Photo LA and Making Books in Lightroom

Next week I will be participating in Photo LA and I've been working (like a dog!) getting ready. Funny thing is...I already thought I was fairly organized as an artist - I guess it's good to have a reality check.  As part of my presentation, I decided to make a few photo books, one for each body of work. 

There are an enormous range of possibilities in terms of self-publishing and I chose to use Blurb (as an experiment) because they're part of the Lightroom Book Module and MagCloud because it's super affordable. You can design a basic book in Word or Pages - or get more advanced with In Design or Photoshop. 

Lightroom is a terrific way to design a book quickly, and once you become familiar with its quirks, there is still a bit of customizing you can do. My big complaint is that the available sizes in Lightroom do not match up with the sizes in MagCloud (which is the best low-cost method for quick catalogs I've found). So, I came up with a work around method. 

I only like the "perfect binding" available in MagCloud - the three sizes that are available with perfect binding are Standard Portrait, Small Square and Digest. Here's the easiest way to use and adapt Lightroom for MagCloud's Standard Portrait - which is the format I used for Multiple Viewings.

This is how I created a standard 8.5x11 magazine style book with no full bleeds (where the image goes from edge to edge) in Lightroom 4 - it should work for the newer versions of LR as well.

Creating a MagCloud publication using Lightroom and Acrobat Pro

1. In the LR Library module, create a Collection of the images you want to make a book from. 

2. Move to the LR Book module and use these settings for "Book Settings." 

a. Book: PDF

b. Size: Standard Portrait

c. Cover: No Cover

d. JPEG Quality: 100%

e. Color Profile: use whatever profile you normally use - I use Adobe RGB or ProPhoto (yes I know which is bigger...that's a different discussion). 

f. File Resolution: 300

g. Sharpening: Standard

h. Media Type: Glossy

3. You are now in a format that is 8"x10" - and when we print in MagCloud it's going to be .5" larger side-to-side and 1" larger top-to-bottom. This means you can place type very close to the top or bottom of the page - but I'd watch the sides since that extra space can get lost in the fold and trim. 

4. Layout your publication - but our first "work around" involves knowing that your Page #1 will be removed from your final pdf, which means Page #2 is your real cover and you must end on an even number - that last page is your back cover.  

5. When you're happy with the design - "Export Book to PDF" is at the bottom of the right column. Then open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Click to show the thumbnails (icon on left) and to show the "Tools" column on the right. The image below illustrates that the first step will be to select and delete page one using the "Pages" tools. 

6. Next, select the "crop" tool from that same right side column tools and double-click in the page, which will bring up the window you see below. Towards the bottom where it says "Fixed Sizes" select "Letter" and also check "Center" and over on the right under Page Ranges, check "All." This will add the additional space to your pages. I've found that you can still do double-page spreads with this method. 

7. Important step that is often ignored - make a quick printout of this new PDF, image quality is not important. Then put it together like a book and "proof" it for flow, readability and layout. I cannot stress enough how important this step can be. If you need to make changes - you'll need to repeat from step #5. 

8. When you upload the pdf to Lightroom, you'll get a warning, just ignore it and "continue with this file." Then you just need to double-check that nothing falls in the trim area - also, don't forget to specify that you want "perfect binding" when you get to the pricing part and consider what color you want that side bind to be. 

Good luck!

p.s. if you'd like to have full bleeds (on the cover, for example), you'll need to make those full size in Photoshop, save them as Photoshop PDFs and then use Acrobat to insert them. 

Creativity: Can Less Be More?

Once you have an idea, should you just tap that well until it runs dry? Will it increase the amount of ideas you have on a regular basis...what if you tried a very different approach? You might be surprised  that the idea of limiting creative output interests me. 

Years ago, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the perfect (for me) photo project. It was Val Verde, a faded Montecito estate that was just starting a renewal process after years of slumber. I was given full run...completely unshackled by any restrictions - actually that's not totally true - they had a signature view of the stairs I was not to take...very "Garden of Eden."

The project was the culmination of all my interests at the time: beauty, architecture, how people live, old California. It became a very conscious choice on my part that I would limit how much I shot on each visit. A big part of this was a desire to work in a different method. I had just come out of a commercial career (foodie photog) and when I added my schooling on top of that - it felt like I'd spend two decades working as a hitman. Show up - get total coverage, and then get out... So I consciously chose to take a different approach with VV. Instead of coming in day one and covering the joint, I would limit my output to one box of Polaroid film (I was shooting 4x5 Polaroid negatives, which is 20 sheets). This would force me to slow down, take the place in, get to understand it, and myself, as we both evolved over time. I think it was a successful process - and it gave me a chance to grow in a different way as an artist. 

My lovely Val Verde project became a book...at the time I felt I should honor their single restriction as part of the trust I'd been given. However, a few years ago the estate fell into bankruptcy and was sold multiple times. For all I know, that signature view is gone...and I wish I'd at least gotten it on film. Here are more of the images from the project. 

Creative Challenge: find a place, object person...a subject matter that you're drawn to, and then choose a time span. Maybe for 90 days you're going to take a single shot of it a day - this could be changed in so many ways, but the basic groupings are Time, Subject, Method of Capture or Output - this practice could be interesting in other genres as well - a writing assignment, drawing, poetry...anything, but the main idea is to allow yourself and the subject time to grow together. 

This post was inspired by an experience I had while reading Patti Smith's book Just Kids. I was struck by an idea (on a totally unrelated subject) and immediately afterwards I got this feeling "I should stop reading once I get my idea." Maybe I just like to savor great moments...

Misery, Beauty and the Creative Process

There's no denying it, I'm miserable...unhappy...grumpy...sneezy...oh, wait - no I haven't become the seven dwarves. Instead I'm doing something totally miserable, spending the morning trying to make sense of a new set of images (none of which are in this post). It's hard to decide if it's worse to not have any images you like, or to have fallen in love with several unrelated images - which then could become just another dead end.

Our mythology about the creative process includes all of the above experiences, but when you're going through them, understanding that doesn't really make it easier. I've got two images I really like...both completely unrelated to each other and I'm trying to figure out what they mean, what they can lead to, and where to go next. Making sense of our images becomes part of the process of figuring out the kinds of stories we want to tell. 

Part of the pressure is that I've got a show in a week - a small experimental space - and I've committed to really using the experience for the process of art - rather than just another marketing stint. I started with a strong idea - actually a word - resonance - one of those delightfully elastic words that roams around from science to spirituality. My connection to it was in reference to Beauty. Yup, I'm still trying to use beauty in my work.  I'd been reading a book my mother gave me, Creative Authenticity, 16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision, and the first chapter is about searching for beauty.

"Art and beauty are about that inner resonance. It isn't the subject matter that holds us. Some inexplicable reaction stops us, and we find ourselves connected with something other than our self."

Beauty is like that great quote on pornography - we can't define it, but we know it when we see it. I want my work to have that quality, to become a space in which to rest, something quite removed from the rest of the world. On my living room wall I've got a painting by my mother which has that quality. The scene is simple, just a pathway in a rather wild, natural space. The brushstrokes are lose and a bit wild themselves, abstracted enough that I find myself just staring down that path and transfixed in a meditative state.

So, that's what I'm looking to create...meditative, transcendent, transportive moments. That's a lot of weight for one image to carry, but having the word to grasp onto is a great place to start.  The problem is that now, looking at these two images, I can't really figure out what is making them so good. Ironic? Yup!

Is it the subject matter?  Method of printing?  Perhaps it's the kiss of death to look so hard for meaning, for connection? One of the first mistakes I can say I'm making is trying too hard to have a result - the true irony here is that I found the images I love through experimentation and then the second I have success in that method, I switch to its polar opposite by trying to control everything...ssshhhish! 

I don't know...but I'd like just ONE more image that does it for me...NOW....

Perhaps it's unwise to bully my muse?

Ah, well...

Finding your way

Do you believe in a book's ability to change your life? That moment when you're reading and you literally feel a shift in your understanding of the world, or better yet, yourself? For me, the first book that really did that was Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning with his revelation that even in the midst of hell, he had one freedom left - to decide how he was going to respond to the experience (a vast simplification here on my part). 

Another book that I read a few years ago, similarly changed my understanding of how we think. The book was Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales. One of those moments happened when I read about an experiment done by a group of Harvard psychologists.  They took two groups of people and showed them a video of basketball players passing the ball. One group was given the directive "tell me what you see" while the second group was asked to "count the number of passes."

What neither group realized was that, in the middle of the video, a person in a gorilla costume would walk through the action, visible for about five seconds. Afterwards they asked the participants if they noticed anything odd. The "tell me what you see" group remarked on the gorilla, which was normal enough - but over half of the other group never noticed the gorilla. What the psychologists found was that the open ended order "tell me what you see" created a sense of curiosity about the environment and allowed the viewers to take in unexpected experiences. This differed from the "count the passes" directive which created a closed system, restricting the viewers to a specific task. 

The author likened it to a magic trick, where you are asked to watch the cards...in doing so, you create a mental map of the world and ignore anything that might be outside of that expectation. It was a rather extreme illustration of the idea that we see what we expect to see. This probably explains why we usually feel so energized when we travel, or are out of our own environment - we have no idea what to expect, so we're totally open to whatever's going to happen.  

The biggest block to finding new directions is just getting out of the box you're in - but the question is, now can you get out of something you've stopped being aware of? How do you climb a new mountain when you're not sure which valley you're in? As artists, if we start with a fairly strong mental map of the art world and what is (and isn't) art, doesn't this limit what we can attempt or what we feel comfortable putting into the dialog?

So, it seems that the trick is to find a way to stay curious and open. To put aside the directives we may have about the kind of work we need to be making...and just tell the world "what we see."

The best gift

This past year I made a private goal to really reconnect to my students in a meaningful way. It's so easy as a teacher to let all the administrative "stuff" get to you - to get in the way of why you took the job in the first place. It's easy to get absorbed into a vortex of emails and committees. This year, my goal was to leave that behind each time I walked through the classroom door. I can honestly say, that this year has been one of my most rewarding.

A week ago, as I was plowing through the stack of paperwork in my box, I came across this book - it was a gift from a student with the lovely quote below. It immediately made me stop, took me out of my anxiety and I took a moment to smile. That smile carried me through the rest of the day and is with me now as I remember that feeling.

"What is the way to look at a flower so that I can make the most of it for my art?" "We should master the art of stopping in order to really be with our friend and with the flower."

Thich Nhat Hanh. from his book Peace is Every Step, The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.

What I especially loved, was that the book was her copy, it had her marks and felt used and loved. Too often we think we need to give something new - but it was the sense of use and history that made this gift truly special.