Wanted to demonstrate with this picture from the Stuck In Customs photowalk last week how using black and white and an alternative look can really impact the look of a picture.
This picture is the normal exposure tonemapped in Photoshop CS4
Same picture this time using Nik Software Silver FX Pro
It was great meeting all of you today during the Stuck In Customs San Clement (L.A.) photo-walk, hosted by Trey Ratcliff.
As promised I’ve created a Flickr group called “Stuck In San Clemente“for this event and you can fin it here. Please feel free to add photos and as Trey said don’t be afraid to offer suggestions and critique to those who post.
Thanks to Trey for putting on this fantastic event.
Here is some more Topaz Photoshop Bundle examples that i worked on tonight. Keep in mind these are basically presets with very little tweaking. Really a fun set of plugins to play with
I have been using a review copy of the Topaz Photoshop Bundle in preperation for an interview I’m doing with Eric Yang their marketing manager. To say that I’m impressed with this $179 bundle of photographic joy would be an understatement.
You will here more during the interview but here is one simple example that literally took 10 minutes from start to finish to do. The picture on the left was shot at the Petersen Automotive Museum the very first time I used my Canon Power shot G11 point and shoot. The picture on top was shot as a JPG not RAW picture. The picture on the bottom was put through just two of the Topaz Photoshop Bundle (Topaz Adjust and Topaz DeNoise).
As you can see the Topaz FX is dramatic and very inspiring to me. Not only did the Topaz DeNoise remove the noise, but using Topaz Adjust with an out of the box smooth preset, I was able to a silky smooth look that goes well with the subject. Look for more in the month of February and the interview with Topaz. Bottom line I highly recommend these products after using them in the last few weeks.
Exposure information of original shot
The Original picture
This is the same picture with the Topaz Adjust and DeNoise filter
On the way to lunch I took this picture with the iPhone out of the window (yes while stopped).
I like it a bit better like this using some Silver FX Pro
Yesterday I finally got to go out and shot the new Canon Powershot G11 point and shoot camera. I bought this camera last week as I wanted a point and shoot camera that would shoot in raw and also have some easy access to functions such as ISO settings, aperture settings etc. I also bought a Canon 270ex small flash as I knew this would be a fun camera to experiment with off camera (and on ) flash. My total investment for these two items was approximately $578 US.
I went with Liana Lehua @fittorrent on Twiiter to the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA which is a wonderful place to take pictures and very photographer friendly. I shot most of the pictures below using the Canon 270ex small flash,and generally found the camera to be a joy to shoot with. The quality of the RAW pictures is excellent, specially at ISO’s below 1000. It was nice not to be hassled because I was carrying a “pro” camera around. This was also a large motivator for my purchase.
I found the camera to be noisy at ISO 1600 (see this shot) and above. The pictures taken with these high ISO’s were simply unacceptable but, the G11 though said to be better than it’s predecessors in low light, is no low light magic box. It took me a while to get use to shooing a point and shoot camera again. I found the body to be a bit small for my hands, but I was soon adjusting.
While trying to do flash photography, I found it annoying having to go to the flash menu (via the screen) in order to adjust flash power each time I wanted to. It would have been nice if the exposure adjustment dial which is great to go plus or minus up to two exposures, could have doubled as a flash power adjustment function.
As I was reviewing the shots in Light Room I noticed that about half way through my shots all the pictures were jpg not raw. What happened? Well apparently during one of those times when I was messing with the menus to change the flask power, I fat fingered a menu and changed the camera settings from RAW to high jpg. No mind you the high jpgs are really good and I’m kind of glad this “accident” happened as I got to see the quality of jpg files, but it was a disappointing mistake that may have been avoided by better menu management on the G11.
After day one , I would say the Canon Powershot G11 is the best point and shoot I’ve owned despite it’s less than stellar low light performance at about ISO 1600. This may be user error on my part so I’ll hold off judgement until I get to know the camera better. The ability to have ISO 80 however was so great and darn near with the price of the camera. See the pictures below to get an idea of the versitality of the Canon Powershot G11.
Overall, I need to get out and do some night shots, try bracketing and do some plain old day time photography with the Canon Powershot G11, but for day one I’d give this camera four starts. I know it will serve me well.
Here is a slide show from the shots taken yesterday
I got the scoop on this and yes I am allowed to print it early.
Eye-Fi Collaborates With Google’s Picasa to Make Storing and Sharing Memories Easier
Consumers Who Buy 200GB or More of Extra Google Storage Receive a Free Eye-Fi Card 4GB SDHC Home video card ($69.99 value) includes one free year of Web Share and Geotagging ($24.98 value). These services will remain free if Eye-Fi card is used to upload to Picasa Web Albums.
I own an Eye-Fi card and this is a pretty awesome deal. So much so that I upgraded my 2GB Eye-Fi to a 4GB. The only drawback is that Picasa does not allow you to store RAW. That’s too bad , but still very flexible.
Here is some fine print from the Picasa page
Eye-Fi promotion details
Tim Verpoortenn (@Surfbits on Twitter) tweeted about these 50 neat pictures , and that inspired me to try this technique called Out of Bounds Photography . I found this tutorial and spent the afternoon trying this out. Yes another way to express pictures. I love stuff like this.
Another example I’m very proud of but , it took about 2 hrs to do.
UPDATE: The deadline has passed. Thanks to those who turned in questions. We will announce the winners during the show. I hope to put it out later this week.
Photographer, author and consultant Andrew Darlow of The Imaging Buffet will be on a show scheduled to air this month, and we’ve come up an idea. Just send a question about printing photographs via the comments in this message and Andrew will do his best to answer them all during the show. We are recording this segment this coming week so please get those questions in. He’ll also give away 2 signed copies of his upcoming book, Pet Photography 101, a signed 11×14-inch poster and a 30 minute private phone consultation to four people who post questions on this post. Topics to consider asking about include: How to make your prints match your screen better; How to find good places to bring your files to print; What inkjet printer is right for a specific need; and applications to use to retouch and print photos.
CONTEST IS OVER
Deadline for the questions will be end of day Monday October 5th. A winner will be chosen from those who comment on this post only by Monday at 11:59p.m. PST.
Now it’s your turn-help us make this a great show!
Editorial
This is the story of a guy (me) who has a Monday off and like many other times wants to spend time taking pictures and learning during his time off. Often I look for places that are not too far away but that will provide me with landscapes and subjects that are interesting. In order to find these places I use Google and Flickr to look for pictures of such places. I searched this morning for parks in the Orange County area which is about 50 miles away from my home.
Doing this I stumbled upon this Flickr picture of Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. Sure looked like a nice place to spend the morning. I drove to the location and up to the park rangers station to pay my park fee. As I often do I asked the ranger where was the best place to take pictures in the park. She said, “Oh are they for professional use?” I wanted to be honest so I said , I put them up on Flickr and I might sell one someday, but I haven’t sold any yet.
She said well if you have professional equipment you will need a permit. She proceeded to give me a brochure with an 866 number for me to call about a permit. By the way the Casper park rules do not mention anything about photography. also twitter follower deverill sent me back a reply saying that “On Casper’s website they say one way to “give back” is to volunteer and1 activity is “Taking photographs”
I called the number and spoke to a “Josh” in the permit department. I explained my situation and asked what kind of camera equipment I had, and if it was professional. I said that it was. He said if it’s a point and shoot then no problem, but if you have professional gear you can obtain a day permit for $150 and you will need to have a copy of your insurance form on file with us. Apparently that has to be $1,000,000 liability insurance . I told him that I was an amateur and would post the pictures on Flickr. He asked if they were for commercial purposes. I also wanted to be honest so I said I have not sold any pictures yet, but it would be great if I ever did. He then said I would need to go to their web site and I could get on on line form fill it out and even pay by credit card. I made a comment that I was a tax payer and I could not believe where this Country has gone that a guy can’t take good pictures of a county park. He said that he was not saying I could not take pictures, but I would need a permit.
Here is a portion of the photography permit which details pricing.
FEES: $150.00/Day $400.00/Day
$150.00/Year
$ 500.00 Deposit – Still Photography $1,000.00 Deposit – Motion/Video Photography Annual Portrait Photography
I hung up and was disappointed to say the least. I felt like being a photographer these days was like being some kind of criminal. God forbid if I actually wanted to make money shooting pictures. I tweeted about this in anger and disappointment, and I also put an audio Posterous post talking about my opinion about all of this.
So if I want to be a law abiding citizen I have to pony up $550 total and provide proof of $1,000,000 insurance liability policy so that I can take pictures ? The answer is Yes. To say that this was a WTF moment for me would be an understatement. Now I’m not saying that the county is not within their rights. However , I grew up in Orange County and paid the county a lot of tax dollars during my life to that county.
I was being honest, I am an amateur, but I’d love to sell a picture if the opportunity comes up. So I suppose in order to be allowed to take these pictures my best bet wold have been to lie. I should just drive up ,pay the park fee, and then take my chances that I will not get caught taking pictures with God forbid a prosumer level camera (I use a Nikon D700). Perhaps I need to ask less questions in the future.
How are we suppose to document in pictures the places and beauty of the nature that is around us? In a time where using a camera, and possibly making money taking a photograph is deemed as a privilege that has to be paid for, I suppose were not . I can see if the site would have made it clear in the front page of the need for such a permit , and if the permit was a reasonable priced (How about $20 and no deposit, and a waiver not to sue?).
To quote another Twitter follower RBoti “I can’t go EVERYWHERE, but pictures can take me there.” Amen brother. I love photography for the time in nature, for my ability to grow and learn from the hobby, and yes for the potential of even someday making a buck or two doing it. As long as our society and government bureaucracy make it more and more difficult for me to be within the law and honest, I suppose the only alternative I have is to lie and sneak around feeling like some criminal. Photography is not a crime and although I know that many times I an within my rights to discuss, argue and show people that am I within my rights, I dont’ go out to take pictures with a law book or desire to argue, that would defeat the whole purpose.
Sure I found an alternative site to take pictures today, but my day would have been much more serene without this reminder that apparently photography is considered illegal in certain places.
http://www.typicalmediagroup.com
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