New York NYC December Meet-Up

[Calzone]

Just 4? I had 9. Just sold 2. One is now in storage, as I may move another there. Trying to get down to 4 in the apartment so I can give Ethan more room. 🙂

Keith,

My four are keepers, but know that two are in storage.

The two in storage are Litespeed Ti bikes sold under the Basso name: one is a bead blasted road "Classic" that features a Imoron purple fade from Rainbow Cycles and has 8 speed STI; the other is a polished ti pre-suspension mountain bike that became a one off due to me cracking a weld on the steerer tube (the entire front triangle was replaced with oversized tubing).

I own two IBIS Mountain Trials with 26 inch front wheels and 24 inch rear wheels: one is ti; and the other a steel version from 1989. I have the Ti IBIS set up as a single speed with slicks currently as an urban bike, and it is weighing in at 17 pounds. The steel bike is a work in progress where I will either set it up as a single speed technical bike that I will build to practice trials with a heavy durable build. The steel bike is not built up yet.

I contacted Scot Nicole who founded IBIS. It seems likely that my Ti Mountain Trials might be a one-off and basically is a Holy Grail.

What do you have? I bet you have some mucho cool retro bikes. I suspect for practical reasons you have mostly road and track bikes.

BTW Joe from the NYC Meet-Up is an old racer.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Tis the day before Thanksgiving and still no December Meet-Up date.

Anyways know that this year I lived closer to the edge financially and artistically and couldn't feel more alive. It has been a very good year for me.

Everyone have a happy and safe holiday.

Cal

 

[kbg32]

I have my Cervelo R2SL, my main ride. That bike is 8 years old and I love it. As well, a custom steel Ryffranck, a builder up around Montreal who is retired now. Still have my Bianchi Mega Pro XL, Pantani model. It's going on 16 years and I still take it out. My daily commuter, winter ride, and gravel grinder is a Giant TCX. I have a Specialized S Works hardtail mountain bike circa 1999, love it, but I haven't been able to get out on trails with it since my son was born. He's 6!

All my bikes have Campy but the Cervelo and the Specialized.

 

[Calzone]

I have my Cervelo R2SL, my main ride. That bike is 8 years old and I love it. As well, a custom steel Ryffranck, a builder up around Montreal who is retired now. Still have my Bianchi Mega Pro XL, Pantani model. It's going on 16 years and I still take it out. My daily commuter, winter ride, and gravel grinder is a Giant TCX. I have a Specialized S Works hardtail mountain bike circa 1999, love it, but I haven't been able to get out on trails with it since my son was born. He's 6!

All my bikes have Campy but the Cervelo and the Specialized.

Keith,

Be sure to take advantage of the mild temperatures Friday and Saturday to get some time in on the saddle. Biking is doing a pretty good job of keeping me young.

My new Ti IBIS Mountain Trials being a 2004 is my newest bike. My other three bikes date back to 1989 and the early ninties. I guess I'm a retro-rider at heart.

Cal

 

[dshfoto]

Dec. is a busy social time of the year -- looks like the 6th, 13th or the 20th are possible days?? Christmas weekend might be a little crazy.

Have a great holiday

Tis the day before Thanksgiving and still no December Meet-Up date.

Anyways know that this year I lived closer to the edge financially and artistically and couldn't feel more alive. It has been a very good year for me.

Everyone have a happy and safe holiday.

 

[jnclde]

All those days would be great for me, I'd just have to organize myself with school beforehand.

 

[jsrockit]

13th is probably the smartest day...

 

[Calzone]

13th is probably the smartest day...

John,

The 13th it is.

On Black Friday I bought $3.2 worth of paper and ink to feed "Porky" also known as "Junior" and the "Jersey Barrier."

I hope to finish this book that I'm making from the "Dew Tour" that I shot in Brooklyn by the December Meet-Up. Basically a book of 8 1/2x11's of skate borders and BMX bikes doing street.

I started to edit and sorted some prints into three catagories: street; urban landscape; and objects. Interesting to note that "Maggie's" favorite images from each of the three piles has nothing to do with IQ.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I got three really big and heavy boxes full of paper and ink delivered yesterday, and now my apartment is looking more and more like a warehouse that is kinda full. There are boxes full of prints, boxes full of ink, and boxes full of paper and no room to really work. What is really scary is that instead of using syringes to load the ink carts funnels are supplied so you can pour from 700 ml bottles that cost $200.00 each.

"Maggie" is going to set up a work space in our living room and I basically annexed her space in the warehouse by squeezing her out. Basically my tactic was fill the room with camera gear and supplies to make her feel clustraphobic, and it eventually worked. LOL. This space is also dog free.

In looking at the 5 prints I finished lat night, I wonder if I crossed the line to where the prints have a HDR quality to them, especially in the shadow detail. Hoping that it is not too much of a good thing because of the heightened reality. Perhaps I just have to print bigger. LOL.

Cal

 

[Particular]

Cal, go easy on the HDR, or we'll banish you to dpreview.
You need to find a creative use for your reject prints; wallpaper, wrapping paper, confetti, finger paint on the back. Lot of options.

 

[Calzone]

Cal, go easy on the HDR, or we'll banish you to dpreview.
You need to find a creative use for your reject prints; wallpaper, wrapping paper, confetti, finger paint on the back. Lot of options.

Christian,

The problem is that the work prints still look really good and are fine prints, but my latest prints are pretty stunning with more detail and dynamic range. I'm printing more shadow detail than what a 27 inch Eizo can display dimmed down to 80 Lumens in a dark room.

Last night and over the weekend I found that like developing negatives the bottleneck is a drying area. I have been using/claiming "Maggies" space for drying of prints and about 5 17x22's is about the limit due to drying space.

The Epson 7800 needs a big footprint and a bit of a runway to accommodate a 24x36 inch print. Seems like inadvertantly I co-opted the space to set up a printing studio.

Cal

 

[Particular]

I saw some documentary on YouTube on Jeremy Crewdson or someone like that. They had his printer come to his studio to unroll three versions of a giant print. After he picked the best one, the printer rolled up the other two, and cut them lengthwise into ribbons. The idea was that there would be no second rate duplicates being rescued from the skip at the back of the studio. I also think he only ordered one print. Kind of wasteful though.

 

[mervynyan]

Where are we meeting? Same bar?

 

[Particular]

Same bat-time, same bat-channel.

 

[Calzone]

I saw some documentary on YouTube on Jeremy Crewdson or someone like that. They had his printer come to his studio to unroll three versions of a giant print. After he picked the best one, the printer rolled up the other two, and cut them lengthwise into ribbons. The idea was that there would be no second rate duplicates being rescued from the skip at the back of the studio. I also think he only ordered one print. Kind of wasteful though.

Christian,

My art dealer friend showed me a work print from Robert Frank that he had in his collection, basically a work print that had mucho dust on the negative. It was a really bad print where there was no regard for IQ. It still was an interesting photograph though.

I guess where I draw the line is work prints don't have broad borders and prints with broad borders are finished prints that were made with framing in mind. The prints are what they are: no more no less.

Making work prints to evaluate is part of the evolutionary process of being a studio artist. One can be a photographer and not print, but I'm finding that printing makes my photography real in a concrete way. I'm really stunned by how expensive this process is, and I understand why not many people maintain a big printer, but I am also stunned by the results.

I spent $8.2K in paper and ink in 11 months so far, but I'm deeply impressed by the results, and the money has been well spent. The prints speak for themselves, especially the most recent tweaked versions with big borders on 17x22 inch paper.

Cal

 

[dshfoto]

Cal,
I agree. Printing makes a huge difference. I am trying to keep an Itoya book in chronological order of my prints. I started out using 8-1/2 x 11, but am now using 13" x 19 ". I just noticed that Adorama has a discount on 17" x 22" Itoya folios for a price of $33.22 (37% discount). I think that I will pick up one of those and start increasing my working print size. Itoya IA1217 Archival Art Portfolio Book, 17x22in Pages
With digital becoming so prevalent, printing becomes even more important. One has to think that a digital file has a much much shorter 1/2 life, compared to negatives. I have negatives from my grandfather that date from the 1920's. Who will have a copy of our digital files 95 years from now, let alone be able to read them?
The blurb books are also a great idea,
I loved my Epson 7600, but your right that size is not very feasible in NYC.

 

[Calzone]

Cal,
I agree. Printing makes a huge difference. I am trying to keep an Itoya book in chronological order of my prints. I started out using 8-1/2 x 11, but am now using 13" x 19 ". I just noticed that Adorama has a discount on 17" x 22" Itoya folios for a price of $33.22 (37% discount). I think that I will pick up one of those and start increasing my working print size. Itoya IA1217 Archival Art Portfolio Book, 17x22in Pages
With digital becoming so prevalent, printing becomes even more important. One has to think that a digital file has a much much shorter 1/2 life, compared to negatives. I have negatives from my grandfather that date from the 1920's. Who will have a copy of our digital files 95 years from now, let alone be able to read them?
The blurb books are also a great idea,
I loved my Epson 7600, but your right that size is not very feasible in NYC.

Steve,

The printer I call the "Jersey Barrier" is mucho huge. LOL. What makes me crazy is that I want to keep two printers running. Printing reminds me a lot about the time in art school being a studio artist honing skills and seeing great strides in my work. Even a 27 inch EIZO cannot display the detail and tonality of one of my prints. I am deeply impressed in how good my Monochrom is and how the IQ approaches large format with perfect technic. Using Piezography really adds an exclamation point. Perhaps I'm mistaken in suggesting that my prints have a HDR look to them when I'm seeing large format qualities.

Thanks for the heads up on the folios. It seems that 17x22 is about the biggest size to exploit 18x24 inch stock framing and giving a print some room to breath with sizable borders. To me a border adds a lot to the presentation.

As far as permanence goes prints are archival, while digital files over the long haul are only momentary. As far as legacy goes film negatives will live long after I'm gone. In this regard I'm glad that I'm printing a lot, but know that I have not abandoned film.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

A.I. Friedman is running a framing sale. 50% off the molding on custom frames, $50.00 Gift Cards if you spend over $350.00 on custom framing.

On stock frames there is a 10% savings when you buy 6 frames, and a 15% savings if you buy 12 frames. Also the prices are marked down 30-50% (mfg list) on top of the bulk savings. Might be a time to "load up the truck" as they say on Wall Street.

Anyways just in time for the holidays if you are giving prints as gifts.

See you the 13th.

Cal

 

[Particular]

I was just handed a family photo album with prints of my grandfather and siblings in sailor suits in Switzerland from around 1910. I'm amazed at the quality of the images. They have held up really well, with minimal degradation. Notably they are held in place with slots in the backing pages, and not glued down. I'll be doing a scanning session on them for the family. I do think digital is equally archival, provided you have a strategy for duplication onto new media, and distribution of back ups. Archiving requires safe storage whatever the medium.

 

[Calzone]

I was just handed a family photo album with prints of my grandfather and siblings in sailor suits in Switzerland from around 1910. I'm amazed at the quality of the images. They have held up really well, with minimal degradation. Notably they are held in place with slots in the backing pages, and not glued down. I'll be doing a scanning session on them for the family. I do think digital is equally archival, provided you have a strategy for duplication onto new media, and distribution of back ups. Archiving requires safe storage whatever the medium.

Christian,

It is highly unlikely that someone will back up my data after I am deceased, as basically I'm just a guy with a ponytail who remains under the radar.

Perhaps with digital the only practical thing I can see lasting hundreds of years are prints. Of course archival requires all the proper care and precautions. I doubt that in the future some bored guy with a crappy day job will do all the forensic data mining to discover or reveal the images that I have captured.

For me printing makes the images real. As good as my 27 inch EIZO is it cannot duplicate the IQ that is in my prints. In this regard prints are the best display of my work. To me images from a computer screen or even a calibrated monitor that is dimmed down to avoid excessive contrast are abstractions.

Steve once said, "You can't print what's not there," in reference to a properly exposed negative, but in digital you basically can print what you don't see.

Cal