.m. and when I say waking up, I mean it is as if my toe was stuck in the electrical outlet. Bam! No snoozing. And the dreams are what I'd call electric as well.
Last night for example, I found myself traveling the 6 train which gets detoured to Cleveland where there is a marching band that I am enlisted in. I keep telling everyone that I don't belong in Cleveland - and that I didn't know the #6 train went to Cleveland and everyone that is in Cleveland is dressing me in this high-school uniform and I find myself carrying a marching band tuba.
In other words, bam! and boom! Ump Pah. Ump Pah. The parade moves down a wide boulevard where old women are throwing flowers at us as if we are on our way off to war. And I'm puzzled by this until I look ahead and see that the band is going onto a troop ship marked: Middle East Tour of Duty.
I ditch the tuba, and scramble to the sidelines but I'm picked up by the police for illegal disposing of government property (the tuba) and taken to a holding cell in the Cleveland City Hall.
The mayor, a fat little man with an accordian case strapped to his back sits down on the other side of the bars and plays polkas for me, all the while explaining that I'm in deep trouble and that I am being accused of hijacking the #6 local.
Idiotic, I telll him. You can't hijack a subway.
True, he replies. It hasn't been done before - but that's no reason that I can't be the first. And besides, he grins - we've got the pictures to prove it.
He then continues playing a squeeky rendition of Roll Out the Barrel.
Bam. Awake. I try to fall back asleep to see what is going to happen next, but no luck.
Last night for example, I found myself traveling the 6 train which gets detoured to Cleveland where there is a marching band that I am enlisted in. I keep telling everyone that I don't belong in Cleveland - and that I didn't know the #6 train went to Cleveland and everyone that is in Cleveland is dressing me in this high-school uniform and I find myself carrying a marching band tuba.
In other words, bam! and boom! Ump Pah. Ump Pah. The parade moves down a wide boulevard where old women are throwing flowers at us as if we are on our way off to war. And I'm puzzled by this until I look ahead and see that the band is going onto a troop ship marked: Middle East Tour of Duty.
I ditch the tuba, and scramble to the sidelines but I'm picked up by the police for illegal disposing of government property (the tuba) and taken to a holding cell in the Cleveland City Hall.
The mayor, a fat little man with an accordian case strapped to his back sits down on the other side of the bars and plays polkas for me, all the while explaining that I'm in deep trouble and that I am being accused of hijacking the #6 local.
Idiotic, I telll him. You can't hijack a subway.
True, he replies. It hasn't been done before - but that's no reason that I can't be the first. And besides, he grins - we've got the pictures to prove it.
He then continues playing a squeeky rendition of Roll Out the Barrel.
Bam. Awake. I try to fall back asleep to see what is going to happen next, but no luck.
1/08/2006
Man on Crutches
I'm beginning to put together my other gallery which I'm going to call, The Forgotten. No, maybe not The Forgotten, maybe The Unwanted. No, maybe not The Unwanted, maybe The Unsellable. The shots that just give you no hope. No feeling of wanting to get up in the morning. Shots that may be good to view after you've made it and don't feel to close to our own vulnerability. Not struck down by terrorists - but hit by the nature of being human. This particular shot is part of my ongoing project to save some of my old Delta 400 negatives which are just about all purple now.
Day 8
I'm going to have a big celebration, having made it through a week without smokes. You're all invited to my fantasy party. It will start off with having a large table installed in front of my apartment building with a canopy. Bring your own heaters.
I am offering boiled elk meat, and fried grouse and broiled East River fish (not sure what they're called anymore because of the genetic mutations).
But don't come for the food alone. There will be good talk as well. My friend John the Walker will be there for sure. He wants to ask you to buy him CDs for the next holiday. Always knows the next holiday - in this case G.Washington's birthday. Don't get too close to John as he spits a little when he talks.
And there will be Geraldine the Dog Walker. She is a lovely girl - but has taken to barking lately.
I have asked my super Gino if he'd make a toast. He said he would which means that he'll never show up.
All-in-all a good time should be had by all (at least by all who don't show up).
* * *
On the shooting front, hard to believe but for the first time in a long time I ventured out and had a good time shooting around 59th street. The desire and the excitement of it are slowly returning. I'm thinking that I need a 35mm (focal length) lens and am starting to look at the Cosina Voigtlanders again. I've been very happy with the 28 f1.9; wasn't crazy about the 40mm Nokton; and in the 35mm range there is a lot to choose from. (Speaking of which, man that Grandy site is hard to navigate).
I am offering boiled elk meat, and fried grouse and broiled East River fish (not sure what they're called anymore because of the genetic mutations).
But don't come for the food alone. There will be good talk as well. My friend John the Walker will be there for sure. He wants to ask you to buy him CDs for the next holiday. Always knows the next holiday - in this case G.Washington's birthday. Don't get too close to John as he spits a little when he talks.
And there will be Geraldine the Dog Walker. She is a lovely girl - but has taken to barking lately.
I have asked my super Gino if he'd make a toast. He said he would which means that he'll never show up.
All-in-all a good time should be had by all (at least by all who don't show up).
* * *
On the shooting front, hard to believe but for the first time in a long time I ventured out and had a good time shooting around 59th street. The desire and the excitement of it are slowly returning. I'm thinking that I need a 35mm (focal length) lens and am starting to look at the Cosina Voigtlanders again. I've been very happy with the 28 f1.9; wasn't crazy about the 40mm Nokton; and in the 35mm range there is a lot to choose from. (Speaking of which, man that Grandy site is hard to navigate).
1/07/2006
1/06/2006
Got 'em
Received the order. The pictures are fabulous and better than we could have expected. We love them. Thank you so much!
- T.W.
Ah, music to my nicotine-starved ears.
- T.W.
Ah, music to my nicotine-starved ears.
| Qty | Title | Price | Print Size | Matte Size | Type |
| 1 | Flat Iron, Tilted | $25 | 5 x 7 | 8 x 10 | Open Edition |
| 1 | Sax Player | $25 | 5 x 7 | 8 x 10 | Open Edition |
| 1 | Promenade | $25 | 5 x 7 | 8 x 10 | Open Edition |
| 1 | Chrysler Building, Storm | $50 | 8 x 10 | 11 x 14 | Limited Edition |
| 1 | Couple in Rain | $25 | 5 x 7 | 8 x 10 | Open Edition |
I'm not sure what the purpose is of showing the actual order information other than that I never did that before and this is what the customer gets and other photographers often ask, "so what are people buying..."
This is a typical order. Some orders are for lots of the $25 prints (I've still got two of these types to get done) and some are for a couple of the larger prints, or for a mix of both sizes. Now going forward, at some point, I'm going to have to see if the market will bear say $30 a print for the smaller ones. And I will confess that I actually have a fondness for the smaller prints myself - although I know the world is going bigger with everything. It may go back to the days when I was studying the effect of different sized images and thought it was a great accomplishment to achieve an emotional effect from a small print. And let's face it - living in the typical urban crackerbox - those are the prints that are just now starting to make it up on my own walls.
Crane Museo Silver Rag
The Museo Silver Rag paper from Crane arrived today. I have just finished some prints.
I say, "wow."
The printable surface, and now I'm looking at it without any ink on it, has the look and feel of my old darkroom Gallerie fiber paper. It is really nice. I don't think I'm going to get jobs as a reviewer with words like, "nice." Okay, how about - sweet.
When I first printed with it, the suggestion was to use the Premium Semi-Gloss setting which is fine, but this paper is thicker and stiffer than Premium Semi-Gloss so there was some ink being picked up on the side where the paper curved up a little.
I went into the "Paper Config" screen and changed the paper thickness setting to: 15 (0.1 mm); and instead of "Auto" changed the Platen Gap to "Wide." Oh, and I gave it a little more time to dry between passes. In advanced b&w mode on the Epson 4800 you don't use - in fact you can't use - a profile. Let the driver do the work for you.
Anyway - one or all of those tweaks fixed the problem of ink catching on the right side of the paper edge.
It is difficult to quantify a "look." I'm just saying that this is the first thick, heavy cotton paper with an air-dried fiber darkroom look. Very beautiful. Definitely will end the "ripple" effect you get with lighter papers. Sweet.
What else can I tell you - it has been designed to work with the Photo Black cartridge. I didn't make any other changes in my printer settings. And when this paper comes out - it is what I will use.
* * *
And give the paper time to dry. I'm looking at it the next morning - even better. I realize I'm using subjective words like, "better, nice etc." but can you describe a look that you like without simply comparing it to some known quality? Holding one of my best darkroom fiber prints next to the Museo Silver Rag print - under the light - I sure can tell one from the other. I can tell because the surfaces aren't exactly the same; because I know if I hold the inkjet print at a certain angle under the light I'm going to get a sheen that will spread out over the entire print that won't be as pronounced with the darkroom fiber print. And I can tell because the Museo paper has a cotton feel to the touch, at least the non-printable side.
But framed, under glass, not knowing one from the other - I could take a good guess. But the point is that the Silver Rag has an equally luxurious and rich feel to it.
I say, "wow."
The printable surface, and now I'm looking at it without any ink on it, has the look and feel of my old darkroom Gallerie fiber paper. It is really nice. I don't think I'm going to get jobs as a reviewer with words like, "nice." Okay, how about - sweet.
When I first printed with it, the suggestion was to use the Premium Semi-Gloss setting which is fine, but this paper is thicker and stiffer than Premium Semi-Gloss so there was some ink being picked up on the side where the paper curved up a little.
I went into the "Paper Config" screen and changed the paper thickness setting to: 15 (0.1 mm); and instead of "Auto" changed the Platen Gap to "Wide." Oh, and I gave it a little more time to dry between passes. In advanced b&w mode on the Epson 4800 you don't use - in fact you can't use - a profile. Let the driver do the work for you.
Anyway - one or all of those tweaks fixed the problem of ink catching on the right side of the paper edge.
It is difficult to quantify a "look." I'm just saying that this is the first thick, heavy cotton paper with an air-dried fiber darkroom look. Very beautiful. Definitely will end the "ripple" effect you get with lighter papers. Sweet.
What else can I tell you - it has been designed to work with the Photo Black cartridge. I didn't make any other changes in my printer settings. And when this paper comes out - it is what I will use.
* * *
And give the paper time to dry. I'm looking at it the next morning - even better. I realize I'm using subjective words like, "better, nice etc." but can you describe a look that you like without simply comparing it to some known quality? Holding one of my best darkroom fiber prints next to the Museo Silver Rag print - under the light - I sure can tell one from the other. I can tell because the surfaces aren't exactly the same; because I know if I hold the inkjet print at a certain angle under the light I'm going to get a sheen that will spread out over the entire print that won't be as pronounced with the darkroom fiber print. And I can tell because the Museo paper has a cotton feel to the touch, at least the non-printable side.
But framed, under glass, not knowing one from the other - I could take a good guess. But the point is that the Silver Rag has an equally luxurious and rich feel to it.
Day 6
I'm not sure how much longer I should keep calling posts, Day 1, Day 2 etc. I think I might keep it going 'til day 14.
It's getting a little better all the time.
One thing when I didn't expect when I switched to the new computer -- some of my software seems way outdated - and I actually couldn't get Ultradev 4 to install properly under XP PRO. I'm sure there are a million people running UD 4 under XP Pro - but I no have luck. So I downloaded the TRY version of Dreamweaver 8 (I guess the whole Ultra Dev branding is over) - and it installed and runs no problem. Upgrade is $199. I'm sure I'll do it. Let's face it. I'm hooked.
I think there's one more piece of software to install - Quickbooks 2002 (yikes) that makes it sound old (which is exactly what they want you to think) - but if it installs and works, I'll stick with it.
But it is funny how much software / plug-ins / etcetera I am dependent on that I could never put on a list beforehand.
Oh - and Craig - I'll be honest with you and Barrett -- I haven't even been following your conversation about printers. I think you got a new one and Barrett got a new one - but whether they're the same or not - I have no idea. But whatever you ended up with - I guess you went against the 2400.
Also - drive-wise - let's put it this way: the striped raid drive is used for working on "production" pieces. The external drives are used to either backup, or off-load stuff that isn't in "production." So for example - the digital shots are all available on the external drives. If I am working on one it might get copied over to the RAID DRIVES and then if it goes into production, meaning it's for sale, it stays on the RAID drive.
Same idea for scanned negatives. They start off on the external drive, and some of them make it to the RAID DRIVE for processing. The external drives also act as a backup for the PRODUCTION FILES as well as original scans. In other words, things are faster on RAID but anything that involved labor is backed up and that includes just pure scanning.
* * *
Oh, and P.S. - this thing is now truly mult-tasking, so while some huge copy is going on - or some especially intensive PS operation, I was easily able to load Dreamweaver and do some coding work, get my mail, and write this bit.
P.P.S. The fan is working fine. I checked the temperature of the CPU this morning (it shows up in BIOS) and it was 32C. Spoke with the tech at MicroVelocity and he said that was very cool indeed; especially since CPU was left on for 24 hours straight.
* * *
I know - your eyes glaze over with all this tech. crap - but I think that knowing (or being mildly interested) in this stuff is a big part of the photography biz these days and let's face it - if you can't do anything creative (which I'm not doing lately) then you can always fall back on the right-brain agenda (or is it the left-brain) - I always get the hemispheres confused.
It's getting a little better all the time.
One thing when I didn't expect when I switched to the new computer -- some of my software seems way outdated - and I actually couldn't get Ultradev 4 to install properly under XP PRO. I'm sure there are a million people running UD 4 under XP Pro - but I no have luck. So I downloaded the TRY version of Dreamweaver 8 (I guess the whole Ultra Dev branding is over) - and it installed and runs no problem. Upgrade is $199. I'm sure I'll do it. Let's face it. I'm hooked.
I think there's one more piece of software to install - Quickbooks 2002 (yikes) that makes it sound old (which is exactly what they want you to think) - but if it installs and works, I'll stick with it.
But it is funny how much software / plug-ins / etcetera I am dependent on that I could never put on a list beforehand.
Oh - and Craig - I'll be honest with you and Barrett -- I haven't even been following your conversation about printers. I think you got a new one and Barrett got a new one - but whether they're the same or not - I have no idea. But whatever you ended up with - I guess you went against the 2400.
Also - drive-wise - let's put it this way: the striped raid drive is used for working on "production" pieces. The external drives are used to either backup, or off-load stuff that isn't in "production." So for example - the digital shots are all available on the external drives. If I am working on one it might get copied over to the RAID DRIVES and then if it goes into production, meaning it's for sale, it stays on the RAID drive.
Same idea for scanned negatives. They start off on the external drive, and some of them make it to the RAID DRIVE for processing. The external drives also act as a backup for the PRODUCTION FILES as well as original scans. In other words, things are faster on RAID but anything that involved labor is backed up and that includes just pure scanning.
* * *
Oh, and P.S. - this thing is now truly mult-tasking, so while some huge copy is going on - or some especially intensive PS operation, I was easily able to load Dreamweaver and do some coding work, get my mail, and write this bit.
P.P.S. The fan is working fine. I checked the temperature of the CPU this morning (it shows up in BIOS) and it was 32C. Spoke with the tech at MicroVelocity and he said that was very cool indeed; especially since CPU was left on for 24 hours straight.
* * *
I know - your eyes glaze over with all this tech. crap - but I think that knowing (or being mildly interested) in this stuff is a big part of the photography biz these days and let's face it - if you can't do anything creative (which I'm not doing lately) then you can always fall back on the right-brain agenda (or is it the left-brain) - I always get the hemispheres confused.
1/05/2006
Cemetery Walk
I still say - not that anyone is arguing with me - that the best cemeteries can be found in Paris. Oh - not fair because the best living can be found there as well. Maybe we can judge a place by how well it treats the dead. Not just the kings and queens - but the regular run-of-the-mill dead.
Day 5
6:33 p.m.
So it's taken me about one day to setup and re-install most everything and it is worth it. Example, one operation in Photoshop that had been taking between 15 & 20 minutes to complete now takes about 45 seconds. I've spoken with the guy at Velocity Micro and told him how I attached the fan; and he advised me to leave the machine on all night; and he would call me in the morning to help me check the pc's temperature. Nice guy. If it isn't right, they'll have to send over a technician to change the heat sink and the fan. He also mentioned that the fan I had received was actually an upgrade they threw in.
* * *
Lewis & Clark didn't need to write in reverse order. I am definitely going to buy something like Ghost so that I have a backup of the main drive with all the stuff installed. The main hang-up right now is finding all the serial numbers for stuff I use, i.e. plug-ins et. cetera. The external drive enclosure has turned out to be very useful as I just popped out the drives from the old p.c. and popped them (like toast) into the enclosure to get stuff I needed. I think I'm going to need one more enclosure before this journey is over. But the drivers I had to look for. The passwords, the serial numbers -- egads and zooks. But the pc is humming along now with a nice blue light shining from the fan like a full moon over the Missouri.
I don't know the purpose, other than cosmetics of the blue fan light - unless it's to zap those darned mosquites. The biggest problem the Lewis & Clark expedition have had so far are:
Malaria (though they didn't call it that); and various veneral diseases (which they all had). They didn't know the cause of the former being those pesky mosquites; and I'm not sure whether they knew the 'cause of the 2nd disease, though they must have had some idea.
***
After a sleepless night, I woke up at 5 a.m. to take another look at the new PC. I was thinking of Lewis and Clark and all the troubles they went through to cross into the unknown and I thought I could take a lesson from Lewis and attempt to make the repairs, or at least understand the problem with the new technology.
I turned the newe p.c. on it's side and studyied the problem. The fan, which I think should have been attached with 4 screws, didn't have any screws to hold it in, and one screw was rattling around. I found that screw and was able to reattach the fan to the heate sinke & cetera. (If you've ever read 18th century blogs, you'll see the phrase & cetera a lot, along with & c.)
I'm not sure that either Lewis or Clark could spell the other guys' name the same way twice.
Anyway, I found a second screw and so the fan is attached with two screws (until I can find 2 more) and is fine.
Other observations: the case is okay, but not as easy to keep clean as the old Dell case; plus this one is not the easy-open version. I could have gotten the easy-open version but it was a few dollars more.
The inside of this is just very nicely wired. Easier to get to things than with the Dell. Since everything is made from off-the-shelf stuff, you get all the extras from the off-the-shelf pieces which may be useful at some point.
As far as how fast or slow the new pc is - I don't have any idea yet. I still need to pull some hard drives and cards from the old pc and put them into the new one; then drivers, photoshop & cetera.
As far as day five without cigs go - although the night was weird and I felt sort of wide awake - I did wake this morning feeling somewhat normal for the first time since stopping. Somewhat normal means that I didn't feel like I had to hold onto the handrail going down the stairs, and the thought of attacking the computer setup didn't send me into a frenzy.
Given that I stopped on New Years Day Morning - there must be others out there who are going through the exact same thing. Stay with it if you can.
So it's taken me about one day to setup and re-install most everything and it is worth it. Example, one operation in Photoshop that had been taking between 15 & 20 minutes to complete now takes about 45 seconds. I've spoken with the guy at Velocity Micro and told him how I attached the fan; and he advised me to leave the machine on all night; and he would call me in the morning to help me check the pc's temperature. Nice guy. If it isn't right, they'll have to send over a technician to change the heat sink and the fan. He also mentioned that the fan I had received was actually an upgrade they threw in.
* * *
Lewis & Clark didn't need to write in reverse order. I am definitely going to buy something like Ghost so that I have a backup of the main drive with all the stuff installed. The main hang-up right now is finding all the serial numbers for stuff I use, i.e. plug-ins et. cetera. The external drive enclosure has turned out to be very useful as I just popped out the drives from the old p.c. and popped them (like toast) into the enclosure to get stuff I needed. I think I'm going to need one more enclosure before this journey is over. But the drivers I had to look for. The passwords, the serial numbers -- egads and zooks. But the pc is humming along now with a nice blue light shining from the fan like a full moon over the Missouri.
I don't know the purpose, other than cosmetics of the blue fan light - unless it's to zap those darned mosquites. The biggest problem the Lewis & Clark expedition have had so far are:
Malaria (though they didn't call it that); and various veneral diseases (which they all had). They didn't know the cause of the former being those pesky mosquites; and I'm not sure whether they knew the 'cause of the 2nd disease, though they must have had some idea.
***
After a sleepless night, I woke up at 5 a.m. to take another look at the new PC. I was thinking of Lewis and Clark and all the troubles they went through to cross into the unknown and I thought I could take a lesson from Lewis and attempt to make the repairs, or at least understand the problem with the new technology.
I turned the newe p.c. on it's side and studyied the problem. The fan, which I think should have been attached with 4 screws, didn't have any screws to hold it in, and one screw was rattling around. I found that screw and was able to reattach the fan to the heate sinke & cetera. (If you've ever read 18th century blogs, you'll see the phrase & cetera a lot, along with & c.)
I'm not sure that either Lewis or Clark could spell the other guys' name the same way twice.
Anyway, I found a second screw and so the fan is attached with two screws (until I can find 2 more) and is fine.
Other observations: the case is okay, but not as easy to keep clean as the old Dell case; plus this one is not the easy-open version. I could have gotten the easy-open version but it was a few dollars more.
The inside of this is just very nicely wired. Easier to get to things than with the Dell. Since everything is made from off-the-shelf stuff, you get all the extras from the off-the-shelf pieces which may be useful at some point.
As far as how fast or slow the new pc is - I don't have any idea yet. I still need to pull some hard drives and cards from the old pc and put them into the new one; then drivers, photoshop & cetera.
As far as day five without cigs go - although the night was weird and I felt sort of wide awake - I did wake this morning feeling somewhat normal for the first time since stopping. Somewhat normal means that I didn't feel like I had to hold onto the handrail going down the stairs, and the thought of attacking the computer setup didn't send me into a frenzy.
Given that I stopped on New Years Day Morning - there must be others out there who are going through the exact same thing. Stay with it if you can.
1/04/2006
Day 4
MORE FROM DAY FOUR
VELOCITY MICRO PC ARRIVED. Set it up. Turned it on. and voila, heard some tinkling sound inside case, and then long and short beeps and nothing on the screen.
So I opened the case and it seems that the CPU Fan has detatched from the heat sink and is dangling. It isn't attached (or wasn't attached) by screws but by some little plastic things, one of which melted. So I spent awhile trying to get the fan re-attached, but given the state of my nerves - gave up and ate some bits of a brownie. Then called MicroVelocity and couldn't get through (waited 10 minutes). The repeating message was especially annoying because there would be this pause and you think they're going to pick up, but no. It just starts all over again.
Anyway - the box - except for the fan problem - looks cleanly-wired inside. I just need to figure out how to get the fan re-attached. Will tackle that tomorrow. If I can't figure it out, will call them again.
Today really seemed endless.
* * *
Under the Clocks
Day four has been the worst so far; probably because I'm sort of stuck in the house waiting for the new PC to be delivered. I need to walk off the anger that surfaces when I'm going cold turkey. Anyway - for those of you who have never been addicted to something - it isn't so bad to kick the habit - if you can learn to enjoy suffering. You would be amazed at all the weird stuff that happens to you when you give up the nicotine, and not always the same.
Last time I quit - my sense of direction just disappeared and I got lost driving out to New Jersey (though that can happen any time to any New Yorker).
This time, my right eye seems itchy. I kid you not. And that's my shootin' eye. Also the eye I wear a contact lens in fer shootin'. It's all connected up somehow - but not sure how. Oh, and if you think my spelling is bad (which it is) read the Lewis and Clark journals. It seems that even educated men in 1807-ish could spell any word however they wished:
"Weve spottid the hornbloewing toortle fer the fifthe tyme and this beste mesures 7.4 inches whide."
* * *
Has anyone ever used any of those Epson printer tips that flash by in their modal driver window while printing? You know the ones I mean (there's a little yellow light bulb with little exclamation accents popping out and they flash by as you are actually printing puporting to assist you)
TIP: Try cleaning the print heads to remove banding problems.
TIP: For best results, match paper with the correct media setting.
TIP: Paper should be loaded printable side down when using the paper tray.
TIP: If you don't know any of the above, then you had better give back your printer because you don't stand a chance.
TIP: This TIP was written by an automated help program named HALSKY and has not helped anybody yet. These tips are copyright Epson Corporation and are there to give the illusion of help - not to actually help anyone. Any help received by these tips are strictly accidental.
VELOCITY MICRO PC ARRIVED. Set it up. Turned it on. and voila, heard some tinkling sound inside case, and then long and short beeps and nothing on the screen.
So I opened the case and it seems that the CPU Fan has detatched from the heat sink and is dangling. It isn't attached (or wasn't attached) by screws but by some little plastic things, one of which melted. So I spent awhile trying to get the fan re-attached, but given the state of my nerves - gave up and ate some bits of a brownie. Then called MicroVelocity and couldn't get through (waited 10 minutes). The repeating message was especially annoying because there would be this pause and you think they're going to pick up, but no. It just starts all over again.
Anyway - the box - except for the fan problem - looks cleanly-wired inside. I just need to figure out how to get the fan re-attached. Will tackle that tomorrow. If I can't figure it out, will call them again.
Today really seemed endless.
* * *
Under the Clocks
Day four has been the worst so far; probably because I'm sort of stuck in the house waiting for the new PC to be delivered. I need to walk off the anger that surfaces when I'm going cold turkey. Anyway - for those of you who have never been addicted to something - it isn't so bad to kick the habit - if you can learn to enjoy suffering. You would be amazed at all the weird stuff that happens to you when you give up the nicotine, and not always the same.
Last time I quit - my sense of direction just disappeared and I got lost driving out to New Jersey (though that can happen any time to any New Yorker).
This time, my right eye seems itchy. I kid you not. And that's my shootin' eye. Also the eye I wear a contact lens in fer shootin'. It's all connected up somehow - but not sure how. Oh, and if you think my spelling is bad (which it is) read the Lewis and Clark journals. It seems that even educated men in 1807-ish could spell any word however they wished:
"Weve spottid the hornbloewing toortle fer the fifthe tyme and this beste mesures 7.4 inches whide."
* * *
Has anyone ever used any of those Epson printer tips that flash by in their modal driver window while printing? You know the ones I mean (there's a little yellow light bulb with little exclamation accents popping out and they flash by as you are actually printing puporting to assist you)
TIP: Try cleaning the print heads to remove banding problems.
TIP: For best results, match paper with the correct media setting.
TIP: Paper should be loaded printable side down when using the paper tray.
TIP: If you don't know any of the above, then you had better give back your printer because you don't stand a chance.
TIP: This TIP was written by an automated help program named HALSKY and has not helped anybody yet. These tips are copyright Epson Corporation and are there to give the illusion of help - not to actually help anyone. Any help received by these tips are strictly accidental.
1/03/2006
Day 3
"If a nicotine user remains 100% nicotine free for just 72 hours they'll likely begin to notice the underlying current of recovery anxieties begin easing off as their brain's neurons begin bathing in nicotine-free oxygen rich blood serum and the brain's sensitivity adjustments begin bearing fruit. Although our quickly healing body is now 100% nicotine free and most of the normal symptoms of adjustment have reached their peak, it will take 10 days to two weeks before our mind and body become fully accustomed to functioning with the absence of nicotine and many of the other 4,000+ chemicals present in each burning cigarette. "
In other words, I'm in "rote mode." Printing, packaging, and thinking about cardboard. Not taking on anything that requires concentration or that might produce aggravation. Tomorrow the new P.C. should arrive.
Other stuff: the Forum (Cafe Noir) is on its last legs. For some reason the idea of sharing interesting thoughts between photographers in the forum wasn't a big hit. I believe the reasons were: there was a feeling of a more formal threshold for posting than there is in the blog. i.e. you can put up just about anything here as a comment but in the forum it feels like you must have a more serious motivation to start a new topic... (maybe not, but I suspect there is some truth to this).
Unlike other forums, you needed to qualify to be able to "express yourself." Nobody wants to go through that to ask what they imagine will be a quick question. Of course, it's those quick questions that usually go on for years.
And last but not least, I didn't keep it "primed." Somebody, whether the entity is a blog or a forum needs to keep the energy going and I abandoned the forum after a while. Not only did I abandon it, but I stuck it under the Blog Dropdown (and expecting people to find it on a submenu is pronouncing is just about the same as pronouncing it dead.)
I could open it up so that anyone can write anything -but don't see any point to recreating the wheel.
In other words, I'm in "rote mode." Printing, packaging, and thinking about cardboard. Not taking on anything that requires concentration or that might produce aggravation. Tomorrow the new P.C. should arrive.
Other stuff: the Forum (Cafe Noir) is on its last legs. For some reason the idea of sharing interesting thoughts between photographers in the forum wasn't a big hit. I believe the reasons were: there was a feeling of a more formal threshold for posting than there is in the blog. i.e. you can put up just about anything here as a comment but in the forum it feels like you must have a more serious motivation to start a new topic... (maybe not, but I suspect there is some truth to this).
Unlike other forums, you needed to qualify to be able to "express yourself." Nobody wants to go through that to ask what they imagine will be a quick question. Of course, it's those quick questions that usually go on for years.
And last but not least, I didn't keep it "primed." Somebody, whether the entity is a blog or a forum needs to keep the energy going and I abandoned the forum after a while. Not only did I abandon it, but I stuck it under the Blog Dropdown (and expecting people to find it on a submenu is pronouncing is just about the same as pronouncing it dead.)
I could open it up so that anyone can write anything -but don't see any point to recreating the wheel.
1/02/2006
Day 2
Day 2 of turning over a new leaf and giving up bad habits and if I start to snap at you or anyone - give me until day 7 or so to get over it. Not a good idea to give up so many vices at one time; you should only get rid of one vice at a time; but nonetheless let's toss them all overboard and see what happens.
What happens is that my nerves get frayed; my back gets tight; my patience wanes; my throat constricts; my span of attention contracts. Oh, what a way to go. Death by denial. I know you have your vices and resolutions against them, and I know that by day two or three of the new year you are slipping back into them.
"Turning over a new leaf," is a phrase that should be updated anyway. Not too many farmers in this land anymore who know what turning over a new leaf is. Today I would say, "putting in a new motherboard."
That's not good.
Oh, I have it. This year I'm going to get rid of my bad habits and completely defragment my drives.
That ain't no good. My mind wants to find a contemporary metaphor for turning over a new leaf but I can't come up with it. You'd think for it to be contemporary it would have something to do with technology - maybe not. This year we're going to stop unlawful wiretaps. No, not all at once, but we'll try and turn over a new leaflet.
Well, whatever you have resolved to do, or not to do - thinking that it would make your or someone else's life better - good night and good luck.
What happens is that my nerves get frayed; my back gets tight; my patience wanes; my throat constricts; my span of attention contracts. Oh, what a way to go. Death by denial. I know you have your vices and resolutions against them, and I know that by day two or three of the new year you are slipping back into them.
"Turning over a new leaf," is a phrase that should be updated anyway. Not too many farmers in this land anymore who know what turning over a new leaf is. Today I would say, "putting in a new motherboard."
That's not good.
Oh, I have it. This year I'm going to get rid of my bad habits and completely defragment my drives.
That ain't no good. My mind wants to find a contemporary metaphor for turning over a new leaf but I can't come up with it. You'd think for it to be contemporary it would have something to do with technology - maybe not. This year we're going to stop unlawful wiretaps. No, not all at once, but we'll try and turn over a new leaflet.
Well, whatever you have resolved to do, or not to do - thinking that it would make your or someone else's life better - good night and good luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)