Alan Edward Klein
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A RAW file does not have the edits. NatGeo would know immediately where and how the final image has been manipulated by comparing it to the RAW image.
It is not difficult for a skilled photographer to present false metadata. Opening an image in Photoshop does not mean that it has been manipulated. Most RAW files are unusable straight from the camera.
Yes, Alan, you've made your opinions on Lik clear countless times. You like the hot women on the sales floor and your wife keeps nagging you about this, that, and the other. We get it.
Actually, my wife was with me when we visited his gallery in Oahu. We left with no photos. I don't recall any nagging. Unlike some other men, my wife trusts me.
The sales and distribution company I worked for learned their lesson long ago. Hot babes in short skirts and high heels sometimes turned out to be excellent sales people, but so did jolly fat women wearing sneakers, but without the same element of distraction; and for that matter, so did odd looking old men. You can't always judge a book by its cover.
I was referring to husbands.
As I understand it, the problems with the Lik galleries include:
1) high pressure sales tactics; and
2) questionable representations about the uniqueness and collectability of the product; and
3) in connection with #2, extremely optimistic representations in respect to the potential value upon re-sale of the product.
All of which are consistent with a sales presentation that is full of flash and glitz.
My rule of thumb is that if the premises and presenters are flashy/expensive, the product is likely to be lacking.
Leica galleries
Pretty average, pedestrian, uninspired and technically bereft work from what I can see in those galleries (hold the camera, push the shutter button and wind on...). All steak and no sizzle.
Not unusual sales tactics, from car salespeople to timeshare and even home improvement.As I understand it, the problems with the Lik galleries include:
1) high pressure sales tactics; and
2) questionable representations about the uniqueness and collectability of the product; and
3) in connection with #2, extremely optimistic representations in respect to the potential value upon re-sale of the product.
All of which are consistent with a sales presentation that is full of flash and glitz.
My rule of thumb is that if the premises and presenters are flashy/expensive, the product is likely to be lacking.
I believe the "Leica Galleries" refers to the retail outlets selling Leica equipment.
I believe the "Leica Galleries" refers to the retail outlets selling Leica equipment.
Leica galleries
Some of the best photographic exhibitions I’ve ever seen have been in Leica stores, especially the one in SF. Always has top notch photographers exhibiting, many of them printing optically.
Ha! I remember the trophy wives of movie stars and billionaires coming to my gallery openings, and they weren't dumb gold diggers at all - they'd buy Brett Weston prints across the street, and mine there. Brett himself came in. People with a lot of money don't necessarily have bad taste or want big ostentatious wall decor. That's more a thing where Mrs. Wartleschnatz in Peoria wins the state lottery, goes on a cruise ship, and buys a Lik picture to hang on the opposite side of the door from her precious black velvet Elvis rug.
At Lik's Lahaina gallery before the fire, the two sales people were young guys - very professional and no doubt well paid. They didn't know a damn thing about technique or image permanence (other than BS); but they did know how to dance around a conversation totally avoiding the word, "investment", yet heavily implying it. They knew how to keep a straight face and keep smiling with good humor if someone criticized what they were selling. Reeling in the tourist fish arriving on the cruise ship dock right across the shoreline boulevard is what they were expert at. Exactly the kind of salesmen I'd never want to represent my own work. People who know how to sell ANYTHING don't really understand anything well either. They don't have the right background.
I've never sold a print to a tourist in my entire life, even in a notable tourist town. There's nothing wrong with that; but I'd hope that something a lot more arresting would be present in a print, lending it some special quality rather than being just another stereotypical example of big indoor wall bait.
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