Old friend Michael Reichmann has a nice chat with old friend Ctein. The only problem? I wasn't there!
Except, I sort of am...and you can be too, because it's available for video download from The Luminous Landscape ($10). I've only seen about half of it so far; I do hope Ctein pulls out some prints eventually.
A very pleasant way to while away some time.
Mike
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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Caleb Courteau: "I bought and watched this last week. After reading Ctein's columns here the last several years he feels like a favorite uncle (I'm 27). At ten dollars this was an impulse buy. It was a pleasure to finally here the voice behind the columns, which was my main motivation for purchasing the video. We get a dose of his sense of humor (What's the opposite of 'prosumer'? 'Confessional.' Rimshot.), and also get a chance to see some of his prints. The image of the bird's imprint on the window is a real masterpiece, and the image of the night lit woods is a tour de force of print making skill. As a fan of Ctein this was all fascinating to me, but I was just as enraptured by the warm report between him and Michael Reichmann. Clearly they're good friends, and in Reichman and Ctein we have veritable encyclopedias of the history and state of the camera industry and of the art of print making respectively. It's very entertaining listening to them converse and educate each other about their particular areas of expertise. All in all a great way to spend ten dollars and sixty minutes."
I refuse to pay 10$ to witness the digital stream of a pre-recorded video interview.
Posted by: PoorPhotographer | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 10:04 AM
Hard to justify paying $10 for this without more info about why it's worth it. Sell us.
Posted by: Dean Forbes | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 11:11 AM
Great interview! As sad as that last photo is of the bird and the dust, I hope to acquire one. Ctein rising above everyone else as the foremost artist-scientist in my photographic journey. Kudos to Mike for having Ctein as a regular contributor and thank you Ctein for all that you do for us that were born with the passion to see.
PS: When can I find one of Mike with Michael on my Luminous Landscape LaunchPad (I have a membership)?
Posted by: darr | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 01:06 PM
That was a fun and interesting hour for a Ctein fan. I particularly liked the discussion about getting the most out of inkjet prints and deep shadows with various curve tweaks. I'd love to see a mini-tutorial with one of his columns. The distinction he made between information and data was great, something I'll try to remember.
Posted by: John Krumm | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 01:08 PM
I am the proud owner of a much earlier Luminous Landscape video featuring Ctein, in this case demonstrating dye transfer printing from start to finish. He also discussed inkjet printing state of the art back then. Simply fascinating, and I can strongly recommend it. For what it's worth, the only other LL video I felt compelled to buy was one featuring Clyde Butcher and his darkroom printing methods.
Posted by: Geoff Wittig | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 01:20 PM
Dear Mike,
Yeah, we do talk about specific prints of mine. It's the last 25 minutes (roughly) of the hour-plus interview.
I think Michael and Chris did a really good job of it. I actually enjoyed watching it (I'm generally bored watching myself, 'cause I already know what happened).
pax / Ctein
Posted by: Ctein | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 01:25 PM
Please be warned that in order to watch video from Luminous Landscape now you'll have to use their video player. AND when you download to install that player Apple will throw a big security warning about installing it.
This is not a good experience. And if I wasn't such a fan of CTein I would not bother. I've bought a ton of vids from LL in the past. This new delivery method will stop that cold in its tracks.
Buyer Beware. That's all I'm saying.
Posted by: JD Elliott | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 02:10 PM
Dear JD,
I didn't have your experience downloading the video. Maybe you're just getting the standard alert because it's an "unsigned" app. Doesn't mean it's any kind of a security risk, it just means it wasn't vetted by Apple.
As for "poorphotographer's" complaint, you can download the video and watch it offline as many times as you want. That's what I did, just so I wouldn't be tied to a connection.
Dunno why you'd want to watch me over and over and over... but if you do ...
Perhaps not-so-by-the-way, I don't make any money off of this and neither does Mike J. So, there's no reason for either of us to "sell" any of you on ordering this. Ya wanna, ya don't wanna, no skin off our nose.
pax / Ctein
Posted by: ctein | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 02:38 PM
Can't belive I just spend US$ 10 to watch two 'personalities' philosophizing about digital photography and the plateau it supposedly reached. What a waste of time and money. Not good enough at all, to stay with the theme of the video.
Posted by: Markus Busch | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 03:00 PM
Sorry, much as I'm a fan, I'm not going to spend $10 to watch an interview...
Posted by: Stephen Scharf | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 03:10 PM
Does he demo his funky robot glasses? That might be worth $10.
Posted by: Phil | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 04:24 PM
Apple’s security thing isn’t a big deal, and is user controllable. Just have to go the security and privacy preference pane and set your preferred choice. By default mavericks will only allow programs to run from certified sites. You can override that by right clicking on the program, selecting open there and then you get the previous OS X warnings that allow you to continue. Easier is setting your preference to open applications from anywhere, which restores the Mountain Lion functionality of just warning you.
As LuLa tries to monetize itself after all these years and make itself a profitable entity, seems their videos and workshops are their most marketable items. For one who has purchased most of their content over the years, the pricing scheme isn’t too appealing. I was disappointed that a lower yearly fee wasn’t available for those who have already spend hundreds of dollars purchasing content. Were I new, paying the yearly fee might be a nice choice. I went ahead and signed up, assuming I will get a continuous access to new content the interview with Ctein.
The interview was terrific. I’ve been a fan of Ctein and his writing for a long time, and enjoyed the discussion. I was surprised not see a more in depth discussion of ETTR because I believe Ctein really doesn’t buy into it based on some stuff he’s written and of course Michael started the thing. But then again, as Michael suggested, maybe that’s more about semantics than anything.
Posted by: Wayne Fox | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 04:25 PM
Same here. I would love to see the Ctein video, and I have bought many videos from LL in the past. But enforcing the use of a proprietary video player - no way. I hope they realize they are losing customers here.
I had actually bought the new C1 tutorial when I realized I would have to use this player. I got a refund before downloading the video. Never again, sorry. Too bad!
Posted by: Bernard | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 06:49 PM
Watching the intro, it's about 90% Reichmann, 10% Ctein and gives me no idea of what's to come. I'd love to hear about it as $10 is a lot in internet terms. For $10 I can buy a Lotto ticket, and have a chance of being seriously rich.
Posted by: Jeff Grant | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 08:53 PM
I am also still peeved at these changes in delivery and pricing. I was a subscriber for many years and the DVDs dropped in the mail regularly and were great vaue for money. Then the resolution and price started to go up and now it is not worth the hassle or expense anymore. I still have some money in their system from the last subscription that was cancelled without asking my opinion. I suppose this is what happens when a company moves away from regular new version into a cloud service, ala Adobe.
Posted by: Ilkka | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 10:45 PM
The big security warning is due to the fact that the default Security & Privacy setting in the Mac's System Preferences disallows installation of apps from unidentified developers. Simply set the setting temporarily to 'Anywhere'...
Chris Sanderson, The Luminous Landscape
Posted by: Chris Sanderson | Tuesday, 26 November 2013 at 11:37 PM
I'd second Geoff - Ctein and Clyde Butcher were the highlights of my LLVJ subscription back in the DVD days. Bill Atkinson and Stephen Johnson were also great.
Those used still to be available online, but I don't know if they are on the new LL service. I too am reluctant to pay to "own" material which is only available to stream, rather than download. When that streaming requires a proprietary player to view it, and is likely to be abandoned in another few years when a different "solution" arrives, then it's a deal-breaker for me.
I miss DVD. How much piracy of Luminous Landscape videos can have been going on, really?
Posted by: BrianW | Wednesday, 27 November 2013 at 05:39 AM
Does it include some bareknuckle fisticuffs over the appropriateness or not of ETTR?
Posted by: D. Hufford. | Wednesday, 27 November 2013 at 06:15 AM
Just wanted to address JD Elliot's post:
We are the company that built Luminous Landscape's new video player.
We've worked very hard to provide you with a better experience than loose movie files, including these advantages:
- a download queue and manager
- ability to instantly stream video files if they're not downloaded without having to wait
- transfer files to a mobile device for offline viewing
- nice main menu with easy chapter access
- remembers where you left off and starts you there automatically (even across devices)
- provides access to additional materials
- if you accidently delete a file or your hard drive crashes, or if you delete movies to free up space, or get a new computer, you can get your videos back anytime without having to worry about losing downloaded files
- you have automatic access to your videos on any device without having to hassle with copying the file
- you can stream videos on devices downloaded video files won't work on (for example, a Chromebook or Playstation 3)
Also, JD is correct that Apple has, in recent OS versions, started to make it harder to install non-Apple software, but the trick is, simply right-click the installer and choose "Open" from the menu. Not intuitive, but easy once you know the secret.
Please let us know if there are improvements we can implement to make your viewing of Luminous Landscape videos a more enjoyable experience and have a happy Thanksgiving (not necessarily in that order)!
Posted by: Josh | Wednesday, 27 November 2013 at 08:54 AM
Ctein is a true gentleman as well as a scholar, craftsman, engineer, scientist, etc.
Posted by: Bob Rosinsky | Wednesday, 27 November 2013 at 03:02 PM
D.Hufford, actually they do get into ETTR a little, and I found it very interesting. That's where Ctein made the distinction between information and data, saying that he thinks sometimes photographers sacrifice information in the pursuit of more data. I know that's true for me if I push things too much, especially with the OMD cameras. The whites and light grays all get scrunched up into a very narrow range, and it's hard to unscrunch them in a way that looks good, even though according to the camera and Lightroom nothing is blown out.
Posted by: John Krumm | Wednesday, 27 November 2013 at 04:33 PM
BrianW says "I too am reluctant to pay to "own" material which is only available to stream, rather than download."
Agree 100%. Just to make sure no one gets the wrong impression, the new Luminous Landscape player enables you to download the videos you buy. These videos are in the most standard format on earth and will play perfectly even if you never have an internet connection in the future.
Although it is true that, once you own a video, you can stream it from the cloud on any device if you want, we consider this more of a "complimentary extra".
I would not buy a video stream, and I think most people would agree with you.
Posted by: Josh | Sunday, 01 December 2013 at 01:16 PM
Dear Josh,
Ummm, you guys could make this a lot clearer and more transparent.
I downloaded the video, but I can't figure out where the video file is even stored. It's on the bookshelf in the player app, but nowhere else on my system, so far as I can tell. So "standard format" isn't much use, if I can't find the file.
pax / Ctein
Posted by: ctein | Monday, 02 December 2013 at 08:45 PM