Matt Suess – Dramatic Landscape Photography

Image enhancement has always played a huge & necessary role in my work. Many, many years ago when I used to print my photos in my b&w and color chemistry darkroom I was always working on enhancing the final print – from dodging and burning to masking using cut sheets of paper to adjusting the settings on the color enlargement head – anything was fair game in getting the results I wanted.

The same holds true in my digital darkroom. Look at the above photo, titled “Entwinement”. It is a new photo from my Contemporary Collection. What is remarkable is how poor that photo looked originally, straight out out the camera, with no adjustments made. You can see below how pale and lifeless the original photo was.

By shooting RAW I was able to, starting in Lightroom, find many of the hidden colors, textures and details that were part of my vision when I originally photographed it. All that texture, color and feeling was there somewhere in the original file – I just had to spend the time searching for and bringing it all out.

For me the image enhancement does not end with Lightroom. After I get the file adjusted and in the ballpark of my original vision, the file is then brought into Photoshop to complete the transformation. Sometimes the final results are not that far from the original, straight-out-of-the-camera file. Most of the time, however, it is. “Entwinement” was a particularly dramatic difference – many files are not that extreme.

My goal has never been to show you what the camera saw and recorded. The camera is just a mechanical device, devoid of all emotion & feeling, lacking in color & intensity. My goal is to share with you my vision – a vision that comes from a living, breathing person – not a cold, plastic & metal box.

I love working in my digital darkroom just as much as photographing behind the camera. I get just as excited watching a new print slowly come out of the printer as I did watching a print come to life in the developer tray of a chemistry darkroom.

The excitement, of course, is due to seeing the final representation of my vision that started by tripping the shutter on a camera, grew in the enhancement & processing in the digital darkroom, and came alive after the printer finished laying down it’s last drops of ink.

I can be terrible with dates – just ask my family. I am usually late with birthday cards and have a hard time remembering anniversary dates. I even had my wedding date etched inside my wedding ring to help remember the date! I quit cigarettes over 10 years ago. Missed the anniversary date when it came up – I remember it was in October because I quit on my birthday – perhaps my wife Marci remembers the exact year.

So it should be no surprise that after reading about another photographer on twitter who is celebrating 25 years of self-employment that I just happened to realize that this month marks my own 10 year anniversary date of self-employment. Thank God for twitter – almost missed another anniversary.

It was 10 years ago this month that Marci and I moved from CT to Cape Cod, Mass. I had just left my full-time staff photographer position at the Connecticut Post Newspaper to once again jump into the freelance waters. My job at the Post was the last I held as a full-time (or even part-time) employee working for someone else.

While living on the Cape I freelanced for many organizations including the Cape Cod Times, Boston Herald, Cape Cod View Magazine, and USA Today to name a few. I did spot assignments on the Cape for a number of other newspapers around the country. Being a digital photographer allowed me to instantly transmit photos hundreds and thousands of miles away – this at a time when many newspapers were still shooting film. I sold my images to newspapers, books, magazines, etc.

I also did some corporate and advertising work. And of course, being a freelance photographer, I also shot a number of family portraits and photographed a limited number of weddings each year. Every day was different and I enjoyed and thrived working for myself.

While still on the Cape, back in 2003, I began selling my own artwork at art festivals. And since moving to Phoenix, AZ in 2006 some 3 years ago (October marks the 3 year anniversary – hey I remember that one) I ended up leaving behind – for the most part – my freelance career and now sell my artwork full-time. While I do accept occasional advertising/corporate assignments I have done nothing in regards to editorial, portrait or wedding  photography since arriving in Phoenix. Creating and selling my artwork consumes most available time and it is something I enjoy tremendously.

Looking back on the past 10 years there are many things I remember fondly about my photojournalism days: getting the shot no one else got at a spot news event, the rush of trying to make deadline, the wonder of what will happen in the news day today, getting access to events the regular public is not able to get, etc. And the fact that I was able to experience it all, working for myself, makes it even more enjoyable.

Working for oneself is not easy. It takes dedication, perseverance, commitment, knowledge, ability and desire. It takes marketing skills as you are constantly selling yourself and your work. But above all it takes love – if you love what you do you are heading in the right direction and are leaps and bounds ahead of others that don’t love what they do. If you love what you do your desire to succeed is greater than those that don’t. And if you love what you do you find yourself happier in all aspects of life.

Here’s looking forward to the next 10 years of self-employment as a photographer.

Introduction

A while back I published an essay titled “Must Be Some Camera“. The essay discussed my encounter with an individual at an art festival who believed that the better the camera, the better the photos.

In that same vein contributor Alain Briot shares his response to the ever popular questions at art festivals such as “Do you manipulate your colors?” or “Is this real?”.  Any photographer selling their work at an art show has most likely been asked that question once or a thousand times. The following is Alain’s answer to that most popular of questions.

Matt Suess

Just Say Yes
by Alain Briot
First published in 2006 on Luminous-Landscape.com

If you can’t see it, it doesn’t count.
Ctein, talking about photographic technique

1 – Introduction

As a fine art photographer if you haven’t been asked this question you eventually will: “Do you manipulate your photographs?”  Sometimes it comes under another aspect: “Do you change the colors?”  And occasionally it goes straight to the heart of the matter: “Is this real?”

There is a certain percentage of the public who believes that fine art photographs must represent reality.  There are people who do not know that there are differences between what they see and what the camera captures.  Finally, there are individuals who do not understand that a photograph is a two dimensional representation of reality and not reality itself because reality is far more complex, three-dimensional and perceived by us through five senses and not just one.

Some people are willing to change their minds when these things are explained to them.  Others have their minds made up and do not want to be bothered by the facts.  Those are the ones that I am referring to in this essay.

The people in this last category not only believe that photographs must represent reality, they also believe that to achieve this photographs must be unaltered. They believe that a photograph must be printed exactly the way it comes out of the camera. While this may be true for certain types of technical photographs or for photographs used to illustrate news reports, when it comes to art and to my work I believe the exact opposite to be true, namely that photographs must be altered in one way or another in order to have a chance to represent the reality that I perceive.

My premise for this essay is that a fine art photograph, created by an artist with the goal of expressing himself or herself, is a representation of this artist’s view of reality, a representation of this artist’s vision, and not a representation of the world as others may see it.  This can be a blessing or a crime, depending on your opinion regarding this matter.

Eventually, this is a matter of opinion.  Personally, my opinion is that a photograph cannot capture reality as we experience it physically and I can back it up with facts (I do so in my previous essays on this subject including Of Cameras and Art and The Eye and the Camera).  However, I found that debating this point with people who do not agree with me isn’t necessarily the smartest decision.  So, I propose here a different approach, one that works great for me.

2 – A little bit of history

For a long time I didn’t know what to say when confronted by people asking me if my work was real, if I manipulated the colors, or if I changed something to the scenes I photographed.   In fact, as a fledging artist unsure of where I stood, I felt threatened by these questions and was more concerned with defending myself than with anything else.

At that time I believed that explaining my artistic approach would help.  So I answered by saying that this — the color changes, the manipulations, the modifications I made to the image — were representative of my style and that my goal was to show how I saw the world.

I also explained that I preferred to call what I do “enhancements” or “optimizations” rather than “manipulations,” because I perceived the later as a derogatory statement while I perceived the former as a positive and complimentary statement.

Unfortunately, my efforts were to no avail. These fine differences in terminology were lost on these people. Their minds were made up and they did not want to be bothered by the facts.  My facts may have been accurate, thought-out and sophisticated, they were facts nevertheless. While they may have had a chance to be heard in an academic setting, they were completely useless in a real world situation.

I also thought that doing all this would help in regards to selling my work.  I believed that I could change people’s mind and that once this was achieved they would buy my photographs. What I discovered was how many people have their minds made up and don’t want to be bothered by the facts.  I also discovered that people who do not believe what you say, or who do not like what you do, will not buy your work.  After all, I am selling art.  And to buy art someone has to like your work and often like both your work and yourself.  When people don’t like one or the other, or worse don’t like either, trying to make a sale is not just futile, it is delusional.

What I discovered overall was that my explanations had little effect on these people.  While some believed me, most were unconvinced.   What I did not know then, was that the majority of those asking these questions were primarily interested in starting an argument.  They knew that what I showed in my work was my vision.  They asked if it was real not because they wondered about what my answer would be, but because they did not like my vision of reality.  Certainly, a few – a minority—really did not understand how my work was created.  This minority was satisfied with my answer that this was my style, my vision of the world and often they would buy from me after I explained my artistic approach.  Those that I am talking about here are the others, those that wouldn’t’ accept that answer as valid.

I finally saw the light and decided on a different course of action.  I decided that in front of obvious suspicion regarding the honesty of my answers, I would give the most direct and least questionable answer possible. I decided, in a sense, that I would act as if I was in a court of law, where the party being questioned, the party whose actions are at stake, is asked to answer with a simple “yes” or ‘no”.  In short, and to get to the point, I decided to just say yes.

3 – The Art of saying Yes

When you are asked “Do you manipulate your colors?” and you answer “Yes” you create an entirely different situation than when you start explaining why you do what you do.  When you say “yes”, you state the facts and nothing but the facts: “Yes, I do manipulate my colors.” Although the person asking the question may not like your answer, it is difficult to question this answer without questioning your personal integrity.

When you do explain why you do what you do, you are in effect trying to legitimate your actions.  In that case, three things need to be explained.  First, trying to legitimate your actions implies that you know they may not be perceived as legitimate.  Second, you are leaving it up to the person asking the question to decide whether to believe you or not.  Third, you are opening the door for a lengthy discussion because the person asking the question now has the option of taking apart your answer point by point.

In other words, although I was speaking the truth when I tried to explain myself, I was giving control to the person asking the question. Once I had given my answer, they were in control because it was up to them to decide whether they believed my explanations or not, and up to them to decide how they were going to respond.  I was also confusing the matter by explaining in a lengthy manner what could have been answered with just one word: yes or no.  They could legitimately ask why I was not just saying “Yes” or just saying “No”.  They had grounds to question my integrity regarding what I was really doing in my work.

On the opposite, once I decided to just say “yes,” I took control of the situation. Why? Simply because when someone answers a question in the most straightforward manner possible, the two only options available are to either believe this person or not believe this person.  If you don’t believe that the person is saying the truth, then you must come back with a question as straightforward as their answer, and most likely you will hesitate doing so because you will expect a second answer just as straightforward as the first one.  You also run the chance of coming across as insulting.  After all, someone you just met answered your question in the most straightforward and to the point manner possible.  This person can, if pressed further, legitimately ask what reasons you have to not believe them or ask if you are suspicious by nature or if you have a problem with what they do.  Finally, they could ask if there is something wrong with you in the first place.  Neither option is bound to be pleasant for the person asking the questions.  And as a general rule, human beings do not purposefully engage in unpleasant actions.  Masochists do, but I discovered that few masochists frequent art shows or hang out at art galleries. Not enough pain in sight perhaps, not even when you antagonize the artists for your own gratification.

For example, if someone asks me “Do you manipulate your colors?” and I answer “yes” and they then ask “Is that so?” my answer will be another “yes”.  I could say “yes sir” to emphasize my answer, or just because I feel that they need a longer answer, but that is all I would say at a show of my work.  If they ask “how do you manipulate your colors?”  I will answer “in Photoshop.”  And if they say, “Oh, I see, you use Photoshop!”  my answer will again be “yes” with or without “Sir”.  Of course, the exact words being used and the exact questions being asked vary in their grammatical construction according to the situation, but in my experience, and my experience is extensive, this is how things usually go.

4 – Drama

Let’s back up a little. My Creative Writing teacher at Northern Arizona University, Allen Woodman, defined drama as being: “two dogs, one bone.”  As we all know, such a situation can quickly lead to a dogfight because most dogs will want that one bone for themselves.  Dogs rarely share with other dogs.

With humans fights often occur for the same reason: two individuals both wanting the same thing for themselves.  If we metaphorically apply it to the situation discussed in this essay, photographers or photography enthusiasts often enter into a conflict regarding reality because they both believe they describe reality in their work.  However, their work looks radically different, although they both photographed the same subject.  In this situation, who is right?  Who can claim to represent reality? Clearly, it must be one or the other but not both.

This is usually what is at stake when someone looks at my work and asks: “Do you manipulate your colors?” or “Is this real?”  They question whether I claim to represent reality or not.  If I say that I do, most likely we are going to have an argument because most likely they see reality differently than I do.  Therefore, if they believe there is only one possible reality out there, one of us will be wrong.  Two photographers, one reality: problem.

However, my answer does not point to a conflict. My answer is not “yes, I represent reality”  My answer is “yes” I do manipulate my work.  And “yes” I manipulate reality.  Therefore, my reality may be different from yours.

At conferences I give a longer answer by explaining that “In fact I clone, change the colors, alter the contrast, and even remove houses that look ugly in the middle of a pristine wilderness.  In short, I modify reality. What you see is not what I photographed.  What you see is how I felt when I created this image.  What you see is the world as see it and as I want to show it.”

“Furthermore, I feel great about doing what I do.  In fact, I love it and I have never been happier than since I gave myself the freedom of doing so!  Not only that, but I write essays describing precisely not only how I do what I do, and I teach others so they can do it too.  I even give workshops and seminars and conference presentations about both the techniques I use and the philosophical and rhetorical views that underline my position. And if there is anything else you would like to know about this subject that I have not covered yet, don’t hesitate to ask. I may have overlooked something, and if so I will be glad to fix this right away.”

What I am saying, to go to the root of my message and of my artistic position, is that there isn’t just one reality. Instead, there are multiple realities.  And if we limit this discussion to just myself and the person asking the questions mentioned above, then there are at least two different realities: theirs and mine.  We both see the world in different ways.  I see the world the way it is depicted in my work, and they see the world whichever way they like.  That is OK.  They can have their reality, I can have my reality, and I don’t see a problem with that whatsoever.

I don’t claim that their reality is wrong or that my reality is right, or that their reality is right and mine is wrong.  In fact, I really don’t care which reality is right and wrong.  All I know is that I love my reality. It makes me feel great, makes me want to get out of bed in the morning to create more of it, makes me want to go further in describing in greater details exactly what it consists of, and above all it makes me want to experience it as much as I can.  In short, I love my reality and I live in it happily.  All I ask is that they don’t impose their reality on me anymore than I impose my reality on them.  It is a free country and they can do whatever they please, but their freedom stops where mine begins.  We have the same rights, and we should both remember that. We may both believe that we are right in depicting the world the way we do in our work, but we could just as easily be wrong, not just them, me or you but all of us.

5-Technique is meant to be seen

There is another aspect to this, and that aspect is technique.  Technique, in my view, is meant to be seen and should be visible.  If this technique involves manipulating or enhancing the image, depending on which side of the fence you stand on, then this enhancement, or manipulation if this is what you want to call it, must be visible.

Why?  Because I want others to see the technique that I use.  Because I want my audience to see what I did to the image, see how I made my vision a reality through the use of a specific technique or techniques.  In fact, I want this to be visible so much that starting April 2006 I am providing the master files to my images with print purchases.  I do this so others can learn how to do what I do, and also to show how I did what I did.  In effect, I am taking advantage of one aspect of digital technology, which is that the digital image file can be duplicated countless times and still be as good as the original.  Such is not the case with a negative or a transparency, whose quality degrades dramatically with each copy made from the original.

You may see a contradiction between the above statement and my desire to remove all defects from the image captured by the camera, as listed in my previous essay “The Eye and the Camera.”  The fact is that there is no contradiction.  Removing the defects introduced by the lens-camera combination, or by the photographic capture process as a whole, is different from desiring to make the technique I use visible.  The former addresses my desire to remove unwanted artifacts or effects introduced by the camera.  The later addresses my desire to make the technique I use an inherent and enjoyable part of the image.

For example, my goal when removing the defects introduced by the camera, to name but a few, is to have details in both highlights and shadows, to remove the vignetting introduced by some lenses, and to remove the noise introduced by the sensor or the grain introduced by the film.  My goal in doing all of this is to remove the unwanted aspects of the photographic process and to bring a remedy to what I perceive as defects in this process.  We may think of this process as bringing the image to a neutral state when it comes to image capture, so that the image is free of defects introduced by the photographic process.

This is the first part of a two-part process: part one consists of removing the defects and part two consists of introducing my feelings into the image.  This first part is the part I wish to not be visible in the final image.

On the other hand, when working towards expressing the feelings I experienced when I created the image, my goal is to adjust color, tone and contrast so that the image is a representation of what I felt and not just a representation of what the camera captured.  My goal is also to bring all the parts of the image together so that they function together as one, instead of clashing with each other as is often the case in images whose tonal scale and color palette has not been adjusted.  This is the second part of the process, the one for which I wish to make the technique I use visible.  In practice, this technique is made visible through the colors that I use as well as through the contrast and tonal scale adjustments that I decided work best for this image.  This second part is the part I want to make visible to my audience in the final print.

There is also a matter of quality.  The only way to tell if a technique is good, effective or again mastered by the practitioner and the master, is to see it for ourselves.  Otherwise, we rely on the word of others, on the opinion of someone else but us. Mastery is something that must be witnessed, something that must be seen.  If one wants to be recognized as a master, one cannot have as a goal to make his technique transparent.  One must try as hard as possible to make his technique something that can be seen, something visible to all.

Technique, in other words, must become part of the work.  It cannot only be the path that leads to the creation of the artwork.  It must be the artwork itself.  Just like the brushstrokes of a specific painter define this painter’s work as much as his subject matter, the particular colors, tonal scale and contrast adjustments of a fine art photographer define this photographer’s work as much as the scenes he or she chose to photograph.

To return to my main point in this essay, and to just saying yes when asked if my work is enhanced or manipulated, I must give this answer in order to tell my audience that it is my intention to make my technique visible.  Indeed, I often emphasize my yes answer, by saying yes!  In writing, there is no other way to show this subtle difference besides placing an exclamation point after the yes, but in reality this slight change conveys my love and my passion for the work that I do and for my desire to share it with my audience.

6 – Conclusion?

Bringing a conclusion to this essay is difficult.  On the one hand, there is a lot more to say on the subject.  On the other hand, some may argue that such an essay should never be written.  The first position is correct the second one is incorrect.  There is a lot more to be said on this subject, and this essay does need to be written because finding the proper answer to these questions is very difficult.  As I said at the beginning, if you are a photographer and you show your work to other people, regardless of whether you sell your work or not, you will be asked these questions. If you haven’t yet, you eventually will. It is only a matter of time.  As the popular statement goes: it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.

And when the time comes, you better have an answer.  Otherwise you will join the ranks of the stumped. I don’t know about you, but personally I hate being stumped.

So yes, this essay definitely has a reason to exist.  This reason is to help you find out where you stand.  My answer is “Yes” because I do believe, and for good reasons, that I manipulate reality.  Your answer may be different.  For example, if you believe you do not manipulate reality, then your answer should be “No.”

My goal is to create images that represent the world not as it is, but as how I see it, how I feel when I am in a specific location and how I perceive this location as a whole.  Not just the part that I see, but the part that I don’t see: the melting sap of Pinion pines on a warm summer days; the call of a blackbird bouncing off a canyon wall; the heat waves floating in front of me over the bare sandstone; the multitude of sensory inputs that are, by nature, non-visual.  After all, a photograph is nothing but something we can look at.  Yet, the reality of the world is much more than that.  The reality of the world is something that we experience through five senses: smell, touch, hearing, taste and finally sight.  A photograph only makes use of the fifth sense.  It is a partial perception of the world, representing at the most 1/5^th of all that we sense. I wish those that argue that unaltered photographs can represent reality would understand that. But, as I explain, it is not in my power to change their mind.  Therefore, I limit myself to just answering “yes” when they ask me questions about whether my work is manipulated or not.  Of course my work is manipulated.  How could it be otherwise?  Only a fool would believe that it isn’t.  Yes.

To some extent, my goal is to include in my photographs as much of what we perceive with these other four senses as is possible to include in a two dimensional medium.  It is also to transform the world from what it actually is to what I wish it were.  For example, I may photograph a depressing yet otherwise beautiful scene, and if all it takes is remove the houses that mar this scene, or brighten the colors, for this photograph to bring joy to my heart instead of sadness, then I will unashamedly do so, regardless of what others might think.  If someone wants a depressing photograph, or a photograph in which all the houses that mar the hills in an otherwise beautiful location are present, I know for a fact that there are countless photographers out there, and that one, if not several of them, will either have exactly what these people want or will be willing to create exactly what they want.

So no, don’t write to me saying that you wish I didn’t do what I do, or that you wish I didn’t manipulate reality, change the colors, remove things, or alter the contrast.   Don’t write to me to ask that I do not make the world more beautiful, more joyful, more inviting, or more attractive than it really is in your opinion.  Instead, write to me to tell me that you like what I do and that you wish I would go further.  Write to me to say that you see my point, that your mind is not made up and that you are willing to be bothered by the facts.  Write to me to say that you love my work.

Why?  Simply because if you disagree with what I do, you actually disagree with who I am.  You see, what I show in my work is part of me, part of who I am and part of how I perceive the world. It is that part that I make visually accessible to all. It is that part that I am willing to share with others.  And no, I am not willing to change.  Definitely not. I am not willing to see the world as a depressing or gloomy place.  Call me delusional if you wish, but do keep it to yourself.

7 – Audience

There is another aspect to this, and this aspect is the audience I am addressing.  I am addressing an audience who loves what I do.  I am addressing an audience who has loved what I do since I started, nearly 20 years ago now.  I am addressing an audience who is growing daily and who wants to see me go further in my approach, in my practice and in my style.  An audience who knows that I manipulate colors, change things around a little, and who not only does not care one bit that I do so but actually loves that I do what I do.  I am addressing an audience who loves my work for what it is.

So no, don’t even give it a try. And if you do, don’t expect me to care.  I don’t and I won’t.  I have already answered the question, and the answer is yes.  Yes, I manipulate my work, change the colors and much more; and yes, I feel great about doing so; and yes, I am proud of it and have no remorse whatsoever; and yes, I have no intention whatsoever of changing this approach.  In fact, this is my style.  This is me.

And if you are a photographer, I strongly encourage you to follow my approach.  If nothing else, it will free you and liberate your creativity.  I know it does for me.  Remember that you must be free in order to be an artist.  If you do not feel free to create whatever your heart desires, then you might call yourself an artist, but you are not really an artist.  Art is personal expression.  It is the expression of your personality, of your vision, or your view of the world, of your perception of reality.  Art is not doing something because you believe someone else may like it better than what you would otherwise do.  Art, in short, is freedom.

8 – In closing

What is art is another discussion altogether, one that I will address in a future essay in this series.  For now, remember that the most effective answer to a question designed to stump you is the shortest, most direct and most honest answer you can possibly think of.  In this situation it is a resounding Yes or a resounding No.  It all depends whether you believe that your work is manipulated or not.

In general, and in closing, it is best not to act defensively when you find yourself confronted by someone asking questions such as the ones I mention in this essay.  Often, these questions are aimed at making you take a defensive position.  Unfortunately, if you do so you find that you have to defend yourself in regards to actions that you are perfectly free to conduct.  Actions that, eventually, are nobody’s business except your own.  Actions that, furthermore, are perfectly legal but that your interlocutor may want you to feel are not.  Unfortunately for them, what is illegal are things such as loan sharking, drug dealing or pistol-whipping a priest.  It does not include enhancing a photograph for artistic purposes.  You can’t be arrested for doing it, you can’t be taken to court and you can’t be placed on probation or otherwise legally punished.

The best solution for people who really do not like your work and who do not want to be bothered by the facts is to move on and go look at the work of an artist that they like.  Therefore, if they ask you questions, there is no reason for you to feel threatened or act in a defensive manner.  Just tell them the truth, and let them believe whatever they want to believe.  Remember, if they don’t like you or your work, they will never buy your work.  And if they compliment you about your work, they are either lying or pulling your leg.  So just say yes and let them be.  That is what I do.

Alain Briot
Arizona
December 2006

Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, printing and on marketing photographs. You can find more information about Alain’s work and tutorial on his website at http://www.beautiful-landscape.com

Alain’s latest book,  ”Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style” has just been released. You can order it direct on his website at this link or it is available on Amazon at this link.

I have had a web presence for over 10 years now and I have always added a © watermark to all of my photos that I have uploaded online. Adding a copyright (©) watermark is necessary for me as I have made a living from my photography for over 19 years now. I am in the business of selling photos – not giving them away. Adding a © watermark to my online photos helps to protect the unauthorized use of my work in that it sends a message that the photo is copyrighted and not available for free use.

Up until now the only way I could add a © watermark to photos I wanted to post online from my iPhone camera was to download the photo to my laptop or desktop, add the watermark in Photoshop, then upload to the internet or back to my iPhone to then post online. Quite cumbersome especially considering how easy it is to post photos from the iPhone direct to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, blogs and other locations with the press of a few buttons. Convenience forced me to upload many non-watermarked photos to places such as twitpic, yfrog, etc.

Frustrated, the other day I posted a question to my Twitter followers asking if anyone knew of an app for the iPhone that “can add a user defined © watermark to a #photo – preferably to a copy of a photo”. Two minutes later @SuperFarm tweeted me info on an application called PhotoMarkr. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Using PhotoMarkr is extremely simple. You can either add your own © text in the application itself, or import a graphic that you previously created into the program. Simply create your watermark in Photoshop on a black background and save the flattened image as a jpg. Upload to your iPhone using iPhoto/iTunes or just email the photo to your iPhone. You can save as many © watermarks as you want in the Photo Albums section of your iPhone and change them as often as you want in PhotoMarkr.

Once your setting preferences are finished tap done. You are then returned to the main application page. What’s nice is that your settings are saved and each time you re-launch the app your previously used setting is applied.

The main application page is displayed above. Tapping the 5 icons, from left to right, will do the following: a) open up your photo library on the iPhone to select an already taken photo, b) turn on the camera to immediately take a photo, c) save a watermarked copy of your photo, d) turn off the watermark, e) open the settings page. It is worth mentioning again that by saving a watermarked photo, you are saving a copy of the original photo – your original photo remains untouched and you end up with a watermarked copy.

As seen above, you have full control over the opacity – or transparency – of your watermark. By pinching the screen with your fingers you can change the size and even rotate your watermark. Simple, quick, intuitive and effective. Your saved watermark photo will appear in your camera roll ready for uploading online.

PhotoMarkr sells in the app store for just $2.99. It is worth every penny. Very simple and fast to use, it does just what it is supposed to do and I highly recommend it.

This past weekend I attended what was probably the smallest art show I have done since I started selling my artwork at art festivals 7 years ago. Nestled amongst pine trees in the cool mountains of Pinetop, AZ the show – run by a great promoter and artist himself by the way – has a wonderful layout and environment.

The show, in its 14th year, is held outside next to a working gallery called the Art Barn which houses about 10 artists. Artists like myself are juried into the show and setup our booths outside alongside the Art Barn. The application mentions that there is room for as many as 70 booths.

Like many shows lately, artist attendance was way down this year. In fact there was just 7 booths outside! There were a number of last minute cancellations and a few no-shows. The economy has been reducing show attendance of both patrons and artists, and this show was no exception.

Yet even in these trying economic times there are those willing and able to make investments in art. Small art shows are a perfect place for the patron to really talk to the artist. Crowds are light, there are less distractions, and many art lovers themselves prefer the small quiet shows compared to the 400+ booth, 250,000+ attendance behemoths.

As an artist, doing these types of shows can be quite a joy. Setup is relaxing, being able to park directly next to my tent to unload and setup with no hurries. Free onsite RV parking just a short stroll through the pines with plenty of room for our dog to play just adds to the enjoyment.

Crowds were light this weekend, and Sunday’s thunderstorm at 3:00 killed the show that afternoon (the show ran Saturday – Monday). Yet patrons were there to buy. Among this weekend’s sales were two 60″ pieces to two new and excited collectors of mine. One piece is going above the new home buyers’ bed. The other piece the collector is not yet sure where she is going to display it just yet.

Packing up on Monday afternoon after the completion of the show was just as easy as setup. It is not often one can have a relaxing weekend working an art festival, but small shows often allow the opportunity to do just that and still connect with patrons and make sales. Not to mention the temperature was some 30 degrees cooler than my hometown Phoenix. What could be better?!?

While I was photographing in Colorado last month I came across an iPhone app from bjango called Darkness. I heard someone recommend it in a twitter stream, mentioning that it is a great app for sunrise and sunset times. After taking a quick look at it in the iTunes store I immediately purchased it. Darkness does much more than provide sunrise and sunset times. In fact, Darkness is absolutely a must-have iPhone app for photographers.

For starters Darkness is a world clock. It has a database of over 20,000 cities worldwide. Custom cities can also be added. Darkness also uses your iPhone’s GPS to provide you with information based on your exact location. You add cities to the application’s main screen by clicking on the plus sign at the bottom and searching for your city. You can also add as many cities as you wish.

The main screen not only shows you the time and date of your current location and favorite locations, but it also gives you a graphical representation of how much sunlight is left (just to left of time), as well as sunrise and sunset times and the current moon phase.

If this was it to the application I probably wouldn’t have gotten it. Knowing the sunrise and sunset times when out photographing is extremely important to me – but one can get that info for free from Weather Channel’s app. What really sealed the deal for me, making this a must-have, is the detailed info it provides as seen in the next screenshot.

Lets say you’ve arrived at a new location to photograph early in the day and you are looking for a great composition for a sunset photo. You know what time sunset is at, but you are not quite sure exactly where the sun will be setting. Knowing where that sun will set can be important information wether you are a landscape, nature, wedding, portrait or commercial photographer.

By simply tapping on your current location on the main page you are taken to a detail page that not only shows you the sunrise and sunset times, but also the aziumth (the azimuth refers to the angle between due north and the point on the horizon the sun is currently over). Using either a compass or the built-in compass on the iPhone 3Gs you are able to now know just where that sun will set (or rise). The aziumth is also included for the moon as well.

When still viewing this detail page, holding the iPhone in landscape mode will provide you with a globe view of the current sunlight and darkness of the entire planet.

The application also provides you with the current azimuth and altitude of the sun as well as “noon”. Solor noon, as defined by Wikipedia, is the moment when the sun appears the highest in the sky (nearest zenith) compared to its positions during the rest of the year. Think of the noon time Darkness provides as the time of day with the least amount of shadows.

Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight times are also provided.

Tapping on the moon info from the main page will bring up the moon details page. Here you are presented with a graphical representation of the current moon phase as well as it’s azimuth and altitude, age, illumination and distance. Also viewable is when the next phases of the moon will occur.

Wondering where in the sky  the moon was 3 years ago that gave you that great light during your nighttime photo shoot, or when and where the sunrise will be during that upcoming photo trip next year? Simply tap on the calendar icon in the upper right hand corner of the application and set the time to any date you wish to view the solar and lunar information on that date.

I have found this application to be an invaluable tool on my iPhone. Not only has it helped me during photo shoots, but at art festivals as well. As many readers know I sell my artwork at fine art festivals throughout the Southwest. Since installing this application I have used it at my art festivals while setting up my tent. By knowing were the sun is traveling throughout the day I can plan in advance how much sunlight will hit my booth. Knowing this plays a direct factor in how I set up my booth, be it extra awnings to protect from the sunlight, or a different setup to let more light in from not having the direct sunlight. I have setup my booth in complete darkness at night knowing exactly where the sun would be the following day.

Darkness is visually pleasing, quick and responsive, and easy to use. Like I said before, it is a must-have iPhone application for any photographer whose spends part or all of their working day outside. Darkness costs just $1.99 from the iTunes store (and is currently at the time of this writing on sale for $0.99).

Essay by Matt Suess

I have been asked countless times, “Wow, what type of camera do you use?”, or “Must be some camera that you have”. or “My camera doesn’t take pictures like that”, etc. One time in particular, a gentleman was looking at my work in my booth at an art show and said something along the lines of, “Sure must be a great camera you have to get these great pictures”.

I looked at him for a moment, and responded with a smile, “No. Actually, it was some great photographer who did this.” The expression on his face gave me the feeling that he was thinking that I was trying to pull one over on him, and he smiled while responding, “Sure, but it still bust have been a great camera!” He was fully expecting me to reply, “Yes, you caught me – I have the best camera in the world and that is the only reason why these prints look so good.”

My actual response was, “I am sorry, but it is not just the camera. In fact I can produce beautiful work with any camera, even yours.” His smile dropped and he looked me in the eyes and said, “Come on, you use a Hasselblad.” I replied, “I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong, but you are wrong. I do not use a Hasselblad camera.” At this point, the conversation was over – he thought I was flat out lying to him and the only reason why I have the quality I have was because I used a Hasselblad camera.

What this individual was not able to comprehend is that the camera is just one of many tools for the photographer. It is not the end all, be all.

Is it the high end kitchen utensils that popular chef Emeril uses that makes his dishes so renown? Take him into your kitchen. Would he be able to produce a meal far superior to yours using your own utensils – utensils that may not be the “best in the industry”?

Part of the misconception of, “the better the camera, the better the photo,” comes from the basic fact that nowadays just about everybody has a camera. Everyone has experience taking photos. And yes, everyone takes some photos that perhaps they even surprise themselves with by the way the print turns out. But not as many prints come out as great as they would like. What’s the most obvious thing to blame – their technique? No. It is definitely the camera that took the bad photo. The print doesn’t look anything like what they remember. They assume if they purchased a better, more expensive camera, they would get better photos.

So they buy a more expensive camera and find that, yes, they are now sometimes getting better pictures. Camera quality, at this basic level of photography experience, does indeed play an important factor. Their logical conclusion is: the better the camera the better the print.

What these individuals do not understand is that, sometimes, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to photography and fine art prints. The camera is simply a tool – a very important one at times for sure – but it is just one of many variables that come into play when producing a fine art print of the utmost quality. The real “magic” comes from the printing. It is with the printing that the artist’s intent fully comes to life. The camera is just a tool used to move one along the path towards the final destination that is the print. A bad print from a Hasselblad can be worse than a good print from a cell phone camera.

I am selling the final print – I am not selling based on the camera I used. If I “fooled” someone into thinking that I used a Hasselblad, is it now all of a sudden an inferior print once known a Hasselblad wasn’t used?

Is it worth less?

Maybe it should be worth more!!

Printing is the most important part of the process for me, and the part that consumes the most amount of time. Countless hours of work go into each and every one of my prints. While there are some images I am able to print with only a few hours of work, others have taken months (not continuous, fortunately) to produce a print I am completely satisfied with. I even have one photo that I worked on, from time to time, over the course of a full year before I was satisfied with the print!

I wasn’t bothered by that gentleman walking out of my booth convinced, in his own beliefs, that I simply had a “really good” camera. In fact, it was a compliment to my printing, technique, experience, composition, vision, creativity, and, the least of which, the camera I used. A great camera is not going to make a great photographer.

I will write future articles discussing the methods and procedures I use in doing my own printing. For those not interested in that, and only want to focus on the camera I use, I will tell you that I currently use a Canon 5D Mark II camera. It is a 21 megapixel digital camera. It’s not a top of the line camera, nor is it a bottom of the line camera. But boy, you should see the pictures this camera takes…

July 2006, Revised August 2009

Introduction

In Part One of landscape photographer Alain Briot’s Phase One P45 Experience Report he talked about his technical observations regarding the 39 MB digital back. Here in part two Alain concludes his report with his artistic observations.

Matt Suess

The Phase One P45 Digital Back:
An Experience Report

–Part Two: Artistic Observations—

There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others
who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into sun.

Pablo Picasso

Article by Alain Briot
Published December 29, 2008

1-Introduction – The two different types of photographic knowledge

I approach photography as being a medium requiring two different sets of knowledge: technical and artistic knowledge. In the first part of this 2-part essay, I addressed the technical aspects of the Phase One P45 medium format digital back that I found to be important in my work.  In this second essay I am addressing the artistic aspects of this back that I find most relevant in my work.

Most equipment reviews, if not all of them, address the technical aspects of a specific piece of equipment.  This is because photographic equipment is seen almost universally as being purely technical.  Certainly, the technical qualities of a piece of equipment are very important.  However, I do not see equipment as being purely technical.  Why?  Because equipment, when used with the goal of expressing oneself and of creating fine art images that express an emotional response to the subject photographed, plays an important role in the artistic outcome of the work.

For one, equipment has an inspiring effect on me and I am sure on most photographers.  New equipment inspires us to create new photographs because of the new possibilities it offers.  But what are those qualities?  Many believe that these qualities are purely technical, that new cameras essentially have better technical capabilities. The possibility of creating images of higher resolution than before for example, or sharper images, or making bigger prints from these images and so on.

Again, this is certainly the case and these were some of the reasons why I invested in the P45.  But these are not the only reasons.  The P45 inspires me because of other factors that are by nature artistic.  For example, the expanded dynamic range allows me to create prints with lower contrast  –softer prints if you will– a purely artistic consideration since it is not important for me to quantify how much softer, or how much less contrast, these prints exhibit.

The P45 also gives me access to a different color palette than 4×5 films such as Provia or Sensia or than digital cameras such as the Canon 1DsMk2.  Again, this is an artistic consideration since here too it is not important for me to quantify precisely how many more colors I get, or to describe the exact technical differences between the color palettes of these different films and sensors.

These are only two of several artistic considerations that I want to address in this essay.  In doing so I will blatantly omit mentioning any sort of data, numbers or charts.  Instead, I will use an approach and a terminology that is artistic by nature: palette, feel, like and dislike and so on. In many ways my remarks will be opinions rather than facts, something that art and artists have been known to be traditionally guilty of.  If you must have hard numbers, you may be disappointed.  On the other hand, if you are curious about how one can have an artistic take on a subject that is traditionally addressed from a technical perspective, you will be embarking upon an entertaining journey of discovery.

2 – White Balance

Let us start by addressing white balance.  The P45 is very sensitive to being set to the proper white balance. Outdoors, a custom white balance is often necessary because the color of the light changes throughout the day, most noticeably between sunrise, midday, sunset and also during overcast, open shade or reflected light conditions.

Certainly, the P45 does offer pre-set white balance settings: daylight, flash, shade, etc.  However, for some reason I find that the colors I get from these presets are not satisfying to me. It is definitely not because they are not accurate.  They are accurate.  It may be because I have a different artistic taste than the engineers who created these presets.  It may also be because I like to set my own white balance settings to match a specific color palette (more on this later on).

As a result I prefer to use custom white balance settings rather than preset white balance settings.  With cameras equipped with auto white balance capabilities, this is not much of an issue. I simply select “auto white balance” and let the camera adjust the white balance for each type of light automatically, without any input on my part.  Not so with Hasselblad-V cameras.  These being mechanical cameras designed for film use, they do not offer the option of auto white balance through the camera.

The closest thing to auto white balance on the P45 mounted on a Hasselblad-V is creating a custom white balance.  Because this is a manual process a new white balance must be created for each new lighting situation.  Custom white balance settings are achieved through the software on the back. While creating a white balance setting this way is easy, creating a white balance setting outdoors that satisfies my artistic taste when using natural light (the sun) is something of a dark art.  This is because sunlight color changes significantly from sunrise to midday to sunset.  You go from a very warm color at sunrise to a cool color during midday and back to a warm color at sunset. In addition, shaded areas have a different color balance than directly lit areas and so do areas lit by bounced light because these areas take on the color of the surface they are reflected by.

Of course, white balance can be adjusted during raw conversion but I do like to get close to the white balance I like in the field. While I often say that I am not doing “LCD art,” meaning that how the image looks on the LCD is not overwhelmingly important to me, I do like to have a rough idea of what the color looks like in the field.

The process of creating a new white balance setting is the same regardless of which approach you use: simply select custom white balance in the options menu, point the camera towards the light source or the subject, and take a photograph.  A new white balance setting will be automatically created for that light source and selected as the new white balance setting.

You can create a custom white balance by photographing a variety of surfaces. First, you can photograph the scene in front of you and see what you get. Sometimes this works well, sometimes it does not.  Second, you can photograph a calibrated surface, such as a grey card or a Whibal (whibal.com).  Third, you can photograph through a piece of white frosted plastic or through an Expodisc (expodisc.com).  In that case you need to point the lens towards the light source (the sun).  At sunrise or sunset, or in reflected light conditions where there is a strong color cast such as in slot canyons, these options do not always work well.

In these instances I found that I can achieve a better white balance photographing a black surface such as my black tripod bag. Don’t ask me why I get a satisfying color balance that way.  All I know is that it works for me.  Not every time, but often enough to make it a viable solution.

Sometimes achieving a good white balance in the field is not possible. This is not too much of a problem because the white balance can be set perfectly later on in the raw converter, provided that the image was exposed properly.  All you need to do is select a preset you like to get a good point of departure, then “tweak” this preset by dragging the sliders carefully until you get the color balance you are looking for.  The main drawback is that in the field the image on the LCD screen will be harder to see since poorly color balanced images often exhibit weird colors and color clipping on the LCD.

3 – Tonality and contrast

The tonal separation, tonality range and contrast range of the P45 are very impressive.   It is very much like 4×5 in regards to tonal separation but with a low contrast and a high dynamic range.

These three factors are also very different from Canon 1DsMk2 files and not only because of the higher pixel count of the P45. The simplest way I can explain it (remember this is about art and not technical facts) is that there is something about the sensor, or the way the files are recorded by the back, that creates a very unique tonality and contrast quality.

One of the qualities of P45 files is their beautiful contrast. Not too high and not too low, just right. I rarely have to adjust contrast with these, either during or after conversion. Certainly, the Zeiss lenses of the Hasselblad-V system most likely play a role in this look as well, being excellent for contrast and edge definition.

During Raw processing far less work is required than with Canon 1DsMk2 files.  The most important aspect of raw processing is achieving a good color balance. As I mentioned previously the P45 is very sensitive to color balancing — it has to have a very good color balance for the files to look their best.

There is also far less need to reduce the amount of black during conversion because the shadows remain open even though there’s a significant amount of black generated during raw conversion.  In fact, I rarely have to add or remove black during or after conversion, while I routinely add black to 1DsMk2 files.

4 – Color palette

P45 files also exhibit a larger range of tones in certain colors when compared to 1DsMk2 files.  Green is one such color. There is an amazing variety of greens in P45 photographs of foliage, grass or other predominantly green subjects.  These variations go from cyan-green, to yellow-green, to magenta-green with pure green thrown in there.

Tonal variety across the color spectrum, as well as variety of tones within a single color, is something very important for my work. I work towards creating the largest variety of tones I can create and I like separating tones within a single color, such as the greens that I just described. With the P45 the colors are beautiful and with foliage leaves have a great three dimensional quality.

The difference is in the number of colors captured and in the nuances between colors. These are subtle but noticeable differences, regardless of print size.  They affect the image as a whole. It is very much like 4×5 film versus 35mm film in that respect.  The larger film size captures more light and allows a greater separation between colors.  In other words, because the film is much larger, adjacent colors are further apart in a 4×5 film photograph than they are on a 35mm film photograph.  In turn, this results in an expanded range of colors and tones on 4×5 and in a compression of colors and tones on 35mm film.

With the P45 a similar effect takes place.  However, this is not only caused by the larger sensor size.  It is also caused by the larger size photosites (the devices that collect light on the sensor). The P45 has a very large sensor, and although the pixel count is high, the photosites are much larger than on, say, a 35mm full frame 21mp sensor.

Essentially, larger photosites gather more light. The larger the photosites, the higher their light-gathering ability. In turn, higher light gathering abilities translate into more colors and finer separation and nuances within a single color and between different colors. Unlike film, where smaller grains of silver give you finer quality, with digital captures larger photosites give you finer quality.

To prove this point let me mention this: I have digital files from one of the first Kodak-Nikon digital cameras, the DCS 560, which was made available back in the early 1990’s.  Although I cannot make very large prints from these files, the photosites were so large that the color quality is outstanding even by today’s standards.  This was a full frame (24×36mm) sensor, with only 6mp resolution, which means that the photosites were literally gigantic so to speak, definitely much larger than the photosites on today’s 35mm full frame DSLRs since 35mm full frame sensors are now 16 to 21mp.

A higher pixel count is achieved by a reduction in pixel size (and by implication in photosite size) when the sensor size stays the same.  Eventually this process leads to an excessive light gathering loss and you have to go up to the next sensor size. This is sort of what is happening with 35mm full frame digital. We are at the point where going up to medium format is necessary if obtaining the largest variation of tonality and color is important for your work.  This is one of the main reasons why I moved to a medium format back instead of a 21mp full frame 35mm such as the 1DsMk3.

However, that doesn’t mean that the color or the tonality is “bad” on a 21mp (or larger) 35mm full frame digital cameras.  All it means is that there is an advantage to medium format digital in regards to tonality and color variations. There better be, given the huge difference in cost!  That is good news in regards to the extra money invested.

This photograph is a good example of a purposefully-reduced color palette.  I desaturated the colors and reduced the number of colors to create the palette used in this image.

The colors in this slot canyon are naturally very saturated, often veering towards bright oranges, deep reds and occasionally blues.  Here I wanted to move away from these more traditional palettes so I purposefully desaturated the entire color range of the image to obtain a palette that consists entirely of beiges and browns.  The light shaft was rendered pure white by removing traces of yellow and magenta to provide a solid color counterpoint to the beige tones in the image that the viewer can use as a reference point.

This photograph is a collage of several P45 captures.

5 – Inspiration

Every tool brings with it new possibilities that previous tools somehow did not reveal.  It is hard to say why such is the case.  After all, the subject is the same.  What changes is how we approach this subject through each new tool, each new camera, as well as what we look for once we know what each camera does best.

In the case of the P45 I feel inspired to create images in which details of the landscape –flowers, plants, grasses, rock patterns, etc.—play a prominent role.  I feel inspired to do so because the P45 gives me such a wealth of detail when photographing these subjects.  The precision of the capture enhances the very small details that are the mainstay of these natural elements.  Each time I open a new raw file, I see details that I missed while looking at the subject with the naked eye.  Often, the P45 files reveal more details than I saw by myself in the field.  I therefore learn about my subject by studying the image.  Instead of looking for details I hope will be there, I expect to discover details that I often missed seeing in the field.

In turn this enables me to create images that I have not created before, images whose success depends on having this intricate level of detail, images that depend on detail and color nuances to be successful.  In these images the color is particularly important and so is the low contrast and the large dynamic range offered by the P45.

Certainly, there are limiting factors as well.  For example, there is the issue of lens resolution and the fact that I would have higher resolution with lenses designed for digital backs.  The Hasselblad V lenses were designed to match the resolution of film, and since the P45 has a higher resolution than film they are not sharp enough to make full use of the sensor’s resolution. However, this concern, which is certainly real, is counterbalanced by the issue of inspiration and by the vision afforded by this specific camera.  I feel inspired when I work with my V series Hasselblad cameras, regardless whether or not the lenses deliver the sharpest images possible.  I see something different when I use them and that is why I decided to work with them again.

I have always enjoyed working with my Hasselblad V system. The things that bothered me when I was using film (besides the limitations of film itself) were the square format and the relatively limiting field of view of the widest V-lenses (38mm).  However, the P45 offers solutions here as well, although in an unconventional way.  The square format issue is solved by the P45 rectangular format.  Certainly, part of the full V-Hasselblad image is lost, but the difficulties of framing with a square viewfinder are gone as well (square compositions are very challenging).  The field of view issue is also resolved, this time through my use of stitching multiple frame captures, something that I detail in my previous essay: Phase One P45 Collages.

In passing I want to add that over half of my P45 images are multiple frame captures.  At the time I am writing this essay stitching has become a mainstay in my work as well as a source of constant inspiration.

I just don’t see the same things when doing multiple frame compositions compared to using a wider lens.  Plus, certain stitched compositions simply cannot be created with a wider lens. The image geometry is just different than what a single capture can give you, regardless of how wide your lens might be.

6 – Conclusion of Part Two: What’s Next

After I started working with the P45 I was asked frequently if working with medium format digital made me feel different.  The answer is that when compared to 35mm (or smaller formats) a larger viewfinder and the necessity to work slower usually results in an increased image quality, essentially at the level of the composition.  This is true for medium format and this is even more true for 4×5, whether one uses digital or film.

As I mentioned in this essay, it is the expanded color palette and dynamic range that are the most important assets for me when working with the P45.  The increased resolution is a bonus but it will not be visible at small print sizes. The tonal and contrast quality however will be visible at all print sizes.  This larger tonal and dynamic range brings colors further apart and gives each color a larger dynamic range, furthering the gamut of each color and increasing the range of hues within a single color.  It not only gives you richer colors, it also gives you more variation of hues within a single color.

In turn, the larger dynamic range allows you to create softer images while still retaining a certain level of drama in the scenes that you choose to photograph. During film days it was often assumed that drama could only be obtained by creating high contrast images.  While a high-contrast sunset scene, say a very dark foreground and a highly saturated sunset sky, is certainly dramatic, drama in photography is not dependent solely upon this type of rendition.  Instead, drama is a function of many more elements besides contrast. Drama can be rendered through variation of colors, tones, composition, lighting, natural events and more.

And who says I want drama in each and every photograph? After all, part of the reason for high-contrast film images was that transparency films created high contrast images in the first place. In other words, most sunsets had to be high contrast because one had to make a choice whether to record details in the shadows or in the highlights. Highlight details were most of the time favored, thereby reducing shadows to black or to very dark tones.   Not so with digital, not only because the dynamic range is far greater, but also because several images individually exposed for highlight and for shadows can be combined (through HDR or layering) thereby making the available dynamic range virtually unlimited.

At any rate the color of P45 images is rich and, when properly color balanced, sophisticated. I like to compare this color quality to a fine red wine.  A wine that is deep and full bodied, an aged wine that has reached a certain level of maturity and sophistication.  I like to think of P45 colors as sophisticated color and as mature color.  I see the color palette as being richer, more full bodied and more mature, with more variations within a single tone and more luminosity in the image.

Because of this inherent sophistication, this color palette is not so much in need of over-saturation or of excessive contrast increase.  Over-saturation and excessive contrast appear to be more necessary with files that contain less data.  While this choice clearly hinges as much on the photographer’s taste as on the camera being used, the fact remains that having more data to start with will provide one with more choices.

In turn, this influences the color palette that I use with the P45.  I use less saturation and less variation of different hues. Instead I favor a lower saturation level and an increase in the variation of tones within a single hue rather than a wide variation across multiple hues.  I also use a softer contrast that let’s the colors “speak” to each other instead of compete with each other for attention.  Other palettes are certainly possible.  My inspiration simply has gone in this direction so far.

If you enjoyed reading my notes on my use of color and color palettes please know that I am currently working on an essay focused solely on color and color palettes.  This essay will be published in the context of my ongoing series on composition.  A move to a new home studio over the summer has delayed my writing somewhat but I am now back to my regular publishing schedule.

Alain Briot

October 2008
Vistancia, Arizona

About Alain Briot
Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, printing and on marketing photographs. Alain is also the author of Mastering Landscape Photography: The Luminous Landscape Essays.  This book is available from Amazon and other bookstores as well as directly from Alain.  You can find more information about Alain’s work, writings, workshops and tutorials on his website at http://www.beautiful-landscape.com

Alain welcomes your comments on this essay as well as on his other essays available in Briot’s View. You can reach Alain directly by emailing him at alain@beautiful-landscape.com

This is an ongoing review of the new Canon 5D Mark II digital camera.

Article by Matt Suess

December 24, 2008

I received my Canon 5D Mark II two days ago. A 21 megapixel DSLR, this camera will be replacing my nearly 13 MB Canon 5D camera that has been my main camera for over 3 years now. The 5DII has been getting great reviews on its high resolution and low noise – two areas of particular interest to me. If you are unfamiliar with my work, I love to print big – I sell many fine art pieces in the 6 to 10 foot range, so the more megapixels the better. I am anticipating even larger pieces now with the new 5DII.

I had been on a wait list with my camera dealer since the camera was first announced. I was initially hesitant to take delivery of one after hearing about a quality issue with the images – notably a “black spot” problem that was causing black spots to appear along the right side of point light sources. Once Canon finally acknowledged a few days ago that there is a problem and that they are working on a solution by providing correction firmware I decided it was safe enough to receive the camera. I plan on testing to see if my camera has the “black dot” problem (I am sure it does) and will re-test when Canon comes up with a solution.

When I opened up the box late Monday night my wife Marci and I immediately started comparing the physical characteristics of the 5DII with my original 5D. Some refinements I liked a lot, and some I didn’t. I will end up doing a comparison between the two in the near future so keep on checking back to this diary. But first let us just get started with the image quality.

The light was fairly nice yesterday so I took the 5DII with my usual gear (tripod, cable release, ND filters) along a short hike near my home. The images you see below have all been processed from a RAW file using Lightroom v2.2. These are not “straight from the camera” samples, rather they have been (quickly) fully processed in LR just like I would process any RAW file – adjustments made to exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpening, and more. Like I did in my G10 diary, I am not really interested in seeing the images straight from the camera. I am ultimately interested in how they shape up after processing. My normal workflow also contains further processing in Photoshop – but the photos shown below have only received the LR treatment.

On to the photos:

Below is one of the first photos taken with the 5DII – my very first photo was of my wife and puppy – isn’t that the case with every photographer
It was photographed in RAW at ISO 100, at 1/50th at f16 using my 24-70mm f2.8L lens, tripod mounted with cable release, and the use of an ND filter for the sky. The photo was cropped slightly to fix a crooked horizon (I always change out the focusing screen of any camera I buy with a grid screen to help keep horizons level – everyone currently has the grid screen for the 5DII out of stock – and the screen from the 5D is not compatible). You can see in the two 100% crops the great detail and smooth diagonal lines in the branches. Quite an impressive first photo.

In this second photo (below) I was marveling at the detail when looking at a zoomed-in area in Lightroom when I noticed something that blew me away – the photo was taken at ISO 1250!! Wow!! What a surprise. I knew when I photographed it that I had jumped up the ISO, but forgot and didn’t see a difference when I started looking at this series of images. ISO 1250!! I don’t recall using my original 5D at anything much higher than ISO 400. You can see for yourself how impressive this ISO range is in the 100% crop. While I did add sharpening in LR I did not adjust any noise reduction settings. The image was photographed handheld at 1/250s at f10 using my 24-70mm f2.8L lens.

Results so far (not even 100 images shot yet) seem very promising – a nice upgrade from my original 5D. In my next report I will talk about some cosmetic differences between the 5D and the 5DII and I will also soon investigate the “black spot” problem.

Introduction

Landscape photographer Alain Briot has been using a Phase One P45 digital back for much of this year. The back has a 39 MP sensor, is a rectangular format 4:3, can shoot up to 35 frames / min. and has an ISO range of 50-400. It has been the choice for many photographers since it’s release in December of 2005.

Alain provides us with a 2-part report based on his experience working with the P45. Part one goes over his technical observations and in part two Alain talks about his artistic observations.

I’d like to welcome Alain as one of this site’s first regular contributors, so you can expect more excellent writings from him in the future. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this new report – published for the first time here.

Matt Suess

The Phase One P45 Digital Back:
An Experience Report

–Part One: Technical Observations—

We become what we behold.
We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.
Marshall McLuhan

Article by Alain Briot
Published December 17, 2008

1 – Introduction
In Spring 2008 I purchased and started working with a Phase One P45 digital back mounted on my Hasselblad 503CW and SWCM (the Hasselblad with the permanently mounted Biogon 38mm lens).

This essay details my experience with this combination of classic and cutting edge camera and sensor technology.  This report is organized along the lines of my field notes rather than along the lines of a formal testing report, which it is not. I have now worked with the P45 for over 6 months and this span of time has given me a solid foundation on which to build this report.

Finally, I decided to split this report in two parts, creatively named part 1 and 2.  The reason for this split is that I believe there are two types of knowledge used in fine art photography: technical and artistic knowledge.  Because I use both types of knowledge when working with the P45, I decided to divide this essay along these lines of knowledge.  Therefore, in this essay –part 1—I focus on the technical aspects of the P45.  In my next essay –part 2—I will be focusing on the artistic aspects of the P45, in so far as it informs my creative work.

2 – Why get a P45 now?
The decision of getting the P45 was due to a variety of factors.  First, I was considering upgrading to the Canon 1DsMk3 from the 1DsMk2, but I kept thinking that I wanted more than 5 extra megapixels.   I wanted a significant “jump” forward in terms of resolution and image quality.

When the Canon 1DsMk2 came out it was the clear leader in its field.  Today, as the 1DsMk3 is becoming widely available, a number of close competitors are also being announced.  Sony has a 25mp camera coming up.  Nikon can’t be that far away from releasing it’s own 21 to 25mp camera, and other players are also in the running.

All this led me to think that cutting edge image quality, at this time, is being offered by medium format digital backs and that it may be time to move to medium format digital for good rather than go back and forth between 35mm and 4×5 film.

Second I was ready to move up to a digital format that would equal 4”x5” film.  Until getting the P45 I was using both the 1DsMk2 and my 4×5 system.  I wanted the quality and convenience of a digital capture system that would match 4×5 without having to use a scanning back.  While the quality of a scanning back, such as the Better Light back, is superlative, it’s use is unpractical for landscape photography due to the extremely long exposures required when shooting in low light with small a f-stops, something that I do regularly.  The very long exposures (of the order of several minutes) mean that anything that moves, even slightly, will be blurred on the image, something which I do not find acceptable.

Third a commercial assignment for Noilly Prat in France in March 2008 required that I use a format larger than 35mm to achieve the enlargement size desired by the client.  Because of the difficulty of going through airport security when traveling abroad with large format film and equipment, I wanted to shoot this assignment 100% digital.

All this combined to make it the perfect time to acquire a digital back.  In a way this means moving up to medium format digital, although I consider this moving up to the resolution of 4×5 film at the same time.  Right now we don’t have a practical 4×5 digital solution, regardless of how much we may be willing to spend.  However, since 39MP medium format digital backs give us the resolution needed to get print quality previously achievable with 4×5 film, I consider medium format digital to be equal to 4×5, even though the photographs are taken with medium format cameras.

3 – Why Phase one and not Hasselblad ?
Deciding which back to invest in is clearly a difficult choice.  In fact the options actually extend beyond the two brands I just mentioned, since they include Sinar and other manufacturers as well.

My decision was influenced essentially by image quality and by the fact that other fine art photographers such as Charlie Cramer and Michael Reichmann use P45 backs.  I loved the results they are getting, I did not hear any negative comments and I did not see any compelling advantages to other brands, so why look any further?

Of course, I could have acquired an entire new camera system and not just a digital back.  However, I wanted to “put back to work” so to speak, my V-Hasselblad system.  Part of the reason why is my love for this system. I have used it since 1987 and I have always been delighted by the image quality provided by the lenses.  Part of it comes from frustration.  Prior to moving to 4×5 and digital with the Canon 1DsMk2, I purchased a Hasselblad 503SW with new lenses, metering prism and even a dedicated flash. While I don’t have much hope to put the flash through its paces, I felt bad that this system only saw a few rolls of film given how good the image quality it deliver is.  Getting a digital back for it felt like giving this camera, as well as my other Hasselblads, a new life.  This was particularly true for the SWCM-CF which has always been one of my all-time favorites, in part for its lightweight quality and in part for its outstanding image quality.

4 – P45 or P45+ ?
The next decision was choosing between the P45 and the P45+. The P45+ has live preview, when the camera is connected to the computer, something that doesn’t work for me since I only work in the field and do not use a laptop when photographing. The + also has a higher ISO, something which I also did not need since I use low ISO’s and work almost always on a tripod.  Finally, the + has slightly higher resolution, something which I could not verify since I did not have time to run tests.  I assumed that since both backs share the same sensor, the difference in resolution between the two could only be achieved through firmware and that I could live without it.

Another aspect of the P45 versus P45+ choice was that the P45 was available as a refurbished unit for a significantly lower price.  Given that the differences between the two versions were inconsequential for my needs, I elected to order a refurbished unit.

The word refurbished does carry a certain stigma.  Images of digital backs with scratches on the glass, or significant wear and tear came to mind as I was waiting for mine to be delivered.  Who wants that, especially at such a cost.  Fortunately, I was in for a good surprise.  The unit I received was spotless, without any scratches or damage anywhere.  Furthermore, the exposure counter (or activations counter) showed that less than 900 photographs had been taken with the back I received.  A baby!  I had doubled that number of exposures in a couple of days, and a month down the road I was nearing 5000 exposures.  I would order another refurbished unit from Phase One any day.

5 – Raw conversion
I found that it was not necessary to add as much contrast to P45 files in post-conversion as I do with 1DsMk2 files.  I also found that I did not have to boost the blacks as much either.

This is due to the differences in my conversion settings between P45 files and 1DsMk2 files.  I tend to convert 1DsMk2 files with very low contrast and very low black level settings.  With the P45 I realized that I could convert images with a slightly higher contrast and slightly higher black level settings.  Why?  Because while doing so allows me to still retain a high level of flexibility with my P45 conversions.

Flexibility is my goal when converting files.  I want to have converted files in which I can progressively build up contrast, black level, saturation and color intensity.  With the 1DsMk2 I find that starting from a very low contrast and low saturation file allows me to best reach this goal.  With the P45 I find that starting from a slightly more contrasty and saturated file allows me to reach this goal equally well.  This also points to the necessity of adapting raw conversion settings to each sensor type.  Not all sensors, cameras and digital backs call for the same conversion settings.

6 – Lenses and Focusing
Focusing must be done very carefully with the P45. This is true with any lens, and more so with V-Hasselblad lenses.  V-Lenses were designed to be used with film.  Since the P45 sensor is sharper than film (the P45 has a higher resolving power than medium format film), the focus tolerances are smaller as well.

It is therefore a good idea to test your lenses to see if they focus properly.  Doing so is easy. Here’s how I did it: focus on a stationary object, with the camera on a tripod and with the aperture wide open (set at the widest f-stop for each specific lens).  Focus very carefully using magnification if your camera offers it.  After taking photographs with each lens, open the captures in your raw converter and check for perfect focus on the area where you focused.  This will tell you right away if your lenses are focusing on the proper plane or not.  By comparing photographs you will also learn how sharp your lenses are.   I did this test and found that my lenses were focusing properly with the P45, except for the 250mm lens which is not very sharp with the P45 and is also hard to focus precisely.

7 – Battery
The P45 is not overly battery-hungry but having several batteries is a requirement.  I currently carry 4 of them and I will probably add a couple more.  One battery usually lasts a full day.

The P45 uses Canon BP 911/914/915 type batteries which are similar to those used in the Canon GL2 and other digital video cameras.  However, most of these batteries are 1500 mh while the battery supplied with the P45 is 2500mh. You do want the higher mh batteries.  2100mh are possible to find on the web, but to get the full 2500mh variety you may have to order batteries directly from Phase One.

8 – Noise level
I use the P45 almost exclusively on a tripod and I have not gone past ISO 100 so far.  In fact I have the back set to 100 ISO routinely, going down to ISO 50 when light levels are higher.

I only use high ISO settings when I want to use a camera hand held.  In such instances I use the Canon 1DsMk2 instead of the V-Hasselblad P45.

At ISO 100, there is no noise to speak of.  More interestingly, during long exposures — of the order of 5 to 10 seconds–there is no noticeable noise either and no deterioration of the color quality in the image, even in shadow areas.  This is very good news.  Of course, areas that are pure black or nearly pure black will have noise in them, but this is due to the nature of digital capture not to the specific characteristics of the P45.  To remove or minimize this effect I routinely expose to the right by overexposing the image without clipping the highlights.  In instances where I want noise free shadows and detailed highlights (which is a frequent situation), and cannot guarantee this result in a single capture, I take several photographs exposed alternatively for the shadows and for the highlights then merge them either through layering or through HDR compositing.

9 – Storage
Going from a Raw file size of 16mb file, or even a 21mb file (such as from the 1DsMk3) to a 45-50 mb file (such as from the P45) is quite a change, especially when you shoot a lot of images.  Even if you take half the amount of images on the P45 that you would take with a 1dsMk2, Mk3 or comparable camera, you are still going to exceed your previous storage space since P45 files are more than twice the size of Canon files.

This situation calls for a major upgrade of your storage space, at least the storage you take with you in the field.  On the commercial shoot I mentioned earlier, I took 650 P45 captures and 1850 1dsMk2 captures in 3 days.  That’s about the same size for the total files of each camera, roughly 28gb each.  Combined that’s 56gb of raw files.  Converted that’s roughly 225mb or 130mb per P45 image and 75mb per 1dsMk2 image.  This is respectively 22.5 gb  and 7.5 gb for 100 conversions.   These high numbers call for a well thought out storage solution otherwise you will run into storage deficiency very quickly.

In the field I carry an Epson P5000 and a LaCie 250gb rugged drive.  If and when the P5000 fills out I transfer the files to my laptop and to the LaCie drive.  I then delete files from the P5000 to continue being able to back up cards as they fill up.  I always try to have all the files in two separate storage devices, in case one of them fails. Having them in three separate devices is even better but not always feasible.

10 – Sensor Cleaning
The P45 sensor is huge when compared to my previous sensor size which is full frame 35mm (24×36mm).  Because of its size I was concerned that dust would be a major problem.

In practice it turned out not to be a problem.  For one the sensor does not seem to attract dust.  There seems to be either no static electricity charge on the back or a very low level of static electricity. Static is what causes dust in the air to collect on things.

For two the sensor is very easily cleaned.  First, it is easily accessible, being just about flush with the surface of the back when attached to the camera.  This means that to clean the sensor you do not need to “dig” inside a narrow camera body with a mirror and other things in the way such as on a DSLR.  Second, there is no coating around the mirror such as there is on the inside of DSLRs.  Therefore, there is no risk to cause the internal camera coating to flake off and gather on the sensor, one of the causes of sensor dust in some DSLR’s.

The sensor-cleaning process starts with the least intrusive method and from there proceeds upwards in invasiveness and difficulty.  First comes blowing-off the dust with a large dust blower such as the Rocket Air. That should do it for dust that’s simply sitting on top of the sensor.

If dust has attached itself to the sensor, or if there are fingerprints (hopefully not!) or other marks, then a cloth and a cleaning solution have to be used.  Phase One provides a sensor cleaning kit with their backs called DigiClean which is made by Resolution Technology Pte Ltd.  This kit consists of a two-parts liquid cleaner accompanied by a set of cleaning cloths.  A scan of the instructions is provided below.  I don’t think I can improve on these so I am providing them as they appear in the kit.  I can’t comment on the effectiveness, or lack of, of this kit since I have not used it yet.  However, I don’t think Phase One would take the chance of providing an ineffective solution for such an expensive device.  The fact that I haven’t heard any complaints about this cleaning kit also attests to the fact that it is a reliable solution.

11 – Vertical and horizontal back attachment
The P45 features two sets of back-to-camera attachments.  This means that the P45 can be positioned either vertically or horizontally on any V-Hasselblad camera without having to tilt the camera. This is a very nice because no L-brackets are available for V Hasselblads.   It also allows you to work in horizontal or vertical format without moving the camera, very much like you would with a 4×5 camera.

Finally, the back senses which way it is turned and rotates the preview and the menus on the LCD screen accordingly.

12 – Speed
The P45 is fast.  I can shoot as fast as the camera can rewind and this for a number of frames, maybe up to 7 or 10.  I have not done a specific test, so this is simply based on my recollections and impressions.  But, at any rate, it is not like the back takes forever to recycle after taking a photograph.  I don’t know if it has a large buffer or if the images are stored onto the card quickly, but whatever it does it is not slowing me down in regards to how fast I have to shoot.  I basically don’t have to wait and don’t feel slowed down by the back.  I was in fact surprised about this since I expected some delay between shooting and storing, or between one shot and another, given the size of the files.  This is definitely not the case.

13 – No unnecessarily complex menu options
The menu on the P45 is simple yet contains all that one needs to do professional work.  However, compared to the menu on the 1DsMk2, or other pro level DSLR, it is very simple.  Personally I like it.  First, I hardly ever use most of the menu functions on the Canon 1DsMk2 menu, except for formatting cards and selecting mirror lockup. On the P45, card formatting is in the menu and mirror lockup second is a button on the V-Hasselblad (the way it should be).  The ISO is in the menu instead of being a camera control (as on the 1DsMk2), and that’s all.

14 – Exposure by histogram
Not all V series Hasselblads have a light meter.  Of my 2 V-Hasselblad cameras, only one does, the 503CW, through the use of the metering prism.  While I do use the light meter on that camera, I do not carry a handheld meter to calculate the exposure for the other camera.  Instead, I use the histogram on the P45 to find the exact exposure.

I start by making a guess about the proper exposure based on the light level of the scene I am photographing.  I select the f-stop based on the depth of field I need then I set the shutter speed accordingly.  I base these settings on my experience working in natural light conditions.

When these settings are selected, I take a photograph, look at its histogram, and adjust the exposure over or under as needed.  I found that on average my first exposure is usually within one or two stops of the correct exposure.   Experience does have benefits. However, even with a minimum amount of practice this approach is fast and accurate.