Italy Photographic Journal

by EveNSteve

AudioBlog Logo

I decided to keep a quick audio journal on my recent photographic trip to Italy. Each day recording is around 2 or 3 minutes long, with thoughts on light, travel and places visited as well as on what worked and what didn’t. Also see the snapshots below of places mentioned in the audio, as well as yours truly in Rome… note the well traveled BBB2 (also note how the flash is illuminating the reflective panel… this level of safety is really nice in a city like Rome with its somewhat questionable driving regulations!)

Viva la Revolution! –  Stephen

Kodak Ektar 100 Now in 120!

by EveNSteve

kodakektar120When you have a great product run with it! Kodak has just announced the release of Kodak Ektar 100 in 120… this makes sense from a marketing point and is something I feel photographers working in film capture should be very excited about…I know I am!

Available April 09.

Press Release Link

Viva la Revolution! – Stephen

Putting It All Together

by EveNSteve

Everything I post here on the Figital Revolution is- in one way or another- part of a test I am running for my own Artworks, or for a client at Indian Hill Imageworks. Over the last few months I have been testing the Olympus XA, the LOMO LCA, the Olympus XA 4, Kodak Ektar 100, alternative printing paper, perfecting my carry solution (BBB) and new methods for hanging artwork. Now it is time to put everything into action! I am leaving for Italy italianflagin a few days (note the Italian Flag) and all of the works and testing will finally get full use. Below is a new image I just made called Winter Leaves, Vermont. 2009. It is made using the Olympus XA 4 using an in-camera multi exposure, overlapping-negative technique I have been refining for the last few months. The film: Kodak Ektar 100…I am taking 40 rolls of it with me to Italy! The paper/ image: printed on an uncoated sheet of Arches Rough 22″ x 30″, 640 gsm as a d’Vinci Print (12 color).

Note: I am about to test a similar style paper with some different sizing properties made by Fabriano… since my new  artworks will be from Italy it only seemed right to look at Italian paper. Hey, they’ve been making paper for over 700 years… they have to be doing something right!

Winter Leaves, Pawlet, Vermont. 2009

Winter Leaves, Vermont. 2009
Edition size: One
Image Size: 25″ x 9″
Paper Size: 22″ x 30″
Copyright Stephen M. Schaub 2009

Install View

Installation View

Finally, I will be working on additional articles while traveling so get ready for new and exciting things here on FR once I return.

schaub-web09

 

 

 

Viva la Revolution- Stephen

Message from the Revolution!

by EveNSteve

schaub-web09Three quick messages:

1. All orders placed at the EStore after Thursday February 12, 2009 will not ship until February 27, 2009.
2. The reason is that I will be in Italy shooting and scouting for a workshop I will be teaching next fall… so if you live in Italy around Manciano or Rome and would like to get together to talk photography please contact me before Friday 13, 2009.
3. The Figital Revolution just passed over 150,000 hits!

Viva la Revolution!
Stephen

Publishing Your Own Photography Book- Part 2

by EveNSteve

I decided to have Blurb print and bind a second copy of A New Eden Volume 1 for two reasons…

  • 1. To see how the printing consistency would be.
  • 2. To see how the Image Wrap cover option compared to the dust jacket option.

Some More Thoughts:

THIS JUST IN- I like the Image Wrap cover with the premium paper as the best-of-all option- the dust jacket keeps falling off the book and drives me nuts. The dust jacket does have a better range of color than the image wrap, and is glossy but there is something nice to the look and feel of the image wrap, and on a small book with only 38 pages- like mine- as the extra material of the image wrap makes the spine look and feel nicer…the book just feels more complete. The premium paper is way nicer than the standard (I tried both) and really worth the few extra dollars. With regards to printing consistency… seems OK to me so far but I will continue to monitor and keep you posted if my thoughts change.

Biggest question: does this process make sense if you are selling your books? Services like Blurb are much less expensive than some other online publishing companies… that being said, the per book cost for my Eden project is now at almost $40. When I compare this to my similarly-priced second book Through A Glass Darkly -which is in a league all it’s own and beyond compare to anything Blurb or any online service can print or bind- it does give one pause. Once again, I think you need to think of a book like this as a very nice promotional piece, that you will at best maybe make a few bucks on… but ultimately with the ulterior motive of greater visibility for your works which will hopefully translate into print sales and other good things. I’d suggest a markup from Blurb’s cost at around 10%, it’s a fair percentage and at the same time keeps your per book cost at a point that is still marketable.

LINK: Publishing Your Own Photography Book, Part One.

Viva la Revolution – Stephen

The Olympus XA 4 – My Everyday Carry Camera!

by EveNSteve

xa4

The Olympus XA 4 is a wonderful merger of Zone / Scale Focus, sophisticated photographic creative control and an amazing 28mm macro lens… released in 1985! In a previous video blog I compared the Olympus XA to the LOMO LCA and LCA+  for the purposes of pointing out strengths and weaknesses to both systems- the Olympus XA 4 strikes the perfect balance between these two very different cameras and has now found itself as my everyday carry camera.

VIDEO:

IMAGE:

powerxa4

TEST EXPOSURE…Olympus XA 4 focused at 1′. Exposed on Kodak Ektar 100… exposure was hand held at under 1/30th of a second (interior light glows at exposures under 1/30th) at F5.6  (at the 1′ focus setting the minimum f stop is f 5.6. Note the nice crisp detail and beautiful  out of focus (OOF) rendering. Yes I know it is not “Leica Sharp” but damn it is really good for a Point and Shoot from 1985! One additional thought… I love the new Kodak Ektar 100!

LINK:

Fantastic sites with lots of information on the XA line…

http://diaxa.nfshost.com

The XA Way