On the monitor calibration side of things -I know it's heresy- but you might want to have a look at SuperCal for tweaking by eye. I use a spyder myself but comparing one of my SuperCal 'by eye' profiles with one from the Spyder showed a surprisingly good match.
Dear Keith
With the greatest respect, if we are talking professional digital image makers here, this is tantamount to saying, hey guys no need to invest in an exposure meter, just use what it says in the film packet! For most pro photographers, the cost of the cheapest calibration/profiling combinations is really peanuts, especially if the cost is worked out over the expected lifetime of the product. IMO it's the best investment and one of the cheapest you are likely to make when getting involved in digital imaging.
Eyeballing is fine if your work is for self enjoyment or an internal production as is likely to be the case for wedding and portrait photographers, but consistency has a benefit in these situations too.
I suggest that if we are to be able to stand behind our work, and feel confident that our files will look as we intended on other people's systems who are also properly sorted, then we need to set our screens up by the numbers for starters. With every Tom, Dick and Harry or Anne and their dog having decided that all it takes to be a photographer is the purchase of a pro-summer camera, then surely it is a good move to make sure your files are as good as possible, and monitor calibration is key in this.
Perhaps I am particularly aware of this as almost all the material we shoot here goes out in digital form, or as 'contract' proofs, and of course all our drum scans have to meet the highest quality in regard to how they display!
Cheers
Richard -- Scanning?.....Forget it! For Quality Drum Scans for Professionals that are really right see Labs section at www.prodig.org (and email Richard for pdf) =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
