Case Study
NEC displays help Jim Jordan Photography & White
Cross Productions portray a superior image
the right mood, to show o people and/or products at
Quick Facts
their absolute best.
Facility: Jim Jordan Photography /
White Cross Productions
Location: Los Angeles, CA / New York City
Contact: jimjordanphotography.com, whitecrossproductions.com,
facebook.com/jimjordanphoto, whitecrossproductions.tumblr.com,
instagram.com/jimjordanphoto,
instagram.com/whitecrossproductions
Challenge: Ensure color accuracy between
monitors and through to printed page
for some of the most recognizable
faces in the world
Solution: 27-inch NEC MultiSync PA272W
Date: Summer 2013
When you first hear Jim Jordan’s life story, it sounds
like one that would take place in front of the cameras in
Hollywood rather than behind one. A surfer and skater in
his youth, the California native is now one of the world’s
most renowned and sought-after celebrity and fashion
photographers.
His work has graced the pages (and covers) of
trend-setting magazines such as Elle, Vogue,
Marie Claire and Vanity Fair. He has created
memorable ads and catalogs for J. Crew, Levi,
Straus & Co., De Beers and many more. And the
celebrities!
A big part of the reason these well-known faces put their
trust in Jordan is his commitment to getting every detail
just so. Which makes sense given his beginnings in the
business.
Jordan started in high school as a model scout, bringing
fresh new faces to the attention of various modeling
agencies. He introduced prospective models to Greg
Glassman, a neighbor who operated a photo studio and
who would go on to found the CrossFit exercise empire.
Jordan would do the hair and makeup, and Glassman,
would shoot the photos.
His experience there led to a 15-year career doing hair
and makeup on shoots with well-known photographers
such as Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton and Peter Lindbergh.
Jordan worked with the likes of Cindy Crawford, Elizabeth
Taylor, Sophia Lauren and Farrah Fawcett.
During this time, he indulged his own interest in
photography, sparked by the gift of his first camera
Jordan has captured the images (figuratively
as well as literally) of A-listers from Charlize
Theron to Leonardo Dicaprio, Jessica Alba,
Drew Barrymore, Mila Kunis and many others.
Whether in his studios in Los Angeles and New
York or an exotic, tough-to-get-to location in
the farthest reaches of the world, his clients
trust him to create just the right shot, with just
from Glassman. Jordan took shots between the ocial
photography sessions, impressing his actor and
supermodel subjects who encouraged him to find an
agent to help him get work as a photographer. They
also recommended his photographic prowess to the
companies that were hiring him to art direct the shoots.
Jordan’s first big break came when J. Crew hired him
to shoot a catalog. Success there led to meeting more
people, leading to more shoots and helping him build the
business to where it is today.
Jim Jordan Photography employs seven full-time
employees in Los Angeles and four in New York. In
recent years the company has added commercial and
or how a brand will be portrayed to its customers, a lot
rides on the final outcome. Jordan and his team take
great care throughout the process and use the best
equipment for the results they want to achieve.
The Challenge
Getting an image just right in the demanding world of
celebrity and fashion photography is a painstaking eort.
It starts with using high-quality cameras, such as the
Leica S system that is used for all studio shoots and as the
Canon EOS 1DX for location and other shoots. Jim only
trusts Lexar memory cards to capture his images. The
images then go through extensive retouching, editing and
refinement using Wacom Intuos5 tablets on Apple Mac Pro
workstations with multiple graphics cards. All of the files
multimedia creation to its portfolio, helping individuals
and companies create unique, cutting-edge brand
images. A separate company, White Cross Productions,
provides talent management for actors, directors, makeup
artists and others.
One of the biggest reasons Jim Jordan Photography
has been so successful is the trust Jordan and his team
earned from the people with whom they work. Whether
it’s how an actor or actress will look on a magazine cover
are stored on Seagate hard drives in a sophisticated RAID
system.
“A lot of work goes into every still image as well as every
frame of a multimedia production,” Jordan says. “Color
correction and calibration using the Spectra View II system
is a big part of what we do. A subtle dierence in hues can
have a profound eect on the finished image. Celebrities
and supermodels are very protective of how they look in a
photo shoot or commercial because their faces and bodies
are their livelihoods. If they’re unhappy with what
they’re seeing when they come in to review the
images, it can be disastrous for us.”
The Apple 27-inch cinema displays Jim Jordan
Photography was using were fine within the studio.
But problems arose when images were sent out for
traditional printing.
“Despite all our best eorts, it was dicult to get
the images on our display screens to match the
print versions,” Jordan says. “No matter what we
tried or how often and carefully we calibrated them,
they didn’t quite match. The displays simply didn’t
cover enough of the color spectrum.”
Employees working on video playback also noticed
some motion artifacts, especially in scenes with
lower light. While they might not show up in the
final production, Jordan knew it would be better
if they could eliminate the distraction while they
were working on turning raw footage into the final
production.
Convinced that there had to be displays that could
solve these issues, he began researching various
monitors on the Internet. It wasn’t until he went to
a photography conference, however, that he found
the answer to his requirements.
The Solution
While at the convention, Jordan stopped by the
NEC Display Solutions booth to look at the
27-inch MultiSync® PA272W display that his
research had identified as a potential solution. The
PA272W color-accurate display is built on GB-R
LED backlights to provide a wider color gamut and
more color control than a conventional white LED
backlight.
Its 10-bit wide color gamut AH-IPS LCD panel
delivers the accurate, vibrant colors professionals
such as Jordan require. The PA272W also includes
the time-saving features common to the MultiSync
PA Series displays, including the ability to load ICC
profiles to emulate custom color spaces and easily
match prints. In addition, the PA272W consumes
37 percent less power than comparable CCFL
backlights, allowing Jordan to go greener and save
money while producing superior results.
After watching the demonstration, Jordan contacted NEC
to obtain two monitors to test in his studio. He became an
instant fan.
“The color accuracy is amazing,” Jordan says. “The NEC
PA272W has a wider color spectrum than other displays
we’ve tried, and the colors translate accurately from the
screen to print. There are no compromises. When a printed
piece comes back, you can hold it next to the display and
the two are identical. We’re now getting what we’re seeing,
which makes it easier for us to obtain the results our highprofile clients want.”
It isn’t just the accuracy that has impressed Jordan and his
team, however. It’s also the performance, even in the most
demanding circumstances.
very large project. It’s very easy to do, too. The software
is very intuitive, which means we can make adjustments
quickly and get back to work right away. NEC’s technical
support is great, too. We haven’t had to use it much,
but when we’ve needed it they’ve been very helpful
and friendly. You don’t often find that level of service,
especially with technical products such as these.”
Another aspect Jordan appreciates is the adjustability of
the workstations. For example, there is a great variation
in height between some of the employees. The PA272W
allows them to adjust the height and angle of the display
to one that is comfortable for each of them. He is also
impressed by how solid they are.
“The contrast ratio is higher than on other displays, which
means we’re seeing more details in the images than we’ve
ever seen,” he says. “Everything is crisper, more threedimensional and lifelike. There are no visual or motion
artifacts during video playback. Watching high-definition
movies on them is an incredible experience – it’s like
watching the action through a window rather than on a
display screen.”
The color accuracy and lifelike appearance have helped
Jordan create tighter bonds with his celebrity clientele. He
has always invited them to his studio to review the results
of a photo or video shoot. Now, the experience is even
more impressive.
“When models and actors come in to the studio, we show
them the results before and after retouching,” Jordan says.
“I love to see the expression on their faces when they view
the results on the PA272W. They are just blown away by
what they’re seeing and always ask me where they can
get one of these monitors. These are people who make
their livings in large part on the way they look. Our ability
to make them look great builds a relationship that keeps
them coming back to Jim Jordan Photography.”
“These are very robust displays, much more so than our
old ones were,” Jordan says. “When you pick it up you can
feel it has a very high build quality overall. That’s important
in a busy studio such as ours.”
Outside of all the performance aspects there was one
other feature that sold Jordan on the PA272W – the fact
Of course, achieving those results initially is one thing.
Keeping them is another. In a busy studio such as Jordan’s,
the displays run for a long period of time each day.
Normally, that would mean having to perform frequent
recalibrations to keep the displays running at peak
performance levels and in sync with one another. Jordan
says that isn’t the case with the PA272Ws.
“We don’t have to recalibrate as often as we did with our
old monitors,” Jordan says. “We do it roughly once a week,
whether they need it or not -perhaps twice a week for a
that it is available in white.
“My entire studio uses a white color scheme, from the
front oce all the way to the back rooms,” Jordan says.
“That aesthetic is very important to our image. It gives
us a unique feel and helps set the mood for our clients.
Having the displays match that color scheme, especially
with their clean and simple lines, helps tie the room
together. Honestly, the displays are so good we would use
them even if they were black. But having them in white is
definitely the icing on the cake. They’re just a great fit all
the way around.”
Jordan hasn’t been shy about sharing his experiences
with the PA272W either. While the world of celebrity
photography is highly competitive, there is also a collegial
feel among its practitioners. When one finds something
good, he or she shares it with others in the profession.
“I’ve put the word out on our social media channels,
especially Twitter and Instagram,” he says. “I show them
o and talk about them at the many photo expos I
participate in. When a magazine or company comes in to
do a case study, they always want to know about them.
I also conduct four photography workshops each year,
and I’ve been featuring them in there as well. Each of us
has a responsibility to share information with others and
help advance the state of the art. The NEC PA272W is one
of those tools that, in the right hands, can really make a
dierence by adding a little more beauty to the world.”
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