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Monthly Archives: July 2009
Testing Canon 65mm macro lens
Canon 65mm macro at x4 magnification, daylight f16 25 secs ISO 640
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My wide colour gamut monitor
Recently bought an Eizo ColourEdge CG241W monitor, after using a Lacie CRT Electron Blue IV for several years. There seems to be a lot of choice out there for high end LCD monitors from manufacturers such as Eizo, NEC and Lacie to name a few. They all were capable of displaying most of the Adobe 1998 colour profile. After a bit of research I decided to go with the Eizo. Using it is has been revelation: Deep blacks, rich colours and good contrast, but more importantly the clarity and sharpness compared to my old CRT was in another league! Comparing the two side by side made the images on the CRT somewhat ‘soft’ and ‘fuzzy’.
Using the Eizo with an Apple Laptop
I use the Eizo with a Macbook Pro, and when using Photoshop CS4 I have all the palettes on the laptop screen and the big image on the monitor, the same applies when using Capture One Pro [my preferred Raw Converter especially as I work tethered, for capturing images]
It soon came apparent though, that images displayed on my Eizo, especially skin tones and reds were displaying far more intensly than the laptop. At first I thought it must be the wider colour gamut of the monitor displaying colours that I could not see previously. But that begged question “how will it look in print” So I printed out a proof from my printer which has been custom profiled and therefore fairly close to Photoshop’s soft proofing on the monitor. The result was skin tones and reds were absolutely fine. Obviously the problem lay with the monitor or so it seemed. Something was not quite right? Tried re-calibration of the monitor but nothing changed. I know one should not judge colour from a laptop screen, but my laptop screen has been good enough to see heavy colour casts and the images looked fine on it. So I started to investigate a little deeper. Found some really information from Eizo and Adobe regarding using Open GL Draw in CS4 with multi monitors It is the case that when Open GL Drawing is enabled, the colour management is only correct on the primary monitor [In this case the laptop screen}. The only work around at the moment is to go to your Photoshop Preferences menu, choose Performance, then deselect Open Gl Drawing in the checkbox and then reboot Photoshop.
After switching off the GL capability my monitor displays fine. The downside is that you know longer have the capability to use the GPU to use the functions that are some of the new features of Photoshop CS4, such as animation zoom and canvas rotation. Instead, it workse like the earlier versions of Photoshop in which the zoom feature was not so smooth and somewhat 'jagged' at odd number zooms [33.3% 67.7%]. But, I think it is a small price to have the colour displaying properly. If anyone knows of any other solution I would like to know.
Eizo Monitor with Open GL Draw on
Eizo Monitor with Open GL Draw off
Photoshop CS4 Preference Pane showing Checkbox
Accidental Picture
Photographed a Ladybird for the cover of a small field guide of British Insects. The intention was to get a nice overhead shot of the Ladybird. The insect was quite shiny so I used a honeycomb as the main light, so to keep the highlight quite small. A reflector was used on the opposite side as fill in. Because I wanted no shadows, I put the insect on glass and lit a white board underneath the glass, but far enough away as to not light the subject.
Depth of field is a problem and to help keep focus I needed to keep the insect quite still. Putting it in the fridge for a while, seems to make insects quite ‘sleepy’. So after a short period, I took it out of the fridge and was able to place it underneath the lens. The trick now was to photograph it after it started to ‘wake up,’ and just enough for it to start to move, so I could see all its legs. A bit hit or miss, but eventually I got what I wanted.
The picture above was not the one I intended, for when the insect woke up completely and became very active, the wings came out and it started to beat them rapidly. I took a quick ‘snap’ and the result was really interesting, I really like the symmetry and the blur at the tip of the wings. The wings were beating so quickly, that a relatively fast flash duration could not freeze the motion. After the picture was taken, the ladybird flew off the set and found freedom again!
Preparing For Next Week
Creepy Crawlies
Photographing a large spider, Chameleon and Snake next week, they will be used for some chapter openers on a new book on animal life.
Hired a 65mm macro lens for the Canon. This is an impressive lens, which has x5 magnification capability. Used on such high magnification is not a simple task as depth of field is so narrow, add that to a moving subject you have to be really on the ‘ball’. Will test it over the weekend, with my Bowens ring flash. Looking at modifying the ring fash so it can be used easier. At the moment it is quite cumbersome and heavy. Will adapt it so it is more like the latest ring flash from Bowens which has a hand grip and is much more manageable . Maybe a piece of wood from a broom handle will be sufficient, until a more permanent solution is worked out!
For slightly wider shots will use a Phase One Mamiya and P30 back, with No1 and No2 extention tubes on my 120mm macro lens. Again, will test the lighting this weekend with the ring flash and some additional side lighting, as I do not want the lighting to look too ‘flat’
Some of the pictures will be of the underneath of a snake, so I planning to use a large piece of glass and photographing from below.
Guess there is a lot to think about, planning is always the key to a successful photo shoot. Keep you posted over the next few days
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My first ever blog
Trying my first ever Blog. A little about myself: a photographer who has been doing this since leaving college in 1990. I work about 75% of the time on location in the UK and abroad often in museums. Rest is studio based here in lovely Oxfordshire. If I need a studio near some of my bigger clients then I will hire one in London.
Excited about doing this, hopefully will give you all an insight to how I work, as sometimes I get to photograph some pretty special things. Working for some major book publishers gives me a fair amount of diversity. But budgets are often small, so I have to work fast and efficiently. Hoping to engage the reader with my experiences past and present. Will try to post pictures of set ups etc with a little bit of technical writing, not just to show the end result!
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