I started as many of us as an “analog” photographer, without much control of the final result of my work because I hadn’t my own color lab. Several years ago –too many- when I started capturing digital images and serving my customers with their imaging processing, to have a procedural workflow involving color management from the actual capture or creation of the file was crucial in terms of achieving predictable and repeatable results on each step of that workflow.
My technical background was totally fulfilled when color management begun to be part of my day to day job.
I was never able to separate my personal from my professional work, especially in terms of methodologies.To have a custom-made camera profile is so important for my when I’m capturing a landscape during my vacations as it is when I’ve to reproduce a piece of artwork for a client of mine, as it is to preserve the biggest possible color space and bit depth, there is always time to reduce them when I need to. Color management for me is part of my thinking process.
“My work” comprehends consulting, teaching, printing fine-art, photographing artwork, processing images and I think one of the main differentiators –and common denominator in all my activities- is to have a complete and integral knowledge and commitment of the most up-to-date color management practices. I have the same printer, camera, lenses, targets and spectrophotometers than many others professionals, but I think my customers choose me because of my results, which are based in the usage of these devices, whom without a complete vision of them as part of a chain, a workflow, are just that, devices. My customers are used to receive from me predictable and repeatable results and I’m glad to be able to do that with the right equipment.
To have the latest tools is essential in order to deliver the best service to my customers. When we talk about “real world color management” we can’t trust in old practices and each new version of every tool –hardware or software- does “upgrade” the quality of what we deliver (product or service in my particular case) so for me it’s impossible not to be up-to-date. Independently of my geek background, that makes me impossible to be apart of the latest gadget, each upgrade I made until now in terms of color management equipment was key to deliver a better product or service.
A photographer should know, understand and see color management as a process achieved through the whole life cycle of an image creation. From the image conception, the capture, the editing and the final representation (digital presentation, projection or printing) color management is present and we have to be aware of it. Some times “color management” means just to have well configured some software options, some times “color management” involves more complex practices like profiling, profile optimization, etc. but regardless of which step of the chain we are working at, there is no single step where color management is not performed, by us or by our tools and devices. To be aware of the whole color management picture is a must for any serious aspiring photographer, as it has to be for any pro as well ;)
In my particular case to have a single vendor is a real big deal, but if this single vendor is the industry leader and a permanent innovator in this field, the decision to be committed to use X-Rite products and solutions is a non-brainer to me. I never recommend to my students or customers any product I don’t use for my personal and professional use, so in this case, I always recommend X-Rite to them.