Category Archives: Photography

These are blogs about things photographic.

270° of the Alps in one panoramic photo

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Brian Lawler

Yesterday my wife and I ventured south from our temporary home in Munich to the German Alps. We traveled by Deutschbahn trains, and a bus (construction on the rails required this) and then another train to the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. … Continue reading →

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The Bishop Peak Portrait Project is very nearly up!

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Brian Lawler

For the next five months I’ll be living in Munich and teaching at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. I arrived here a week ago and I had my first classes this week. But, last week, before leaving San Luis … Continue reading →

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Once a bitmap, always a bitmap

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Brian Lawler

In my recent series of blogs about reproducing line art from 19th century copper engravings (and similar line art) using modern digital technologies I showed how scanning as grayscale and converting to bitmap format (with the 50 percent dither option) … Continue reading →

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The Bishop Peak Portrait Project comes to a close

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Brian Lawler

Last year about this time I was preparing to install my remote camera on the roof of the Kennedy Library at Cal Poly. I built a weatherproof box, designed and built a circuit board, tested the system, and then carried … Continue reading →

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Line Art – colorizing engravings

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Brian Lawler

Each year I create a ticket. It’s a personal project, and in recent years it has become something of a personal challenge. I recently read a book about security printing. It was simply awful. Bad illustrations, meaningless text, too much … Continue reading →

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Line Art – the One and Only True Bitmap format

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Brian Lawler

This is the second of several blogs about scanning and reproducing line art from 19th century copper engravings and similar artwork. When converting scanned line art into printable line art there is only one file format that will work without … Continue reading →

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Reproducing line art with digital technology

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Brian Lawler

In the pre-halftone era (printing before the 20th century), illustrations printed by letterpress (relief printing) were made by engraving into wood or copper to make an image. It was a laborious task, and the quality was determined by the skills … Continue reading →

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A photography day at the Monarch Grove in Pismo Beach

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Brian Lawler

Last week my wife and I with our cousins visited the famous Monarch Grove in Pismo Beach State Park. This is the site where twice each year thousands of Monarch butterflies gather to mate, and to impress visitors with their … Continue reading →

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Accidental art with my camera

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Brian Lawler

I take a lot of photos. Most of them are carefully exposed, carefully focused, and most of them are acceptable and sharp and useful images. Once in a while I take a photo under extreme circumstances, and it doesn’t come … Continue reading →

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Phinal phase of the Bishop Peak Portrait Project

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Brian Lawler

My summer is coming to an end, and I am engaged in the phinal phase of the Bishop Peak Portrait Project (BPPP), the making of the final display panels. On my previous large-scale photography projects, I have had the luxury … Continue reading →

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