Breathing Color Blog

When it comes to print varnish's great power, there comes great responsibility.

Without using the proper varnish application techniques, you can end up with bubbles on your canvas, or prints can come out too dark or too light. It can become frustrating when you encounter varnish problems especially after spending countless hours editing, color managing, and printing your work.

In this week's episode, our very own Justin Bodin covers questions all about print varnish. He addresses some common problems associated with print varnish and provides solutions to make your print varnishing experience, well, responsible.

Even if you may not be facing problems with coating your prints now, it's always great to know solutions before you actually experience it yourself.

In volume two of our “Rapid Fire” series, we open up the listener questions grab bag and knock down a stack of questions on Breathing Color media, printer issues, shipping recommendations, and print varnish techniques.

Color management is a pretty huge deal. If you get your output media settings wrong, you're looking, at best, at walking away with a print that doesn't look much like your original image.

At worst, well, you could run into some pretty funky results that render your prints unusable.

In this episode of AskBC, Kevin O’Connor joins us to talk about his recommended print profile hardware, and answers a round of questions for listeners having trouble with profiling and color management.

When shooting outdoor photography, there are many factors you must consider in order to capture powerful images.

If these factors aren't considered, you may end up with washed out images or even an aching back.

In this episode of AskBC, we interview Kevin O’Connor on what it takes to photograph the Sun, Moon, and Earth.

How should you change your approach as a photographer when shooting photography in sunlight? What’s it take to get a great photo of the moon? And what are the must-have (and must-leave-behind) pieces of equipment for shooting landscapes on the fly?

How long a print will last is a subject of great confusion and controversy on the internet – you may have seen arguments about this topic in printmaking forums.

The truth is, there’s a ton of misinformation, false assumptions, and plain old lies floating around out there about what makes a print last 100 years.

Renée Besta joins the AskBC podcast this week to set the record straight. She’ll cover 3 of the most prevalent false claims about print permanence, separating fact from fiction and sharing truths she’s learned from deep research and extensive printing experience.

For the first assumption… Did you know longevity is not purely dependent upon the printer, ink, and paper used?

Making a living doing photography is tough. Many people have a photography hobby, but turning that hobby into a full-time career takes more than a knack for art. It takes business sense, a strategy, and revenue.

In this week’s episode, we interview Keith Cooper, a commercial photographer based in Leicester, UK.

Keith shares with us his experiences working in commercial photography – from how he approached making it his full-time job, to the tools and tips that help make him a success.

This week, Justin tackles some “rapid fire” listener questions and replays an old episode of AskBC. Tune in to hear Justin answer a series of quick questions about topics such as: print paper, turn buttons, and coating.

Later, a replay of episode 9 in which Justin interviews certified Epson technician Ron Ardito and asks him how to properly clean, maintain, and store a wide format printer.

In Part Two of our special double episode on Color Depth, we continue the conversation with Renee Besta to talk about software and hardware that you'll need to maintain 10-bit output throughout your entire workflow.

Most people know that a higher color (or bit) depth will give you more colors, but may be asking, "What is color depth and how does it work?" Do you have to buy new equipment? Do you even need those extra colors?

This special, two-part episode is all about clearing the cobwebs around color depth (wait, 8-bit is the same thing as 24-bit???) – Renee Besta joins the show to talk about what bit depth is, how to achieve 16-bit output, as well as the solutions to color depth related issues that can result from not knowing how to properly manage your workflow from start to finish.

KEVIN O'CONNOR IS HERE! Perfecting image composition is something that can take artists a lifetime to master.

It's also a subject heavily reliant on individual taste. But while aesthetic preferences do come in to play when composing an image, there are certain theories and "rules" every artist should be aware of in order to understand how their composition is succeeding or failing.

Professional photographer Kevin O'Connor joins the podcast for an interview about some of the most crucial fundamentals to composing strong images. Balance, tension, focus, and more.

These are lessons that can be learned today and practiced tonight. And while Kevin focuses on composition as it relates to photography, fine artists such as painters and illustrators will find plenty to learn here, too.