All the better to see you with, m'dear

Well, the summer is supposed to be the quiet season and we are supposed to be in a business slowdown, possibly even a recession. Nonetheless, I have been busier now than my busy season and this has resulted in me being rather lax in updating my blog.

Despite the workload, I have been capturing a lot of subjects for the blog and will be updating with a much higher frequency to catchup.

So, let's get on with the first update.....

I've always been told that your monitor is one of your most important pieces of photographic equipment. After you finish with the camera, this is your primary tool for viewing and manipulating your work. Cutting corners here can cost you dearly in the long run.

Unfortunately, many monitors, even expensive monitors fail to display colours properly or with a wide enough gamut for most photographers. Now, if your a Sunday shooter collecting a few snapshots of the kids, this is probably not a big deal. However, if you're a professional or even a serious photographer trying to create the best work you can, this is a real issue.

Once you decide to invest in a quality monitor for photographic work, it's an eye opener. The top of the line Eizo Coloredge CG221 is $4900 (USD). Now this is an amazing 21 inch monitor that defines the market. It's also expensive, but you get what you pay for here.

A little less painful for the pocketbook is the Eizo CG222, which retails for $1300. Certainly not an inexpnsive monitor, but closer to the means of most shooters. This is a 22" monitor of amazing clarity.

Another option is the Lacie 324, which retails for $999 or so. This is a 24" monitor, with amazing colour range.

I recently decided to upgrade to the Lacie 324, based on some recommendations from other shooters. I would like to use a Eizo CG221, but this is a little outside of my budget.

Nonetheless, the Lacie 234 is a solid choice and there is some strength to the arguement that the Eizo CG222, which is a new model from Eizo, was released to respond to the competitive threat from the Lacie 324.

The Lacie 324 24" monitor is wonderful thing to work with, as screen real estate is at a premium, particularly if you are using photoshop and lightroom. If you're using only one monitor, this is an important consideration. Now that lightroom 2 can support multiple monitors, this is more attractive, but I am still using just one.

The glare screeen is an excellent option for environments with less than perfect viewing light. Unfortunately, this applies to most homes and offices. In my office, my hardware is on one side of the room and my desk is on the other, which means I need to run longer cables. It also means that the buitl-in USB hub in the monitor is quite handy for plugging in the myrid number of modern devices that need a USB connection for data transfer and recharging. If you use a graphics tablet, like I do, a close USB connection is REALLY handy.

The monitor stand is also built nicely for raising the monitor off your desk and giving you a little more space for clutter. As well, the power saving feature will powerdown the monitor after 30 minutes or so.

The monitor glare screen also has a small hook for holding your colour calibration device. You can get this from Lacie, but I use the I1 system from Xrite for all my display devices. I like to use the same device for monitor, printer, and projector to ensure the best possible colour.

Here are the detailed specs (from: www.lacie.com)

Diagonal :	24 in. / 61 cm
Display Area :	20.41 x 12.75 in. / 518.4 x 324 mm (HxV)
Apsect Ratio :	16:10
Maximum Resolution :	1920 x 1200
Dot Pitch :	.01 in. / .27 mm
Color :	16.7 million (true 8-bit)
Video Inputs :	HDMI x 2; 24 Pins DVDI-D x 1; 15 Pins D-Sub x 1
Audio Outputs :	Headphone / Speaker mini-jack
Color Gamut :	92% of NTSC / 95% of Adobe RGB / 99.7% of ISO Coated
Gamma Correction :	10-bit
Luminance :	400 cd/m2 (Center, typ.)
Power :	AC 100~240V / 47~63Hz
Contrast Ratio :	1000:1 (typ.)
Response Time :	6ms (G-G avg.)
Viewing Angles :	R: 89, L: 89, U: 89, D: 89 (CR >= 10, typ.)
Certification :	CB, FCC, CE, CSA, Canada DOC, EPA, ISO13406-2, GOST, PSB
USB Port :	1 up, 3 down
USB Output :	A-type Connector x 3
Weight :	Approx. 23.81 lbs. / 10.8 kg Gross Weight: Approx. 29.54 lbs. / 13.4 kg
Dimensions (WxHxD) :	22.28 x 16.45-19.21 x 8.97 in. / 565.9 x 418-488 x 228 mm
Compatibility :	Mac & PC
RoHS Compliant :	Yes
Power Consumption :	140W (max.)
Comments :	*For full automatic performance of hardware calibration with blue eye pro, a graphics board supporting DDC CI communication is required.
Box Content :	LaCie 324 LCD Monitor; AC power cable; DVI-D video cable; HDMI-HDMI cable; USB host cable; Audio jack cable; Cable management accessory; CD-ROM with User Manual and monitor ICC profile; Quick Install Guide
Warranty :	3 Year Limited Warranty with Advance Replacement

I'm very happy with my monitor upgrade and consider the Lacie 324 an excellent piece of equipment. If you are considering an upgrade to your monitor, I would recommend looking at the Lacie 324

Free at Last.....Free at last

Canadian Copyright Revision

Today, after many years of lobbying by the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) (www.ppoc.ca) and the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators (CAPIC) (www.capic.org) have worked together to repeal section 13 (2) of the Canadian Copyright Act.

Photographers outside (and some inside) Canada will be shocked to hear that in Canada the copyright for assignment photography goes to the hiring agency by default. Yep, unlike the rest of the civilized world, unless you have a contract that specifically states you retain the copyright, it's automatically given to whoever hired you. Yes, all photographic rights are lost unless you get it in writing to keep them. (I know there are some Canadian shooters staring at the screen in shock, but I'm not kidding).

Today, Bill C-61 was entered into the House of Commons to append the Canadian Copyright act. You can read a summary of the bill here:
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/rp01163e.html

Of course, people are also upset because this will also interfere with copying music, movies, and other electronic entertainments, but I have no problem with it. There are also mummers that this may be like the DMCA laws in the US. Hogwash, most people complaining about this have no understanding of US or Canadian copyright laws. Basically you don't get to use someone else's work for whatever you want, which means Canada will finally be in compliance with a treaty it signed in 1996.

Personally, I also have no problem with these laws. If you try to remove copyright information, you violate the law. If you post copyrighted material to a website, I want to be able to send a takedown notice to the ISP and have it removed. No lawyers, no hassle, I email the notice to them, identifying myself as the copyright holder and it's done.

Yes, this means you will no longer be able to trade copies of the transformer movie with your friends - go buy or rent a copy. It also means you can't steal my work. Copyright was designed specially to protect the individual artist of limited resources from larger organizations who want to steal it and use it.

All of the changes in this bill are good things. It reinforces that when someone creates something, they both own and control it. For the individual, this also means someone can't steal you photographs off facebook or myspace and use them at will. Too many people think these changes are for the benefit of corporations, but this actually benefits individual artists.

As a professional photographer, my copyright is my greatest asset. I'm ecstatic to hear that finally my copyright will remain with me by default as well as other protection. It means that a client cannot use my work in other mediums, like a website or video podcast, without my permission.

The Writer's strike in the US was about EXACTLY this issue. They wanted to be paid when a studio decided to release a movie on DVD, podcast, or itunes. A lot of people endured a lot of financial hardship in that strike for just this issue. Do you think the writer's were doing this to protect a corporation - no, they were protecting themselves.

I'm standing and applauding this bill. It's about time.

Contact Festival - That's a Wrap

Contact.....We have Contact......

May is an interesting month in Toronto, Spring is (usually) in full gear and summer just around the corner. As well, the Contact Photography Festival happens - for the whole month. It makes May worth the wait.

The Contact Photography Festival happens every May in Toronto and is now in its 12th year (13th, if you consider this year done), with over a million visitors to its events. This is the largest photography event in the world, according to their website, so there is something for everyone.

The festival is a swarm of little events spread throughout the city and surrounding area. This year had 500 artists in more than 200 venues. The guidebook is nearly 100 pages with very little wasted space. By being widely spread and over the entire month, the festival has the benefit of being noticed and local to almost everyone. It's easy to see how they can claim a million visitors.

More information here:

CONTACT Photography Festival

80 Spadina Ave, Suite 310

Toronto, Ontario M5V 2J4

T 416-539-9595

F 416-539-0829

info@contactphoto.com

www.contactphoto.com

It's hard to see everything, but I make an effort every year to visit some of it and next year I intend to be more involved.

Besides some of the gallery events and displays, I also managed to attend the wrap party last week (Thursday) at the Drake Hotel in Toronto. I've never been to the wrap party for Contact before, so I expected this to be quite the do. Nancy-Marie was unable to attend, but I brought along one of my partners in crime, Steve Shien. Nancy-Marie had phoned to make sure we were on the guest list and warned us to show up on time to make sure we could get in.

I'm not sure what happened, but there was no real difficulty in getting in, nor was there any name checking or VIP section that I could tell. Of course, we may have simply been idiots an unable to notice something happening in another room or upstairs, but the curator for the event was visible in our area for most of the evening, so I think we were in the heart of it.

After some speeches and award presentations, the party pretty much blended into the usual Thursday night bar scene for the area. We decided to head down the block for a little boost from Starbucks, when we noticed a display outside the hotel.

On the long window facing the street, there were three screens of 4'x6' each, playing video photo essays from Magnum in Motion, with full sound. Fortified with caffeine, we returned and spent the next hour or so watching the videos on the sidewalk. Personally, I found the videos much more interesting than the party people antics inside.

Even more fascinating was watching people on the street deal with the photographic displays. Magnum is a world class photo agency (if not the definitive photo agency) and their photographers have covered a wide variety of areas and events, some of which are difficult to watch, but all are important and moving.

It was surreal to see people walk past large photographs of natural disasters or war zones without noticing. Some people looked and walked on, some stopped to watch, but many simply failed to notice what was less than 4' from them and larger than life. They didn't ignore it, I mean it simply failed to register with them. completely. Like it wasn't even there. They were focused on talking to their friends, watching who was watching them, or trying to get into the bar, but not on the photographs of dramatic human events next to them. I estimate at least 3/4 of the people going by did not allow this photographic drama to even enter their world.

I confess to be a little shocked, but not so surprised, at self absorbed behavior of my fellows. We have become, in many ways, a callous society. It was a unique experience to see people able to mentally edit photographs that had to occupy close to a quarter of their field of view. In fact, I was so moved by these events, I went out and bought a Canon G9 on the weekend, so I could capture this type of thing in the future.

Magnum in Motion: inmotion.magnumphotos.com
Magnum: www.magnumphotos.com

World Press Photo Awards

World Press Photo is focused on supporting professional photojournalism though seminars, exhibitions, educational programs, and an annual contest. It is the annual contest that attracts the most attention form both the public and photojournalists. A World Press Photo award is a high honour and a sign out outstanding work.

World Press Photo publishes a yeakbook annually of the award winning work, which is well worth reading. Besides the yearbook, the worldpressphoto.org website now has online interview with the award winners about their work. Each 5-10 minute short includes a large view of the award winning photographer, with a small video in the lower left corner of the photographer discussing their work. It's amazing how much skill and effort goes into this work that if often taken for granted by the public.

Good photography is a LOT more than point and click.

Take a Tablet and Call me in the morning

Now, if you're like me, you've heard of tablets and how handy they are to use with photoshop. If you're also like me, you've been doing just fine with a mouse and involved in too many other things to learn a new technology unless it's critical.

When I was at Imaging USA in Florida earlier this year, Jed Toufler (www.v-gallery.net) showed me what he likes about tablets. He had a small Wacom Intous 4x6 tablet (www.wacom.com/intuos) with his laptop for use on the road. He was actually showing some interesting stuff in Photoshop, but I got distracted by how fast he was with the tablet.

Jed's enthusiasm is a bit infectious and I soon found myself in front of one of the vendor booths, buying a 6x8 tablet for myself. Of course, once I got back home, I found myself with several problems. I didn't have a long enough USB cable to reach from my system to the monitor on the other side of the room and other projects soon consumed my time.

Well, along comes my office move and I found myself at the electronics store looking for a few things and remembered the USB problem. With the addition of a USB extender, I could now play with my not-so-new toy.

Jed was pretty honest and said it would take a little bit to get used to the tablet, but would love it. He was absolutely right. I'm not an expert yet with the tablet by any means, but I found myself proficient with it within 10 to 20 minutes - and I love it.

Using a tablet has some pleasant surprises. It's a lot more sensitive than a mouse (or at least my mouse) and you have the added dimension of pen pressure, which affects the brushes particularly. Photoshop brushes now act like real brushes with a tablet, rather than crop circles, as with the mouse.

It doesn't seem to care if you use your left or right hand and even a 6x8 is a comfortable size for desktop work. I haven't even really explored the programmable keys on the tablet, but I can see how they would be useful.

There are larger sizes, from 6x11, to 12x19 and one smaller size, the 4x6, which I'm told works well for laptops. I have no problems with the 6x8, but may play with one of the larger units in the future.

Wacom does another line of tablets called the Cintiq, which actually display the picture on the tablet itself. It's an interesting ideas, but I don't really like. I found mu hand blocked what I was trying to do and was a bit of a hassle. Since artists have been using pens for some time, I presume this may simply be a case of me needing to get used to the tablet screen, but who knows.

I recommend trying a tablet the next time you're working heavily in Photoshop. I found it particularly useful while retouching portraits.

Professional Photographers of Canada Conference

Well, I'm tired with a slight cold, but I had a wonderful time at the PPOC annual convention.

This year it was held in London, Ontario, which is ridiculously close to the ZWCX Media world headquarters. Close enough to drive, but far enough away to require a hotel. I prefer conferences that take you out of town, as it avoids the temptation to try to work during the event.

If you've never been to one, professional photography conferences are a strange and wonderful event. First, it's a chance to meet the members you usually only get to talk with by phone or email. Second, it's a chance to see and hear speakers who are outstanding in their work and passionate about sharing with other photographers.

This was my first PPOC conference, although I have been to the Imaging USA conference of the PPA several times in the US. The PPOC conference has the same feeling as the PPA conferences, even with significantly less people (Imaging USA has around 9,000 shooters show up and the PPOC conference is probably closer to 1,000). It's well worth the time and expense to attend.

Although the event rant from Thursday, April 10th to Wednesday, April 16th, I was only about to be there from Saturday the 12th through the evening of Tuesday the 15th.

Besides seeing people I knew and meeting new ones, my favorite part of a photography conference is the speakers.

Claude Charlebois (www.charlebois.ca) gave a stunning presentation on how he approaches the business while nourishing the artist. His subject matter covered the habits of great artists and how to adopt their approach to your own style, along with a discussion on developing your style with examples of his own experience.

Arthur Rainville and Jennifer Hudson (www.studiorainville.com and www.oliveavonlea.com) delivered a joint presentation on the fusion of Art, Technique, and Business. This included samples of their own work, a live photo shoot, and an walkthrough of their post production process.

Hanson Fong (www.hansonfong.com) presented on his posing technique and how he deals with the complexities of wedding and portrait photography. It was an excellent explanation and demonstration of why simple is usually better.

Julieanne Kost (www.jkost.com) is a digital imaging evangelist for Adobe and gave an excellent presentation on Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Although I use both packages extensively, I learned more than few things to help me work more efficiently.


One of the stranger things to happen was a fire at my hotel. Now, having been in a building fire before and on the 11th floor of my hotel. I did the smart thing and stayed in my room. Disturbingly, there were no announcements to let people know what's happening, but I finally phoned downstairs and was told to evacuate. Typically, I grab my camera gear and leave my jacket, head down the stairs and start shooting the firetrucks.



On Tuesday night, I attended the banquet and was seated at the President's table. This is because I had bumped into Walter Janzen (www.janzenphotography.com , Preseident PPOC) at the Imaging USA conference in Tampa, Florida). Strangely enough, I met Andrea Nielsen, of As it Happens Photography in Florida as well and she is practically a neighbor.

The banquet was the fun, as I had a chance to see all the work of the award winners there. The level of work was simply stunning and even the student awards were outstanding. Once the awards were finished, I was off on the road home and back in the office.


I'm already looking forward to next year.

Moving Around II

Well, I finally finished my move. Despite my reluctance to change things, I think this is a huge improvement. Thanks to Nancy-Marie for convincing me to finally get moving (literally).

It's strange how you can concern yourself with the tools and equipment to work, but forget about the workspace in which to use them.

As of now, I have:

• enough shelf space for my ever growing collection of books,
• a usable window,
• better ventilation (surprising how much heat comes from computer equipment),
• space for the dog to visit without sharing the chair,
• a reading area (see book collection above), and
  
• strangely enough, an actual fireplace in my office.

It's well worth your time to look at your own office space, be it large or small, and look how you use it. Make a list of the things you would change and eventually you'll come up with a plan to improve it. Given how much time you spend in your workspace, it' surprising how little we plan for it. It's also a pleasant suprise to find how small changes can lead to big improvements.