momentum

Today was a busy day but I feel like I was able to see a lot of important things, this time without my camera even entering the equation. This morning my boss Scott was discussing the new setup for the studio space that is being built for the Style Weekly offices as well as looking at the differences in the magazine from one printer to another that the magazine is considering. From what i understood the new location would better suit the needs of the company as well as be in a more central location because now it is just too far out of the way to make sense. The main issue was whether or not the studio would be large enough to shoot as well as store all of the necessary equiptment. He had been promised a certain amount of space but then had found out that much of the guaranteed footage for storage had been readjusted. The editor really want aware of the kind of space that is necessary for a fully functional studio or the amount of storage that is required for the larger tools such as ladders, sawhorses, and lighting equiptment. Changing the printer for the magazine was more interesting in the fact that it was something I had spent some time dealing with, but never really thought of its application beyond my own prints. I am thanking VCU at the moment for my digital phtography classes (particularly 2) because we hammered in color quality and maximizing the images in such detail even if at that point in time I wanted to rip my photoshop book into pieces. The issue often arises with newsprint that the blacks end up being shades of gray and there is typically streaking or wrinkling of some kind. As a photographer, much of the success of the image ends up relying on the aesthetic appeal and quality. If the printer lowers the original quality, then the work loses a significant amount of its strength. Another issue that changing the printer brought up was size. The images themselves would be printed about 1/4 of an inch smaller in any direction, which for a cover photograph can make a large difference. While the saturation and consistency of the new printer was absolutely better, the size concern made it difficult to know which one really would be a better choice. The discussion of having the cover be set up as a bleed came up as well but there needs to be some kind of compensation for the borders and cropping with that as well. The point of all this rambling is that I learned a lot today and realized the importance of the kind of publication that your photos are printed in. While self editing is very important and a great skill to have, sometimes the format in which the photos will be shown can alter their final outcome. It was also a great lesson in understanding how decisions get made at newspapers such as Style, where often the content will get damaged or changed because it can save expenses. As a photographer it is important to voice what things will make your photos look the best because often there are so many other people with other concerns that often overlook that 1/4 of an inch. As far as the project is concerned I will be back at Chester House again this Friday to do some shooting and have been in contact with Becky and viewed some of her work as well as her boyfriend's work online. It was great that she sent me the link, and really interesting to see the kinds of things that they both were inspired by. Im hoping to get to a NAMI sponsored event on Saturday morning for some shots as well as set up a time to visit Ronnie at his home one of these evenings in the next week or so. I am really excited to start getting more time in with everyone and keeping up the momentum on everything can be exhausting but so far I have felt really positive energy from everyone involved and it has kept me going strong.