[LargeFormat] Introductions (too long!)

[Jim Brick]

This may be too much... but what the heck!  :-)

I just turned 65 last week. My first real camera was a Rolleicord in 1950. 
I was a yearbook photographer in high school with my Rollei. 1955-1959 I 
went to Oregon State (Corvallis) and became an electrical engineer. Then in 
1959-1961 I went to Brooks Institute of Photography. At that time, Brooks 
taught view camera use. Nearly all assignments were to be done with a 4x5 
view camera. I had a Graphic View II for the major LF assignments and my 
Rollei for "everyday life" assignments. Two years of intense photography, 
before the zone system was invented. But Brooks taught the Zone system 
before there was a Zone system. After Brooks I became a commercial 
photographer. I switched to a 4x5 Sinar, 8x10 Deardorf, Leica M3, and a 
Hasselblad 500C (various lenses for each). After ten or so years of 
shooting buildings, transformers, ice machines, tooth brushes, chain link 
fences and conveyors, cardboard products, transistors, antennas, 
orthodontic teeth plaster casts, etc... I switched to electrical 
engineering. The chain link products catalog was the clincher! I designed 
many products for the photo industry. I'm now a Sr. Product Development 
Engineer working in a very small startup here in Silly Cone Valley, about 
to release the product of the year (I'll lay money on it becoming just that!)

My photography morphed into personal fine art photography. A tiny amount of 
commercial work still. I've recently done a few CD covers and covers for 
some annual reports. My wife and I have published four photography based books.

My equipment now is: Linhof Technikardan 45S, Hasselblad's 203FE, 903SWC, & 
FlexBody, Leica's R7, M6, & M3. Of course, appropriate lenses for each. I 
shoot mostly transparencies, Fuji Velvia is my mainstay, followed by Fuji 
Provia 100F. For B&W I use Efke 25 (sheet & roll) in Rodinal 1:100 and Fuji 
Acros (sheet & roll) in Xtol 1:1.

My darkroom is the culmination of 55 years of various kinds of equipment 
and configurations. It's about 10'x10', JOBO ATL-2400, JOBO Mistrel film 
dryer, large L-shaped custom (built by me) sink, 20x24 Dunwright & Vogel 
fiber washer, ZBE Sentenette enlarger with ZBE Starlite 55 head, fully 
motorized Beseler 45V-XL enlarger with a ZBE Starlite 55 head. 45/90/150 
Schneider APO Componon HM lenses for both, Beseler 16x20 and 20x24 4-blade, 
Photon Beard 16x20 4-Blade, and Photon Beard 20x24 2-blade easels. And 
outside the darkroom: 20" DevAppa (JOBO) RC Cibachrome dryer, Zone VI fiber 
dryer, Seal 500T dry mount press, Logan Framers Edge mat cutter, 30" Roto 
Trim cutter. I do everything in-house. The only think I have to go outside 
for is prints larger than 20x24. But not for long...  :-)

Whew! Now, the product that we are coming out with:

What we are making is a radial printer. In a nutshell, it prints on the top 
of a CD or DVD while it is being recorded. So you put in a blank CD or DVD 
to record your music, computer files, photographs, etc, and when you drag 
and drop whatever it is to record into the record window, a template 
(either a stock template or one that you design) appears with your file 
names, song titles and artists, photograph thumbnails, whatever... arranged 
to look like a professional label. You have complete control of what goes 
on the label and how it is arranged. All of this happens when you choose 
what you want to record. Then when you push the record icon, the data, 
pictures, music, whatever, starts recording on the CD/DVD, just like 
recording programs have always done, but now the full color label is being 
printed on the top of the CD while it is being recorded. When recording is 
finished, the CD pops out looking like it came from the store. Just think 
of the applications!

Our first market is the photography business. Professional photographers 
who deliver photographs on CD's, Stock photographers, wedding 
photographers, promotional CD's. Amateur photographers who scan film or 
take digital photographs and archive them on CD. Photo Kiosks that give you 
prints and a CD. Minilabs that give CD's as part of the package, etc... Now 
when you pick up a CD, you'll know which images are on it as it'll have a 
dozen thumbnails and appropriate text (whatever you want) printed on the label.

Of course the music market, computer market, business market, etc, etc, 
etc... are also huge.

Radial printing. Printing the label while the CD/DVD is spinning and being 
recorded. A professional label on every CD without doing anything more than 
the recording process. A godsend for digital photographers and 
photographers who scan.

Sell your sharpie stock now!

http://www.elesys.net/

:-)

Jim