Printer colour profiling.

Printer used: Canon MG5250

Colour profiling device: 

For this assessment task, I chose the following two paper types:

•    Kodak matte 200 g/m2

•    Epson Gloss 190 g/m2

Once the test-target swatches were printed, I needed to scan them with a special device so it could configure a profile for me to save.

This is a rather slow manual process, but it is also worth doing in order to maintain accurate colour reproduction in relation to what I would see on a colour calibrated monitor. After all that's what it's all about right..

Anyway, once I had created and saved the printer profile I was then able to compare it (by way of a virtual graph) on the computer's monitor to see what colours were being represented (printed) and which colours weren't.

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Now... there are many factors involved with correct colour, to be honest it is almost impossible to get everything absolutely correct, but as mentioned before, worth giving it your best shot. Factors like paper is the first issue that can alter the way we see (perceive) colour. 

•    The paper might have a slight colour cast to it. For example a gloss paper might be slightly bluer than the matte paper, which has a more warm (yellow or red) cast to it.

•    The fact that more of the ink on the gloss paper is also sitting closer to the top of the paper's construction than the ink on the matte paper, which has seeped ever so slightly further down into the paper will affect the richness/saturation of colour by upsetting the light waves ever so slightly to cause a haze in relation to how the light reflects of the pigments. Crazy huh ':|

The other simple fact that how colour is reproduced comes down to whether or not the colour is REFLECTED or PROJECTED. This means is the colour projected as artificial light from an electronic signal or is it actually reflected light from minute amounts of manufactured ink that has been slightly absorbed into a sheet of paper and/or other surface - and that's even before we start to question the colour temperature of the light source cast upon the paper or the ambient light within the room we are viewing each of the two examples.

So to summarise, it is something very important to be aware of and at the same time, something almost impossible to perfect.

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The following images are screen-shots of colour profiles being compared with one another.

Adobe RGB v Printer

Monitor v Printer

D.

Monitor calibration - FINAL.

Okay, so after performing my original two monitor calibrations a few weeks back, i have just performed a final calibration for this semester.

It is an easy process to perform. However i struck the same problem as I had last time where the monitor kept asking me to add more RED when the red was actually already at 100% value. All i could do here was drop the BLUE and GREEN values which subsiquently allowed me to bring down the RED and then begin to re-balance the three values all over again from scratch. I managed to get the values quite close.

Here are a few screen-grabs.

 

Finally, the following screen-shots represents both the EIZO monitor profile and my macbook pro profile combined as a 3D model overlay.

Keeping in mind that the EIZO monitor is able to cover the full gamut of the AdobeRGB colour space - this 3D model, consisting of LAB factors, clearly shows where my macbook pro monitor lacks colour reproduction - especially in the aqua/blues and magenta zones.

Stiched Image - original idea.

Below is a sample of what i originally had ready to submit as my stitched panorama, which i thought was quite a good image for a first attempt, but after some feedback, it was decided that i should try achieve a better result.

An 8-shot merged panorama image of the 2013 Canberra Balloon
Festival, captured from my apartment building in Braddon.

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Stitched Image - Final image.

I enjoyed this assessment task.


Researching the fundamentals of panoramic photography during and after class certainly allowed me to approach such a task with confidence in both myself and the equipment i was using. Planning the shot a few days before also helped. Being presented with such nice afternoon light was just a bonus.

The following images show and explain the steps i went through:

The 10 exposures taken on my Canon 60D and 24mm tilt-sfit lens
attached to a panoramic tripod head were selected and opened with
Photoshop's built-in photo-merge feature.

I selected the CYLINDRICAL and VIGNETTE REMOVAL options
available in the window prior to the rendering process of photo-
merge kicks in.

Here is the result of the merged 10 photographs open in Photoshop.
From here i put all of the original layers into a folder that i named
ORIGINALS - i then created a merged, flattened version of all the
layers to another separate layer in order to start making
enhancements.

Then it was simply a matter of boosting the overall impact of the
image by adding a number of adjustment layers. I am quite happy
with the final result - especially considering it was my first rea
attempt at doing image this big. I also had to WARP the shape of
the light-house a bit to getting it looking correct.

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High Dynamic Range - Final result.

Okay, so after  my first initial tests and some feedback, i managed to capture another collection of bracketed exposures ready for HDR processing.

Here is how i went about things.

The three bracketed exposures (-2, correct and +2) were selected
and opened with Photoshop's built-in HDR-Pro feature.

HDR Pro gives a sufficient level of adjustments. It is not a precise as
PHOTOMATIX, but will produce a solid result for most people.

 

After a few minor tweaks to the available adjustments in Photoshop's
HDR Pro - it then opened a flattened single image into the main
Photoshop interface. I then proceeded to make perspective
corrections, masked out some annoying leaves and cropped in
on the duplicated version of the original image layer.

Finally, once everything was looking correct in the frame I added a
LEVELS adjustment layer to boost some life into what was a
pretty dull original image.

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High Dynamic Range processing - First tests.

(26-03-2013)

I had the chance last week to shoot a few bracketed exposures ready for processing in the software application PHOTOMATIX as well as Photoshop's inbuilt HDR-Pro feature, as part of our High Dynamic Range (HDR) assignment.

It has been an interesting process for me, because HDR is something that i was familiar with, yet i had not attempted to experimented with it until now - and i reckon i like it!

I tested both my Canon 60D and Fujifilm Xpro1 to see how they both recorded the scenes dynamic range as a single capture, as well as to see how well PHOTOMATIX handled the files and how much i could get out of the combined images.

The Xpro1 produced the better result of the two cameras, no doubt about that.


Fujifilm Xpro1

The result of my Xpro1 testing.
Quite awesome i reckon!

Canon 60D

The result produced by PHOTOSHOP.

The result produced by PHOTOMATIX.

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IMAGING TECHNIQUES - presentation.

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The relationship between FILTERS and ADJUSTMENT LAYERS. (Analogue -vs- Digital)
 

Photographic filters were being used long before our current digital medium. With modern software programs such as Adobe Photoshop becoming an almost fundamental part of our photographic practice these days, colour filters and special effects are now more often than not added during post production on a computer, instead of in the field whilst composing the shot and battling the elements.

However, relying on computer software won’t necessarily improve your skill as a photographer, unless you know the principles of it all. So instead of just taking a photo, uploading it to your computer and then going up, down and side to side with all those adjustment sliders in front of you, praying for some sort of magic to happen, consider developing your understanding of the relationship between analogue filters and digital adjustment layers in order to improve your photographic creativity with purpose and good intent. Not only will it improve your workflow, but also strengthen the overall result.

I don’t have time today to explain it thoroughly to you, but certainly encourage you to research it further should you find it interesting and of value to your photographic practice or digital workflow.

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ANALOGUE 
With analogue, one or more filters are attached to the front of a lens in order to ‘adjust’ what the sensor (or film) within your camera records.

DIGITAL 
With digital, you add one or more layers to ‘adjust’ how the image already recoded by your camera image will display.

So it’s all basically the same thing, but in reverse.

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A big disadvantage of graduated filter used in front of the camera out in the field is that the transition area, no matter how much you fine-tune its position, can and will often overlap areas of the scene that you do not want it to. That is where the additional control and fine-tuning of digital post-processing comes in.

The digital graduate filter also allows for instant feedback oh how the scene is being affected. This allows for control of colour and which areas of the scene should or should not have the effect/s applied.

Both analogue and digital versions allow for colour transparency to happen, the simple fact is that it is far better controlled digitally.

Another big advantage, for photographers, is the fact that thanks to continued advancements in post production software, we no longer need to carry around quite as much extra gear as was once required - unless you still want to.

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PHOTOSHOP

The following images are screen-shots from my process of rescuing the sky in this image as well as a few little extra adjustments used to boost the overall appeal. The red dots are indicators to points of interest with each step. I have not specified every single bit of information, but in saying this, I am happy to give further details in my presentation to class.

This is the digital negative opened up in Photoshop. As you can see,
the sky is over-exposed and the foreground is under-exposed.

In this image, a GRADUATED FILTER adjustment layer has
been digitally added over the sky (only) from top to bottom as an
attempt to replicate the affect a true graduated filter - had it been
attached to the front of a lens. Not a lot has changed in this image.

In this image, I have added a SPECIAL technique that I learnt at a
recent workshop with Dr Les Walkling. It is a crazy technique that
produces some dramatic improvements to the image (overall) and
helps to bring back some three-dimensionality.

In this image, a CURVES adjustment layer has been added over the
entire image and then a layer mask was added so that the curves
adjustments only affect sky. Colour is now quite present.

In this image, a LEVELS adjustment layer has been added over the
entire image to increase the overall exposure, which I feel
completes the photograph.

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Reference

The Complete Photography Book - Imagine Publishing Ltd. Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill Boutemouth Dorset BH2 6EZ Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk

Better Photoshop Techniques - a special interest magazine published by Better Publishing Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 5455, Chitttaway Bay, NSW Australia.