Civic Centre - Sunderland

The Stadium of Light - Sunderland

Human Tide - St. James Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

A new gallery of pictures entitled PRESENT TENSE has been added to my website,  so please click through and take a look http://www.rogercoulam.com/galleries/28/ – regular visitors to Dark Matters will have seen a few of them before, and [...]]]> I found a brief window between commercial jobs and caught up with my scanning and editing.

A new gallery of pictures entitled PRESENT TENSE has been added to my website,  so please click through and take a look http://www.rogercoulam.com/galleries/28/ – regular visitors to Dark Matters will have seen a few of them before, and if not you weren’t paying attention!

Here are few more new ones.

This glasses advertisement caught my eye. Such a natural pose for a woman wearing specs!

This man showing off his TWO over-sized DSLRs had to be photographed. Newcastle upon Tyne

More steps - Newcastle upon Tyne, before two weeks of rain.

Newcastle upon Tyne

Rydal Cave, Lake District

Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Joke Shop window, Newcastle upon Tyne

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All comments are very welcome

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All pictures were made around Newcastle and Gateshead, except for the dog which was in the Lake District

If you enjoyed this post or others on the Dark Matters blog, please help by passing it on to someone that you feel might be interested. And dont forget to [...]]]>

All pictures were made around Newcastle and Gateshead, except for the dog which was in the Lake District

If you enjoyed this post or others on the Dark Matters blog, please help by passing it on to someone that you feel might be interested. And dont forget to visit me at http://www.rogercoulam.com

Thanks

He made me realise that some of the steps in my own workflow were “wrong”, and thankfully the room was dark as I scribbled down my notes. But looking around I [...]]]> I recently attended a talk on colour management and image resolution by digital printer Jack Lowe, whose talks are always an education. http://jacklowestudio.co.uk/blog

He made me realise that some of the steps in my own workflow were “wrong”, and thankfully the room was dark as I scribbled down my notes. But looking around I was relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one whose methods were being challenged.

During the talk Jack made the observation that Fuji Velvia transparencies looked their best when held up to the light or viewed backlit on a light box, and that no print could ever do justice to that look. This comment stuck in my mind and I have spent a few days mulling it over.

I used to love opening up a delivery of 6x7xm colour transparencies and holding the sheets up to the light, full of anticipation. I still get the same thrill from black and white negatives, but those super-saturated pieces of Velvia shone like jewels, and to me that moment of revelation remains a unique part of the photographic experience. But I never had a print that could replicate the intensity, colour palette, or the brightness.

Photography is awash with digital photographers who try to emulate the “Velvia look”; using ultra high contrast, “vivid” camera settings, Velvia plug-ins, and making blocks of colours that look like they’ve been painted with enamels! There may be several reasons for this saturation frenzy.

DSLR’s are now so common, that they have become the new “Christmas Jumper”, a must have present and stocking filler for many. Everyone is a “photographer” now. But pulling on a Christmas jumper was easy, just check the label and off you go, and it’s the same with DSLR’s, which have cheapened and dumbed-down photographic craft (although it can be argued that in some ways this is a positive thing). And it seems that many people don’t bother to find out how to work their new toys, and especially their processing software. Turning it up to eleven and aiming for loud, bold, and bright at any cost, often masks both a lack of knowledge and average pictures.

At the same time that DSLRs have become must have accessories, the understanding of what goes into making a good print also seems to be fading. The whole process of profiling and colour management can seem daunting to begin with, but it is essential; sadly though many people don’t have the integrity to make the effort, and assume that their printer (just like their camera) will do it all for them. Relying on oversaturation or gimmicks like HDR to try and rescue dull or flat pictures is just one response to this skill (or integrity) gap.

Also pictures are now often only viewed on a screen, and are rarely turned into objects to hold or to hang on a wall. Consequentially the vast majority of contemporary photography is destined to vanish into piles of obsolete hard drives that are incompatible with the technology of the day; mercifully consigned to a digital scrapheap. I digress from my soapbox slightly.

Another more important reason why I think it is tempting and easier not to print, is that “images” look at their very best on a computer monitor, and in many ways that is no different to the Velvia analogy. It strikes me that bright LCD screens are the new Velvia, and are the normal place to view photography (and their backlit burning intensity is certainly both compelling and unique). A screen is not only a portal through which many “live” large parts of their lives, but it is THE place for instant gratification; and what is more seductive and gratifying to a photographer than someone else saying how beautiful your pictures look. “Oooh, look at those colours”, (often followed by “Is that real?”). So, is there any wonder that any printed output is off the scale as we strive to match that “LCD look”?

Just as analogue printers struggled to replicate the beauty they saw in their transparencies, now digital printers face a similar problem, as their equipment can rarely replicate exactly what they see on the screen. Yes, we can profile and calibrate monitors and printers, use correct colour management, and make quality files on which to base to all of this, but can it ever be an exact copy of what you see on that glowing “Velvia” screen? After all, digital pictures are created by computers, so perhaps that is their natural home?

With a master printer and technician such as Jack Lowe, you are going to get the very best result that can be wrung from modern equipment, and the digital print can be a beautiful object. But how you see and experience that picture on paper will be very different to how you see it on your monitor. That is not wrong, it is just different.

Now where’s that old pile of 2002 dated Velvia?

Part of my Velvia stash as viewed on my Eizo ColorEdge CE210W Monitor

Colour Management http://www.digital-photography-workflow-basics.com/color-management.html

Fuji Velvia http://www2.fujifilm.co.uk/professional/professional-photography/film-fujichrome.html

Eizo Monitors http://www.eizo.co.uk/

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It is a fascinating insight into the man, made towards the end of his life.

If you enjoyed this post or others on the Dark Matters blog, please help by passing it on to someone that you feel might be [...]]]> The following interview with legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson appeared today on PetaPixel http://www.petapixel.com/

It is a fascinating insight into the man, made towards the end of his life.

If you enjoyed this post or others on the Dark Matters blog, please help by passing it on to someone that you feel might be interested. And dont forget to visit me at www.rogercoulam.com

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Seascape #1

Seascape #2

Seascape #3

Seascape #4

Seascape #5

With gratuitous self promotion put aside for a while, I can recommend a superb piece over on the Leica blog by Peter Turnley. His photography is very powerful and well worth a [...]]]> More recent additions to my visual sketchbooks.

Seascape #1

Seascape #2

Seascape #3

Seascape #4

Seascape #5

With gratuitous self promotion put aside for a while, I can recommend a superb piece over on the Leica blog by Peter Turnley. His photography is very powerful and well worth a look http://blog.leica-camera.com/photography/m-system/peter-turnley-moments-of-the-human-condition-part-one/

His website is http://www.peterturnley.com/

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Gateshead Quays and Baltic Square (Leica MP – Delta 100, and Tri-X)

Newcastle upon Tyne and Corbridge, Northumberland (Leica MP – Tri-X / Ricoh GR1V – Neopan)

Tents at the [...]]]> I am about the start a month of outdoor work, so I thought I would get these new scans out there.

Gateshead Quays and Baltic Square (Leica MP – Delta 100, and Tri-X)

Newcastle upon Tyne and Corbridge, Northumberland (Leica MP – Tri-X / Ricoh GR1V – Neopan)

Tents at the end of the Great North Run (Lecia M6 – Delta 100)

Newcastle upon Tyne Quayside (Leica MP – Tri-X)

Whitby, North Yorkshire (Leica MP – Tri-X)

Keswick, Lake District (with a huge nod to HCB) – (Leica MP – Tri-X)

Helicopter surveillance of the Occupy Wall Street protests (Leica M6 – Tri-X)

South Shields, Tyne & Wear (Leica MP – Tri-X)

The Coniston Hunt in the Lake District (Leica MP – Tri-X)

Scanned with Nikon Super Coolscan 9000ED.

If you enjoyed the pictures please help to spread the word and pass this post on to anyone that you feel might be interested. As always your comments are welcomed, unless you are trying to offer me viagra, enlargement, watches, sunglasses, a large sum of money from a mysterious Nigerian attorney, or vicodin.

This shoot in a hotel kitchen was the first outing for my new Canon 5D MkII, which performed well at ISO 1600 in bad lighting conditions with minimal noise.

One from Gateshead [...]]]> These pictures were made during my current commission, which has seen me photograph landscapes, food, interiors, and even products.

This shoot in a hotel kitchen was the first outing for my new Canon 5D MkII, which performed well at ISO 1600 in bad lighting conditions with minimal noise.

One from Gateshead Quays when the Turner Prize 2011 http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/ was at BALTIC http://www.balticmill.com/

Late afternoon sun south of Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland Coast. This should make a strong print.

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It has been five years since my last trip there, so I have been wading through catalogues of pictures to try and come up with something different for them, especially as the group has some superb photographers as members.

During this process [...]]]> I am preparing a talk for the Gallery Photogroup in Middlesbrough http://www.galleryphotogroup.co.uk/

It has been five years since my last trip there, so I have been wading through catalogues of pictures to try and come up with something different for them, especially as the group has some superb photographers as members.

During this process I have discovered two things – firstly, there MUST be an easier way to store digital files than on DVD’s and hard-drives. I have thousands of DVD’s in boxes, many with old and unique work on, and there are times when I would rather have a tooth extracted than sort through them all.

Secondly – there is an old cliché about your best picture being your next one, and it is easy to move straight onto that “next one” without much reflection. It is also easy to forget about some of the shots you have tucked away on those damned discs!

This was underneath a violent storm in Texas. It was spinning and sucking soil all over the place, and you could hear the earth being scoured. I love the telephone poles bending.

(Canon EOS 1N, Kodak EBX)

One from “down the road” in Sunderland. At the end of a freezing and wet day shooting rough seas, this surreal snow storm appeared. (Canon EOS 5D)

This was the rotating wallcloud under a huge tornadic storm in Texas. The eerie green tinged clouds are due to light shining through the massive hailstones held aloft in storm. (Canon EOS 5D)

Another 50000ft monster in Texas. At its peak this storm had hundreds of people chasing it, but as night fell it began to die, and with winds over 100mph it kicked hundreds of backsides all the way back out of Texas. (Mamiya RZ ProII, 50mm, Velvia)

The most recent picture of the bunch, a hailstorm over Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, bathed in early morning light. (Canon EOS 5D)

For more severe weather and storm chasing pictures please visit http://www.rogercoulam.com/galleries/12/

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