Digital Cinematography and Photography by Mark LaMonica

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Digital Photography is an entirely different process from camera to printed page that requires a different approach for the entire project.

Getting everyone on the same page and having an industry standard on image profiles would be a great start. Every camera and brand specific digital back has their own raw file format and matched
post production image editing software. This creates problems for everyone, Many offset printers are still operating in the closed loop "old school" technology where they receive color film and put it on
a drum scanner which has been carefully set up and calibrated to their press conditions. The scanner converts RGB to CMYK automatically and all the pre-press work is done in CMYK. The system
works well as long as that offset printer is not having to deal with RGB files generated outside of the shop. Since they always work with the same scanner, there isn't a lot of difficulty getting original
image color to match up to their proofing printer and presses. They have the original film as a guide to go by, so life is good . . . . Right? . . . . Well only if the method of capture was film.

Now we enter the world of Digital Photography where we no longer have the luxury of a piece of film to look at for exposure and color accuracy.

Since everything is now data, one of the first things that has to be done is Profiling your monitor. This means that you use a hardware calibration device with supporting software to optimize the monitor
brightness and contrast, neutralize the monitor's display of color, and provide an ICC profile, which will become the default monitor profile used by color-savvy applications. The Default color settings
when installed are for Web, which assumes sRGB color space, and color management turned off. This needs to be changed to U.S. Prepress defaults — at least as a starting point. This changes the
working color space to the wider gamut Adobe 1998 color space, and turns color management on. Your files if worked on and saved in this color space will now be "tagged" as Adobe 1998 files. What
this means is that each file will have the Adobe 1998 color space embedded as a profile. This is important, because in color management, it is important that any profiled device should see that
embedded color space profile in order to properly display a file, and then to be able to accurately convert it to any other desired color space, such as a specific CMYK space. Once profiled, the RGB
numbers in a file are changed before they are sent to the video card so that your monitor displays them accurately. Once your monitor has been profiled, you should then check your Post capture
software color settings. Although monitor calibration and profiling is the very least that everyone needs to do far too few clients, agencies, designers and even photographers are taking this seriously.

Because of the current lack of RGB support by offset printers, photographers often have to handle color the management, retouching and Prepress processes. Remember that additional fees apply to
each project if the photographer is taking on the additional workflow processes. If you don’t have the photographer do the additional work, who ever does better have the proper programs to do this. A
simple push of the levels and curves doesn't cut it in the digital world.

With digital capture, the photographer must handle the "processing", formerly the domain of the lab and print shop. We now process digital data after the capture in a post capture software, adjust,
sharpen & color correct the images, handling most all of the steps of final image preparation formerly the responsibility of the client. In many cases the photographer will handle the entire production
from brainstorming to final output. While clients have always willingly paid for the various production costs associated with film capture -- from film, processing & Polaroids, clip tests, contact sheets,
scanning, color correction and couriers to handle transportation of film to finished works and feel with digital they should only pay a fraction of those costs. Unfortunately some clients push the belief
that "since it's digital, it should be free." Be it digital capture or film, clients need to pay the production charges associated with their projects.

Since we live and work in a rapidly changing world, some or all of the information in this article could end up being obsolete in time.

Overview of the digital photography process