Photo Tecnica

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LIGHTROOM 4-INSIDER TIPS
POWERFUL
ARTISTRY
THE ART of
Panning & Blurring
CREATIVE BLUR
with Photoshop CS6
How to Increase
DEPTH OF FIELD
Nov./Dec. 2012
with FOCUS STACKING
phototechmag.com
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THE WORLD’S NEWSSTAND®
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pg. 52
Image © David H. Wells
In Depth
CONTENTS: 20 Field Test: GPS Units from
Canon & Nikon
On Photography Practical Aspects of Using Each System
Lloyd Chambers
4 Carl Chiarenza: Transmutation
Turning Detritus into Splendor Preservation
Robert Hirsch
45 The Hockey Hall of Fame Archives
Digitizing and Preserving Glass Plate
Portfolio Negatives
28 Ice Formations in Alaska Paul Sergeant
Treasure Hunting in Frozen Waters
Ryota Kajita Reader Assignment
39 The Importance of Relationships 52 Showing Time Using Panning
Bridging the Aesthetics and Technical & Blurring
Sides of Photography A Lesson in Camera Technique
Rick Lang David H. Wells
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FROM THE EDITOR Nov./Dec. 2012 Vol. 33 No. 6
Publisher S. Tinsley Preston III
November and December bring such anticipation on so many levels don’t Editor Wendy Erickson
they? In some areas of the country, the grand possibility of snow and
Creative Director Lisa Cordova
ice offers time to reflect on photography and everything else too. I won’t
mention those frequent power failures like we had last year, trying to keep Production Roberta Knight
warm inside the house with plummeting outside temperatures. Looking
Online Content Coordinator Bree Lamb
past that, it’s also a great time to catch up with family and friends. Will you
venture out and risk the potentially harsh elements, or stay inside–nesting
Newstand Distribution
so to speak–and wish for a “snow day” or two, along with the time to do
Curtis Circulation Company
some uninterrupted creative thinking?
730 River Road, New Milford, NJ 07646-3048
Powerful artistry is possible on many levels, and this issue offers you 201-634-7400 Fax: 201-634-7499
multiple choices to experiment with making and showcasing your own
photographs. Start with a little focus stacking along with Dan Burkholder to Retail Distribution
make things really sharp. Show the passage of time by blurring and panning 6600 W. Touhy Ave., Niles, IL 60714-4516
in camera with David H. Wells, then submit your photographs to our Reader 847-647-2900
Assignment for a review of your efforts! To really shake it up, work with Steve
Dreyer and add the blur later using creative blur techniques in Photoshop Advertising Sales Manager
and learn some cool shortcuts in Lightroom with Steve Anchell. Roberta Knight
rknight@prestonpub.com
______________
Keep your locations safe using GPS units from Canon and Nikon–Our cover
photographer Lloyd Chambers helps you navigate safely through. List Rental
Rickard List Marketing
Are you looking for a real ‘try this at home’ project? Build a 4x5 camera Gerald Petrocelli
with Tom Persinger or make folios to showcase your photographs like 631-249-8710 x 118
David Saffir does. Think about preserving and cataloging your collection
of negatives–do you have as many as the Hockey Hall of Fame? Read the Subscription Service
interview with Carl Chiarenza by Bob Hirsch. NCS Fulfillment Inc.
P.O. Box 567, Selmer, TN 38375
Both portfolios in this issue are in black and white: Rick Lang discusses the
importance of relationships and Ryota Kajita goes treasure hunting for ice Subscriptions:
formations in Alaska. U.S. - 1 Yr/$29.99; 2 Yr/$49.99
Digital Only - 1 yr/$19.99; 2 Yr/$29.99
Talk about a snow day!
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Editor, photo technique magazine and restrictions for editorial submissions to
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___________________ photo technique.
Mention of any photographic formula/ product does

not constitute endorsement by photo technique.
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PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. by St. Croix Press Inc.
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Gear, Apps & Good Stuff

26 Gear
Lightsphere Collapsible Snoot
Novoflex ZEBRA White Balance/
Grey Cards
Pentax X-5
Books
Mastering the Nikon D800
by Darrell Young
Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital Field Guide
by Charlotte K. Lowrie
27 Good Stuff
EXposed Workshop DVD
Impossible-Project PQ 8x10 Instant Film pg. 39
Moab Lasal Dual Semigloss 330 Image © Rick Lang
Diana Baby 110
Apps Technique
ColorStrokes by MacPhun LLC
DxO ViewPoint
Powerful Artistry
8 The Art of Creative Blur
A Photoshop CS6 Quick Technique
Steve Dreyer
11 Lightroom: Insider Tips

Make Your Lightroom Experience More
Productive Using Lesser Known Shortcuts
Steve Anchell
pg. 27
16 Creating Custom Folios for
Self-Promotion & Presentation
Showcase Your Work in Elegant Style
David Saffir
33 Focus Stacking
pg. 26 Learn How to Increase Your Depth of Field
Dan Burkholder
On the Cover
48 Building a Large Format Camera
Lloyd Chambers & Lens: Part II
How-to Build a 4x5 Camera
Robust Ancient Tom Persinger
Bristlecone on White
Image © Lloyd Chambers
Mountain Road
Leica M9 + Leica 21mm

f/3.4 Super-Elmar-M Page 56 National Photo
ASPH, ISO 160, 1/180 Company Collection
sec at f/8. Nov 7, 2011
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Untitled Triptych 95, 190, 188, 1994. 48 x 36 inches. Gelatin silver prints.
Carl Chiarenza: Transmutation

Turning Detritus into Splendor
Over the years Carl Chiarenza’s photographs have evolved from tightly framed,
documentary-style images into a vocabulary of visual abstraction. He achieved this by
taking leave of the natural landscape and constructing collages from scrap materials for
the purpose of being photographed under a copy stand with a 4x 5 view camera.
Robert Hirsch
Chiarenza’s luminous, meticulously crafted black and to merge with graphic design, painting and sculpture.
white photographs remove his subject from the every- Conceptually, Chiarenza’s transformative imagemak-
day world of color. This allows his images to transcend ing pulls back the photographic cloak to reveal its il-
their specific subject matter and evoke an inner state lusional qualities. In turn, this draws attention to the
of consciousness that grapples with his subject mat- difference between a photograph and the reality it de-
ter beyond its external structure. Chiarenza’s spirit picts, reminding us that all photographs are construct-
of experimentation disrupts customary expectations ed images and not concrete realities.
through his use of everyday materials to visualize their
metamorphosis into hauntingly beautiful abstractions Ultimately, Chiarenza’s work invites psychological
that hint at horizons, geological strata, and quixotic speculation by encouraging us to examine the uncon-
figures. His constructed meditative symbols forge a scious and/or the subliminal workings of the mind,
connection between the mind and nature that elicits thus demonstrating how knowledge about our world
emotional responses. and ourselves can be gleaned through a fabricated
methodology. Chiarenza is also a photo-historian not-
This work, often relating to the landscape, dismantles ed for his acclaimed biography, Aaron Siskind: Pleasures
formal media boundaries and permits photography and Terrors (1982).
4 photo technique N/D 2012
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CARL CHIARENZA: TRANSMUTATION ROBERT HIRSCH
Robert Hirsch: How did you get interested in pho- ups and details of a railroad yard (facsimile edition
tography? available from Nazraeli Press).
Carl Chiarenza: The playground across the street RH: How did your notion of the landscape evolve
from our house in Rochester, NY had a meeting and from outside to inside?
storage shack. When I was eight years old I made my
first pictures of neighborhood kids playing ball with a CC: I have always been attracted to the landscape
Kodak Brownie. I processed them in a tiny darkroom and tried hard to photograph outdoors, but I couldn’t
the playground director built in that shack. My first get the pictorial ideas to evolve in nature. So I went
serious picture was of a Rochester East High School into the studio and tried to let collage and light dream
wall on graduation day 1953, upon which people had up images of my feelings for and about nature. Later,
scribbled their names over the years. It was essentially in 1983, I was invited to participate in an exhibition
my first abstract picture. called Arboretum for which I made a series of collage
pictures called Woods, which more directly explored
RH: What is the key visual theme running through my feelings about nature. I concluded that the idea of
your work? landscape is really a pictorial construction. In the past,
people didn’t refer to nature as the landscape out there.
CC: In high school I was already leaning towards a It only became a landscape after it was pictured. My
formalistic picture. When I started attending Roches- sense of landscape, therefore, is that it is an abstract,
ter Institute of Technology and making photographs emotional, pictorial mindset that we construct to ex-
for assignments Minor White gave us, I found myself amine nature in relation to ourselves.
doing close-ups. This furthered my interest in abstrac-
tion which can be seen in my 1957 senior thesis, Inter- Nature is not picturesque, it is of ten ugly and unruly,
action: Visual Verbal, which essentially consists of close- which is why one has to struggle to make a photograph
Untitled Diptych, 99, 92, 2007. 14 x 22 inches. Gelatin silver prints.
phototechmag.com 5
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ON PHOTOGRAPHY
Peace Warrior (Don Quixote) 188, 2003. 36 x 48 inches. Gelatin silver prints.
out in it. By working in the studio, I have control over CC: My engagement with the landscape has led me to
the light and its effect on the collage. This allows me form an awareness about the effects of human incur-
to alter that relationship in a manner similar to how I sion in our world, and I have no interest in recreating
burn and dodge in the darkroom. such scenes. My work has its own illusions, which oc-
casionally do include a sense of visual reality. How-
RH: How have people created a landscape genre? ever, my goal is to draw viewers into a new experience;
one of a non-physical reality, much as music does (one
CC: People bring their feelings to the landscape and of my other passions). My photographs evoke rather
in turn the landscape affects them. The picture comes than mirror a sense of place.
from a place in between by taking these experiences
and reconstituting them into visual symbols that one My working methodology of making and photograph-
associates with them. ing my collages allows me to respond to imaginary
places in a photographically expressive manner.
In the studio, I play with scraps of paper, and with the
lighting on my copy stand to make what I would love RH: Why do you work in black-and-white?
to see in nature, but isn’t there. I can’t see it out there,
but I feel it. It is my way of giving back to nature some- CC: In 1979 while working with the Polaroid 20 x 24-
thing that I got indirectly from nature. inch camera and color film, I discovered the only pic-
tures I was satisfied with were monochromatic. This
RH: What is your work’s connection to the logic of led me to realize the feelings and emotions I wanted to
perspective and the illusion of visible reality? convey are best expressed in black and white.
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CARL CHIARENZA: TRANSMUTATION ROBERT HIRSCH
Untitled 253, 1994. 36 x 48 inches. Gelatin silver print.
For me, color distracts from my objectives; it doesn’t

have that depth, that richness, that pulse, or as we
All Images © Carl Chiarenza

would say in music, “that sound” I seek to convey.
RH: Why have you used Polaroid Type 55 Negative/

Positive film?
CC: By seeing the results I can immediately tell what

Peace Warrior (Don Quixote) 275, 2003. 20 x 16 inches. Gelatin
I need to change in the collage or lighting or both. silver print.
Without those instant prints I would have to develop
film and then go back to remake the collage. The col- RH: What is a key factor in your picture making?
lages are not in themselves an end; rather they are a
means to represent what I want to articulate. Once you CC: I’ve been making pictures so long it’s like eating.
touch them they are gone. I go to work every day I can. I am interested in produc-
ing something, whether it’s imagery, writing, or music,
RH: What is your allure to photographic black? which gives back something of what I took in. Ulti-
mately, the most important thing is just showing up.
CC: I start with black and something grows out of it
that slows you down and encourages you to stop and Resources
Transmutation: Photographic Works by Carl Chiarenza A retro-
stay in the picture. By reducing a subject to its essential spective exhibition curated by Robert Hirsch at the Univer-
qualities, black and white provides a direct connection sity of Buffalo’s Anderson Gallery, November 17, 2012—Feb-
to your thoughts and feelings. However it’s not only the ruary 26, 2013, which will be accompanied by a catalog with
blacks, but also what happens with the light. It’s really text by Robert Hirsch. For more information visit: ubartgal-
leries.org
about light and the absence of light without the inter-
ference of those distracting colors. It’s a riddle that si-
Editor’s Note: More of Carl Chiarenza’s work can be seen at:
multaneously baffles and challenges one and reminds carlchiarenza.com
us that every photograph is an abstraction. Robert Hirsch’s The Sixties Cubed: Signs,
Symbols, and Celebrities photographic
installation is on view at The Weeks Gallery
RH: How has a long life affected your picture making? at Jamestown Community College. See:
weeksgallery.sunyjcc.edu.
_____________ His Manifest
Destiny & The American West photographic
CC: As I have gotten older, I have the desire to sim- installation is in the Everson Museum Biennial
plify. My wife, Heidi Katz who is a landscape designer, The Other New York: 2012 in Syracuse, NY
and can be seen at the Onondaga Historical
has an excellent garden analogy. She says: “When one Association Museum & Research Center.
is younger one wants to grow everything. As one gets See: everson.org/curators.
older, one accepts limitations and concentrates on spe- For details about Hirsch’s visual and written projects visit: lightresearch.
cific plants.” net. Article ©Robert Hirsch 2012.
phototechmag.com 7
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TECHNIQUE
Final image with Iris Blur applied
The Art of Creative Blur

A Photoshop CS6 Quick Technique
As a photographer you strive to get it “right” at the time of image capture, so that you
have little or even no work to do in post-processing. But there are times when it’s just not
possible to technically achieve your vision in the field.
Steve Dreyer
Let’s say you want to draw the viewer’s eye to a person, Photoshop to the Rescue
objects or areas in the image by using depth of field You can use just about any recent version of Photoshop
techniques. You can create the field of focus by using and many excellent plug-ins to create blurred areas in
aperture priority and a large (low number) f-stop your images. In Photoshop CS5 for example, use the
with sharp focus on the object you want to stand out. Gaussian Blur filter with one or more layer masks, then
Focus on the object, shoot at f/1.8, f/2.8 or f/4 and some brushing on the masks–well you know the drill.
you are good to go, right? But this can be difficult or It’s achievable, but depending on the image, it can take
even impossible if you don’t have a lens with you that some time and patience to be really accurate.
can give you those large openings (or if you use a lens
extender, which makes it even harder). And what if With Photoshop CS6, Adobe has given photographers
you want more than one sharp or blurred area in the some new and great ways to accomplish creative blur
same image? effects–both quickly and selectively.
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THE ART OF CREATIVE BLUR STEVE DREYER
Quick Steps to Creative Blur

Step 1: Open a photo in CS6 and make a copy of the
background layer (cmd/control-J). See Figure 1 for the
original image.
Step 2: Click on the Filter menu and mouse down to

the Blur filter. You will see a fly-out menu with selec-
tions for Field, Iris and Tilt-Shift Blur (Figure 2).
Here’s a short description of the three new filters. I like

them all for their unique capabilities based on what I
want to achieve.
Field Blur: Figure 1

I use this to blur large parts of an image while retaining
sharpness in small areas. While time consuming, it is
very effective for selective blurring.
Iris Blur:
This filter provides a lot of control. It’s great for mak-
ing blur adjustments based on spheres of influence in
different areas of a photograph.
Tilt-Shift Blur:
Use this to create perspective control. In my opinion
it is best used on scenic images with greater distances
between the sharp foreground and gradually blurred
background (for example, down a long street or from
a mountaintop).
Figure 2
Use one or a combination of these filters. If you do use
more than one I suggest creating separate layers. This
is important because as of this writing, these filters are
not available on layers converted to smart objects. And
of course with separate layers you still have masking
available to you.
Step 3: For this Quick Technique we’ll use the Iris Blur
filter.
When you select Iris Blur a sphere of influence is placed

on the photo. Filter sliders appear on the right side
panel. You will also see drop-downs in the panel for
the other blur filters. Figure 3 shows the application of
the filter. The round dial inside the circle (a pin) gives Figure 3
you control over the location of the sphere of influence
and the amount of blur outside of it. You can scroll the
dial with your mouse/tablet pen or control the blur on a dot and move the area in or out. You’ll notice that
with the slider in the right panel. all dots move together to create the area of sharpness.
If you want to adjust the dots individually for finer
Between the center pin and the closest set of dots is the control, press the alt/option key on a dot and move it.
area of sharpness. Sharpness is easily adjusted: click Between the dots and the outer circle is the blur
phototechmag.com 9
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TECHNIQUE
All Images © Steve Dreyer

Figure 4
transition/feather. Outside the outer circle is the blur points may have an effect on each other. As you
greatest amount of blur based on the blur amount can see from these very quick steps, you have good
you’ve chosen. You can turn, expand, contract and creative control over the look, feel and composition
change the shape of the outer circle by clicking and of your images.
dragging a dot. Click “OK” at the top of the screen
when you have the blur effect that you want. Bring Back Those Older Images
I have tried these filters and other new CS6 features
Step 4: You can easily create additional spheres of on some of my older images—and I am very pleased
influence by clicking and placing pins on other areas with the results. I’d suggest trying CS6 and the blur
in the photo. filters out on some of yours—you might be pleasantly
surprised at what you can create in very little time!
Finish the image with one more Iris Blur placement.
I found it’s best to apply additional pins before saving
the blurs you’ve already applied. Just plan your
strategy beforehand (although since you are on a Steve Dreyer is a New York-based
photographer, educator and writer
separate layer, you can always cancel the blur and specializing in fine art color and black &
redo it). white images. His work, which includes
landscapes, street photography and
portraits, has appeared in numerous art
Click and place a second pin in the area shown (Figure exhibits.
4). When you place another pin in a previously Steve also delivers workshops and creates
blurred area that area of influence becomes sharp eBooks on a variety of photography topics,
including composition, digital workflow and
inside the dots and you can control the blur effect post-processing software. For more information, visit his web site at
in that area. Take some care in placing and sizing— stevedreyer.com and his blog at stevedreyerphoto.com
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LIGHTROOM: INSIDER TIPS STEVE ANCHELL
Lightroom: Insider Tips

This article is about making your LR experience more productive using some of the lesser
known techniques and shortcuts.
Steve Anchell
Software is the conduit by which digital photogra- time you see two concentric circles it indicates a softer
phers create their images. As such, it is good to have brush. The space between the two circles is called the
access to as many software tools as possible, onOne “feather zone” and is where the brush transitions from
Perfect Layers, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, Mediachance 100% coverage (inner circle) to 0% (the edge of the
Dynamic-Photo HDR, Alien Skin Snap Art, and of outer circle). The larger the feather zone the greater
course, the mother of all digital imaging software, the feather area (Figure 1).
Adobe Photoshop.
Even so, I have often said the only software a digital

photographer needs is Adobe Lightroom. If you have
this one piece of software you can do any and every-
thing necessary to create images that are ready to be
hung in a gallery or viewed on a website.
Move Along (Figure 1) The Adjustment Brush showing 100% and 0%

I am surprised at how few photographers know that feather. Any applied effect becomes steadily less as the
brush transitions from the inner circle to the outer circle.
enabling Caps Lock on their keyboard while selecting
images in the Library Module automatically moves
the cursor to the next image after any attribute is Clean Sweep
selected (pick, unpick, delete, star, label, etc.). This Speaking of brushes, choosing the Auto Mask setting
greatly speeds up the selection process. does a pretty good job of finding edges. The brush
reads the area under the + in the middle of the cursor
A Tale of Two Brushes and determines the edge based on that. This means
The Adjustment Brush (Develop Module) has pro- you can move the + sign right up to the edge you are
vision for two brushes for masking, A and B. I keep trying to define and the mask will paint around it.
the A brush set for a soft edge with a large amount of
feathering and the B brush set for a hard edge with But when masking large open areas, such as the back-
little or no feathering. This allows me to move quickly ground on Figure 2, Auto Mask can cause the brush
back and forth between blending the mask and creat- to skip areas. By disabling Auto Mask the brush will
ing a sharp edge. paint over everything, ignoring hard edges. When you
get close to an edge you don’t want masked, turn Auto
The size of the brush is quickly changed using the Mask back on. In Figure 2 Auto Mask was turned off
square bracket keys, [ or ]. The left bracket, [makes on the left side. On the right side Auto Mask was en-
the brush smaller and the right bracket], makes it larg- abled and the mask missed the light area on the edge.
er. Using Shift + [makes the brush edge harder, while
Shift +] makes the edge softer. O!
There are many shortcuts in LR that speed up pro-
When only one circle is shown for the brush cursor ductivity. For example, when using the brush you can
it means the hardness is at its maximum of 0. Any turn on the Adjustment Brush Overlay so that you can
phototechmag.com 11
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TECHNIQUE
then choose whichever preset end mark you want. If

you don’t want an end mark then choose None.
You can create a custom end mark using your own

photo, logo or custom design. You will need to size
the end mark to fit within the panel (side-to-side). The
size will vary depending on the size of the screen you
are using. You can determine the width of the end
panel by taking a local area screen shot of the panel
and opening the screen capture in a program that will
tell you the width in pixels. On my Mac the panel is
372 px across, though it is not necessary to use the
entire width of the panel.
(Figure 2) The red mask is turned on. On the right side Auto Mask was
enabled and the mask painted around the light area on the edge. To use a photo first size it to fit the width of the panel
with a resolution of 72 ppi then copy it. For the end
panel in Figure 4, I used 216 px. To move the photo
see what has been masked (Tools>Adjustment Brush
Overlay). While you are there you can choose the
color of the mask, red, green, white or black. A more
efficient way is to use the shortcut letter ‘O’ to cycle
the mask on and off. To cycle through the colors use
Shift + O.
(Figure 4) The photo was sized at 216 px

across with a resolution of 72 ppi, copied into
the Panel End Mark Folder, and selected from
the Panel End Mark option panel.
into the list of available End Panels, once more click

on the Panel End Mark to open the option panel, and
then go to Panel End Mark > Go to Panel End Mark
Folder, and paste the image into the folder. The next
(Figure 3) The Panel End Mark can be changed by right-clicking (Win) on time you click on the Panel End Mark it will be one
the current end mark and choosing from the available options under Panel
End Mark at the bottom of the list. of the available options. You can accomplish the same
thing in the Preferences dialog (Mac: Library>Prefer
Identify yourself ences>Interface>End Marks; Win: Edit>Preferences
At the bottom of each panel is a small graphic known >Interface>End Marks).
as the panel end mark. It is possible to change the end
mark from the default Flourish (Figure 3), by Ctrl + If you prefer to use your company logo follow the same
click (Mac) or right-click (Win) on the end mark. At the procedure. Size your logo to fit the panel width with
bottom of the options panel choose Panel End Mark, a resolution of 72 ppi then paste it in the Panel End
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(Figure 5) Custom art, logos and photos added (Figure 6) The ! mark in the lower right hand corner indicates that an earlier Process
to the Panel End Mark Photo become available version is in use. Under Camera Calibration the checkmark shows that the version in
for use as end marks. use is 2010. Clicking on 2012 will update the Process version.
Mark Folder. It will be in the list of Panel End Marks

for you to use (Figure 5).
Latest and Greatest

If you have just upgraded your catalog from an earlier
version of LR you will see an exclamation point (!) in
the lower right hand corner of the main window. This
indicates that you are using an older process version to
edit your image. To upgrade to the current process go
to the Develop Module then scroll to the bottom of the
right-hand panel and open Camera Calibration, Ctrl/
Cmd + 8 (Win/Mac).
In Figure 6 there is a checkmark next to the process

(Figure 7) In Survey Mode (N) the default profile, Adobe Standard, is on
version that is in use, in this case, 2010, the process the left, and Camera Vivid is on the right. Model: Rochelle Ikeda.
version used by LR3. As this copy of LR has been up-
graded to 4.1 the version to use would be 2012. Click
on 2012 and the ! will disappear and the new version select all of the images in your film strip and when
will be active. you choose the new process they will all be upgraded
at the same time.
Conversely, should you ever wish to return to an ear-
lier process (which would make the earlier version of While you are still in Camera Calibration have a look
tools available for you to use), simply enable that pro- at the Profile, just below the Process version. These
cess version. profiles are similar to the preset profiles found in
many cameras. LR will read the EXIF metadata file
If all of your images are still using an older process from your camera and if it is one that is supported
version use Cmd/Ctrl + A (the ‘A’ stands for ‘All’), to (Nikon, Canon, Pentax and others) you will see cam-
phototechmag.com 13
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TECHNIQUE
(Figure 8) From l to r, as shot, barrel distortion, pincushion distortion. (Figure 9) Enabling Lens Corrections will eliminate the
most common distortions found with digital lenses.
era specific choices (the default is Adobe Standard). Lens Corrections

Try each one until you become used to them. You can Even the highest end digital lenses will show some dis-
also make Virtual Copies and compare them with tortion or lens aberrations. Some, such as the Lecia
each other in Survey Mode (N). Figure 7 shows a dra- Summicron-M 50mm f/2, show minimal distortion.
matic change in the image of model Rochelle Ikeda Others can be substantial. For me, the best software
from Adobe Standard to Camera Vivid. to use to correct digital lens distortion is available
(Figures 10 and 11). These two images are an example of what you can do in Lightroom. Figure 10 is the original Minolta 7D RAW file.
Figure 11 is with corrections applied. These include: Cropping; WB: Custom, Temp 5500, Tint -10; Tone: Exposure -.33; Shadows +75;
Clarity +35; Vibrance +35; HSL, Luminance: Red -44, Orange -12; Sharpening, Amount +50, Radius 0.5, Detail +100, Masking +60;
Lens Correction, Profile: Sony, Lens: Sony E 18-55, Color: Remove Chromatic Aberration; Adobe Preset, Vignette 1: Amount, -15,
Midpoint +50, Feather +50.
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from DxO Labs. Even so, LR4 does a pretty good job you will see the focal length, but not the actual lens).
of it. The most common lens distortion is pincush- If all the photos were made with the same camera/
ion distortion. Barrel distortion is also sometimes en- lens you can Select All (Ctrl/Cmd+A) and make
countered. In Figure 8 I have used software to create these corrections on all of your images at once. If you
grossly exaggerated examples of these two common used two or more different lenses, upgrade them one
distortions. Profiles to correct most lens distortions at a time.
can be found in the Develop Module under Lens Cor-
rections (Figure 9). These are just a few insider tips for you to use with
Lightroom.
To begin, check Enable Lens Corrections. In most
cases the camera brand will automatically appear Editor’s Note: In the future photo technique will feature many more
under Make. If it doesn’t you can manually select it insider tips using Lightroom.
from a list of supported cameras (if your camera is not
in the list it is not supported at this time by LR). If you
Steve Anchell has been a photographer,
Photo © Marcia Brenden

are using a third party lens, such as Schneider, Tam- writer, and teacher since 1970. He
ron, Zeiss, Sigma or Tokina, select the lens instead of teaches both film and digital workshops,
internationally and from his home in
the camera. Salem, Oregon.
He leads a workshop for Photographers

Next choose the closest lens to the one you used. If to Cuba twice a year. For more
you’re not certain which lens was used return to the information, visit steveanchell.com
Library module, go to Metadata at the bottom of the Resources

right-hand panel, choose the Default metadata, and Adobe Lightroom 4.1-adobe.com;
_______ Alienskin-alienskin.com;
________ DxO-
scroll to the bottom where you will see the lens re- dxo.com;
_____ Mediachance-mediachance.com;
___________ Nik-niksoftware.com;
__________
onOne Software-ononesoftware.com
____________
corded (under the Histogram, at the top of the panel,
_______________
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TECHNIQUE
Creating Custom Folios for

Self-Promotion & Presentation
A teacher of mine once told me

“nothing matters except your book”
–referring of course, to my portfolio.
Photographers use portfolios for
self-promotion, to share a story or
point of view, to help create a body
of work, or to establish or reinforce
professional identity.
The portfolio, closed and unfolded
David Saffir
The range of options in portfolio design and presen- Design Concept
tation makes for a number of choices—format, size, There are pros and cons associated with any choice
paper type, books, boxes, albums, printing processes in a portfolio. I’ve experimented with options rang-
and more. Other considerations: Budget? How much ing from mounted prints to a bound book. The folio
time to invest? Can new work be added, or can old design I’ve settled on delivers a combination of versa-
work easily deleted? How do I pitch my work to dif- tility, artistic experience, modest cost, reasonable time
ferent audiences? investment and a degree of elegance.
In this article I’ll discuss a presentation option I’ve

been working with lately and it’s one that I like quite a
bit. Simple and inexpensive with straightforward con-
struction, it’s changeable, elegant and a bit different.
The ready-made folio itself is made from a precision-

cut sheet of heavy paper, folded to create a recloseable
envelope or pocket that holds 10–15 prints. I’m cur-
rently using this design to showcase a dozen of my im-
ages printed on 310gsm Ilford Gold Silk inkjet paper.
Each image is imprinted with my name, the title of the
body of work and my web address.
I created my own simple Photoshop templates (ver-

tical and horizontal) that photo technique readers can
download for free to create their own folio pages with
a minimum of stress. (See resources). Pre-cut folio with prints
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CREATING CUSTOM FOLIOS DAVID SAFFIR
Template Final Proof
I’ve always enjoyed books and prints. The experience When assembled with a mat board the folio holds up
of picking up a fine art book or print can’t be dupli- to 15 pages depending on paper thickness. I am cur-
cated—a digital display doesn’t come close. I enjoy the rently using Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk, which is
experience of feeling the texture of the paper and about 310gsm. Thicker papers will limit the capacity
seeing the print without glass in front of it. So one of of the folio.
my requirements—the tactile experience—is satisfied
in this format. Image Editing and Media Types
My image editing leverages the relative high Dmax
These folios are versatile in that a photographer can and nice black point of this Ilford paper. This paper
create a body of work around a concept, story, loca- has a 96 brightness rating and a relatively warm bary-
tion, culture or time period. Pages can be moved in ta base. Working best with pigment inks, it’s a robust
and out of a collection, reordered, or reprinted and re- all-around paper and it doesn’t impose its personality
made. I use my folios as a marketing tool for my gen- on the image.
eral photography business and also to promote sales of
larger versions of my prints. Of course you have many dif ferent choices for ink-
jet paper. Pick your favorite to showcase your images.
A folio like this can be shared with a group. Prints can I usually shoot in 16-bit RAW, and process in Phase
be passed around, discussed and so on. A customer One Capture One to 16-bit, ProPhoto RGB. Normal
might un-bundle them and frame individual prints. image edits in Photoshop or Lightroom usually in-
The folio cover also has a die-cut window that allows clude color correction, black/white points, midtone
creation of an introduction image with title—and of contrast and sharpening.
course this can be changed as desired.
I designed a pre-formatted template in Photoshop to
Folio Materials prepare each image for folio printing. I edit the image
The folio consists of three components: the folio cover, first then copy/paste it into the template. The screen
a mat board inserted for reinforcement and the prints. shot shows the layout guides (in blue) that help me po-
Pre-made folio covers from Neil Enns of Dane Creek sition the image on-screen. I use Edit>Transform to
Photography in Seattle, Washington are offered in fine tune size and position to balance the image and
a variety of colors. The colors are cut from Royal text on the page. Adjust the boundaries and image size
Complements 100lb. acid/lignin-free paper, the white to your preferences.
covers are made from Domtar Cougar Opaque. Mat
boards are made from different sources depending on The pre-made folio covers also have a window on one
color and all are acid/lignin-free. side. Create a small image that is a bit larger than the
phototechmag.com 17
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TECHNIQUE
_____________
window—perhaps including a title and your name and expensive, but there are issues that I’d rather not deal
attach it to the inside of the folio. This adds a nice with such as including crop marks, trimming, paper
touch of professionalism and personality. curl and more. At current prices ink and paper togeth-
er should be less than $1.50 per page. With 15 pages
Printing and the cost of the folio, the entire package should
Given the 8.5x11 format of the folio, I’ve found it’s come in around $25.
easier and less time-consuming to purchase cut sheets
at this size. I’ve been using the Epson 3880 and the I recommend that you print using “application man-
HP B9180 printers for these jobs, as both have nice aged color” and use an ICC paper profile in your
ink sets and straight or almost straight paper paths. printing. Most paper manufacturers offer paper pro-
Printing on larger sheets or on roll paper could be less files online for a range of printers. I’ve also gotten ex-
cellent results making custom paper profiles, particu-
larly when using matte-finish fine art media.
If you are using matte-finish fine art paper, consider

using a spray or other protective coating to reduce vul-
nerability to scratching and scuffing. Some people use
an interleaving sheet—but this may reduce the number
of prints that will fit in the folio.
I print these as unsigned open editions unlike my larg-

er gallery-sized prints.
Collateral Materials
You can include an artist statement that might con-
tain an introduction to your images, a description of
the scope of the work, project objectives and the like.
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CREATING CUSTOM FOLIOS DAVID SAFFIR
All Images © David Saffir
_____________
Brooks Jensen who made some of the earliest digital

folios suggests adding a colophon, which is a brief de-
scription of the provenance of the work and methods
and materials used. Generally, the artist’s statement
is placed at the beginning of the print series and the
colophon at the end.
I feel that this design is a sometimes-overlooked op-

tion in presentation and promotion—it’s easy to set up
and execute and the results can be very satisfying.
I find it helps to differentiate my work—the form and
format are different than books and boxes most com-
monly seen in the market. I certainly plan to continue
to create and use these folios in the future!
______________________________________
Editor’s Note: Readers can download David’s template by following the

link underneath this article on the photo technique website.
David Saffir is an internationally recognized,
award-winning portrait, commercial and fine art
photographer and printmaker. He teaches workshops
and seminars in photography, printmaking and color
management. He lives in Santa Clarita, California.
He is the author of Mastering Digital Color: A
Photographer’s and Artist’s Guide to Controlling
Color, published by Thomson/Cengage and a
photography book, The Joy of Discovery.
davidsaffir.wordpress.com
Resources
Dane Creek Photography - danecreekfolios.com, Ilford Galerie
_______________________________
Papers - ______
ilford.com
phototechmag.com 19
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IN DEPTH
Field Test:
GPS Units from Canon & Nikon
Canon and Nikon both offer GPS units for both stills and videos. What are the practical
aspects of using these units during shooting and what uses and considerations are there
for GPS data?
Lloyd Chambers
Introduction user manual or the GP-E2 manual! In fact, I initially

Both Canon and Nikon offer GPS units that can be used the cable with the Canon 5D Mark III, only to
connected to their respective brand DSLR cameras, discover that it was completely unnecessary.
with recent-models having built-in menu support with
recording options. When Apple can build GPS into an iPhone of far
smaller volume, one has to wonder why GPS is not
With both brands, the GPS units are add-on devices built into at least the higher-end Canon and Nikon
that are designed to mount in the hot-shoe of the DSLR cameras. The add-on solution adds extra cost
camera, though both can be mounted to a belt or and bulk; neither camera fits well into my camera hip-
otherwise with a cable. With the Nikon GP-1 a cable pack with the GPS unit in the hot shoe.
is required both to power the unit and to record data;
the unit is a “dumb” unit with no electrical connection The use of GPS will arguably be one of professional
to the hot shoe; both the Canon 5D Mark III and requirements: a botanist or researcher documenting
Canon 1D X (and perhaps other models) can use the the location of a plant or animal, mapping for technical
GP-E2 cable-free with connection pins in the hot shoe articles, law-enforcement work, etc. In this regard,
taking care of connectivity. Not only is the Canon both brands offer good solutions. However, there is a
solution far more elegant, the Canon unit is much certain coolness factor in seeing one’s photos pop up
more capable in general. Curiously, this important on a Google map in Adobe Lightroom (more on that
ease-of-use fact is not mentioned in the 5D Mark III later), so GPS might have broader appeal in general.
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FIELD TEST: GPS UNITS FROM CANON & NIKON LLOYD CHAMBERS
The Canon and Nikon GPS units both have the usual
generic GPS limitations: in narrow canyons, heavy
tree cover, etc, the GPS signal can be impaired or
completely unavailable. Since I regularly hike in
such locations this was a concern, but in my local
testing, the concern proved unwarranted in “reason-
able” locations.
Nikon GPS Receiver GP-1

The Nikon GP-1 requires a cable to the camera both
for its power and for data transfer to the camera. By
drawing its power from the camera, the unit is smaller
and there is no extra battery to carry for GPS, but it
also means that in order to function, the GP-1 must
be connected by its cable to the camera at all times.
It’s an awkward arrangement, and brings other comp-
lications (with a remote release).
Nikon GPS Receiver GP-1 mounted on the Nikon D800E with
Nikon supplies a camera strap widget that allows Really Right Stuff L-bracket and Zeiss 50/1.4 Planar lens.
mounting the GP-1 on the strap, but advises that this
might degrade signal quality due to the orientation of a nuisance of itself; tape or some other means is neces-
the unit. This seems inappropriate; if one needs GPS, sary to restrain the cable from snagging on things; this
then surely signal quality is of paramount importance. is no small matter since a good “catch” with this fairly
If for casual use, then it’s presumably OK, but why then robust cable could damage the unit or the port on the
bother? However, I did not explicitly test the signal camera. See the picture of the D800E with the GP-1
quality in the field. But I would expect that it could be cabled to the camera. I regularly stow/unstow my
important under conditions that already impair GPS cameras when hiking in the mountains, so the cable
signal quality such as heavy foliage, or in a canyon. loop is a constant annoyance and risk to the camera.
Late-model Nikon DSLR cameras will show the GPS The GPS => Auto Meter setting should be set to En-
information from the GP-1 on the camera LCD via the able in order to prevent power drain, but this causes
setup menu GPS => Position menu. This might be use- a delay in waiting for the GPS unit to re-acquire the
ful if one is navigating with a topographical map. Cur- GPS signal (10-15 seconds in my field testing). Failure
iously, I could find no way to make the Nikon a D800E to wait might cause inaccurate GPS location to be
show GPS information for an image already shot, even recorded, so for serious use, carry extra batteries and
after enabling all information display parameters. use GPS => Auto Meter = Disable, which will drain
more power, but will also ensure that GPS is available
The Nikon GP-1 connects to the remote port (the same at all times (assuming a GPS signal is available and the
port used for a Nikon’s MC-30 or MC-36 remote shutter camera is not turned off).
release). Since connecting the GP-1 occupies the port,
Nikon supplies a second port on the GPS unit itself, but The Nikon GP-1 offers no logging or orientation
this port requires a MC-DC2 remote release; the port feature (digital compass) as does the Canon GP-E2.
is incompatible with the MC-30 and MC-36, which All in all, I did not care for the Nikon’s ergonomics
means the user needs to carry both the usual remote hassles, as well as the minimal feature set and remote
and the MC-DC2 depending on whether the GP-1 release headache. Because of these factors, anyone who
is in use or not. This is a confounding complication has more demanding professional GPS requirements
that discourages me from using the Nikon GP-1 in the should go (logging, tracking, orientation) might con-
field, since I often carry two camera bodies (D800 and sider the Canon platform.
D800E); carrying two incompatible releases is one
more detail I don’t want to have to plan for. Canon’s GPS Receiver GP-E2
The GP-E2 is slightly larger than the Nikon GP-1 be-
The supplied cable for connecting the GP-1 to the cause it requires one AA battery. But this proves to
camera, though not long, is still long enough to make be immaterial; the cable-free mounting on current
phototechmag.com 21
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IN DEPTH
Canon DSLR cameras is a far more elegant solution.

The GP-E2 also has a three-way On/Off/Log switch,
offering direct control over its mode of operation and
allowing easy power saving (just switch it to Off).
Of particular note with the GP-E2 is its digital com-

pass option, which allows an orientation in degrees
(magnetic) to be associated with the image, not just
coordinates and altitude (e.g. north-east). This can be
quite useful information for landscape type images.
Nikon’s GP-1 has no such option.
The Canon GP-E2 also has a logging feature to create

a route map, at 1/5/10/ etc. second intervals (configur-
able). The log data can be used to tag images with
GPS data after the fact, so in theory one could mount
the GP-E2 on a wrist or armband if desired, instead
of on the camera hot-shoe. Worth noting is that no
camera is needed at all; the recorded route is not only
plain text, but it can be displayed on a Google map by Canon GPS Receiver GP-E2 mounted on the Canon 5D Mark III with the short-
est supplied cable, Really Right Stuff L-bracket and Zeiss 35/1.4 Distagon lens.
the supplied Canon software. Cable is needed only for older models, not for the 5D Mark III.
What Canon does not make clear in the Canon 5D

Mark III or 1D X manual or in the GP-E2 manual is be attached elsewhere (such as one’s belt) via a longer
that no connecting cable is needed on the 5DM3! The cable to the same port, but this could impair signal
hot shoe (4 contact pins) takes care of it; this makes it quality, and one would then lose the orientation (dir-
eminently practical to leave the unit on the camera; ectional recording) capability of the GP-E2, as well as
it’s just there and just works— no cable. the elegant and simple hot-shoe mount.
Perhaps Nikon will develop future cameras and a Canon’s included software allows the GP-E2 data via
future GP-2, but as far as I can determine, the Nikon the Log mode to be reconciled to images later via
D800/D800E have no apparent electrical contacts to software (supplied for Mac and Windows); this is done
support the Canon direct-connect functionality—and by matching date and time to that of the recorded
the Nikon GP-1 is just a plastic-bottomed mount. image(s). While this is definitely an option, modifying
my original RAW files is unappealing; the fewer post-
On older Canon DSLR bodies, the Canon cabling shoot steps needed, the better. A better practice when
arrangement has a problematic downside for the way I feasible is to have the GPS data embedded in the first
shoot: when cabled, my Really Right Stuff L-bracket place; keep the unit on the camera.
cannot be used in the vertical position because the
cable protrudes too far, preventing the camera from Note that the Canon installer for Mac OS X also
mounting in a vertical (portrait) orientation—see the installs various software that I do not want, such as
picture. Worse, even without the L-bracket, the Canon the irritating Memory Card Utility that pops up
cabling interferes with the left hand grip of the camera— every time I insert a storage card. I had to hunt down
not so great. Unlike the Nikon GP-1, the GP-E2 does the offending application and trash it (Applications/
not interfere with the use of a remote release, because Canon Utilities/ImageBrowser EX/, since there is no
the GP-E2 uses the camera’s USB port even for older preference to disable its behavior.
camera models, not the remote release port. Small de-
tails can matter for specific uses, for better or for worse. The included Canon Map Utility for Mac OS X
software is a confusing affair, with instructions that are
The Canon GPS Receiver GP-E2 is best mounted textual but with graphical icons and error messages
via the hot shoe where it locks into place, or it can indicating failure. The software does not allow saving
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Canon Map Utility displays the route map sampled at a configurable interval of 1/5/10/etc. seconds.
the log file, instead it is dropped into a mysterious sub- GPS reading, or some patience is required before each
sub-folder, which I had to search for. This could be image. Ditto for turning the camera off between shots.
done better, but of course Nikon has no log file at all.
With the Canon GP-E2, the simple cable-free
In the Field mounting and self-power operation meant that I could
With both the Canon and Nikon GPS units, tree cover turn the unit on and forget about it, then turn it off
in a moderate canyon did not seem to have negative when done. All with a simple switch on the unit. This
effects on the functionality of either brand. Deeper is so preferable to Nikon’s settings in the camera that
canyons and/or heavy tree cover and/or a non-ideal
GPS constellation might alter that behavior (the
available GPS constellation can be good or not so
good, depending on location and time of day).
With the Nikon D800E + GP-1 stowed in my hip-

pack, the GP-1 would take 10-15 seconds to reacquire
the GPS signal after pulling it out of the pack. I also
noted that if I took a picture right away, that the
reading would be off just a little; it is best to wait that
10-15 seconds for the current reading to stabilize if the
camera has just been pulled out of a pack. In short,
this means that for consistent readings, one should
not carry the camera in a pack, and that the camera
should be set for continuous operation (GPS => Auto
Meter = Disable), so that the unit always has a “fresh” EXIF data contains the GPS coordinates, altitude and direction.
phototechmag.com 23
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IN DEPTH
left me scratching my head as to how best to operate includes a geotagging feature integrated with Google
the GP-1 (save power or leave on?). mapping. Lightroom 4 can show the map with images
tagged on the map, a very powerful tool for seeing
Geotagging where a group of images were taken, a route traversed,
Consider whether the software involved in your work- etc. For scientific or documentary uses this could be
flow can make good use of GPS. In the most basic case, quite valuable to detect clustering patterns by a quick
the GPS data can be seen in the EXIF info; this is of visual scan. And I have to admit, it does feel pretty
some documentary value, but it provides no real bene- cool to see this stuff pop up on the screen.
fit other than “this particular picture was taken here.”
GPS Risks and Benefits
The real power comes from a GPS-enabled workf low, When saving images for transmission or web use,
such as with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, which carefully consider whether the GPS data is a desirable
thing to include given the particular image location
and subject matter.
Exact location is just that. Documenting the location

of rare plants or animals, or other similar professional
uses is a powerful scientific tool. As is photography
from water or a snowy or other featureless location
where there might be no other way to self-orient for
future exploration.
GPS tied to the wrong photograph (and camera serial

number) is a good way to be jailed in oppressive
Optional reverse geocoding in Adobe Lightroom 4.
countries, some of which might make it illegal to use
Adobe Lightroom 4 displays images using live Google maps.
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All Images © Lloyd Chambers

GPS at all, or in some areas! One might even wonder and it is why by default I never share GPS coordinates
whether the Canon or Nikon units self-disable in in my blog or publications. I hope that photographers
certain restricted areas as is rumored. GPS location will carefully consider all ramifications of GPS in
is also a good way to document illegal behavior or their own work, in a world increasingly bereft of re-
trespassing by location for oneself or others. mote untrammeled jewels.
In jurisdictions otherwise free of restrictions, consider Conclusions

that a precise location is a way to see a favorite view The Canon and Nikon GPS units get the job done,
replicated, or a historical artifact or special feature but unless the photographer has a compelling interest
damaged (it takes only one malicious or careless in GPS data, the cabling mess of the Nikon GP-1 is
person). It is for this reason that location of trees like unappealing for my own uses. The Canon GP-E2 sol-
the ancient bristlecone pine ‘Methuselah’ are not doc- ution is elegantly simply by comparison, and with
umented by the USDA Forest Service! A little thought a superior feature set, so leaving the Canon GP-E2
goes a long way here to protect special artifacts. mounted on a current Canon DSLR has no downside
except a slightly bulkier camera.
There are other reasons not to document location,
such as keeping the spirit of discovery alive— the idea
Lloyd L Chambers enjoys all-digital
of slogging to a precise location that someone else has photography after shooting film for years
documented pretty much kills my interest in the place in 35mm, 4×5, 6×7, and 617 formats. His
web site and blog offer a wealth of material
especially knowing that 10 or 50 other people might on advanced photographic techniques.
do the same.
His Guide to Zeiss ZF / ZE Lenses and
Guide to Leica are reference works on
My personal views on GPS locations with photographs those fine lenses, while Making Sharp
Images offers practical tips on getting the
are strict: passing along GPS coordinates without a most from any camera or lens. Visit his site
compelling reason has potential negative side effects at at diglloyd.com
phototechmag.com 25
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GEAR, APPS & GOOD STUFF
Gear
Pentax Introduces New X-5 Digital Camera

The Pentax X-5 digital camera is an ideal choice for photographers who
want to easily capture beautiful, high-quality images of a wide variety of
subjects and scenes. Featuring a powerful high-magnification optical 26X
super-telephoto zoom lens and a focal length of 4mm-104mm (22.3mm
ultra-wide angle to 580mm super telephoto 35mm equivalent). Coupled
with the camera’s Macro mode, which allows photographers to capture
dramatic close-up images of subjects as near to the lens as 0.4 inches,
the X-5 delivers an extensive range of creative photographic possibilities.
pentaximaging.com
Lightsphere Collapsible Snoot

New from Gary Fong, the Lightsphere
Collapsible Snoot gives photographers Novoflex ZEBRA
maximum efficiency and directional control White Balance/Grey Cards
over strobe lighting when mounted off-camera, Novoflex ZEBRA cards are
allowing a photographer to create cutting made from a special polymer
edge, “fashion style” special effects. The black and have an antireflection
finish of the Lightsphere Collapsible Snoot coating on both the white side
blocks the light spilled out of the sides of the and the grey side. The grey side
diffuser so instead of filling a room with soft serves as a reference area for
light, the photographer can project the light exposure metering while the
directly onto the subject with a controlled yet white side enables correct white
soft burst that is great for hair highlighting, balance that is so important
selective lighting of subjects, or highlighting in digital photography.
a subject against a busy background. hpmarketingcorp.com
garyfonginc.com
Books
Mastering the Nikon D800
by Darrell Young
provides a wealth of Canon EOS 5D Mark III
experience-based information Digital Field Guide
and insights for owners of the by Charlotte K. Lowrie
new D800 camera. Darrell is This full-color Canon EOS 5D
determined to help the user Mark III Digital Field Guide
navigate past the confusion provides you with guidance
that often comes with complex on how and when to use each
and powerful professional button, dial and menu option.
camera equipment. The book Delivering information in an
explores the features and easy-to-understand format, this
capabilities of the camera portable guide features more
in a way that far surpasses than 200 inspirational photos
the user’s manual. It guides by acclaimed photographer and
readers through the camera veteran author Charlotte Lowrie.
features with step-by-step setting adjustments; color illustrations; The handy trim size allows
and detailed how, when and why explanations for each option. this guide to go where you go,
(Rocky Nook, $39.95 USD) oreilly.com providing you with easy access
to information quickly so you
can get the exact shot you want
when you want it. wiley.com
______
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GEAR, APPS & GOOD STUFF

Good Stuff EXposed Workshop DVD
From Seim Effects a new workshop
by award-winning photographer
Gavin Seim—EXposed, a film about
Impossible-Project Launches New PQ seeing and photographing light.
8x10 Instant Film This workshop was produced over
You may remember that Polaroid several months while Gavin traveled
introduced 8x10 Instant film in 1973 thousands of miles across America.
making high-resolution large format EXposed documents experiences
instant photography possible for and techniques inspired by the
the first time. The unique size and masters of photography and refined
characteristics of the 8 x10 film soon for the digital age.
captured the attention of photographers
Photo © Chloe Aftel

as an artistic medium. During the 1980s The goal of EXposed is to teach
it was frequently used for landscape, photographers how to not only
fine art or advertising-photography, photograph light, but how to truly see it. EXposed is an informative
scientific applications as well as high entertaining four-hour journey (in 14 organized chapters) following
quality proofs. Just like all other types of Gavin as he travels around the United States with a camper and a
Polaroid film it was discontinued in the passion for light, hunting perfection and showcasing the importance
21st Century. of understanding the quality, range and tones of light and its impact
on photography. _______________
exposedworkshop.com and seimeffects.com
The New PQ 8x10 film from Impossible-
Project is compatible with all 8x10
cameras equipped with a Polaroid film
holder, as well as the original Polaroid
8x10 processor. (Look for an article on
this exciting new film in an upcoming
issue of photo technique!)
the-impossible-project.com
Moab Lasal Dual Semigloss 330

A heavyweight, double-sided fine The Diana Baby 110
art paper utilizing state-of-the-art Just when you thought the world was totally digital...enter the Diana
coating technology. The first Baby 110. Looking like it’s 1970’s counterpart, this teeny baby uses
heavyweight 330gsm dual-sided 110 film (yes film) and has two interchangeable lenses and a PC-flash
inkjet paper in its class, Lasal Dual socket. Along with it are Color Tiger 110 and B&W Orca 110 films,
Semigloss 330 features the latest all from the folks at the Lomographic Society. C’mon you want one!
in coating technology to produce lomography.com
ultra-consistent image reproduction
with instant dry-time. The new
coating allows prints to be handled
immediately without fingerprints or
scuffing making the paper ideal for
portfolios and limited edition books
Apps
where the prints encounter frequent
handling. moabpaper.com
__________
(Before) (After)
Trevi Fountain, Photograph iConstantin Foniadakis, Panasonic DMC FX30

camera. Keystoning in original corrected using DxO ViewPoint.
DxO ViewPoint
DxO ViewPoint, is new software for Mac and Windows entirely
dedicated to correcting distorted elements on the edges
of photos, and to fixing problems with perspective such as
Keystoning. Based on DxO Labs’ exclusive geometric correction
technology, DxO ViewPoint allows photographers to easily and
efficiently restore the natural proportions of the subjects in
ColorStrokes by MacPhun LLC images as an integral part of the workflow. DxO ViewPoint easily
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. ColorStrokes fixes this flaw, automatically restoring the natural proportions to
(formerly known as Color Splash Studio) allows you to recolor distorted faces and bodies to make them look as normal as those
images, add color to black and white and mix selective colors in the center of the image. Watch for an upcoming article in photo
with dramatic effects. itunes.apple.com
___________ technique on this new software. dxo.com
_____
phototechmag.com 27
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PORTFOLIO
Ice Formations in Alaska

When autumn goes and winter comes to Fairbanks, I am cheerfully heading off outside
to find ice. Ice patterns shaped on a pond, lake or river, are one of the most magnetic
subjects during the beginning of winter. The window to find ice patterns is short, because
all surfaces on the ground are covered once snow falls in Alaska.
Ryota Kajita
Wandering around looking for ice reminds me of I first came to Alaska from Mizunami City in my native
treasure hunting in my boyhood. I used to run out Japan ten years ago. I wanted to pursue my passion of
into the woods after school hours. Exploring places photographing nature and Alaska has richly rewarded
that made up my neighborhood was an adventure and my photographic work.
I enjoyed leaving my footprints on unknown areas.
It was fun and uplifting enough to fulfill my young, In Japan, my hometown is in the countryside and is
innocent curiosity. surrounded by mountains. A river runs through the
town. I grew up in a natural environment that pro-
As an adult, photographing ice has its roots from those vided the beauty of four clearly defined seasons.
childhood adventures. It’s in that spirit I strive to Living there is totally different from the fast-paced
know the environment deeper−and genuine curiosity modern metropolitan areas like Tokyo.
propels me to keep photographing and allows me to
be involved in the place I live. It’s a dialog between My first encounter with photography was seeing two
nature and me. The photographs are the by-products black-and-white photographs on the walls of my family
of my treasure hunting. home. One of them depicted a hiking trail on top of
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ICE FORMATIONS IN ALASKA RYOTA KAJITA
a mountain and the other was of my mother. They journey I was a little shocked by the cost of developing
were taken by my father, and were well composed the many rolls of films I shot and making prints. As a
with delicate balance. He loved both mountain hik- poor young college student, the costs were an obstacle
ing and his wife. Color photographs were more com- to enjoying my new passion.
mon, so my father’s black and white images were
very special to me. They looked old but timeless at It was right about then that digital cameras were
the same time. beginning to come onto the market. This proved an
affordable way to continue to photograph and learn,
I was 20 years old when I decided to travel around though I continued to use film when I could to capture
Japan by motorcycle. My father lent me his old some important events and travels.
35mm Canon camera. The weight of this small black
apparatus was pleasant to my hand. I loved the click In 2002, I traveled to the remote Native village of
of the shutter release. Using it made me feel some- Shishmaref, on Alaska’s west coast. I brought along my
how special. digital video camera and old film camera. These were
intended as tools for my journal. Originally I planned
The old camera became a favored companion while to experience Native Alaskan life with Shishmaref res-
recording my three-month journey. At the end of the idents and didn’t intend to document their lifestyle.
phototechmag.com 29
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PORTFOLIO
I chose Shishmaref inspired by the wonderful photo- University of Alaska Fairbanks, where I am now in the
grapher Michio Hoshino. This was also the first village MFA program in Photography.
he visited in Alaska. His photographs and writings
were filled with the joy of encounters with both Notes On Technique
wildlife and Alaskan residents and were very touching For shooting this series, I use a Fuji CF670 medium
and inspirational for me. He was tragically killed by a format camera and Kodak T-MAX 100 or 400 films.
brown bear while photographing in Kanchatka in I process them myself in Kodak’s old but reliable
1996. Michio Hoshino’s stories told me: “Life is shorter HC110B developer.
than you think. Do what you want to do.” I chose this
opportunity to change my life. The films are then scanned with a Nikon 9000 ED
scanner, using their double glass film holder. In
My three-month stay in Shishmaref expanded my de- Photoshop I digitally split tone, and make prints up
sire to experience the wildlife and meet more Alaskans. to 16x16 on an Epson 3800 printer, or larger prints
It also fueled my desire to photograph the experiences on the Epson 7800 printer. The GF670 is amazingly
I was having with the land and people and to become lightweight (the camera itself is only 1.0 kg without
as excellent at my craft as I possibly could. In 2005 film and battery). It perfectly suits my ice treasure
I relocated to Fairbanks to study photography at the hunting on foot.
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ICE FORMATIONS IN ALASKA RYOTA KAJITA
To capture the natural light/subject condition, I often the ice, taking you with it). This time period between
use a yellow filter and occasionally an orange filter. I thick enough ice with not much snow is short. Perhaps
don’t use flash. The fixed 80mm lens on the Fuji GF670 two to three weeks at most before heavy winter sets in
is crisp, and I have no complaint about the quality. The by mid-October. I always make sure the ice is thick
rangefinder focus system is bright but causes a parallax enough, and sometimes give up a photograph I’d like
issue, especially shooting at my usual close focus. The to shoot for safety’s sake.
camera does have an automatic parallax correction.
I don’t use a tripod for several reasons. It’s difficult
The bubbles of ice on a frozen river are not very large, setting up a tripod at the typical Fairbanks winter
so I spend time and carefully decide the composition temperatures of -20 °F, plus daylight hours are also
to shoot them close-up. The season for this work is very rapidly waning at this time of year. So time is too
short. You have to go searching for them before the precious for me to spend setting a tripod.
snow completely covers the landscape. Also, you have
to watch the thickness of frozen ice. If the ice is not Without a tripod, I have to use shutter speeds around
thick enough to support you, a fatal result might ruin 1/60, 1/30 or even 1/15 to get maximum sharpness.
your day! (Once you fall into the river, it’s desperately Although the GF670 offers the maximum aperture of
difficult to find an exit because the water flows under f/3.5, I have to focus the subject in 0.9m to 1.5m range
phototechmag.com 31
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PORTFOLIO
All Images © Ryota Kajita
to be close enough to see the bubble and hoarfrost pack up my camera and film and head out in the cold…
forms I am interested in recording. In that short dis- seeking beautiful subjects in delicate ice formations on
tance at f/3.5, the depth of field is quite shallow and our nearby ponds and rivers.
makes it hard to get an entirely sharp image. In my
experience, the preferable aperture is f/5.6 or smaller,
Ryota Kajita was born in Mizunami, Japan. His
so I have to set the shutter speed slower, and I try photographs have been exhibited in the Japan
to always shoot with the camera parallel to the ice. Professional Photographers Society Exhibition
(2011), Alaska’s Rarefied Light (2012) and other
Because of the cold temperatures, I always bring extra shows. His video documentary “Losing Ground,”
batteries along to keep warm in my pocket and swap about Shirshmaref Island’s severe erosion due to
climate change, received the Cinema Committee
them out as the camera battery gets too cold. Choice Award at the Fairbanks Film Festival (2007),
and was broadcast on the AK Shorts program of
AlaskaOne television (2012). He has traveled to more
While many might think winter in Alaska would be than 50 remote Alaska villages by a two-seat, light
aircraft and a snowmobile for scientific research.
a good time to stay inside with a warm cup of hot He loves traveling, backpacking and cross-country skiing with a medium
chocolate and a nice blazing fire, I instead cheerfully format film camera and always responds to the beauty of nature.
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FOCUS STACKING DAN BURKHOLDER
Dead bird on deck, captured with Focus Stacking
Focus Stacking
Increase Your Depth of Field with Magic (and Physics)
Have you noticed? Photographers are combining images in all sorts of new ways. They
use HDR (High Dynamic Range) to combine bracketed exposures, stitch wide panoramas
with overlapping images, and shoot multiple images of a scene, changing the focus
between each exposure to increase depth of field... this technique is called focus stacking.
Dan Burkholder
Lens aperture is commonly used to control depth of The final image has DOF far greater than anything
field (DOF). In this article, I’m going to explore ways achievable in one shot. Focus stacking really shows its
to monstrously increase DOF for landscape or macro stuff with macro photography. As the camera moves
photography using focus stacking. If you’ve dallied in closer to the subject, the DOF gets shallower and shal-
HDR imaging you know that shooting a bracketed lower. This challenge is ideal for focus stacking. Here
series of images−from light to dark−and using soft- are some examples in different shooting environments.
ware to meld the series together, achieves an image
with glowing detail from the darkest shadows to the Focus Stacking with a Simple Landscape
brightest highlights Focus stacking works in a sim- For the landscape in Figure 1 I shot two images, one
ilar way, with each of the images focused at different focused on the background (panel 1) and one on the
points on the subject. After shooting the series, soft- foreground (panel 2). Photoshop’s Stacking feature
ware melds together the sharp parts of each image. handled this simple near/far job with aplomb. This is
phototechmag.com 33
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TECHNIQUE
enjoying, there is a neat feature called Anti-Shock. At

first I thought this was the same as using the self-timer.
Was I mistaken! The Anti-Shock menu item cures
about 90% of your image-degrading vibrations on the
Olympus OM-D. Here’s how it works:
Mirrorless cameras have their sensors exposed any-

time the camera is turned on. After all, the camera
uses the sensor not just to capture the image, but to
snatch the image for viewing on the back of the camera
or through the electronic viewfinder (if so equipped).
It’s this always-open shutter behavior that can add
image-softening vibration to your captures. Here’s the
sequence of events that takes place when you press the
shutter on a mirrorless camera:
(Figure 1) Simple, two-exposure focus stitch. s4HESHUTTERSLAMSSHUT"EFORETHECAMERACANPRO

duce a certain shutter speed, the shutter has to close
from its open/viewing position. This initial closing is
a simplified version of how the two images were auto- the harshest movement and the one that creates the
matically masked by Photoshop. Nik’s Silver Efex Pro most vibrations during the exposure.
added the final touches in panel 3. Many subjects will
require multiple images to supply the desired DOF. s/NCETHESHUTTERCLOSESITOPENSTOBEGINTHEACTUAL
Consider these factors to determine how many images exposure. This might be as short as 1/4,000 second or
you might need for a focus-stacked final photograph: several minutes long, depending on the subject and
illumination.
s3UBJECTDISTANCE4HECLOSERTHESUBJECTTHENARROWER
the DOF and the more images needed at different s4HESHUTTERCLOSESTOFINISHTHEEXPOSURE
focus points. For landscape photography subjects are
generally at least a few feet away, sometimes extending s4HESHUTTEROPENSONELASTTIMETORETURNTHECAMERA
to infinity. Close-up/macro photography also requires to viewing/composing mode.
more exposures.
The Olympus Anti-Shock separates that initial clos-
s 'EOMETRIC #OMPLEXITY 4HIS GEEKY TERM REFERS TO ing of the shutter from the actual exposure by several
subjects with a plethora of detail in every axis. In my seconds.
example of the fly, complexity refers to the tiny hairs
protruding from the fly in every direction. This sort of Note: You can couple Anti-Shock with your Olympus
detail is much harder for software to deal with. self-timer for even greater vibration dampening.
Vibration and Mirrorless Cameras Using Photoshop CS6 to Combine a Focus

Anything you can do to reduce vibration when shoot- Stacked Series of Images
ing will make your images sharper. This is especially A cliché is perfect for illustrating a point so I photo-
important for macro work where the very nature of the graphed a handy fly to show the focus stacking steps
images−examining small detail very closely−invites for a macro shot. I used the Olympus OM-D fitted
intimate examination by your viewers. with a Yasuhara Nanoha Macro Lens. This specialized
lens doesn’t even focus to infinity; in fact, your subject
Sharpness is indeed overrated but in this case you’ll must be between .75" and 1.0" from the front element.
impress your audience much more if fine detail is
rendered faithfully. If you’re shooting with a DSLR, To capture the series with different focus distances, I
mirror lockup is essential (so hopefully you’re using needed to−obviously−change where the camera was
a camera that has this desirable feature); on the focused in each exposure. This is accomplished by
Olympus OM-D, a nifty mirrorless camera that I’m simply refocusing the lens (as in the landscape image)
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(Figure 2) Seventy-two images of a fly, with varying focus points.
or by shifting the camera/lens assembly fore

and aft. For this method, it’s better to use a focus
rail that precisely allows for the movement.
Don’t try macro focus stacking by moving your

tripod in and out; you’ll not only have little
control over the focus points, you’ll also lose
image registration that’s so important for the
stacking software.
The first step is to get all 72 images into one

layered Photoshop image. Figure 2 shows all 72
Photoshop layers selected in Bridge. Under the
Tools menu, I chose Photoshop>Load Files into
Photoshop Layers. After Photoshop performs its
layering magic, the layers panel will look like
the one in Figure 3.
Next is the actual focus stacking in two steps, as

circled in Figure 4. First, I align the layers and
then blend them.
Aligning the Layers in CS6

Aligning the layers is important because there
will be disparities between the images both in
terms of alignment and size. Think about it, as
you focus, you move the lens closer or further
away from the sensor and that changes the
image size. In cases like this (shooting the fly)
I used a Velbon Macro Focusing Rail that let (Figure 3) All focus stacked fly (Figure 4) Aligning and blending the
images loaded into Photoshop focus stacked layers in CS6.
Layers.
phototechmag.com 35
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TECHNIQUE
the camera/lens assembly move with precision. For that Photoshop imposed to account for image size
close-up work this is much better than trying to turn a differences and slight subject movement. Photoshop
focusing ring on the lens. actually performed a trapezoidal shape-shift to the
layers as it worked to make them all the same size and
shape. Amazing! But wait till you see the next step.
Photoshop Blending
(Figure 5) Auto-Align Layers options dialog box (Hint: Leave it in its

default auto mode).
(Figure 7) The Auto Blend Layers dialog box.

Executing the Auto-Align Layers command introduces
the Auto-Align Layers dialog box in Figure 5. Notice
that I’m leaving the default Auto option selected. Once the layers are aligned, it’s time to blend them
Frankly, I don’t know how to use the other choices but using the Edit>Auto Blend Layers command. See
Auto works amazingly well. Figure 7 for the dialog box. Here I’m not building a
panorama so Stack Images is the proper choice, along
with the Seamless Tones and Colors option.
In Figure 8 Auto Blend has been applied to the layers.

I’ve highlighted one of the layer masks so you can see
the magic that Photoshop performed. Remember, it
creates a different mask for each of the 72 layers. The
masks reveal a tiny slice of sharp detail in each image
to build the extreme depth of field in this final focus
stacked image.
Photoshop’s Blending Anomalies

Though CS6 appeared to do a fine job of blending
the images, take a look at Figure 9 to see two prob-
lem areas. Photoshop did not do a good job of dis-
tinguishing detail between the tiny hairs and it also
produced a blurry artifact on the fly’s back.
(Figure 6) A single Aligned Layer in the Aligned Stack.
To the Rescue: Zerene Stacker
Photoshop can do a competent job of focus stacking
Here’s a first taste of serious focus stacking magic. in some situations, but not all. If you really get serious
Figure 6 highlights a single layer after executing the with your focus stacking, download the trial version of
Auto Align command. Look at the layer (highlighted Zerene Stacker This software is highly focused (pun
with a green perimeter) to see the transformation intended!) on combining your series of varied focus
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(Figure 9) Photoshop fails to build some areas

with sharp detail.
Depth of Field Calculators

(Figure 8) Photoshop’s Auto-Blend Layers builds masks for
For the geeks in the reading audience (be proud—I am!)
every layer. there are some handy apps that will let you calculate DOF
for any given sensor size, lens, and subject distance.
Note: Of course these rules are out the window for tilt-shift
or other photographically unorthodox optics.
DOF Master
point images. Zerene Stacker’s interface keeps you This is a fine web-based DOF calculator. While on the web
apprised of what’s happening. page, take note that Don Fleming also makes apps for
Android, iOS and even Palm OS.
The left side of Figure 10 shows the loaded series Field Tools
of fly images; the right side shows both the indi- An App by Brad Sokol it’s free (iOS only at this time) that
vidual image that is being processed along with provides both camera and lens profiles. This makes it
easy to calculate DOF for, say, your Nikon D800 and your
the final stacked image on the right. With much Panasonic GF5.
more control than Photoshop (and much faster
to boot) Zerene Stacker produced the fly image in Lens Lab
Figure 11. One of the neatest DOF calculating apps because of its
clever visual DOF representation and camera/lens selection
methods. Alas, it’s iOS only.
Notice the lack of unsharp areas in the Zerene
Stacker version. When you start working with TrueDoF-Pro
Zerene, you’ll discover many image tweaking This App offers advanced DOF calculations. It’s algorithm
for calculating DOF includes the effects of diffraction.
options that help you with specific subject matter.
Combined with many helpful tutorials and speedy No matter what method you use for calculating depth of
tech support, this software will help you create field, eventually you will encounter a shooting situation in
amazing images. which you can’t have all regions sharp in a single capture.
Or, you find that stopping down your favorite landscape
lens to f/22 causes resolution to drop off owing to
There are other software options available for your diffraction. It’s just these demanding conditions that call
stacking challenges. Helicon Focus, CombineZP, out for focus stacking! See Resources for more information.
phototechmag.com 37
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TECHNIQUE
All Images © Dan Burkholder

(Figure 10) Zerene Stacker in action.
perspective to your image making. Photography in the

21st Century is much like an amusement park ride.
You can be afraid and avoid the park altogether, you
can stand at a distance and watch others having fun,
or you can jump on board and enjoy the thrills. Focus
stacking is a ride you should take at least once!
Dan Burkholder has a long history of

looking over the photographic horizon to
see, learn, create and teach the next great
(Figure 11) Fly Head stacked with Zerene Stacker.
thing in the medium. You can learn more
about Dan’s workshops and fine art prints
at DanBurkholder.com
Tufuse Pro and Picolay are several popular alternatives.
Check individual websites (see Resources) for Mac/ Resources
PC compatibility. Websites: CombineZP: hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk;
___________________ DOF
Master: dofmaster.com; Field Tools by Brad Sokol: apple.com/
itunes; Helicon Focus: heliconsoft.com; Lens Lab: apple.com/
____
Conclusion itunes;
___ Olympus OM-D: Olympus.com; Picolay: picolay.de;
______
Focus stacking isn’t for everyone, just as black and TruDoF-Pro: apple.com/itunes; Tufuse Pro: tawbaware.com/
tufusepro.htm;
________ Velbon Macro Focusing Rail; Zerene Stacker:
white photography isn’t for everyone. But used prop- zerenesystems.com; Nik Silver Efex Pro: niksoftware.com
erly (or, heck, even improperly), it adds a whole new
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THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS RICK LANG
House, VA, 2011
The Importance of Relationships

Throughout photography there are relationships that can shape the quality of any given
photograph. A number of my students come into my class claiming that they have a “good
eye” and they just want to learn enough technique to make sure that their exposures are
good. I also have students with a good deal of technical ability and thought that was the
beginning and end of what photography should be about. I see it as my job to teach them
that there are relationships between the technical side of photography and the aesthetics
of photography. It is my contention that the best photographers are those who have a
good technical background along with an understanding of the aesthetical issues available
in any given photographic situation and apply them to best advantage.
Rick Lang
The first thing to realize is that photography is full tells the exposure system how much light is coming
of relationships, both technical and aesthetic. Photo- through the lens, the ISO is telling the exposure
graphers learn early on that in order to get a correct system effectively how sensitive the sensor is to light
exposure it is a relationship between the metering and the exposure system then is able to select an
system, the ISO setting and the exposure system. f-stop/shutter speed that will allow the correct amount
It is a combination of those three camera functions of light to the sensor so a photograph can be made.
that allow for the camera to give you a correct ex- (I know this is very basic stuff, but hang in there
posure, at least the majority of the time. The metering with me for a little bit). Having a correct exposure is
phototechmag.com 39
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PORTFOLIO
Jesus Saves Highway 60, FL, 2008
usually enough for the beginning student of photo- he saw pretty much the same as anyone else. What he
graphy. After all, how many bought a fancy expen- was able to do because of his extensive knowledge of
sive camera and still cannot get a good exposure? the photographic process was to see the possibilities
But there is more to it. Because you are not tied into of a particular scene as a photograph. He wrote in
that one f-stop/shutter speed combination that the the book, The Negative, about the idea of visualization.
camera came up with, if you know the relationship He would stand before a scene that he was going to
between f-stops and shutter speeds. This relationship photograph and visualize it as a finished photograph.
can give you any number of correct or equivalent Then all that was left for him to do was to figure
exposures limited only to the number of f-stops and out the technical issues that would allow him to make
shutter speeds available and if the initial exposure the photograph. For example, he might envision the
were correct then they all would be. Still, pretty scene with a dark sky, so he would use a red filter
basic stuff. on the camera lens to darken the sky. Each aspect
of the picture was considered. For him, having an
But here is where another relationship comes in; both f-stop/shutter speed that was technically correct was
the f-stop and shutter speed will affect the look of not enough; it had to be the one possible exposure
the photograph as it pertains to motion (the shutter combination that made the photograph come out ex-
speed) and the way depth of field is depicted (the actly the way that he wanted. This is just as true to-
f-stop). This keeping in mind that the f-stop is only day as it was in Adams’ time.
one of three factors that affect depth of field. Each
has their own influence on what the depth of field be- There is one additional thing a good photograph
comes and should be considered as a total effect when always has to start with: an idea. The idea is most often
trying to predict what the depth of field might be. an emotional response to the subject. Former LOOK
Which of the equivalent exposures you select will magazine staff photographer, Robert Lerner was given
be important to the final outcome of the picture in an some advice early in his career by photographer Tony
aesthetic sense. Vacarro: that the photographer must have a reason for
making a picture. Understanding the reason for the
Ansel Adams was once asked if he saw the world picture will answer questions about how to make the
differently than anyone one else as if that would ex- photograph from both the technical and creative
plain his greatness at photography. He said no, that sides of photography. In my own photography I make
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Barber, Arcadia, FL, 2012
pictures of everyday kinds of things. In fact some who photograph without reason is empty and soulless.
have passed by me when I was making a picture of For the photographer, understanding what their photo-
something along the side of the road might feel that I graph is about asks and answers questions about how
am a bit daft for making photos of things that anyone to approach the issues of aesthetics, which in turn asks
can see. The reasoning behind my photographs is to and answers questions about how technique is applied.
preserve certain aspects of history and culture that An understanding of the purpose will allow the photo-
may seem commonplace today, but are representative grapher to know that a certain f-stop/shutter speed
of a time and place. Because I am in tune with those is going to render the depth of field and the implied
thoughts I can make a photograph in which those motion in a way that best presents the idea the photo-
ideas are apparent to those who see the image. The grapher had (this is by far not the only technical issue,
reasons that people make photographs may be as but an example). Look at any photograph made by
varied as the number of photographers out there, but an accomplished photographer and you will see that
the photographs they make should have a reason. A it was no accident that the functions of the camera
phototechmag.com 41
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PORTFOLIO
Grandview Motel, Ft. Pierce, FL 2009
promoted the needs of the photographer to tell his a most impressive way. The idea has to come first.
or her story. In many images the photographer will And whether it is painting, photography or any other
do something that is against the normal thinking in medium, to judge the worth of any image the idea has
order to make us see an image dif ferently. The better to be first. The idea is what stands the test of time.
photographers often take visual risks to shake up how
people will react to their work. In the end, the reason How does a photographer know how to do all this
for the photograph will answer the questions about how when confronted by a falling plane? Practice, as the
technique will be applied in order to make the image. story goes about the man who asked the bum how to
get to Carnegie Hall. Today go out and try to visualize
Technique without reason does not drive aesthetics, a photograph of a scene in front of you, think about all
but with reason, technique can deliver the goods in the different ways that you could make a photograph
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Cigarettes, VA, 2011
of that particular scene. Consider the depth of field, lens either adding to or taking away from the picture
how that is going to affect the image. Can it be used you want to make? How is motion being represented,
to single out your subject or to bring foreground either by subject movement or camera shake and how
or background into a place of importance within is that affecting the message or idea of the image?
the photograph? What are the different functions
that figure into what the depth of field is and are Questions, questions, questions−the more that you
they working for you or against you. What is the come up with and deal with them directs how your
aperture, the focal length of the lens and how far is photograph will come out. The more that your photo-
the subject from the camera? It is the combination graph will be an expression of what you were feeling
of those three factors that determine depth of field. and it is at that point you have done something.
How is the perspective rendered by your choice of Practice this thought process and you’ll soon make
phototechmag.com 43
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PORTFOLIO
All Images © Rick Lang

Harold’s Auto, Highway 19, FL, 2012
these decisions faster the next time. At one point I each thought. One question answered brings another
tried my hand at street photography and in the begin- one, until the way to approach an image is resolved.
ning it was overwhelming trying to capture a moment The resulting photograph becomes a bridge between
and still get something as simple as a correct exposure. the aesthetics and the technical sides of photography
Living in Florida I often had to deal with harsh light and that will lead to making special photographs.
contrasted by deep shadows. My subjects were often As photographers we are and always will be story-
darting in and out of such lighting, but there was not tellers. The technique is to photography what gram-
a lot of time to figure out what the exposures should mar is to writing. Technique gives the image structure
be. With practice and a good deal of self-evaluation, and assists in presenting the ideas and meanings that
things started coming more naturally to me. I remem- are the aesthetical qualities of a photograph. Without
ber one time taking some images in Daytona Beach one or the other the potential of a photograph is
during Bike Week and all of the sudden noticing that greatly lessened.
I was changing f-stops and shutter speeds without
thinking about it, I was just doing it. Now that I tend
Rick Lang has shown his photographs
to do more social landscapes and formal portraits, throughout the Eastern United States in venues
and the slower pace allows me to think more about such as The Center for the Study of Southern
Culture at the University of Mississippi, The
what I want to do and what technical consider- Baldwin Gallery at Middle Tennessee State
ations I need to make. University and The Florida Museum of Arts
and Culture. He is a four-time recipient
of the Professional Development Grant,
I start with what is it that I want to say with the awarded by United Arts of Central Florida
for his documentary work in North Florida,
given subject and then what tools do I need to make Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. In 1995
it happen. While I am shooting I am asking myself Rick was named the Director of Photography at
Crealdé School of Art. He teaches workshops
questions about how can I make another image that on various photographic subjects and is often asked to lecture on a wide
is different from the previous one. I try to build on range of photographic issues. Visit his blog at ricklangphoto.wordpress.com
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HOCKEY HALL OF FAME PAUL SERGEANT
Al Murray, Imperial Oil - Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame collection
The Hockey Hall of Fame Archives

Preserving Glass Plate Negatives
The Hockey Hall of Fame first opened its doors in the summer of 1961. Its mandate is
to collect, archive and exhibit the ongoing history of hockey. This history is comprised of
trophies, memorabilia, equipment and pretty much any object that is related to the sport.
Paul Sergeant
Since its inception, the Hockey Hall of Fame has faced The D.K. (Doc) Seaman Hockey Resource Centre &
its fair share of obstacles in its attempt at preserving Archives opened at the MasterCard Centre in Sep-
hockey’s history and keeping it accessible to the public. tember of 2009. The 18,000 square foot facility is the
The most recent of these obstacles has come from the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s vast artifact and
simple fact that collections only get bigger. With the archival collections and serves as the focal point for
exponential growth of the Internet as an information research into the history of Canada’s great game and
tool, digitization of the collection became a high cultural export. It is the most comprehensive archive
priority. As such, a digitization strategy was created in the world dedicated to collecting and preserving
not only to help organize the collection, but more any and all materials related to the history of hockey.
importantly, to allow a greater number of people and The Resource Centre houses items in the archives
organizations access to its contents. when they aren’t on display at the Hall or part of a
phototechmag.com 45
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PRESERVATION
King Clancy, glass plate negative, Imperial Oil - Turofsky/Hockey King Clancy, Imperial Oil - Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame collection collection
traveling exhibit. Currently it contains more than Century. Other levels of hockey, including Junior,
26,000 published hockey books, programs and guides; Senior and Minor Professional, were also included
approximately 10,000 individual player files (including within this collection. My task was to organize, digitize
photos, contacts and other items); 1 million negatives and fabricate custom housing for this unique collection
and slides, 32,000 photographs and 4,000 film reels. of glass negatives.
The collection also contains 4,000 hockey sticks, more
than 1,500 jerseys, and over 3,000 pieces of equipment. The process of digitizing a collection can be quite mun-
This archive is in a constant state of growth and con- dane. Though a relatively new profession, digital archi-
tinues to collect objects at an astonishing pace. vists could be compared to the age-old profession of
librarian. It requires patience, care, strong organiza-
I began work at the Resource Centre in the fall of 2010 tional skills and a moderate appreciation of the subject.
as a digitization specialist. My main role was to focus Each plate had to be taken from its old acidic paper
on a collection of over 900 glass plate negatives from envelope and carefully placed on a flatbed scanner.
the 1920’s–1930. The Imperial Oil-Turofsky/Hockey Hall
of Fame collection was donated by The Imperial Oil When handling and storing these kinds of historic
Company, Limited, in 1981. The collection was com- materials, great consideration needs to be taken with
prised of film negatives, transparencies and glass plate what other materials or surfaces come in contact with
negatives. The latter, before my arrival, had been surfaces of the glass negatives. Masks were cut from
relatively untouched. It mainly consisted of black acetate to elevate the glass negative above the surface
and white dry-plate negatives, which ranged in size of the scanner. The process would become even slower
from 4x5 to 5x7 inches. It also included a number when I came across a broken plate. Some plates had
of variable sized plates that had unfortunately been broken into 10 or more pieces and took a long time
shattered. The Turofsky collection pictorially depicts to reconstruct. The plates were scanned at very high
two decades of the “original six” era featuring black resolution to ensure the greatest quality for viewing
and white player portraits and game action from the and printing purposes. Scanning at high resolution
NHL. This collection is the largest known of original also negates the need to ever pull the plate out again
hockey related glass negatives from the early 20th for future use.
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HOCKEY HALL OF FAME PAUL SERGEANT
Mike Rodden, Imperial Oil - Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Inco Company Team, Imperial Oil - Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame collection
Fame collection
The next step in the process of archiving is re- among them: What is the best way to document history
housing the materials into acid-free storage. Four-flap for access of the masses? How does one balance the equal
enclosures were selected to hold the negatives while I importance of preservation and accessibility? What will be
made custom boxes fabricated out of archival heritage done with these collections once they’ve been digitized? These
board. The plates were transferred one by one to the are just some of the challenges faced by collecting
new enclosures and placed one in front of the other on institutions such as the Hockey Hall of Fame.
the plate’s longest edge. All broken plates were stored
together separate from the unbroken plates. This With the shift towards a digital age, the contents
project took me roughly one year from start to finish of collections such as these could be made more
and gave me the opportunity to spend a lot time with accessible, not only for research purposes, but for the
a page of hockey history that very few individuals will public’s appreciation as well.
ever have access to.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about the Resource Centre & Archives, and
Due to the sensitivity of photographic materials to heat to see photographs of the facility, visit: hhof.com/htmlResCentre/rc00.
and humidity, the photographic collection is housed in shtml.
___
a separate cold storage room. When preservation is Paul Sergeant studied at the Ontario College of
Art & Design where he was the recipient of
given the highest priority, materials should be kept in the prestigious photographic art medal in 2006.
temperatures as low at 58 °F with a relative humidity He has his Master’s in Photographic Preservation
and Collections Management from Ryerson
of 40%. All photographic materials are housed within University. This allowed Paul the opportunity to
Print File Archival Preserver sleeves. study and work at the George Eastman House
International Museum of Photography and Film,
in Rochester, NY.
The Hockey Hall of Fame collection currently contains
He is a founding member of the Tintype Studio,
roughly one million photographic objects, and con- a Toronto based team of wet-plate collodion
tinues to grow every year. As such, the job of archivist photographers. Paul is also the Archive and Print Manager for Canadian
photographer Edward Burtynsky. _____________
tintypestudio.tumblr.com
is critical to the maintenance and growth of the col-
lection. Without the ability and means of documenting Resources
analog materials into digital, only a select few indi- Websites: Printfile-printfile.com;
_______ Carr McClean-carrmclean.ca;
________
Brodart Archival Supply-shopbrodart.com;
__________ Archival Hollinger
viduals would have access to the treasures that are Board- hollingermetaledge.com
_____________
stored within the vaults. This brings up many questions,
phototechmag.com 47
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TECHNIQUE
Building a Large
Format Camera & Lens: Part II
The origins of the modern camera predate the birth of photography by over a thousand
years. It can be traced back to the Ancient Chinese and Greeks both of whom used the
camera obscura to project images into large, dark chambers that people could enter.
Once inside they were treated to a magical and fabulous display: the outside world
projected upside down and backward on the wall opposing the aperture.
Tom Persinger
A number of important historical thinkers have makes photography possible. Debatably, no device
examined and written about the device: Aristotle, has changed more significantly over the course of
Alhazen, Freiberg, Descarte, Kepler and many others. photographic evolution than the camera. What be-
Notably, in the 13th Century English philosopher gan as a simple light tight box with an aperture at
and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon published his work one end and an apparatus to collect light—sensitized
Perspectiva. Here he shared his belief that the devil paper, polished silver, glass plates or finally film—at
was responsible for the function of the mystical de- the other is now a complex array of circuit boards,
vice−a truly dark magic. A few hundred years later, wires and computer parts all stuffed into increas-
however, Sir Isaac Newton published his ground- ingly smaller and smaller packages.
breaking work Opticks (1704) and demonstrated that
the responsibility for the devices function, simply Prior to the digital revolution the camera body it-
and far less sensationally, is due to the laws of self had very little to do with image quality. That
physics and the rectilinear propagation of light, was mainly the result of the lens, which is still a
which simply means that under normal circum- significant concern, and for most of the last 50 years
stances light travels in a straight line. This concept the choice of film. While it’s true that different cam-
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BUILDING A LARGE FORMAT CAMERA & LENS PART II TOM PERSINGER
era bodies have offered various bells and whistles,

and not to diminish their importance or shat-
ter any illusions, all it’s really ever been is a light
tight box.
When we begin to see the camera in this way, as

an astonishingly simple object, things can get inter-
esting in a way that has the potential to deeply alter
and change your photographic practice. This article
details the necessary steps for building a simple
4x5" hyperfocal, single shot, box camera.
This is the simplest type of camera and is often cre-

ated as a pinhole camera. That said, if armed with
the knowledge from the previous lens-building
article you’ll easily be able to use it with your self-
made lens.
Simple box cameras can be created out of any

material that is light tight. This example uses
lightweight 4-ply black mat board held together
with black gaffers tape to create a basic “one-shot”
camera. Minor adaptations can easily be made in
order to use modern conventional film holders. If
a changing bag and light tight box (old film boxes
work great) are taken into the field, this camera is
very capable of an extended day of shooting away
from the studio.
Photo made with the home made lens/camera project.
If you want to vary the focal length, change the

*dimension in the cut list at the right to reflect the
differing focal length, making an allowance for where
the lens sits in relation to the front of the camera (in Tools Needed
this case .625"). This camera is built from the 150mm · 1 20x30" sheet of black mat board
lens we created in Part 1 of this article series.
· 1 roll black gaffers tape (or black duct tape)
Assembly of the Camera · 1 utility knife
1. To create the lens board, trace the outline of the · 1 12" ruler
small end of the lens barrel on the middle of the
· 1 straight edge with cutting guard
4x5" front piece and carefully cut out the circle. Test
fit the lens by sliding it through the hole. It should
Cut List
fit snugly. Don’t be overly concerned with precision.
Tape will solve all but the sloppiest of issues. · 1 4x5" front
· 2 4x5.25*" top/bottom
2. Lay the front and four sides on the table per the
diagram. Tape the four seams where the sides meet · 2 5x5.25*" sides
the front piece. · 1 5x6" back
· 2 1x4" top/bottom flaps for back
3. Lift the five connected pieces straight up by the
lens hole. The sides should fall back and form a · 2 1x5" left/right flaps for back
loose box. Tape the side seams being careful not to
leave any space where light could enter the camera.
phototechmag.com 49
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TECHNIQUE
You should now have a five sided cube with an open

back and a hole in the front.
4. Place the cube in the middle of the 5x6" back piece

and trace the outline.
6. Place the flaps on the outside of the pencil lines and

tape them in place standing up. This will form a tray
that acts as a light trap that slides into the front of the
camera. The fit will be very snug, but if you use care
it should move in and out without issue. You will tape
your film or photo paper into this tray.
7. Once complete, slide the lens into the body from

inside the camera and use small pieces of the black
gaffers tape to secure it. The larger end of the pipe
fitting acts as a nice light baffle and offers a place to
easily secure it to the camera.
Use of the Camera

This camera may be used with either a simple lens or
pinhole aperture, and to create either film or paper
negatives. Be sure to measure the interior tray size
to determine the precise size of film or paper your
camera will hold. Each camera maker does things
slightly differently and a minimal amount of variance
is normal.
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BUILDING A LARGE FORMAT CAMERA & LENS PART II TOM PERSINGER
And that’s all there is to it−your camera is complete!

One of the exciting things about creat-ing such a
simple and inexpensive device is the possibilities it
reveals. You might consider using it in situations you
wouldn’t risk an expensive piece of apparatus and its
sheer simplicity is sure to return the joy and wonder of
photography while providing a deeper understanding
of the art.
I must warn you, you’re on a slippery slope.

Once you begin crafting cameras in this way you
will begin to see the possibility of camera crea-
All Images © Tom Persinger

tion in all sorts of discarded and unused items. Or
perhaps you’ve been thinking about trying stereo
photography−you can easily use and adapt these
techniques to build a large format stereo camera of
your own. Alter, experiment and investigate but by
all means go forth and make something−Onward!
Another photo made with the home made lens/camera project.
Editor’s Note: The ultimate DIY project! To make the lens, read Part I of this article in the Sept/
Oct issue of photo technique, at phototechmag.com
Tom Persinger is an artist, photographer, writer and the founder

of F295, an international organization that believes in the value of
a heterogeneous photographic approach in which digital, historic
and self-made methods are employed and combined in the
creation of a new “21st Century Photography.”
Tom is the author of the enormously popular F295 historic process

quick reference cards and the F295 Historic Process Workbook.
Contact Tom at tp@tompersinger.com
____________
__________________
In Memoriam:
Jerry O’Neill
It is with sadness that we relay

to you information about the
passing of Jerry O’Neill (Jerome
P. O’Neill Jr.). A graduate of
West High School and the
University of Rochester, Jerry
worked in advertising and
journalism. Jerry wrote the
news column for our magazine
from 1997 to 2010. Our hearts
go out to his family and friends.
phototechmag.com 51
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READER ASSIGNMENT
Cycle riders in Rajasthan, India, 2006. Panning with slow shutter speed. ISO Speed: 100, Shutter Speed: 1/60, Aperture: f/11.
Showing Time Using Panning & Blurring

David H. Wells
Most people think of freezing a moment in time as the Blurring involves the similar use of a slow shutter speed
best way to make a great photograph. Using a high with the camera is fixed in one place. The general
shutter speed to stop action is one way of conveying scene is rendered sharp and clear while certain moving
time in a photograph, but other ways, when used cor- parts of the scene appear blurry (because they move
rectly, can be just as compelling. Panning and blurring during the time the shutter is open). A time exposure
are the other ways to convey a feeling of time in a of a waterfall is the classic example of this with a sharp
photograph. What do they have in common? They landscape with blurry (moving) water.
both involve slower shutter speeds. The art of panning
is all about moving the camera with the subject, so Panning
that it appears sharp and the background becomes Panning is a skill that takes lots of practice. Find a
blurred. An example of successful panning is when place where there is lots of movement that is parallel
the subject separates from other elements in the to your shoulders (and parallel to the film plane of the
composition, and in the best panning images, there camera). The important thing is that the movement is
is a feeling of speed or motion. A car whizzing by in front of you, moving from one side to the other, such
on a racetrack is the classic example of this, with the as left to right (though it can be the other way too.)
car clear and sharp and the background is a blur of Objects that move straight towards you or away from
horizontal lines. you, are less successful as panning images since the
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READER ASSIGNMENT: DAVID H. WELLS
movement is not that pronounced as far as the camera

is concerned. Most people find that a street with cars
going by works well for this. A place where horses run
or people walk or bicyclists ride all work. To get good
at panning go to that same place numerous times,
looking at your work in between each shoot to see
what you are getting right.
1) Set the camera to continuous shooting mode so you take

more than one image as you pan. Press the shutter
gently to get more pictures and thus not disrupt the
smooth panning motion of your camera.
2) Have a smooth follow through during the entire pan-

ning motion in order to get the best images. If you At a crowded fish market in the heart of the oldest part of Dhaka,
Bangladesh, 2005. Using Bogen/Manfrotto table top tripod. ISO Speed:
stop prematurely, your images will also show that 100, Shutter Speed: 1/3, Aperture: f/13.
abrupt stop.
when the movement of that object is perpendicular to
3) I find I have the best luck with focus when I pre- my lens.
focus on the spot where the moving object or person is
going to end up. The autofocus on modern cameras is 8) Position yourself to do the panning with your
good but I never want the autofocus jumping in and shoulders parallel to the movement of the subject.
out trying to find a place to focus while panning. Then almost wind yourself up by swinging far to one
side, as you await the subject you will be following,
4) Turn the internal stabilization, vibration reduction which will be coming from that same side. As you
or any other camera stabilizing technology in your follow the moving object, panning with it, you almost
camera OFF. Most of that technology is so good it will unwind as you move all the way the other direction.
either cancel out the panning altogether or give you
choppy looking results. 9) What shutter speed to use? That depends on
your subject matter. Fast moving cars will still result
5) It is much harder to pan with a tripod. You will in panning at speeds as high as 1/125 of a second,
learn a lot more if you learn to pan holding the camera which is a speed that shows no panning if you are
at eye level. The key to this is having one hand, under photographing people walking. I tend to start about
the camera body and your fingers wrapped around the 1/15 of a second and then adjust up or down based on
lens, so the palm of your hand supports the camera. what I see on the back of my camera.
6) The art of panning is picking out one part of the Blurring

subject matter and keeping that in the same place in Blurring, by comparison, seems easier, though it pre-
your viewfinder as you pan. Typically that would be sents challenges too. Though a tripod is one option, us-
the driver of the car or the windshield. I have had the ing a full-size tripod in certain venues (like city streets)
best luck using one of the autofocus markers inside my is almost impossible. I prefer a table-top tripod which
frame as a guide that I keep fixed on the point in the enables me to hold the camera steady during slower
scene I want to keep constant as I pan. The autofocus shutter speeds and allows unusual camera placement,
bracket is only a guide since I am NOT using actual such as a lower or higher perspective. Though it seems
autofocus as I photograph. obvious, the key to a good blurring image is finding a
venue with one or two planes of activity amidst a scene
7) I have learned that to follow the subject as it moves where the rest of the venue is not moving. A city street
in front of me, from one side to the other, I am most corner can be ideal since the street itself never moves
successful when I “pick it up” in my viewfinder and but the cars are rapidly going by.
start to follow it when it is very far to one side and
then pan/follow it all the way to the other side. I will Digital imaging has empowered us to be able to take a
typically pan a very wide span though I only make two photo, look and then revise that photo based on what
or three frames when the subject is right in front of me, we see on the back of our cameras. When making
phototechmag.com 53
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READER ASSIGNMENT
READER ASSIGNMENT:
photo technique and Photo Synesi (photosynesi.com) have

teamed up to offer subscribers a discount on an indi-
vidual portfolio review by David H. Wells based on the
assignment Showing Time using Panning and Blurring.
Subscribers can get $9 off* a $19 Snap photo review.
To get your $9 off look for the special code that begins
with PTPS on your mailing label. Digital subscribers
will find their code on the email that announces your
digital issue. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today at
phototechmag.com!
______________ After you make the images, visit
phototechmag.com>Community>Portfolio
______________ Reviews
to participate in the review process. The code is only
applicable to this particular assignment. Select reader
reviews (written and audio) with the photographers
permission, are featured on phototechmag.com.
1. Find a place with the ideal combination of movement

and a fixed background environment.
2. Photograph that venue, using both panning and

blurring techniques. Use both strategies to help you
Street Life in Hanoi, Vietnam 2011. ISO Speed: 200, Shutter Speed: see how panning and blurring the exact same place
1/10, Aperture: f/6.7.
creates very different images. Revisit that same
location at least twice to repeat the technique till the
images with blurring (and panning) this is incredibly tools become automatic.
valuable. To get the best blurring (and panning)
images, make a few frames, look at them carefully 3. Review your photographs on the computer, figure
and then make more frames based on what worked out what did and didn’t work, and if necessary go
or did not work in the last set. Things that I watch out back to the same venue and make additional photo-
for are backgrounds that do not blur into nice, non graphs. Select ten images for the Snap Review. Visit
distracting lines when panning or foregrounds that phototechmag.com>Community>Portfolio
______________ Reviews
distract the viewer’s attention from the main moving for exact submission details.
subject when blurring.
*Assignment submissions are accepted starting Nov-
Panning and blurring are great techniques that enable ember 1, 2012. The final deadline for submitting this
the photographer to tell a different kind of story assignment is December 30, 2012.
about time, as compared to simply stopping action
with a high shutter speed. All three approaches to
time are simply tools that help you become a better FREE OFFER FOR ALL READERS! We also are giving
photographer. And like so many tools in photography, away 10 FREE SNAP REVIEWS FOR THE ASSIGN-
mastering them takes practice, practice, practice. MENT! Open to Subscribers and Non-Subscribers! To enter,
send an email to: rknight@prestonpub.com,
________________ with the heading
FREE REVIEW RAFFLE-PANNING.

David H. Wells is a freelance documentary
photographer affiliated with Aurora Photos. See
Photograph © baileyphoto. com
his work at: davidhwells.com. He specializes in Editor’s Note: Are you in a camera club or Meetup
intercultural communications and the use of light
and shadow to enhance visual narratives. Twice
group? Please share this assignment—it’s a great way
awarded Fulbright fellowships for work in India, for you to get feedback outside your group! And,
his photography regularly appears in leading
international magazines. Wells has been selected
when your members participate in this assignment
as an Olympus Visionary to produce images and we will feature their review and photographs on
provide feedback on new product lines. A frequent
teacher of photography workshops, his blog, The
our website. Watch for the next assignment in our
Wells Point, appears at http://thewellspoint.com January/February 2013 issue.
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Marketplace Ad Index
Delta 1/C.P.M., Inc. 51

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photo technique Magazine C2, 3, 55
on Facebook! phototechmag.com
PrintedArt C4
Participate in discussions, printedart.com
giveaways and network
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with other photographers
worldwide. Schneider Optics 15
schneideroptics.com
To Advertise Contact: We look forward to

seeing you there! Sto-Fen Products 55
Roberta Knight stofen.com
rknight@prestonpub.com
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Page 56
Saks Fur Co., Front, created between 1920-1921.
8x6 Glass plate negative original, and part of the National Photo Company Collection, Courtesy of the Library of
Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Call Number LC-F82- 5681. The photographic files of the
National Photo Company include approximately 80,000 images. To view more of the collection visit loc.gov/pictures/.
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Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue | Next Page

LIGHTROOM 4-INSIDER TIPS

FROM THE EDITOR Nov./Dec. 2012 Vol. 33 No. 6

Publisher S. Tinsley Preston III

Wendy Erickson See phototechmag.com for guidelines, instructions

Mention of any photographic formula/ product does

photo technique (ISSN 1083-9070) is published

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. by St. Croix Press Inc.

Gear, Apps & Good Stuff

Diana Baby 110

11 Lightroom: Insider Tips

Leica M9 + Leica 21mm

Carl Chiarenza: Transmutation

4 photo technique N/D 2012

CARL CHIARENZA: TRANSMUTATION ROBERT HIRSCH

Untitled Diptych, 99, 92, 2007. 14 x 22 inches. Gelatin silver prints.

6 photo technique N/D 2012

CARL CHIARENZA: TRANSMUTATION ROBERT HIRSCH

Untitled 253, 1994. 36 x 48 inches. Gelatin silver print.

For me, color distracts from my objectives; it doesn’t

All Images © Carl Chiarenza

RH: Why have you used Polaroid Type 55 Negative/

CC: By seeing the results I can immediately tell what

Final image with Iris Blur applied

The Art of Creative Blur

8 photo technique N/D 2012

THE ART OF CREATIVE BLUR STEVE DREYER

Quick Steps to Creative Blur

Step 2: Click on the Filter menu and mouse down to

Here’s a short description of the three new filters. I like

Field Blur: Figure 1

When you select Iris Blur a sphere of influence is placed

All Images © Steve Dreyer

10 photo technique N/D 2012

LIGHTROOM: INSIDER TIPS STEVE ANCHELL

Lightroom: Insider Tips

Even so, I have often said the only software a digital

Move Along (Figure 1) The Adjustment Brush showing 100% and 0%

then choose whichever preset end mark you want. If

You can create a custom end mark using your own

(Figure 4) The photo was sized at 216 px

into the list of available End Panels, once more click

12 photo technique N/D 2012

LIGHTROOM: INSIDER TIPS STEVE ANCHELL

Mark Folder. It will be in the list of Panel End Marks

Latest and Greatest

In Figure 6 there is a checkmark next to the process

era specific choices (the default is Adobe Standard). Lens Corrections

14 photo technique N/D 2012

LIGHTROOM: INSIDER TIPS STEVE ANCHELL

Photo © Marcia Brenden

He leads a workshop for Photographers

Library module, go to Metadata at the bottom of the Resources

Creating Custom Folios for

A teacher of mine once told me

The portfolio, closed and unfolded

In this article I’ll discuss a presentation option I’ve

The ready-made folio itself is made from a precision-

I created my own simple Photoshop templates (ver-

16 photo technique N/D 2012

CREATING CUSTOM FOLIOS DAVID SAFFIR

Template Final Proof

If you are using matte-finish fine art paper, consider

I print these as unsigned open editions unlike my larg-

(Figure 1) Simple, two-exposure focus stitch. s4HESHUTTERSLAMSSHUT"EFORETHECAMERACANPRO