We didn’t learn about printing photographs during my training in digital photography. Some of you might say “What did you expect, it was a DIGITAL photography course?”
Good point. But I always felt there was something missing in my training and I recently attended a two day course on printing photographs. It opened my eyes to the value of a hardcopy print. Here’s why. Continue reading “To Print or Not to Print, That is the Question”
For as long as I can remember, Adobe Photoshop has been the king of image editing software. It is used by professionals in the photographic and graphic industries to work wonders with any form of image, even allowing you to create an image without using any camera at all.
But the consumer revolution left Adobe a bit behind, with savvy semi-pro and enthusiast photographers looking for image editing options that were reasonably priced and didn’t require a college degree. To Adobe’s credit, they saw that demand and Adobe Lightroom was born. But recent moves to subscription services and releases of updates users didn’t want have set them back a bit. Room for others to step in? Now we have a new player in this arena – MacPhun’s Luminar.
Continue reading “Tools That Make My Photography Easier – Luminar”
I had the pleasure yesterday of attending a presentation by Patrick Rochon, also known as Patrick the Light Painter.
There are many ways to express one’s creativity in photography and Patrick has chosen light as the medium for his expression. You might wonder what’s unique about that, since every photographer uses light. It’s how he uses it that sets him apart. Continue reading “Light Painting with Patrick Rochon”
The most important tool in my kit is Adobe’s Lightroom CC. It is the lifeline to my photographs, providing import, organization, editing and delivery for the thousands of images I’ve captured.
Lightroom is billed as a companion product to Adobe Photoshop. It’s packaged with Photoshop in the Adobe Photography subscription plan. Lightroom was designed from the ground up to be a standalone workhorse and many people use it as such. But it is equally a great companion to Photoshop, allowing for many basic workflow tasks to be performed quickly in Lightroom before launching Photoshop for more complex edits.
Despite these positive features, I’ve spoken to people who describe Lightroom as frustrating and overly complex. It seems this is because of 3 design decisions that Adobe made in terms of how Lightroom operates. Continue reading “Shedding Light on Adobe Lightroom”
I like to know how things work. I ask “why” A LOT. Recently, I took an online course offered by lynda.com, one of the premier online learning environments. They cover many professions and subjects, including photography. One of their elite photography instructors is Ben Long, who has worked with clients such as 20th Century Fox and Bluenote Records. In this course, Learn Photography: Shooting in RAW Mode (sorry for capitalizing RAW, Ben), he covers all the details any nerd like me could possibly want about shooting raw images. It was so full of information, I went through it twice.
In the first of what I hope will be an ongoing series, I’m profiling one of the many tools that help to make my photography easier. When I say easier, I’m thinking about this from several perspectives:
These won’t be “reviews” in the traditional sense. Instead, they’ll discuss how I use the tools and what advantages they provide to me. Hopefully they’ll help you too. This month: 
Continue reading “Tools That Make My Photography Easier – CamRanger”
I recently completed an assignment that required a High Dynamic Range (HDR) final image. This image blended an outdoor background with a studio foreground subject. Both were processed using HDR capture and develop techniques. I think the result turned out well, don’t you?
Continue reading “The Appeal of High Dynamic Range (HDR) – Or Not”
Photography is a tough business to be in. The advent of cellphone cameras has meant the demise of staff photographers on many publications or even the demise of the actual publications.
Most often, photography jobs are contract or freelance, paid by the job or image, or not paid at all. The business owner who might need a few pictures for publicity doesn’t understand why these cost hundreds of dollars. Often they wonder if the photographer should be paying them, for the opportunity to publish the work and be noticed. Continue reading “The Business Side of Photography – My First Year as a Photographer”
As the next college year approaches, I’ve been thinking about what I’ve learned so far about photography, both in and out of the classroom. All the technical and operational basics, for sure, along with lots of creative details that more experience and practice will make stronger. It’s been a great year.
But there is one thing I continue to struggle with overall – it’s simply vision, in all its many forms. That includes seeing clearly as my old eyes dim with time, developing a personal style and creative direction for my work overall, and maybe most puzzling, understanding how the camera, lighting and all of the other gear can be fully exploited to fulfill that vision.
Continue reading “Seeing Like the Camera – My First Year as a Photographer”
The airwaves and Internet are full of opinions on the value of brand name equipment for photographers. There are opinions on cameras and lenses, lighting, accessories to support both brand names and competitors. There are even opinions on small niche providers who build products to make a photographer’s life easier (bags, stands, organizing systems, even online services). And of course, lots of stories on saving money by making due with what’s on location or in the environment around you. You don’t always need to buy. So how do you choose when it comes time for a new investment in gear? 
Continue reading “Brand Name Equipment or Not?”
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