Field Trip

Yesterday I took my Photographic Design (PHTG 202) Spring semester class on a field trip. We didn't have to go far, just to downtown Calgary. I thought it would break up the semester a bit and also give them a break from me doing all the talking. It was a great day to be trekking around the core. The energy of the office crowds at lunch was a nice change from the quiet halls of ACAD, as the school is nearly devoid of students after April 30th.

We visited ABL Imaging and the Four By Five gallery of photography. The purpose of the visits was to introduce the students (who are starting their last year of ACAD in the fall) to the world of design and photography outside of the classroom and to learn what happens after the photo is taken and the design is complete.

ABL President, Susan Otterson gave us the rundown of their services and a tour of the facilities. The students were impressed with all the professional design work that they saw in progress and in "finished" form. Their creative juices were really flowing with the possibility of designing a plexi mounted cover image on their grad portfolio book.

ABL Imaging produces a wide array of display solutions for all types of clients like photographers, ad agencies, real estate developers, architects, restaurants and more. Photographic prints from 8x10 inches to wall size, back lit displays, inkjet printing on canvas, custom wall paper from your design, signage, and all sorts of customized mounting options are just a few things on their product list. ABL still even processes E-6 film on the premises.

After lunch we went to Art Central where the Four by Five Gallery of Photographic Arts is located. Steve Speer was an enthusiastic presenter. As it turns out, Steve is a graphic designer as well as a photographer and it was a great fit for the students. It is clear that Steve "loves what he does" and he's not afraid to say so. He has a great blend of experience with both the art and the technology of photography, which really fits well with my own philosophy and way of teaching. Steve kept the group engaged with both his design and photography stories from the field, and finally settled the age-old question of inkjet vs. giclee. Inkjet = Giclee, and that only the pompous call their inkjet prints giclees, or as I like to put it, giclee is the French word for inkjet. (I recently exhibited an inkjet print on vinyl and cheekily labelled it "Giclee on Vinyl" to see if any eyebrows raised.)

Four By Five exhibits and sells only archival quality photographic prints. Silver based as well as digital prints are accepted. All shows are juried by the Four By Five collective.

As always, I appreciate the time busy professionals like Susan and Steve take out of their schedules to meet with students. It's a great way to introduce products and services to students as they enter their final year of college and move on to their professional practice. It teaches them to network, and it opens doors on both sides for future customer/supplier relationships.