Resources for Photographers N-Z

As well as shooting digitally I also shoot film which I subsequently scan. One problem with scanning is that it tends to introduce more noise into the image than is seen when shooting digitally. Noise can also be a problem when shooting at higher ISO settings on a digital camera. Neat Image is a fantastic tool for removing this noise. You can download and use this software for free although the free version will only allow you to save files in JPG format. Even so its great and well worth trying out.

If you are anything like me you like to spend time reviewing the work of other photographers. This site provides thousands and allows you to list your own site to help others find you - something that's often difficult on the internet. I found some very good articles here and all in all this is a very valuable resource photographers everywhere. I would encourage you to pay a visit.

Another site that seems packed with links to other photographers. I particularly like this site as it seems they regulate the quality of the work and also some good resources. The brief pen portraits of famous photographers is a nice touch. Spend a little time exporing the site, it's well worth it.

A great idea and a great selection of photography. Unlike many other sites that act as a link exchange this one reviews sites and they are added on merit.

Another site with some useful links to a variety of photography and photography related site. I like site like this as they can provide you with a lot of research material.

This is a fantastic collection of photography website. I found many recognised and less established photographers on this site and espacially liked the Landscape category. The layout of the site is one of the best I have seen and I really enjoyed browsing. I particularly liked the screenshots of each sites home page as it gave an instant feel to the quality.

No doubt about it, Photoshop is a great tool for the photographer however the learning curve is very steep. Actions can help with this as someone else has done the creative work, all you need do is execute the action (also a great time saver). Action Central is packed with great downloads and tutorials. I can't do justice to the site in this small section so go spend some time browsing for yourself.

A great source of all things Holga. The site has a good shop where you can buy just about anything you can image for a Holga and a few that you can’t. It’s also well worth taking time to explore some of the links from the site as some are very informative.

A site dedicated to modifying the Holga and in some instances making it work properly. The site has a substantial list of tips as well as a customer gallery. Amongst the Holga enthusiasts this site is taking on something of a cult status. Well worth a look.

The Lomography site supports many types of “toy camera” and pinhole work split into different categories. There is some very good information here about all manner of strange cameras but I particularly like the Holga microsite. In addition to lots of good information and some excellent images in the gallery, the main site has a great shop to buy those vital accessories (e.g. Holga Fisheye). I have purchased from them in the past and the service was excellent.

I only came across this site very recently but I already love it. There is plenty of sound information and advice provided for the Holga owner on techniques such as Panoramic, Infrared as well as sound basic information. There are also some great images, my favourites being in the Infrared section.

The Toycamera.com site provides users of toy cameras with the opportunity to share their work and share it they do. There are some fantastic images here showing just what is possible when using a camera such as the Holga. There is an articles section which has a number of helpful articles, I particularly like the “Holga Panoramas”.

Recently I decided to start experimenting with Pinhole Photography and looked around the web for instructions to build my own. There was plenty of information but I then spotted a company that seemed to be selling very nice ready made cameras. After a bit of deliberation (about 20 seconds) I took the plunge and am now the owner of a hand made 6x12cm pinhole camera. The camera is made from wood and brass and is definately a thing of beauty. I picked this model because it would allow me to produce 6x12cm panoramic images on roll film. So far I have only exposed a few rolls of film but the results look very promissing. A couple of drawbacks are that exposure times can be quite long (I had one of 5 minutes on a dull day) and the camera also draws a lot of attention. Great fun though.

I recently purchased a roll of Gloss inkjet paper from Fotospeed, I comapny I hadn't tried before. I must say that I am very impressed. Once I had produced an ICC profile for the paper I was able to produce an excellent XPan print 34" long. In daylight the print takes on an almost 3D appearance and the detail and sharpness are excellent. If you are looking for a good value quality inkjet paper I recommend this highly. Someting else that impressed me was that the company offer a free, yes free ICC profiling service for your printer. They email you a calibration chart which you print and send off. They then use this to produce an ICC profile for your printer. Now that's what I call service.

It's not often that I will recommend a resource in two different categories but I am making an exception for theprintspace. In addition to a scanning bureau where you can rent time on top of the range scanners the company also offer a very comprehensive printing service. Take a look on the web site and you will see that you can select from an impressive range of papers. The range of print sizes on offer is also very impressive; this is true wide format printing using top of the range equipment. And once you have finished your print they offer a comprehensive mounting service to create that fine art masterpiece. I recommend you spend some time reviewing their web site as there are some good video tutorials and some very useful ICC profiles which allow you to soft proof your images before ordering prints. So that I don't do them an injustice, here is how theprintspace describe themselves:

"London’s top creative DIY photographic printing studio, based in Shoreditch. The studio has print terminals for simple & quick print ordering with easy drag-and-drop functions, as well as calibrated high-spec colour retouching and scanning booths, thereby catering to every requirement. Friendly, qualified experts are always within reach to assist and answer any and all questions. Professional mounting services are available for those who wish to showcase their work in an aesthetic and durable way. Theprintspace studio also houses a gallery which showcases photographers’ work, and contributes to the creative and relaxed in-house environment. Our client list contains many famous names, and in the past we have printed for top fashion, art, and commercial photographers."

An innovative company for the photographer who takes their work seriously.

Qimage is a wonderfully simple solution to printing. When I first came across Qimage I couldn't understand why I would want a software package specifically for printing, after all I can print in Photoshop. However the more I tried it the more I became hooked. What I really like is its simplicity and the amazing results it produces. Did you know that to get the best out of your printer you should output at the "native print resolution". I use an HP printer where this resolution is 600dpi and I can see the difference. Qimage takes care of the resolution scaling in the background and also allows me to apply sharpening automatically after the resolution change. It also has great colour management and a host of other features. Download the evaluation copy and see for yourself.

Recently I have been scanning a lot of XPan slides and wanting to print them out on true panoramic paper. This lead me to purchase the fotospeed roll paper mentioned above. This paper is however 13" wide and ideally I wanted to make some prints that were around the width of A4 paper. Epson did produce a paper this width but it was more expensive than the fotospeed paper. After a bit of searching on eBay I came across Signal Inkjet who were selling an 8m roll of 260gm Gloss paper for GBP13 including P&P. This is amazing value and I figured worth trying. Having ordered the paper in the evening it was shipped next day and received the day after that. When I remover the paper from the packaging I found it well wrapped in plastic and upon opening that the actual paper was sealed in a further protective cover - very impressive. When I opened and inspected the paper I found it to have a quality feel and appearance similar to Ilford Galerie but with a little less weight. The paper being light is however a bonus as it makes it easier to feed into the printer (I am using an HP8750 A3+ printer) as I don't have a roll paper fitment. My first two prints have come out to a very high standard. The results are a little lighter than the Fotospeed and have a little less depth however the detail is excellent. Colour reproduction is also first rate and there are no surface scuffs or marks from the printing. The print leaves the printer touch dry and I suspect (but have not tried) it is waterproof. Now I want to stress that due to time limitations I have not calibrated my printer for this paper but instead used the Ilford Galerie printer ICC profile (free on the Ilford site). This has produced a very good result but I suspect I will get a better, deeper and richer print when I take some time to calibrate my printer with this paper. Whilst I have no figures on the longevity of this paper nothing I have seen gives me any concern. An excellent product for a fantastic price. If you want to have a go at printing a panoramic I suggest you give this product a go.

It's not often that I will recommend a resource in two different categories but I am making an exception for theprintspace. These days its difficult to pick up a decent scanner that will make a good job of scanning slide film. Most of the dedicated film scanners have been discontinued and you will pay a small fortune for a good one secondhand. At theprintspace you can rent time on a top of the range scanning set up for a very reasonable hourly rate. I think you should be able to scan between 10 and 15 images in an hour which probably makes this a better price per image option than purchasing your own scanner. This is a Hasselblad X5 scanner so you should be able to scan 35mm, medium format and 5x4 large format images. I also recommend you spend some time reviewing their web site as there are some good video tutorials. So that I don't do them an injustice, here is how theprintspace describe themselves:

"London’s top creative DIY photographic printing studio, based in Shoreditch. The studio has print terminals for simple & quick print ordering with easy drag-and-drop functions, as well as calibrated high-spec colour retouching and scanning booths, thereby catering to every requirement. Friendly, qualified experts are always within reach to assist and answer any and all questions. Professional mounting services are available for those who wish to showcase their work in an aesthetic and durable way. Theprintspace studio also houses a gallery which showcases photographers’ work, and contributes to the creative and relaxed in-house environment. Our client list contains many famous names, and in the past we have printed for top fashion, art, and commercial photographers."

I am currently using an Epson v700 scanner. Initially I tried the Epson software that shipped with the scanner but found it gave limited results. I then tried the Silverfast software that also came with it and the results improved. I decided to upgrade the software to the full Ai product which is very good. I did however have a problem with the Silverfast multiple sampling option in that it gave very soft results often becoming blurred in areas. Someone suggested that I try VueScan which I did and have been very pleased with the results. In addition to the scanning functionality it also provides the ability to calibrate your scanner with a calibration target (not supplied - see below) and generate colour profiles. The results from this have been excellent and for me that capability is worth the price of the software alone. Dedicated scanner profiling software would have cost much more.

If you do any sort of scanning of film or photographs then it's highly likely that you have encountered problems in getting the colour balance right. This is where scanner calibration can save you a lot of time and wasted effort. However to calibrate your scanner you need a calibration target which contains defined colours that can be checked. Such calibration targets are often quite expensive and hard to get hold. Here is my source that I have found to be reliable and of excellent quality. I use both the Provia and Velvia 35mm slides with the VueScan software and have been very pleased with the results.

I have never been very happy with the slide holders that shipped with my Epson v700 scanner. besides being made from thin plastic I also found the height adjustment to help focusing was poor. I had seen comments posted on the internet suggesting the slide holders couldn't be set to the optimal height. I made a couple of test scans and found the lower the slide holder height, the better the focus. Unfortunately the lowest setting for the slide holder was 2.5mm. I then came across the Better Scanning web site and custom made film holders with adjustable height. I have followed the instructions to calibrate my scanner and found the best height to be 2.1mm (different scanners will have different heights). This product isn't cheap but it does make a good difference to the quality of the scans. There are downsides such as the slides need to be taped in place and you can't use ICE with the glass mounting plate, but if you want the best scan quality this will do the job.

If you are wondering which software I use to build and maintain this site, it's EZGenerator. Before taking the plung I tried out 11 different packages which varied from free to quite a few hundred pounds. Many of the free packages were discounted (and quite a few of the mid price ones as well) because they just didn't support sufficient configuration to build the type of site I wanted to. The high end packages were quite good in this respect but they had a steep learning curve and there seemed to be a large overhead in then maintaining the site. I wanted a tool that would allw for regular updates, support blogs and support member areas. It had to be well supported, easy to use and a reasonable price. EZGenerator ticks all these boxes and having lived with this tool for a few months now I am even more convinced it was the right decision. If you are looking for a tool with which to build and manage your website then take a look at EZGenerator.