PhotoPlus Expo 2012 Trip Report (Part 1 of 2)

Print Masters & Photography Legends Eddie Tapp & Douglas Dubler

PhotoPlus Expo is the place to be for photographers and photo editors each year as all the big names in the industry (excluding the Kelby Media Empire) come out in force to show off their new gear. There’s also an endless number of photography legends giving presentations and interacting with the attendees, so it’s really a ton of fun to be there and rub elbows with your favorite photographers.

This this first of a two part series, I go into some of the non-product highlights and in part two I dive in to some of the products that caught my eye at the show (like the Canon 6D featured on my blog yesterday).

Industry recognition for ronmartblog.com this year

This year I got to enjoy some of the spotlight with my work being featured in four major booths:

Nik Software gave me the stage for a photo editing demo
(Cell phone photo courtesy of Art Marshall of NEC)

NEC had my work on all of their displays

Canon featured my work on the new iPF6450 that I’ll be reviewing this holiday season

Elinchrom featured my ring flash shot as well, albeit as Rob instead of Ron Martinsen – ha, ha

Models Galore

If you are patient and wanted to improve your portfolio on the cheap, then PPE is the place to go as many booths feature amazing models in good light for photographers to test out their products. Here’s just a few examples:

Panasonic had a biker babe

Unique Photo had a pretty cool dude running around

Sigma had great models and lighting to show off their lens on your camera

All of my images were taken with a Canon EOS 1D X with the new Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens with available light and auto ISO.

Highlights of the Show (Part 1 of 2)

Everybody is out to wow the crowd at PPE, so there’s always something fun in the biggest sponsors booths. Here were a few of my favorites:

4K Display by Sony

I first wrote about 4K displays in 2010, but every time I’ve seen them since then I still get impressed. The latest was the 4K display by Sony in the form of what appeared to be their much touted 84” display:

All of the images on display impressed, but this one grabbed me the most when I was examining the details. This photo has not been sharpened beyond in-camera sharpening and when you do a 100% crop this is what you get:

Even if this were a print, that would be pretty impressive but the fact that it’s a image on a TV that is just astonishing!

Nikon Cuts a D4 and Brings a Mad Scientist

Nikon D4 split in half was cool but also painful to see

HD Video was front and center with this mad scientist hands-on filming exhibit at Nikon

Canon had amazing prints from the new iPF6400, iPF6450 and iPF8400

Canon featured amazing prints, but Michel Tcherevkoff’s was my personal favorite

Lots of a Amazing Prints

Hahnemühle had lots of great prints, but this was
one of my favorites prints of the show

Metal Mural dazzled the crowd with its metal prints,
so I’ll be working with them on a future article

Fujifilm showed off its best shots including this amazing floral shot
taken with a X-Pro1 by Azuma Makoto

Nikon didn’t disappoint either with lots of great D800 based imagery

Canon had walls of jaw dropping images as well

And no show would be complete without Epson’s Signature Worthy Collection

Now check out part II

Learn more about the cool products at PPE this year in this article:

PhotoPlus Expo 2012 New Product News (Part 2 of 2)

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using select links in this article, I may make a commission.

Printing 101: Part V – Getting Great Prints (1 of 2)

Removed - a new edition is coming later this year. See http://www.ronmartblog.com/2011/03/trey-ratcliffs-flatbookscom-ron.html for more details

Printing Series: Michel Tcherevkoff – Artist, Advertising Photographer & Canon Explorer of Light & Print Master

This is a composite of photographs, not drawings!
This series is modified to look like drawings!
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

When I set out to do my interview of Michel Tcherevkoff (pronounced che rev cough), I expected to talk printing and have a fairly short technical conversation. What I ended up with was the most delightful and entertaining interview I’ve ever done from one of the most brilliant minds I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with. This is saying a lot as in my day job I’ve worked with researchers recruited from the best universities around the world and people who have literally changed the world with their inventions. However, all of that pales in comparison to the man I met with creativity that knows no bounds. His work comes from a fantasy world that few could even dream of, let alone see that vision to its completion – in print. 

I found it amusing that one of the first things Michel said to me when our interview began is that he stumbled upon photography because he “never knew he had the seed”, but the first photographer he worked with, Pete Turner, “watered the seed”. Well, I’m here to say that that Pete must have divine powers because the flower that blossomed from that seed is unlike anything I’ve seen in this world.

Shoe created with a composite of flower photos
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

As you read this article and stare at his work (a simple glance is impossible), I’ll remind you that these are indeed photographs – multiple photographs, combined together to create these amazing images. The people are real, not pencil sketches, the flowers are real, and the bugs are not! :) The true reality here is that Michel has a creative mind that takes the reality that we see in the world and manipulates it into new objects of beauty. His creations transcend everything we know about reality, yet we accept his creations as real and become hypnotized by them. Our senses are delighted and a suspension of disbelief consumes us while we admire something our mind never expects to see.

What I bring to you in this article is Michel on the subject of printing, which pales in comparison to all that he has to offer, but I’ll save the interview I really want to do for another day. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy learning how this master of object manipulation turns his creations into amazing prints.

Michel’s French side is coming out now where he is having
a little fun with lingerie and flowers.
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Favorite Papers

Michel has a very practical approach to papers as the choice of paper is not only about the image, but how that final print will be used in the end. Once again, even in something as simple as paper Michel’s creativity comes out in ways you might never imagine. For example, his studio windows are covered with huge prints from his iPF8300 that were printed on Canon Scrim Banner Vinyl. His postcards and holiday cards are printed on Canon Fine Art Watercolor for their durability and wonderful texture. His everyday paper for the images he gives to clients or for his promo mailers, his favorite choice is Canon Premium Bright Photo Satin (replaced by the Canon Premium RC Photo Luster) because it has a great texture and firmness, yet it isn’t overly glossy either.

For his finest work which is signed, numbered and stamped he uses the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Paper 460gsm which has a beige tone and a nice substantial feel. He’s also fond of the Canon Fine Art Bright White 330, but he’s always trying the latest papers from Canon so his preferences change as better products become available. 

  
Bugs never looked so beautiful – created with a composite of flower photos
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Printing Q&A

What volume of printing do you typically do in a year?

I'll use around 4 or 5 rolls and hundreds of sheets of each of the papers. MIchel uses roughly 1 box of the satin paper every month for promos alone.

Do you do test prints?

Yes, for the large prints I'll take different pieces from the image and put them on a 7” to 12” wide strip and print in what I call a strip test. I'll use those to tweak the image and actually label my layers in Photoshop with details about what I did. In the end it usually takes 2 tp 4 test strips before I'm happy and do the final print.

What do you look for in a print before it's ready for your customer?

Color, contrast, saturation and details in the little things. It's a visceral experience where I adjust until it just feels right. Quality is a given so the image must sing to me before I feel it is done.

There should be no excuses – you should be proud of your prints, and if you are not then don’t blame the machine because you made a bad print. The print is a mirror of your work and you must ask yourself – are you happy with it?

Sometimes it is even more complex because you must know your client. Is it what your client expects or likes? What you like might not be what they want, so knowing how your client likes their prints is critical! Speak to the production department and ask “how do you like your prints and [data] files”.

Do you have any color management or paper profiling recommendations?

No, I just use whatever comes with the printer.I just usually print with the Perceptual [rendering intent] and if it doesn’t look good I’ll try Relative. I don’t do skin tones which is much harder, so calibrating is less important for the type of work that I print.

Any final tips?

The more you standardize your process, the more you will save in the long run. However, don't skimp because your work must reflect you.

Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Michel Tcherevkoff’s Strip Test

As explained above Michel does test prints with a strip of paper using fragments of the actual image to see how the most critical parts will look printed before doing his final print. Michel doesn’t do this necessarily for cost-saving reasons, but rather to reduce the amount of wasted paper and ink for environmental reasons.

In this first example, he has an image of a shoe as shown below:

Shoe Full Image
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Here’s what strip test one looked like for this print:

Strip Test #1 (Click for a larger view)
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

After examining the print Michel felt like it needed some adjustments, so he did a second strip test but with two levels of color so he could see which direction he wanted to go with for the final print as shown below:

Strip Test #2 (Click for a larger view)
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Using the final strip test above, Michel had the information he needed to make his final decision and print the final large print.

Example #2 – The Boot

Here’s another example of a more complicated photo to demonstrate how the strips are built:

Boot Full Image
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Despite the complexity of the image above, Michel broke it down to its most important parts as shown below:

Boot Strip Test #1 (Click for a larger view)
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

With those parts printed to his intent, the entire image would look great when printed at full size.

Conclusion

It was an absolute honor to work with Michel as he was an original member of my Top Photographers list and will be there for many years to come. He is the one photographer who I wish could bottle a little of his mojo and sell it as I’d pay a fortunate to have a little of that rub off on me! Since that isn’t possible, I can only dream of spending the day with Michel at his studio at some point and seeing this master at work.

A special thanks goes out to Michel’s assistant, Samantha Kramer, who helped with providing the strip test images and reviewing this article!

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! To see more of Michel’s work, visit all of the following:

• tcherevkoffportfolio.com
• tcherevkoff.com
• Butterflies
• Lingerie
• Shoe Fleur
• Facebook
• Tcherevkoff Products on Amazon
• 2011 Limited Edition Shoe Fleur wall calendar

 
The creativity of this shot just makes me grin every time I see it!
Copyright (c) Michel Tcherevkoff - All Rights Reserved

Disclosure

I may get a small commission for purchases made using some of the links in this article.

My Favorite Photographers

LAST UPDATED: March 4, 2012

WARNING: Some portfolios will contain shots not suitable for work environments or children. Use caution when viewing.

To me a favorite photographer is someone who has a collection of work that I look at with awe and say "I'll never be that good" or "I would have never thought of that". The photographers in the list below represent that ideal to me as they have pictures that exceed my picky bar of what is good and nothing that I would look at and say "that's crap". I aspire to be this good, so the highest complement I could get is to say I have a shot that looks like it could have been in the portfolio of one of these great photographers.

As of the date shown above, my top 20 favorite photographers are (don’t get hung up on the numbers, it’s not a true stack ranking):

1. Tim Wallace* (Automotive) - This guy is simply amazing. His Automotive Photography work is what I dream I could do, so simply put I aspire to be this amazing one day. Read my interview for more about Tim as a paragraph simply isn’t enough.
2. Douglas Dubler* (Fashion & Print) – Douglas is not only an amazing photographer, but in my opinion one of the top print masters in the world. His 60” tall fashion prints can stand up to the scrutiny of examination from inches away under a light box where I dare you to find a flaw. His work is simply breath taking and for Douglas, it’s go large or go home so his bigger than life prints will wow you time and time again. His attention to detail is second to none.  
3. Michel Tcherevkoff* (Digital Art) - A creative master who goes beyond just taking photos, but using those images to create digital art like you’ve never seen. His work is not a drawing, and it’s not painted. Instead, it’s composite of real photos processed brilliantly to create an exciting new style of work that is all his own. Michel is simply the most creative human being I’ve ever met, and given my day job that’s saying a lot! 
4. Gary Parker (You Name It!) – His Genius Series alone is enough to blow away the best portrait photographers on the planet away, but that’s just the beginning. From his Cat & Dog Photography work to his Little People of America recognized dwarf photography work, a quick glance through his portfolio and you’ll quickly see that there’s nothing that Gary can’t shoot. He has an amazing portfolio of images that are so sharp with such perfect color that you'll dream of having a portfolio like this one day (I know I do). I follow his new work and time and time again I’m just floored with what he comes out. He truly is a Photography Magician!
5. Tyler Stableford* (Adventure Photographer) - There's a good reason why he's won 6 picture of the year awards - he'll go anywhere to get the great shot! Tyler’s also great instructor who’s on the top of my list of people I’d like to go shoot with.
6. Clint Clemens* (Commercial) - You've seen this guy's work in car brochures, magazines, and more. Simply amazing stuff and a lot of it!
7. Nick Brandt (Black & White / Safari) - I hate black and white photography, but this guy's safari work is so amazing that you can't help but be in awe.
8. George Fulton – George’s composition is amazing. I can look at a picture of his for hours as my eye wanders around the scene seeing how all the parts connect. A true composition master! He also has some pretty amazing medical photography too!
9. Greg Gorman* (Celebrity) - You name the celebrity and this guy has photographed them – flawlessly! He’s also an amazing print master in my printing series!
10. Jill Greenberg (Celebrity) - While I hate her on a personal level for some of the stunts she has pulled, her post-processing and award winning shots are indeed noteworthy.
11. Stephen Eastwood* (Fashion) - His site is slow to load, but worth the wait as his work is pure perfection hundreds of times over.
12. Trey Ratcliff* (Travel & HDR) – Mr. HDR who is doing great work with both texture overlays and colors that makes you rethink how you process even your most boring photos to make them exciting!
13. Ryszard Horowitz (Digital Art) - You can't do these shots in camera, but they are amazing indeed.
14. Steve Liss (Journalism) - Ever heard of Time Magazine? If so, then you've seen this guy's work many times. Amazing stuff.
15. Gerald Pope (Wedding) - Want to be a great wedding photographer? Then study this guy's work - it simply redefines what great wedding photography should be.
16. Jim DiVitale (Commercial) - His golf club photos are a perfection in color, composition and sharpness. WOW!
17. Nick Vedros (Lifestyle) - His work will make you laugh at life, but as a photographer the quality of the work will make you say there's more here than just great composition
18. Joe McNally (Journalism) - Joe is one National Geographic photographer who has kept up with the times and continues to crank out masterpieces in this day and age. His book is an inspiration for what can be done, and his teachings on flash photography show us all what is possible with those damn things!
19. Scott Kelby* (General) - Not only is he a good author who has taken the time to read all of the great Photoshop and Photography books and turn them into something you can just pickup and put into practice, he's a pretty darn good photographer in my book. Fantastic color and composition are his trademarks.
20. Bryan F. Peterson* (Portraits and Industrial) – If this list was written last year, Bryan would have been in the top 5. Compositionally speaking, Bryan is also one of the best in the business. His books are a fantastic must read and his enthusiasm is infectious.

* = Link takes you to the interview on this  blog which has photos and a portfolio link

I admire the sharpness, color (including B&W), clarity, composition, and content of their photos as a collective. While they may have isolated shots that I do not care for, a majority of their online portfolio demonstrates what I consider to be the highest quality photography.

This list isn't about famous names, what magazine covers they've done, their reputation, or popularity. Some of these people are ordinarily people like you and me and others are very famous.

But what about ...

I know that there are some great photographers that I'm probably missing from this list, but I went through some of the best of Nikon and Canon photographers as well as many links I've accumulated over the past couple years and these were the ones that impressed me the most.

I know some people will expect Ansel Adams, William Albert Allard, Sam Abell, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and other legends of photography to be in this list. However, while I appreciate their contribution to Photography, I feel that these modern day photographers are carrying in their footsteps to create works that surpass these masters. Technology and time have given the photographers an advantage to create works that I think these forefathers would be proud of.

I also am primarily sticking to photographers who use Photoshop and shoot digitally, as that is what I do. However, greats like Adams and Jerry N. Uelsmann have been doing great post-processing long before our high tech gadgetry of today existed!

I also know there are great photographers works who I've seen and forgot to create links for, so feel free to add your favorites that are missing from this list in the comments section of this blog article.

Honorable Mention

The following photographers have some outstanding shots, but their portfolio is lacking something to be compared with the top photographers above. However, each of them have select shots are so good that I can't help but mention them:

• Kim and Adam Bamberg (Wedding) - Based on composition alone they are probably one of the top photographers in the wedding category, but then you add the color and sharpness each and every photo offers and you end up with something truly special. Kim and Adam were on my Top Photographers list for years, but only until mid-2010 did I have to bump them to make room for others. If I had a 21st spot, it would be theirs. For many they’d be in the top 10.
• Rarindra Prakarsa (People / Landscapes) - An up and comer who is a post-processing guru. The colors and images he produces simply draw you into the photo and keep you locked there.
• Zhang Jingna (a.k.a., zenmotion) (Fashion) - Her self-portraits are simply amazing, but it is her fashion work that really sets her apart from the average photographer.
• Marco Grob - (Portraits) – Fantastic stuff and a favorite photographer of my #1, Tim Wallace. I had a hard time not putting him in the top 20, but he’s current my #21 by a mile.
• Bambi Cantrell* (Portraits) - There are a lot of great portrait photographers, so Bambi's impressive collection just missed the cut.
• Ari Bixhorn (Landscape) - I'm pleased to say I work at the same  company with Ari in my day job (although I've never met him), but his landscapes are some of the best I've seen. Ari was a top 20 member until 3/30/09.
• John Shaw (Nature) - This one was tough to not put on the list because he's a photography icon without question.
• Floris van Breugel (Nature) - There's moments of brilliance and others that make me shake my head
• David  Hobby - Mr. Strobist.com is a great photographer and a master of the flash for sure. Keeping him out of my top 20 was difficult, but, I felt there shots in his portfolio that I'd probably mark as rejected so that kept him out of the top 20.
• Art Wolfe (Landscape / Wildlife) - A great photographer from my current hometown (Seattle).
• Denis Reggie (Weddings) - At one point in time Denis was high on my list, but others have been bumped up on my list.
• James Neeley (Rural Life / Landscape) - Great stuff for sure but I thought Ari Bixhorn was better.
• Mary Duprie (Fashion) - Lots of high quality fashion work by someone who shares her knowledge with aspiring photographers.
• Bob Davis (Wedding / Magazine) - Very good wedding photographer who knows how to put photos together in a fun story.
• Jairo Marcos (Formula 1 Racing) - The best F1 photographer you've never heard of.
• Zack Arias (Studio) - Another master of light who has a blog with lots of great stuff for any photographer wishing to master the art of studio photography.

Keep in mind, I'm not worthy of any of these photographers either, so at this point I aspire to be on this list!