Universal technical Information and workflow: An Introduction

Over the course of five days, I conducted photography at the Specialty Minerals plant in Adams, MA, scheduling sessions on different days, across various months, and times of day. Optimal sun angles for my pre-visualized compositions were determined utilizing PhotoPills and The Photographer's Ephemeris applications. Following the import of RAW files into Lightroom, I began a meticulous selection process. Postproduction commenced in Lightroom, with further refinement carried out in Photoshop using the Camera RAW filter. During this stage, I applied lens calibration, image sharpening, and, when necessary, Generative AI to address minor gaps in image overlap for the Quarry mural.

The camera system utilized was the Leica M Monochrom, paired with a variety of modern, legacy, and vintage Leica lenses, Leica Summilux 35mm, f/1.4, a Leica 24mm, Elmarit, f/2.8, and a Voigtlander “nifty” 50mm, f/1.1 lens. The Leica M Monochrom, by omitting the color filter array (Bayer mask) from its sensors, delivers film-like sharpness and a final reproduction quality comparable to traditional film media.

For filtration, to create many of the images, I employed; a 25A deep red filter, which absorbs blue and green light rather than transmitting them. This method notably increases the contrast of white clouds. Additionally, the use of a Yellow 22 and Orange YA2, filter to enhanced contrast, improved tonal separation, and darkened blue skies, when not using the Red 25A.

The prints were output on Canon 6100 Large Format Printer. I used Arista - II Photo grade RC Lustre substrate with a weight of 252 gm’s.