Photoshop CS4 Announced
Posted on | September 24, 2008 | No Comments
Having used Photoshop since version 5, CS3 may mark my end point for Photoshop. My decision is not an indictment of CS4, but rather my satisfaction with Lightroom 2.0 as a processing tool and a personal taste for minimally processed images. Lightroom 2 satisfies 90% of my image editing requirements. Those rare times I need to edit an image in Photoshop are either for retouching, special end use requirements, or softproofing. [hopefully Lightroom 3.0 will include softproofing]
Early observations of yesterdays Adobe announcement of Photoshop CS4 leave me somewhat nonplussed from a photographic viewpoint. One of the better previews is Martin Evening’s article on PhotoshopNews. While the influence of Lightroom on the interface is evident, CS4 is not Lightroom on Roids. It’s still Photoshop, and other than the welcome performance improvements, the new features address Photoshop tricks rather than tools for the traditional photography. The bad news is that you will have to purchase this $199 upgrade to obtain Adobe Camera RAW 5.0 which is invaluable for photographers. Available sometime in October.
Taking my camera for a ride.
Posted on | September 24, 2008 | No Comments
By Tuesday I have had all the football I can watch (which conveniently coincides with there not actually being a game on TV) and it’s a great evening for taking my camera for a ride. I never know where I’m going or what I’m going to shoot, I just get in the car and drive around…looking. When I see something of interest I pop out of the car and snap off a few frames and vanish. Sometimes I shoot from inside the car and sometimes I just wander around. It all depends on the relative safety and transparency necessary.
This any good?
Posted on | September 23, 2008 | No Comments
[180mm 1/640 F3.5]
As a photographer I’m often ask to comment on the images of others. While photography is entirely subjective, it is not arbitrary. To be successful, a photograph must be interpretive, “about” something rather than being a picture “of” something. It takes intimate involvement to understand the nuances of a subject, and that level of participation is rarely exhibited in the images I’m ask to review.
What attracted you to “that” particular subject? From your personal point of view, how much can you tell me about the subject with light and gesture? As Jay Maisel says, “show me the image like I’ve never seen it before”. No small task.
[The other inevitability of being a photographer are the well meaning subject scouts. "I saw a great big mushroom in somebody's yard", certain that I would drop everything to rush over there to record the event in full noon sun].
Canon EF 180mm 3:5L [1:1 Macro]
Posted on | September 22, 2008 | No Comments
Adding an expensive, slow, heavy lense to primarily shoot closeups seems at odds with my usual hand-held working method. I did so in acknowledgment that I have extensively used the [pseudo] macro settings of my last three digital cameras to produce some of my more successful images. It takes a while for me to learn and build confidence in a lense. I intend to shoot a low angle wildflower series next Spring so I recently added this lense to gain several months of practice before the project begins. Below is the first image off this lense, hand-held and inadvertently set to 6.5 during the purchase at Murphy’s Camera. I like the possibilities, though it’s a heavy bird.
Lightroom 2, Scott Kelby
Posted on | September 18, 2008 | No Comments
“the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom2 book for digital photographers”, by Scott Kelby
Back in August I reviewed Martin Evening’s Lightroom 2 book. Some six weeks later, Scott Kelby’s offering has become available. I will not judge or compare one to the other, but will at this point I simply offer that both are competent and inclusive, but differ in the nuances. Perhaps Kelby’s better serves the novice and Evening better services the more advanced. As a Lightroom trainer I deem it necessary to have both, primarily to see how others present their material and get a glimpse into their work flows.
I first met Scott in Nashville about twelve years ago as he was emerging from being a Mac and desktop publishing guy, to a becoming a renowned Photoshop trainer and best selling author. (”Down and Dirty Tricks” being one of my first Photoshop books). As impressive as his credentials have become, I’m actually more impressed by his evolution as a photographer. The Lightroom 2 edition of the book has all new example images—a new book should have new images!
The page layout of the book is excellent, making it easy to follow the narrative and Kelby’s now familiar “cookbook” style allows the reader to dive in most anywhere. The Quick Tips pages at Section end are worthwhile, and the novice will find the Print section examples inspirational. My only point of departure with Kelby is the pandemic silliness found in all his work. Fortunately—or not—he collects this nonsense at the section start page where it can be be ignored, as I now do with all his other venues.
Recommended ★★★★ [at Amazon]
Global Keywords
Posted on | September 4, 2008 | No Comments
In Library > Keyword List (right panel) take a look to discern the commonalities of images. A Keyword “Tag” (folder) collects like groups, and a Global Keyword Tag collects those specific groups into a general group. Click on the “+” symbol in Keyword list to create a new Tag, and notice the options to include the keyword within a specific tag.
Rose would be a searchable “Tag” that includes all roses, but suppose you want to access all your flower shots. The global keyword “Floral” would collect all the flower shots, providing a simply method to build a photo essay, slideshow, or web gallery of like images. I have only “eight” global keywords, but countless specific keywords.
Electronic Tutoring
Posted on | August 21, 2008 | No Comments
Dead tree books are on their way out, but so too must be our way of learning. Philosophically and aesthetically I have no problem with with electronic information, but in use I find it both awkward and tiring. I venture that 90% of all I know about computers and software is from being self taught by purchasing the authoritative book(s), then devouring the topic until I achieve whatever level of mastery I require. My bookshelf tells me I might know more than average about a select few topics.
In practice, a book sets next to your computer where you can verify the instructional material by putting it to use. When the instructional material is on your computer, you must toggle back in forth between the software involved and the instructional material, freeze the video and etc. The only way to achieve a reasonable working facsimile of a book is to have dual monitors, have a second electronic replay/reading device, or something like Apple TV.
eBooks present the largest challenge for me. Where I can get through a conventional book in relative short order, I really have to push myself to get through a fourth of the material on an eBook in the same time span. My focus is challenged, my eyes tire, and I find it more complicated to refer back to a previous page.
Video tutorials are somewhat more useful as they allow me to gain some knowledge in those mindless veg-out times where I might watch TV. I’m particularly fond of the video downloads offered by Luminous-Landscape.
…”the look”
Posted on | August 21, 2008 | No Comments
Lightroom was supposed to make it possible for me to abandon my cheap Photoshop tricks. Unfortunately, I have now accumulated a bunch of cheap Lightroom tricks! I had hoped the lack of “features” in v1.0 would encourage me to present Black&White images with a tradional straight off the camera look. In the digital RAW era what exactly does straight off the camera mean, and is it in fact, any different than when we shooting film?
In the film days a certain lense and film combo had it’s signature—say a 35 cron pre-asph on Tri-X—but consistent processing was necessary to achieve that look. Who knows what a straight off the camera image really looked like then, as what I saw in print was only the result of a tight processing regimen. Every lense and film combination had it’s own look, and as I shot far fewer frames, my subject tended toward that which were previously successful—with little exploration—to help maintain “the look”.
Today, when I see a certain digital camera and lense combination—always in color RAW—what I’m really seeing is a camera software interpreted by a processing software. Look at the same RAW file in different software to understand the nuances.
The point is—finally—while there is really no such thing as straight off the camera, there is such a thing as consistent camera handling and image processing. The problem is the discipline within! I’m given all these powerful software features and a camera that encourages me to burn as many exploratory frames as I want—CRACK—and I behave like a juvenile on a free shopping spree! (cleaned that one up) What I want the “the look” to be is something like…the signature of my lense.
Rendering in LR 2.0 ?
Posted on | August 21, 2008 | No Comments
Something is subtley different about the manner that LR 2.0 renders images…or more likely…how ACR 4.5 in LR 2.0 renders images. I’ve looked closely at the same RAW file in both LR 1.0 and CS3 and there is a visible departure in LR 2.0, let’s say…an interpretive variation noticeable in the color rendering. As I work in Fine Art Black&White it’s nothing of grave concern as I’m going to whack it anyway…just sayin…I think I saw what I thought I saw.
Have some Fun!
Posted on | August 21, 2008 | No Comments
With the new tools in Lightroom 2.0 it makes sense to add some finite input control. (Last Spring I moved exclusively to a MacBook Pro and sold my Intous3 6×11 along with the PowerMac G5). I needed something small enough to fit in the pocket of my Waterfield sleeve case, but I didn’t care to shell out for yet another Intuos3.
Enter the Bamboo. I placed my order through Amazon right after opening Lightroom 2.0 for the first time. The build quality seems less plast-icky than a similarly sized Graphire and a bit thinner, though not as thin as an Intuos3. Works just fine for my meager requirements.
Note: The differences between the standard Bamboo and the Bamboo Fun are minimal: eraser tool, color choice, and some bundled software you probably didn’t need. Save the $20 and get the standard $79 Bamboo.
Welcome!
I'm Jerry Freeman, KY Bluegrass, USA. The blog focus is simply Black&White Photography with Lightroom with a few topical Rants, Raves, & Reviews. My other interest include Design by Grid, XHTML, JQuery, JavaScript, and CSS. Please visit my Aminus3 Photoblog
Equipment
Canon EOS 5D, 35 1:4L, 180 3:5L, 24-105 4:0L, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1, MacBook Pro, Lightroom 2.1
Content [Under Construction]
Photo Essays
Lightroom Tutorials
Slideshows