Black and White Photography Blog, Vol. I

Did my first calibration with Eye One. The procedure is pretty straight forward - though I ended up having to go through the advanced stuff a couple of times before I could get it right. I still think I’m slightly too cool with the color temperature; and the screen is about 10% brighter than it was before. I’ll fool around with it some more tomorrow. In the meantime - I uploaded the 5 required test prints to WHCC so that I can set up an account with them. Matt - your old Sony Trinitron has never looked this good.

I also got out the big order with 5 large prints. Packaging the 20 x 24 mat size is still a bit of trouble, even though I have the fold over variable depth boxes. The trouble is that I won’t be able to order more of these because they need to go by freight which is expensive.  I’ve never really found a good solution for packaging larger matted prints.  That’s something I’m going to have to figure out at some point.

On the other hand - (I’m using ULINE) - I’m in good shape as far as the 16 x 20 and smaller sizes are concerned. You’d laugh if you saw how much corrugated padding was in the house and where I stuffed it away.

At this point in my so-called career as a photographer 90% of my effort involves a combination of grunt work and heavy lifting. Ten percent involves slight tweaking of prints.  Even a print like Promenade which I’ve done a million times — I still find little things I want to accent or de-emphasize. This is just a result of  some new photoshop technique that I want to try. My masking abilities improved so much during the last year that I can quickly make very precise selections and tweak them to my little heart’s delight. So the images get more complex in terms of the number of layers; and the prints get simpler from an appreciation point of view.

While I’m in the middle of all this packaging and inkjet activity - I ask myself:  Well self,  should I stop inkjet altogether and send prints out to a good lab instead to be printed on Kodak whatever paper. WHCC offers Kodak Lustre, Glossy, and Metallic. Prices and turnaround time are very reasonable. However, I did a little bit of testing way back when (not with them) - can’t remember what paper was used or what lab machine - but the b&w’s weren’t that great. Still - you never know.

I’ve been using West Coast Imaging for the larger prints (just did two 30 x 50’s) - and they do them on silver rag - and results are exactly what I get on my 4800 (only bigger); but the turnaround time, esp. this time of year - it’s taking a very long time. And pricing-wise - I couldn’t afford the cost of lab printed silver rag prints for all my inventory.

Anyway - WHCC will send me samples - and we’ll see. Just something that’s been rattling around in my head lately; especially as I get into larger orders (as I mentioned, we’re talking about 8 prints of 12 images for the Hudson Group; and I’ve got to get it done in the next week and it could expand substantially - or not.)

So that’s where it stands right now. I’ve caught up. And now I get under the covers and watch one of the Law and Order shows (I like the one with the eccentric detective who is either over- or under-acting).  Ah - I might even buy some White Castle burgers and eat them under the covers.  Ah - that’s what I call living large.

(View from the Manhattan Bridge).

“The title of the book is Polka, which is not the dance, but the contraction of the name of the hero, a detective of the NYPD from corsican origin, named Paul Casanova. Of course, the idea is that the character is always moving, quite in a rush, like in a polka.” French detective thriller.

I keep meaning to put up a page with all the book covers and magazine covers that my photos have graced (I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before) but I never get around to it. It’s pretty varied though. Somewhere I have a copy of a book about urban ecology (in English) that uses Poets Walk as the cover. I did try reading it but it was over my head. Sort of like reading Kant for the first and last time.

I was responding to an email when I found myself blabbing about how students were always asking me what my inspiration was. What inspired me? Since I haven’t ever been able to understand the question, much less answer it - I wonder what if anything inspires your photography? Do you go into a trance waiting for a visit from the photo muses?  Are you aware of the influence of other photographers while you’re shooting?

In my own case - I can only explain it by comparing it to writing music. One day you discover that you like the way the C minor chord sounds in some progression. Or if you’re orchestrating, you find some combination of instruments that pleases you. That’s really all it is - finding something that pleases you in the world. It’s not because it looks like HCB might have taken the shot. Or Ansel Adams. Maybe in the beginning there’s some of that but it fades with time.

For example - it might be that you caught “the moment.” Yes, you clicked at the right time, had the right lens, lighting was good etc. and you have something on film, or now digital - where the pieces fell together in the right way.

But the sacred “moment” isn’t everything. I happen to like fog. I like images where fog, or mist, or snow, are obscuring the subject. I always have. I don’t know why.

My parents had a summer house in Westchester. I’d go up there for a week or two during the summer until I got bored, and every morning - usually before the sun came up - I’d pack up my heavy Pentax 67 and walk about a mile to a little lake where people fished. The only reason I went was because there was always a morning mist on the lake. So I guess that misty lake was my inspiration in the sense that it got me out of the house. But I never did get what I considered a good shot. It was one of many places that I would return to over and over again and just waste film. I couldn’t even explain to you why the shots weren’t good. But they weren’t.

I even went back to look at them again a few months ago - and did some negative scanning - and they were all just as boring now as when I first shot them 15 years ago.

You know how that is. How many times have you been “inspired” by some subject or location, only to find out that you had achieved nothing. And the obverse is also true. How many times have you set out to photograph some subject - only to find that your best shot had nothing to do with your original destination.

What I’m trying to get at - is that the inspiration can be a motivating force, some fixed idea you’re wedded to that gets you out of bed - or out of the house - but frankly but it isn’t much more than that.  Surprise is  more productive than inspiration. Being open to chance is everything.  Surprises while you are shooting; surprises while you are reviewing, this keeps me going. If you can toss your inspirations and fixed ideas; and just be open to the scene, the moment or whatever is unfolding - that’s when it gets exciting.  And easier said than done.

So after all that - I’d have to say that chance is my main influence. I think that’s where the magic of photography can blossom.

I was watching a show on photography - where the photographer created an entire set - including a small road, town, etc. to do his large format photographs. Every bit was lit, storyboarded, and designed to his exacting specifications. And yet, strangely enough, the subject of all this setup is usually mysterious. I guess that I find there’s enough mysterious stuff going on around me without having to build it. But that’s where the idea of a photographer’s personal style comes in.

It’s something that is taught in school - and that galleries and museums are looking for. Personal style. If you see a certain photograph, you know it was by so-and-so.  This goes back to painting - where the artist has control over all aspects of the image.  (Or in some cases, leaves it to chance - but this too becomes a style).

I used to think this was the area where I was lacking. No personal style. Some of my shots might have been done by Mr. A, and some of them by Ms. B, and some by anyone in the XYZ school of photography. But I guess I don’t care much about that anymore.

Hitchcock made movies with a very controlled personal style. Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) made tons of movies. The visual style of his movies was wildly varied. What they had in common was that they were good stories, well-told. The style fit the theme of the movie, not the other way around. So I think I’m more in that camp. You may not know who took that shot - but you enjoy looking at it.

But now, as my images flash slowly through my mind, one thing strikes me: the majority have some element (maybe I can call it an effect) that is pictorial, or surreal. These include heavy use of night photography, all sorts of reflections, weather elements such as snow, rain, or just the film noir wet street look, infrared film, blurred figures against a still background. So, without knowing it - there is a style.  Not intentional - but defined by habitual use of visual motifs.

Was I inspired by early pictorialists? No, because I didn’t even know their work when I began. It was years into shooting before I learned who they were and what they were doing (not to mention how out of favor they were for trying to emulate painting).

So I’ll ask again - do you understand inspiration. Is it helpful to you?  Is it anything more than some idea you have that might lead to something else?

I’m just curious. If in the new year I was to sell my epson 4800 - would anyone be interested? I’m definitely not shipping it - so you’d have to stop by with a car to pick it up. I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not - I’m still fooling around with the tape measure and moving things around to see if I can possibly fit the 7880 somewhere in this overcrowded apt.

The 4800 is in good shape in the sense that it is my working production machine and I just have to clean the nozzles every few days. Even if I were to get the 7880 I’m still not sure if it’s worthwhile to get rid of the 4800. The only thing that’s annoying is that I don’t think they use the same ink cartridges, and I hate keeping backups of two sets of carts. I haven’t set a price - but it would probably be best offer sort of thing.

Usually I get a response to these sort of inquiries about two years after I post them

As title of post indicates - I’ve been incredibly busy with orders, books, calendars and let’s see should I sell mugs too?

Among the usual run of orders, I also have a contract to supply small prints for the Hudson News Group. The first set of prints will go into their store at JFK by 12/17. This is a different order of magnitude than the small individual sales (their first order is for 80 prints).  Nice thing is that I can use InDesign to print two small prints on one letterhead sheet, so that cuts my costs.  I was debating whether or not to do them on the Silver Rag or the Ilford Pearl.  The Pearl is 1/3rd the cost.  Whether the average consumer could even tell the difference - I don’t know.  For all I know they’d like the Pearl better.  I think the differences become more noticable at larger sizes, i.e. the Silver Rag is heavier, and won’t crinkle or warp or anything.  And of course to my eye it has a richer look.  Hmmm.  I’ll sleep on it.  Probably use the silver rag based on the principle that each print - whatever the cost is my only form of advertising.

- In the middle of all this I setup a 4th external drive for backup - the Western Digital My Book 1 TB drive.

- Ordered the Xrite XREOD2 Eye-One Display 2 today. Should be interesting to calibrate the monitor to see how far I was off.

- Did a calendar with Digi-labs last night. I’m still trying to figure out a way to bring down the calendar / book pricing. WHCC seems to be another possible POD that I overlooked. Similar to SharedInk - but not as expensive (at least - no pun intended - on paper).

There’s so much packaging in the apartment that there’s barely room to walk right now and in the middle of everything had a nifty leak from the apartment above so the super was here most of the day taking down the ceiling in the bathroom.

The next book will be longer and more varied than the previous one. I keep telling myself to leave it alone as there are a stack of orders to take care of - but it’s addictive. It’s true, as I said the other day, I do like to do one thing at a time. Right now I have absolutely no desire to pick up a camera.

The current book idea is a compilation in two sections of two fictitious days in New York. One day is the start of the week - the rat race. The other is a relaxing Sunday in the Park with Dave.

It’s already over a 100 pages and I’m only halfway through it. I’ll just keep going, and then hopefully edit it down to something affordable at the end.

I have to admit, that InDesign, which was baffling when I began - is becoming slowly coming into focus and I’m starting to like it. The only thing that’s bugging me now about the interface is those tabs on the right. I can hardly read them when they’re in closed position. I wish I could make ‘em a couple of pixels wider.

I’m working in RGB which is what the printer will eventually get. My paragraph and character styles are all set up. My master template does what it’s supposed to do. The only thing that I don’t really have the hang of yet is how text pages are linked together. Sometimes I see a line connecting them, and sometimes I don’t. Fortunately, most of the text is confined to each left page. I’m sure it will all click into place in a few days.

I also have a contract to put a few small prints in a national chain store - which I write more about when it’s a done deal.

I first met J. about five years ago. He was pacing back and forth in front of the auto-repair place across the street from me. He asked me if I’d buy him a cup of coffee. I told him, no problem, and got him one. For about a year, every morning he’d ask me for coffee, and I’d buy him one.  He must drink about 30 cups a day.

Slowly, I struck up a relationship with him. It turns out that he isn’t homeless. In fact he works two different jobs. One is for the garage where he paces back and forth in all sorts of weather informing the garage people when the ticket cops are nearby so that they can quickly move double parked cars around.

In the afternoon, he moves over to third avenue and does the same for Radio Shack.

He is always in motion. Nervous, walking. One day, he asks me if I would buy him a CD for his birthday. That was when things really started going between us. He wanted a CD of Otis Span, a blues piano player that I hadn’t heard of.

He mumbles the name. Repeats it often. And reminds me every day that I promised him the CD until finally his birthday arrives and I hand him the CD. Very little sign of thanks. In fact he takes the CD and looks at it to make sure it’s the right one, says thanks, and turns and walks away.

The next day when I see him, he nods to me, and says, great. Thanks Dave. And without pausing for breath: Could you get me — and again he mumbles the name of a jazz musician that I never heard of from the 30’s.

J., I say - you’ve got another whole year til your birthday.

No, Dave. For — and he names the next upcoming holiday. Maybe it was veterans day. I agree. He names the album he wants - and begins to list each and every song on it, with the date that the song was recorded.

Dealing with him is a little tricky. Sometimes, for no reason that I can discern, he’ll bang his forehead with his open palm, and go into this loop, why you angry at me Dave. Why you angry, like a skipping needle on a record, and you need to tap him gently on the shoulder to get past the skip.

He’s not Rainman - but he knows dates, session players, what company originally released the album… And so for about five years now, I’ve been either buying him CDs or downloading them from iTunes and burning them for him. (At first he didn’t want the homemade burned CDs. He insisted on the shrink-wrapped CD. But eventually he was able to deal with my homemade versions.) And so I began to learn about the great Jazz musicians through him, since I now have a copy for myself.

But sometimes, after having chosen some of the greatest blues musicians of all time for a year, he’ll throw in a clinker. A few days ago he wanted The Best of Pat Boone.

J. - you’re kidding right?

No Dave. Please - can you get me Pat Boone. You’ll get it for me, won’t you?

I’ll get it for you - but J. why?

And he’ll go into a sort of trance for a second, and then start listing the songs on the album and who played session on it - and it’s beyond my understanding, but I’ll get it for him.

And he will remind me every day until he gets it.

It’s one of the shortfalls of photography - or vision itself - that it’s unreliable in terms of exposing who a person is. It’s so hard to get beyond appearance.

The celebrity business - so illusionary. So-and-so is hot. They move in a certain way. They radiate sex appeal. We want to know all about them. What are they really like. She walks in beauty, like the night. (Can someone tell me what that even means?)

We like our heroes to fit certain physical molds. There’s a known mathematical formula for beauty that transcends cultures. Ah - if we only looked like so-and-so, wouldn’t life be grand. Maybe it would. That’s something I wouldn’t know. I walk in plainness, like the day.

The real problem with physical beauty is that it is so fleeting. And now it’s getting very bad because the beauties of yesteryear are doing late-night commercials for adult diapers.

“Isn’t it great to be one of the beautiful people…” “Will you still love me, when I’m 64.” “She was just 17, and you know what I mean…”

I didn’t mean to go off on this tangent - what I meant to write was that J. is simply not what he appears to be. And that I owe him his next Beckerman album of the month - Blondie. Heart of Glass. Man, she was something - wasn’t she.

My first calendar from SharedInk arrived today. It is top-notch - all the way. The images are perfectly reproduced; and the entire calendar simply looks as I hoped it would. In short, this has been the best b&w rendition yet of my images through a non-inkjet printing process.

(New York Calendar)

* * *

I brought the New York calendar with me to Thanksgiving dinner to get some reactions - and frankly - everyone loved it. I was asked all sorts of questions about the images - etc. etc. Basically, everyone wanted one. Sure it was family but there are some printing experts in the extended family and they too wanted to know the details of how it was put together. The 8 x 8 book wasn’t appreciated as much - reason is the size. The images are just easier to deal with at the calendar size and frankly, they stood out more on the heavier stock with the UV coating.

This was a bit of a costly review since I made a promise to send a calendar to all my relatives.

You know, I don’t think I have a single image of Thanksgiving to post - so I’ll just have to send you all my well wishes for a relaxing holiday and if you’re traveling - a smooth journey.

Best –

Dave

With all my book / calendar experiments - I began to generate a lot of files again; so I’ve just ordered my second Western Digital “My Book” One TB Raid Drive. $369.  I’ll use it as a backup for my “production files.”

About two years ago I began using the Wacom graphite (the small one) tablet, and am now completely hooked on the thing. I’m going to order the next size up shortly. I do a lot more intricate masking than I used to do and although I remember the pen feeling odd when I first started, it is now second nature. Example - the Piano Roses shot above used extensive masking. Roses were masked and curved to bring them out from the background. The nuts and bolts on the piano were masked and lightened (one at a time). The keys were masked and given a soft light… And it was all done pretty quickly. Sometimes, if I’ve been working on PS too long I see those running ants in my sleep.

Here’s the original scan.

And now for a mea culpa - of course I should have bought a hardware calibration program a long time ago, but I never did since what I saw on the screen was what I got on my printer. (I’m sure that if I were doing color it’d be a different story).  I just used the built-in adobe gamma program.

Now that I’m dealing with several external printers - standard calibration is a must. Any suggestions on which one to get - let me know.