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Shooting for the Print

Lesson 1 from: The Photo Printing Workshop

Alex Strohl

Shooting for the Print

Lesson 1 from: The Photo Printing Workshop

Alex Strohl

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Lesson Info

1. Shooting for the Print

Alex takes his cyclist friend, Pete, to the canola fields in Montana to take shots that will be used to print. He covers location scouting, in-field creative lighting, subject direction, and working a scene to get different options to build a set of photos.
Next Lesson: Why Print

Lesson Info

Shooting for the Print

the printing workshop. I've always thought printing was quite daunting and intimidating. So for the longest time I used print shops and labs to print my photos and a couple years ago I thought it was time for me to tackle this fear of printing I had because it's often expensive paper ink and it's also, I don't know, we've all stood next to a printer waiting for it to just print. So I've had this stigma with printers for the longest time and I'm really happy to tell you that I've come on the other side now and I've developed fond love for printing. I'm not gonna hide you that you know, getting to a place where I feel comfortable printing my work is taking a lot of cost right? Because you go through some paper, you go through some inks. But I've found ways that you can be more efficient in your experimentation that I will share in this workshop and a host of other things. So we are at my house here in Montana and this is my print lab. The nook Sprint lab. There is a big Cannon program 41...

00 behind me that I use for 40 inch 60 by 40 prints. And then a smaller guy behind me is a pro 1000 that I used for smaller prints like the 17 22 1913 that we will be using for this workshop. I don't think there's a sense in using the big one. Just because not everybody is using something that big. I even don't use it that often. So the aim of this workshop is to show you the workflow that I've developed and it's a simple one. I'm I'm a minimalist. I don't want to spend too much time pondering on decisions. So this is the sort of no bs let's get to the point workflow that I've developed and I will share that with you in this workshop. We're gonna be talking about the critical aspects of printing because no matter how you want to stay out of the weeds, you have to get into them a little bit, especially with monitor collaboration. That's pretty easy. So I'll talk to you, you know, walk you through my monitor calibration process. What I use. We'll talk about printing profiles, I CCS um paper choices, soft proofing in lightroom printing in that room, we'll talk about papers. I have a bunch of papers back there that I will share with you. So, to begin this workshop, I thought why not just make it more fun and interesting? And instead of working off a photo from my archive, why not just go and get a photo today? So in a couple of hours we're going to head out and meet with my friend Pete thomas was a local athlete and I'm gonna try to capture a photo of him at blue. Our cycling past me with the goal to print that photo tomorrow and show you how I do that. We're heading to meet Pete right now on the road south of here, where he's been cycling. We're gonna grab dinner to go meet Pete there. Scout trying to find something that's open. Some nice rolling hills and then a feature somewhere in the frame to have him lit with the lights and then the blue hour behind. That's gonna be that side west and just a little feature to add a bit of interesting nous of the composition. So it's gonna be tricky to find that, yep. She's here. I found a canola field. Well Pete has found a canola field. Check it out. Maybe shoot here. I like this spot because it's got color. It's got some lines in the landscape you can see in the back and there's a silo at the end like a grain bin. So I think this cocktail of backdrop will be interesting enough because it's good to rely on the foreground. You know, I'm gonna light up Pete, it's gonna be great. But if you have a supporting background that adds more depth. I don't I don't want to expose. But I think that having a few more interesting things behind makes the photo better start 28 70 so I can find my frame then after that because it's F. Two and after that I'll go 35 18. Once I found my frame it's nice to find your frame. You know, I can play zoom E. Wide. Got the R. Three here for this fastest camera in the west. As they say now we just gotta wait for this to let me see which we're gonna be going home once I'm probably gonna be going this way if we want to have orange, safety orange. It is, yeah, I have. Well I have a black short sleeve shirt and I can wear your pink jacket. What kind of jacket? Cycling jacket? It is a I mean it's for trail running and whatever you want to do. Check it out first. I wouldn't want to box you into it that I brought the jackets I got. I mean I've used it to cycle across France is my main guy. It's pink and the blue one that I wore much more. You can choose the one you prefer to the blue will. Well, it depends, it's gonna be dark this one. Are they both the same size? Hmm It seems kind of big. Big. Well if you're, if you're going forward, it doesn't make a difference. All the photos that I have on me with this one are not shocking and I think they're the same bigger than me. Let's see where the blue one. What kind of size we got medium. It's a different edition. You know, sometimes they make it smaller, bigger depending on the season. Breathing pretty similar. This is fine though. Yeah, I think the orange and the blue work better. Let's do that dude looking good. Let's go blue blue guy. Want to back up the van to have the lights lighting Pete. So I could have used fancy lights and everything in strobes, but I want to make this as real as I can and make it approachable to anybody. So I'm just gonna use the lights of the van and that's it, wow. Writing nice. So fast blistering. It's going to work on the, I'm saying, hey Pete, can you be in your, you want me to be like, yeah, I think that could look better. Nice. I mean obviously the candy is getting these, you know, tracking, but it's not what I came here for a little too close. Uh, try that. Yeah. Why not? If the model wants to try something, let him do it nice. Yeah, that's better distance right here. That's my spot. Yeah. Let me show you what we got. Like what I like is like these have motion blur, but that's for you to camp. Just gonna work on the auto focus. Oh yes. Look at this sharp. He's putting some watch their 700 at least. It's like smoke coming out of that tire. Okay. But yeah, I think, yeah, let's try somewhere. I'm coasting through. I'll just maintain good body position. Lights are on. Yeah, Rights are on two two ships. They need lights that you can like steer the lights. Okay. I feel like it's hitting you for sure. Like it's cool bands being useful. Can't believe it. You want me to Yeah, just give me a slow pass. Okay. And then the other way I need to do that over sick. I like the other direction. Better the lights working. I gotta move the angle of the van a little bit. Should be a bit more side, but otherwise you got something there. Yeah, When he comes this way, it's good. You just have to not move. I just gotta stay there like this, you know? Oh yeah, almost like it's a ray of light hitting me. Maybe it's that just standing on you right here where you are. Yeah. So if you could flip around and then stand here, I'm gonna reposition the position you want me to just stay here. Yeah, it's gonna be your spot. So I get a little closer and then we'll see how the light hits you. Thank you. Should I wear my sunglasses? I put on my clear lenses? All right, Pedro. I think we're dialed there. It looks good from different. You want to do it from both directions? Just keep going back and forth. Or do you want me to? Yeah, I mean, we don't have to go crazy for now. I'm just waiting for the light to get darker. So this all practice runs. Nice. Okay, interesting tracking feature, track that. So, well then let's see, pull that. Yeah, get going. That's it. You're out the light looking good. That's guys getting pink now. Get a proper shot. Give her, Yeah, it's looking really good. It's working. I think there's a better composition, that's predictable. Okay. three, A. So folks printing. Okay. Yeah. Nice. Even 800 is not enough to freeze beat. Yeah, you can reduce the speed a little bit slow. No. Nice. Oh yeah, I almost hit the, Yeah. Okay. Yeah, this is awesome. I think you get it 100%. We could, how do you look up? I was thinking I could even take this off because that's what's blocking me from really getting into the position, You know what I mean? No RCC will hang on to that if you want to and then it's pretty lit up. Nice. So this is actually more of a class about using your car headlights. That's what it's become. So this looking up and mouth shut if you can, if you can close the mouth since you're going slow. Okay. Ready. I'm having pete slow down a bit because we don't need as much speed anymore. It's darker so it works as it is now. He's gonna track him well and that's it now. Nice. So that's 1 100. Yeah, that's good. Okay, so it's good to have a model of skin writing skin to try stuff. Nice. Yeah, the arteries be nailing the focus now. That was good. I feel like I want to get lower to the ground now. I don't see the Canola field. Nice beat scratching it. Okay. It's no secret, it's really getting a lot of repetitions. You focus, yep, I'm trying to get some Sky two in there. Okay, I'm gonna switch it up now that I've secured this frame noise. That was the one, but I messed it up. No, it's good to get a few blurry frames to close. Just this one. I'm just getting a set can all be perfectly composition. Hey pete, it's not a stop. Okay. Okay. I feel like it's warmed up after sunset looking good man. Really cool. Yeah. You want to give me that band a literal last one, like where you're off your bike. Little cash one may be coming back like just slow just so I get a few different ones for the set. The sky looks to come and yeah, yeah, just more cash this one, Kashmir. Nice. See if you nailed it noise. Okay, that's good. Peter finger off duty. Oh yeah, way more than that. Looks like full speed. That's fake arrow and then real arrow. I mean this is these cameras nowadays. So there's this guy, I would call him like some sort of steve french steve mccurry that I met randomly. He was selling a film camera that was very legendary and I met him randomly. I bought his camera and then we ended up becoming friends and you know sometimes I sent him some photos that I do for clients or whatever. Just photo sets and he's like too perfect to like to clean. Yeah, he's like to clean. So now he's like never put your camera down because usually now put my camera down and I'm trying to live by his words like, no, no, no, I'm not putting it down, so you gotta keep shooting until you go to bed and close your eyes. Your camera is ready anyways, trying to leave the advice of the old wisdom.

Ratings and Reviews

user c7bdd5
 

Thank you. Lots of good information. Well done.

Isaac Johnston
 

Through and also to the point! Well worth the watch, and I feel confident to print on my own now.

fbuser 517642fd
 

I would recommend it for anyone trying to understand the print process better but, I think Alex needs to work on speaking a bit clearer and maybe slow down a bit when he is moving his cursor around in LR as was difficult to keep up with him and to see what he was doing.

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