Wolfgang Gallery, Mikey Teutul's Abstractions

WHCC Prints and Calibrating My Monitor

When I received the test prints from WHCC, I immediately noticed they were 1-2 stops darker than my original files. I needed to calibrate my monitor to resemble the color and brightness of the prints. This is the only way I will know what the prints from WHCC will look like. A calibrated monitor will make the colors and brightness on my monitor match the colors in the WHCC prints.

WHCC suggests buying a hardware monitor calibration device. These devices attach to the front of the monitor and read the color displayed. The recommend the "eye-one display" from GretagMacbeth or the Monaco Optix XR. For now, I'm doing the calibration manually by eye.

Below is a sample of a photo original sent to WHCC, and then the calibrated and profiled photo that resembles the test print I received. I adjusted only the Color settings and the Brightness once I opened the file in Gimp. I also manually calibrated my monitor prior to making adjustments in Gimp.

To summarize, when I take a photo: I'll change the profile setting on my monitor to reflect the sRGB color profile set on my camera (Nikon D7000) if necessary. Then I'll open the image in Gimp and apply the preset calibration in the Color and Brightness settings. This will resemble what the WHCC print of the image will look like. I edit the image to my liking prior to sending it on the WHCC. I make sure to embed the color profile. If all goes correctly, I should have confidence in WHCC printing the image I want.

Original photo sent to WHCC.

This is the photo after I calibrated it for my monitor, adjusting the color and brightness. This photo closely resembles the original test prints mailed to me from WHCC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting Up Account with White House, Part Deux

Once I sent the test photos to White House, I received an email that my photos had no color profile embedded in them. The color profile is useful in assuring that my monitor, camera, and prints are all equal in value and color shifting is kept to a minimum.

I assumed the sRGB color profile was embedded because Gimp is set up that way as a default. After a lot of emailing with White House and working inside Gimp, I discovered that my computer had no ".icc" files, no color profile file anywhere. So I had to download one.

I went to the Adobe web site and downloaded the Adobe 1998 RGB color profile and placed it in a file directory I named "Color Profiles" along side the other Gimp program files. This file location should not be moved once it is set up, so I wanted to place it in a permanent location. I then opened Gimp and set the color profile in  "Preferences" to the Abobe 1998 RGB profile.

Next, I opened a test image in Gimp. I went to Image:Mode:Convert to Color Profile and coverted to the Adobe 1998 RGB profile. This fixed the problem. After converting all the test images this way I submitted the images to White House.

I now have an account set up with White House and my camera, monitor and their printing services should all be synchronized to reflect the best color values I see as I edit images.

How to Add ICC Profiles in Gimp

The Adobe 1998 ICC Color Profile at Adobe's web site

Setting Up Account with WHCC

To set up an account with WHCC I had to submit five 8x10 photos for them to print out as tests. They will mail me the  prints and then set up an account for me. These are the photos I submitted:

Contribute | The Photo Argus - A Photographer's Resource

Contribute | The Photo Argus - A Photographer's Resource

Super Bowl Week in Texas and the Monster Storm of 2011

I visited Sundance Square in Fort Worth on Monday to check out the ESPN production for the Super Bowl. It was cold and cloudy, but the Monster Storm didn't hit until Tuesday morning. I haven't been able to leave my house in three days...I'm packed in an inch of ice and can't get out.

More practice shots with my new Nikon D7000, 85 mm lens.

Christmas Day

Last year it snowed here. A rare white Christmas in central Texas. No snow this year. In fact it was like a Spring day in the 70s on Tuesday. Then yesterday it turned rainy and cold, more typical for this time of the season. Today, Christmas, the sun is out and it's a beautiful day.


As a warm weather guy I just as well do without snow or ice. Can't walk in it. Don't want to drive in it. Making my way back to central California is the best way to avoid lousy Winter cold and rain.

I began reading Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" last night. The 1959 controversial bestseller was made into a movie, of course, but I had never read the book. He gets right into the story with a mobile infantry attack on a town of creatures eight feet tall called "skinnys" because they evidently don't gain much weight eating people. He tosses out a reference to the Bugs, giving a hint of what is to come.

I'm just about finished with Stephen Sears "Chancellorsville" as I continue my study of civil war battles and military history. A lesson to learn from General Lee: when you're out numbered two to one by an enemy, don't run. Look for a way to impose your will and take the initiative.