Recently Gary Saretzky a colleague from my days running the photography department at Mercer County Community College stopped by the studio while attending a workshop at the Image Permanence Institute at RIT. Gary took numerous images of the studio. It’s always great to see a different view of our studio, so we thought we would share them. Never mind the mess, too busy to clean.
We just completed a portfolio for Marshall Schuettle to take to his Santa Fe reviews.
The clamshell box consist of a slick gray leatherette for the cover and a matte black leatherette for the internal shelves. The bottom of the shelves are lined with a black Japanese silk to complement the matte black shelves. The box was 17″x21″ and it was 2″ in height.
47 prints were printed on our Canon iPF 8300 printer on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta at 17″x21″.
We finished a custom book project for the University at Buffalo for a competition. The book was designed by Edgewise Design in Rochester, NY. The cover of this book was made out of plexiglass with leaf skeletons encased in the plexiglass. The spine was created from a Japanese silk. The book block was printed on our HP Indigo 3050 on Mohawk Color Premium 100# Text. The final page had a pocket which held a menu for the competition.
Booksmart Studio Metal Media Adds Shine, Depth, and Unconventionality
By Stan Sholik
To read the full article online visit the link here.
Below, see the text excerpt only.
As photographers strive to set themselves apart from their competition, many find offering a unique look to their clients for their prints is a brand-enhancing way to stand out. Booksmart Studio is providing just such an option with inkjet printable aluminum. Photographers with a compatible inkjet printer can create samples, portfolio pieces, and final prints for clients as easily as they create inkjet prints on common media. The look is unique, often three dimensional, and is sure to set your work apart from your competitors.
The five available surfaces of inkjet printable media are, left to right, Satin White, Matte Silver, Satin Silver, Brushed Silver, and Satin Gold.
Five different surfaces are available for the fine art media aluminum sheets that are coated to accept most dye and pigment inks. Satin White has the look of smooth luster paper and is best for images with high detail and saturated colors. Satin Silver has a very fine grain structure that also lends itself to detailed images, and the surface reflects light back through the image making it almost three dimensional when viewed from certain angles.
The Satin White media has the look of smooth luster paper with
high sharpness and saturation. I muted the saturation somewhat
when making this print.
The surface of Satin Gold media is similar in reflectance to Satin Silver, but has an appearance somewhere between brass and 24k gold. This tends to mute saturated colors, and I found it perfect for a bridal portrait where softness is a virtue. Booksmart’s Matte Silver media also provides a muted look, but without the three dimensionality of Satin Gold. Matte Silver also appears somewhat yellowish under certain lighting conditions, but far less so than Satin Gold.
This photo doesn’t begin to do justice to the Satin Gold print that
is far more beautiful. As light reflects from the print at different
angles, the depth of the photo changes from two dimensional
to three dimensional.
Brushed Silver is the final surface option and it is my personal favorite. With the texture of brushed aluminum sheet metal, it’s probably not the choice for romantic portraits or for weddings. But the infrared landscape photo I printed on it is just amazing, as is a commercial still life. The illusion of depth is outstanding, as is the ability to hold a deep black and clean white.
An infrared image printed on Brushed Silver appears positive in
some areas and almost negative in others while retaining the
surface pattern of a brushed aluminum sheet metal. Blacks are
deep and rich, and whites are clean with good detail.
All of these media have an adhesive backing protected by a peel off sheet. This makes mounting easy. Two different thicknesses are available, 0.005 inch foil or 0.020 inch sheets. Any printer that has a straight pass-through will print on the media. I printed 8.5×11-inch sheets of the 0020 inch media on an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 and a Canon imagePrograf iPF6400 using ICC profiles provided by Booksmart Studio. The Epson printing was totally straightforward.
The 24-inch Canon isn’t designed to print on media this small loaded from the front. A quick call to Canon tech support brought the suggestion to tape the metal to an 11 x 14-inch sheet before feeding it into the printer and that worked perfectly. Prints from both printers are gorgeous, each with its look even with the same image.
Satin Silver has a very fine grain surface that results in an accurate color reproduction of the original image with excellent detail. As with Satin Gold, light reflects back through the inkjet layer producing a three dimensional look at certain angles.
The Matte Silver media has a slight yellow cast that adds warmth
to the image. The same file is used for this print that is used for
the Satin Silver print. Differences in reflectance account for the
variation in density, but the color difference is a result of the
different color casts of the media.
Care is required in handling the metal sheets, both before and after printing. To avoid oily fingerprints that would interfere with printing, cotton gloves should be used when loading the printer. Gentle handling is also required to avoid bending corners or warping the sheet, which would prevent it from feeding properly through the printer.
After printing, the surface should be coated or laminated after allowing the print to dry for 20 minutes. Booksmart Studio recommends two or three coats of Clearstar AFA Semi-Gloss coating followed by two to eight coats of Clearstar AFA Gloss coating to reach your desired gloss level.
More information is available from the Booksmart Studio website. A sample pack of 8.5×11-inch sheets of 0.020 inch thick media is available from Booksmart Studios for $49.30. Packages of sheets of a single type are available in sizes from 8.5×11 inches to 20×80 inches. Visit the Booksmart Studio site for pricing.
Come and check out the opening for Eric Kunsman’s exhibition: Peripheral Visions. Eric T. Kunsman is a photographer and book artist based out of Rochester, New York were he has returned to pursue his personal work. Eric is teaching as an adjunct professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He was formerly an Assistant Professor at Mercer County Community College where he was also the coordinator of the photography program. He has nationally taught workshops, lectured on digital printing. Eric holds his MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and holds an MS in Electronic Publishing/Graphic Arts Media, BS in Biomedical Photography, BFA in Fine Art photography all from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. His photographs and books have been exhibited internationally and are in several prominent collections throughout the United States. He currently owns Booksmart Studio, which is a fine art digital printing studio specializing in numerous techniques and services for photographers and book artists.
Kory
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Kory Gunnarsen
Digital Lab Manager
www.booksmartstudio.com
Introducing Booksmart Studio’s newest employee, Mark Nacey. Mark will be heading up the digital printing lab at Booksmart Studio starting in December of 2009.
ASMP– Photo Assistant Workshop
Saturday March 21, 2009
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Location: John Myers Photography
29 Richmond St. Rochester, NY 14607
Pre-register by March 13th
contact: Tim Toal at 585-461-9790 or info@tjtphoto.com
Presented by: American Society of Media Photographers / Western New York www.asmpwny.org
Seven hours of valuable information for students and assistants. This workshop will cover a range of topics that are important for anyone getting into advertising photography. We will have five area photographers and established assistants presenting material based on their experiences. Lunch and time for a portfolio review will be provided to all attending, so bring your work along. Door prizes from area vendors will be given away.
Topics will include:
• What photographers look for in an assistant
• Self-promotion
• Invoicing, bookkeeping, and taxes
• Assisting etiquette
• Studio and location expectations
• Freelance assisting vs. full-time staff assisting.
• Equipment review
• Portfolio review
(Bring your book)
Sponsored by:
Hahn Photographic
www.hahnphotographic.com
Door Prizes:
Booksmart Studio
www.booksmartstudio.com
Praus Production Inc.
www.4photolab.com
TopFlight Professional Lab
www.topflightlab.com
ASMP Members: $20 pre-registration, $30 at the door
Non-members: $50 pre-registration, $60 at the door
Cash or Check only
Not an ASMP member? Your ASMP membership is transferable to any ASMP chapter. Join ASMP at the workshop and ASMPWNY will refund $30 upon your membership confirmation. Students must provide proof of student status with a copy of their student course schedule issued by the college or a letter from a faculty member on school stationary. For membership details or to join ASMP go to http://www.asmp.org/join/. Visa, Master Card, American Express, and Discover Card accepted for membership only.
Booksmart Studio’s digital printing lab manager Kory Gunnarsen is recognized by most Rochester artists and photographers from his days running the digital lab at Lumiere Photo. Kory is a graduate from RIT where he received a BFA in Professional Photographic Illustration with a concentration in Visual Media. The concentration in Visual Media sparked Kory’s love for digital workflow and just about anything to do with digital printing. You may walk into Booksmart Studio and find Kory under the hood of the Epson or Canon machines pushing them beyond their limitations.
The panoramic photography below was displayed in the employee artwork gallery show, “Who Is Booksmart Studio?” This show the gallery when Booksmart Studio first opened. It was printed on Canon inkjet printers on Innova Ultrasmooth Gloss and Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl. The other exhibitors were Melissa Olen, Andy Super, and Joe Ziolkowski.
Booksmart Studio is please to announce the opening of our two galleries. Gallery Kunstler is a 1500 sq. ft. gallery that will feature International artists & photographers along with juried exhibitions. The Rochester Pin-Up Gallery, a 750 sq. ft. gallery, is focused more on the community of Upstate New York with open critique sessions being held bi-weekly, please look in our calendar for more information. Artists & Photographers will be primarily based in the Upstate New York region, but not limited to this region for every exhibition.
Peripheral Visions Eric T. Kunsman
The inaugural opening featured Booksmart Studio’s founder Eric Kunsman with his exhibition Peripheral Visions. This exhibition contains 25 panoramic images from the Southwest of the United States. These images, with many of the images being over 240º, they extend beyond the peripheral vision and challenge viewers to question reality.
Who is Booksmart Studio? Kory Gunnarsen, Melissa Olen, Andrew Super, & Joe Ziolkowski
The inaugural exhibit contains the work of the staff at Booksmart Studio, each member being a photographer themselves. Kory Gunnarsen showcased his panoramic views that have been digitally stitched. Melissa Olen’s images were from her travels around the world, while Andrew Super focused on the traditional silver halide process and his photographs from Kansas. Joe Ziolkowski displayed his pinhole photography work from Okinawa, Japan, these images were all reproduced on Booksmart Fine Art Metal to create a sense of a tintype.
Hall 10.1 Booth D002
