Klyment.com - Journal

I still owe this blog a lot of writing for which I already have content. However, I think that this note is worth sharing before I get to the other stuff.

One of the reason why I am hired is for my quick turn around of images and high yield. Quick turn around is a product of getting most things right with lighting and capture so that minimal, if any, additional processing is required and high yield offers the client more content for the same amount of time or less shooting time and image bulk to sort through to get what they want. How do I prove that I am confident in my work straight out of camera and my yield? Give clients unaltered, original pieces of film. A 36 exposure roll yields eighteen business cards assuming that everything works out. A roll of film is normally about $14. Processing only without mounting through Don's Photo is a shade under $10 a roll so each business card's production cost is about $24. However, I managed to find a large cache of expired film at McBain Camera. On top of that, a bulk spool of slightly expired Provia 100F happened to be available. 100foot spools tend to be half the price per frame of pre-rolled film. And McBain Camera's policy for selling expired film is to sell it at half price so I am getting a total of about 75% off of the film cost. Leanna's still my preferred business card model so she'll be featured on pieces of the new business card concept for the foreseeable future. I realize that he likely won't see this entry but I'd like to thank Leanna's father for lending me his Nikon F-301. I don't own any 35mm film bodies that are worth shooting anymore so the F-301 has made this first roll possible.

I spoke with Mark Aherne, technical director of Bowens International that manufactures most of the lights that I use, about some of the new items to the Bowens line up. I'm most excited about the new monolights but the soon-to-be-released QX3 2500W/s power pack that will eventually replace the QuadX 3000 pack that has been the basic workhorse of my studio is interesting as well. First, a bit about the QX3:

The new specifications are definitely interesting - greatly improved recycle time, improved flash duration, three asymmetric channels (as opposed to four headers distributed over two channels on the QuadX) in a pack that is about the same weight but with slightly smaller volume. Furthermore, the interface has been simplified and the screen has been prettied up . . . a lot:



But it still wasn't the type of AC power pack announcement I was hoping for. What I was hoping for was a replacement to the Quad 2400 power pack with significantly faster flash duration and recycle time in a package MUCH smaller and lighter than what they are offering now. In the areas of compact AC power packs, Norman, Dyna-lite, and Profoto still rule. Anyhow, onwards to the monolights:



The analogue interface enhancements are almost revolutionary in the world of monolights. To get one tenth stop precision we used to have to resort to digital interfaces which often slowed down a photographer's or assistant's access to lighting setting changes. Analog dials, while quick, were often not very precise and were limited at best to one third stop precision. With Bowens' new dual-dial power control system a user can have the most intuitive control of his or her light with precision traditionally limited to digital lights. On top of this, Bowens has added an integrated option slot for Bowens Pulsar and Pocketwizard receivers and all of their lights now have the Travelpak/Turbopak/Explorer style DC input plug for battery power.

A Calumet Netherlands Leaf specialists gives me a demo of the upcoming Leaf AFi-II 10. This camera is the evolutionary next step following the Leaf AFi which is based on the Franke & Heidecke chassis evolved from the Rollei 6008AF and uses the same lens mount. I spoke to many people at the leaf booth including Ari Briggs, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing and Seth Greenberg, Director of Marketing for Leaf. These people presented some insight on some of the nuances of the camera and little quirks which are spun differently for marketing.

While the AFi/AFi-II/Sinar Hy6/Rolleiflex Hy6 are marketed to support all of the old lenses of the Rollei 6000 series, some of the people at the Leaf booth noted that these lenses aren't tuned for digital sensors which have lower tolerances for variances and some of the older system lenses may not perform as well as the newer versions of the same lenses which have been optimized. However, another representative who has both the Rollei 6008AF and the new Leaf AFi noted that between one of the new lenses and a good sample of one of the old lenses, a shooter may not be able to see a difference in his prints until he or she views them both side by side.

The margin for error in tuning of these systems is very small. During the demo, I witnessed how even switching between identical digital back models from one body to another could completely throw out the focusing from one body to another. It isn't that the bodies are fragile but it's because the back and body are tuned together out of the factory so that the body holds the back and the lens so that the lens very precisely casts light from the lens and focuses on the sensor but these tunings will be different on different bodies.

It is also interesting to note that many of the lenses that are available for the AFi/Hy6/6008 system are available at wider relative apertures with faster shutters and are designed with 6x6 format coverage whereas the lenses of systems like the Hasselblad H or the Mamiya/Phase One digital platform are available with narrower relative apertures and, especially in the case of the current Mamiya system, have much slower flash sync but have a focal plane shutter. While the wider relative aperture is optically and creatively very attractive, it's important to note that lens of similar focal length in the Rollei/Leaf/Sinar system are SIGNIFICANTLY heavier than those of the Mamiya 645 or Hasselblad H system. For a medium format system, weight isn't my first consideration when purchasing but for our smaller friends, the weight of some of this glass is so great that it may become prohibitive.

After viewing the Hasselblad booth I think that the Leaf AFi-II is still on the top of my list for what will be replacing my Rollei 6008AF/Phase One digital medium format system.

There are a few screen hoods on the market but this offering by Screen-Shade was one of the easiest and fastest to setup. Distributed by Lee Filters USA in North America.

This video shows two of Broncolor's representatives describing some of the new features and enhancements of Broncolor's new flagship power pack. As noted in the video, the pack won't ship until the beginning of next year but it's an exciting new offering by Broncolor.

We also discuss Broncolor's new UV light mod.

I have waited two years for this day. We are here again Koelnmesse, at last.

It's 8euro (about $12) per hour for wireless internet access so I will likely be blogging more during the evenings but I am uploading videos to Youtube with very brief descriptions of interesting things I come across. Looking up videos with "Photokina" in their name on my Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Klyment

Rumours of a consumer level digital SLR priced to replace the Nikon D80 with features borrowed from Nikon's professional D3 and D300 cameras have been floating around the internet for several weeks. Now the news is official and the part of the announcement I am most excited in is the inclusion of a 720P (high definition) 24FPS recording mode. Why the intrigue? When you think about it, for years, indie film makers have been making or buying tools to mount SLR lenses on their video cameras from manufacturers like Redrock Micro, Letus, and Canada's Cinevate whose Brevis 35 adapter I once owned for my Canon HV20 HDV camera to produce footage with a cinema-like look. By using an SLR lens to project an image onto a rotating or vibrating matte screen and then using the attached video camera to macro focus off of this matte screen, one could "borrow" the shallower depth of field associated with a lens with a longer focal length and wider aperture while not incurring the direct cropping effects that one would encounter by attempting to directly capture a part of the circle of illumination from an SLR lens using a relatively small sensor that would be found in almost all affordable video cameras. In addition, to have decent motion rendition captured to a non-tape recording medium, one would have to consider buying into a Panasonic P2 or XDCam solution at the lowest end of the price spectrum.

I am neither an expert in video and motion picture nor have I had hands on experience with the camera like this lucky bastard (:=D) but allow me to indulge in some speculation. Assuming that cameras like the D90 and those that may follow it with motion picture recording capability can:

• capture true 24 or more progressive frames per second;
• record uncompressed video or use compression has good motion reproduction that allow for easy editing with a variety of non-linear editors;
• support an external audio source;
• limit light hitting the sensor or being picked up by the sensor with the use of an internal neutral density filter or with some other method not involving changing shutter speeds or apertures;

we suddenly have an interchangeable lens video camera system with depth of field control near what one would achieve with a 35mm depth of field adapter for a video camera that records onto a solid state medium and will directly attach lenses in which there is a huge used market and many photographers already own that would easily satisfy most of the needs of many would-be film makers at 5-15% the cost of a video solution designed for this purpose. And as an added bonus, it's also a 12megapixel dSLR that shoots better-than-merely-usable ISO6400 shots.

Artist Frank Grisdale started printing with me recently. I don't feel qualified to comment on his work and encourage you to see it for yourself on his website.

He approached me with several sheets of gampi torinoko paper with which I had no experience. The paper was nothing short of exotic: thin and strong with subtle texture and an internal luster and characteristic long fibres that need to be seen in real life to be appreciated. I was at Colours, the art store I normally deal with to get stretcher bars to stretch canvas prints, and spoke to their paper expert in Winnipeg about gampi torinoko and I was struck by a strange sense of familiarity when expressed joy that she had found someone that sought the paper and could look past the exhorbitant price because he or she could appreciate its value. It's the familiarity I experience when I meet an individual who can appreciate the difference between a file shot on a 16bit digital medium format back or when someone notices the texturing of light in my photos.

I tried to create an ICC profile for the paper using GretagMacbeth's Profilemaker 5 and the Epson 9800's driver but all of my attempts to profile it with PM5 failed miserably because the paper is unbleached and quite yellow. Strangely, my first acceptable results were with just printing using somewhat generic settings and manually tweaking colour balances. I was intrigued by Mr. Grisdale's determination to print on this paper and decided to upgrade my RIP to Ergosoft Posterprint 12. After several more test prints I was ready to do my first full test with the RIP-driven printing environment when I discovered that the rolls of gampi that Mr. Grisdale had ordered in were very different than the sheet gampi. It seemed as though this new gampi was only surface sized as opposed to internally sized with the gampi torinoko. This roll gampi turned out to be a gampi/pulp (perhaps wood pulp?) blend which had a very different texture and was even more yellow than the gampi torinoko. I believe that the problems I had profiling and printing this new gampi were due mostly to the lack of internal sizing of the paper. A young photographer by the name of Landon Speers whom I met when he was working with Frank on one of his new projects suggested using spray starch as a sizing agent to prevent the paper from absorbing excessive amounts of ink which led to feathering and muddling of darker tones. Landon drew from his own experiences of alternative analog printing. I reluctantly tried to spray starch the paper with up to a half dozen coats and found little change in the paper's absorbancy. At this point, the paper was very rippled and would not feed properly in my printer. The starch sizing technique is, however, interesting and I'll have to try it more later.

Frank compromised and agreed to print on InteliCoat Verona 285-Textured which is textured cold press paper manufactured by Arches of France and then coated for aqueous inkjet receptivity by InteliCoat in the US. Despite a number of companies touting new, high tech paper bases with newly developed, proprietary coatings, the colour profiles I created for the InteliCoat-prepared Arches proved to have noticeably deeper blacks and wider gamut than anything else I've come across and all this without optical brightening agents or an excessively fragile printing surface. While the gampi torinoko may have been ideal because of its unique texture, the bright white Arches with a well-developed inkjet-receptive coating will yield higher contrast and a wider colour gamut than I would be able to achieve with gampi torinoko with any printing technology that exists right now.

From:    Klyment Tan
Sent:    August-25-08 10:34 PM
To:    'TXBelger@
Subject:    RE: New Tracking
Attachments:    KTX_7934.jpg

Jason,

Sorry to bother you again about the missing roll of paper - everyone at this
location forgot about the order and the request to reject the shipment but the
paper actually arrived today. I'm trying to find an order number to help you
figure out which order I'm talking about but I don't seem to have a record of
it. The UPS tracking number: 1z531E596865076809. I attached a photo of what
arrived and I hope that you find it as amusing as I did. I guess UPS missed
the note about me ordering a 107" roll and not a 58" roll and a 49" roll with
one deckled end each in addition to throwing on a few extra months of delivery
time on an overnight shipment. =P

Let me know how to proceed and if there is any other information you need from
me to make a damage claim with UPS. I feel badly that you have to deal with
this - I realize that it's a drop shipment from Superior and you had no direct
hand in the ordeal that this has become.

As a side note, I ended up printing a backdrop with the colour that I needed
for that shoot and everything went well. Thanks again for your help. I'll give
you a shout if I need anything else. =)

- K

==============================================================================

From: TXBelger@
Sent: June-18-08 9:05 AM
To: Klyment Tan
Subject: Re: New Tracking

I am so sorry; it looks like we let you down on all counts with this
order.  If the order shows up, just refuse delivery so it will be
automatically rerouted to sender and we can file a damage claim with UPS to
recoup the cost.  We will credit your card for the full amount.

Again, please accept our deepest apologies for all the troubles associated
with this order - it is not the norm.

Visit www.BelgerPhotography.com for our best prices on digital, virtual, paper
and muslin backdrops, lighting, props, books, track systems and studio
equipment...you get combined shipping rates too!  

If you have any questions, please contact us.
 
Thank you,

Jason
Belger Photography
Website: www.BelgerPhotography.com
800-581-4676
Cell Phone and Houston callers phone: (281) 361-8328
fax: (281) 360-0816

I feel that I should post this entry sooner rather than later and I apologize for not having yet delivered any of the previously-promised entries. Consider this entry my official offer for agents (preferrably Canadian) and media organizations (Internet or any physical geographical location) interested in Photokina 2008, arguably the world's largest and most important imaging trade fair, but may not be sending someone themselves. I spent most of my time in Photokina 2006 talking with manufacturers about printing and lighting and now I am looking for agents who are interested in importing products which may be presented at Photokina who would like me to research and relay product information and commentary back to the agent as well as for news organizations who would like to explore Photokina beyond consumer and small format digital capture products. My interests in Photokina (including, but limited to, some companies that I know I will be visiting at Photokina):

• Large format digital printers (primarily Epson, Canon, HP, and Roland for photography and fine art but also for signage)
• Raster image processors (RIPs) for large format printers (EFI . . . upon first glance, no other dedicated RIP companies will be represented)
• Color management (X-rite, Barbieri, Datacolor)
• New printing substrates (Breathing Color, Sihl)
• Medium format SLRs and view cameras (Arca-Swiss, Linhof, Sinar, ALPA, Silvestri, Franke Und Heidecke/Rollei, Hasselblad, Mamiya)
• Medium format digital capture products (Phase One, Sinar, Leaf, Hasselblad)
• Medium format optics (Schneider, Rodenstock, Fujifilm, Nikon)
• Continous lighting (Dedolight)
• Strobe lighting for both studio and location work (Aurora, Balcar, Bowens, Bron, Hyundae Photonics, Elinchrom, Photoflex, Profoto)
• Light modification (The above brands plus Chimera and California Sunbounce)
• Computer displays for photo editing and softproofing (Eizo, LaCie, Samsung)

What I need from agents: an opportunity to influence products that may be available to my fellow printers and photographers in the future.

What I need from news organizations: documentation fulfilling these guidelines Photokina has created to qualify journalists for the event. It could be as simple as a letter on your letterhead stating that I am collecting information and reporting back to you. I also welcome the opportunity to work with one of your journalists in the fields of interest above so that I may learn and assist by inquiring and offering insight.

I will be online almost continuously with wireless Internet access from the tradeshow floor and can send relevant information to those I am collecting information for live with Skype chat, voice, or webcam or in digested text, photo, and possibly video form. I am also fluent in Mandarin Chinese and can offer some translation which may be useful for agents wishing to communicate with a Chinese manufacturer.

Please contact me via e-mail or by phone. Contact information link is at the bottom of this page.

Here's what's coming up:

• Review of TriSquare's eXRS TSX300 900MHz digital two-way radio system from the point of view of a fashion photographer working on a remote location
• Pondering the upcoming Photokina 2008 (last Photokina of the decade!) in Koln, Germany
• Brief review of the Europe/Asia GSM HTC Touch Diamond PDA phone being used in Edmonton, Alberta on Fido and whether or not there is a reason to be worried about a lack of 850MHz (North American frequency) GSM support
• Why most photographers use Macs and why while I own both Macs and PCs, all of my serious photographic and printing work is done on a PC . . . plus some recommended parts for building your own fault-tolerant workstation
• Details of shooting West Edmonton Mall's Back to School campaign for RED the Agency and the most talented art director I've had the privilege of working with in Canada
• Photographic equipment purchasing strategy for the next few years

Thank you for reading.

1. Instead of complaining that my mail carrier pools our mail and brings it to the mailbox every two or three days as opposed to daily and that she'd rather put "you're not in" notices on my door without ringing the doorbell for parcels even though there are clearly people home because it means that she doesn't need to pack the boxes into her van, I should be grateful that she comes at all.
2. Instead of fighting the parking ticket that a parking patrol officer claimed to have been issued at 3:10pm when I found it on my windshield at 2:58pm according to a radio-synchronized watch for parking in a peak hour (3pm to 6pm) parking zone, I should be grateful that my tax dollars are going to these upstanding members of society to help keep me honest and to open my eyes to imaginative new ways of telling time.
3. My uh . . . trusted male makeup artist/hairstylist photographs better with my girlfriend than I do. (Cheers, Nikolas
4. I should be grateful that there are people to borrow more photographic equipment from me than what most photographers will ever own in their entire lifetime. This way, if my studio gets broken into, I can call up these people and get my gear back. Come to think of it, it's time to collect. And who has my fog machine?
5. Thanks for the Vistek Edmonton employees who took my "4600word essay", forwarded it to their sympathizers/friends and twisted my words in the face of others in an attempt to mislead them into believing that I am trying to get a whole store of workers fired. Your actions have put me in my place and I am now a much humbler, quieter, and happier customer of your store. Of course, inquisitive photographers will be interested in what this 4600 word e-mail contained along with some related correspondences with current and former employees of Vistek. You can CONTACT ME and get a SNEAK PEEK before I publish all of these words right here!
6. I'm surrounded by incompetent people. Photographers, printers, computer hardware people, graphic artists, web developers, and sales people. Not that all of these people do lousy work all of the time. Rather, most of these people will fail you whenever you give them something important to do. But I should be thankful for these people as well; competition is an efficient motivator for progress therefore I have lots of motivation if I ever decide to partake in a race to the bottom.

Here are some photos of what photographers and medical geneticists do on weekends. Leanna tried on something at G-star Raw last week that inspired this shoot. In fact, the shirt/dress thing looked so good on her that random strangers passing through the store commented on it. Hahah . . . we still don't know if it's a long hoodie or a dress as it's really short. Photos were shot in my favourite back alley. Thank you to my wonderful 5'2" model for making this shoot so easy (no hint of sarcasm).

What started with a fleeting moment of intrigue has turned into an obsession. These were among the first photographs to inspire me to seek a [somewhat] affordable solution for single-shot digital capture with full view camera movements that would still allow me to shoot with Rollei 1/1000s leaf shutters and, if possible, have multi-shot capture capability for true colour, high resolution fine art reproduction capability. I'm still a few months and a large format scan back system sale away from making such a purchase but a few nights ago I've put in writing my studio's equipment purchase and sale strategy to follow over the next two years.

The equipment listing on my site is very out-of-date. I'll eventually move these items onto that page:

• Capture Equipment
• Nikon
• D2X
• D300
• 17-55/2.8 DX Nikkor
• 70-200/2.8 VR Nikkor
• 135/2 Defocus Control Nikkor
• 60/2.8 Micro Nikkor
• 10.5/2.8 fisheye Nikkor
• 30/1.4 Sigma
• Rollei
• 6008AF w/ Phase One P20 digital back
• Schneider 80/2.8 AF Xenotar PQS HFT
• Zeiss 150/4 Sonnar PQ HFT
• Zeiss 50/4 Distagon PQ HFT
• Horseman
• LE w/ Betterlight 6000-HS digital scan back
• Rodenstock Grandagon-N 75/4.5 Copal 0
• Rodenstock Sironar-S 210/5.6 Copal 1
• Fujinon-SW 150/5.6 Seiko 1/500s shutter
• Lighting
• Strobe
• 3 x Bowens QuadX 3000
• 7 x Bowens Quad head
• 2 x Bowens Esprit Gemini monolight
• Bowens Explorer 1500 battery-powered pack (can run two Quad heads and two Esprit Gemini's simultaneously off battery)
• Balcar Nexus S3200
• 2 x Balcar PowerZ Heads
• Broncolor Grafit A4
• 2 x Broncolor Pulso G2
• Broncolor Hazylight
• Light modifiers
• 2 x Calumet Illuma Large (Plume Wafer 140 size) w/ 30 and 50degree Lighttools Soft Egg Crates
• Calumet Illuma Medium (Plume Wafer 100 size) w/ 40 degree Lighttools Soft Egg Crate
• Chimera Video Pro Plus medium w/ 20degree Lighttools Soft Egg Crate
• Chimera Video Pro Plus 22 x 84" strip w/ 40 degree Lighttools Soft Egg Crate
• Chimera 9 x 30" strip w/ 40 degree Lighttools Soft Egg Crate
• 2 x Bowens 7" grid reflectors with lots of grids + barndoors and snoots
• Bowens Softlight 15" reflector with opal diffuser w/ 7" spot grid centre
• 2 x Bowens Maxilite reflector
• Chimera and Redwing/Calumet quick release speed rings
• Westcott Scrim Jim 72 x 72"
• Continuous light
• 4 x Tungsten Fresnel theatrical spot lamps
• 2 x older Altman ellipsoidal reflector tungsten spot lamps
• ETC Source Four Jr. Zoom
• 2 x Flolight 200W (1000W tungsten equivalent?) dimmable, high frequency ballast fluorescent panel lights w/ grids
• Printing
• Epson Stylus Pro 9800 44" Ultrachrome K3
• Epson Stylus Pro 9600 44" Nanochrome failed experiment (waiting for new ink set)
• Modified Epson Stylus Photo 1400 6channel dye printer (quick proofing and mass production of headshots and album-display/short term wall display prints)
• Ergosoft Posterprint 12
• Onyx Postershop 7
• Qimage
• GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker Professional 5
• GretagMacbeth/X-rite Eye-one Pro UVcut
• Intelicoat canvases and signage materials
• Moab fine art papers
• Epson photo papers