Just the Facts Ma’am.
The numbers are in and the new 8-core is downright amazing! This last week was a doosey, our new machine was put to the test and it came screaming through with flying colors.
Here are the machines specs…
and coupled with our unique workflow here’s what it can do.
Shoot #1 - 9 Hours, 22 Setups, 835 Leaf 22 Megapixel Captures, TIFFs and JPGs processed of ALL shots and transfered to client hard drive less than a half hour after last shot. Beat that processing time Leaf Capture and Capture One Pro.
Shoot #2 - 8 Hours, 55 Setups, 1603 Leaf 22 Megapixel Captures, 358 Selects made on set, Contact Sheets Printed, TIFFs Processed and DVDs burned of said selects with transfer to client hard drive. Complete delivery within a half hour of last shot.
Shoot #3 - 7 Hours, 52 Setups, 1263 Leaf 22 Megapixel Captures, 292 Selects with same processing and delivery as above.
Verdict… It’s Ridiculous! I’d like to see this done with any program other than Lightroom and any system other than the newest 8-core, JPEGs and TIFFs only take 2.6 seconds each to process!!!) I’ll even put up the wager of a bacon sandwich the size of your head if you think it’s beatable. (Real world shooting only, this takes into accout wardrobe changes, lunch, etc…)
Meter Me This?
Who Can you Trust Nowadays?
(We know it’s definitely not your meter.)
Recently we’ve been running into the fact that (a majority of the time) the meter reading on set isn’t quite right, so today we decided to get to the bottom of things. We gathered all the meters we had in the office and put them to the test once and for all. To start, we brought out our Leaf Aptus 22, Phase P25 and Canon 5D (all shooting tethered to the same computer). The three meters we’re using are a Sekonic L-758DR, Sekonic L-508 and a Minolta Flash Meter IV.
Now for the pseudo-scientific method. We took all three meters and cameras into our “back office” (it’s really our outdoor storage space), took an ambient reading, and shot using said readings. Below are the results.
Digital Exposure Exposed
Film and digital photography have just enough things in common to lull you into a false sense of familiarity. Basic exposure rules still apply like they did with film, but just like different film stocks had their own exposure rules, digital chips have their own special requirements. Shooting digital is closer to the way we used to shoot 400 speed Tri-x rated at 200-250 ISO. By doing this you effectively lowered the ISO by one stop to open up the shadows and add a little punch to the negative. If you wanted to you could have shot it rated at 400 and get acceptable results but for an optimal negative you rated it slower.
Digital works pretty much the same way. Just because the chip says it is 100 ISO doesn’t mean that your meter should be set to 100 and off you go. First you have to deal with signal to noise ratio. One of the best written articles about how a digital chip works is Expose to the Right> on Luminous Landscape by Michael Richmann.
At Image Mechanics, the way we do it is to expose so that the important highlight detail is walking the edge of being blown out and then process it back down to the desired look. The histogram is a good tool that gives you a feel for overall exposure but it can only tell you that something is blown or clipped, not whether it is important detail that you want to hold in your image. To visually check what is blown or clipped, we use the shadow/highlight exposure warning in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom.
The triangles located in the histogram toggle the Highlight & Shadow warnings
Britt on tour with PDN On The Road
I am happy to announce that I am participating in PDN’s 5 city tour - PDN On The Road. I will be covering Lightroom and CS3 workflow. They have pulled out all the stops and put together a great two day event in each city.
Billboard Schmillboard!
What file size is needed for a billboard? This is a question we receive on an almost daily basis. Today we made some calls and ran some tests to put this debate to rest.
Most people think that billboards need to be shot on the biggest and best digital camera possible. That’s not true. When printing a 14 foot x 48 foot billboard, Clear Channel, the largest monopoly media company in the US, requests a 3.75 inch x 12.25 inch file anywhere between 300 and 600dpi. The Leaf 22 megapixel backs produce an original file size of 13.333 inches x 17.787 inches at 300 dpi - right in the middle of their specs. Big enough, to say the least, and most images aren’t run the full length of the billboard! Check out Clear Channel sample billboards.
Don’t take my word for it, here’s the link to clear channel info and specs
We spoke to other billboard companies as well and were told that they were fine with any image shot on a 10 megapixel camera or better - Canon 5D anyone?
So our conclusion, size doesn’t matter, as long as it’s 10 inches megapixels or larger, wink wink.
Lightroom Seminar at Julia Dean Photo Workshops
For those of you that couldn’t make the APA seminar last week, I am also teaching Lightroom and CS3 workflow at the Julia Dean Photo Workshops in Venice on Sunday June 3rd. Click here for more details
Lightroom Seminar Saturday May 19th
I will be giving a seminar about how we use Lightroom in our capture and delivery workflow on Saturday May 19th for APA-LA. The info from APA is below. One disclaimer about the seminar copy, I will teach you everything I know and can fit in roughly 3 hours - which is probably a little less than “all there is to know”.
APA/LA May Digital Workshop
Saturday May 19, 2007
9am-1pm
APA/LA Digital Workshop Presented by APA/LA & Photo Impact:
A Guide Through Adobe Lightroom w/ Michael Britt
Saturday May 19, 2007
9:00am - 1:00pm
Anthony Nex Studio 3221 Hutchison Ave., Los Angeles 90034
Lightroom, Lightroom, Lightroom!
Adobe’s new app promises to radically transform your workflow making it easier than ever to edit and process your images. Come join us Saturday May 19th as we learn all there is to know about this amazing new program from the guy who literally wrote the manual for it, Michael Britt.
Michael has shared his expertise with us before so you know by now this is a session not to be missed. He’ll show you all the ins and outs, how to quickly and efficiently get your work done so you have more time to focus on creating new images and building your business. You’ll see how Lightroom allows you to easily import, organize, and edit your images. He’ll show you how Lightroom and Photoshop work seamlessly together to give you a powerful set of tools you won’t be able to live without.
Come see what the buzz is all about and learn what you need to know to bring your workflow into the 21st Century. Join us Saturday, May 19th at 9 AM for the latest in our series of seminars
at Anthony Nex’s studio at 3221 Hutchinson Ave.
APA/LA Members - $39 Advanced ($49 day of/door)
ASMP Members & Students - $49 Advanced ($59 day of/door)
Non Members - $59 Advanced ($69 day of/door)
Sponsored By:
www.photoimpactonline.com
Learn more at the APA LA website
Medium Format Shoot Out
Medium Format Shoot-Out
Image Mechanics was approached to handle the transition of a major international campaign from 4×5 film to digital. The final output is 8′ tall standies at a resolution of 150 dpi. The photographer had done some previous testing with the Phase back and experienced high contrast color fringing using his preferred Hasselblad H series 150mm lens. With the support of Leaf, Calumet, and Hasselblad, we tested the Aptus 75 (33 megapixels), the Phase P45 (39 megapixels) and the Hasselblad H3D-39 (39 megapixels) - all using the same model, lenses and lighting. All images were processed in the camera manufacturer software as well as in CS3 ACR.
Read the rest of this entry »
Rap-Up Cover Shoot Behind The Scenes
In the process of updated the tear sheets on our website I came across something interesting. A behind the scenes video podcast of our shoot with music video director Ray Kay shooting the cover of Rap-Up Magazine with Mya. You can kinda see us in the background every so often, but you can tell the videographer was much more interested in the female talent being displayed =)
Click the link, click Play Show, then scroll down to Mya and click Play.
Gregory’s Travels
Well, suffice to say, things have been busy here at Image Mechanics. In fact, things have been so busy that I haven’t had time to write a single blog entry in the new year. Let alone the fact that I have been on so many shoots in the last three months that they have all blended together into one big amorphous blob. So, I present to you a small taste of what has been going on.
