How my first large print was ruined... but I still liked it!

Hey guys,

So after this year's tax return I decided to invest a bit. As I mentioned in a previous article I will soon change the way you can order prints from this website. I bought a large format printer: the Epson 3880. With this little baby I can print at home sizes up to 17 inches wide. so for me that means 16x24 at home! This way when you want a print, it will be done with love with my little hands and I will ship it to you directly with a personalized note, how cool is that!

I go the printer used off ebay, I had a really good deal with the inks almost full. I went to red river paper to buy a few sheets, i took 3 different types:

• Aurora Fine Art (fiber based textured) in 13x19 size
• Metallic Paper in 17x25 size
• and Baryta (classic photo paper from old labs)

I decided to test the printer with a few 4x6 images before to make sure I nail the process of color calibration (more on that later). But after being comfortable with it I decided to step up and print a 13x19 image.

I fed the paper in the printer and waiting for a few minutes.... and the print was ruined, see below

The paper touched the print head in several places and left black marks.

The reason? I was stupid, i fed the printer from the top feeder when I should have used the back one. Once i did that i printed perfectly.

This however was not completely useless. While I was not impressed with my 4x6 prints, printing on fine art paper at this size changed everything. The quality of this is just STUNNING. The paper is thick, the feeling is great and the picture just shines on it. Colors matched perfectly what i had on screen, it really looks like photos you get in museums and galleries. Overall I am really impressed with it.

Lesson learned for the feeding method, I am now ready for more. I'll keep you posted on the results of my first metallic prints (I am looking forward to this!).

I will also be travelling to Mexico, so hopefully some beautiful travel images will come back with me.

See you around

Jeremy

Introducing Jeremy 2.0

Hola amigos,

Today I decided to have a little fun with myself (no disgusting joke intended).

I worked on a project I called "Jeremy 2.0"

Obviously the guy on the right is... me. And it is always a shock to see myself in pictures. I started working out about 8 weeks ago but there are still a lot of efforts to do!

So to motivate myself, let me introduce the future Jeremy:

He is taller (6'1), has 2 arms and 2 legs that actually work. He is also 15 pounds lighter and packs a bit more muscle!

Available at your favorite retailer soon.

Jeremy

Another cool headshot for a friend

Hi everyone,

It looks like headshots might become a real thing for me now. A friend of mine needed a new one for a role he is trying to get and so we setup a time early his week to shoot.

This was a good occasion for me to test out the Sony A7 in real conditions as well as practise my skills in lighting.

Now, I am not someone who shoots a lot, for example this photoshoot was only 38 shots. Out of it, my friend picked 10 (hey 1/3 ratio is not too bad!)  that he liked and one that was the clear winner.

From then a bit of post processing and here is the result:

I used my trusty Vivitar 135mm f2.8 for this shot. I had one main light at full power on his right side and a second light for filling the shadows at 1/5 of the power.

The great thing about shooting men is that retouching in generally easier than with women. The skin texture is expected to be rougher and veins actually give character to the person.

All in all a good experience for me, I am really happy with the results and the A7 did the job perfectly. It looks like I will have to add a new section for headshots in my portfolio.

Don't hesitate to shoot me a comment if you need to update your profile or resume picture as well!

Jeremy

There is nothing like a print

Photography is meant to be printed.

I am reminded of that everytime I get a new print from the labs. Today I got a 3 piece canvas from a scene I took in the Gand Canyon.

There is nothing like seeing your picture on such a big frame, the screen simply cannot compete with it.

For this one I actually used a groupon I got with the guys at Canvas on Demand, and honestly for the price I am really happy with the results (I got it for 50$ instead of more than 300$ it was a great deal!)

So here is my advice to you, if you are a photographer or simply enjoy taking nice pictures, get your photos printed, it's totally worth it! 

Jeremy