Iridient Developer 2.1 is a neat RAW processor. It’s not written by a big company but from quite a small one which makes it even more interesting to me (I love craftsmanship in a world of big industries). It is partly based on DCRAW (altought the developer claims to have an “original” demosaicing algorithm) and supports 400+ models of camera. The latest announced version, 2.1, published some days ago, promises a good support for the XTRANS sensors onboard the latest Fujifilm cameras, making use of Apple algorithm for the XTRANS files.
Having used mostly ACR (in Lightroom or in Photoshop) and giving the issues the latter have in processing properly X100S files (indeed not really mind-stopping) I’ve performed an analysis of this software based on the same image (first scene) of my latest comparison btw the X100 and the X100S. To complete the test I’ll be using other photographs and a more toughtful approach in part 2 of this review.

The question was pretty simple: can I have a better output from the X100S files using a different RAW processor (specifically IRIDIENT)? If YES, what is the cost of this choice in a Lightroom based workflow?

Of course I know there are also other options in the market being Aperture the biggest one. But somehow if there is a tools that does only one single thing, there are possibilities that this simple thing is done properly, don’t you agree?

So let’s start. I’ve simply downloaded IRIDIENT DEVELOPER and opened a file and started to record a 5 minutes long video. NEVER seen this application before. So the video is not “built” upon a script. This is why sometimes you’ll notice some lag watching it: it’s me thinking on what to do and slowly getting familiar with Iridient Developer. Why I did so? I wanted really to understand how simple is to use the software and how effective is the conversion for a first time user, using standard settings and just doing what (probably) a photographer would do on one image.

I’ve also use the video to keep track of the speed of the software on my “average” Macbook pro.

Let’s recap the actions performed on the RAF file of the Firstscene.

1

Openened the file. Noticed circa 11 sec on my quite fast Samsung SSD

2

Fast examination of the file. The colors are pleasant, a bit better then LR

3

Notice the histogram. Really different from LR. It allows up to 1024 levels and it's fully customizable. 
Looks better and more informative.

4

Turned on the highlight warning. Notices A LOT OF WARNING in my image compared to LR.

5

Played with highlight recovery. Not really convinced I needed it but I wanted to have my image 
"corrected" in terms of highglights according to IRIDIENT suggestions

6

Giving a look to the sharpening algorithm and compare the output of an unsharpened image with a 
sharpened one

7

Appreciate the effect of R-L deconvolution on this particular image. Sharp foliage but not 
OVER sharpened

8

Played with Lens profile. Nothing is found for the X100s

9

Givin a look to the white balance. It says 5.000K and, when I changed to daylight, nothing happend, 
it stayed on 5.000K (I was thinking it would have been grown to 5.600). Looks like IRIDIENT is a bit 
on the "cool" zone too, as the X100s is. The two Auto settings are explained in the manual but not very 
useful in this particular image. So I left everything as it was, also to have the possibility to 
compare images with ACR output.

10

Went to the dark part of the image, where the grass in in the shadow. Wow. Here the detail resolved seams 
much better then ACR, but I wanted to compare it with the same image processed in ACR 7.4 in photoshop.

11

I decided to write the output file. Circa 11 second to write on the Samsung SSD on my MAC and a huge 
(circa 90Mb) file size. TIFF 16bit. LR same size too.

12

Opened the RAF with ACR keeping all the standard settings. Checked only the highlight warning and I had 
it only in the cloud. BIG BIG difference from IRIDIENT, it is something that should be further investigated.

13

I put both the layers in Photoshop and and inspected the images. The shadow detail is much better 
retained in IRIDIENT DEVELOPER. Be sure the video is in HD mode to see the differences or check the two 
enclosed crops.

First conclusions

Promising. The level of details, linked to the R-L sharpening is better then ACR. I’ll be investigating more tweaking the settings and trying to get similar results with ACR. It would be interesting to her IRIDIENT feedback on some of the “strange” things (i.e. AWB, Highlight warning) I experienced.

Update: Brian Griffith, developer of IRIDIENT DEVELOPER, sent me a timely feedback to my remarks:

1) Regarding use of dcraw. At this point (been developing the software now for 8+ years) almost nothing is shared with dcraw any longer. Specifically with the X-trans files, absolutely nothing is used from dcraw at all. Still I like to give credit where credit is due and Dave Coffin’s open source efforts with dcraw were an important start to my software in the beginning.

2) Regarding white balance with the X-trans files, because these files go through Apple RAW libraries for conversion some things are very differently handled from most all RAW image processing in Iridient Developer. Apple’s RAW libraries demosaic the files, do initial color processing of the image, do some initial early stage noise reduction and apply default white balancing. Some of the Apple processing can be adjusted and/or disabled, for example I entirely disable Apple’s sharpening and use my own methods. I also fine tune the noise reduction amounts used though they cannot entirely be disabled and also color match to a wide gamut space that allows my own ICC color management and LAB adjustments to work with close to the original RAW image gamut, however Apple does do some initial color matching so I no longer have direct access to the original camera color data.

With all other RAW image formats I do my own custom demosaic processing, my own tone mapping (baseline exposure, contrast, white point, black point, etc), my own color processing (generally either ICC based camera profile and/or DNG camera profile used for initial color matching), my own white balancing (generally based on camera and/or manufacturer file metadata), my own noise reduction, my own sharpening and so on. With the Apple RAW conversion it is almost more like opening a standard image (TIFF, JPEG, etc) as a fair amount of the low level RAW processing is already handled.

So when an image is processed using the Apple RAW libraries in Iridient Developer it will come in as basically pre-white balanced, or neutral. I call this “daylight” or 5000K for temperature. The original image color temperature is likely not exactly 5000K. This is how TIFF or JPEG images are handled as well. There is no way to know the original color temperature after the files have been processed so the assumption is that they are daylight balanced,

You can still alter white balance after the fact, using the WB dropper or temp/tint sliders, but it is not quite like a RAW image that is processed through my own low level RAW processing stages where I still have direct access to the actual RAW image data with no processing applied whatsoever (other than what minimal processing the camera hardware may due prior to creating the RAW file).

3) Regarding highlights, most all RAW processors handle default exposure, contrast and tone mapping slightly differently. Also note that Adobe always color matches into a very wide gamut ProPhoto RGB based color space which will impact the amount of “blown” highlights as well. By adjusting base exposure, contrast and output color space you may be able to get a much closer match between Iridient Developer and ACR regarding blown highlights. With RAW there generally is a significant amount of highlight headroom and by adjusting exposure or highlight recovery you likely can recover most if not all “blown” highlights so the image data with RAW is often not hard clipped even when the highlight warnings are displayed.

Also note with the X-trans files as they currently always go through Apple’s RAW processing some exposure and contrast adjustment is already applied by the Apple processing which is different from most RAW images where the camera tone curve is under complete control of the user in Iridient Developer (see the Camera Curve pane).

Thank you Brian for your clarification. I’ll use your input for Part 2 of the review.

The post Processing X100S RAW with IRIDIENT DEVELOPER – Part 1 appeared first on The Visual Experience.

In an interview with www.puntodisvista.net Edward Rozzo speaks frankly about the self-centered and individualistic nature of Italian culture. A snippet from the interview:

I find that Italian students instinctively have a rigid habit. The system in which they are trapped since birth has too many filters. They are very good to discuss classical themes, but when you move on today and you ask them what they think, they remain mute. On the other hand I wonder: how do you train people if in the newspapers we see a uniform and embarrassing indifference? In my experience I’ve ever worked with gallerists who have told me: ‘I can not show this piece because Italians would not understand’, then you can also package a evolved product, but how to offer it if newspapers would not know how to use it and people cannot see it? We do not care to investigate the positive and negative spaces to express ideas on the society. I strongly believe in education because it allows the transmission of the tools you need to understand. But even this is not easy because of different ideologies. Today, after years of battles, I wonder what has been done for photography in Italy: is it particularly important at world level? No. It is important in Italy? No. People look at a photograph to understand herself, to understand the world? No. Who looks at the photo? A small small group of people who are interested. I repeat: I really believe in providing the tools to understand the art, but it is appropriate to take on an equal level, without overpowering, providing the public with the parameters that allow to become master of the subject with which he has to do.

The full interview is worth a read and can be seen online here, or can be downloaded in from here.

The post Edward Rozzo interview with PuntoDiSvista appeared first on The Visual Experience.

UPDATES Mat 15th:

• Testing X100S RAW with IRIDIENT DEVELOPER and ACR
• Some more thoughts on the conclusions based on readers feedbacks

Great time for photographers. Lot of possibilities, new (really capable cameras), 35mm chasing Medium Format, small cameras chasing 35 mm. As many of you may remember, I had always a particular interest in small cameras. Maybe because I first learnt how to use a camera with an old (and small) FED 4, maybe because, even if I’m not a street photographer, I like a camera always with me. And, along the last five years, the market has proposed interesting solutions. From the now venerable Panasonic LX3 (10Mpix 24-60 Leica lens) to the micro 4/3, to the new Fuji XPro up to the great Sony RX1 (at least in terms of output: I really don’t like the user interface). And, in between, the super SIGMA Foveon sensors of the DP Merrills, cameras capable of super detail rendering at the price of a sub-pair package in terms of speed and battery life.

When the Fuij X100 was first introduced I could not resist. It was a love at first sight kind of thing, perfect size, package and output quality. Yes, the camera had some drawback, partially solved by subsequent firmware releases, but the handling and output was great. I enjoyed it so much to bring it always with me, in all cases and travels. Over my latest journey to Florida I had only the X100 with me and really didn’t feel I needed anything more (was there in a really relaxed mood, for the opening of an exhibition in Miami).

Miami Beach - Fuji X100 - 1/500 f8 ISO200

So with the X100s updates, in terms of operational speed, autofocus, MANUAL focus, I decided to upgrade.

Now, you can read quite an enthusiastic feedback to this X100s if you browse the Internet. If you arrived to our website you probably already have already read the review by Zack Arias, David Hobby and Steve Huff. If not give a look to what they say (and, if you really have time) and then get back here.  Zack and David are really enthusiastic about the camera, they call it the new Leica. Steve is a bit more conservative but the general consensus is: WOW. My personal notes do not want to repeat what you can find already online. I pretty much subscribe most of the positive feedback around. I’ll focus more in this short text on how the camera compares with the X100 in terms of OUTPUT, given the new sensor and the hype all around regarding how this sensor RAW files are interpreted by ACR.

First contact

When I first got my new X100S I was disappointed. The gorgeous BIG box (that contained two boxes, one “luxurious” for the camera and a second for all the bit & pieces) of the X100 is gone. Now there is a very simple small box… So the presentation is subpar, a bit IKEA style in the sense of reducing logistic cost, but also more environment oriented. The camera is VERY similar to it’s predecessor. They just bettered it. The battery and memory door, for instance, works much better in the X100s… The spring is different. The commands too… The overall feeling is improved. Fujifilm is for sure a company that listen to photographers. Autofocus speed, Manual focus now usable: all true. Frankly speaking I was not THAT disappointed with the X100 autofocus since I used a lot to stay in hyperfocal using the handy scale you can find here and the AFL/AEL botton in manual focus. But on the 100s: wow. It’s always spot on. No differences from the 5d mk II. And the manual focus with the split screen is really good to. It doesn’t feel anymore “fly-by-wire” looks like you’re really working on the lens itself. Well done, Fuji.

The Output

Let ‘s immediately move to the output. The very first attempt and comparison were done in the WORST environment for the RAW issues of the XTrans chips: foliage. I went to my backyard (the day before a major grass cut) and took different images. No tripod (it was also a bit windy so the leaves were dancing) and perfect situation: these are “action” cameras and, by no mean, I intend to replicate the care people @ DPReview or Loyd Chamber use when setting up targets and comparing stuff. I wanted to see the differences in terms of general “feeling”, in terms of details and in terms of tonal response. I shooted in the same conditions for both cameras, just setting the aperture (curious to see if the EV was different) and in RAW+Standard JPG (Fine quality).

Then I put the results in Lightroom 4.4 that supports Fuji RAWS and has bettered, already from the latest Release Candidate, the way XTrans RAWS are interpreted. My evaluation is done on a NEC Spectraview calibrated monitor, so maybe you don’t come to my same conclusion or may have a different perspective on the results or see something different on your monitor since your browser is not color corrected. To avoid all I’ve uploaded all RAW and JPG file so feel free to play with the images yourself.

First scene: f/8 – DOWNLOAD JPG&RAW

(all set to the default values for each camera – no camera profile loaded on the X100). The cropped area are reported in the image in red and green. On purpose I didn’t dowsize the X100s image to 12Mpixel. Didn’t wat to have potential other software artifacts in the images.

The sensors difference (I would say “signature”) is pretty clear, even in this small size by size view.  The sky in the x100s is more cyan and there is a bigger amount of yellow in the grass. The rendering of the X100 is somehow softer, with the sky with a better tonal response. Of course one may work on the X100s tonal response to get something different, and I expect that the camera profile that sooner or later Adobe will publish will address those issues. Checking the files you’ll notice that the two cameras made different assumption on the color temperature. The AWB of the x100 decided for temp 5250/tint +12, while the X100S on 5100/tint +10. Just moving the temperature to the same X100 setting the sky gets better while the yellowish part of the image remains much more visible on the 100s.

Mid Center Crop (RED Area) – Despite of the bigger res the X100 is still ok. I don’t see particular artifacts on the RAW X100s image, also in other areas of the image so looks like ACR 7.4 is doing a good job here. The results from the X100s are, in my opinion, punchier, with a higher contrast, stronger blacks and less “gentle” color variation in the foliage.

x100s

x100

Green area on the Left part of the image. Here the X100 has some chromatic aberration that is NOT visible on the X100s. So the pairing lens-sensor works better on the x100s. Even enabling the camera profile for the x100 the CA is still evident. Even if they’re not exactly the same crop the better resolving power of the S is quite evident, but it would need sharpening. Don’t consider this crop as interesting from the optical evaluation on the lens: it’s not a “brick wall test”, and the performance sof the lens @ f8 are really fine on both cameras in terms of details. The area is also out of focus.

X100s

X100

JPG

For the Standard (provia) JPG maniacs here is the comparison of the JPG out-of-the-camera. WOW. Big difference. Not that much in the details, but more on the color. Look at the shadow of the tree. Really too much contrast in the x100s. I really prefer the X100 output more, even if I really don’t like to shoot JPG. Pixel-peepers pls download the files to play for other evaluations. To me the RAW are alway better and ACR did, in this image, a good job: it’s a matter of fine tuning and getting to know the new sensor for having out of the S very good results.

Second scene: f/2 – DOWNLOAD JPG&RAW

Even is still handheld I managed in this case to frame “better” the two images. I shoot @ 1/4000 that is not possible @f2 for these cameras. So discard the EXIF and consider f/2 1/1000. My comments on this scene: CA is really NOT present on the S, but it is, clearly visible on the x100. So maybe also the lens went trough some bettering process, or, as I already wrote above, the pair lens-sensor works better. Or…? Feel free to comment.  For the olive tree leaves the RAW engine in the X100s could still be a bit bettered, I find the rendering of the X100 a bit better. Also in this case the AWB gave different results. Interesting, indeed. And, as already noted, more contrasty images on the X100s. The JPG, for those interested are also enclosed in the package. The X100s is a bit too fake (no sky so blue), the X100 a bit too washed out but more similar to the reality.

The bottom line

There is a different “signature” in the rendering of the two cameras. Easy consideration given Bayer vs XTrans. One may like more the X100 or the S look. It’s clear that the S wins in terms of speed and of pure “resolutions” even if the ACR engine has, in my opinion, still room for enhancements. The XTRANS is for sure a new beast to learn in terms of post processing. The differences in tonal response and look may create some “lovers” of a look over another. JPG output is for me better in the X100, in terms of color. I don’t like the punchy tones of the X100s, especially for landscapes.

The general feeling that I have is that now my every-day photo tools is REALLY capable, fast, accurate. Usability is very important and this is why I find the Fuji approach the most appealing for somebody coming from a long term photographic experience. The OVF was my first selling point on the X100 and this one is improved (all the overlay info are now visible better also in bright light). Sunday I had some time to make some casual shot. No adjustment in terms o sharpness, some tweaking with Silver Exef for the B&W. In general I found again in the latest photographs of this small article the AWB of the X100s too “cold”, hitting very often 5100 rather then the full “daylight” settings. Check out some additional comments under each photograph. For me, this is great value for money, with the X100 still being an excellent choice.

Added on May 15h – Just to be clear. The standard output of the X100S is generally punchier then the one of the X100. It needs more working on the RAW to obtain colors and results of first class. But overall the sensor has better detail and there is room for improvements using other RAW processors (see www.thevisualexperience.org/web/processing-x100s-raw-with…). A the end results are generally better then X100 at the price of more post processing.

x100s - Had to adjust the Color Balance

No adjustment, no further sharpening necessary on most of the X100s.  The details is very good

Dynamic Range is superb. You can pull out a lot from the shadow

Added a Skylight filter. The Looks like the camera is very "blue" oriented...

Silver Efex on the RAW: the B&W capabilities of the X100s are really good

Had to tweak (desaturate) a bit the color of the sky. The original was too "punchy" for my taste.

Another B&W with Silver Efex

No PP, out of the camera.

The blue was too artificial. Had to desaturate here too.

Great lens as usual. You can shot against the sun with no flares and good contrast.

As above. Against the sun

The 3D look of the Fuji is maintained in this sensor.

Great detail.

Pulling the shadows 1.

Really pulling the shadows. The details of the rock are incredible. This sensors has an incredible dynamic range.

The post Fujifilm X100 vs X100s appeared first on The Visual Experience.

In this interesting video, recordered @ TED, a 31 years old guy, named Cesar Kuriyama, speaks about is project “One second every day”. He decided to record, form a personal perspective (read: what he actually sees), 1 second of his life every day, including not just fancy and nice things he did but also bad moments.

The result, that is embedded in the TED speach, is somehow confusing but also interesting. A timeline of somebody else, put together in a sequence, including audio, is something “useful” for the author himself (who honestly claims that he’s doing it just for him to avoid forgetting his life) but somehow interesting also for the viewer. Mentally I tried to reconstruct that 1 second of his life, looking to the faces, the places, the activities. And I started to think about the reasons pushing a young man to remember his life, and it’s moments. And, of course, I found myself thinking to the relationship between this “video” activity and photography, where this kind of personal projects are quite common. What’s the difference between 1 second of video and 1/125 of second? A still image vs nearly a “long exposure” in photographic terms? He can do this, and theoretically everybody today can do this because we have these HD capable smartphones. If you look at the process itself of recording and selecting there is TIME needed to carry on a project like this. Cesar himself says that he take more the 1 second (3/4) and he has to choose that single one that he likes. So, as all photographers normally do, he actually “edits” his collection of seconds. Don’t know if he does it every day, but to me this type of “collecting memory” process is quite hard to be mainteined. More then capturing a single photographs a day. So I think that he ends up remembering his life also for the TIME he needs to dedicate to this project, selecting the “right second”, storing it, putting it in a timeline. Not really sure about the real value of an operation like this. It helps memory, as also photography has always done, but would you do this? Do we really need to remember this way or, maybe, some still images are just enough to trigger our memories without taking too much time of our present to remember the past?

The post 1 Second or 1/125 of Life? appeared first on The Visual Experience.

Today I got on my physical mailbox two nice gifs. The annual collection of the magazine “Gente di Fotografia” and the book Medic, by Jennifer B Hudson, edited by Photolucida.
Now you may probably ask yourself the relationship, beside the fact that they arrived together, between some magazines and a book. There is, infact, a relationship. Not only because they’re both publications (phyisical paperworks) on photography. But simply because Gente di Fotografia is NOT a magazine: it’s a photography book published every three months. The selection of authors and content is remarkable (you may read an online preview here) and the magazione is practically ads free. But there is more. Gente di Fotografia is magnificent in terms of paper and print quality. Well, you may say that the fact that Italians are great printers is well known. But to find such a superb quality in a magazine is, frankly speaking, quite rare. My judgment comes not only from a comparison with similar publication and books, but expecially from the fact that, having had the pleasure to publish with Gente di Fotografia one of my most difficult works, from a chromatic perspective, I can say that their rendering of colors is at the edge of what is possible to expect from industrial printing. I should also add that from 2009, when I published SIMULACRA, things have also bettered: ticker paper, better binding. So, in comparison, the book “Medic”, interesting for the photographs it contains and as concept, “disappears” – in terms of print and quality – when compared to Gente di Fotografia.

If we add that Medic, 16×16 cm, 48 pages,  20 illustrations costs  40 USD, I can for sure conclude that Gente di Fotografia, 130 pages, 21x19cm, @ 14 Euro, is, between the two arrivals of today THE gift.

In this world too much digital, a subscription to Gente di Fotografia is certanely something to consider seriously, also to sustain an effort that, as I wrote above, is payed only by subscribers and nearly ads-free.

Joakim Eskildsen The roma journeys – number 50
Tomàs Munita – number 52

The post Gente di Fotografia appeared first on The Visual Experience.

Other date for this workshop: June 2013

With the simplification of photographic equipment, becoming a photographer has become more complex.
Finding artistic or professional expression through photography has become a confusing adventure. Cameras and processes have become homogenized. Everyone is taking the same photograph. In focus, well exposed and well framed images are within the reach of anyone with a camera. It is more and more difficult to emerge, to have a vision, to have an identity.

With over twenty years of teaching experience, we have created a new foundation for teaching photography. We have based our workshops on visual knowledge and cultural understanding. From how to use your digital equipment to be more than an enlightened consumer to seeing into the depths of visual meaning, this workshop will give you a new foundation for creating imagery.
We want you to be an image-thinker as well as an image-maker.

Whether you’re a lover of photography who has rarely created images or a working pro needing to rethink his or her stylistic growth, our Visual Foundation Workshop is a perfect start. We want you to view technology not as an obstacle but as an expressive means of creation. We will couple our actions with in-depth analysis and semiotics, using them as keys of knowledge to help you grow.

To build you need a foundation. To create, you need one as well.

Our Visual Foundation Workshop, designed especially for photographers and advanced amateurs, is just that, a new foundation. Come and see how thinking and doing can change the way you do both and how you can bring new understanding to your photography.

Three full days to change the way you see and the way you understand imagery: daily informal meetings, lectures, shootings and analysis.

Tutor

Massimo Cristaldi.

Massimo:

Massimo Cristaldi was born in Catania (Italy) in 1970. His professional career started in 1994. After receiving a degree in Geology, he began managing international research projects. Art is the environment he grew up in and photography was the way he set his creative side free. The driving concern of his work is focused on traces that man and time carve over nature and things, representing, in particular, effects and signs on “what remains”.
He has won various international and national awards such as the International Photography Awards 2008, 2009 and 2010, the B&W Spider Awards 2008 and 2009, the Photography Masters Cup 2008, the Travel Photographers Of the Year 2008 and the Prix de Photographie de Paris 2009.
Massimo is represented by Galleries in the USA, Belgium, France, UK and Italy. He lives and works both in Catania and Rome. Massimo’s photographs are part of the permanent collection of the George Eastman House, International museum of photography and Film in Rochester, NY (USA).

Where

The workshop will take place in an old countryside “borgo” in Sicily, not far form Catania. In the Nature, to learn an also for a small, peculiar, holiday. Contact us to get more details on the workshop location.

What

What will be do in practice? We’ll be shooting (street, landscapes, details – we are located in a place where there are many photographic possibilities to develop a personal project), analyzing, thinking and reviewing. We’ll be talking more about concepts and less about techniques. We’ll be focusing on subject matters and projects statements rather then megapixels. This is supposed to help you developing a new vision and bring back to you a personal perspective of Sicily.

Price

1.200,00 per person

Accommodation

You will sleep and eat at the Borgo. Accomodation is included in the price. Food and transfers are NOT included. Contact us for details on accommodation, transfers and other logistic amenities.

We will speak at this Workshop

We expect an international audience. We will also speak Italian.

Agenda

Aug, 22 – late afternoon, after 17.00 – Arrival at location welcome and overview

• Themes and topics
• Thinking Images
• Producing fine images and projects

Aug, 23 – 1st day – Learning to see, going out with the tutors

• Thinking an image
• The importance of light
• Understanding metering and creative choices
• Subject isolation and use of perspectives
• Recap and review/ images critique
• Intro to basic post processing (based on Lightroom)

Aug, 24 – 2nd day – A photographic project

• From one image to a project: the vision
• Photography and storytelling
• Defining a personal project: the style
• Writing a project statement: image thinking
• Developing a photographic Styile

Aug, 25 – 3rd day – 1 day out shooting my Sicily Project

• Shooting the project: image making
• Be aligned to the statement
• Escape from it finding new subject matters
• Putting the resulting photographs in a coherent series of 30 shots
• Reviewing and discussing

The post Visual Foundation Workshop in Sicily: 22-25Aug 2013 appeared first on The Visual Experience.

Other date for this workshop: August 2013

With the simplification of photographic equipment, becoming a photographer has become more complex.
Finding artistic or professional expression through photography has become a confusing adventure. Cameras and processes have become homogenized. Everyone is taking the same photograph. In focus, well exposed and well framed images are within the reach of anyone with a camera. It is more and more difficult to emerge, to have a vision, to have an identity.

With over twenty years of teaching experience, we have created a new foundation for teaching photography. We have based our workshops on visual knowledge and cultural understanding. From how to use your digital equipment to be more than an enlightened consumer to seeing into the depths of visual meaning, this workshop will give you a new foundation for creating imagery.
We want you to be an image-thinker as well as an image-maker.

Whether you’re a lover of photography who has rarely created images or a working pro needing to rethink his or her stylistic growth, our Visual Foundation Workshop is a perfect start. We want you to view technology not as an obstacle but as an expressive means of creation. We will couple our actions with in-depth analysis and semiotics, using them as keys of knowledge to help you grow.

To build you need a foundation. To create, you need one as well.

Our Visual Foundation Workshop, designed especially for photographers and advanced amateurs, is just that, a new foundation. Come and see how thinking and doing can change the way you do both and how you can bring new understanding to your photography.

Three full days to change the way you see and the way you understand imagery: daily informal meetings, lectures, shootings and analysis.

Tutors

Edward Rozzo and Massimo Cristaldi. Being two, tutors will be closer to each individuals needs.

Edward:

Born in New York in 1947, after studying photojournalism and television at Boston University’s School of Public Communications, Edward Rozzo received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in contemporary photography at the Rhode Island School of Design under Harry Callahan in 1970. He moved to Italy in the early 70s where he established himself for over 30 years photographing people, places and processes for company profiles throughout North America and Europe.
Over the last twenty-five years Rozzo has combined his professional career with an intense educational involvement, conducting workshops and seminars both in Italy as well as in Europe. From 1982 till 1984 he was called upon by the director of the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan to create and implement the ambitious program Brera Fotografia. For four years he held the chair for Photographic Studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Bergamo, for nine years he was director of the largest university level course for photographic studies in Italy at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan and for two years conducted managerial seminars at the Arthur Watson IBM Centre for management in Bruxelles. For the past eight years he has been visiting professor at the Ecole Superieur d’Arts Applique’ in Vevey, Switzerland where he teaches Retail Semiotics and Visual Merchandising and since 2004 has been Teaching Associate of Visual Culture at Universita Bocconi in Milan.

Massimo:

Massimo Cristaldi was born in Catania (Italy) in 1970. His professional career started in 1994. After receiving a degree in Geology, he began managing international research projects. Art is the environment he grew up in and photography was the way he set his creative side free. The driving concern of his work is focused on traces that man and time carve over nature and things, representing, in particular, effects and signs on “what remains”.
He has won various international and national awards such as the International Photography Awards 2008, 2009 and 2010, the B&W Spider Awards 2008 and 2009, the Photography Masters Cup 2008, the Travel Photographers Of the Year 2008 and the Prix de Photographie de Paris 2009.
Massimo is represented by Galleries in the USA, Belgium, France, UK and Italy. He lives and works both in Catania and Rome. Massimo’s photographs are part of the permanent collection of the George Eastman House, International museum of photography and Film in Rochester, NY (USA).

Where

The workshop will take place in an old countryside “borgo” in Sicily, not far form Catania. In the Nature, to learn and also for a small, peculiar, holiday. Contact us to get more details on the workshop location.

What

What will we do in practice? We’ll be shooting (street, landscapes, details – we are located in a place where there are many photographic possibilities to develop a personal project), analyzing, thinking and reviewing. We’ll be talking more about concepts and less about techniques. We’ll be focusing on subject matters and projects statements rather then megapixels. This is supposed to help you developing a new vision and bring back to you a personal perspective of Sicily.

Price

1.200,00 per person

Accommodation

You will sleep and eat at the Borgo. Accomodation is included in the price. Food and transfers are NOT included. Contact us for details on accommodation, transfers and other logistic amenities.

We will speak at this Workshop

We expect an international audience. We will also speak Italian.

Agenda

June, 27 – late afternoon, after 17.00 – Arrival at location welcome and overview

• Themes and topics
• Thinking Images
• Producing fine images and projects

June, 28 – 1st day – Learning to see, going out with the tutors

• Thinking an image
• The importance of light
• Understanding metering and creative choices
• Subject isolation and use of perspectives
• Recap and review/ images critique
• Intro to basic post processing (based on Lightroom)

June, 29 – 2nd day – A photographic project

• From one image to a project: the vision
• Photography and storytelling
• Defining a personal project: the style
• Writing a project statement: image thinking
• Developing a photographic Styile

June, 30 – 3rd day – 1 day out shooting my Sicily Project

• Shooting the project: image making
• Be aligned to the statement
• Escape from it finding new subject matters
• Putting the resulting photographs in a coherent series of 30 shots
• Reviewing and discussing

The post Visual Foundation Workshop in Sicily: 27- 30 June 2013 appeared first on The Visual Experience.

2012 brought a number of important products on the market, offering a bunch of news revitalizing the whole sector. Of course, all this activity (170 new models until 2012, so far) often increases the difficulty of choice in the world of digital cameras. This article is a reasoned summary of the various options that are offered today to the professional and the advanced enthusiast, novelty that in some cases are able to put in doubt what has already been purchased in the light of new capabilities, versatility and image quality.

We believe this year will be remembered for the consolidation of a range of cameras with DSLR capabilities (and outputs) but with reduced physical dimensions. Excluding micro four thirds, born around 2009 and consolidated in recent years both in terms of performance and shutter speed, the 2012 revolution was the increasing tendency to put sensors in physically smaller camera bodies similar to the first Leicas M. This is the main news of 2012, sometimes declined in a “classic” sense of revival of the past (Fujifilm) sometimes in a technological and futuristic sense with touch screens (Sony NEX), up to smartphones disguised as cameras with OS Android (Samsung Galaxy CAM).

On the side of the DSLR, Nikon D800 and D800E were certainly the big news, with an effective resolution until recently possible only medium format bodies, while Canon 6D and Nikon D600 have brought digital reflex under the psychological threshold of 2,000 euro. What follows here is, in our opinion, the menu of choices for this year, starting in reverse order, from the last announced camera to the older one. It’is a list of 20 models to choose from depending on your needs. All models are able to produce good pictures, despite the inherent limitations related to costruttutive choices and their price range. A “dynamic” list with no intention to be exhaustive, but that is the choice of our team of photographers..

Nikon 1 v2

The declination for fans of Nikon 1 J2. Made around a 14Mpixel sensor, with optics of Nikon 1 series. We do not like the 1-inch sensor, but the camera can be interesting for fans.

Leica M Typ 240

The new Leica M, with renewed 24Mpixel sensor, liveview and electronic viewfinder. A reference point for the brand, but also a camera that winks at new products of other competitors. For professionals who look  with interest to the hybridization of an “old” concept.

Leica M-E Typ 220

Without the frills of 240, but with a renewed sensor compared to M9. For professionals traditionally linked to the brand of Wetzlar.

Olympus PEN E-PL5 e E-PM2

Good performance cheaply. The fifth evolution of cameras based on the Micro Four Thirds sensor, in an intermediate size between the large OM-D EM-5 and the small E-PM2. With an articulated rear display. For beginners wanting a small and portable camera.

Canon EOS 6D

Something between 5D mkII and 5D mkIII. Sensor updated but with a traditional (and not very fast) autofocus. Economic for a “semi-pro” body, good for an advanced enthusiast or as a second body for a professional photographer.

Nikon D600

The direct competitor of the 6D, but with higher resolution and rear display a bit bigger. Interesting for anyone who has not been attacted by the resolution of the D800. As for the 6D, for the advanced enthusiast or second body for professional.

Sony Alpha NEX-6

The high-tech variation of the mid-size camera with interchangeable lenses. Big sensor, good quality but too “Japanese” for our tastes. For the enthusiast technologist. 16 Mpixel against 24 of the NEX-7.

Sony SLT-A99

The Sony competitor of EOS-6D and Nikon D600. Interesting its video features. For the enthusiast that makes video and owns Sony lenses.

Sony RX1

The “low-tech” model (from the point of view of interface) of NEX. 35 mm fixed, sensor of the SLT-A99, high quality, price around 2000 €. Somehow the competitor, technically most titled of the Fujifilm X100. For professional who wants an additional body that would compete with a Leica M + a 35 summicron, at a fraction of the price.

Samsung Galaxy Camera 4

We present here only as an interesting technology object, we had no way to test it live. As smartphones have gradually evolved into cameras so this camera uses the OS Androids. It has everything except the phone, so photosharing, wifi etc.

Canon EOS M

Given the trend towards the world of the small cameras, Canon could not fail to respond. Here, then, a nearly compact with interchangeable lenses and adapters for EF lenses. We are not fully convinced but it will be interesting for fans of the brand.

Panasonic DMC-LX7

The only real quality compact camera of our selection 2012. Starting from the lucky LX3, passing through the LX5, this series of small cameras offers excellent quality and speed. Of course, the small sensor can not be miraculous, but the quality is acceptable for a generalistic use.

Leica M-Monochrom

A camera of great charm and bravery. We have dedicated an entire article here on The Visual Experience. For purists of black and white. Large dynamic range, little noise.

Canon EOS-1D C

We report in our list for its ability to shoot footage at 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels). Interesting for those who use the DSLR for quality video. For advanced videographers who still photograph.

Sigma DP1 Merril e DP2 Merrill

With Foveon sensor, not fast in shooting but with a surprising output quality. These cameras are for those who want the image quality above all in a compact body. The difference between the two lies in the focal length of the optics fixed mounted, respectively 28 and 45 mm.

Olympus OM-D E-M5

The “big” between the micro four thirds, with the same commands of the glorious OM, with an output quality comparable to a DSLR. For enthusiasts who want to be serious about photography.

Pentax Optio WG-2 GPS

The second “compact” of our selection is a camera for an “extreme” use, equipped with GPS. For anyone who wants to photograph in “extreme” conditions without the risk of breaking cameras.

Nikon D800/D800E

A camera that sets the standard of high resolution in 2012, allowing Nikon to take a step forward compared to Canon. So much has been written of the D800 and we do not feel to add anything else, if not to recommend it to professional who needs large prints. Waiting for Canon response, hopefully next year.

Fujifilm X-Pro1

Great quality, excellent usability. We have already spoken of this camera here on The Visual Experience. Recommended for enthusiasts and professionals who are looking for quality and usability from the great tradition of the past.

Our choices

Nikon D800 between DSLR. Fujifilm X-Pro1 between the mid-size cameras with interchangeable lenses. Sony RX1 between cameras with fixed optics, but also the Sigma for competitive price and quality of output . Panasonic LX7 between the compact. And Pentax to bring on the snow for Christmas.

The post 2012 Digital Cameras: The Visual Experience selection appeared first on The Visual Experience.

We’re glad do announce our workshop in April : Photo travel in Marrakech, with Mehdi Chafik and Massimo Cristaldi.

This five-day workshop will be conducted in Marrakesh, Morocco. Known in the world also thanks to the homonym movie, the city is shaped by its colonial history, economical & business growth and especially by the diversity of inhabitants.

This workshop focuses on a critical documentary-like approach of photography. The participant photographer will be able to identify social issues of existing subjects and have a window on a social reality.

During the workshop you will be photographing on the streets of Marrakesh and documenting its ever-changing social inner or outer landscape, creating images that get to the heart of a moment, a person and a situation. Your images will be discussed during the workshop. Visual presentations and discussions will provide an overview of documentary photography, as well as references for further exploration.

The aim of the workshop is for the participant to produce a short visual essay that creates a feeling of curiosity, attention and reflects a deeper and intimate understanding of a person, a community or situation. Subjectivity and approach are important for the individual style since a personal point of view is key for creating an impact on the project.

The presence of a Moroccan photographer in the Visual Experience team will help the group to get closer to the locals, and to discover part of the cities not well known to the regular tourist.

Thus the workshop is not only a documentary photography course but also an unparallel opportunity to discover one of the most vibrant cities of North Africa.

Agenda

DAY 1 – Welcome breakfast

Mehdi & Massimo will talk about their work and how they approach subject matter and the role of subjectivity & self consciousness in producing images.
One to one discussion and portfolio reviews
Introduction to the subjects matter that every photographer will be covering during the next days

DAY 2
Morning – 
The participants engage and start working on producing their project. This will involve photographing on location. While the work is being carried out, Mehdi & Massimo will be visiting the photographers to guide , advise and help resolve any issues whether technical , logistical or conceptual .

Afternoon – Mehdi & Massimo meet with the participants to review and discuss the progress of their respective projects.

DAY 3 

Morning – Follow to day two , the participants continue with the production of the project. This is a good opportunity to act on the feedback from the previous session time and get more focused on the subject matter. While the work is being carried out, Mehdi & Massimo will be visiting the photographers to guide , advise and help resolve any issues whether technical , logistical or conceptual .
Afternoon – Mehdi & Massimo meet with the participants to review the projects. First editing on laptops. By the end of the session the participants will have a better idea of what direction they will take and images they will need to produce.

DAY 4 

Morning – Follow to day three, the participants continue with the production of the project. This is a good opportunity to act on the feedback from the previous sessions and time and produce those last images to finish the project. While the work is being carried out, Mehdi & Massimo will be visiting the photographers to guide , advise and help resolve any issues whether technical , logistical or conceptual .
Afternoon – Mehdi meets with the participants to review the projects final editing and preparation for the next days presentation.

DAY 5 

Morning – Presentation of the individual projects to the rest of the group and guests . Feedback will be giving under the form of an open discussion. Free time for enjoying the town.
Farewell dinner

Languages

The post Photo travel in Marrakech – 1-5 April 2013 appeared first on The Visual Experience.

(c) Marianne Boutrit
Inzago, iPhone4, 2011

I read, with my usual enjoyment, one of Joerg Colberg’s latest articles entitled “An Addendum: Welcome to the faith-based community!”. What struck me about this article was Colberg’s distinction about people wanting to believe in the proposed reality of a photograph, such as family portraits or individual ones, as an acceptance of the better me or better us we see in the photograph as opposed to the more flawed one we see every day in the mirror. This photographic propaganda, as Colberg calls it, is a psychological necessity in our desire to see ourselves better and happier than we usually feel within the daily contradictions of life.

This touches, I think, another aspect about contemporary digital imagery which has been discussed but not linked to the same origins. I’m speaking about the common tendency with camera and smart-phone apps to turn any image into an older looking one. These filters, which many detest as distorting real photography, are no more than a series of modifications which add history and a popular sense of art to even the most banal image. I believe that people overly use these filters because they want to add depth and prestige to their images and, consequentially, to their experience. By making an image appear older, I am actually changing its origins and projecting those origins into my past. In times of change, the past is continually romanticized in order to compensate for the deep anxieties of the present.

This desire for nostalgia, which is filtered onto so many images pertaining to memory or souvenirs (snap-shots), is evidence of our needs for roots long lost.

(c) Narrating ourselves:
Keliy Anderson-Staley
'Miguel' Collodion process, 2007

Translated simply, many people desire to make history about their own experience in order to give it some meaning. In the same way, professional portraits, or practically any portrait of ourselves we decide to keep, are another contribution to the fiction of our personal narratives.

As Anthony Giddens remarked over twenty years ago in his Modernity and Self-Identity,

A person’s identity is not to be found in behavior, nor – important though this is – in the reactions of others, but in the capacity to keep a particular narrative going. The individual’s biography… must continually integrate events which occur in the external world and sort them into the ongoing story about the self.

So while people invent who they are for themselves by gathering evidence through photography that they are happily married and with the click of a few buttons they can add on historic significance, if not artful meaning, to the experiences in which they are protagonists (from taking a trip to anywhere to visiting the Louvre), that, I believe, is the jump of faith which both portraiture and vintage filters offer to our eyes and our sense of self. Colberg has pointed out the question of portraiture and I’d like to add the over-use of vintage filters both in cameras, on smart-phones or in computer programs. Both of these ways of using photography show our mundane experiences as historical events that took place in our recent or deep past. Our jump of faith is related to the fact that neither are real. But in our cross-platform society, where everyone and anyone is publicized, glamorized and fictionalized, we all have to somehow be in the picture. In reality, we’re simply constructing the narrative of ourselves.

The post Self Narrative appeared first on The Visual Experience.