George Schaub

When we all started out in photography we had something that lit the spark, some picture we took or some special interest that we knew would be part of our guiding light in the craft. Or we saw the work of another photographer, a mentor if you will, that we immediately connected to and saw in their work a path into our own inner vision. Our aim here at the magazine, along with how-tos and reviews, is to present the work of a wide diversity of photographers who have gotten involved on an intense level with one topic, one locale, or one point of view and created a body of work that speaks to their own inner vision. It can be a project or a life’s work, but in each case we understand and appreciate the tremendous amount of focus and energy it involves.

The desire to show and share work is common to most photographers. Taking the work out of the drawer or hard drive and putting it onto paper can be a key phase in the development of a photographer. It is both a challenge and a way to build confidence, as it forces the artist to face the concept and underlying principle of his or her work. And, it can be fun.

There are those who make prints often, and there are those who make prints occasionally. The split, you might think, is between amateur and pro, but that’s not always the case. Some “amateurs” print as much if not more than some pros, and some pros make their own prints only when they have time, usually for their personal portfolio, but certainly not on every job. That’s why pigeonholing the Epson R3000 in terms of intended audience, amateur or pro, is not so easy. It certainly delivers the quality you might expect from a higher-end Epson model, given its attributes, ink set, fine nozzles, and highly evolved print head, etc., but it’s by no means a volume/production printer, given its single sheet feed for “art” paper, albeit with larger capacity ink carts than some past 13x19” printers, and roll feed capability.

It’s as if camera companies had been holding back in the last few months and finally the dam burst, resulting in a flood of new cameras debuted at photokina 2012. While there was a fair share of Micro Four Thirds mirrorless, interchangeable lens compacts, and medium format digital cameras, the major headlines were grabbed by a full slate of full-frame cameras—even “compacts.” In addition, it seems as if smartphones have chased the camera makers into offering more and more Wi-Fi-capable cameras, along with downloadable apps that can expand a camera’s capabilities. In all, it made for a host of new camera announcements—enthusiast, pro, and high-end alike—although there were few bargains to be found. As I go through the camera intros I’ll include the list price (when available) without comment, but in general you might be somewhat shocked by some of the prices these new cameras command.