Color Management for Photographers

Do you wonder why the photos you print don’t match how they appear on screen? Learn how to color manage your system from capture to print in this short, intensive workshop. From basics of digital color, discover how to use a color management system including software & hardware. Topics include: limitations of color gamuts, color settings, calibration and profiling of a LCD display & profiling a media on the supplied photo quality inkjet printers. Prior experience in digital photography & working knowledge of computers & Photoshop CS , CS 2 or 3 required. Bring 5 digital images to 1st class meeting. Note Printing elective for Professional Certificate in Photography. prerequisite: Intermediate Photography in the Digital Age (ART 40440) or equivalent experience. For more info. or to discuss prerequisites, call (858) 964-1051 or ahl@ucsd.edu.

IN-CLASS
Instructor: Marc Aguilera
Section: 079251 Course No. ART-40402
Time/Date: W 6:30-9:30 p.m., Sep. 22-Oct. 27 (6 mtgs.)
Location: Rm. 134, UCSD Extension Complex
Credit: 2 units in Art
Fee: $325 No refunds after: Sep. 27 (da/amn)
No visitors permitted. Early enrollment advised.

Sign Up’s Are Available Now

San Diego Padres

Chris Hardy is staff photographer the Padres and uses a Fuji Pictrography 4500 and Epson 7800 for output. The San Diego Padres are a long time client of ours. Here is the profile I built for the 4500 on Fuji Glossy if anyone cares to test it or use it in their system.  1-PG4500-Glossy.icc

The real story is in the path it took to get there – just to make a profile. Chis updated his Dual G4 to Leopard and his Adaptec AHA 2930CU SCSI card which is his primary connection to the Pictrography 4500 lost it’s driver. Because Chris did a complete reinstall of Leopard, the SCSI driver was not installed and destroyed. Unfortunately Adaptec stopped supporting the Mac OX with their SCSI Adapters long ago – so a quick check on the website led me into a dark corner. Luckily a google search of “Adaptec AHA 2030cu Driver for 10.5″ yielded this Adaptec driver from Version Tracker and it worked!

Another mystery solved! Thanks Chris for lunch and your continued support and we will see you next time! I have a good feeling about the Padres this year!

hp Photo Influencer Program

Douglas Kirkland and David Saffir
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

It is always a pleasure working with hp Photo Influencers Douglas Kirkland and David Saffir. X-Rite and hp contracted COLORCRITICAL services for the purpose of training on the new Z2100 and Z3100 Series Designjet Printers. We all met up at the DFA Lab to discuss digital print workflow with these new printers.

In thi shot Douglas and David were discussing the quality of the black density in David’s image of a night scene in Tel Aviv Israel. Douglas was commeenting on the quality of one his famous images of Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cookoo Cookoo’s Nest.

Thanks Douglas and David for a wonderful day!

ASMP Lecture at Ray Street Studios

ASMP Lecture at Ray Street Studios
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I will be speaking to individuals from the American Society of Media Photographers at Ray Street Studios, 3426 Ray Street, San Diego in North Park on Tuesday Februrary 28th. The lecture will be about color management, including Microsoft’s recent development in Vista to evolve the current color management system. This new system is called WCS, Windows Color System. I will also discuss The Mysteries of CMYK, do a CS2 Color Managed demo, talk about today’s photographic roles, discuss the questions photographers need to ask their clients, and finally give some personal recomendations. If your interested in attending this informal discussion pplease vsit the ASMP-SD site.

ASMP promotes photographers’ rights, educates photographers in better business practices, produces business publications for photographers and helps buyers find professional photographers. ASMP was founded in 1944 by a handful of the world’s leading photojournalists and is recognized internationally for its leadership role. ASMP has over 5,000 members, including many of the world’s greatest photographers, in 40 chapters nationwide.

Thanks to Jamie Smith, William Morton, Fred Greaves, and Ray Street Studios for making this event possible.

Daniel J. Cox of Natural Exposures – Bozeman, Montana.

Daniel J Cox of Natural Exposures
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I had the pleasure this last week to working with celebrated photographer Dan Cox of Natural Exposures. Although Dan was on a shoot in Africa I worked with his very knowledgable internal staff setting up a comlete color managed workflow. Printing to a hp Designjet 130nr and an hp Photosmart 8750, Natural Exposures hopes to get the absolute best quality in printing. I along with Kimberly Brown-Azzerello of hp implemented and audited a workflow of custom ICC conversions and soft-proofing. Bozeman Montana is absolutely beautiful and thanks to Beth and her team of smart and capable interns for making my stay so pleasant.

Tim Mantoani and Marshall Williams Studio

Tim Mantoani
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week we worked with Photographers Tim Mantoani and Marshall Williams at thier San Diego studio. Tim and Marshall are serious about color and shoot mostly Imacon and Canon digital. They also have their displays calibrated and profiled regularily and use custom ICC profiles for all thier print output. It’s fun to visit their studio and as also a pleasure to work with.

San Diego Padres Petco Park

San Diego Padres Petco Park
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I worked at Petco Park with San Diego Padres Staff Photographer Chris Hardy. The Padres are serious about quality images of their new stadium and team. Chris uses the Fuji Pictrography 4500 and the Epson 9600 Wide Format Printer to output his images. Working with mostly a Macinstosh OS X workflow on G4 and G5 computers and the new 30 inch Cinema Display. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Chris and Jackie, the team resposible for the quality photography and printing through out the Padres organization. Thanks Chris and know we will work with you anytime to make sure your color and quality is precise and pleasing.

Canon Stockholm Sweden

Canon Stockholm Sweden
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I was in Europe giving a presentation to Canon. Canon is at the forefront of technology and have vast expertise in color management. Thier products produce amazing results and are a perfect fit for the the ICC workflow. With the colaboration of GIA/GMB Canon is paving the way for successful solution based selling by looking at the customer need of accurate and pleasing color reproduction. Sweden is a lovely country and the weather this time of year made for a lively and interactive training session. Thanks Canon Sweden for being so hospitible and eager to learn! In particular, thanks Mark for your lively personality and Thanks Wilhelm for the proper introduction to Belgium Beer, Maredsous is amazing!

Photo Imaging and Design Expo

PIDE
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I will be speaking at the PIDE conference here in San Diego this week and if you have time check it out. Here is the write up:

5:30 PM April 20 Color Communication: An Industry Guide to Color Management

Marc Aguilera
Sponsored by GretagMacbeth
Commercial Product/Industrial/News Track

This dynamic and forthcoming session is for everyone in the digital workflow. We start with the question, how is color defined digitally? It is different for everyone in the digital workflow. The secret is defining your color from the creation to the final result and everywhere in between.

Phel Steinmetz Studio – UCSD Visual Arts

Phel’s Work Area
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I worked with Phel this week getting his workflow nailed down through using ICC profiles for his Sony Artisan and Epson 7600. One concept in question was the use of gamma in display calibration i.e using 1.8 or 2.2, ultimately a 1.8 gamma gave the best screen contrast to print contrast match. It’s important to remember gamma is a relationship of tone contrast, a 1.8 gamma will appear flatter whereas a 2.2 gamma will appear to have more contrast. The choice depends more on your viewing environment. A D50 environment will generally like 1.8 more than 2.2 but the choice is purely subjective.