Digitalsilverimaging

The Fine Art of Printing in a Digital World

General News

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.

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

 

Infrared Portrait

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© Eric Luden
© Eric Luden

Conventional wisdom states that infrared photography should not be used for portraiture. However, at times infrared can give a portrait an interesting and novel twist. These prom photos taken by DSI owner, Eric Luden, show how adding IR to the mix can create some memorable and fun images.

© Eric Luden
© Eric Luden

Typically a small urban backyard isn’t an ideal location for a photo shoot. By using his converted Canon 5D, Eric employs the infrared light reflecting off the foliage to brighten the scene. The uniformity of tone also creates a sense of harmony between many gowns of different colors. To see how other photographers have used Infrared to create portraits with impact follow the links below.

Laurie Klein Photographer

Clay Blackmore Photographer

Nir Arieli Photographer

Digital Silver Imaging a Hahnemühle Certified Studio

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© Rachel Loischild
© Rachel Loischild

Digital Silver Imaging is proud to be listed a Hahnemühle Certified Studio. To become a Certified Studio a lab must be selected by Hahnemühle and meet stringent quality standards.

For our customers Digital Silver Imaging’s certification means that our inkjet prints meet or exceed the highest levels of excellence. Our facility and staff also demonstrate and utilize the materials and methods set by Hahnemühle.

  • Maintains certified workflows and guarantees perfect prints in consistent quality
  • Advanced education level with regard to archivability / longevity
  • Competence in FineArt Inkjet Printing Workflow
  • Fully Implementation of the Colormanagement Workflow
  • Standardized light color matching conditions
  • Softproof-Possibilities
  • Knowledge of the non-destructive image processing
  • Proper usage of stated fine art inkjet printers
  • Usage of Hahnemühle FineArt media

We’d like to thank Hahnemühle for nominating us and taking the time to visit our facility and train our staff. We know that our customers will benefit from our continued partnership with Hahnemühle.

To find out more about Hahnemühle Certified Sudio program follow this link.

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Color Calibrate Your Mobile Device

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X-rite ColorTrue is a free app for your iPad, iPhone, and Android device that allows you to color calibrate them with your Xrite i1 or ColorMunki. Now you can view your images on all your digital devices in beautiful accurate color.

To download the Free Apple Application follow this link

To download the Free Android Application Follow this link

Xrite-ColorTrue-1

PhotoPlus 2013 New Products and Insights

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PhotoPlus International  Conference + Expo is an annual event at Digital Silver Imaging. We go to speak one-on-one with the public and to see what is going on in the world of photo. If you could not attend here are our observations on the 2013 PhotoPlus Expo.

Trends – The development of high-end, high quality camera and lenses continues. Not surprising is the rise of Sony in the marketplace. While both Canon and Nikon drew large crowds and dominated the front of the hall, Sony held a powerful place in a very large exhibit right up front. Also attracting large crowds was Leica. Leica has managed to transition many of its traditional film shooter over to digital while attracting new shooters to its ranks. The Leica M Monochrom is reaching cult status with many photographers despite the many critics who said a black & white only digital camera was absurd.

We also noticed quiet a few booths featuring camera accessories and digital hardware made in China. That product was as you’d expect, attractively priced but not high in quality. Although these vendors appeared to have steady traffic their wares did not draw the crowds as popular established high quality brands. As always photographers appreciate a value but are reluctant to give up quality.

New and Notable – Making their debut at this year’s show was Macphun Software. We were happy to see that many of the people that made Nik Software the great product now at Macphun. Macphun showed three products. Intensify Pro an application that enhances, sharpens and improves structure of an image. It has 16-bit image processing with RAW support. A very cool application called Snapheal Pro that uses a proprietary technology to remove unwanted objects from your image in well… a snap. And Creative Kit, which is both products in a bundle. Another nice thing about these software applications is they can be used as a plug-in  or a standalone product. We are currently trying the FREE trial download which we will review at a later date.

Snapheal Pro - Macphun Software

We all did a double-take when a person walked by with a DSLR attached to the shoulder strap of his backpack. If you are a backpacker, mountain biker or skier you would realize that this is the perfect way to carry your camera! Later that day we found out how that DSLR attached to the mystery man’s back pack strap, the Peak Design Capture Camera Clip. This brilliant little mechanism is a locking quick release that can be attached to a strap, belt, or mounted to a tripod or monopod. Peak Design also makes what they call a POV kit that is ideal for a GoPro camera, eliminating having to use GoPro’s cumbersome chest strap or helmet mount. The product is new to the market and will be available online and from most camera stores.

Peak Design Capture Pro
Peak Design Capture Pro

Making a big visual impact were the booths of our inkjet paper suppliers, Canson & Hahnemühle. Both companies had beautiful prints on display made on their excellent product. We were honored to provide the Canson booth with an entire wall of images by our customer Alicia Savage. We were also impressed with Hahnemühle’s Bamboo paper. Bamboo has a natural white tone paper base and is made out of 90% renewable bamboo fiber. In fact we liked Bamboo so much that it is now a paper option for our custom inkjet prints.

We spoke with a lot of great people at the Expo and saw some old friends. We always value the time we have speaking with all types of photographers at PhotoPlus. If you missed the show make sure to put it on your calendar for next year.