New Free Webinar: David Saffir’s End-to-End Workflow for Creative Photographers

from the press release:

“Join X-Rite and Nik Software for an hour with David Saffir, internationally recognized, award winning portrait, commercial photographer and fine art printmaker. He is the author of the book Mastering Digital Color: A Photographer’s and Artist’s Guide to Controlling Color, published by Thomson. His second book, focused on his photography, is titled The Joy of Discovery, and was published in Spring 2009.

This webinar will teach fundamentals of end-to-end workflow for creative photographers, from pre-visualization through color management, capture and selected image editing techniques.

We will focus on landscape and scenic imagery.  Using the latest tools from Nik and X-Rite,

© David Saffir

David will demonstrate his workflow using X-Rite i1 Pro solutions and his techniques with Nik’s Viveza 2 and Silver Efex Pro to achieve the best quality from his images.

Who Should Attend:

• Landscape and Nature Photographers

• Commercial Photographers

• Environmental Portrait and Wedding Photographers

• Fine Art Photographers

• Anyone interested in a creative, color managed workflow

Two sessions will be held on the same day.

Register for your choice of times. Be sure to register today and arrive early for the webinar. Space is limited and they will fill up quickly.

David Saffir’s End-to-End Workflow for Creative Photographers

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 9:00-10:00 AM PDT (check your time zone!)

REGISTER HERE:    https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/316251139

Or….

David Saffir’s End-to-End Workflow for Creative Photographers

Wednesday,  July 13, 2011  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT (check your time zone!)

REGISTER HERE:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/858816979

_______________________________________________________________________

Learn more about David Saffir at http://www.davidsaffir.com

Special Offer, “Tools of the Trade” Workshop, Saturday January 9

Special offer:

If you attend our Tools of the Trade workshop this Saturday, and you bring a friend, you may qualify for a 25% discount for each of you.

Here’s the catch: one of you has to be a first-timer attending a session at the SCV Center for Photography.

Workshop agenda:

Designed for aspiring professionals, serious amateurs, and pros alike, this session tackles several topics important to success in today’s environment

Venue: Santa Clarita Valley Center for Photography, 28368 Constellation Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. Time: 9-3pm

Morning Session: Studio Planning & Set-up.

Physical Environment and Ergonomics, Lighting,

Display/Monitor Selection.

Discover the latest software and hardware the pros use to manage workflow and achieve consistent results.

Getting the Most Out of Your Inkjet Printer:

Camera to printer workflow, selecting a printer, accurate color previews, printing from image editing software,successfully wrestling those pesky printer dialogues into line, media selection, printer troubleshooting, print correction, archiving.

Lunch: on your own

Afternoon Sessions: Fine Art Printmaking

Create Fine Art and Decor Prints for other photographers and galleries. Learn price points, media types, how to work with galleries and organizations, Fine Art Reproduction, etc.

Fine Art Media for Limited Editions, Matching Media and Client Needs, Media Types for Social Photography/Commercial/Fine Art/Other Purposes Q&A & Printing. If time permits, we will make a few prints from student’s files.

Fee: $109, Please call (661) 904 – 2092

bring a friend, qualify for a 25% discount for each of you. Here’s the catch:

one of you has to be a first-timer attending a session at the SCV Center for Photography.

proceed here to the registration page

info@scvphotocenter.com

Updated Listing of Workshops Jan-March 2009

Nikon Pro Guide to the D3 Camera

I’ve been searching around for a clear, concise document that explains some of the more sophisticated (perhaps I should say “complex”) features of the D3 and its cousins. I came across a very good document published by Nikon, that among other things, provides useage guidelines for the autofocus options on the camera. Here is a link to the PDF: http://tinyurl.com/kmt5av

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

link to my web site: http://www.davidsaffir.com

New Workshops For Photographers by David Saffir

Track One: Photoshop, Adobe Camera RAW, Bridge, Lightroom. Image editing, printing, and publishing

Join us in a practical, real world learning environment!

This is a multi-part series that enables photographers and other artists to use Adobe image editing productseffectively and efficiently. I use a goal-oriented, hands-on approach. Sessions are divided into segmentswhich deal with specific issues. You’ll go home and get results!

 

• Session One, Photoshop – Turbo Portrait Retouching, July 19
• Session Two, Landscape and Scenic Imagery, July 26
• Session Three, Using Adobe Products to Design and Create A Photo Book, August 16

 

Session cost is $89 per person. Register before June 19 and pay only $79.

 

Workshop Session One, Track One: Photoshop – Turbo Portrait Retouching™

July 19, 2009, 9 am to 5 pm. Location: Santa Clarita, California (address TBA) Laptops encouraged. Students are also encouraged to bring theirown images to work on.

 

Topics include:

 

• Skin – women, men, children
• Eyes – sparkle makes the image
• Hair – dealing with flyaways, trailers, and more
• Lips – developing contours, dimensionality, color
• Contours – the 3-D face, the “gentle nose job”, and more
• Glasses – reflections, dust, eye magnification
• Blemishes – wipe em out in minutes
• Teeth – “you’ll wonder where the yellow went….”
• Clothing – rumples, wrinkles, and colors that go bump in the night
• Coping with group portraits – goofy faces, out of places, blinkies, and missing persons
• Production – preparing the image for the lab or your printer

 

Register for this workshop link here.

 

Workshop Session Two, Track One:Landscape and Scenic Imagery

 

July 26, 2009 9 am to 5 pm. Location: Santa Clarita, California (address TBA) Laptops encouraged. Students are also encouraged to bring theirown images to work on.

 

Topics include:

 

• Tips and Tricks in Camera RAW – get that image ready for prime time!
• Matching color in multiple images
• Full- Frame Color – fast track to whole-image color control
• Selective Color – adjusting selected colors to make an image “pop”
• Lighting – adjusting luminance of the entire image, or selected areas
• Creating that cool 3D look- dimensionality and depth with two key Photoshop tools
• Recovering highlight detail, restoring shadow detail – two techniques for success
• Poor man’s HDR – combining exposures for extra bounce
• Create front to back depth of field and sharpness – landscapes and closeup shots
• Intelligent Sharpening – crisp details, no halos!
• Converting to Black and White – using color adjustments to enhance a black and white image, the Black and White Filter, toning, and more.
• Choosing print media for appearance, longevity, marketability
• Providing a Certificate of Authenticity with each print sold

 

Register for this workshop link here.

 

Workshop Session Three, Track One: Design and Create A Photo Book

 

August 16, 2009, 9 am to 5 pm, Location Santa Clarita, California (address TBA) Laptops encouraged. Students are also encouraged to bring theirown images to work on.

 

Topics include:

 

• Matching your work to a book design – large or small? wide or tall? and more!
• Creating a theme – subject, color palette, storytelling
• Choosing images
• Matching images that share a page or spread
• Creating the cover, and each page, including layout options
• Image editing for your book – step by step
• Preparing your book for printing
• Managing costs through good design
• Selecting a book printing service
• Distributing your book – as a product, and as your portfolio

 

Pricing and Registration Information:

 

• Each session is $89. Pre-registration is required.
• If you register for the first class by June 19, session cost is reduced to $79.
• Register for two or more sessions, register before June 19, cost is $138.
• Use Paypal or Google Checkout.

 

www.davidsaffir.com

 

All content © David Saffir, Santa Clarita, CA all rights reserved.

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Screen to Print Match for Photographers

Most people have experienced an issue with screen to print match at one time or another. Some have told me that they have just given up on the idea. But screen to print match can save you a lot of editing time, and wasted paper making proofs (you know: proof-tweak, proof-tweak, etc.)

Actually, this is an issue that can usually be solved without breaking a sweat. Think of this article like a cooking recipe – put it all together, and cookies turn out fine!

Examples of Issues

1. It is hard to see the screen in my office or studio

2. Colors I’m familiar with don’t look right on the screen

3. Screen brightness does not match print/print looks too dark

4. Screen shows highlights and/or shadows differently than the print

5. Some colors differ on screen vs print

6. All the color in the print just looks wrong, compared to the screen

 

Discussion

1. It is hard to see the screen

This is a big cause of headaches and fatigue.

I suggest that if you need glasses or an updated prescription, get them. Bright light in the room, whether ceiling lights, windows, or other sources, can cause reflections on the screen or cause you struggle with differences in brightness. I use a room that has a big window with a set of louvered blinds. Not expensive, and effective.

If you are using a laptop, you should know that most laptop screens are just not good enough for editing color in digital photographs. The color palette is too narrow. Also, the screen has a small sweet spot, or angle of view – if you move around a bit the appearance of color and/or contrast may change. If your budget permits, get a decent flat screen display and plug it into the laptop.

 

2. Colors I’m familiar with don’t look right on the screen

First, you usually get what you pay for. A bottom-dollar low end screen probably can’t get the job done.

Next, the screen has to be calibrated – this means adjusting the screen so it shows color accurately as possible. The tool used for this is a display calibrator; the one I use is the iOne Display by X-Rite. (I discourage use of the display calibration software included with Mac OS or Windows OS. They improve things, but not enough for editing photographs).

Display calibration is one of the easier things to do. Open the box, follow the directions, and voila!

I have some recommendations for settings. Some may disagree here, but these work for me. You will see the adjustment screen for these if you choose the “advanced” option in your calibration software.

Use color temp of 5500k, or 6500k, depending partly on which color space you use. Adobe 98 white point is 6500, ProPhoto RGB is 5500.

Use luminance of 80-90 cd/square meter if you need to get as close as possible to paper white; some people find this is too dark, and go with 100-120c cd/sq mtr.

Use gamma of 2.0 or 2.2. Using 2.0 is a bit unorthodox, but I prefer it. Your mileage may vary.

When you set up your display like this, it will look kind of dull compared to its previous state.

By the way, most new displays come new out of the box set up to much higher color temperatures, close to 200cd/sqm, gamma native or 2.2. That’s useful in an office where one is working on email or similar stuff; near useless for photography.

You can, of course, experiment until you find a set of adjustments that suit you. These have worked for me for a long time.

One last thing: capture RAW whenever practical, and work with your images in Adobe 98, or ProPhoto RGB,  rather than sRGB.  The only reason to keep an sRGB workflow is if you are a wedding or event photographer and your lab requires it.

 

3. Screen brightness does not match print

The screen will always look brighter than the print. Put another way: “the print looks too dark!” Think of the screen like a lightbox with a big transparency on it – it gives off light. The print can only reflect light.

The answer comes in three parts: Control your room lighting, use the screen brightness settings provided above, and control the light used to view the print (view the print in indirect daylight, gallery halogens, or a dedicated light box).

 

4. Screen shows highlights and/or shadows differently than the print

Two of the biggest reasons in the matching screen-vs-print category for this are 1) a cheapo screen, and 2) a non-calibrated display.

Other causes usually involve editing techniques used in Photoshop or another editor, when preparing to print, or in settings used in the printing software dialogue box. That’s a subject for another article.

 

5. Some colors differ on screen vs print

First, think about display calibration. Got to do it – at least once a month.

Next, think about setting up Photoshop so you can actually see what the printed image’s colors will look like. This kind of preview is called “Soft Proofing”. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote on the subject:

You can set Photoshop to display a simulation of how your your print will actually look, using the paper/ink/printer combination you’ve chosen. This is often called 
“soft proofing”.

The benefits? You can see, in real time, what color impact your editing will produce – in other words, each time you adjust color you’ll see what it is going to look like in the final print. You can also choose different soft proofing setups to see the impact of changing papers, or even changing printers!

With your image open, click View>Proof Setup>Custom, as shown below:

The next dialogue box that appears will look like this:

Note that just below the tag “Proof Conditions” there is a title “Device to Simulate”. This designates a drop down menu that looks like the screen shot shown below. You will see a list of the ICC profiles that you’ve installed, either along with a printer driver, or manually. Scroll down and choose the one you want.

 

Once you have chosen the correct profile, you can save this as a pre-set for your convenience. Click on Save, and name your pre-set, and click save again. Click OK to close this out.

 

For most photography purposes, Perceptual rendering intent is fine. Enable black point compensation, and leave the others alone – don’t need them. As long as “Preview” is enabled, your calibrated display will show you what your image is going to look like in print!

 

6. All the color in the print just looks wrong, compared to the screen

The biggest reason this happens to me is that, somehow, the display calibration goes haywire. This usually happens after a system crash.

The first thing to do is to check the printer – is the right paper loaded? Are you using the right printer settings? Have you performed a print head check for clogged nozzles?

If the problem continues, reboot the computer and recalibrate the display. Sometimes settings files go haywire, or get corrupted. If the display is over three or four years old, and the problem persists, try another monitor on the computer and see if that solves the issue. You may need a new display.

 

Additional tips and tricks:

Remember that you can always change your display calibration back to the way it was, or re-calibrate using different settings.

Color editing that seems impossible late at night will usually be easy after a good night’s sleep.

Use manufacturer’s ink, not a substitute, in your printer.

Experiment with different papers, but often the manufacturer’s paper will look the best.

If you have trouble with color on a print, try making a print from an image that has done well before. If that also looks different, it is the printer or the printing settings.

Change the background on your Photoshop screen to grey or white.

Let the screen warm up for 30 minutes before you start work.

When you are printing, try using ICC profiles for printing instead of printer managed color.

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LOTS MORE INFO AND REGISTER HERE FOR FREE WEBINAR “End-to-End Workflow for Creative Photographers”

NEWS FLASH! Special Nik software coupon code “dsaffir” just for my blog readers.
Nik  also  has  ”Black  Friday”  reduction for  7  days – so  Silver  Efex  Pro  is only 139 with the code.
Go to niksoftware.com.

Leaders in The Field of Photography, Printing, Color Management, and More

I’ve been building a directory of web sites of interest, published by a number of individuals and sources. These include photographers, printmakers, technologists, consultants, and more. This is only a preliminary update, and I will be expanding the level of detail with a week or two. I’ve done this in response to the many requests I receive each week for info like this.

These are not advertisements, but are references to resources you may find useful. I’ve listed people I know and trust.

Here’s an example of what you can expect to see:

Photography and Consulting

Wayne Cosshall: The Digital Image Maker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/
Wayne writes The Digital Imagemaker, the leading Australian photography, digital art and related area online magazine, with strong readership in the US and a growing readership in other countries. He is an accomplished photographer, writer, and consultant. Infrared and black and white photography, computer generated imaging, workshops, and other areas make up just a portion of Wayne’s areas of expertise.

Tom Hubbard
: Portland Metro Photographic News at http://www.pmpnonline.com
Commercial. Portland, OR’s portal to “all things photographic in the metro Portland area”. Includes the latest news for: photo gallery opening and exhibits, photo education workshops and seminars, photo equipment/software announcements, photo competitions, a virtual Student Gallery, photo tourist information, showcase photographers, and a complete photo event calendar for the Pacific Northwest. Tom also writes several other sites, which you can find via pmponline.com

Daniel J. Cox, http://www.naturalexposures.com/ is one of the world’s premier wildlife and nature photographers, and of course educators. Quoted from his site “He’s traveled to all seven continents, plying his craft in search of the images that help tell the stories and inspire his art.” He has many high-level awards for his work and “he is the sole author of ten books”. Enough said.  

Printmaking and Related

Jack Duganne, Duganne Ateliers, www.duganne.com
Jack is one of the few people I know who is truly a master of CS4, not just Photoshop, but pretty much the whole thing. He has been involved in printmaking long before most of us, starting out with the IRIS printer and escalating from there. He is an internationally-known authority on the subject, a superb educator, and photographic experimentalist.

Harald Johnson, www.dpandi.com Best known as an author (Mastering Digital Printing), Harald is at once one of the best specialists and generalists around. He’s an amazing communicator, able to bring artists, photographers, corporations, consultants, and other experts together in effective collaboration on leading edge projects. His web site is one of the best in the world as a resource on digital printing and related subjects.

Web Design, Web Development and Graphic Design

Christopher Green Design, LLC http://www.christophergreen.com/ is a web site design, graphic design and web site development company located in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii near Honolulu. Christopher Green Design produces custom web site design and applications, company logos, web advertising, flash ads and flash demos, identity design, branding and promotional materials, web site analysis, web site planning, Search Engine Optimization, user interface and usability planning and documentation, ecommerce web sites, illustrations, print advertisements web site maintenance, web site redesign, content management systems and consulting.

And the short list (which will get longer…. )

Marc Aguilera, consultant

Mark Alberhasky, photographer

Robert Ash, photographer and printmaker

Andrew Behla, master printmaker

Dwight Blemker, superb landscape photographer

Jon Canfield
, photographer, author, educator

Amy Cantrell, celebrity photographer, educator

Milt Carlson, photographer

Nick Carlson, master of panorama photograph

Elizabeth Carmel, master of landscape and fine art photography

Skip Cohen, President, Rangefinder Publishing, and more

Jerry Courvoisier, photographer, Lightroom and Photoshop master, author

Ted Dayton, commercial photographer, educator

Joe Drivas, commercial photographer, educator

Jack
 Duganne, one of the best fine art printmakers in the world, THE Photoshop Ninja!

Eileen Fritsch, leading editor and author, industry guru

Don Gale, master landscape photographer and educator

Helen Golden, master digital artist and photographer

Chris Green
, master designer and THE go-to person for web design and SEO

Francis Hills, fashion photographer par excellance

David Hines, leading black and white photographer and painter

Jim Hull, watercolorist and consultant

Bill Hurter, chief editor and key leader at Rangefinder Publishing (Rangefinder, After Capture) and one of the top authors of real-life, practical photography books in the world

JD Jarvis, digital artist

Harald Johnson, leading authority on printmaking, photography, consultant, author

Ryan Joslyn, one of the best up-and-coming photographers I’ve met in the last five years.

Douglas Kirkland, one of the best photographers in the world (needs little introduction)

Alan Kozlowski, photographer and audio expert, among other things.

Mark Leet, world-class, leading photographer from SF Bay area

John Lorusso, President, Parrot Digigraphic

Sonny Tohan, President, Mac Business Solutions

Joel Meyerowitz, one of the all-time great photographers

Ed Ouelette, superb commercial photographer, S California

Michael 
Reichmann, of Luminous Landscape fame

John Riedy, one of the best wedding photographers around

Liz Quinlisk, X-Rite, a master of communications and color management

Nadia Salameh, one of the best wedding and inter-cultural photographers I have ever met

Kat Silverglate, artist, designer, photographer

Neil Snape, arguably one of the smartest color scientists I know, and a superb fashion and still life photographer

Uwe Steinmuller, runs numerous websites for photographers, expert printmaker and photographer, author, educator

Bill Truran, amazing depth of knowledge in high-def photography, collaboration with large-scale publishing, color management, educator, author, and more

Henry Wilhelm, the leading authority on print technology, print longevity and testing, and a list just too long to provide right now.

The final version of the Directory will be posted at www.davidsaffir.com