Printer Test Strip

Here's the printer test strip I made to compare different printer and program settings. Numbering from left to right:
1. No Color Management (ICM setting) This one is over-saturated and too dark. Doesn't look like her. Oddly, several people liked this one best.
2. Photoshop Elements control (Adobe RGB Gamma 2.2) This has a much better skin tone, my favorite.
3. Printer Control (Adobe Vivid) This is pretty, but has a slight bluish cast.
4. Printer Control (Auto Enhance) This is slightly darker than #2, but acceptable.
5. Monitor adjusted to match #4. Too washed out.

PSEs color management tools were helpful, but I had to do a lot of cross-referencing to understand the terminology. Little by little it's beginning to sink in.

Digital Photo Printing for Amateurs

I've learned so much from the Photoshop Elements class I'm taking at Hithergreen, but it bugs me that I have to work so darn hard to get good prints. I've been studying books and online and now I know enough to be dangerous, but still struggling with consistency. I shared what I've learned yesterday with the Digital Photography Forum at the Center. Here's a chart I made. The prints are 10.5 x 8. The top row shows what happens when you use cheap paper and the wrong print setting--you waste a lot of ink that soaks into the paper. The middle row shows printer control on better paper. I oversaturated the one on the right to see what would happen. Eeek! On the bottom row I used Photoshop Elements color controls on Office Depot Laser/injet Presentation Paper and Epson Ultra Premium Luster Paper, my favorites. The last print is the best and shows more detail than any of the others.

How to Paint Colour & Light by Jean Haines

Watercolours With Life: Diary of a New Author was posted yesterday. I read it just this morning. I appreciate Jean's comments, and I want to say from what I've seen of her work that I'm looking forward to her book when it comes out in July. I wish she were on this side of the Big Pond--I'd love to meet her.

I've been lazy about my blog this year. January and February are usually my catch-up months, getting the tax stuff ready for the accountant and organizing the studio. Taxes are done; organizing, not. I'm working on a couple of writing projects, nothing to speak of yet. Most of the art organizations around here don't meet in January, so I'm out of the art loop. I've gotten out of the habit of going to meetings, especially after dark. Maybe when daylight savings time kicks in I'll get out to see my friends.

My Monday class is rolling. They're doing some awesome work. We've been fortunate not to have a snow cancellation yet, even though this area has been hammered for the past few weeks. The Photoshop Elements class and Digital Photography Forum haven't been so lucky. Both were canceled this week. I miss seeing my photographer friends, too. They are both knowledgeable and sharing.

With the computer problems I've had in the past month, I might be forgiven for not posting much. Both of my disk drives, CD and DVD, died unexpectedly the same day. It took me ten days to get them working, and I still don't know what caused it or what I did to bring them back. Then, our Internet and email, which had been flaky for weeks, went into slow motion and were nearly impossible to use. We considered many solutions, including an expensive upgrade of equipment. Then, I called Time-Warner/Roadrunner, and they sent a man out on SuperBowl Sunday just hours before the game. He was good. After checking our modem (barely working), he lugged ladders through the snow out to the cable connection and found the wire rubbed ragged against the trees, allowing moisture into the wires intermittently. Now, the reason I'm going on about this is that in the past we've had technicians who, upon finding such a situation, came back to the house and told us they'd make an appointment for someone else to come and take care of it. Instead, he single-handedly replaced the cable with a line to be buried in the ground after the snow melts. And, replaced the modem. What a guy.

Photoshop Elements class

Hithergreen Center, where I teach my watercolor class, started a new session in Photoshop Elements 6 in November. The class is challenging, but so much fun. I've been into PSE since #1 came out, but my knowledge of the program has been limited to trial and error; I've gotten good results, but never could figure out how I did it. Reinventing the wheel, dontcha know? I've learned so much from Brook, the instructor, and her sidekick, Mary Lou, who have a firm grasp on the program. Some in the class have upgraded to PSE 8; my copy is sitting on my desk waiting to be installed. The class has a monthly contest based on one of the artistic filters in the program. My candy pic here was one of the winners this month. I tried something new I want to pass on, not related to PSE. When I set up the still life, I didn't want to use my flash (harsh shadows), so I dug out my little Ott task-light, which has full-spectrum fluorescent lighting. I turned out the studio lights and used only the task-light. It worked great. Wouldn't be good for a big setup, but perfect for this shot.