Life is not all smooth and sleek in Dassel, Lower Saxony, and neither is it in the Hahnemühle factory. At least not in the division that makes the Matt Fine Art - Textured inkjet paper.I don't know if the firm chops down chunkier trees or employs rougher workmen, but the results have a rugged charm all their own. Prepare to pick your way through a plowed field of paper. Mind your ankles.Holy Moley, Batman...
Hahnemühle are historic papermakers from Dassel in Lower Saxony. With a lot of small creeks ( " bachs " ) running through the place and forests nearby, it has proved to be a good location to make woodpulp and paper - they've apparently been doing it since 1584.Currently there is a wide selection of papers that have been turned to the inkjet printing application from the company. Camera Electronic have had them for years and supplied some very special surfaces in large flat sheets. As well, there are rolls avaiable for the larger inkjet printers.The Hahnemühle sample books have always been amazing things - exotic surfaces and extremely well-printed images that make you jealous. As well, they produuce a number of sampler packs to let people assess the things for themselves...
Ilford have had a colourful business history over the last deccade but they have never stopped producing the sort of inkjet paper that is a standard of the industry.Students, amateurs, and professionals have all been brought into contact with the Galerie series of inkjet papers at some stage of their careers. Whether in cut sheet or rolls, this paper has gone through printers from all the major manufacturers with very little trouble...
If you are an old-school photographer like me you may occasionally be lost - lost on the back streets of a new suburb at dusk before they put up the street signs, or lost for words at the latest horrible hipster trend...
I plan to make it a habit to call in at our Murray Street Store - corner of Queen Street - at least once each week. I've learned not to warn the staff exactly when in case they turn off the lights and hide behind the sofa - my relatives do this a lot.This week's visit revealed lots of new things; an old industrial turntable in the laneway out the back, the new coffee machine works a treat, and there is now some colour in the store. The new cabinets are in and are attracting some pretty bright entries:a. Leica. Well, Leica is pretty much chrome and black, as you might expect from their history. They do shoot off into bright binoculars occasionally but these are the exception.But you can always count on Leica for red. The design team that evolved the store displays all over the world were brilliant in translating the red Leica dot that we had become used to seeing into a brand reminder. They adopted that same shade of red and repeated it in the cabinet...
NOTE TO READERS: THE ELECTRICITY HAS BEEN OFF ALL DAY DUE TO SHORTS OVER THE LINE. IF IT IS STILL OUT IN YOUR SUBURB, DON'T BOTHER TO READ THIS MESSAGE...
Those of you who followed the news from Photokina in 2016 - sent back in part by the management team of Camera Electronic and in part by the press departments of major manufacturers - will have been attracted to the new cameras and lenses shown. Lots of you will have zeroed in on new offerings and are starting to make vague plans to get something fresh...
Back on the YouTube channel again today and two more of the Canon videos that explore the idea of laboratory experiments with photographers. By all means go to the youtube.com site and dial up:THE LAB: EVOLUTIONTHE LAB: DECOYWatch the first one first.When I did I was highly amused to see the rules - three simple objects to be photographed with Canon cameras and lenses by a series of photographers, but no-one was allowed to take the same photo twice. Essentially, as the props were used, they were used up. The items provided were:A banana.Some flowers.An egg.Bananas get peeled, flowers get trashed, and an egg - eventually - gets broken. And each person confronted with the history of what ever was in front of them had to make something visually interesting out of it. Most succeeded.Those of us who have worked with materials in a studio know pretty much how this works - certainly the still life and food shooters know all about time limitations on their subjects. Portraitists do too, even if they do not recognise the fact that people...
Folks, the camera makers have been offering cashbacks for the last few months to boost Christmas sales.Some have already finished, and congratulations to those customers who benefitted thereby...
I recently asked for some information from a number of different sources - amongst them were manufacturer's representatives, wholesale representatives, and industry leaders. In most cases I was treated very well, and have been given promises of insights into what is here in our shop and what might be coming.Oh, no industry secrets - nothing like that. I would not recognise them if I saw them and really would not know what to do with them. I asked for current details and that is what I am getting - and I am loving what I see.In the case of Canon Australia I have been directed to some of their productions on YouTube - in particular a series of short videos under the overall title of " The Lab ". I've watched four so far and have really found them interesting...