Tag Archives: photo

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Selected Hints and Tips – Fine Art Printmaking for Print Competition

Selected Hints and Tips – Fine Art Printmaking for Print Competition

Sounds obvious, but only use your very best images. Test some of your better prints with friends and colleagues.

When you do this, watch for reactions. Which images create that “wow” response? tell a story effectively? show a subject in a new or unique way?

Composition – keep the “rule of thirds” in mind, and create a print that really provides focus on the main subject. Unneeded objects in foreground/background can ruin your score, as can distracting bright areas or intrusive shadows.

Generally, prints made on luster, pearl, or glossy paper show better in a competition environment. Fine art and “watercolor” papers tend to wash out under the bright lights used by judges.

Make sure that your colors, highlights, shadows, textures, and the like are presented as you want them to be. In general, you’ll want to see at least some detail in highlights and shadows, colors should be smooth, realistic, and show detail where appropriate, etc. Make sure uniform colors, such as skies, are free of digital artifacts like banding.

Make your prints a little darker overall than usual – again, we’re working with very bright lights.

Think about presentation – prints should be mounted on firm, flat stock, no irregularities, bumps, ripples, orange peel, and the like. Watch for color or saturation changes after mounting; although this rarely happens, mounting at high temps can ruin a great print.

If you use an outside printmaker, provide a digital file that is edited and ready to print. Use Adobe 98 RGB or ProPhoto RGB color if printing on inkjet, and usually sRGB if you are using an outside lab (ask them). Take care with your pixel dimensions – a 16z20 print can be 4800 x 6000 pixels at 300ppi. Ask your printmaker about image preparation.

Good luck!

© D Saffir

Click here for details of our upcoming Palouse Photo Tour, June 2012!

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Adding Dominant Image Colors to Your Profiles

NEW i1Profiler Software from X-Rite – Coloratti Blog Post by David Saffir

(snip) The new i1Profiler software (has many) tools for customization available to photographers. Some that might be applicable to photography include, but are not limited to, controlling the number of patches in a test target, importing PANTONE® colors, and importing patch colors from image files for profile optimization. read more….

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New Color Calibration for iPad

Hey Photographers! Own an iPad? There’s a new, unique app for the iPad that lets you calibrate color on your iPad using the Datacolor Spyder 3 – It’s pretty cool – and the app provides an image viewing gallery that lets you see your images “before” and “after” calibration. Visit the Apple App store and search “SpyderGallery”.

More info to follow!!

Opening Screen for SpyderGallery for the iPad

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Phoozl Launches Unique “Alphabetography Photo Challenge” on Facebook – Winter submissions close soon!

Time is running out on Winter submissions to this really COOL game app on Facebook!

Winter in Santa Fe - © D Saffir

A Unique Alphabet Photo Concept

During each season’s contest (using “Winter” as the example), photo enthusiasts submit photos that apply or relate to the current letter that’s in play. So during the “W Letter Period,” entrants upload photos whose subject starts with the letter “W” (examples: White, Winter, Wonderful). When the game-play moves to the letter “I”, entrants submit “I” photos. And so on through the six letters of the word “Winter.” Entrants are allowed up to 5 submissions per letter maximum. Photos can be submitted via Facebook or photo-sharing sites, or uploaded from local computers or mobile devices. Participants can even join the contest late as there are six Letter Periods in this (“Winter”) Challenge, so they have six chances to enter.

Voting, Judging, Gallery, and Prizes

The Winter 2010/11 Alphabetography Photo Challenge costs nothing to enter but is offering 11 different Prizes sponsored by such companies as: Blurb, Datacolor, Frame Destination, and Course Technology PTR. There are galleries and public voting, and the Top 5 vote-getting photos for each letter move to the Judging Phase where a panel of three professional photographers will judge and score the 30 Finalist Photos based on published criteria. Add any Extra Points, and the top scores win.

Contest participants need only a Facebook account to enter, and they must be at least 18 years old. Photo submissions are acceptable from anywhere in the world, and there are no restrictions on when photos are taken or if they have been manipulated.

Start Alphabetographing!

To learn more about the Alphabetography Photo Challenge: the Four Seasons, or even better, to take the challenge and to participate, go to Phoozl’s Fan Page on Facebook and click the “Challenges” tab to enter the Application:

http://www.facebook.com/phoozl

OR… go directly to the Facebook Application:

http://apps.facebook.com/alphabetography

(you need to “Allow” the Request for Permission screen that appears)

There will be an APHABETOGRAPHY game for each season – so all photographers – send your image in now, or get ready!!

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Add Copyright Watermark to Your Images in Photoshop

This is a downloadable file that you can use to watermark your images. It is a layered Photoshop PDF file.

Once downloaded, open it with Photoshop, not Adobe Acrobat or similar.

When you open it, you can drag the watermark layer to your new image, and adjust size, opacity, etc to suit. More instructions on the file itself. If you want to publish an image on the web, flatten layers and convert to jpeg or suitable format.

Watermark File Download Right click on link and choose “save as”.

See the Workshops tab above for upcoming events!

(See the About tab for additional Terms of Use for this or other content on this blog or my website.)

Enjoy!

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New Inkjet Media – Hahnemuhle and Harman Photo Release New Products at PMA

I had an opportunity to see some new inkjet media – the result of a new partnership between Hahnemule and Harman Photo. Quoting from the press release:

“HARMAN technology and Hahnemühle FineArt are joining forces to create a best-in-class range of fine art inkjet media, due to be unveiled for the first time at the PMA ….The ‘HARMAN Professional Inkjet by Hahnemühle’ range will consist of six fine art papers plus a canvas, providing a range of gloss and matt finishes, various textures and tones. Two of the new papers are real fiber-based Baryta papers, providing unrivalled archival properties and a look and feel that emulates traditional Baryta darkroom papers.”

The sample prints I saw – black and white and color – had rich tones, good color saturation, fine detail, and superb finish. I particularly like the new Baryte papers. I’m looking forward to giving them a test run.

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Succeeding In Print Competition In The New Year

Yesterday I entered some images in an annual print competition. On the way home, I remembered that I wrote an article like this well over a year ago – but given the timing with the New Year and print comp season I thought posting a revised version would be helpful and appropriate.

Print competition is one of the best ways to help you master your craft. It can also help you get recognition for your work.

Staircase, Barcelona

Examples of judging criteria

Impact: Does this image grab attention? Is its message understood immediately?

Style: Does the image seem to be an extension of the sensibilities of the photographer? Will this image hold up over time?

Composition: Look at the structure of the image. Is there movement or is it static? Is it balanced by use of negative space? Does it have depth? Is there a primary focal point?

Creativity: Does this photograph show creative intent? Is it innovative and unusual in some way?

Technique: Was this image created with the use of any treatments or Photoshop tricks? Does the technique support the image or does it distract?

Lighting: Does lighting compliment the subject matter? Is it well-controlled?

Print Quality: Are there any flaws in the print? Does it seem too light or dark? Does the printing style enhance the message in the image?

Print Presentation: Does the presentation (mounting, matting, etc) of the image support or upstage the image?

The judging process can be educational and emotionally challenging for the photographer. Judges may see an image much differently than you do. They may notice flaws you are not aware of, or compare it to images that you’ve never seen. They may also see unique, positive qualities that you’re unaware of, or have discounted as unimportant.

Tips for printing your competition images:

Print your images without flaws, if possible. No “digital footprints”, rogue pixels, dust spots, scratches, bumps, or other distractions.

Use your image title to help tell the story. A title can sometimes make or break a score, believe it or not.

Lighting used in print competition is usually very bright. Ask about this before you enter. If lighting is intense, adjust the print brightness down so that it shows well.

Make presentation of your print clean, stylish, and understated. Use matting if you wish and if the rules permit it. Matt color can be very important.

In most cases, media types should be limited to semi-gloss or glossy photographic-style media. Inkjet is fine, of course, if well-printed. Fine art, or watercolor papers generally don’t show well in judging environments.

Keep print dimensions, mounting, and matting within the competition rules. An oversized or undersized print, or mounting board, can get you disqualified.

Parting Thoughts

Enter several events a year. Experience is the best teacher…. and a good showing gives you bragging rights!

Enter your best images, or images that have style or content innovations that you want to test in the “real” world.

Remember that judges are only human. They can be maddeningly stubborn, excitable, distracted, or bored. They also frequently find the diamond in the rough, and give it the attention it really deserves!

See the Workshops tab above for info about the new Mastering Digital Printing seminar coming up in February.

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California Central Coast Tour and Workshop Date Change For the Full Moon

Special note: the California Central Coast Tour and Workshop dates have been changed to: Jan 29-31 2010. There’s still time to sign up – so follow this and get on board!

PS – The Full Moon is Jan 30!!