In Focus Vol. 3 No. 3
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Ranch Hand: Custom Leather-Bound Book Printed on Hot Press Rag
Todd Winslow Pierce and local printing partner, Photo Effects, build a leather-bound custom book for one of Colorado's final frontiers.
Located on 10,000 acres of pristine sage land surrounded by snow-capped peaks on Colorado's Western Slope, Castle Peak Ranch represents one of the state's few remaining reserves of undeveloped private land. The owner, who purchased the parcel about five years ago, decided that the ranch would be dedicated to preserving the pristine nature of its vistas, effectively protecting the fauna and flora that call the ranch home.
The owner called on Todd Winslow Pierce, a photographer based in Vail, Colo., to document the topography and ecology of the ranch and provide artwork from the photographic study to adorn the walls of his home and office.
The project would instead lead to the production of 25 extremely high-end leather-bound books printed on a custom lightweight version of Sunset Hot Press Rag.
As Pierce explored the land, he became convinced that the land deserved the intensive scrutiny and documentation that only a book could convey.
"It wasn't until my third visit that I began to see the possibilities. It's the kind of place that doesn't strike a chord immediately, but reveals itself over time. I went back in the winter, which revealed an entirely new character to the location. The spring time, summer and fall were also very distinct," explains Pierce. "I realized there was a lot of depth and I had already captured over a hundred images. I sat down and talked with the owner about it, and we decided to do something much larger and create a book that would celebrate the natural heritage of the land."
Production on the book began last summer with a goal of creating enough books to give to the ranch owner's family and friends as Christmas presents. The total run would be 25 books, which was obviously far too few to be practical for a printing press.
The book project would require something far beyond the ordinary photo album, so Pierce enlisted the help of a trusted and quality printer, Brent Bingham of Photo Effects in Vail, and the Denver Bookbinding Company.
“If it wasn’t for Brent’s extensive experience and expertise, the book would not have been nearly as successful. The time and effort he put in with setup, calibration, and overseeing the printing was significant,” says Pierce. “The project was under his roof for over four months. The printer ran for a total of about 70 hours, spread out over four to five weeks.”
The first step was to set up an efficient, economical workflow that would also ensure top-notch quality. Pierce purchased an Epson 3800 since the printer could run the 11x17 sheets of Hot Press Rag unattended.
"We couldn't possibly dream of trimming 3,000 sheets of paper from a roll, so going with sheets was the only way. My first thought was to use a double-sided paper, but after testing samples from different suppliers I found they were too thick for the book, plus the single-sided sheets would work better with the way the book would be viewed, contributing to the overall impact of the project. It was a great relief to decide on using single-sided paper. It slows the viewer down, plus we wouldn't have to worry about which photographs would go with others on each side, alignment issues, or running the paper through twice," recalls Pierce.
Pierce divided the photography into four seasons, each separated by a cover page. He laid out each page individually in Photoshop with the image on one layer and the copy on another. Then, he created a flat version of each page and brought all of the electronic pages to Photo Effects on a memory stick.
The files were sent to the printer in reverse order so the last page printed first. This allowed them to simply stack the pages, wrap them up, and drive them down to Denver for binding. Pierce says an important step was printing and binding a test book first to find any potential pitfalls in the process before they went into full production on the 25 books.
"Once we had a test book you could see how the whole thing came together, scrutinize every detail, and make sure we had everything figured out. It was certainly worth the time, effort, and money," says Pierce. "The Denver Bookbinding Company was instrumental in providing the experience and knowledge to put this together, and it's always great to work with people like Cody [Pierce's LexJet account specialist Cody Scherer] who understand what you're trying to do and can help with the process."
Images of Restoration: Hotel Art on Sunset eSatin
The renovation of a historic South Beach hotel required the revitalizing photography and printing of Sheila de Lemos to help bring it back to life.
The indelible and iconic south Florida photography of Sheila de Lemos now adorns the newly-renovated Angler's Hotel in Miami's South Beach district.
When the 1930s hotel was brought back to life after years of vacancy, it was natural that much of de Lemos' photographic artwork would decorate the interior and represent the hotel's rebirth.
Commissioned to provide around 340 photographs representing south Florida, de Lemos created, selected, and printed all of the pieces which would adorn just about every space, from guest rooms to bathrooms and even electrical panels, in The Angler's Hotel.
Output with Epson 9600 and 7800 printers on LexJet's Sunset Photo eSatin Paper and framed by Miami's famed framer, Borders Inc., the final prints would range in size from 16 in. x 16 in. to 36 in. x 65 in.
"People love the eSatin. It's a beautiful paper, and one of the reasons I decided to use eSatin on this project was the fact that I would get a very nice print for a lot less money. I've printed on all the different inkjet surfaces, but I like eSatin best for my saturated botanical photography," explains de Lemos.
Though most of the photos were printed on Sunset Photo eSatin, de Lemos printed a smattering of images on Sunset Select Matte Canvas for canvas wraps in areas of the hotel that cried out for a more painterly effect while retaining the impact of the photography.
"The most important thing I learned through this project is that I can count on my materials and equipment. It gives me a tremendous amount of freedom to go out and solicit more work, because I know I can go out and produce it. The Angler's is proof positive that I can deliver a sizable amount of work in a reasonable amount of time," says de Lemos. "Plus, with the ImagePrint RIP all I had to do was set up the printers through the software, go to bed, wake up the next morning, and it was all there waiting for me. In the old days, you stayed up all night printing. You can count on ImagePrint to print what you ask it to print, which is different than printing just through the driver. You can set up the profiles, and it all works."
When de Lemos was initially commissioned by The Angler's Hotel to provide its artwork, the hotel's owners were looking for local color rather than typical beach scenes. As de Lemos explains, anyone can purchase stock thematic poster art, but a lot of developers and corporations want something unique that sets their environment apart from the crowd.
The hotel wanted what it called "hyper-focused images" that would evoke south Florida and its environs rather than state the obvious. Therefore, de Lemos was a perfect fit, since her specialty is close-up photography of Florida's flowers and plants.
"They wanted the tropical feeling without the beach pictures. So most of the photos I chose were botanical close-ups with very lush colors and a lot of succulence using cactus and local plants that flower only in this warm climate," explains de Lemos.
Moreover, says de Lemos, the photographic medium was chosen over paintings or fine-art reproductions for its "basis in reality," as she puts it. The hotel's owners wanted guests to have a more concrete connection to the images. The balance was struck between concrete and abstract with de Lemos' close-ups; the images connect to reality, yet the close-up nature of the images provides enough abstraction to be thought-provoking conversation-starters.
"Photography is believable medium that is understandable. It's more accessible and easier to live with. It is an immediate artwork, and people enjoy connecting with it, particularly if it's not overly manipulated in the computer," says de Lemos. "My artwork has its basis in reality. You know that what you're looking at started as a real object. Even if I capture a part of a plant that's only an 1/8 inch in reality, use a macro lens, and blow it up, the viewer still gets the sense that it exists somewhere in our world."
The Angler's Hotel project is leading to other similar venues for developers, hotels, banks, corporations, and others who see the value of distinctive images printed and framed or gallery wrapped for their space.
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