Resources for Chapter 10 —
Digital Technique
Agfa Scala
This was a distinctive black & white film that used a special reversal process.
Agfa Photo has gone out of business. There are some stocks of the film remaining,
but they will certainly be depleted in the near future. The desirable look of
Scala is emulated in Alien Skin's Exposure2.
Alien Skin Exposure2
A Photoshop plug-in which they bill as the world's best film simulator.
Exposure models film grain, and can simulate the look of some "extinct" film
stocks, like Agfa Scala, GAF 500, and Kodak EES.
ppmag.com/web-exclusives/2006/03/alien-skin-exposure.html
mydigitalphoto.info/exposure_2_0.htm
alienskin.com/exposure/
Apple Displays
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/displays/
Apple Time Machine
Incremental back-up system built into Mac OS X, beginning with 10.5 Leopard.
apple.com/support/leopard/timemachine/
Blu-ray
Burnable disc technology that uses short-wavelength violet light to inscribe
the discs. This results in higher data storage technology. A dual-layer
Blu-ray disc can hold 25 GB, nearly six times more data than a dual-layer
DVD.
blu-ray.com
delkin.com/products/archivalgold/archival-blue-ray-delkin.html
Capture One
Capture One Pro is a post-processing tool from Phase One that has been
adopted by many studio fashion shooters. Digital backs and cameras like
the Canon 5D and 1D can shoot in tethered mode, connected to a computer
running Capture One via a cable. As each shot is taken, it is immediately
transferred to the computer and appears on the screen. Capture One can
be set up so that white balance and other post production parameters
can be applied on the fly to each shot as it is captured.
phaseone.com/4/
phaseone.com
ppmag.com/web-exclusives/2009/03/review-phase-one-capture-one-4-1.html
twin-pixels.com/raw-heavyweights/
Chromira
A digital printer that uses an LED print head to expose conventional color
photo paper, producing high-resolution digital C-prints. The Chromira
30 prints up to 30" wide.
zbe.com/products/chromira/chromira30.html
ColorMunki
A self-contained spectrophotometer-based tool for making ICC color profiles
for displays, printers, and even projectors. The review link is based
on a pre-release version, but gives useful information about working
with the product.
colormunki.com/product/show
northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/profiling/colormunki.html
Delkin
Makers of Archival Gold discs. These are projected to maintain data for
at least 200 years.
delkin.com/products/archivalgold/
delkin.com/products/archivalgold/archival-blue-ray-delkin.html
DNG — Adobe
Digital Negative
Concerned about the potential long-term risk of not being able to read
proprietary RAW file formats, Adobe launched the DNG format as a published
standard. The format combines the raw data from the camera with metadata,
normally stored in a separate XMP file, into a single file.
DxO Labs
Specializes in digital image processing, and has created dxomark.com, a
database that compares image quality between digital RAW sensors and
makes the information available to professionals, hobbyists, and reviewers.
Their DxO Optics Pro RAW converter distinguishes itself in the areas
of high-ISO noise reduction, highlight recovery, and capturing shadow
detail. It also emulates different camera looks.
Eizo ColorEdge
High-end wide gamut monitors that enjoy a strong reputation. Many of the
monitors can display nearly all of the colors of the Adobe RGB color
space.
Epson Exhibition Fiber
A high-quality paper with the distinctive feel of a fiber-based print and
an extremely wide tonal range. Epson teamed up with Pixel Genius to produce
high-quality printer profiles, that can help maximize the performance
of the paper.
epson.com
pixelgenius.com/epson/
luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/exhibition-fiber.shtml
luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/Epson_Exhibition_Fiber.shtml
G-Technology
Makers of hard drives, including plug & play RAID systems.
g-technology.com - Click on the Photo Storage button
GAF 500
Color slide film, made mainly made in the mid 70's. This was a quirky film
that was characterized by very large, soft grain. The film's rating tended
to produce underexposed images.
unomaha.edu/afghan/techinfo/SLIDES.HTM
Hahnemühle
Makers of high-end fine art paper and canvas. Some of their papers use
Baryta, an extremely white material to make the paper especially bright.
Baryta is more stable, and therefore more archival, than the optical
brighteners used in some other papers. The Photo Rag paper has the feel
of F type darkroom prints.
hahnemuehle.com
neilsnape.com/HPR_Baryta_review.htm
Ilford / Ilford
Photo / Harman
Technology Ltd
One name, two companies: The Ilford name dates back to 1879, and has had
a long and reputable history in the the world of photography. With the
advent of digital photography, Ilford and other companies went through
difficult transitions, and the original Ilford company changed hands
several times, ultimately splitting into two parts.
Harman Technology Limited, was created by former managers of the Ilford company and named after the founder of the Ilford business, Alfred Harman. The company is based in Mobberley, Cheshire in the United Kingdom. Their inkjet media line first became available in the UK and USA in February 2007. The company also makes a full line of black and white photographic paper.
Oji Paper is a 130-year-old Japanese paper maker that produces Ilford Galerie inkjet media.
Kodak EES
A discontinued variant of Ektachrome slide film. Alien Skin Exposure
has a filter that simulates the look based on measurements taken from actual
samples of the film.
LaCie
Makers of hard drives, RAID systems, CD and DVD burners, and displays.
Their LCD monitors have color gamuts and pricing that lie between models
by Apple and Dell on one end and Eizo on the other.
Durst Lambda
A laser-based digital output device that creates high-resolution digital
C-prints. A competitor to the Chromira and LightJet digital printers.
Océ LightJet
A competitor to the Lambda and the Chromira, this is also a laser-based
digital output device that creates high-resolution digital C-prints.
oce.com/hq/Products/Printers-copiers-plotters/Colour/GraphArtsIndoor/
Man Ray (1890-1976)
The photographer and painter who spent most of his career in France was
born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Philadelphia, and grew up in New Jersey. He
is probably the best-known of the Surrealist photographers, and is famous
for the techniques of Rayographs (photograms) and solarization. Two important
women in his life were Kiki de Montparnasse, the muse in some of his
most famous photos, and Lee Miller, a photographer in her own right who
actually developed the solarization technique.
In Focus: Man Ray: Photographs From the J. Paul
Getty Museum, Getty Publications,
1999
Man Ray: Photography and Its Double by Alain Sayag, Gingko Pres, 1998
Photographs by Man Ray: 105 Works, 1920-1934, Dover Publications, 1980
Lee Miller (1907-1977)
Her involvement with photography was as a model to photographers Edward
Steichen, Hoyningen-Huene, Arnold Genthe, and others.In 1929 she went
to Paris and worked with Man Ray. During that time, she developed the
technique of solarization and produced a body of Surrealist works. In
1932, she returned to New York and set up her own highly successful studio
which ran for 2 years until she married a wealthy Egyptian businessman
and went to live with him in Cairo, Egypt. She became fascinated by long
range desert travel and photographed desert villages and ruins. During
a visit to Paris in 1937 she met Roland Penrose, the Surrealist artist
who was to become her second husband. In 1939 she moved in with Penrose,
and defying orders to return to America from the US Embassy, she took
a job as a freelance photographer for Vogue. In 1944 she became a correspondent
accredited to the US Army, and teamed up with Time Life photographer
David E. Scherman. She was probably the only woman combat photojournalist
to cover the war in Europe. She worked for Vogue for two more years after
the war, and married Roland Penrose in 1947. She contributed to the Penrose
biographies of Picasso, Miro, Man Ray and Tapies.
leemiller.co.uk
The Art of Lee Miller by Mark Haworth-Booth, Yale University Press, 2007
Lee Miller's War by Antony Penrose and David E. Scherman, Thames & Hudson,
2005
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
(MoMA)
An essential venue in the history of art photography and an
important force in establishing both the legitimacy of photography as an
art medium and the canon of fine art photographers. A number of significant
shows at the MoMA, including "The Family of Man" and "New
Documents" introduced groundbreaking work and ideas. The first curator
of the museum's photography department was Edward Steichen, who headed the
department from 1947 to 1962. His hand-picked successor was John Szarkowski,
who was the Director of Photography from 1962 to 1991 and introduced a number
of notable photographers to the world stage He also produced sophisticated
and influential critiques of photography and a classic book on its history.
Mitsubishi/Verbatim Archival Media
Mitsubishi markets its disc media under the Verbatim brand.
verbatim.com/optical/archival/
Mitsui Gold / MAM-A Archival CDs
The Mitsui Gold CDs and DVDs are marketed under the name MAM-A. They are
reputed to be the most stable CDs on the market.
www.mam-a.com/products/general_information.html
Nikon Capture NX
RAW processing tool from Nikon. The software was built by Nik software,
and features a technology they call U-Point.
RAID systems
The term stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. There are several
different configurations, or levels, possible. Level 1 is mirroring,
which provides one level of backup. The array can be controlled through
software, but that places a load on the computer. A number of manufacturers,
including G-Tech, LaCie, Data Robotics, and Western Digital make plug & play
systems that contain at least two drives with a hardware-based RAID controller
built-in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks
g-technology.com
lacie.com
drobo.com
wdc.com
RAW Processor Comparison
twin-pixels.com/raw-heavyweights/
Jerry Uelsmann
The master photographic Surrealist. His darkroom-based work throws down
the gauntlet for anyone who wants to construct complex images. Most Photoshop
practitioners can't come close.
uelsmann.com
bermangraphics.com/press/jerry-uelsmann.htm
Wacom
Wacom's tablets feature a pressure-sensitive stylus and cordless mouse
that make many photo-editing operations easier. The company has recently
released the Intuous 4, the latest version of their most popular product
line. They also make the Cintiq, which integrates the pressure-sensitive
tablet into a color LCD display, and the low-end Bamboo line.
X-Rite
Makers of tools for making custom color profiles. The i1 Display LT and
i1 Display 2 are low-cost tools for monitor profiling, based on an RGB
measuring device similar to a camera sensor. The ColorMunki and i1Xtreme
are based on the same spectrophotometer, and are capable of profiling
monitors, printers, and projectors. ColorMunki brings most of the capability
of the i1Xtreme to a much lower price point and a more convenient form
factor.