The Electronic Imaging conference 2017 organized by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) is accepting late submissions until August 15. The Image Quality and System Performance track is chaired by myself and Elaine Jin, from Google Inc.
what is fhotografik.com?
fhotografik.com is my experiment writing about photography, imaging science and subjects surrounding their practice. I’m Robin Jenkin and I’ve made my living working in imaging science for over 20 years. I’m one of the authors of ‘The Manual of Photography’, (published by Focal Press 2010), and was Executive and then Chief Editor of ‘The Imaging Science Journal’, from The Royal Photographic Society of the UK, for more than a decade. I live and work in Silicon Valley and I wanted to create something that is accessible to as many people as possible and a little more freeform.
When I was a kid in the 70’s and 80’s in a small fishing village in Cornwall, England, my dad’s level of interest in photography was “more than normal but not obsessive”. Various members of the family would have to pose every now and again and the “star burst” or “soft focus” filter would be cracked open. Occasionally the “multi-image filter” would make an appearance. Christmas was a target rich environment as were summer walks blackberry picking or on the promenade. All of these were film cameras of course. The last I remember from this particular period was a Praktica MTL50, probably with the Pentagon 50mm f/1.8 standard and a couple of other lenses. It had a certain robustness about it. Definitely designed using a ruler, and until it was realized mere steel or aluminum was all that was available, the designer probably spec’d depleted uranium or titanium for the body. If it was dropped you worried about what it hit, not the camera. It was kept in an equally robust aluminum case.
Film choice was governed by processing. High street processing was available but expensive. The postal processing services competed on price and by giving away film. Send your film off for processing and back came your prints and another film. Magic. For years I thought “Truprint” was a brand of film. This was a smart move on their part – it lowered the barrier to shooting your next roll by keeping the cost down and by making it immediately available. Truprint is still going in the UK and seems to have navigated the transition to a largely digital economy.
Being around around this it wasn’t long before I got my first camera, a 110 cartridge. Not as robust as the Practika. But my father and this camera started my awareness of photography. I can’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old. Fast forward ten years and the next boost in interest came from my high school physics teacher who let us use the school darkroom at lunch time. We, the students, would process and print black and white film. The results were truly terrible, despite the enthusiasm. Lots of dust in the film processing, poor contrast in the prints. A lack of control and patience on our part. We were more interested in getting any results, rather than creating a repeatable process to build from and taking our time. No reflection on our physics teacher who was, somewhat bravely, letting us explore this for ourselves. Seeing an image appear on a sheet of photographic paper under the red glow of a safe light is something magical. It stays with me to this day.
My Harajuku moment (a point at which you realize enough is enough and commit to a course of action, read Tim Ferriss, 4 Hour Body) came in a low end rented room in a student house as an undergrad. I had ended up starting a civil engineering degree because I had maths and physics and earnestly heeded the advice from the schools careers counselor. When I turned up, the first thing I asked about was stereo photography for mapping building cracks. This should have been a clue. I disliked civil engineering from the outset, didn’t apply myself and did poorly as a result. At the end of that year, I was miserable and this was the first time I thought about what I actually wanted to do. Photography, that part was easy. I wanted to be a photographer. How to do it, that took more work. Ironically this got me into the university library. I grabbed every single university prospectus I could find and trawled through them looking for photography and cross checking the entrance requirements. There are not a lot of arts degrees that want maths and physics. I applied for a couple and got no reply. One asked me to write an essay on a recent exhibition I had seen. I’m still waiting for the call. During the search I found a degree at Polytechnic of Central London (now University of Westminster) on Photographic and Electronic Imaging Sciences. A course that was photographic training and imaging science. I didn’t have a clue what ‘micro-image evaluation’ was. I didn’t care at the time, it had photography modules and these guys actually wanted maths and physics. I applied, got in and started the in fall of 1991. I forced my parents to be supportive by moving back home in-between. The first day in central London on that course is burnt into my memory. I loved it, discovered imaging science, got a first, and went onto doing a Masters and PhD in the field. Because of that experience I’m a fan of the gap year to this day. Some folks know what they want to do from the outset, but if you have doubts, take some time to think and try some things out.
I’ve worked in academia and industry, in startups and big companies. I never became a professional photographer in the truest sense. I never made my living taking images and I admire people that do. But I found a deep love of photography and in the technology surrounding making images. Who doesn’t love the smell of sodium thiosulfate in the morning? Smells like victory. I’ve a particular interest in image quality and the measurement of imaging systems which I have no doubt I’ll share more of in the future. I like looking at all photography, professional or amateur. I love portraiture, experimental and abstract photography. I particularly like images that document everyday life. Those things that are inconsequential enough to be overlooked or deemed unimportant so people don’t make the effort to take an image. Like doing the dishes. I also like collecting photography books, particularly if I can pick them up used.
I’ll share some of this passion with you, providing insight and tools to improve your imaging and introduce you to some of the things I like on the web and elsewhere. How did you get into photography or imaging science? What was your Harajuku moment? Let me know in the comments.
what is fhotografik.com?
fhotografik.com is an experiment writing about photography and imaging science in the widest sense. I’m Robin Jenkin and I’ve made my living working in imaging science for over 20 years. I’m one of the authors of ‘The Manual of Photography’, (published by Focal Press 2010), and was Executive and Chief Editor of ‘The Imaging Science Journal’, from The Royal Photographic Society of the UK, for a total of more than 10 years. I live and work in Silicon Valley and I wanted to create something that is accessible to as many people as possible and a little more freeform.
When I was a kid in the 70’s and 80’s in Cornwall, England, my dad’s level of interest in photography was “more than normal but not obsessive”. Various members of the family would have to pose every now and again and the “star burst” or “soft focus” filter would be cracked open. Occasionally the multi-image filter would make an appearance. Christmas was a target rich environment as were summer walks blackberry picking or on the promenade. All of these were film cameras of course. The last I remember from this particular period was a Praktica MTL50, probably with the Pentagon 50mm f/1.8 standard and a couple of other lenses. It had a certain robustness about it. Definitely designed using a ruler, and until it was realized mere steel or aluminum was all that was available, the designer probably spec’d depleted uranium for the body. If it was dropped you worried about what it hit, not the camera.
Film choice was governed by processing. High street processing was available but expensive. The postal processing services competed on price and by giving away film. Send your film off for processing and back came your prints and another film. Magic. For years I thought “Truprint” was a brand of film. This was a smart move on their part – it lowered the barrier to shooting your next roll by keeping the cost down and by making it immediately available. Truprint is still going in the UK and seems to have navigated the transition to a largely digital economy.
Being around around this it wasn’t long before I got my first camera, a 110 cartridge. Not as robust as the Practika. But this started my awareness of photography. I can’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old. Fast forward ten years and the next boost in interest came from my high school physics teacher who let us use the school darkroom at lunch time. We, the students, would process and print black and white film. The results were truly terrible, despite the enthusiasm. Lots of dust in the film processing, poor contrast in the prints. A lack of control and patience on our part. We were more interested in getting any results, rather than creating a repeatable process to build from and taking our time. No reflection on our physics teacher who was letting us explore this for ourselves.
My Harajuku moment (read Tim Ferriss, 4 Hour Body) came in a low end rented room as an undergrad student. I ended up starting a civil engineering degree because I had maths and physics and earnestly heeded the advice from the schools careers counselor. When I turned up, the first thing I asked about was stereo photography for mapping building cracks. This should have been a clue. I disliked civil engineering from the outset, didn’t apply myself and did poorly as a result. At the end of that year, I was miserable and this was the first time I thought about what I actually wanted to do. Photography, that part was easy. I wanted to be a photographer. How to do it, that took more work. Ironically this got me into the university library. I grabbed every single university prospectus I could find and trawled through them looking for photography and cross checking the entrance requirements. There are not a lot of arts degrees that want maths and physics. I applied for a couple and got no reply. One asked me to write an essay on a recent exhibition I had seen. I’m still waiting for the call. During the search I found a degree at Polytechnic of Central London (now University of Westminster) on Photographic and Electronic Imaging Sciences. A course that was photographic training and imaging science. I didn’t have a clue what ‘micro-image evaluation’ was. I didn’t care, it had photography modules and these guys actually wanted maths and physics. I applied, got in and started the in fall of 1991. I forced my parents to be supportive by moving back home in-between. The first day in central London on that course is burnt into my memory. I loved it, discovered imaging science, did well and went onto doing a Masters and PhD in the field. Because of that experience I’m a fan of the gap year to this day. Some folks know what they want to do from the outset, but if you have doubts, take some time to think.
I’ve worked in academia and industry, in startups and big companies. I never became a professional photographer in the truest sense. I never made my living taking images and I admire people that do. But I found a deep love of photography and in the technology surrounding making images. I’ve a particular interest in image quality and the measurement of imaging systems which I have no doubt I’ll share more of in the future. I like looking at all photography, professional or amateur. I love portraiture, experimental and abstract photography. I particularly like images that document everyday life. Those things that are inconsequential enough to be overlooked or deemed unimportant so people don’t make the effort to take an image. Like doing the dishes. I also like collecting photography books, particularly if I can pick them up used.
I’ll share some of this passion with you, providing insight and tools to improve your imaging and introducing you to some of the things I like on the web and elsewhere. How did you get into photography or imaging science? What was your Harajuku moment? Let me know in the comments.
fhotografik.com 