Digitalsilverimaging

The Fine Art of Printing in a Digital World

Digital Silver Imaging

Barry Schneier, Glory Bound

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Bruce Springsteen, Harvard Square Theatre, 5/9/1974
Bruce Springsteen, Harvard Square Theatre, 5/9/1974 – ©Barry Schneier

Glory Bound, an exhibition of photographs currently showing at the Pollak Gallery on the Monmouth University campus, features the work of photographer Barry Schneier. During the 1970’s Schneier photographed many of the giants of rock and roll on their way to stardom.

Glory Bound includes 13 images from Bruce Springsteen’s 1974 performance at the Harvard Square Theatre, some which have never been exhibited, as well as 70’s images of Patti Smith, Van Morrison, Jackson Browne, Boz Scaggs, Joan Armatrading, and others.

Schneier’s images have been collected by Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, The Grammy Museum and The New England Folk Music Archives. Barry’s photographs can be scene at several galleries and his web site www.barryschneierphotography.com. 

Generous support for this exhibit has been provided by Gallery: 591974, a fine art photography gallery in Massachutsetts (www.gallery591974.com) and Digital Silver Imaging www.digitalsilverimaging.com, a fine art digital imaging lab that employs the latest digital equipment and editing tools to produce museum quality B&W and color prints. 

Glory Bound will be on Exhibit 9/2 – 9/30/2014
The Pollak Gallery is open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday – Friday
All gallery events are free and open to the public.
For more info contact: Monmouth University Center for the Arts events www.monmouth.edu/arts or call 732.263.5715.

Photoshop Basics: Post Production and Digital Workflow Workshop

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©Kyle Perler Photography
©Kyle Perler Photography

Learn effective strategies to build your own photographic workflow. This class will take you from downloading your images through final output. Along the way we’ll cover workflow management like how to organize and keep your files safe. You’ll learn the essential adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw (the engine for Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Bridge), techniques for creating rich HRD images, and how to use Photoshop to give your images that finished professional look. We will also cover filter programs such as NIK Software and discuss advanced topics like masking, selective image manipulation, Infrared retouching, and much more. This class is ideal for people wanting to organize their libraries, create better looking files, and reduce both time spent behind the computer and frustration commonly associated with post production!

A laptop or portable computer (iMac), loaded with Photoshop, that you can bring to the workshop is required.

Date: Saturday September 27, 2014
Time: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Place: Digital Silver Imaging, 9 Brighton Street, Belmont MA 02478
Fee for this workshop is $149

PS Basics 

Instructor Bio
After graduating from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2009, Kyle spent 3 years honing and refining his skills as a photographer and production manager for Mainframe Photographics; a commercial and biomedical photo studio in Boston. After Perler left Mainframe he open the doors of his own professional photographic business specializing in head shots, social portraits, commercial events, boutique weddings, and photo education. Kyle is also a photographer for the esteemed Fazio Media Team, photographing national and international events and meetings. Kyle teaches and mentors for both beginning and professional photographers. He is just returning from a 2 month photographic expedition in Africa, capturing wildlife and endangered species. He is also coauthoring a new book with Laurie Klein on Digital Infrared Photography to be published in the spring of 2015 by Amherst Media.

 

*Refund Policy: Because our instructors commit their time to workshops and space is limited, our refund policy is as follows: Cancellations 2 weeks prior to the workshop will receive a full refund. Cancellations a week before the workshop date will receive a 50% refund. All other cancellations will not receive a refund but may apply 50% of the workshop fee to a future workshop of the same or greater price. You must notify us of your cancellation or inability to attend via email. (info@digitalsilverimaging.com).

Michael Donnor – Exquisite Truth

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Michael Donnor, Manifesting the Moon, 2014 from the series Notes on a Paper Universe
Michael Donnor, Manifesting the Moon, 2014 from the series
Notes on a Paper Universe

Photographer Michael Donnor is on a quest for perfect imperfection. Those fortunate to attend his recent artist talk at Panopticon Gallery were given insight into his thoughtfully precise creative process. Embracing limitation, while purposely ridding himself of distractions, Donnor courageously sought solitude, slowed down by working with medium format film, and consciously used his time for experimentation and contemplation. The reward is two stellar bodies of work that reflect his organic and reflexive workflow, Notes on a Paper Universe and Silent Moan.

Donnor proceeds as a miner panning for gold, sifting aspects of identity, to cull for raw material including facade and persona. He does not pre-visualize the shot but “carries an image forward” by instinctively following the path his concept reveals. Donnor’s steadfast focus on being present reveals that which is not, aspects of the before and the after.

An artist who choses to work with the medium of photography, he does not create a pre-fabricated set but rather engages with an idea and attempts to control the ensuing chaos. He observes, responds then reflects. Interested in “building imagery”, his process involves manipulating the negative by hand with scratches, chemicals, wax and fire. To complete his thesis portfolio of 50 x 50 selenium toned prints, he turned his basement floor into a developing tray, employing mops and buckets to process the prints.

The silent, luminous moon features prominently in our solar system, as well as in Donnor’s imagined celestial constellations. The relationship between our time and place in space is the theme revisited in both bodies of work. Donnor found the moon a willing metaphor. John Updike expresses an analogous sentiment in his poem, Half Moon, Small Cloud; “It’s thereness is as mysterious as ours.” 

Inspired by Joan Fontcuberta’s subversive weaving of fact and fiction, Donnor plays with the relativity of truth. HIs focus in these series is on understanding the interrelatedness of self, time, and the impermanence of both. As a result his work encourages us to do the same. Donnor agrees with Wallace Steven’s ‘willing belief in fiction’ and in Carl Sagan’s conviction; “We are the way the cosmos experiences itself.” Donnor postulates; “Is it there if we aren’t there to experience it?”

Donnor’s images are on exhibit at the Panopticon Gallery until September 9, 2014.

J. Sybylla Smith

Smith is a curator and educator with twenty five years experience in the photographic arts. Smith has curated 17 exhibitions and created related programming featuring the work of 70 international photographers for a satellite gallery of the Griffin Museum of Photography. Smith has held adjunct professor positions at Hofstra University and Emmanuel College. She is a guest lecturer at The School of Visual Arts, Wellesley College, Harvard University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. An enthusiastic portfolio reviewer and thesis advisor, Smith consults individually with artists on concept development.

Being There – Garry Winogrand at the Metropolitan Museum

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©Gary Winogrand
©Garry Winogrand

It’s been two weeks since I saw the Garry Winogrand retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum. Random flashes of his luminous silver gelatin prints –delightful, intense, curious, intimate, madcap and improbable work visit me daily. He was a sheer force of nature for whom a Leica lens was an essential body part. This solid selection of 175 images, several printed posthumously, are a mere glimpse given that he developed 26,000 rolls of film over 34 years and died having not seen another 250,000 of his negatives. Winogrand’s compulsive drive to be there, shooting, is palpable.

“If you didn’t take the picture, you weren’t there.” – Garry Winogrand

 

©Gary Winogrand
©Gary Winogrand

A voracious observer he relished capturing the life force of his hometown. He shot ferociously and framed off-kilter. The ordinary,anonymous and famous were treated as equals, exposed in his signature unfiltered style. Less interested in answers, or reflection, he urgently froze moments of the human landscape. Equal parts intrepid urban game hunter, curious behavioral scientist and zealous preacher, Winogrand’s images shout like headlines, entertain like punchlines or sing like a hymn. Take in this wonderland followed by the Coney Island Cyclone – you’ll want to ride both these roller coasters more than once.

Screen Shot 2014-07-16 at 11.07.31 AM
©Gary Winogrand

by J. Sybylla Smith

 

New IR Workshop a Success

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Infrared Workshop with Laurie J. Klein
Infrared Workshop with Laurie J. Klein

A clear, late Spring day in Massachusetts was a perfect setting for a digital infrared workshop with instructors Laurie J. Klein and Kyle Perler. The workshop, Digital Infrared Photography 101, was taught to a sold-out crowd of 15 photographers. The biggest surprise of the day was that over half of the participants fell in love with the magic and mystery of infrared  during the film days of Kodak HIE High Speed Infrared Film! These intrepid photographers used changing bags, red filters, and the quirky film to capture IR. Now they are embracing digital infrared and a much simpler production process.

This workshop was scheduled to coincide with an exhibit of infrared photography titled, Beyond the Visible Spectrum. The exhibition featured the work of 4 artists that use infrared photography to create images of ethereal beauty. The work of Laurie J. Klein, Ron Rosenstock, Tony Sweet and Carl Stoveland provided inspiration and a teaching vehicle to workshop participants. Laurie utilized the prints on display as her introduction to the art of IR photography.

As Laurie stated, “One of the most challenging aspects of infrared capture is being able to pre-visualize in a non-visible spectrum. Learning how to interpret in IR.  Foliage comes out white yet the bark of the tree branches come out dark so composing is different then with color or B&W capture.  Some black fabrics come out white, some black. Red roses come out white, purple flowers come out darker. “

Many participants admitted that one of the reasons they love IR is there is often a gift that happens, something they didn’t see in the viewfinder or expect. Because the photographer is not working with a light source she can see, not all outcomes are predictable, that is the “magic” of IR.

Laurie and class during hands-on portion of workshop
Laurie and class during hands-on portion of workshop

Laurie and Kyle also brought in a model for a few hours and went out shooting at a pond near Digital Silver Imaging. Laurie also brought a Cam Ranger, which she tethered to her camera and laptop so the students could instantly see what the images being produced looked like. This allowed Laurie to discuss composition, what a good IR histogram looks like, exposure, ISO and custom white balance.

After a group photograph, it was back to the classroom and Kyle worked with the group on after capture. Using a variety of methods from Photoshop, Lightroom and Nik Pluggins: Color Effects Pro and Silver Effects Pro.  Kyle stepped the class through several images from raw to final, spending a good deal of time on retouching eyes, as eyes can go very dark and have an extremely haunting quality to them when photographed with IR.

Participants responded to Laurie and Kyle’s instruction with overwhelmingly praise and we hope to have the team back soon for another workshop and perhaps even an advanced session.

Join Laurie J. Klein 7/13-7/18/14 in beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico for her workshop : Creative Infrared Photography

Laurie’s new book: Photographing the Female Form with Digital Infrared