Main


July 08, 2009

RAW Issues

Soft01a.JPG Every now and then I'm reminded that these are still the early days of digital. I thought of that again this week as I worked with different RAW conversion packages.

Continue reading "RAW Issues" »

|


 


February 04, 2009

Lenses and Sharpness

20080910_TurkeyD6_832.jpgI've had a few conversations with photographers recently about lenses not performing up to expectations concerning sharpness of photos. In the past I've always looked to the age of a lens and the design (consumer-grade or pro?). Now, though, I'm starting to think about our definition of "sharp."

Continue reading "Lenses and Sharpness" »

|


 


December 09, 2008

Less Painful Family Photos

20081127_Family_061.jpgI'm as guilty as most people when it comes to shooting large group family pictures. I don't like to do it. The more people you've got in a photo the harder it is to make a nice photo. This year, though, I decided to fight my natural tendencies and try to make a nice group shot at Thanksgiving.

Continue reading "Less Painful Family Photos" »

|


 


November 25, 2008

Choice is Good

20081116_Chiefs_086.jpgThe more choices we have, the harder it can be. Shoot JPEG or RAW? Upgrade Photoshop now or wait? Spend more on a faster lens or save $$? My favorite choice right now is between full-frame or cropped-frame cameras, because that choice gives me more flexibility in my photography.

Continue reading "Choice is Good" »

|


 


October 14, 2008

AF Settings Confusion

20070828_AcadiaD200_064.jpgThis past week I received an email from someone looking for help in decoding the AF settings on their camera. This is perhaps the most common, hardest to figure out group of settings on today's digital SLRs.

Continue reading "AF Settings Confusion" »

|


 


June 30, 2008

Fireworks Photography

Fireworks.jpgWell, it's time for a topical subject. With the fourth of July a few days away, this is a great time to go through the ins and outs of fireworks photography. I've been doing these shots for about 35 years, the most involved being the 12-exposure shot shown here that I did with a Hasselblad. It's changed a bit since those days of film, but the basics remain the same.

Continue reading "Fireworks Photography" »

|


 


April 14, 2008

Masters of Workflow (?)

mad dog hoffmann.jpgI've got a bone to pick, and this is about as good a time as any (and it gives me a good excuse to use this nice photo Ed Zurga shot of me!). Does it ever seem that most people preaching workflow want to teach you the most complicated version they can come up with?

Continue reading "Masters of Workflow (?)" »

|


 


March 31, 2008

Decisions, Decisions...

D200_300.JPGOver the last few months I've gotten numerous phone calls and emails from friends asking if they should upgrade from their Nikon D200 to the new D300. Just got two more, which made me think it would be a good blog entry.

Continue reading "Decisions, Decisions..." »

|


 


October 13, 2007

Kudos to Adobe

LRExport01.jpgSince the introduction of Aperture, and then Lightroom, I've been following the development of these tools that I refer to as "super browsers." Geared to solve a number of problems many people had with their workflow - especially if shooting RAW files - these program showed a lot of promise, but I had some issues with them as well. With Lightroom, it was how difficult Adobe made it to open an original RAW file from Lightroom with anything but their software. That's now changed with the release of Lightroom 1.2.

Continue reading "Kudos to Adobe" »

|


 


August 30, 2007

Command Center

20070816_NDE_079.jpgFor nearly eight years I've been working out of a home office, and only recently has it been a comfortable experience. I've gone from sharing a spare bedroom with my wife and kids' computers to a space of my own in the basement. And thanks to the wonders of modern computer technology, it's become a great place for me to work. My wife jokingly calls it "The Command Center."

Continue reading "Command Center" »

|


 


June 18, 2007

Different Apps, Different Color

Elements 5 Editora.jpgI received a note last week from a student who was on a photo trek to Tucson with me this spring. His images look different depending on what software he's using. It's a common problem, and involves color management, or the lack of it. Todd was kind enough to let me use his note and photos for today's post.

Continue reading "Different Apps, Different Color" »

|


 


May 24, 2007

Sharing Slideshows

8thGradeProShow01.jpgWell, it's that time of year again. Graduation time, that is. This year I was asked if I could produce a slideshow that would run during my daughter's 8th grade farewell celebration. No problem. After all, that's something I do on a regular basis.

Continue reading "Sharing Slideshows" »

|


 


May 10, 2007

Autofocus Options

AF01.jpgI recently received an email with some quesitons concerning autofocus. I thought the question and answer might make a good blog entry.

Continue reading "Autofocus Options" »

|


 


April 29, 2007

Vista, Part II

Vista2Gallery.jpgWell, I've been running Vista Ultimate for a couple of weeks now, and so far so good. Thought I'd write a little bit more about the software I'm using and my experiences.

Continue reading "Vista, Part II" »

|


 


April 23, 2007

Elements and Color Modes

ColorMode02.jpgWe regularly get questions from people about how to deal with color space choices, both in the digital SLRs we use and in our editing software. I recently received a question about using a Nikon D70 and Photoshop Elements together, and thought it would make a good blog entry.

Continue reading "Elements and Color Modes" »

|


 


March 27, 2007

Keeping up With Changes

Podcast01.jpgPart of my job is to stay up-to-date with changes in the field of digital photography. That includes many models of cameras, lenses, strobes, computers, operating systems, software, hard drives, printers, etc. etc. etc. As you know, that's a lot of information, so I'm always looking for better ways to accomplish that. My latest trick helps me do that during time that would otherwise be wasted..

Continue reading "Keeping up With Changes" »

|


 


March 07, 2007

Lightroom and Aperture

Lightroom01.jpgI'm sure that all of you have heard about Aperture (from Apple) and Lightroom (from Adobe). Some of you have certainly used the beta of Lightroom (now shipping the final version, with an initial price of $199). And I'm also sure that some of you have bought Aperture. For those who haven't had hands-on experience with either of them yet, the question I hear most frequently is, "What are they?" It's a good question, since I don't think even Apple and Adobe are sure what they are yet. Download tool? Image management system (with strong metadata features)? Editing package? Print and web gallery tool? All-in-one?.

Continue reading "Lightroom and Aperture" »

|


 


February 20, 2007

Keeping Track of Images

iView01.docBill: I've attended several of the workshops in Orlando and this last one you went over some of the photo organizers such as the Adobe Photoshop Elements Organizer, but if I remember correctly, this only gives a thumbnail of the image and does not actually say exactly where an image is located, such as on an external drive or CDs, etc. Which one(s) did you say will accomplish this more detailed organization of describing where the image is actually located? I want to use this kind consistently once I know which one to use. Thanks again.

Continue reading "Keeping Track of Images" »

|


 


February 12, 2007

Arctic Suggestions

Arctic01.jpgRecently I received an email from someone who was part of a workshop I taught, and thought it might make a good blog entry: "I attended your two workshops in Berkeley last week, and didn't get a chance to ask my specific question. I'm leaving for an Antarctic peninsula cruise this coming week, and any suggestions for specific settings (e.g. White Balance) to try under those unusual lighting conditions?"

Continue reading "Arctic Suggestions" »

|


 


January 28, 2007

Sharpening

Sharp01.jpgOccasionally I write stories for Lexar's web site, in the digital photography tips section (http://lexar.com/dp/index.html). I had a note from a reader of one of those stories asking for help getting his prints sharp. He had all the right settings on the camera, and a good printer (Epson Stylus Photo R800) but still wasn't getting prints as sharp as he expected. The answer was in how he was handling his images after shooting them.

Continue reading "Sharpening" »

|


 


January 14, 2007

Resolve to be Organized

Filename01b.jpg I had an email from a friend recently asking how I keep my files organized. With the coming of the new year, what better time to look at the system you use to manage your images and see if there might be a better way.

Continue reading "Resolve to be Organized" »

|


 


December 25, 2006

Holiday Cards

Holiday2006_240p.jpgWell, here it is Christmas day, and I'm working on holiday cards. I'm not normally a procrastinator, but I always seem to be doing these at the last minute. This season, though, I'm getting it done much faster and more economically, and they look better too.

Continue reading "Holiday Cards" »

|


 


July 14, 2006

When Good isn't Good Enough

ipgrab1A.jpgFor those who've been riding the digital train for some time, the evolution of affordable desktop photo quality printing has been quite remarkable. I vividly remember the shock of seeing the first print roll off an Epson Photo Stylus printer. It almost looked like a "real" photograph. Today, with the proper printer and technique it is quite simple not just to match, but to exceed the quality of traditional wet darkroom printing.

Continue reading "When Good isn't Good Enough" »

|


 


May 22, 2006

Limitations of Compact Cameras

8800a.jpgI recently received an email from a participant in a workshop our company taught. It was a question we often hear that involved some of the limitations of compact cameras, and one I thought worth sharing.

Continue reading "Limitations of Compact Cameras" »

|


 


May 07, 2006

Hard Drives - On or Off?

HD01.JPGOne of the secrets to finding answers in this digital world is to have trustworthy sources, whether they're web sites, magazines, books or friends. I was trying to find out what would be better - to leave my bank of external drives on all the time, or only power them up when needed. For an answer I thougth I'd try Tim Grey. Tim is well-known in digital photography for his deep knowledge of technical subjects (he's written several books and is a frequent contributor to magazines). Here's Tim's answer:

Continue reading "Hard Drives - On or Off?" »

|


 


April 27, 2006

Judging Exposure

Light Meter.jpg Recently I received an email asking for help in understanding metering. "I just bought a light meter which I thought would be easier to use than I discovered."

Continue reading "Judging Exposure" »

|


 


April 19, 2006

What Software's Best For Photos?

Bill Durrence, a Blue Pixel instructor, recently received a letter from a student asking about the many photo packages available, and what tools are really needed to get the job done. Here's Bill's response:...

Continue reading "What Software's Best For Photos?" »

|


 


April 18, 2006

How Changing Resolution Affects Printing

I often get emails from people who've attended one of our workshops, asking for a bit of help. This one was from a dad looking for some help with his son's science project involving image resolution. The answer happens to...

Continue reading "How Changing Resolution Affects Printing" »

| | Comments (1)


 


July 2009

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31