We were reading a white paper by Kodak on light and thermal stability (well someone has to read this stuff) and came across an interesting chart.

An informal survey in the mid-1990s asked how long images would remain on display.  The majority of images were projected to be taken down after 10 years on display.

Many different reasons can come into play when it comes to image time on display.  Moving, changes in marital status, and simple redecorating change the landscape of our homes and offices.

The point is to consider the time an image will be out with full exposure to the elements as opposed to how long it may be in dark storage with more limited exposure to fade causing factors.

You can download and read the entire white paper here

Here’s a quick guide to using ICC profiles in Photoshop Elements 8 with a PC (Mac lesson coming soon).

You’ll notice a different look to the menus, as the ICC profile selection menu is basically hidden until you seek it out.  Weird but it works.

Read the tutorial, which covers Epson, Canon, and HP printer settings here.

Red River Pro
JOEL GRIMES 
 
The Photographer
Joel Grimes is a Los Angeles advertising and commercial photographer whose clients include the Denver Broncos, Kodak, Hyatt, National Geographic, Nikon, Visa, Pentax, Sony and Volvo. He’s shot images in
more than 50 countries on advertising and annual report assignments and has won more than 30 major awards for his work. His coffee table book on the Navajo Indians received national acclaim and he teaches his edgy-lighting portraiture techniques at workshops.

The Client
Personal project for portfolio to show Art and Creative Directors at agencies.

© Joel Grimes

The Assignment
Photograph a swim model in high key using “edgy” lighting.

The Execution
“I posed the subject in the studio against a white background using a Paul Buff 22-inch beauty dish with a diffusion sock overhead and two small soft boxes from the side. I then used a pool image that I had
previously shot with five exposures at one-stop intervals to be combined for a high dynamic range image.”

Post Production
“The subject was knocked out from the background using Vertus’ Fluid Mask (I’ve also used Photoshop CS4 with good results). The five location images were merged using HDR’s Photomatix. Then the two
images were merged creating the composite. While I would like to shoot everything as one shot on location, it is just not always possible to do so because of time, scheduling and other constraints.”

The Output
With over thirty years experience printing in the darkroom, my objective in choosing a current digital photo paper is getting deep blacks and a smooth continuous tonal range across the board. I chose
Red River Ultra Pro Satin paper to print this image because it beautifully handles the subtle highlight tones both on the model and in the background, while retaining excellent detail in the shadow areas. It
truly gives me the effect that I had envisioned.

Contact
Joel Grimes’ web site is at: www.joelgrimes.com. He may be emailed at: joel@joelgrimes.com.
His workshop schedule and tutorials describing his techniques in detail may be found at:
http://web.me.com/joelgrimes/Joel_Grimes_Photography/Welcome.html

UltraPro Satin is Red River’s best selling paper by far.  The combination of retail brand quality and cost that is 40% less than those brands make it a true value.

It’s always nice to hear kind words about a product we know should be in the hands of more photo enthusiasts.

Excerpts from a review at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics

Red River’s Ultra Pro Satin is smoother to the touch than Espon’s Ultra Premium Luster.  The texture is the main difference.  The Epson paper might be a bit heavier, but not by much.

I have always liked the sheen from Epson’s luster texture.  It’s not shiny glossy (I don’t like high gloss photos), but glistening sparkles are apparent when you hold the paper at certain angles.  Red River’s Ultra Pro Satin has some of this glisten, but not as much.  And comparing the two side by side, I realized that the luster was somewhat distracting on the Espon paper.

The Red River Ultra Pro Satin’s color reproduction was slightly more saturated than the Espon Luster, which I liked.  The Epson Luster had more red in skin tones, verus more yellow in the Red River.  Neither would be noticeable to most of us without comparing side by side.

Continue reading the review and comments here

Excepts rrom “The Digital Photography Companion’s Notes” Facebook page:


I’ve always had a fondness for luster finished papers and had been looking forward to trying Red River’s 75 lb Arctic Polar Luster. This was going to be a dual test actually, because I had a new HP Photosmart Pro B8850 printer sitting in my studio full of ink and ready to output. Why not test both at once?

I then loaded up the Artic Polar Luster and printed the same image. I compared both images to the picture on my calibrated Apple Cinema Display. The colors were almost identical in both prints to what I was seeing on the screen.

The 75 lb Artic Polar Luster was substantial and felt like artwork in the hands. I couldn’t set it down. And the finish is exactly what you’d expect from a premium luster stock: less reflection with rich tonality.

Read the entire post here

You can order the The Digital Photography Companion at Amazon.com

From the Digital Story posting:

I recently sampled the new Polar Pearl Metallic by Red River Paper, and I was very impressed by the image that emerged from my inkjet printer. So I thought it would be fun to sit down with Drew Hendrix, VP and evangelist for Red River, to get the inside scoop on the Metallic stock, his personal printing tips, and what we can expect in the future of personal printing.

Click to listen to the podcast