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How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part Two

21 Apr

The post How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part Two appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.

In part one of this series, I presented the reasons why images printed in magazines and publications can appear lackluster, dark, and dull rather than detailed and vibrant as when printed on an inkjet printer. In this follow-up article, I address the unique requirements and limitations of printing presses and some ways to produce rich and detailed images in print.

Fine Tuning the Process for Print

Paper surfaces

The depth and detail that a press can reproduce in the darkest (shadow) portions of an image are limited by several print-related factors, with the paper grade (quality) being the biggest factor. Printing papers come in various grades, textures, and shades of white.

White is a relative term, and newspapers are a prime example. Newsprint isn’t actually pure white and the ink printed on it never appears black.

Printing inks

Newspaper inks are nearly in a liquid state as opposed to other forms of print. The tack level (stickiness) of these inks must remain very low since the newsprint paper composition is quite soft. Full-bodied inks printed at high speed would tear the paper apart. Instead of appearing as black ink on white paper, newspapers appear more like charcoal colored ink on light gray paper. This factor alone dismisses the visual contrast in pictures. Newsprint absorbs ink like a paper towel, which is why pictures in the newspaper lack contrast, punch and depth.

Magazine paper surfaces

Publication (magazine) presses fair much better. However, they still have limitations. Paper grades for publications are still lower quality than those of brochures and coffee table books because of the economy of the project. Most publication stocks are made from recycled papers in which many of the whitening agents and glossy coatings used in higher grade papers are absent. This results in less reflective surfaces and varying shades of off-white colors. While the recycled paper is good news for the environment, it’s bad news for print quality.

The challenge

High-speed presses must also reduce the tack level of their inks to keep these papers flowing through the presses. When the tack level goes down, so does the opacity of the inks, and when the tack level of translucent inks is reduced, the contrast in the images (and image detail) is also reduced. You can see where this is headed…

The creative solution

Thus the challenge is to maintain as much apparent contrast in each image as possible under less than ideal circumstances. Here is where the creative magic of contrast “compensation” enters the picture. Prior to the era of digital editing, this creative level of tonal manipulation was simply out of reach. While adjusting the overall contrast (white, middle, and black points) of printed images has always been possible, serious contour shaping was not. But within current digital image editing software, the entire internal range of tones can be tuned and cajoled with great precision. Success simply takes a clear understanding of the limitations and a good knowledge of the tools in the digital tool chest.

The Sun backlit the subjects in this photo causing the darker areas to hide significant detail. If sent to press without compensating adjustments, the printed results would have looked even darker and important detail would have been lost.

Pictured here are the settings that produced the civil war reenactment photo above. Information contained in the middle tones and shadow tones was recovered by powerful tonal adjustments available in each of the four software applications. Very similar settings produced very similar results. The panels (from left to right) include Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Lightroom, On1 Photo RAW, and Alien Skin X4.5. Camera Raw and Lightroom produced identical results from identical settings for obvious reasons, while the development engineers from On1 and Alien Skin used unique routines and algorithms in their software to affect very similar results.

The secret to success in adjusting the internal contrast of an image is in developing a distinct visual difference between the whites and highlights and the shadows and black tones. This is best addressed within the six major tonal sliders provided by most RAW editing software (Lightroom, Camera Raw, On1 Photo RAW and Alien Skin’s Xposure X4.5) best address this.

Don’t let the term RAW scare you away. These editors can open and process just about all image file types (RAW, JPEG, TIFF, etc.). Each of these packages provides very similar tonal area adjustments (Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks) though each maintains a slightly different range for each. Additional controls to fine tune the tonal values include the Tone Curve adjustments of Highlights, Lights, Darks, and Shadows.

The beauty of all these controls is the fact that they are nonlinear, meaning they can be adjusted in any order and at any time during (and during follow-up) editing sessions. Using these editing packages, truly non-non-destructive image editing can be made to RAW, TIFF and JPEG image files.

Backlighting and a black cat provided a serious challenge in this image. These adjustments were needed even if the picture was not going to press.

Three aspects of tonal controls

Familiarize yourself with these three general aspects of tonal controls to prepare your photos specifically for the printing press.

One

Since camera image sensors capture very little shadow detail, digital images require significant internal contrast adjustments to the lower portion of the tonal scale.

Shadow tones of each image are the most challenging areas to print cleanly on press. Therefore, you must create a sharp distinction between the darkest darks (Black slider) and the three-quarter tones (Shadow slider).

Use the Exposure slider in conjunction with the Blacks slider to bring out all the detail in the darkest portion of the image. Reference the histogram to gauge the actual pixels that will print darkest.

Two

Lighten the middle tones and accent the difference between the quarter tones and the highlights.

Use the Curves tool to affect the middle tones while adjusting the Shadows slider and Highlight Slider to define the middle tones further.

Three

Reference the histogram again to monitor the lightest tones (White slider). White is a misnomer in the labeling of this slider as its influence is on the extreme highlight tones. Draw a distinction between the light tones and absolute white by using the Highlights slider and the White slider.

The Exposure slider and the Contrast slider play an important part in this tonal ballet. Choreograph these controls to achieve the best balance of internal tones and check your progress by occasionally tapping the “P” key to preview the composite effects of all your adjustments against the original image.

Seemingly lost detail in the darker areas was completely recovered by some severe adjustments to individual tonal areas throughout the tonal range. The image was recovered with only the use of the sliders shown. No further editing (dodging, burning, etc.) was required.

This article is hardly an exhaustive explanation of how to prepare images for publication inasmuch as it does not address the critical issues of color, sharpening, resolution, etc. But it will get you started on the most critical issues of tone sculpturing images for reproduction. In every example shown, ONLY global adjustments to the seven sliders was required to bring full life back into lackluster photos. The most critical aspect of post-production involves an image’s internal tonality.

Shape each image’s internal contrast specifically for the press and paper being printed. If you don’t, the printed image will probably hide shadow detail, lose their “snap” in the highlights, and produce muddy middle tones. Slight but deliberate accenting of the tone curve will produce significantly better images in print.

Working on images in these RAW Interpreter software applications provides amazing latitude in recovering both shadow and highlight detail. This example shows how On1 Photo RAW found significant detail in what appeared to be blown out highlights of a JPEG image.

Chasing light

At the core of the issue is light.

Everything about photography concerns light, and that includes viewing photos in print.

The reason images appear more vibrant and colorful on a monitor is because the background “white” is projected light, not paper. Images printed on paper will ALWAYS appear less vibrant. Paper is only as white as the light reflecting from it. The darker the paper and the dimmer the reflecting light, the less bright the picture appears. Images in print will never look as good as images on your monitor simply because reflected light cannot compete with projected light.

Conclusion

Preparing images to print correctly is a serious challenge, but one that delivers an amazing result. If you want to test your image editing skills, it doesn’t get more challenging than this. The reward for all your print-editing efforts will last a whole lot longer than a post on the Internet and will be seen by thousands (if not millions) more than a print hanging in a gallery. People collect well-produced publications and display them for others to see.

Virtually all images deserve thoughtful preparation before presentation. The camera can’t evaluate tonality balance by human standards. Learning the reproduction habits and limitations of different devices and understanding how to best compensate for each will pay serious visual dividends.

Of course, the final challenge in preparing images for publication is converting the color mode from RGB to CMYK. Check with your publication about this matter before you arbitrarily choose CMYK from the Image/Mode menu. There are a number of workflows that publications use to produce their final files for the printer. I suggest you leave the color conversion decision up to the magazine’s production staff. The conversion process is a complex issue that deserves much more attention than I’m addressing in this series.

Please feel free to comment and question what you’ve just read. Life is a collaborative effort, and we’re all learning.

The post How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part Two appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.

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How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part One

14 Apr

The post How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part One appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.

It is a known fact that images viewed on computer monitors don’t always match what comes out of inkjet printers. This is because the color pixels captured by digital cameras are defined quite differently than the pixels portrayed on the computer monitor and the monitor’s pixels differ quite significantly from the ink patterns that are literally sprayed onto the paper.

But even though both inkjet printers and printing presses both use CMYK inks, the images printed on inkjet printers usually don’t produce the same appearance when printed in publications. This is quite true, but why?

Color images are displayed differently on each device because the technologies for each medium use different processes; monitors (left), inkjet (middle), and halftones (right).

The answer to this mystery eludes many of today’s magazine publishers and even many publication printers. This is a problem that the digital imaging community (photographers, image editors, and pre-press operators) have struggled with for decades. Color Management Professionals (CMPs) undergo rigorous color science studies to understand how to maintain the same look in color images that are reproduced on different substrates and a variety of printing processes. Since you may want to produce your images in print, we’ll look at a synopsis of what the challenges are and some surefire ways to produce the results you’re looking for.

First and foremost, cameras and monitors capture and project color images as RGB light but all ink-based printers must convert these RGB colors into CMYK colors behind the scene! Even though you send RGB files to your inkjet printer, the printer doesn’t rely on RGB inks to produce all the colors in the prints. RGB colors are for projecting colors while CMYK colors are used to print colors.

Projected colors are always viewed in RGB while printed colors are always produced from some formulation of CMYK inks. That’s simply how color science works. Printers don’t print the RGB colors directly. While you send RGB images to your inkjet printer, it converts those colors into some form of CMYK during the printing process. Even when you send an RGB file to your eight-color printer, the base CMYK colors are augmented by slight amounts of Photo Cyan, Photo Magenta, Red, and Green colors. However, there has been one printer (the Oce´ LightJet) that produced color prints from RGB, but it didn’t use printing inks… it was a photographic printer that exposed photographic paper and film using RGB light. This printer is no longer manufactured.

Each printing process utilizes a unique pattern to express the variable tones between solid and white.

Viva le difference

The inkjet printing process is completely different from the print reproduction process. As a matter of fact, the two systems are overtly dissimilar. If your images are headed for print and you are not sure of which printing process will be utilized, you might be headed for trouble. Here’s why.

The possible surfaces for inkjet printing vary wildly and include everything from paper to wood, from metal to fabric, and on virtually every surface and texture in-between. To accommodate this range of printing applications, inkjet “inks” are liquid rather than solid, so they can be applied to varied surfaces and substrates.

Dots versus spots. The peanut butter consistency of press inks and the well-defined shapes of the halftone dots used by the printing industry differ significantly from the liquid inks and less defined “micro-dot” dithering used by the inkjet printing process.

The color spots produced by inkjet printing systems may include more than a dozen colors and are liquid to accommodate almost any surface. Printing press dots are well-defined symmetrical shapes and are much thicker consistency to accommodate the high-speed transfer to paper. Both inks are translucent because they must blend to create other colors.

The extremely small inkjet droplets appear more like a mist than a defined pattern; each pixel value (0-255) creating a metered amount of microscopic spots so small that the human eye perceives them as continuous tones. Due to the smoothness of the tones and graduations of color, inkjet images require a bit of sharpening to deliver detail (detail remember is a product of contrast, and contrast is not a natural inkjet strength).

Dot structure of halftone images (left) and color dither pattern (right).

Both the inkjet and publication systems convert the RGB (red, green, and blue) values of each pixel into equivalent CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) values before printing those colors onto paper. However, after the color conversion, the two processes take decidedly different paths to deliver ink on paper.

While printing presses use grid-based, well-defined dots that are impressed into paper surfaces, inkjet printers utilize micro-dot patterns sprayed onto surfaces. The same image may appear in several different forms during the reproduction process. Original image (far left), digital pixel (near left), printed halftone (near right) and Inkjet dither (far right)

Publications use the geometric structure of halftone dots to interpret pixel values as tonal values on paper surfaces. Each pixel produces up to four overprinted color halftone dots. These halftones dots translate darker values of each color into large dots and lighter values into smaller dots. The full range of darkest-to-lightest tones produce dots that vary in size depending on the press and paper being printed.

To avoid the visually annoying conflict that occurs when geometric grids collide (called a moire pattern), each CMYK grid pattern is set on a very carefully calculated angle. The positive advantage that inkjet images have over halftone images is that the image resolution required for inkjet prints is significantly less than the resolution required by the halftone process employed by publication images.

However, the most important issues to address with print have to do with color fidelity and tonal reproduction. The difference in the way inkjet images and publication images are prepared makes a huge difference in the way the images appear when they come out the delivery end of the process.

Inkjet printers are like ballet dancers while printing presses are more like Sumo wrestlers; not unlike chamber music versus thunder roll. One is quiet, graceful and articulate, the other noisy, violent and powerful.

The biggest difference between the two processes can be seen in the highlight and shadow areas. Inkjet inks are sprayed onto substrates through a very controlled matrix of 720-1440 spots per inch using a slow and measured inches-per-minute process. Publication presses smash ink into the paper under extreme pressure, at speeds measured in images-per-minute, translating the entire tonal range into a limited geometric matrix of just 150 variable-size dots per inch. Publication presses are huge, high-speed, rotary rubber stamps.

Inkjet printers carefully step the paper through the machine in an extremely precise manner while the printing press shows no such restraint. Presses display an amazing ability to control the placement and transfer of images in spite of the blazing speed of the process.

You might be able to dress a Hippopotamus in a tutu, but you can’t expect it to pirouette. There are simply physical limitations. At production speeds, the shadow details suffer, delicate highlights tend to drop-off rather abruptly, and the middle tones print darker. The printing industry is aware of this dot gain issues and compensates for them with G7 process controls and compensation plate curves, but the beast remains a beast.

There’s a pretty good chance that both color and tonal detail will be unwittingly lost in the printing process if nominally prepared images are sent to press. Having spent many years of my career in both photo labs and the pressroom, I can assure you that detail in both the lightest portions and darkest areas (and placement of the middle tones) will need special attention to transfer all the detail on the press. Highlights get flattened, and shadows get closed more easily because of the high speeds and extreme pressures involved.

This means that images destined for print must exhibit more internal contrast in the quarter tones (between middle tones and highlights) and three-quarter tones (between middle tones and shadows as well as a slight adjustment to the middle tones to reproduce at their best. I’m sure I will hear some disagreement about this from some publishers, but as a former pressman, I know that images that do not get some special attention usually print somewhat flat.

The image on the left might look good as a print, but it would reproduce poorly on a press. The shadow areas would get even darker and lose all detail. The image on the right will darken slightly in the lower tones producing an excellent result in print. White balance is also critical in publication printing. Compensating for the unavoidable effects of the press always pays off.

There is a cardinal rule in printed publications that states that even areas of the whitest whites and darkest darks must contain dots. The only “paper white” should be specular (light reflecting from glass or chrome) and even pure black doesn’t print solid black; everything contains dots. Unlike inkjet printers, printing presses cannot hold (or print) dots smaller than 2-3% value (247). Dots smaller than this never make it onto the paper. This is why additional internal contrast is needed on both ends of the tonal range.

Photographers certainly know their way around cameras and software (Lightroom or Photoshop), and they understand color and tonality as it relates to mechanical prints. They are also accustomed to references to RGB (red, green, and blue) colors and may even understand how inkjet printers work, but very few are familiar with the behavior and limitations of huge printing presses. The analogy of ballet dancers versus Sumo wrestlers is an accurate one.

Photographers understand fine art prints and image editing software though few see their photos through the eyes of pressmen. But perhaps they should!

There is a significant difference between preparing photos for inkjet printers and preparing images for publication presses. The publication RGB-vs-CMYK conversion thing differs significantly from inkjet conversion in color gamut, image saturation, and tonal reproduction.

When an image is captured, it can potentially possess more than 4000 tones per (RGB) color. That’s a whole bunch of possible colors. But the sobering factor is that all printing processes reduce those possible 4000 tones down to a mere 256 tones per RGB color before any ink hits the paper. Obviously, the post-processing tone and color shaping of camera images are super-critical! Simply put, how the photographer shapes all that data before it is ready for print determines how much detail and clarity will get printed on the pages of the magazine.

Once again, the top picture would print great on an inkjet printer but would lose very critical detail on a press. Compensation for the unavoidable effects of the press is always advised. In Part 2 of this series, I’ll show you exactly what adjustments were made to this photo. Additional sharpening also helps compensate for the slight blurriness of the halftone process.

The old adage “start with the end in mind” comes clearly into focus here. No matter how much data is captured by the digital camera, the publication press is the ultimate arbiter of tones and colors, and deserves the loudest voice in the conversation. The color gamut of CMYK conversion is even more restricted than the basic sRGB gamut of Internet images, making this post-processing exercise perhaps the most precarious scenario of them all. If you ignore the special attention needed for magazine images, don’t expect the images to pop off the page. Ignore the press’s advice, and you’ll pay the price in both detail and color reproduction.

In the follow-up article entitled “Preparing Images for Publication Part 2,” I’ll reveal the literal “trade secrets” for producing great publication images.

The post How to Prepare Images For Publication – Part One appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.

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How to Plan and Prepare for Landscape Photography

16 Mar

Autumn morning in the Alaska Range. Colors peak in late August or early September, if you are planning to catch the fall colors, plan accordingly.

The best images rarely come together on accident. Yes, I know, sometimes serendipity will place you at the perfect spot in the perfect light with all the gear you need and you are able to click away. But that is a darn rare thing. Good images, particularly landscape photography, almost always require a bit of planning. The season, times of day, weather, and your location, should all be considered before you head to the field. Though this is particularly true on multi-day trips, planning can be useful even for shoots around your local area.

Seasonality

I once got an inquiry about one of my private photo workshops from a gentleman who wanted to photograph the northern lights in the mountains of northern Alaska. This is an area I know well and a place I regularly lead photo tours, so I was eager to send along the information he requested. Until I got to his last sentence; he was planning his trip for July.

A curtain of aurora over the Dalton Highway and Brooks Range of northern Alaska. If you want to see the northern lights, it’s best to not plan a visit in the summer.

In northern Alaska, far north of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets in midsummer. The northern lights only come out at night. You can see the problem, right?

Though I laugh about it now, I have to give credit to the guy. He contacted me before making his plans, and I was able to set him straight before he bought some expensive plane tickets and ended up on a very disappointing (and likely mosquito-infested) trip to the arctic.

I realize that’s a dramatic example. It’s not as though endless daylight during the arctic summer is a well-guarded secret. That said, for every location you might visit, there are things about seasonality you should know in advance.

Late autumn in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska means early September.

Research your destination

Do your research. Most parts of the world have cold, wet, dry, or hot seasons and the success of your photos could depend on the season you choose. Think of the types of shots you are hoping to make, and then find out what time of year is best suited to those images. Seasonality is pretty intuitive for most photographers. We generally have a good understanding of how spring, summer, fall and winter relate to our photography. But within those seasons things get a bit murkier.

Let’s return to my aurora borealis example from earlier. Yes, if you want to shoot the northern lights, you’ll need to make your trip to my neck of the woods during a time of year when it gets dark. But there are better and worse times between September and April. Arrive in mid-January, and you may encounter nighttime temperatures of -40 degrees; not a fun photo temp. In addition to being warmer, the times around the spring and fall equinox also coincide with the usual peak of auroral activity. And in the spring, there is less chance of cloud cover. I reiterate – do your research!

Time of Day

Side light adds drama to the mountains around Haines, Alaska.

This is a big one that often goes overlooked. Most landscape photographers are happiest in the hour or two surrounding dawn and dusk. The light is low and sweet, throwing long shadows across the terrain. But those times vary based on your location.

What are the sunset/sunrise times? Depending on where you are and the time of year, that sweet light may occur late, or early (even the middle of the night here in Alaska during the summer). Long before you head out, look up these times and plan accordingly. A simple Google search will provide this information, as will many GPS devices and smartphone apps.

Morning fog lifts off the forest and pastures of Chiloe Island, Chile.

How will the light fall on the landscape? If you want to capture the mountains with a certain kind of light (backlight, sidelight, front light) then you need to know not only the time of the sunrise or sunset but where it will set in relation to your subject. More than once, I’ve been shooting in the evening and found my subject draped in bland, gray shadows and wished the light was coming from the opposite direction.

Look at maps, see how your locations are situated, and keep in mind both time of year AND time of day, since both will impact how the light falls.

Weather

Bad weather isn’t always bad. During a winter storm, a break in the clouds allowed this patch of sun to hit the mountains of southeast Alaska.

This is a short-term planning tool, but can help a few days out from your shoot. Honestly, I’m hesitant to include weather in this article because forecasts are occasionally wrong enough, and besides, thelandscape photography opportunities in bad weather can be amazing. Usually it’s best just to go out anyway and see what you can find.

However, by paying attention to the forecast, you may be able to moderate your expectations or plan around any undesirable weather. Trips I lead to go shoot the aurora are perfect examples of this. Clouds are bad when it comes to astral photography, but the weather isn’t uniform across a big landscape. Just because it is cloudy locally, doesn’t mean an hour away that it isn’t clear. By paying attention to weather forecasts and conditions, you can plan to adjust locations or change dates.

Location Scouting

Once on your site, it’s never a bad idea to go out for a hike, or drive and check out the good compositions before the sweet light of evening hits. Sadly time, commitments, and life in general may not allow you to get out and scout. Fortunately, there is a digital solution that can help: GoogleEarth. Using GoogleEarth you can check out the places you’d like to shoot, get driving times, and (my favorite part) use the street-view function to get an idea of how the landscape will look from the ground. Using this, I’ve actually found the exact spots and compositions for images I hoped to make.

I went out for an ill-advised hike in a thunderstorm in Denali National Park, but it resulted in the brightest rainbow I’ve ever seen hanging over the tundra below.

Resources

The internet is full of information, and a few well-worded searches will get you much of what you need to know. But the internet will never be better than personal experience. Reach out to photographers familiar with the area you hope to visit. Social media is a great way to find shooters who know your destination. From there it is a simple matter of sending some questions via email or a message. It’s extremely rare that someone isn’t willing to share what they know, provide advice, and point you in the right direction. This can also be a great way to make connections, and even friendships.

Conclusion

Northern lights over the mountains of the Brooks Range, Alaska.

Consider your photographic goals for the location you are planning to shoot, then do your research. Ask the right questions of the people who know, and you’ll have a much better chance of success when you hit the field. Plus you won’t feel foolish when you show up in the middle of the arctic summer to photograph the northern lights.

The post How to Plan and Prepare for Landscape Photography by David Shaw appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Prepare a Photography Exhibit of Your Work

12 Jan

There is nothing like having your work displayed up on a wall for everyone to see. Even better, is seeing little round red stickers underneath to indicate that the work has been sold. For most artists, that is their driving force and anyone who makes images that are intended for walls and display. However, where and how to go about having a photography exhibition can be harder than you think. It can also be a very expensive exercise.

This article will help answer a lot of the questions that you may have when it comes to exhibiting your work.

If I were to have an exhibition now this image would be in it.

Why do a photography exhibit?

Artists have been exhibiting their work for centuries, now is no different. The reasons for doing an exhibit can vary from artist to artist. Before the internet, it was one of the best ways to showcase your work to everyone. However, artists used them to make money. They would invite special clients or benefactors to the openings in the hope they would buy one or a few pieces.

Selling artwork is harder these days, so if your sole reason for exhibiting is to sell some, then you may be very disappointed. However, if your goal is to put your work up on a wall to show people what you are capable of, then it can be very rewarding. Having all your best work up for everyone to look at can feel like quite an achievement.

Another reason many artists exhibit is to be able to put the exhibitions down on their artists CV. The CV or Curriculum Vitae is a list of all their exhibitions, plus education and a few other things, similar to a resume. It is what galleries look at when seeing if they will have a show with an artist.

This image would be ideal if I decided to have an exhibition of just my macro work.

Costs and Budgeting

Exhibitions are not cheap and before you decide to have one there are many things you need to take into consideration. What sort of space will you exhibit in and how much will it cost? What other expenses will there be? How many images will you prepare for the exhibit and what will the reproduction outlays cost? Should you have a solo exhibition or start with group shows? These are all questions you need to think about.

Group or Solo

Solo shows are fantastic and ultimately what every artist wants, to have their own show. But they are also very expensive and you have no one to share the expenses with. Having said that, most artists build up to solo shows and often have had some success in group shows first.

For most photographers, group shows are a good way to get your feet wet and start building your artist’s CV. Find some friends who are also interested in exhibiting. Apply together to galleries to see if you can get an exhibition. Many galleries advertise for artists to participate in group shows they are holding, so look out for them and apply.

This framed image was in a group show for street photography.

Where to exhibit

This could be an endless list, but the most common places are galleries that specialize in the work that you want to show. However, there are other places, like cafes or restaurants, that like to have exhibitions which feature different artwork on their walls. There are benefits and disadvantages to each.

Cafes, Restaurants, and Foyers

These are often free for holding an exhibition. They don’t always have schedules so you could possibly have your work up for longer than you could in a gallery. These types of venues may not want a commission from the sale of work, though they may want you to handle all the sales, so you would need to leave contact information. They usually won’t take any responsibility for your art pieces, so be aware of that (loss or damage is not covered).

This is one of two images that were exhibited in a cafe down near the coast.

With a place like this, you won’t have access to a mailing list and will have to do all the advertising yourself. People can’t generally just wander in to look at the work. All the customers will see your images, but they are there for different reasons, such as to eat, and buying images isn’t one of them. While it isn’t impossible to sell a piece from a cafe exhibit, your audience isn’t there to necessarily buy what you are selling.

Your work will most likely need to be framed for hanging, and you will probably have to install it yourself at the exhibit space.

This is the other image that was exhibited in the cafe.

Galleries

There are many different types of galleries, and it is up to you to decide which one you think will work for you. They usually start with artist-run spaces, then come staffed galleries which are either non-commercial or commercial.

Artist-Run Spaces

Possibly the cheapest spaces to get are those which are artist-run. You pay less to use the space, but you are expected to do what they call, “sit the exhibition”. That means that when the gallery is open you have to be there to watch your work and manage any sales yourself.

Having to be there the entire time the gallery is open can be time-consuming. Many artists will get together for a group show, split the costs of renting the space, and draw up a roster to sit the exhibition. For artists starting out this can be a much better option. If you want to do this, but don’t know anyone to exhibit with perhaps you can contact the gallery as they may know some artists who are looking for someone to share.

You need to take on most of the expenses in this environment. The cost of the opening is covered and organized by you. You must pay for most of the advertising as well, though some galleries will have a mailing list for you to use.

Still packed up from when it returned from an exhibition last year.

Staffed Galleries

Staffed galleries are the next level. They cost more, but you are relieved of the burden of having to sit the exhibition. There are two different sorts of galleries, the commercial and non-commercial kind, and they often have different directions.

Non-commercial galleries

These are often smaller galleries that will charge you for renting the space and for their service to sit the photography exhibit for you. They are often the most expensive galleries to hire. Non-commercial galleries will help advertise the opening, but they are generally not interested in helping to promote you and your work further beyond the exhibition and the relationship is short term.

They make their money from you hiring the space, and taking a commission from any work you sell, usually around 30%. It is a good way to start getting work on your CV or finding galleries that do a lot of group shows. See if you can put work into them.

Non-commercial galleries aren’t typically picky about who they choose, as long as the quality of work is good. They are not going to mind if one exhibition is all abstract paintings and the next one is more landscape photographs. It can be a lot easier to get a show with them than the commercial galleries.

This image was also popular on social media so it would definitely be in the macro exhibition.

Commercial Galleries

These types of galleries are a lot harder to get exhibitions with as they have so many artists to choose from and usually have a particular type of artist in mind that they show. They are more interested in helping you establish yourself as one of their artists, in other words represent you. Commercial galleries will keep some of your work in a stockroom and advertise what you do. They try to get collectors to view what you have done so they can begin collecting and supporting you as well.

Commercial galleries usually have a niche market they represent. If you are a photographer and you send your work to a gallery that only deals with Indigenous art, then they are not going to be interested in your work.

When approaching these galleries you need to do your research and make sure you work fits in with the other artists they represent. At the same time, if they have another who does work that is almost the same as yours, then they are not going to be interested either.

The commercial galleries often cost a lot less for an exhibition, however they are harder to get shows in and they will take a higher commission. Here in Australia that rate is usually around 40%, compared to the 30% that other galleries take.

Another image that would be used if I were to have an exhibition now.

Submitting your work to galleries

All galleries tend to advertise when it is a good time to submit proposals. While you can send in inquiries at other times, it is best to look for submission dates, times when they are asking people to send in exhibition proposals.

Commissions and pricing your work

All galleries charge a commission and some cafes may as well. You need to consider how much the commission is when you are pricing your work. Make sure you find out how much the commission is when first inquiring about exhibiting in the space.

When it comes to pricing you should be realistic. If you are new to the art world, charging thousands of dollars for your work would be unrealistic. Only established artists can command prices like that. To get an idea look at the space that you will be exhibiting in and see how much previous artists have charged for similar work. If you are happy with the prices you could try charging the same, or similar.

As your reputation grows and more people start buying your work then you can look at charging more.

This is from an solo show I had in the foyer of a theater company.

Loss due to damage or theft

When you hire a space to show your work you also take on the responsibilities of it as well. The gallery or space is unlikey to cover any damage to your artwork or the theft of it. It is often in the contract or terms of conditions. Make sure you are aware of it, and if you are worried then insurance could be an option.

Insurance

As previously stated most places will not cover your work for damage or being stolen, so insurance is something that you need to consider when putting your art up anywhere. Do you need to take out insurance on it? Most artists don’t worry about it, but that doesn’t mean you should do the same. Look into it and see how much it will cost and if it is worth it for you

If the work has cost you a lot of money to produce, then you may want to consider getting insurance. Talk to the gallery and see if they have had problems in the past, especially with theft. If the work is going into a high traffic zone, like a walkway, where it can be damaged or someone could walk off with it, then it is worth considering.

It should be done according to the place where you are showing. If it is a café then the staff may not have the time to watch the work at all, especially during busy periods. However, a gallery is going to be in a better position to watch if they have the staff. If you have to man the space yourself, can you watch everything?

To frame or not to frame

Testing out a framer and had this macro printed on canvas.

Many places will answer the question of framing for you. tThey will either say the work has to be framed or it can be pinned to the wall.

If the work has to be framed then you must decide if that is something you can afford. Getting work custom framed can be very expensive. But what a lot of artists do is make all their work the same size (or use the same size frames and just alter the mat sizes according to the images), then go to somewhere like Ikea and buy cheaper frames. If you do the framing yourself then you can reuse the frames every time you want to do a show.

If you don’t have to frame and can pin the images on the wall, that doesn’t mean you can’t get the work framed. Again, your budget is going to determine that. However, if you choose to pin them on the wall you need to find out what is going to be the best way and if the purpose is to sell your work then pinholes in your photos might not be desirable to potential buyers (it also isn’t as professional looking or finished for the buyer, they can’t just take it home and hang it up).

What size and how many images to exhibit

If I were to have an exhibition now this would be in it along with the others.

This decision comes down to price and space. How much money you have for the exhibition can only be determined by you. But how many pieces you can make, and the size you can get your work reproduced is going to be determined by your budget.

It is also important to know how much space you have available for the exhibit. If the space is only three meters (10 feet) of wall space, then putting up three images that are one meter (39 inches) across will make it crowded and not allow enough space in between each one. However, if you have 10 meters (33′) of space, and you put up four images that are only 50cm (20 inches) across, that will give you too much space between them.

Consider the space carefully. If you think your work looks great when it is enlarged, then perhaps having fewer large pieces is better. The larger they are the more they will cost.

The same goes for the number of images. You don’t want to completely fill the space you have, as giving each image room will allow them to be shown better. Just because you have paid for the space doesn’t mean you have to fill it up. Consider the size of the frames as well, if you choose to frame.

Editioning

Trying out different papers to see which one will work best for this image.

Editioning is also referred to Limited Editions and is something to consider with photography. Printmakers have been doing it for centuries. It basically means that you are promising your clients or potential ones that only a certain number of those images (prints) will be available for sale.

Editions can be a good way to make your work more valuable. If you have an image and do an edition of 20, then you need to make sure that the buyer knows what number in the edition they are receiving, for example, 8/20. You need to keep records of it, so you know how many of the image you have sold. Once you have sold the 20 you can’t sell anymore. You made a promise to those that bought the first 20 that you would only sell 20 of them. Be sure of how many you think you might sell from the start, and be realistic.

Another thing you need to be careful about with editioning is to make sure they are all printed exactly the same. They all have to be consistent. If you put up a piece in a show and sell it a few times, people won’t be happy if the image they receive is not the same as the one they saw in the exhibition. You don’t have to get them all printed at the same time, but make sure you use the same printer for all of them and that the printer knows how to replicate them identically.

Medium for printing

What medium you choose for printing is again going to be determined by your budget, but also consider how your work will look the best. Do you want prints in frames? Perhaps canvas will work better for the type of image you are getting printed. Getting work printed on metal is becoming popular now as well, though it is also very expensive and perhaps might only suit some styles of photography.

Whatever you choose, you need to be careful that it shows off your work in the best way possible. Consider getting some images printed in different ways and then deciding which you like the best, and which one will fit into your budget.

My new printer did lots of tests for me to see which would work the best on what medium.

Curating and choosing which images to exhibit

Choosing which images to put in the exhibit is the hardest part for most people How do you know what images will be the best to show? There is no real way to tell. If you are working with a gallery that has a curator you can likely get a lot of help from them using their experience with the gallery and what sells. If a curator isn’t available you might have to enlist the help of friends, find out what are their favorite pieces. Perhaps your social media sites will help you see which images were popular online.

When it comes to curating the show, there should be a cohesiveness to the work and to the final exhibition. Make sure all the work fits together and flows. Be clear on what your vision for it is. The better it looks on the walls, the more you could sell.

If I were to have an exhibition now this is another image that would be in it.

Start planning your exhibition

Hopefully this has answered many of the questions you had and explained some of the ways that galleries work. There are many decisions that need to be made and before you start it is good to have a plan of what you want to do, why, and how you will pay for it.

Have you done a photography exhibit before? Please share your experience or post your questions in the comments below.

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How to Prepare Your Images for Print and Display

18 Sep

If you’re into photography at some point you’ve probably had the desire to print and display your work. Whether it be for exhibition in a gallery or local community center, to hang on your own wall, or to give a print as a gift to a friend or loved one, you want to present your work in the best way possible. Treating it as the piece of art that it is. Displaying your printed work can sometimes result in a lot of angst, due to problems printing, decisions with regards to matting and framing, and finally, lighting.

Many photographers believe an image isn’t fully realized until it has been printed and hung.

“The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.” – Ansel Adams

While situations, intentions, and desires may vary from one photographer to the next, here are a few things to consider when preparing an image for print and display.

home-display-of-prints

Monitor Calibration

Before you even choose which route to go with in terms of printing your images, you have to address the biggest issue facing photographers today – monitor calibration.

The settings you have applied to your computer screen can drastically affect the way the image looks on screen. And while you may have edited the image to look fine onscreen, when you go to print it, there is a very good chance your printed output will look nothing like what you saw when editing. To solve that issue, you have to match your screen to a known standard. One that sets the color and brightness so that what you see on screen will translate to what comes back from the photo lab, or out of your printer.

Unless your monitor is properly calibrated, you can’t be sure that the vibrant colors you see on screen will be the same as those seen in a print.

There are several available options for monitor calibration, but they all do the same thing. They get your monitor set to a known state that the printing engine can translate to similar output. In other words, what you see onscreen is what you get out of the printer or lab! Finally, it’s important to realize that the lighting under which your print will be displayed will affect the way the image looks. Too cool lighting will make it look bluer, while fluorescent lighting will make it greener, and tungsten lighting will warm the tones.

Finally, it’s important to realize that the lighting under which your print will be displayed will affect the way the image looks. Lighting that is too cool will make it look bluer, while fluorescent lighting will make it appear greener, and tungsten lighting will add warm the tones.

Type of Print

Obviously, if you plan to display one or many of your images, the first thing you need to do is have it printed. You have several options available, and while none are wrong, some are better than others. The simplest option, in terms of work for you, is to use a photo lab or print service. If you like more control, you can choose to print the images yourself on your own photo quality inkjet printer. Even then, there are things to consider.

When you do decide to print an image, you have several choices to make, include what process to use, what media to print on, and how it should be finished.

There are two main printing methods prevalent today, depending on where you go for your prints of digital images:

Inkjet prints:

Inkjet prints are produced by placing tiny drops of ink on paper or canvas to produce an image. Professional inkjet printers tend to have more colors than consumer models, with high-end printers now featuring up to 12 different color inks to create a richly colored image.

Inkjet printers use inks that fall into one of two categories; pigment or dye-based inks. Pigment inks are made of tiny particles that sit on top of the paper, while dye-based inks are absorbed into the paper. Pigment inks are archival and can last up to 200 years or more in the proper conditions (under museum-quality lighting and framing). Pigment-based inks are more expensive but also suffer two main drawbacks. First, pigment based inks can suffer from metamerism, which appears as a shift in the color when viewing the print at an angle. The second drawback is that pigment-based inks are not as vibrant as dye-based ones. Dye-based inks tend to fade more quickly, though some are rated to last up to 75 years or more in proper conditions. Professional printers will usually use pigment-based inks.

Digital C-Print (Lightjet):

This method of printing involves using a laser to expose chromogenic paper, which is then processed in chemicals, similar to a traditional photographic print. It’s a continuous tone print, unlike inkjet which produces tiny dots of ink on the paper to create the image. The laser produces true photographic quality with continuous gradations and tones. Kodak Endura and Fuji Crystal Archive are the two most popular papers used in this process, and both produce archival prints that will last up to 200 years under proper conditions.

While it’s fun to show off your images online, there is nothing quite like having one of your images printed and framed.

Choosing a Lab

Labs offer some decided advantages over printing images yourself. When choosing a lab, you want to find one with a reputation for good quality control and customer service. I’ve found getting recommendations from other photographers to be incredibly helpful when looking for a lab.

Other things you’ll want to consider are their products. Do they print using the method you want? Do they offer the sizes you want? Do they print on media other than photo paper, such as canvas, acrylic, or metal? What kinds of finishing options do they offer? Is the canvas gallery wrapped? Do they offer mounting or framing? Do you want or need those services? Answer those questions, knowing what you want or need, and that should give you a good answer as to whether the lab will fulfill your needs.

Answer those questions, knowing what you want or need, and that should give you a good answer as to whether the lab will fulfill your needs.

Displaying the Print

If you choose to go with a print on metal, acrylic, or canvas, once the print is made, you probably won’t have much else to do. These options are generally finished and require no framing, though a decorative frame can be added to canvas if desired. If you’ve printed on paper, you still have a little work to do.

canvas-wrap

Matting

Paper prints, to be properly displayed, need to be matted and framed. You can find various qualities of mat board, using terms such as “Buffered pH Neutral” or “Acid-Free”. These are basically the same thing, meaning the acid has been removed from the paper to avoid harming the prints. Acid-free mats have a protective lifespan of about 7-12 years.

The next grade of mat board is known as “conservation grade acid-free” or sometimes “museum rag”, which is what you’d want to use for a serious art display in a gallery. In addition to removing the acid, another component harmful to paper, called lignin, is also removed from the mat board. Conservation mats that are acid and lignin free have a protective lifespan of 50 years or more. Conservation grade mats aremore expensive than simple acid-free ones.

Which type of mat should you choose? It really depends on your purpose. If you’re planning to display the print as art in a gallery and possibly for sale, conservation grade mats are the best choice. This helps add value to the print by preserving it, and lets the buyer know you are serious about your work and their potential investment in it. If the use is something less important, such as a temporary display that won’t be for sale, you can certainly save some money and go with a simple acid-free mat.
matted-prints

Framing

Framing prints can present you with some difficult choices, depending on where the print will be hanging. Since you never know where someone may hang a print, for galleries and art shows I suggest a simple, understated black frame, that lets the image breathe and speak for itself.

A matt and frame finish off an image and complete the piece for hanging.

One of the big mistakes I see new photographers and artists make when showing work in a gallery or exhibition is framing their work in overly ornate or colorful frames. When an art buyer purchases a new piece of art, if it is framed already, that frame becomes part of the consideration. By keeping the frame simple and understated, it allows the buyer to view the art neutrally without considering the frame. They won’t feel the frame has to be married to the image and can feel free to consider their own framing choices.

If you want to get really serious about the frames you use, you’ll want to use museum quality framing. Like conservation mats, it is designed to preserve the print for as long as possible. Museum quality framing includes UV filtered glass to reduce the UV rays from the sun that are a print’s worst enemy and keep it from fading. It should include conservation matting as described above, and will have a final layer of archival backing to further protect the print.

The Finishing Touch

An artist should always sign his or her work, on the print, in the corner.

As with any artwork, you should always, without fail, sign your images. Signing your images signifies that you created the image, personally took responsibility for it from capture to print, and lets whoever is hanging the print on their wall know who created it. It adds value for art collectors.

There is always some debate, it seems, but I will go on the record as saying that it is always the print that should be signed, and never the mat. The mat can be removed, and thus, so can your signature. Choose either the bottom left or bottom right corner and sign your prints with a neat, clear signature that identifies the image as your own. Again, you’ll want to use archival ink that won’t harm the print, in a color that will stand out. For darker prints, silver or gold metallic works nicely, while for lighter colored prints, a black ink will suffice. I prefer the Deco Color Liquid Fine Paint Markers to sign my prints, canvases, metal prints, and acrylics. There are several thicknesses available so you may want to experiment to find what works best for you.

artist-pen

Your photos are meant to be seen, not just take up space on a hard drive! So take these tips and start showing your images off. What are your favorite tips for displaying photos?

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How to Prepare for a Portrait Session: A Few Things Your Photographer Wishes You Knew

10 Mar

Portrait photography is all about the face and can be really intimate and feel a little obtrusive for subjects that aren’t used to being photographed. But the end result can be beautiful and produce a photo that really captures the person. For the photographer there are a few aspects of different types of portrait photography that they wish their subjects Continue Reading

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Prepare to be impressed: Tamron 15-30 F2.8 vs. Nikon 14-24 F2.8

05 Mar

While we were at CP+ 2015 in Japan, we met with Tamron, and the company was kind enough to lend us their newly announced 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD. In Nikon mount, no less. It’s a wide range for a full-frame zoom, made more impressive by the inclusion of vibration compensation (VC). With a price tag of $ 1200, Tamron is taking the Nikon 14-24 head-on, and so we decided to do the same: pit the two against one another in a shootout, which you can view here

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Tips to Help You Prepare for a Successful Portrait Session

08 Dec

One of my favorite types of photo shoots is families with kids. It’s fun to spend an hour talking and laughing with people while taking photos. I enjoy being a small part of creating images that will preserve their precious memories for the rest of their lives. But these types of sessions don’t always work out as you might like, and even when you think you have all your ducks in a row something might pop up at the last minute that sends everything into a tail spin. Fortunately, with a bit of planning and preparation you can put a few things in place that will help your portrait sessions be freeing, fulfilling, and fun for everyone involved.

kids-bridge

Set Expectations

Whether you are taking photos of friends, family, clients, or even your own kids, one of the most important things you can do is make sure you are going to deliver what they want. Your subjects will have their own preconceived notions of what types of pictures they are looking for, and they might not always be the same as what you have in mind. If you can make sure everyone is on the same page before you even take out your camera, the entire process from posing, to shooting, to editing, will be much, much smoother.

Whether you know your subjects or not, it’s important to make sure they are familiar with, and approve of, your own picture style and portrait process. Showing your subjects some of your existing work is a good way to give them an idea of your style and help them see if you would be a good fit. This can be as simple as sending them some sample photos by email, directing them to an online portfolio, or sitting down and having a conversation about the type of photo shoot they are wanting.

Every photographer has a unique approach to his or her craft, and interacts with people in their own way. Do you take classic headshot portraits or do you like to experiment with various poses? Do you let subjects, especially kids, run around and play or do you like to control every element of the photo shoot? Do you shoot outdoors, in a studio, or a mix of both? Will they be able to share the photos online with a watermark, or do you require them to order physical prints? This might seem a bit too nitty-gritty, but dealing with these issues up front will save you a lot of hassle and headaches down the line.

couple-sunset

Not all photographers have their own website, but if you do you can include information such as the types of sessions you normally do, how much you charge, where you are willing to travel, etc. This information is good to know, but it often takes a little more to see if you are really the right person for your subjects. Think of the last time you went to a restaurant: did you just order right from the menu, or did you ask your waiter some questions about the food before deciding what you want? To address this, it’s good to have some sort of dialog with your subjects before you take a single photo. You can encourage people to contact you via email or a form on your website, send you a text or tweet, or post questions on a public Facebook page. It might seem like a lot of work to go through all this, but the more you work to set proper expectations for your subjects, the smoother the entire process will go.

One of the best ways to safeguard yourself against liability in case your subjects are unhappy, is to use a contract. This is especially important if you plan on charging money, and critical if you are doing something big like a wedding or bar mitzvah. If people are paying big bucks for your services, it’s essential that everyone is on the same page upfront. Without a formal contract wherein all parties involved agree on the services to be provided, things can devolve into he-said-she-said after your clients get the photos. Don’t think of this as a punitive measure, though – approach the contract as an opportunity for both you and your clients to help safeguard against miscommunication and make sure what you are going to provide aligns with what they want.

kids-flowerpot

Scout the Location

If you shoot indoors, this step is obviously not all that important. But if you plan on taking pictures outdoors it is critical that you know the area first. Just because you drove past a nice park or a friend told you about a rustic barn, doesn’t mean these places will be good locations for photo shoots. Go to the locations in person, get out of your vehicle, and walk around to see what things are like. If at all possible, do this at the same time of day you plan on taking pictures to make sure the light is similar, and ask yourself questions such as:

Where is the light coming from?
What features of the location are shaded?
What background elements can I use in the shots?
What existing features (fence, wall, bench, pond, tree, staircase, etc.) can I use for posing my subjects?
Are there lots of people around, and if so, what angle can I shoot from to avoid them in the background?

Normally this spot is full of people, but we picked a time to do the shoot when it was relatively quiet.

Even if you have already been to a location such as a field, beach, or alley, it’s still a good idea to check it out before your photo session if you have never used it specifically for taking pictures. If you approach the location with a critical photographer’s eye you will notice many things that have probably escaped your gaze previously, but could severely impact the photo session if not taken into account. It’s also a good idea to have a backup location in mind in case of bad weather, but make sure your clients are well aware of this and are able to meet you there if you do have to change plans.

Bring Blankets (and more)

This last tip might sound trite, but it has saved me on many occasions. And every time I forgot to bring blankets, I wished I had. Since I do most of my photo sessions outdoors there are many things simply out of my control. Some of these can be mitigated, like using reflectors or a flash if the light is poor, or having your subjects wear warm clothes if a cold front comes through the night before, but it’s amazing how many times a simple blanket has saved the day when all hope seemed lost.

Blankets can give your subjects something to sit on, wrap themselves up in, or just play with as you are snapping their photos. Blankets can comfort fussy children, diffuse a tense situation, or even (and yes this has happened to me more than once) cover up the mess left behind by a flock of geese the day before. They can also serve the practical function of adding a bit of color to your photos, or complementing the clothes that your subjects are wearing.

There are other items that come in handy as well. Recently I was photographing a couple and their infant son, and though I had already scouted the location at the specific time the shoot was to take place, I did not take into account one critical element: dew on the ground. I wanted to get some shots of their son holding his head up and looking around, but since the grass was all wet it nearly turned our fun photo shoot into a chore for the parents as well as the child. Thankfully I brought an old piece of canvas along, which not only gave the boy a soft dry surface to lay on, but was also big enough to accommodate the whole family on some wider shots.

The ground was too wet to lay on, so I asked his parents if we could use a simple piece of canvas. They obliged, and the final result turned out quite well.

If you are taking pictures of children, bring some toys that they can play with, or kid’s books for them to read. Better yet, contact their parents beforehand and have them bring their own favorite toys and books from home. I also like to have some sundry joke items like fake teeth or googly eyes to help make kids smile, which tend to work well for teens and adults too. If your subjects are a bit older, they might want to wear a favorite jacket, bring an artifact such as a football or set of golf clubs, or even have their photo taken with a pet. While you might not be able to provide all of these yourself, a little bit of preparation beforehand will give you an idea of what they want and help you go about planning for the shoot so you are not caught off guard.

This boy’s favorite book not only gave him something to do while taking photos, but it will be a nice reminder when his parents look back on this picture years later.

These tips are things that have worked for me, but are there other tips you have for successful photo shoots? Share your ideas in the comments section below.

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Tips to Prepare for Your First Wedding Photography Gig

24 Apr

When your photography skills reach a certain level, a family member or friend is going to ask you to shoot their wedding. They might even offer to pay you, which could be your first real gig. Score, right? You’ve made it. 😉 Of course, later when you realize the challenge ahead of you, the pride fades to anxiety, and, googling Continue Reading

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8 Ways to Prepare for an Awesome Landscape Photography Session

13 Nov

What is your photographic specialty? Do you even consider yourself to have one? The answer to these questions might depend on whether or not you’re a professional photographer or do it for the enjoyment of the hobby. It’s a commonly known rule amongst professionals that you can usually maximize your success by concentrating in one or two specific disciplines or styles, whether it be Continue Reading

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