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Two Upcoming Workshops in NJ on Image Management/Backup and Lightroom Printing – 12/13 and 12/15, 2013

There is a fantastic free event happening at Unique Photo in Fairfield, NJ from Fri. 12/13-12/15, 2013 called the NJ Camera Show. It’s a great opportunity to try out different lenses and other gear, and see a lot of speakers covering many topics, including how to use your DSLR more effectively (registration is generally $10 for most of the classes, and you then get that $10 back to use in the store, which is packed full of photo and video gear). Quick tip: bring a few extra SD or CF cards so that you can put them in different cameras and then take the cards home to see the cameras’ and lenses’ image quality.

ANDREW DARLOW’S UPCOMING WORKSHOP AT THE NJ CAMERA SHOW 

Date: Fri. Dec. 13, 2013
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm (during the NJ Camera Show) 
(Please register for the show before registering for this or any other workshop.)

In this one hour lecture, Andrew will cover these and other topics:

– How to avoid pop-up messages and applications that want to “help” you bring your images into your computer when you connect a media card or camera.
– How to set up a “bullet-proof” system for downloading and cataloging your files using the Apple OS and either Apple Aperture or Adobe Lightroom.
– Suggestions for a few affordable “set it and forget it” unlimited backup systems.
– An easy (and free) service that allows you to create auto backups of your Lightroom catalog(s) to “the Cloud.”
– Tips for easily transferring and selectively deleting still photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch while still being able to keep some of them to show friends and family.

PLEASE NOTE: This workshop was designed for and will be tailored to users of Mac OSX 10.7 (Lion), 10.8 (Mountain Lion), or 10.9 (Mavericks).

To register for the camera show, visit https://www.uniquephoto.com/njcamerashow. Then, to register for Andrew’s workshop, visit this page: https://www.uniquephoto.com/event/856

ANDREW DARLOW’S UPCOMING LIGHTROOM PRINTING WORKSHOP IN NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

Date: Sun, Dec. 15, 2013
Time: 11:00am – 3:00pm

Whether you make prints on your own printer or use a lab, one thing always stays constant-to get great results, you’ve got to color manage your system and prepare your files properly. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom offers many powerful tools for organizing, editing printing and exporting images.

A partial list of what will be covered:

• How to make sure that your monitor and lighting are set up properly;
• How to determine and set the resolution of your images;
• How to quickly and inexpensively test the color & quality of any printer or photo lab; and
• Specific Lightroom Print Module Workflow tips.

A printed handout and links to more than 100 custom Print Module templates will also be provided to all attendees. Each participant will receive 40-50 sheets of letter-size fine-art papers valued at over $40. Readers of ImagingBuffet.com will also receive a follow-up 30 minute phone consultation with Andrew Darlow.

Workshop Fee: $89 per person

To see a full workshop description or to register, please visit https://lightroom15.eventbrite.com

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PhotoPlusExpo 2013 Booth Highlights and Observations

I had a great day yesterday at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. As usual, I had photo gear and photo print overload! Below are 14 booths that really impressed me (there were many more, and I will share more in the upcoming days). I want to get these out quickly for those who are visiting the show on Saturday, so I will add more web links in about a day. For now, I’ve listed the company name and their booth number. If you won’t be there for the last day of the show, you can visit other trade shows where these companies are exhibiting or you can visit the show next year if the companies return to exhibit at the show. You may also want to refer to my previous articles here and here on ImagingBuffet.com for more booth suggestions and tips for getting the most from the show.

There are also a number of photo exhibitions on the show floor that should not be missed. Two that are in the same location (near booth #176) are: “My Favorite People and Places,” sponsored by Canon, and another show sponsored by Sony and printed by Bay Photo that showcases many stunning glossy metal prints related to the Space Shuttle and NASA.

1. American Photography/Pro Photo Daily/DART (Booth #266)

I’ve been reading DART and Pro Photo Daily for as long as both have been available. They are outstanding resources with a lot of news and insight from people who have a very long history in the photo and art world. The company also publishes books of Illustration and Photography from contests that they run each year. If you can visit their booth, you can see many of their booths, and I promise that you won’t be disappointed! The range of work and print/binding quality of the books are truly spectacular.

The site to subscribe to their free publications is https://www.ai-ap.com/register/.

2. AcrylicPress.com (Booth #176)

I was extremely impressed by this company’s face-mounted plexi prints. If you know anything about the process, it is very difficult to do right, and the print quality (prints are made with Canon pigment printers) and edges are outstanding. I highly recommend taking a look. They also have 1″ thick plexi products available which are pretty amazing. They are giving away cards at the show with a 50% off special offer code.

3. Black River Imaging (Booth #443)

Black River Imaging has many interesting products, but three that stood out in my mind were their LOFT line of cards and ornaments (these are printed or mounted to a super-thick board material…think paper coaster (and they make those too)), their books, and their new “Folio Collection” of print boxes and mounted prints. The cover options they have for their boxes and books are absolutely beautiful.

4. Canson (Booth #437)

The print samples on the walls of Canson’s booth are truly stunning. As with most companies who make photo papers, the primarily reason to stop by Canson’s booth is to see their fine-art papers on the walls of their booth to better help you decide which paper might be right for your work.

5. Datacolor (Booth #162)

If you are interested in learning more about color management (it can be a bit complicated if you don’t “see it in action”), or if you’d like to see some powerful tools for color balancing your camera, I recommend stopping by the Datacolor booth. One of my favorite products for getting the right color balance in any light is a simple but ingenious item called the Datacolor SpyderCUBE. They also have a product called the Datacolor SpyderLENSCAL that helps you to determine if your camera/lens autofocus is accurate at different focal lengths (some cameras have a micro adjustment capability built in). If you see a real problem with your autofocus and if your camera does not have the micro adjustment, you can speak with your camera/lens manufacturer about possibly fixing the issue. The folks at Datacolor can also give you more advice about this at the booth.

6. Epson (Booth #701)

As usual, Epson has a great booth with many prints on the walls, and a display rack filled with papers that really helps to compare different prints without glass or other glazing in front of them. What I really like is how they’ve displayed groups of the same image, printed on different papers in a few different areas of the show floor. They also just introduced a new paper called Exhibition Watercolor Paper that has a strong texture and a very nice overall look and feel. It’s Mould Made and contains no OBAs (Optical Brighteners).

7. FLORIcolor USA (Booth #1169)

The quality of this company’s boxes and albums are absolutely amazing. They have cards on the display tables with a 50% off studio sample special if you’d like to produce some samples for your studio, or do testing for a fine art project.

8. Fotodiox Pro (Booth #345)

Fotodiox Pro has many products at the show, but their LED products impressed me most. Some are really innovative because they contain white and amber LEDs for good color balance in different lighting conditions. Two products that blew me away were their LED studio lights (Fotodiox Pro LED100WA-56 Daylight Studio LED and the Fotodiox Pro LED100WA-32 Tungsten Studio LED). At full power, the Daylight model appeared to me to be brighter than the sun 🙂 (I’m kidding, but it had a lot of intensity)! Truly incredible. Just ask them to turn up the brightness to full power to see what I experienced. As I indicated, there is a daylight and tungsten-balanced model available. If I were going to purchase one, I’d get the daylight version and use gels to correct for other color temperatures.

9. Innova Art (Booth #1149)

Innova Art always has impressive paper samples (they make a range of fine-art papers), and this year they had a few items worth mentioning. First, they have a beautiful new fiber inkjet paper called FibaPrint® Warm Cotton Gloss 335gsm. The thickness of this paper is truly impressive, and the overall look and feel of the ink on paper is beautiful. They also have a new easy to use system that allows you to easily mount any print on either a 5×7, 8×10 or 11×14 thick block with a series of holes on the back for easy hanging or display on a table. Their inkjet-printable cards are also worth a look.

10. Josephine Herrick Project (Booth #1067)

This organization has been helping others through photography for over 70 years. They are also featuring a new Benefit Photo Contest that’s running on Phoozl.com, and that’s juried by acclaimed photographer and author Robert Farber. The contest will help raise money for the organization, and you can read about the contest on their site here: https://jhproject.org/2013/10/phoozl-announces-photo-contest-benefiting-the-josephine-herrick-project/

11. Kenko Tokina Co., Ltd. (Booth #1127)

Kenko Tokina has a wide range of products that you can try out on the camera bodies that they provide, or on your own camera. I was very impressed by the look and feel of their two newest wide angle autofocus lenses, the Tokina 11‑16mm F/2.8 ATX Pro DX, and the Tokina AT-X 12-28 PRO DX (available for a number of different camera bodies). If you’ve been thinking of purchasing a teleconverter, they have some nice ones under the Kenko brand name. The Kenko-brand variable NDX Neutral Density Filters are also impressive. Their Zéta brand filters are also very interesting, and they claim to have “zero reflection,” which can be an issue with filters, especially when shooting at longer focal lengths.

12. Red River Paper (Booth #255)

Red River Paper has many impressive paper samples at their booth, and what really stood out in my mind were three new surfaces: San Gabriel SemiGloss Fiber paper (300 gsm), 80lb. Polar Pearl Metallic, and Blanco Matte Inkjet Printable Canvas. They also have many inkjet-printable cards on display that helps to compare the different options. They are participating in a free print program with Canon, and they have cards at the show to learn more about how you can get a free print of your image printed on one of their papers.

13. ShootProof (Booth #443)

ShootProof provides websites geared primarily toward the wedding/portrait/event markets. I was very impressed by the look and feel of the sites (the bottom left of the galleries allows you to switch views easily), and I like their pricing model. Since they charge based on the number of images that are “live” at any time, you can save by “archiving” previously posted galleries for a very small fee per gigabyte.

14. White House Custom Color (WHCC) (Booth #147)

White House Custom Color had a number of books and some small accordion books on display that are really spectacular. I especially liked their press printed books with hinged bindings. They are very elegant and sturdy. I also liked going through the 30+ printed samples on the table at their booth. They also have a very useful print sample pack with many examples of their prints (photo, inkjet and press printed).

 

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PhotoPlus Expo 2013 Selected Booth Presentation Schedules and Tips for Getting the Most from the Show

As I mentioned in my recent article about the 2013 PhotoPlus International Expo + Conference, being held in New York City this week (10/23-26), there are many opportunities to learn about almost any photo-related topic right on the show floor at exhibitor booths. Here are three specific booth schedules, some links to read more about them, with a few other suggested booths to visit that usually have good presentations:

1. Adorama (Booth #1037) Adorama’s booth serves as a store as well as a place for presentations, and their lineup this year, which you can see below, is very impressive.

2. Canon (Booth #121) Canon’s booth is always huge, and I always enjoy their lineup of speakers. Below is a chart with the schedule of their speaker presentations for the 2013 show.

This year, Canon will be screening movies made with different Canon camera models. In addition to this content, I read this on the press release for the show: “…on Friday, October 25th and Saturday, October 26th the Canon Theater will also feature select films and behind-the-scenes footage from the Canon’s “Project Imaginat10n” Film Festival. Canon U.S.A., Inc. partnered with two-time Academy Award® winner Ron Howard for the “Project Imaginat10n” Film Festival, which will kick off with the global premiere of ten short films at Lincoln Center in New York City on October 24, 2013. For more information visit: https://www.longliveimagination.com“

To read the whole release, which includes some excellent information about perks for CPS (Canon Professional Services) members, visit this page.

3. Moab by Legion Paper (Booth #750)

I believe this is the first year that Moab by Legion Paper (makers of many papers, including Entrada Rag and Slickrock Metallic) is having presentations in their booth. Here’s a quick look at the speaker schedule, and you can read the full descriptions in the press release linked below.

Link to a full press release from Moab Paper, which includes descriptions of what each of the speakers will be covering.

4. Unique Photo (Booth #547) Unique Photo’s booth is often filled with people thanks in part to their body-painted models, booth presentations and “trade show store” filled with gear for sale.

Quick Tips for Getting the Most from Booth Presentations at the PhotoPlus Expo

1. Take a photo of the schedule that’s usually posted at exhibitors’ booths with your phone or camera so that you can do some research on the speakers and better schedule your time.

2. If an interesting link or other information comes up on the screen, take a picture of it instead of writing it down.

3. Get to the booth a few minutes early. Many have seating set up, which can make the presentation 10 times better!

Additional Suggested Companies Who Often Have Excellent Booth Presentations

• GraphiStudio (Booth #905)
• Midwest Photo Exchange (Booth #155).
(Last year, Datacolor did a number of good presentations in the Midwest Photo Booth. Check Datacolor’s booth this year (Booth #162) if you are interested in their color management product line.)
• Nikon (Booth #401)
• Sigma (Booth #537)
• Sony (Booth #519)
• Topaz Labs (Booth #267)