Preface

Digital imaging technology seems to be changing everything about photography these days including cameras, printers, photographic styles, editing techniques, and so on. Yet, most digital photographers seem to want to remain photographers. This means that they mostly want to go out into the world, capture wonderful images and get these images out of their cameras and onto beautiful prints. The process is a fairly basic one, yet technology has made it quite a challenge for most digital photographers.

My goal is to simplify the language of digital photography and make it accessible to those who just want to make photographs. Color management is one of those essential stumbling blocks in digital technology. The vast majority of digital photographers really wish they didn't have to care about color management, yet the basic process of moving images from capture to print becomes impractical without it. I want to simplify the language of color management.

This book is based on classes and workshops I have given to hundreds of students of digital photography at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and the Photographic Center Northwest. My process for color management is intended to provide enough information to create a simple and effective system that allows you to get on with photography. For the vast majority of my students, the steps I cover in this book are sufficient for their entire photographic workflow, although a few students have gone onto more advanced techniques for color management. Don't let the fact that I focus on simpler techniques lead you to think that my workflow is not effective. Simpler is usually better if it works. So start working through the ten steps and get your color right.