Guest Blog: Creating Versatile Images for Multiple Uses

When it comes to commercial applications, the creation of an image often takes place before a camera is even touched. From the standpoint of the person capturing the image, one of the most important factors, beyond the message, is how the image will be used.

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By Pete Wright

Whether you are on the front end of the process creating the concept for a campaign, in the middle capturing the images, or on the back end creating the finished work, it’s important to be clear on the overall vision of what the final presentation will be.

Many times, a company may decide they’ll be using an image that will cross many different media platforms: print (direct mail, pamphlets, magazine, billboards, etc.), social media or broadcast. Versatility is important for images like this. In other words, consider approaching an image so that it has a good amount of negative space for text and will work equally well if cropped vertically or horizontally.

Four New Free Webinars for Photographers this Month at X-Rite

X-Rite Photo Marketing announced its schedule of free May 2013 Webinars that have been developed to address specific color management topics and are designed to appeal to both professional and serious amateur photographers and videographers.

Scott MacQuarrie Hosts Free Photography WebinarOne of this month’s webinars is co-sponsored with Gura Gear and it focuses on the work of travel and landscape photographer Scott MacQuarrie.

In a webinar co-sponsored by PhotoShelter, noted photographer and educator Eduardo Angel will offer insight and advice about editing a portfolio, developing a vision and utilizing digital workflow techniques.

Two other webinars, taught by X-Rite’s own Brenda Hipsher feature tips for color workflow, the first of which focuses on Professional Monitor calibration.

The second, co-sponsored by The Hallmark Institute of Photography, discusses and demonstrates overall color management, from camera to monitor to projector to prints.

May 2013 Webinar Schedule

Date: May 14
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Title: Editing a Portfolio and Developing your Vision
Presenter: Eduardo Angel
Registration Link: http://pages.photoshelter.com/EduardoAngel_X-RitePhotoShelterWebinarRegistration.html
*Co-sponsored by PhotoShelter

Eduardo Angel is an acclaimed visual storyteller, educator and consultant, possessing a keen sense of aesthetics and vision, as well as a technical expertise in digital photography and film-making workflows. His global workshops help photographers and filmmakers use technology to enhance their creativity.

In this free webinar Eduardo will share the essential topics from one of his most popular workshops: How to improve your portfolio and develop your vision. In this webinar, which is co-sponsored by PhotoShelter and X-Rite, Eduardo will discuss how to find a focus and visualize a theme within a body of work.

Eduardo will also share stories from a recent trip to the Middle East, and he’ll walk participants through an online portfolio that he created from more than 1,500 images. Webinar participants will also gain insight into Eduardo’s digital workflow, which includes how he uses the ColorChecker Passport to improve image quality, and witness the thought process behind one of his latest photography projects.

Date: May 22
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Title: Travel and Landscape Photography: Working in the Field with Scott MacQuarrie
Presenter: Scott MacQuarrie
Registration Link:  http://xritephoto.com/ph_learning.aspx?action=webinars&eventdateid=5520
*Co-sponsored by Gura Gear

X-Rite Coloratti Scott MacQuarrie travels all over the world to capture his stunning travel and landscape photographs. One thing he always packs for travel is his (ColorChecker) Passport. In this webinar, co-sponsored by X-Rite and Gura Gear, Scott will share his tips for transporting equipment and keeping it safe, dressing for comfort in field, backing up your images on the go, and the importance of using X-Rite color management to ensure you’ve captured the image you envision.

Scott has literally worked on every continent on the planet, so his knowledge of how to pack and travel is something you’ll want to find out about. Scott teaches workshops on Travel and Nature Photography, Lightroom, Off Camera Flash, and more. Visit his website at www.zwcx.com for more information about his workshops and his travels.

This webinar is one session only and at a special time to allow more travel photographers from across the world to attend.

Date: May 30
Time: Noon ET
Title: Professional Monitor Calibration for Still & Video
Presenter: Brenda Hipsher
Registration Link: http://xritephoto.com/ph_learning.aspx?action=webinars&eventid=1331&eventdateid=5517

As more and 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 logical 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 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 photographers shooting, editing, and preparing video for output, this webinar will give them the insight into X-Rite color management solutions that can streamline their color control in video.

Date: May 30
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Title: Simply Amazing Color. Take control of your monitor, projector, printer and camera!
Presenter: Brenda Hipsher
Registration Link: http://xritephoto.com/ph_learning.aspx?action=webinars&eventid=1494&eventdateid=5519
*Co-sponosored by Hallmark Institute of Photography

Join Hallmark Alumnae for this special edition webinar co-sponsored by Hallmark Institute of Photography. This webinar will review the individual ColorMunki solutions including software demonstrations and discussions of how each solution is used.

This webinar provides the opportunity to ask questions and understand each solution in detail so you can make the right decision on what ColorMunki family solution is for you.

X-Rite Improves ColorChecker White Balance Target for Photographers

White balance for digital camerasX-Rite recently improved the ColorChecker White Balance target card to enhance the tool’s effectiveness for white balancing a digital camera. X-Rite reports that when the card was first introduced in 2003, the conventional wisdom was that a target card needed to be white in order to set the white balance of a camera.

On its face, that makes sense, but X-Rite found through extensive testing with the latest major digital camera models that a more accurate color for the card is light gray. So, the lightness level of the color has been changed to match the same formula used in the ColorChecker Passport, which combines three photographic targets into one pocket-sized protective self-standing case.

The updated target is also more spectrally neutral than the prior white formula, which ensures there is no color bias while delivering better color rendition.

The ColorChecker Passport includes the Creative Enhancement Target, the Classic Target, the White Balance Target, Camera Calibration Software and the protective case. For more information about the ColorChecker Passport, click here, and for the ColorChecker White Balance, click here.