Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Dell Precision T7500


Why do I have such a large computer? That's a question I'm asked when people visit our studio.

Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park

I upgraded both my Epson printer and Dell computer earlier this year.

The Epson upgrade was from a 9800 to a 9900 and I'm extremely pleased.  The move was relative simple as I basically changed one great printer for another.  Both print 44" wide however the 9900 uses 11 ink cartridges adding a separate Orange and Green as well as Matte Black with automatic switching between that and Photo Black.  There's more however this isn't about the 9900.

Fence Line

The switch in computers was a little more involved.  I went from a 6-year old Dell Precision 690 dual quad core with 48GB RAM to a smoking hot Precision T7500, dual 6-core 3.47 GHz with 96 GB RAM.  While I kept my hard drives and graphic card (nVIDIA 450) I also added a newer Quadro 2000 to push my 2-30" monitors.


Why all this power and is it slightly overkill?  The answer to the second question is yes it might be overkill today but what about next year? 


I just finished printing an image for a client.  The image size is 24352x11401 (67.6"x31.7") at 360 ppi, 16 bit depth.  The file size of this one image is 1.88GB.  I've got another image measuring 12290x10120 (34.1x28.1) at 360 ppi, 16 bit depth that's "only" 546.33 MB (slightly over 1/2 GB).


Time is money no matter what you do.  I remember waiting for images to render for several seconds up to close to a minute.  While this might not sound long it is when you are trying to complete several actions and don't want to loose your way. A lot of what is being done is instant creative thoughts and waiting 30 to 120 seconds and stop the creative juices from flowing.  There were times I would press the enter key and have to write down what it was I wanted to do next in order to remember it.  Processing images can be a lot like playing chess in that you always want to think several moves ahead and several different options.  If you end up waiting too long you (or at least myself) can loose your way.  Plus in the end you don't want to be too mechanical; by that I mean you really need to watch and "listen" to your image as it'll tell you what's best.  Again all this takes time and the lest amount of time spent between time the better.   Now however the time has been cut in half, sometimes even shorter to where I see the result within a second and can continue on with my train of thought or dismiss it and try something else.  I can also have multiple copies of the same image open and be trying several effects before deciding on the right one.  All in all it's a real time saver.


Of course there are the videos now; and no we're changing our direction, just adding another dimension.  This is the 4th-year we offered DVD's of our work and the past 2-years we added small video clips just to make life interesting.  This year we decided to ramp the video portion up by adding a Canon XF105 to our camera bag(s) and with that we needed to added proper video editing software and graphics card.



I still use the wonderful Phase One P65+ 60 megapixel digital back and Sandy still has her 21.1 megapixel Canon 1DsIII.  We're looking towards the future and Canon coming up with a camera to meet or beat the new Nikon D800 while I've set my eyes on the 80 megapixel Phase One IQ180.  We need room to grow as the cameras offer larger and larger file sizes and we feel we're set at least for a couple more years.


It's often easy to think in the present and not plan for the future.  We know we need a computer to process the current images from the camera we use today.  But what about the camera that will be replacing the current one?  The day where computer became obsolete within 30-days are gone.  You can buy a computer now with the knowledge that it'll be working just as good next year as it is today; several years in fact.  The best option I can suggest is to go to a reputable computer manufacture and have them build the computer factoring in not what you need today but what you'll need next year or the year after.  In my case the Dell 690 worked well when I first built it and used Canon 1Ds, 1DsII and 1DsIII as well as a Phase One P30+ and P45+ and just began to struggle with the P65+ files.  The new computer will continue on for several years while Canon and Phase One build better and larger camera systems to catch up.  I figure I have another 6-years before upgrading the computer system again to meet and match the then current and future crop of camera systems. 


The current system wasn't cheap by any means however it's cheaper in the long run from buying several systems in the same time period.

This is has been my experience and I wanted to pass it on.

Don

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Avalanche Creek


Avalanche Creek is located in Glacier National Park in the upper northwest area of Montana.  The creek runs through Avalanche Gorge as it flows from Avalanche Lake.  A trail runs along the creek leading to Avalanche Lake approximately 2-miles one-way.

Not only is Glacier National Park a "must-see" park, Avalanche Creek should be on the top of any "to-do" list.  Luscious green canopy of moss, ferns and brilliant red rocks greet you on your hike.

You need to be careful as there are some spots where the gorge drops over 40-feet into the water below.  I'll tell on myself.  I was at a particular area which had a small waterfall and wanting to get a better angle attempted to negotiate down a "slight" grade only to end up slipping and finding myself butt first in some very cold water.  I kept the camera dry and after getting out and walking less than 1/2 mile came across the image seen here. 

This was in September 2006 and turned out to be on of the last images I took using a 35mm camera.  I remember sitting on a rock with wet cold pants and equally wet boots however I couldn't pass up the chance to capture this scene.  Using a tripod I captured 11 images to use in making this panorama.

This was captured in 2006 and printed shortly after we returned home; the original print offered was a 60 x 20 image.  I've decided to use the same captures to make a new print series this time 60x24.  The new release is not only slightly larger it also show slightly more of the rushing water than before.  The processing has allowed me to end up with a better image than we had before which will be printed on the Epson 9900 on Breathing Colors Lyve canvas which I feel is much better than was offered 6-years ago.  There will be a total of 10 images printed with the first already spoken for so leaving 9 left.

It's our intention to return to Glacier National Park in the future in hopes of capturing the beauty of Avalanche Creek in medium format; however 6-years is a long time between visits and there's no telling what we'll find there.

This image will shortly be placed in our on-line web gallery with the older image removed.

As always thank you for allowing us to share and remember your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
 
Don

Here's a couple more images from the trip....




Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Jackson Hole WY in May



Yes, I know its been over a month since the last post. 

This past month has seen us returning to Jackson WY delivering images and a week of shooting in the area.   This week also found me using the new Cambo WDS-1090 compendium hood for the WRS for the first time in the field.  And to top all this off we also decided to up our game in the video department ordering a Canon XG105 video camera which arrived just in time to try it out in Jackson.




This past month has seen the release of Volume IV of our now annual DVD's which include images and footage from our last trip to Jackson. 



Phase One released an update to their software, likewise Adobe released Photoshop CS6 and if that wasn't enough we needed to learn a new program from the XF105.  We'll be using Adobe Premiere Pro to process the video footage as well as produce the future volumes of our DVDs starting with 5.

This is the image I took from the field.  Schneider 35mm and no problems with the hood interfering with the capture.  I've got more samples with movements that I'll be sharing soon.

So, how was the first experience in the field with the Cambo 1090 you ask? 


The following image was taken near Oxbow Bend and shows 3-different processing versions.  The image was taken using the Cambo WRS and later processed using CS6.




It went well.  I've added a couple shots of the camera sitting in the wild, just after taking an image near Elk Flats Road near Moran Junction WY.  The setup time was only slightly longer than normal however it went smoothly.   The lens used was the Schneider 35mm and while the additional attachment meant to hold the viewfinder was unavailable I found it really wasn't necessary.  

I found the attachment adds about 2-inches on top and feel that if I added the viewfinder attachment then the viewfinder itself it would be just a tad too tall to effectively see through it.  Instead after getting the camera leveled and set to where I thought I wanted it I placed the viewfinder on top and handholding it came up with the final adjustments. I used this same setup and system the entire time shooting the Cambo and feel it's the right workflow for me.


Almost forgot to add that we joined the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce on this last trip.

There's more that went on this past month and we'll be sharing later on so stay tuned.

Don