A Cooperative Workflow for Photographers, Designers, and Printers

Rick McCleary's blog about Predictable Color and other Wonderful Dreams

Visions of the Apocolypse

While in Las Vegas at Photoshop World, I joined a busload of other photographers on a trip to the Neon Boneyard. Quite surreal. Old rusty signs from the Frank Sinatra glory days of Sin City. Someone had the visionary idea that these icons of American excess and fun should be preserved. Hence, the Neon Boneyard.

I felt like a Lilliputian walking among the signs. When they are installed on buildings or poles 60 feet in the air, you don’t realize how big they are. In mothball storage on the ground at the Boneyard, they’re huge.

Here are a few of my favorite images from that shoot. My approach was to try and restore some of the life to the signs. Here they were, dowdy and rusty, gathered together in a heap in the desert sun, not fulfilling their founding mission in life: to light up the night and beckon people in. The least I could do was to restore some dignity to these aging matinee idols.

So, what does this have to do with CMYK 2.0? It’s a reminder (to myself) of why I spend the time getting the color right.

boneyard_1_500
boneyard_2_2so_web_500
mccleary_091002_0558_5_web_500

comments

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • About this site

    CMYK 2.0 is a community site I maintain to support my book CMYK 2.0: A Cooperative Workflow for Photographers, Designers, and Printers.

  • About me

    Creating photographs for corporate and advertising clients is my day job. Check out the website. If you're an art director, creative director, or designer, shoot me an email when your next project comes up. We'll make some beautiful images together; the CMYK expertise is cheerfully delivered free-of-charge.

  • CMYK 2.0 Community Board

    The CMYK Community Board is on extended hiatus. Read this to learn more.

  • Let's talk about CMYK

    Does your organization represent photographers, designers, or printers? Or, for that matter, prepress jocks, production managers, or digital assistants?
    I'm available to give presentations and lead workshops on how to move from just-don't-know to two-point-oh.
    Drop me an email to arrange a visit.