Hands-on Review: Epson PowerLite 1735W Multimedia Projector

As a photographer and educator, I’ve been using multimedia projectors for more than 15 years. They are, in my opinion, magical devices that can essentially turn a small laptop into a huge “slide projector.” But in many cases, you never quite know what the results will be until you connect to a projector at a company or educational institution. And not too long ago, any projector in the $1,000-1,500 range was either too heavy to carry around, or was just not worth using for projecting images.

All of the Epson 1700 Series Projectors, including the 1730W and 1735W look like this from the front. A sliding lens protector is hidden when the projector lens is exposed (control for it is located just above the lens). Photo courtesy Epson Inc.

Enter the Epson PowerLite 1735W Multimedia Projector. In this review, I’ll give an overview of the 1735W as well as a similar widescreen projector in the line (the PowerLite 1730W), and I’ll cover the topics I believe are most important to photographers and video professionals/aficionados. I’ll end with some overall Pros and Cons and give my thoughts on the product as a whole.

WHY USE A WIDESCREEN PROJECTOR?

Continue reading

Overview of Connect 2010, the Palm Springs Photo Festival – Happening 3/28 – 4/2, 2010

A few days ago, an update from the Palm Springs Photo Festival 2010 Celebration Program was sent to me. This looks to be an incredible event for advanced amateur and professional photographers, as well as students interested in photography. It will be held from March 28 – April 2, 2010 at Hyatt Regency Suites, Korakia Pensione and The Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California.

There is a lot planned during the event, including the following workshops from these noted photographers:

The Joel Meyerowitz Master Class: The Search for Artistic Identity
Kenro Izu: The Sacred Landscape
Lynn Johnson: The Documentary Personal Project
Douglas Kirkland: Portraiture Using the 8×10 Camera
Ed Kashi: Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age
Jack Dykinga: Light in the Desert Landscape
Jock Sturges: The Fine Art Nude
Keith Carter: Personal Style – Finding Your Voice
Frank Ockenfels III: The Signature Style Portrait
Antonin Kratochvil: The Psychological Portrait
Linda Connor: The Importance of Sequencing Your Work
Vincent LaForet: The Convergence Factor: Using the Canon 5-D Mark II for Motion
Nels Israelson: Dramatic Lighting for Dramatic Portraiture
Juergen Nogai: The Art of Architecture Photography
Allegra Wilde: Deconstructing Your Portfolio
Laurie Kratochvil and Carol LeFlufy: The Business of Photography

Below is information about the workshops from the organizers: Our Fifth Year Workshop Program offers intense, remarkable classes with world-renowned working photographers and educators. Most are three full days plus a 4th day morning session and begin on March 29. You will spend three and a half days with your fellow students listening, learning, shooting and comparing notes. Your instructor will work with you, demonstrate his or her methods, explore his or her own work and your own. We also offer one day workshops beginning later in the week, allowing you to choose from special lighting and portfolio organization and presentation classes in addition to your principal workshop, seminars and portfolio reviews.

A listing of the seminars being offered is below:

Continue reading

Pre-PMA 2010 News from HP: Indigo Longevity and ARTtrust

This news just came across my in-box and I believe it will be of interest to anyone who currently uses photo labs, or for anyone who currently has short-run books printed by Blurb.com or other company who uses Indigo printers. HP also just announced longevity testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research for the HP Indigo digital press on at least one paper (see information below). My guess is that the report will be posted on Wilhelm-Research.com sometime soon (hopefully with additional papers added).

I’ve been hoping to see Wilhelm Imaging Research’s results on the Indigo process for many years, since I have been a longtime fan of the Indigo process (I worked for a company who had the first two Indigo machines in New York City way back in the 1990s). The print quality of recent Indigo Press models is nothing short of outstanding, and from the press release, it looks like HP has decided to position the Indigo not just as a “printing press,” but as a logical choice for photo-quality prints. It should be interesting to see how things progress as companies start marketing the Indigo’s output as “ready-to-frame.”

Below is the full press release-there is so much info, I think it is best presented in its entirety:

HP Boosts Quality and Value of Graphic Arts Photo Printing
HP Indigo photo printing technology gains 45-year permanence rating
Continue reading