The Digital Photo Guy

Learning to Print on a New Printer

Physically installing the Epson 3880 was a snap. The hardest part was finding all the little pieces of blue tape manufacturers seem to love to hold down various moving and mechanical parts. I have to admit, Epson does a pretty good job of identifying all the locations where the tape can be found. Some spots are pretty ingenious and actually require reading the quick start guide.

For the first test print, through the USB port (the 3880 is also network ready,) with a known, good print, I chose the photo of Celestina (left.) I set all the color management settings to what I thought were the proper settings and let ‘er rip. Oops! The colors were all wrong. After a few more tries, I printed to the old Epson R1800 to be sure the file was OK. Even with some serious clogs, the R1800 was much closer to the screen. Celestina’s red hair looked just like it does to the left and her green dress wasn’t blue like the 3880.

Scratching my head, I decided to postpone the test print and hook up the network connection. This turned into an unmitigated disaster as I didn’t read the manual. After a day of frustration, I decided I didn’t really need the network connection since I’m the only one who will print to the 3880. I just wanted to hook it up because I had paid for it! More

Death of an R1800

My Epson R1800 has been a real love-hate affair. When it’s working, I love the rich, vibrant colors on Calumet Brilliant Luster paper. When it clogs, which is frequently, I hate the stupid printer and the idiot who designed it. I’ve had this printer for over five years and I’ve produced wonderful prints which have hung in galleries and sold enough to pay for itself. But, factor in the emotional toll of not knowing when it will throw another clogging tantrum and I’m ready to chuck it off the roof. Well, it saved me the hassle by finally dying last week.
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I stopped by Fry’s Electronics to look at an R1900. As I hemmed and hawed about an R1900 and the dinky 11ml (milliliter) ink cartridges (see comparison to left,) it struck me that an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 with 80ml cartridges dropped my ink costs down to 75¢ per ml versus $1.27 for the R1900, a 40% savings. That pushed me over the edge. Before my wife could say, “What the *$%+!” I threw down the plastic and walked out with a $1295 printer. My rationale was as follows: More

HDR Tools, Tips and Techniques in Three Hours

Rob Sheppard, editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine, National Geographic contributer and author of over 30 photography books will present a 3-hour webinar covering the ins-and-outs of producing realistic nature HDR (high dynamic range) photographs.

Rob is a laid back, easy-going guy who has a knack for getting his point across in clear, simple English. His years of experience as an award winning photographer combined with his skill as an editor make it possible for him to cut through the clutter and reduce complex topics to easy-to-understand explanations. To learn more about this webinar and register, follow this link.

Black Rapid, Topaz Labs, MediaChance and Everimaging have donated door prizes for this webinar. In all, we have 18 gifts donated by four companies. Follow the link as we reveal all the cool door prizes you can win in Rob’s HDR webinar and Gloria Hopkins’ webinar on Composition.
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Pin-Up Shoot – Sock Hop Theme, Jan 16

Photoshop Elements in 6 Weeks, starts Feb 16

Flash Photography in a Flash, Feb 26

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Spring Desert Wildflowers, late March 2011

Combining Tools and Techniques into a Process

Several months ago, while teaching a Photoshop Elements webinar, I discovered that some people don’t differentiate between tools, techniques and processes. Having been trained as an engineer, it seemed odd that non-engineers wouldn’t think the same way! (That’s a joke!) Today’s Video Monday Morning Tip (VMMT) is a look at how I might combine tools and techniques into a process to try to salvage a really bad photo.

Caveat – the best thing for this photo would be the round file followed by a reshoot. This photo has been further lightened from the Jan 3 version.

This two-frame panorama was posted on last week’s Monday Morning Tip (MMT). I was trying different ideas for capturing a scene that had previously eluded me. This attempt wasn’t any better so I was ready to trash these photos when I realized I could use this as a good example of combining Tools and Techniques in a Process. Follow the link to view the video.

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Wild Animal Park Workshop, Jan 8

Pin-Up Shoot – Sock Hop Theme, Jan 16

Flash Photography in a Flash, Feb 26

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Spring Desert Wildflowers, late March 2011

Photos to Start the New Year

I turned off my brain for the holiday season and forgot to turn it back on so all I have for today are some photos I made over New Years. We took the RV out to Salton Sea in hopes of photographing burrowing owls and sandhill cranes but, once again, we were thwarted. It turns out that burrowing owls are pretty smart and become very skittish during duck and goose hunting season. I guess I’d be skittish too if a bunch of people toting 12 gauge shotguns were roaming around my neighborhood. All we saw were their eyes, peering over mounds of dirt, very Kilroy-ish. The road to the sandhill crane area was so badly rutted that it would have taken an hour in the RV. We decided to try it again in the future when we have our off-road vehicle with us.

No visit to Salton Sea would be complete without a stop at Salvation Mountain on the outskirts of Slab City. For those who have never visited either, you need to hustle. The 79 year old man who has made Salvation Mountain his life’s work, Leonard Knight, is in poor health. His friends are urging him to retire and move out of the unheated truck (lower left in above photo) without running water or electricity. What will become of the Mountain without Leonard is unknown but it won’t be the same.
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