James Tan Advanced Printmaking Workshop 25-26 April 2019
It's not done till it's printed.
Ansel Adams once said "The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance." Anyone who's serious in photography would have made 100,000 exposures or more within the span of 5 years.
In this "Age of Instagram", countless images are made every day - some with more thought than others, most with a lot less. How many scores have we written and how many have been played and performed?
In close partnership with Ilford, Canon, Eizo, and supported by Broncolor SG and Cathay Photo, James has created this small-group 2-day printmaking workshop to guide those who are serious about the photography to the next level of the craft.
Master the Craft
You will learn to master the foundational concepts of digital image editing that is behind every single imaging software, enabling you to expertly navigate and use them in creation of your work.
Optimize Workflow
Having an incomplete understanding of the digital workflow which compromises image quality is one of the greatest problem photographers face today. Discover how to bring the most out of your equipment with the least guesswork.
Refine your Vision
Learn what makes a good image “good” from a Master Photographers Association Qualified Photography Judge, and how to connect with your personal unique creative vision.
Express your Art
“It’s the image that chooses its paper”. Learn about all the different types of fineart paper available and how to choose the best one to give life to your image.
Workshop Fee: SGD$800/pax
Limited to 10 participants. (4 seats remaining)
Course Outline:
Day 1
- Understanding the digital workflow and color management - "a straight and narrow path with landmines on the sides"
- Knowing your monitor and how to control it properly with calibration - moving from "P mode" to "M mode"
- The foundation of all digital imaging - mastering the core concept that enables you to use all digital imaging softwares
- Technical foundations of colour grading
Day 2
- The art of seeing - lessons from a photography judge
- The printing workflow - understanding the printer and paper
- Polishing your image
- Making your own print
James is one of the top printmakers in the Far East, being highly sought after by international artists and photographers.
Starting out in early 2000 as an apprentice in a commercial photography studio, James quickly rose through the ranks to be formally promoted to a full-fledged commercial photographer.
He became an Associate in the Master Photographers Association by way of double promotion in Architectural photography in 2007 and in 2 years was awarded MPA’s Fellowship Rank as the first and only Certified Printmaker in the MPA, a special honor created for him in recognition of his contribution and mastery in the craft.
Following that, he was invited to be trained in qualifications and competition judging at the MPA HQ, and then went on to do the final judging of The MPA’s prestigious International Photography Competition. Later he was also invited to Las Vegas to judge in the WPPI Annual Print Competition.
His current role is the MPA Deputy Ambassador and Chair of Qualifications for the Far East region, helping to maintain and improve the quality of photographers through strict and careful guidance to its members and potential candidates on image making and business practices.
Hope to see you there!
Reserve your seat now!View the FaceBook Event Page
3D printed footplate mod for i1IO v1 to fit i1pro2
The i1io from xrite is a wonderful machine for printmakers. It is basically a robotic arm which holds the i1pro spectrophotometer and automatically takes readings of color patch charts.
Making good printer/paper profiles is time consuming work, and to do that, we have to go beyond the 912 patch chart provided by basic i1match packages. I generally use charts that are over 3000 patches in order to build a good profile, and trying to hand scan them line by line with the basic slider provided with the spectrophotometer will take up a lot of time.
So what the i1io does is it holds the spectro at the end of its arm, and does the the sliding/scanning for me in a quick and precise manner, saving me a whole load of time and swearing (errors happens when you scan manually, either going too fast or too slow).
Basically I've been using the i1io for about 1 year before the i1pro2 came out. Due to certain hardware changes, the i1pro2 wasn't able to fit the foot plate. And Xrite wants a shitload of money to make a small plastic upgrade (they told me the circuitboard had to be replaced too, which I thought was bullshit), plus shipping the entire i1io around will cost another bomb. So I searched around a bit to see what other solutions are on the net.
First promising link turned out to be a hack done by Argyll CMS founder Graeme Gill. It also turns out that it's the ONLY option around.
For a week or so I was seriously contemplating to break out my dremel and make the cut, then it suddenly dawned on me since I had 2 3D printers in the office, I might as well make a totally new footplate. #hack :]
After a bit of measurements and about 6 prototypes, I ended up with one that fits well and is structurally strong enough to support the spectro.
Here's the final version
Getting printed
http://youtu.be/kqAyS-67bnk
Finished printing
Mounting
The black patches are thick PTFE stickers to raise the plate slightly and make it glide around without scratching the charts.
In action
http://youtu.be/5N8sOCfcf04
*update* Due to morons exploiting my work to glorify themselves, no re-distribution is allowed. Please link back to this article if you want your folks to access the file. I'm embarrassed to even mention this but I've no choice but to do so or risk losing the motivation to share and give back to the community due to unscrupulous pigs.
*update2* still way too many folks ripping off my page without so much as a word of thanks. So I'm taking the file down.
If anybody wants it, simply ask from me. Cheerios.
If you like my efforts and would like to donate as a form of appreciation, here's the link. Thank you! ;)
*update 28-8-2014*
Apologies to all the inquiries regarding the footplate thru my contact plugin. It appears that the plugin company is blackmailing me into a paying subscription and is withholding the emails and not letting me reply them.
I'll be installing a new contact option soon. Cheers~
*update 13-10-2014*
I've signed up with shapeways and made the print available there for anyone who wants to try their hand at retrofitting their i1io.
https://www.shapeways.com/model/2759936/i1io-footplate-to-fit-i1pro2-head.html?materialId=6
They make pretty good prints and are fast in delivery so I hope it works for everyone. :)
Epson 11880 viewing lights hack
Here's a slight modification I made to my Epson 11880 LFP a couple of months ago to allow me to view what's being printed a little bit better.
It's basically the inexpensive Ikea Ledberg lights stuck to the inside of the front cover.
Due to the size of the 11880, I needed 2 packs of the lights, which gave me a total of 6 strips, covering a length of 1.5m.
It's very good for spotting printing errors or flaking early in the printing stage. Those of you who print large pieces from rolls would know what I mean. Too many times have I spotted printing problems only after the problem area exits the printer from below the front cover. With this I've been able to save quite a bit of paper and ink from being wasted cuz I'm able to kill the print the moment I spot a problem.