City Escapes Photography Newsletter - October 2010

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

October, 2010

 

 

 

Come See Us at Our Second Show – and Get a Sneak Peek at Our Fall Release

 

We are thrilled to announce our second gallery show, this time in Kennewick, Washington.  Friday and Saturday, November 5th & 6^th, 2010, will find our photographs – including more than ten as-yet unreleased images -- on display at Badger Canyon Herb & Tea, 210 N. Edison, Suite 258, Kennewick (just off Clearwater in the Marineland Village shopping center).  We will, of course, be on hand to answer any questions, regale you with stories of our adventures, or simply stand back and let you soak up a little of nature’s beauty.  If you are a tea lover, this show is not to be missed, either, as not only will you be surrounded by gorgeous photographs, but Linda has dozens upon dozens of fantastic teas from the world over to tantalize your taste buds.  Come join us – we’d love to see you there!  Hours are from 10am – 5pm Friday and 10am – 4pm Saturday.  Mention our October newsletter and get a free 5-pack of our Overview greeting cards with the purchase of any print!  (Limit one free 5-pack per person per day.)  This offer is good on any internet orders received by the close of the show, as well!

 

 

Bulk Holiday Card Special

 

The holidays are fast approaching, and if you run a business, you might already be preparing greeting cards to send to your clientele.  We can help!  Order 25 or more boxes of our holiday greeting cards and get a 5% discount.  Hurry -- only 100 boxes are available at this special rate.   Contact us at customer-support@cityescapesphotography.com for more information.

 

 

Home Photo Framing Basics, Part 2:  Acid-Free Materials

 

In our second installment of our series on home photo framing basics, we look at acid-free materials: what they are, when to use them, and whether the “acid-free” label can be trusted. 

 

In photo framing, the term “acid-free” is applied to those substances that have a neutral or slightly alkaline pH.  This is important for conservation purposes as the acids in framing materials can cause degradation, yellowing, and brittleness of framed photographs.  Some acid-free materials are acid-free by nature, while others have had the acids in them neutralized and/or a buffer added.  (Buffers create a reserve of alkalinity in the material, which will react with the acids produced to create a neutral pH, delaying the onset of damage to a print from acid-containing materials.)  Anything from mat boards and foam boards to the glue, tape, and even the ink used to sign or label photographs might be labeled “acid-free.”

 

When acid-free materials should be used is, to a certain degree, a matter of personal choice.  Certainly a print that has significant monetary value should be framed using only acid-free materials.  However, any print that you wish to preserve for many years, whether monetarily valuable or not, should be framed with acid-free materials as well, as these materials can add decades to the life of a print.

 

What causes acidity in the majority of framing materials?  In short, wood.  Lignin and other substances found in wood and wood pulp are major culprits in the deterioration of paper products.  Newsprint, for example, still has most of the wood’s original lignin, and it is this lignin that is responsible for its rapid yellowing.   Because most mat board and the paper coatings of foam board are, like most other papers, made from wood pulp, they too have lignin in them, unless it is first removed from the pulp.  If the acids created by the lignin in a mat come into contact with the photograph, it will, over time, cause what is known as “mat burn,” or the browning of the print from the edges inward, as the acids make their way further into the interior of the photo.  If the mounting board is not acid-free, it will eventually attack the entire photograph, “eating” the print from the back to the front.

 

Before we go any further, I should point out one inalterable rule of photo framing: under no circumstances should corrugated cardboard ever be used in any capacity during the framing process.  It is highly acidic, and will do an inordinate amount of damage in a very short time.  I have seen it used as mounting boards, as filler boards behind mounting boards, and as spacers between mats to create a shadow effect.  Even as a filler board, with a mounting board between it and the print, corrugated cardboard is so acidic that its outgases will penetrate the mounting board and begin to damage the print in a matter of months. 

 

What should you look for in acid-free materials?  That depends largely on two considerations: how long of a life-expectancy you expect the print to have, and how much money and time you are willing to invest in your framing project.

 

There are varying degrees of “acid-free”.  The highest quality materials are made from cotton rag paper.  These are innately acid-free, as they are not made from wood pulp at all, but rather, as the name suggests, cotton fibers.  Often referred to as museum- or archival-grade, cotton rag is generally the longest-lived of the mat and mount boards, and is available from most framing shops.  However, it is not generally pre-cut and off-the-shelf, and it tends to be the most expensive of the boards; it therefore does not fit easily into the home photo framer’s arsenal.

 

Conservation-grade mats and boards are made from traditional wood pulp that has had the pulp acids removed, and the resulting paper is buffered.  By some estimates, conservation-grade materials will last well over 100 years before damage begins.  Conservation-grade materials may or may not be available in pre-cut sizes at your local frame shop.  (In my experience, non-national chain frame shops, and frame shops that focus mostly on art and framing supplies, have a better selection of pre-cut, conservation-grade materials than national chains and larger craft stores.)

 

Mats and boards simply labeled “acid-free” are generally composed of three layers: an inner core covered on either side by a paper liner.  These are the most common pre-cut, acid-free materials at the disposal of the home framer.  Many frame shops will have a wide variety of pre-cut sizes and colors available, making them an easy choice for the home framer.  However, these products are not as acid-free as the labeling would have you believe.  In most cases, it is only the outer paper linings that have been treated to be acid-free; the inner core is made from the same material as non-acid-free boards.  These mats and boards will provide some additional protection to your print in the short term, but the acids in the core will eventually reach the print through leaching and out gassing. 

 

Do these drawbacks mean that these materials should be completely avoided?  Absolutely not.  These are the most readily available and least expensive acid-free mats and boards, and they suit many home framing projects perfectly – especially when you are not inclined to cut your own mats or pay to have a professional cut them for you.  Anything of significant sentimental or monetary value should be framed with either conservation- or museum-grade materials, but it is perfectly appropriate to use the easily available, pre-cut, “acid-free” labeled materials on many other prints.  It is up to the framer to decide the level of protection appropriate to each individual print.  Let’s face it: not every image we want to frame and display needs the red-carpet treatment.  If you do use these materials, you can help to extend their useable lifespan by sealing them with an acrylic matte finish, available at most framing and art supply stores.  Make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area and spray the mats evenly and completely, especially the bevels and the edges where the core is exposed.  The spray will slightly darken the mats’ surface, which is one reason an even coat is so important.  Be certain to allow the spray to completely dry before using the mats; you don’t want to introduce any moisture into the interior of the frame.  This technique will not give your print the equivalent protection of using conservation- or museum-grade materials, but by sealing the exposed edges of the beveled paper core, it helps to prolong the cleanliness of the frame’s interior environment – and thereby slow the degradation process.

 

In a similar vein, the rabbets of wooden frames should also be sealed, and for the same reasons.  Most ready-made frames have the rabbets already sealed through paint or some other finish that coats the wood.  Thus, the home framer rarely has to do anything at all to the rabbet.  At times, however, the rabbet is raw wood.  In these cases, to create an acid-free environment, the rabbet needs to be sealed with either some version of a wood sealant (shellac, paint, etc.), or aluminum frame-sealing tape. 

 

Of course, to create and maintain an acid-free environment, any adhesives used must also be acid-free.  Fortunately, with the rise of scrapbooking, the availability of acid-free (sometimes referred to as “archival”) adhesives has skyrocketed, while their prices have fallen.  It is always a good idea to ask your local frame-shop professional about any particular adhesive you are considering, as their qualities vary widely, and each has distinctive pros and cons.  Like the acid-free paper products, adhesives have a hierarchy of “acid-freeness”: true museum mounts use Japanese rice paper and rice-starch paste, but they can be challenging to work with and fall far outside the realm of the typical home framer.  Linen tapes fall into the conservation-grade level, but they are generally thick and can leave impressions or grooves on the print being mounted.  Acid-free paper tape is thinner and therefore leaves no grooves, but it is not strong enough to hold works of substantial weight, including mats.  Adhesive sheets can be fantastic, but are not reversible.  Mylar photo corners can be employed to safely mount the print, possibly eliminating the need for any adhesive at all, but they cannot be used to hinge mats to mounting boards.  (They also come in a much greater range of sizes than most of us realize.  They are not limited to the commonly found 1/2 inch-size, but rather are available in sizes all the way up to 3”.  For even larger prints, mounting strips are available that can be cut to the desired size.)  Spray adhesives, while useful for many framing projects, are not generally acid-free.  Most household tapes and glues are not acid-free either, and/or they will react with the chemicals in photographic paper in ways that can harm the image.  They should therefore be avoided.  And as Vivian Kistler, an authority on conservation framing techniques, says, when it comes to using duct tape in your framing projects, “Don’t even think about it.”

 

 

October’s Fun Facts

 

In Halloween’s month, when humans dress in frightening costumes and make light of the macabre, it seems only fitting that our “fun fact” subject should be something that gives many people the willies: the black widow spider.  As with many of our creepy-crawly friends, it is only the female that is a danger to humans.  Not only do the males rarely bite people, but their venom sacs are too small to pose much of a threat even if they did.  And no wonder: males are about 1/4 the size of females.  Nor are the males black: they are usually gray or brown, and if they exhibit the tell-tale hourglass at all, it is normally yellow or white.  Only the females display the bright red coloration that we have come to fear.  Of course, not all females have an hourglass-shaped marking, or indeed any marking at all, but any markings a female black widow does have will be bright red.  And just to keep things, um, colorful, there are also brown widows and red widows in the United States; white widows in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia; grey widows in South America, Australia, and Africa; and the list goes on…

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

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CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154

 

Home Photo Framing Basics, Part 2: Acid-Free Materials

 

In our second installment of our series on home photo framing basics, we look at acid-free materials: what they are, when to use them, and whether the “acid-free” label can be trusted. 

 

In photo framing, the term “acid-free” is applied to those substances that have a neutral or slightly alkaline pH.  This is important for conservation purposes as the acids in framing materials can cause degradation, yellowing, and brittleness of framed photographs.  Some acid-free materials are acid-free by nature, while others have had the acids in them neutralized and/or a buffer added.  (Buffers create a reserve of alkalinity in the material, which will react with the acids produced to create a neutral pH, delaying the onset of damage to a print from acid-containing materials.)  Anything from mat boards and foam boards to the glue, tape, and even the ink used to sign or label photographs might be labeled “acid-free.”

 

When acid-free materials should be used is, to a certain degree, a matter of personal choice.  Certainly a print that has significant monetary value should be framed using only acid-free materials.  However, any print that you wish to preserve for many years, whether monetarily valuable or not, should be framed with acid-free materials as well, as these materials can add decades to the life of a print.

 

What causes acidity in the majority of framing materials?  In short, wood.  Lignin and other substances found in wood and wood pulp are major culprits in the deterioration of paper products.  Newsprint, for example, still has most of the wood’s original lignin, and it is this lignin that is responsible for its rapid yellowing.   Because most mat board and the paper coatings of foam board are, like most other papers, made from wood pulp, they too have lignin in them, unless it is first removed from the pulp.  If the acids created by the lignin in a mat come into contact with the photograph, it will, over time, cause what is known as “mat burn,” or the browning of the print from the edges inward, as the acids make their way further into the interior of the photo.  If the mounting board is not acid-free, it will eventually attack the entire photograph, “eating” the print from the back to the front.

 

Before we go any further, I should point out one inalterable rule of photo framing: under no circumstances should corrugated cardboard ever be used in any capacity during the framing process.  It is highly acidic, and will do an inordinate amount of damage in a very short time.  I have seen it used as mounting boards, as filler boards behind mounting boards, and as spacers between mats to create a shadow effect.  Even as a filler board, with a mounting board between it and the print, corrugated cardboard is so acidic that its outgases will penetrate the mounting board and begin to damage the print in a matter of months. 

 

What should you look for in acid-free materials?  That depends largely on two considerations: how long of a life-expectancy you expect the print to have, and how much money and time you are willing to invest in your framing project.

 

There are varying degrees of “acid-free”.  The highest quality materials are made from cotton rag paper.  These are innately acid-free, as they are not made from wood pulp at all, but rather, as the name suggests, cotton fibers.  Often referred to as museum- or archival-grade, cotton rag is generally the longest-lived of the mat and mount boards, and is available from most framing shops.  However, it is not generally pre-cut and off-the-shelf, and it tends to be the most expensive of the boards; it therefore does not fit easily into the home photo framer’s arsenal.

 

Conservation-grade mats and boards are made from traditional wood pulp that has had the pulp acids removed, and the resulting paper is buffered.  By some estimates, conservation-grade materials will last well over 100 years before damage begins.  Conservation-grade materials may or may not be available in pre-cut sizes at your local frame shop.  (In my experience, non-national chain frame shops, and frame shops that focus mostly on art and framing supplies, have a better selection of pre-cut, conservation-grade materials than national chains and larger craft stores.)

 

Mats and boards simply labeled “acid-free” are generally composed of three layers: an inner core covered on either side by a paper liner.  These are the most common pre-cut, acid-free materials at the disposal of the home framer.  Many frame shops will have a wide variety of pre-cut sizes and colors available, making them an easy choice for the home framer.  However, these products are not as acid-free as the labeling would have you believe.  In most cases, it is only the outer paper linings that have been treated to be acid-free; the inner core is made from the same material as non-acid-free boards.  These mats and boards will provide some additional protection to your print in the short term, but the acids in the core will eventually reach the print through leaching and out gassing. 

 

Do these drawbacks mean that these materials should be completely avoided?  Absolutely not.  These are the most readily available and least expensive acid-free mats and boards, and they suit many home framing projects perfectly – especially when you are not inclined to cut your own mats or pay to have a professional cut them for you.  Anything of significant sentimental or monetary value should be framed with either conservation- or museum-grade materials, but it is perfectly appropriate to use the easily available, pre-cut, “acid-free” labeled materials on many other prints.  It is up to the framer to decide the level of protection appropriate to each individual print.  Let’s face it: not every image we want to frame and display needs the red-carpet treatment.  If you do use these materials, you can help to extend their useable lifespan by sealing them with an acrylic matte finish, available at most framing and art supply stores.  Make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area and spray the mats evenly and completely, especially the bevels and the edges where the core is exposed.  The spray will slightly darken the mats’ surface, which is one reason an even coat is so important.  Be certain to allow the spray to completely dry before using the mats; you don’t want to introduce any moisture into the interior of the frame.  This technique will not give your print the equivalent protection of using conservation- or museum-grade materials, but by sealing the exposed edges of the beveled paper core, it helps to prolong the cleanliness of the frame’s interior environment – and thereby slow the degradation process.

 

In a similar vein, the rabbets of wooden frames should also be sealed, and for the same reasons.  Most ready-made frames have the rabbets already sealed through paint or some other finish that coats the wood.  Thus, the home framer rarely has to do anything at all to the rabbet.  At times, however, the rabbet is raw wood.  In these cases, to create an acid-free environment, the rabbet needs to be sealed with either some version of a wood sealant (shellac, paint, etc.), or aluminum frame-sealing tape. 

 

Of course, to create and maintain an acid-free environment, any adhesives used must also be acid-free.  Fortunately, with the rise of scrapbooking, the availability of acid-free (sometimes referred to as “archival”) adhesives has skyrocketed, while their prices have fallen.  It is always a good idea to ask your local frame-shop professional about any particular adhesive you are considering, as their qualities vary widely, and each has distinctive pros and cons.  Like the acid-free paper products, adhesives have a hierarchy of “acid-freeness”: true museum mounts use Japanese rice paper and rice-starch paste, but they can be challenging to work with and fall far outside the realm of the typical home framer.  Linen tapes fall into the conservation-grade level, but they are generally thick and can leave impressions or grooves on the print being mounted.  Acid-free paper tape is thinner and therefore leaves no grooves, but it is not strong enough to hold works of substantial weight, including mats.  Adhesive sheets can be fantastic, but are not reversible.  Mylar photo corners can be employed to safely mount the print, possibly eliminating the need for any adhesive at all, but they cannot be used to hinge mats to mounting boards.  (They also come in a much greater range of sizes than most of us realize.  They are not limited to the commonly found 1/2 inch-size, but rather are available in sizes all the way up to 3”.  For even larger prints, mounting strips are available that can be cut to the desired size.)  Spray adhesives, while useful for many framing projects, are not generally acid-free.  Most household tapes and glues are not acid-free either, and/or they will react with the chemicals in photographic paper in ways that can harm the image.  They should therefore be avoided.  And as Vivian Kistler, an authority on conservation framing techniques, says, when it comes to using duct tape in your framing projects, “Don’t even think about it.”

 

Jodi

City Escapes Nature Photography, LLC

 

Jasper-park-lodge-review

Hotel Review: Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper National Park, Alberta Canada

Rating: 1 star

Date of visit: July 2010

 

This is a Fairmont hotel? Seriously? This is the worst Fairmont hotel I have ever been in – by far. In general, Fairmont hotels are known for luxury: they have courteous and helpful staff, they often offer  afternoon teas (and have their own Fairmont-branded teas in the hotel rooms), the towels, robes, and linens are plush, and the rooms are well-maintained and well-equipped.  To top things off, the hotel itself is usually a building that is a work of art, in a location that is inspiring (whether that is the center of Vancouver or Banff National Park). In general, the guest can reasonably expect a first class experience.  Further, while Fairmonts are never cheap, they often offer discounts that place them in the affordable splurge category.

 

My experience with the Jasper Park Lodge has left me wondering if this was the worst hotel in the chain – and hoping that if it wasn’t, I never find out which one is.

 

First, the good things.

·         The location is wonderful, with the main lodge (registration, restaurants and shops) on a lakefront within the beautiful Jasper National Park. 

·         The main lodge is everything that you would expect of a Fairmont: breathtaking architecture appropriate for the location, plush interiors.

·         The housekeeping service was outstanding during my stay. They did absolutely everything right (replaced everything that was used, didn’t throw away anything not in the garbage). This sounds minor, but it is very rare to find these days.

·         The standard Fairmont towels, robes, teas and soaps were all present, providing the only tangible association with the luxury component of the hotel to be found in the guest rooms

·         Lots of activities from golf to horseback riding to kayaking available at the hotel.

 

Unfortunately, the bad outweighed the good by far in this case. The worst part of this facility is the complete and total lack of maintenance that has been performed on the guest rooms.  I have been in Super8s that have looked better. I won’t even mention the lack of air conditioning on an 80+ degree day and the ceiling fan that was incredibly slow, even on high. Instead, I will focus on: the entrance doors that were scratched up and down, both inside and out; the peeling paint; the peeling wallpaper; closet doors that didn’t open; the concrete steps that were falling apart to the point of being a safety hazard; the mold growing in the bathroom window (the only source of ventilation in the bathroom) and the decomposing wood on the window frame; the old carpets; and the layout of the room that caused numerous meetings between bed frame and shin, despite the room being a decent size. 

 

Other, more minor but still extremely disappointing experiences include:

·         The hotel was expensive, even for a Fairmont (the discount walk-in rate was 25% more than I was charged at the Chateaux Lake Louise – a nicer hotel - the day before).

·         The layout of the units is unduly complex. This is a lodge, not a hotel, and as such the rooms are spread among a collection of separate buildings (with stand-alone houses also available). Unfortunately, the roads are narrow and 1-way which makes loading / unloading and generally navigating the land less pleasant than it should be.  We had to unload our car in front of our unit, then drive 0.25km to get to the parking area.  To get from the parking area to the front of our unit, for loading, we had to go across the entire complex again.

·         Service was extremely poor. From the initial check-in ,where our introduction to the property was “Park here to unload your car, then drive to this parking lot when you are done.” (whatever happened to – “Do you need help with your luggage” or “Our lounge is open until 11”?), to the sprinklers in front of the unit (where we needed to load and unload our luggage ourselves, a rarity at Fairmonts) turning on and watering not only the grass, but also all of the walkways as we were trying to load our vehicle to leave before checkout, to the lack of paper delivery and not receiving a copy of the bill before checking out at the front desk in person, to the grounds staff driving over curbs to get around cars, to no-one bothering to ask how the stay was on checkout. Housekeeping excepted, the entire staff seemed completely unaware that they were working at what was supposed to be a luxury resort instead of a low-end motel.

·         Security clearly wasn’t a concern. There was no safe in the room and the use of actual keys instead of cardkeys means that room access cannot be tracked. Why are these standards not in place? 

·         The welcome note in the room was for someone else who was expected to check in the same day that we did – and it arrived, addressed to the wrong guest,  after we had already been in the room awhile.

·         Since all of the rooms are on the ground level, the curtains have to be drawn in order to prevent people from seeing into the room. Unfortunately, this also limits natural light in the room.

·         There was a loud, rowdy, and drunken group of people who passed outside of our open window (the only way to cool down the room) several times in the middle of the night and remained within earshot for several minutes each time. Not completely within the hotel’s control but not exactly the ambience expected at a Fairmont.

 

For this, people are expected to pay several hundred dollars a night? I certainly won’t ever do so again. This hotel is clearly not worth it.

 

Worse, it has made me seriously question the Fairmont brand – which until now I have always held in high esteem. The inclusion of this hotel in the chain makes me wonder which of my experiences have been the exception and which the rule...

 

 

Terence

 

City Escapes Nature Photography