Printing

It’s the responsibility of the artist and not of those who print when the printed picture is on the wrong paper, has the wrong size. It’s not the first time that I wanted to get my pictures printed on dem paper and I got them on glossy ones or the other way round. One must check the results.

Today I got another picture printed. When I returned home I realized that it was printed on another paper than the pictures that I got printed yesterday even though I mentioned that I’d like to get the same paper like yesterday. Nobody wants to have 5 different papers in a portfolio. I even explained my project and why I need the same paper. I had asked the last time, but I didn’t insist enough to get an answer about the company who produces the paper that they use and the thickness of the paper. I wanted to have glossy paper in addition.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong already:

• I got the wrong paper size. I was told that the one who would frame it can cut it. But I want to put the picture in a file.

• I got dim paper instead of glossy one.

• Each time the thickness of the paper was different.

As said it’s the responsibility of the artist to communicate correctly.

This is the second print company that I try. The first one was expensive beyond imagination. It took 3 weeks till I got one picture printed and then it was printed on a paper with a wrong size. On the sides of the picture was a tiny white rim.

I know now why I avoided this last step. To get to prints is a stony path plastered with mistakes. It’s a trial and error adventure. It can get expensive and time-consuming.

One must probably distinguish between print companies and copy shops. Printing companies have different clients. Most people probably want to get a few copies and go to a copy shop round the corner. They want to get the diploma printed i.e.. Advertising companies might go to different print companies that offer a higher standard. They might not be interested in printing a single picture every week. The printer of the copy shops are usually of high quality these days. Yet a copy shop has different expertise than a company that offers fine art prints.

Hahnemühle is a leading paper company. I consider to buy my own paper. Hahnemühle also offers high end boxes to store the pictures. That way I can at least control a tiny part of the printing process.

Sketching

I started a new series. It should be about levitation. Very soon I interpreted the topic much broader. I wanted to show lightness in yoga.

Sketch 1:

1. A picture is finished when it’s printed. To find a good print company can be a challenge on its own. The first decision that I had to make was about the size of the picture. This is in my opinion the first step, especially if a picture shall become part of a series. If a picture shall get framed and this is usually the case there must be a rim around the picture. I decided to go for Din A3. The picture itself shall have a size of 20 x 30 cm. I adjusted the picture in Photoshop. First I created a new canvas with the size Din A3. Then I adjusted the picture to the size 20 x 30 cm. Then I moved the picture over the canvas and centered it.

2. The printed version of the sketch 1 made me realize that the filter that I had used made my face look like dead. The skin of the face shall never look bluish, yellowish or reddish. I knew I had to edit the picture again.

Sketch 2:

1. The outer frame is now Din A3. I cannot make out why the picture has not my wished size of 20 x 30 cm, but it was so. I had to resize it and get it printed again

2. I realized that my face was mini-blurred. Blurred is blurred. I had to reshoot my vision, only because of this mini blur. The wall in the background was in focus. Sometime it’s difficult to realize these shortcomings of a picture, because then it becomes clear that one has to repeat the entire process. The next day the weather had changed. There was no sunshine anymore, it was a grey day, which made the location even darker.

3. It was such a challenge to do the exercises there. To hold my body was hard. I was not strong enough hold the pose for a long time. Soon my muscles got very tired. I couldn’t turn around the bar. This can be seen. I hang there. The pose has no lightness.

Sketch 3:

1. The format of the frame and the picture is as I wanted it.

2. The face is in focus.

3. The form of the body has more dynamic and looks for me at least a tiny bit lighter.

4. Nevertheless the picture in sum became too dark. Darkness is the opposite of lightness. My intention was to show exactly this: lightness.

Sketch 4:

1. I consider to leave these sketches behind me. They were a good exercise, but nothing more.

Summary:

1. Decide on the format.

2. Print the pictures.

3. Filters must be used very carefully when people are in the picture. Skin looks best when natural.

4. Check what’s in focus and what’s not.

5. What was the intention to create this picture? Is this intention translated visually in an appropriate way?

Yesterday it rained. Today it’s raining, too. It’s impossible to get to this location again. I call these shootings a warm-up. The corner is a bit too dark. I’m not trained enough to show lightness on that bar. I’ll move on to the next photographic adventure. Sometimes this is the best decision.

My first book

The story:

I searched and searched and I got desperate and even more desperate. This cannot be that I have taken more than 50.000 pictures and that I don't find a single picture that I really like to print. I guess it's rather a matter of how I organize my pictures. There must be treasuries, but where. On flickr I usually post the best of..... Going through my work there I had the idea to create a book. 

Printing: 

One must print. This is a very important next step if one wants to develop as a photographer. Pictures that are online have a life period of under one second if they are on Instagram with an often used hashtag i.e.. Printing forces to work precisely.  To live with the own work helps to redefine the own style. It's also the fruit of the work. 

The starting point of my life as a photographer:

How deep should I dive into the past? Today the year 2000 seems like the Middle Age. So I went back till the year 2013. Also in 2013 I have taken a lot of pictures. I decided to connect the year 2013 with my first group project. We met via Facebook. We formed a group of about 15 women, all very passionate about photography. Every week another women gave a topic. This was the strength and the weakness of this group. The interests and therefore also the topics were so differently, that I cannot find a read thread in my 52 pictures. On the other hand to get out of the comfort zone can be a good experience, too. Why not taking pictures of landscapes as an exercise? An other example: One week we had the topic to take a picture with a mobile phone. I had no mobile phone and was very reluctant to get another gadget. But I wanted to finish this project and a few months later I had a mobile phone. It allowed me to complete the series of 52 pictures. It#s one of my best pictures in this series.

It's always amazing how much knowledge a group of 15 people have if they share it. I learned from another photo shop in Munich. Wee had a lot of fun and praised each other a lot. 

The first book:

One evening I sat here and thought that I should do something more profound with that project. Just to have it in a folder in Flickr shouldn't be enough. It took me another month till I decided to make a book out of it. Flickr works together with blurb.com. So I created a book with these software tools. I spent organizing the pictures, I wrote the contents in the last pages of the book and I clicked on sent. 

A few days later the book was in my mailbox. I ripped the package and couldn't wait to have this book in my hands. It's of very high quality. It became a true art book. I only wanted to have a picture on one page, the other page should be untouched. This looks very generous and precious. I went for a grey background. Wow, I loved the result. 

In the evening of that day we went out for dinner. Before the Miso soup arrived, I showed  the book to my husband. He looked at every picture. He turned one page after the other without being in a hurry. To show a book is something else than to show pictures on a mobile phone. 

To go through the process of creating a book gave me a lot of insights. It became rather simple to create it and even to publish a book is no more that difficult. It's fun. 

For me my photographic life of the year 2013 is connected with this project. With this book I hold a piece of reality in my hands. It's motivating. I celebrate this event. 

There are still a few pictures in that book that I still love. Most pictures I wouldn't even publish anymore. But this is not that important. In 2013 life was different. I loved to see how much I had learned within 4 years. Each picture was an important tiny step.