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Image Science July 2005 Update
The Image Science July 2005 update is a little bit different than previous updates - we're trying a new format. We still have all the service/product updates as normal, but they are now followed by a more newsletter like section at the end with a few random thoughts on photography - see what you think and let me know!
Scanning News
The first major piece of news is that we've taken delivery of a brand spanking new Imacon Flextight 949 Scanner. This thing is incredible:- It's sharper
- It has a much higher D-Max and less noise
- It's got a diffuse light source which helps to further reduce dust and scratches
- It's faster which means we can get your orders back to you quicker and will be more able to offer good discounts on large orders
- It's just great!!
We've made the following changes to our scanning service:
- New resolutions: We can now offer up to 8000 PPI from 35mm (490 Mb files!!), 6300 PPI from Xpan, and 4000 PPI from 6 by 4.5cm film.
- All black and white film will be scanned as RGB positives to get as much as possible off the film
- We will now be burning to DVD by default (if you need CDs let us know, there is now an extra charge for CDs as CD burning take us much longer - DVD-ROMS are about $25 right now so now it the time to get one if you don't have one yet! )
- We are now burning all work to Taiyo Yuden media (often referred to as TYs). This is pretty much the best media available - metallic AZO dyes mean this media, if properly stored, should be around for longer than we are!
- Pricing for 6 by 4.5 and 6 by 12 is now separate from the rest of medium format
- Some prices are now even lower!
Full details of the Imacon Flextight 949 Scanning services.
We've also had a look at Nikon film scanning services - by popular demand we're introducing a $2, $3 and $4 Nikon 35mm mounted film service. Please note we no longer offer scanning of unmounted film on the Nikon.
Full details of Nikon scanning services.Colour Management News
The Colour Solution Package which gets you an Eye One Display 2 and two custom printer profiles for $525 is great value and will sort out pretty much all your colour problems. It's been a very popular offer so we've extended it!
So, no excuse to be stuck using the ad hoc hotch potch techniques of the 1980s any more - good, accurate colour is really easily and cheaply available. And you'll waste less ink and paper which is good for the planet as well!
You may have noticed the targets for printer profiles have changed -- this is just to cover an even larger gamut and to make reading in of the charts easier for us. The process is the same and the results the same or even better!
(PS If you're submitting R800/R1800 profiles, please turn the gloss optimizer off no matter what the paper - although it doesn't seem to have an effect, I have read some overseas reports about problems with profiling some media with the gloss optimiser on).
We now offer Stock Profiles for just $25 for a huge number of printer/paper combinations. And if you grab one of those (to experiment with a new paper, usually), you get a 20% discount off a Custom Profile when you order one - full details at: http://www.imagescience.com.au/Profiling/stockProfiles.php
Paper news
For all you lucky new 4800 users, we're now keeping larger stocks of 17" rolls of Hahnemuehle Photo Rag. The 4800 with Photo Rag is about as good as printing gets.
We'll shortly have some set pricing for multi-box/roll orders, so check the web pages soon (after which we'll be adding proper online ordering). As a lot of the cost of paper is freight, larger orders allow us to consolidate the freight prices and pass the savings on.
Very soon we may have a solution to the lack of 17" rolls of Canson Canvas. Stay tuned and check the Canson Pages regularly.
Articles
There is a new article with a few thoughts on fine art papers you may find interesting and there's also an article on why ProPhoto isn't necessarily the right colour space to use if your final output is a print:
http://www.imagescience.com.au/articles.php
Other News
By popular demand, we can now accept credit cards. All CC payments have a 2% surcharge added, to keep the prices as low as possible for everyone else. We can also take EFTPOS, cash, cheque, money order or direct deposit so there are plenty of options!
The Image Science Newsletter
Welcome to the Image Science 2005 Winter update. And isn't it chilly?! (Well, here in Melbourne anyway). Perfect time of the year to re-visit some of our older shots, those masterpiece-in-a-shoebox shots we all have. As image makers, whether we're professional or just lovers of the art, one mistake we all make is not making the best of those images we've already got. Professionals almost always have stockpiles of images that could fairly easily be re-purposed as stock images for extra income, or perhaps as a special folio to use to find new work in a different area. Amateurs almost always have unfinished projects on the boil - collections of images that when brought together make a really expressive body of work. Why not get together a bunch of your old shots and have them scanned on our amazing brand new Imacon Flextight 949 film scanner (see above), and turn them into something more than a shoebox full of never seen memories?
I often think we get too hung up on 'hero-shots' and don't spend enough time on projects and smaller pleasures. I've been (slowly) working on a series of environmental portraits of quirky local business owners and when I look back over the last few years I think this project has given me more pleasure than any other facet of my work. I'm not doing it with any grand plan (maybe a little vanity-published book one day? Or just an exhibition at the local cafe?), I'm just doing it because I get to meet interesting people, I get to practise my art, and I get to be more experimental with it than on, say, another corporate portrait job. But I've also found that these images attract more commercial attention than traditional commercial images! I'm willing to bet I get more work from them than my standard folio of, say, corporate portraits. This is because what they need is a standard corporate photograph, but what they want is Photography with a capital P. They're looking for vision, not just for competence. Because, whatever the truth of the matter, all this digital technology makes people feel like they can take a near-professional shot themselves.
So as professionals, or serious amateurs who want to be professionals, or just lovers of image making, we have to add something more than just good focussing, exposure, and basic composition. We have to add meaning - emotional resonance - by developing our eye and really looking at light. And we have to add quality. Remind people that good photography is something more than what they get back from the chemist. Quality is all about good craft - using the right tools for a job, and using them well. This means biting the bullet and getting a screen calibrator. Using and understanding good colour management from beginning to end in all your image making. Getting quality scans, or using good raw converters on good digital files. Really understanding Photoshop and what it's doing to your images. Printing on fine art papers - papers that can really hold an image well, and hold it that way for hundreds of years. Not compromising at any stage of the journey from scene to print - because if you sacrifice quality at any stage in the process, you can never get it back further down the stream.
The New CCP (and here follows a thoroughly opinionated rant...)
I visited the new Centre for Contemporary Photography the other day - actually by accident since we were shopping for furniture around the corner. I found myself pretty under-whelmed by it. I'm sure I'm not being fair but I expected something much more impressive - not just another cold, white walled, steel and glass building filled with work that should have been much more exciting. Work - most of it wantonly big for seemingly no reason - drawing pinned to the wall (!). It's not quite the 'world class exhibition space' I expected, and I can't help but think if we want other Australians to take photography seriously, and to develop world class exhibition spaces full of world class work, we need to work, and present our work at a much higher level. It's not like the work isn't out there - Australia has an abundance of talent, but where we seem to fall down is making that talent visible.
I've been lucky enough to travel pretty extensively, and the exhibitions I've seen in places like Barcelona, London, even smaller local shows in towns like Bath, have all been much more impressive than the CCP currently is. Never have I seen photographs in a gallery drawing pinned to the walls, anyway. But generally, exhibitions I've seen have tried to be much more inviting, to make the experience of seeing Art Photography comfortable and enjoyable - basic things like heating, benches to sit down on and consider the work, and some decent ambient music. The work itself mounted at the least, although usually framed. It's not rocket science - if you think your work is worth a piece of wall then it's worth a frame!
What I felt really lacking was a cohesive curation of the work. Some sort of quality control, and thematic consistency to tie the work together. Some sort of real discussion about the works, and their context. The problem with Art Photography (apart from the typically sloppy levels of craft and presentation), is that it simply doesn't stand up to considered viewing without some sort of context, some sort of meaning. Art abhors a vacuum, or at the very least my brain does, and while the artist might have a clear vision about their work, too often the viewer is left to simply guess - and if the sheer visual quality of the work, and its presentation, is not up to snuff, it's hard to stay interested. Asking people for their time, as you are if you're an Art Photographer looking for an audience, is a privilege and one not to be taken lightly in the modern world.
Don't misunderstand me - the CCP obviously has great promise, it just needs a bit of polishing around the edges and to be a little more discerning perhaps in what it chooses to show. That it exists at all is a blessing, and I wish it all the best and I'll be heading back regularly.
Well, that's enough of a rant for this edition. Hopefully you like the new format - let me know if you do or don't!! We look forward to working with you again soon, and as always if you know of anyone that needs scanning, fine art papers, colour management etc - spread the word! Image Science exisits largely through word of mouth and we're very grateful!
Cheers, and wishing you health and happiness
Jeremy Daalder
Director
Image Science
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