Lee was an early adopter of digital technology since the introduction of the Quantel Paintbox's use for movie posters in the mid 1980's, and he became fully immersed in digital imaging by 1989 when he started incorporating digital image compositing in his commercial work. He suffered through every iteration of digital color management until the current system matured with universal adoption of input, output, and workspace profiles, and the consumer friendly X-Rite hardware and software products.
"I used to spend days shooting tests with each batch of film to calibrate the color with the labs I used for my work. When digital came along, the methodology changed, but the importance of color control remained one of the primary considerations for a professional photographer. Now the level of precise color control is easier than ever thanks to the system of color management championed by X-Rite."
A key component of any photo-imaging system is a reliable method of color management. Monitors must be calibrated and profiled. Printers need profiles for every paper, and raw image files need to be edited in standard color spaces that can be re-purposed for any output. Without a solid color management system in place, the artistic use of color in photography becomes a crapshoot, and the artist has no way to effectively evaluate color in their work.