Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

Two days ago, the nice lady from Fedex brought me an anxiously-awaited goody: a large box containing the Epson Perfection 4870 flatbed scanner (no, not the more expensive "Pro" version - the only difference between mine and that one is a piece of color calibration software I don't need - oh, and $150).

I decided to treat myself to this scanner due to the fact that my old and trusty Microtek Scanmaker V310 was showing signs that it was about to croak any minute - and because I had recently scored a print restoration project that was in essence going to pay for the new scanner. I needed it to perform the work, so why not go ahead and indulge myself at the same time?

To make a long story short - today, I hooked up the little beauty (installation was truly a breeze with Win XP) and did some first test scans to see if the machine was really able to live up to the hype.

For that reason I dug into an envelope and scanned an image I had been dying to digitally preserve: Geraldine Chaplin with Morgan, Paris, May 1973



I'm not exactly sure how the original 3x5 black and white print turned up in my father's photoalbum, but I do know that the kid in the picture, Morgan, is the son of an old friend of my parent's from their South Africa days, Susie (she was most likely also the photographer). Susie was a hipster chick from France who I faintly remember because she always wore these oversized sunglasses and had long blonde hair - she was rumored to have been friends with Chaplin, Picasso, and Dali in the 70s in Spain. Morgan became a successful male model in Paris in the 80s. After that though, my parents lost touch with her.

As it may be - I've always thought, despite the apparant blurr, the image has a real natural charm to it, showing Geraldine in all her youthful beauty and Morgan as a cute, playful kid.

So today, I scanned the image using a variety of the 4870's scanner options. My first try was the 16-bit black and white, which turned out like this:



I wasn't too impressed. While the image had good contrast, it seemed to have lost most of its pleasant warm tones.

Next up was 48-bit color - this one was indeed quite a bit better, preserving those warm blacks, yet lacking in contrast:



Since the image also had a few problems with scratches, dust, and even a white hair outline in the original negative, I thought this is where the much-touted Digital Ice function would come in:



As the sharpeyed reader will attest though, Digital ICE did little to really clean up the image. It only took care of the most obvious of scratches, and left blemishes like dust and the hair outline perfectly alone, which I had to spend about half an hour correcting in Photoshop. This was indeed a bit disappointing, as I also have the Digital ICE function in my Minolta Dimage Scan Elite II film scanner, and there, it truly does a great job.

This all being said though - I know this is only my very first test on the scanner, and as time goes on, I'm sure I will come to love and appreciate it. Just like I've done with every other Epson product I've ever owned ...

PS: What do you know? The envelope has also coughed up a picture of Susie. Just like I remember her...

Labels: photography, photography gear

Before I took off on my trip to Europe in September, I contemplated all the gear I'd need to take with me: camera, lenses, batteries, extra CF cards, write-able CDs for backup, filters, hoods, remote release, bags with wheels, small carry bag for day trips - but would I need a tripod? I mean - really? How many times would I shoot in situations where I'd truly need a tripod? Would the added weight and bulk be truly justified?

Now, I have to add that over the years, I've developed a rather steady hand. I've learnt to brace myself whenever possible, and use all kinds of locally available objects like tables, chairs, ledges, rocks etc. to steady myself or the camera. So when I bought a new tripod earlier this year, I went for an ultra-sturdy Bogen-Manfrotto - something that would be suitable for the architectural photography I mostly do. Ultra-sturdy however also means ultra-heavy and ultra-bulky. So that tripod was 100% out for travel.

I yearned for a small, ultra-light, carbon-fiber Gitzo - but the high cost of one of those puppies quite honestly scared me off. So - a monopod maybe? Nah. Too weird. Besides I doubt their true usefulness.

So I went to Europe, travelling light (as I like it) and without a tripod. Mostly, the weather was such that I could shoot at ISO 200 or 400 and get a sharp picture.
But indeed there were a few instances where I wished I had a tripod.

One of them was a fun-filled evening at the pool hall with my old friend Tom. Being as it is that we've known eachother for 15 years and he's been my pool teacher for equally as long, we never let an opportunity pass to play a game, whenever and whereever in the world we can manage to meet up. That evening however, I'd brought my camera with me for the first time.

After a few warm-up games, we decided to see if we could photographically capture the path of a billiard ball on the table as it travels into a pocket. We experimented with various settings, but it turned out, that the path only starts really showing up around a half-second exposure. Of course that's way too long to hold steady, so I mostly braced myself - but still, I didn't come back with one tack-sharp photograph. What's below is as good as it gets:





Moral of the story? Never travel without a tripod. Not even if you don't think you'll need one. Ever. Because there's only one certainty - that you will come across a situation when you'll see the shot of a life time, and you'll be stuck having to shoot handheld.

Now where did I leave that info about the Gitzo again?

Labels: photography, photography gear, travel, travel photographer

A friend and I are trying to organize an informal, fun little get-together of local photographers.

Here's how it could work: a theme is chosen for the night, and photographers are encouraged to bring slides on this theme and present them with a time limit of five minutes. You can have live musical accompaniment, or narrate. A portion of the night could also be set aside to show non-themed work. Meanwhile, everyone eats and drinks and is merry and a real sense of an artistic community arises.

What's required are plenty of willing participants (non-photographers with an interest in the craft are invited to attend too), a good space, a projector screen, slide projector, and laptop, and possibly a karaoke machine for the MC to run the show.

So if anybody out there reading this has a desire to try it out or know of a local photographer who might want to attend, email me!.

Labels: photography