Francekevich has his film images (from 35mm to 4x5) scanned to Kodak Pro-CDs which he says are just as good as more expensive drum scans. "I've mixed both to produce final images and they work perfectly together. There is a knack to opening CD images on the computer and I'd be happy to share my experiences with anyone who is interested in the specifics. Photographers who have opened CD images improperly say CDs are no good- that they are too harsh. They're wrong."

Working with Photoshop and Live Picture, composite outputs are produced at Graphic Systems by LVT (Light Valve Technology), at Res 80 (2032 pixels per inch). The alternate method of outputting a transparency is by using a film recorder. "The images that I've seen from film recorders," says Francekevich, "even at manufacturers' booths at the annual Viscomm show have never looked as sharp and clean to me as the LVT outputs."

Francekevich says: "The above information now seems obvious and simple to me, as it might to you if you are an experienced computer user. But It cost time and money for me to learn these simple facts. Books about imaging are very useful but their orientation is toward designers turning out material on a printed page. The standards for photographers are much higher and generally have to be learned by word of mouth from friends and from hard experience."

"I write my visual or narrative ideas in a notebook of some kind. Of the hundreds of ideas I jot down, I actually do only a small percentage. The process is very useful because it also generates even more ideas and concepts. I recommend it to all photographers who want to do deliberate, planned photographs."

• Al Francekevich
• Email: alfrance@dti.net
• Web Site: http://www.photographers.com/alfrancekevich/
• Graphic Systems: http://www.graphicsys.com
• The Stock Market:  http://www.stockmarketphoto.com
• School of Visual Arts: 
  http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/sva.shtml