Still waiting
STILL waiting for the damn scanner. I hate freshmen that don’t have a clue. Maybe I should give them a clue-pon…. or a swift kick to the face. Why do you think?
Waiting
Well, I’m done with class and so now I’m upstairs in the digital lab waiting in line to use the drum scanner (mmm, 12,400dpi… drool). My critique went well and everybody liked my shots. I recreated a Roxio ad that featured a desheveled college student in a messy room… not much of a stretch for me. Once I get these scanned I’ll go home and install some FTP software and upload a few low-res versions for you guys to see. Please, when I do, let me know your opinions on them. I love to get feedback and I’m sick of hearing “not too bad” from fellow students. So, please, tell me if you like them… and tell me WHY you like them. For example: “I like picture A because it has good contrast and pretty colors” not “I like picture B because it’s nifty.” Got the picture? Ok, I’m going to kill some time until the scanner is ready. Later.
Speaking of…
Speaking of camera equipment, I came across the coolest paper yesterday. The first one I’ll mention I knew about last semester but I couldn’t get my hands on any. The others are brand spanking new.
First up is Kodak Professional Color Metallic and man is it awesome. Basically it’s normal photo paper with an extra layer within the fibers themselves that contains a metallic finish. It makes prints look like those metallic baseball cards. Here’s what Kodak has to say:
“Color Metallic Paper gives color prints an eye-catching metallic sheen, and features an almost 3-D effect that makes images seem to pop off the page. Based on KODAK’S Modular Imaging Support Technology, KODAK PROFESSIONAL Color Metallic Paper uses a patented combination of five film laminates to produce the metallic/pearlescent effect.”
Next up are two papers that are along the same lines but are genious in their inovation. I’ll explain what I mean in a minute.
First is KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA B&W. You’re probably saying to yourself “so what, it’s just another B&W photo paper, they have tons of those.” While you’re right in saying that B&W paper isn’t an innovation, being able to process that paper in COLOR chemistry is certainly a breakthrough. Think about that for a minute. Before now, if you wanted to print both black and white AND color you had to have 2 enlargers, 2 different types of materials and two sets of chemistry. Now, you can print both black and white negative and color negatives with the same enlarger and run them through the same chemistry. That’s fantastic.
Even more fantastic is the next paper which is an extension of the B&W. It’s KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA Sepia Black & White Paper. Same idea, different results. Now instead of just black and white in color chemestry, you can print B&W with Sepia tone in color chemistry. Holy heck!
Camera Equipment
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my current equipment situation. The problem is that I’m very much caught in between the analog equipment I’ve learned on and the new digital equipment that more and more people seem to be using. My problem is this: if I buy a nice medium format camera package, how long will I be able to use it before I have to go digital? OR If I buy a totally digital package, will it break the bank? My solution is to get that medium format camera package but to buy a digital film back for it as well. That way I have both the camera and the digital. The camera can still use film, which I love, and the film backs average between 11 and 16 megapixels and should give me all the digital resolution I need. The problem with that is, that I don’t have anywhere to dump the images to. Those all-in-one digital cameras, the one’s with built in memory or memory sticks, or flashcards etc are all well and good but a professional film back doesn’t have any memory of it’s own. A 16 Megapixel CCD array takes up quite a bit of room and so the images need to be dumped somewhere. More accurately the digital back needs to be attached to a computer or laptop that can receive those images. So, in a perfect world I’d have a medium format camera, a digital camera back and a laptop with USB/Firewire ports and cd burning capabilities or networking capabilities.
Ouch. Just thinking about how expensive this is going to be is making me worry. Where am I going to be in a years time? I’m planning on being married but where will we live? Texas? New England? Both have their share of ad-agencies, photo studios and representatives. Will I have a good job? Will I have a shitty job? Will I be in debt my whole life? I don’t know and it’s starting to worry me. The problem is that I can’t be worried about what I can’t control. All I can do is concentrate on here and now, put together a kick ass portfolio and send it off to as many places as possible. That’s all I can do. If it’s in the cards that I get a job at one of my “top choices” then awesome, if not, then I’ll figure something out. But there’s no sense in worrying about what might or might not happen. You never know, I may get a job at the very first place I send my portfolio and then all that worrying would have been for nothing. Anyway, I’ve gotten off topic.
My main point somewhere was that I need to buy equipment. So, how about some links and some top picks for what I feel would be a nice package. Now, if only I could get it all at a student discount.
Package A:
– Mamiya 645 SV II Medium Format SLR Manual Focus Camera Kit with 80mm f/2.8 Lens, FK402 SV Auto Exposure Reflex Finder, 120 Film Back and SV Power Drive Grip – $2,599.00
– Kodak DCS ProBack 645 – $12,000
– Dell Inspiron 8200 – $1,500
– Accessories – 120 Roll Film backs, multiple lenses, firewire card, cables, etc – Approx $1,000
Total: $17,100
Package B (total digital):
– Nikon D1X – $4,650 + accessories (lens, microdrive, flash, etc) $1,000
– Dell Inspiron 8200 – $1,500
Total: $7,150
Package C (total analog):
– Accessories: $2,000+
Total: $5,000+
Note: none of these packages include lights, stands, tripods, and studio supplies or equipment. Most often these things are provided on professional shoots or can be rented at equipent houses. For personal work, they too would need to be purchased.
So there you have it. Money, it’s a shame I don’t have any. Any way you slice it I’m either looking to pay for at least another semester of school ($6000) or another year of school ($20,000). Somehow I don’t see being approved for loans for equipment while I’m still paying off student loans. I think the solution here is to buy the analog package since it’s the cheapest and most useful immediatly and to save up for the digital back and laptop since they’ll most likely drop in price over the next few years. We’ll see what happens.
As for right now, I’ve got to jump in the shower, I’ve got class at 3:00. Later.
Update
Well, incase you’ve noticed, you’re not looking at a new design quite yet. Mainly that’s because I’m not done (surprise) with the layout. Layout is always my sticking point. There’s so many options when it comes to layouts these days. Remember when everything was simple and EVERYONE had a navbar on the left and content in the middle? I’ve also not finished because I’ve yet to scan a few very important negatives that are needed for the design. I’ll get those back on tuesday and scan them immediatly thereafter. I still have three weeks to finish this, it isn’t due until then end of the semester but I had wanted to get it done this weekend or next so that is was one less thing to worry about.
Anyway, besides working on the page, dealing with financial stuff and helping my roommate out with a film shoot, it’s been a rather standard weekend.
I’m also debating whether or not to wipe my Win2k box and install something insane, like linux or FreeBSD. I’ve never really played with either before. Also the idea of Lycoris is interesting. Especially since its a blatent attempt to get some of the XP crowd to jump ship (see example). Anyway, thats more of an after thought at this point however. As for today, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do. I could work more on the new design but whats the point if I don’t have the graphics to move forward. I think I might take today as a relax day and simply rest a bit. There’s some movies on AMC and Bravo this afternoon that will keep me entertained.
Oh, I almost forgot. My payment for hosting fees has been shipped. By Monday Hindenburg should have a nice new hard drive. (WD 80G w/8MB buffer).
That is all.
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