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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Tips & Tricks
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Free Webinars for Photographers in November from X-Rite

X-Rite Photo Marketing just announced its schedule of November 2012 Webinars, developed to address specific color management topics and designed to appeal to both professional and serious amateur photographers. Webinar attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions of the live trainers.

Landscape photography editing with Photoshop“This month’s webinars provide color management tips not only for photographers but videographers as well,” said Mark Rezzonico, vice president, X-Rite Photo Marketing. “From learning about professional color management applications for video as well as still photography to creating images with amazing colors or gorgeous landscapes, one of X-Rite’s November webinars is sure to provide the expert advice and education that photographers need.”

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST, Professional Monitor Calibration for Still & Video: As more still photographers move into videography with DSLR cameras the need for color management solutions specific to those output environments has become obvious. X-Rite’s i1Profiler software now includes video presets for popular video formats including NTSC, PAL-SECAM, and Rec. 709. The introduction last year of the new i1Display Pro colorimeter combined with these presets in i1Profiler makes the X-Rite i1Display Pro the perfect solution for calibrating and profiling monitors for video editing and output. When i1Display Pro is combined with X-Rite ColorCheckers the combination provides a capture to output solution for video editing that allows exceptional control over white balance in any scene. This brief webinar will review how to access and utilize the video presets in i1Profiler software and will briefly look at use of ColorCheckers in the video footage as a visual reference. For those shooting, editing, and preparing video for output this webinar will provide the insight into X-Rite color management solutions that can streamline color control in video.

To register for this webinar at 10 a.m. EST, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/897514314
To register for this webinar at 1 p.m. EST, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/337121170

Thursday, Nov. 8, 3 p.m. EDT and 7 p.m. EST, Simply Amazing Color. Take control of your monitor, printer and camera: The ColorMunki Family of color management solutions provides advanced control for a photographer’s digital workflow. This webinar will review the individual ColorMunki solutions including software demonstrations and discussions of how each solution is used. From monitor and projector to printer and camera, the ColorMunki family provides choices and solutions for any photographer’s needs.  All options are small and portable for travel. This live webinar gives users the opportunity to ask questions and understand each solution in detail so they can make the right decision on what ColorMunki family solution is for them. Attendees will enjoy special discounts.

To register for this webinar at 3 p.m. EST, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/702231450
To register for this webinar at 7 p.m. EST, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/718015994   

Thursday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. EST and 1 p.m. EST, Landscape Editing and Enhancements with Photoshop CS6: During this hour-long webinar featuring professional photographer Joe Brady, attendees will learn how to enhance landscape images using Adobe Photoshop. In this free webinar Joe Brady will share some of his favorite techniques and processes to bring out the beauty in landscape photography. There are times when photographing landscapes when the weather and atmosphere just doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. During this session, Joe will share his workflow, decision-making process and enhancement techniques to bring life into image files that just don’t match the beauty and spirit of the scene the way the photographer envisioned it. Following a short discussion about workstation color and calibration, Joe will show attendees step-by-step Photoshop edits that they can put to work right away to bring life and drama back into their landscape images. Topics that will be covered include:

  • Monitor color for consistent results
  • Image edits from minor to major
  • Using Adobe Camera RAW, even with JPEGs
  • Exposure, contrast and light shaping
  • Global and local color adjustments
  • Compositing new skies
  • Composition
  • Removing unwanted elements from an image
  • Image sharpening options
  • Preparing files for printing

To register for this webinar at 11 a.m. EST, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/959824538 �
To register for this webinar at 1 p.m. EST, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/734153922

For more information on all X-Rite Photo webinars visit the Webinar page found under the Learning section on XritePhoto.com. All webinars are also archived for online viewing any time.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends, Technology & Products, Tips & Tricks
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X-Rite September Webinars: Edits, Enhancements and Updates

X-Rite Photo Marketing today announced its schedule of September 2012 Webinars that have been developed to address specific color management topics and are designed to appeal to both professional and serious amateur photographers.

Webinar on using Lightroom for landscape photographyTwo free Webinars this month are designed to help photographers gain new confidence and to learn quick, easy and powerful ways to enhance their color workflow. Webinar attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions of the live trainers.

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, Landscape Image Edits and Enhancements in Lightroom 4: Adobe’s new Lightroom 4 offers new options for editing and output that make this a must-have upgrade for Lightroom users. In this free webinar professional photographer Joe Brady will explore both basic and advanced image editing techniques in this new update and the importance of a solid color managed workflow to take advantage of them. During this session, he’ll focus on the new editing capabilities offered in this upgrade. In future sessions Joe will explore the new modules and Lightroom file organization.  One of the new additions to Lightroom 4 is its ability to soft-proof. Now users can choose their printer profile and see what effects it will have on the printed image. This makes monitor profiling and accurate printer profiles important for Lightroom 4’s workflow.

Topics will include:

  • Why monitor color is important for Lightroom 4
  • Image edits and batch processing including: global image edits; local color and light adjustments with Lightroom 4’s new options; retouching and composition; image sharpening, noise reduction and lens profiles, and preparing files for lab printing

To register for this webinar at 11 a.m. ET, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/213677986

To register for this webinar at 1 p.m. ET, visit:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/370887210

Thursday, Sept. 13, Noon ET, Step up to i1Pro 2: This webinar will provide an in-depth look at the new X-Rite i1Pro 2 Upgrades and is designed for those considering whether they should upgrade their i1Pro device or are considering purchasing one of the i1Pro 2 solutions.  Discussed will be how and why the new X-Rite solutions are different and why upgrading to them requires consideration if color is important to the user’s work. Also discussed will be the new hardware/software configurations available to give photographers the most advanced options for color management in digital photography. To register for this webinar, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/379193178

For more information an all X-Rite Photo webinars visit the Webinar page found under the Learning section on XritePhoto.com. All webinars are also archived for online viewing any time.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends, Tips & Tricks
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Upcoming Landscape Photography Webinars from X-Rite

X-Rite Photo Marketing announces its schedule of July 2012 Webinars that have been developed for photographers to gain new confidence and learn quick, easy and powerful ways to enhance Free webinar on landscape photographytheir color workflow and improve their landscape photography. Webinar attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions of the live trainers.

Tuesday, July 24, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET
Landscape Image Edits and Enhancements in Lightroom 4: Adobe’s new Lightroom 4 offers new options for editing and output that make this a must-have upgrade for Lightroom users. In this free webinar, Professional Photographer Joe Brady will explore both basic and advanced image editing techniques in this new update. During this session, he’ll focus on the new editing capabilities offered in this upgrade. (In future sessions, Joe Brady will explore the new modules and Lightroom file organization.)

One of the new additions to Lightroom 4 is its ability to soft-proof. Now users can choose their printer profile and see what effects it will have on the printed image. This makes monitor profiling and accurate printer profiles an important feature of Lightroom 4’s workflow.

Topics that will be covered include:

  • Why monitor color is important for Lightroom 4
  •  Image edits and batch processing including
  • Global image edits
  • Local color and light adjustments with Lightroom 4’s new options
  • Retouching
  • Composition
  • Image sharpening, noise reduction and lens profiles
  • Preparing files for lab printing

To register for this webinar at 11 a.m. ET, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/998455034, and to register for this webinar at 1 p.m. ET, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/350972954

Tuesday, July 31, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET
Edit & Enhance Landscape Images in Photoshop: During this hour-long webinar featuring professional photographer Joe Brady, attendees will learn how to enhance landscape images using Adobe Photoshop. In this free webinar Joe Brady will share some of his favorite techniques and processes to bring out the beauty in landscape photography.

There are times when photographing landscapes when the conditions just don’t seem to want to cooperate. During this session, Joe will share his workflow, decision-making process and enhancement techniques to bring life into image files that don’t match the beauty and spirit of the scene the way the photographer remembered it.
Following a short discussion about workstation color and calibration, Joe will show attendees step-by-step Photoshop edits that they can put to work right away to bring life and drama back into their landscape images.

Topics that will be covered include:

  • Monitor color for consistent results
  • Image edits from minor to major
  • Using Adobe Camera RAW – even with JPEGs
  • Exposure, contrast and light shaping
  • Global and local color adjustments
  • Compositing new skies
  • Composition
  • Removing unwanted elements from an image
  • Image sharpening options
  • Preparing files for lab printing

To register for this webinar at 11 a.m. ET, visit:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/834446242, and to register for this webinar at 1 p.m. ET, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/370895866

For more information an all X-Rite Photo webinars visit the Webinar page found under the Learning section on XritePhoto.com. All webinars are also archived for online viewing any time.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Tips & Tricks
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New Guides and Articles for Photographers from PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter announced today that it is offering a number of new guides and articles of interest to professional photographers. The Spring 2012 Survey – What Buyers Want from Photographers – is now available for a free download.

Free guide to what buyers want from photographersThe guide includes survey results from 1,000 image buyers, photo editors, and other creatives worldwide who hire photographers and license photographs. Buyers surveyed are from a diverse range of organizations including advertising agencies, design agencies, nonprofits, editorial publications, book publishers, corporations, marketing agencies, and more.

The guide also provides firsthand interviews from photo buyers at JWT, GSD&M, Billboard.com, Men’s Health, and Random House who offer tips on how they want be pitched, websites that work, and the personal characteristics of photographers they look for when they hire.

So, this particular guide is really more geared toward those who provide images for commercial, editorial and advertising work, as opposed to more consumer-oriented photographer. Even so, the guide has some interesting and useful information about the market, as well as e-mail marketing tips, the impact of social media, website tips, buyer profiles and more.

Other articles available at PhotoShelter today include…

Why Instagram is Terrible (and why You Should Use it)

How to Take Your Landscape Photography to the Next Level

6 Night Photography Tips to Help You Master the Craft

Interview with Newsweek’s Senior Photo Editor (video)

PhotoShelter is also offering the guide 10 Branding Secrets for Photographers when you sign up for a free 14-day trial of PhotoShelter websites.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing Custom Fine Art Photo Coasters for Additional Sales

Printing fine art photo coasters

In a previous post here at the LexJet Blog, Gary Haines, owner of Grizzly Creek Gallery in Georgetown, Colo., had introduced a line of posters featuring select pieces from his fine art landscape photography. As mentioned in that post, the posters serve two purposes: To give those who can’t afford the exquisitely printed and finished larger works access to Haines’ outdoor work and to provide Haines with an additional revenue stream by capturing those who would otherwise have walked out of the gallery without buying anything.

Fine art photographic printing
The large art gallery floats are similar in construction to the fine art photo coasters pictured above, printed on Sunset Photo eSatin, laminated and mounted to MDF.

Haines took that same concept and applied it to coasters. Now clientele have a nice Colorado keepsake to take home that also has a practical use. I recently visited Haines and couldn’t help myself; after chatting for a bit, the next thing you know I’m walking out with three coasters.

The coasters are similar to the large art gallery floats that adorn Grizzly Creek Gallery, which are printed on LexJet Sunset Photo eSatin Paper, mounted to 1/4″ or 3/8″ MDF and laminated with a luster laminate. The difference is, of course, the size. Plus the art gallery floats have a one inch framework behind them so they float off the wall while the coasters are more like small plaques with beveled edges.

Most of the coasters are printed on Sunset Photo eSatin, but some are also printed on LexJet Sunset Photo Metallic Paper. Haines likes the shine the Metallic paper provides, especially on his various renditions of aspen groves.

Haines gang prints the coaster images and sends them to DuraPlaq in Longmont, Colo., who then laminate the images to the MDF blanks. Picture This – Superior in Lafayette, Colo., usually takes care of the larger art gallery floats using the same basic process.

Inkjet printing fine art photography
For smaller test prints and posters, Gary Haines uses LexJet 8 Mil Production Satin Photo Paper.

“Sunset Photo eSatin has a heavier weight and is more durable than most photo papers. I also really like the colors I get when I print on it as well as the surface texture; it’s like the darkroom papers we used to use,” explains Haines.

As noted in the previous post, Haines produces posters and test prints on LexJet 8 Mil Production Satin Photo Paper. It’s similar in look and feel to Sunset Photo eSatin, but it’s less expensive and thinner. In other words, it’s a good alternative for more economical photo products like posters.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Prints that Win: The Artisan’s Workbench

HDR award winning photography

David Jeffery’s eye for photography comes naturally. Having grown up in a creative, artistic environment (his father was a painter, his mother a musician) he was naturally drawn to the arts. Jeffery’s creative outlet is photography and the artistic ethos he absorbed growing up shows in his award-winning work.

“When I grew up and we went on a trip my dad always talked about the colors of the landscape, and that affected the way I see and think,” says Jeffery. “People say my images are painterly, because people are used to seeing pictures with clipped shadows and highlights. But artists paint what they see and the eye takes in a lot more than the camera.”

Jeffery’s photography was recently decorated with three Kodak awards, three Courts of Honor and a LexJet Sunset Award at the recent PPA Northeast District photo competition and Photo Northeast.

Lanscape photograph on canvas for decorThe Sunset Award winner is entitled The Artisan’s Workbench. The piece is representative of Jeffery’s ability to translate the true nature of the scene into a photographic image. Shot in HDR with a Canon 5D Mark II, the trick is not so much in the high dynamic range, but in how Jeffery builds the image during capture. He places the camera on a tripod to ensure perfect alignment and takes three exposures – two stops down for the shadows, at the correct exposure for mid-tones, and two stops up for highlights.

Then, the three exposures are blended in Photomatix HDR software and with a little work in Nik Color Efex Pro the masterpiece is complete. The subject of the photo, Steve Cohen, is a retired woodshop teacher in Woodstock, N.Y. (where Jeffery is based).

“By taking multiple exposures, it looks more painterly. And, I try to be very gentle on the HDR controls to render the scene accurately; HDR has gotten a bad name from people going crazy with the controls,” explains Jeffery.

Jeffery adds that he likes to print his painterly landscapes on LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas. It’s the perfect medium for rendering his style writ large on canvas, enhancing the enjoyment of the viewer.