and now I must bid you adieu. My full-time run here at Image Mechanics is ending and definitely on a high note. Call me crazy but I’m going to be teaching high school photography. I appreciate all the people I’ve met, as well as my fellow employees and the owners. I’ve had tons of fun and have had some truly great experiences, as to be expected, they are displayed below for your viewing pleasure!

Ahh, Greggy

Westside!

I float.

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A beautiful day in Malibu with some beautiful ladies, yes I’m talking about you Alison Dyer. Check out the video from People’s site (we’re not really in it but it’s funny none the less.)

Sun Screen, Water Bottle, Chap Stick and Jack Johnson.
The above video and my awesome grey card pretty much sum up the day.

UPDATE: It was brought to our attention that there was an error in our evaluation process. Astute people pointed out that we were using an incorrect color profile within Capture One. (You can see for yourself in the C1 white balance panel screenshots.) So, we ran the test again with the problem corrected. See after the jump what our revised conclusion is.

We just thought we’d post a quick little article, in response to a recent shoot, about how much better Lightroom is at processing files than Capture One Pro. As always, the proof is in the images, so we took the same file, ran it through each program spending a similar amount of time on color corrections etc., and here are the results.

1,2,3,4…Tell me which one you love more.

Image #1 was processed through Lightroom and images #2 and #3 through Capture One 3.7.7. The first Capture One image was set to keep the hair tint neutral and the second was set to keep the skin tint neutral. It was not possible to acheive a neutral tint throughout the whole image similar to the Lightroom processing.

Remember, we don’t just do this for fun. As a company, Image Mechanics strives to give our clients the best possible image in the least amount of time and Lightroom has been the backbone of our workflow for the past year. So what do you think? Which image would you rather deliver to a client at the end of a long day? In addition to the fact that each Lightroom-processed TIFF took a mere 6 seconds to output as opposed to 45 seconds apiece for Capture One! Needless to say, I think it’s pretty obvious.

It all boils down to the fact that you can save yourself countless hours of retouching, tweaking and processing by using the best tool for the job from the start. That isn’t to say that Capture One isn’t an idiot proof program.. um, I mean… keep using it everyone! It sure does make us look good!

The next page includes the settings which we applied to the file in each program.

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We’re collaborating with 5th and Sunset to bring you an exhibit of large, gorgeous prints we have produced using photos shot by a selection of our clients. Don’t miss the reception!

There are many internet reviews that break down every nuance and operation of DSLR’s. Most of these will repeat the camera manufacturers specs verbatim for you as well as post the company press release. Additionally, there are a bunch of sites that talk about how to use the gear to take great action snaps of your cat. This review isn’t going to cover any of that well trodden ground (although it is tempting to post some shots of my dog).

I CAN HAVES USB

At Image Mechanics, we deal in high volume commercial digital capture. We mainly shoot tethered to a computer then we process and deliver thousands of images every day. When we write reviews, they are slanted towards how the equipment hinders or aids us in this task. With a few minor exceptions, the Canon 1Ds Mark III definitely falls into the later category.

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We get things thrown at us that most people would think were akin to asking for a million dollars, tax free, but it’s all in a days work for us at Image Mechanics. A perfect example was when Michael Grecco asked us to be suspended over the water at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, shooting tethered, and still have the images viewable by the client in a motorhome. Our solution ended up being Apple Remote Desktop (now a standard feature in Leopard).

It goes a little something like this:

* MacPro 8-core and 30″ monitor, set up as main base station in motorhome.
* Linksys WRT-54gc wireless router gaf-taped to side of motorhome with 7dBi antenna to run our local area network.
* Canon 1Ds MkII, MacBook Pro 17″, Tripp-Lite UPS Battery Backup and external USB drive all attached to cherry picker, extended over the water.
* Photographer and I, together in close quarters, making the magic happen (the images I mean).

While Grecco shot in the picker basket, the client could see exactly what was happening on the tethered laptop thanks to Remote Desktop. And this was all viewable in the comfort and convenience of the motorhome with a walkie standing by to give feedback and suggestions. Does it get any better? The client certainly didn’t think so, and rewarded us with a stress-free and highly enjoyable day. This goes to show that no matter how big or small the task, there is always a solution, and Image Mechanics will strive to find it. Check out the images!

Dawn on the water, good ole’ Long Beach.

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Recently I had the pleasure of working with the very talented Sydney-based photographer Hugh Stewart on a Palm Springs-based shoot for Marshall’s spring looks. With a final tally of 14,146 21-megapixel frames over four days, an immediate delivery schedule, and other above-and-beyond requests, this shoot proved to be a good test for our 35mm capture workflow capabilities using the new Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III.

Hugh Stewart shooting away.

Here is everything that was called for on this job:

- Full eight-core Mac Pro capture setup for primary shooting location
- Secondary MacBook Pro laptop for separate remote location setups
- On-set prints from each shoot setup for hard proofing
- Delivery of RAWs and processed full-res TIFF selects mere hours after the last shot

Did I mention I was the only tech on this job?

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I have been traveling so much with the PDN On the Road tour and Photo Plus Expo that I had quite a collection of bits in my bag by the time I got to Sydney for the Digital Media Festival. I dumped everything on my hotel dresser and realized it was a pretty good representation of my recent travels so I opened up the curtain and stood on a chair to get this shot.

Travel for work is usually just that - work. It can be tiresome and difficult, especially if you have a lot of gear to keep track of. I had so much going on that I just looked at the Sydney trip as another thing on my schedule that I had to get through before the end of the year. My attitude totally changed the first morning in Sydney while having coffee in Darling Harbor. I was gathering my thoughts outside the convention center before I gave my lecture and I realized what an amazing place this was and I was privileged to be there.

iPhone shot of Darling Harbor

You heard it right folks, the jaded crust is slowly coming off of me. First, on the PDN OTR tour, I meet some amazing and inspirational people who reinvigorated my passion for photography and now I am enjoying business travel. Who is this person looking back at me in the mirror?

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FYI, the Image Mechanics team will be hosting a digital Q&A at A&I (couldn’t think of any more acronyms). We will be there to show our workflow using the new Leaf 75s and answer digital photo questions. It is a free event and A&I is giving away two free 20″x30″ Lightjet prints at each event so bring your digital files along with your questions.

The Chicago leg of the PDN On the Road seminar series kicked off with a bang. First, someone almost killed themselves breaking into our studio. They kicked a hole in the security glass and tried to climb through it. The glass slid down guillotine style about 8 inches and cut the intruder up pretty good. Nothing was stolen but everything was a mess. Then we get on the plane where a large unstable passenger who had never flown before sat across the aisle from me. He pretty much begged to be let off the plane the whole 4 hour flight. Not very relaxing to say the least.

Image Mechanics Executive Director Pip Newson accompanied me on this leg of the tour. As any of you who are clients know, she is the go-to person for problem solving. It turns out she also has meerkat like senses for finding good restaurants. We were cruising along in the cab on the way from the airport and she spotted Bourgeois Pig, a place she saw on Rachel Ray. It was a great coffee house and I highly recommend it if you are in the area.

BTW, the plate in the forground with food on it is mine and the one polished clean was Pip’s. She may look small but she can out eat me most days with her high metabolism.

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