If you have children over the age of 10 you’ve probably heard the exclamation “Oh Snap!” more than once. It’s kind of like the kid version of “Holy Crap!” but in a good way. As a parent, I have come to adopt my children’s slang terms if for no other reason than to be able to communicate on some base level. Well yesterday evening I found myself playing with a newly installed version of Aperture 3 and I believe I heard myself saying “Oh Snap!”as I was checking out all the cool new features.
If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I am a long-time Adobe Lightroom user. I gave Aperture a spin when it first came out but it just never really did it for me. I’m not sure why, but I just felt that I could be more productive in Lightroom. Then yesterday on the way home I was talking to a buddy about Lightroom and then he mentioned some new features in Aperture that were pretty slick. I was intrigued so I downloaded the trial version when I got home and then imported some images so I could investigate further.
Now I can’t tell you that I am going to throw my copy of Lightroom in the recycle bin because it just isn’t true. On the other hand, there are some features in Aperture that are just crazy-good and I am wondering what Adobe is waiting for. Case in point, the Aperture books feature just downright rocks! Of course Lightroom doesn’t even have a book feature but I ask the question, why not? Apple’s book creation in Aperture is smooth as butter and completely customizable. It’s as easy as selecting Book from the New drop-down menu and then selecting a style. From there, you can go to one of your image collections called Projects and simply drag the images you want onto the newly created book icon. By the way, this was my first time really using the software so please forgive me if there are other ways of doing this (which I am sure there are) but my point is that it was easy enough to do without even reading a help file.
After adding the files, I chose the page layouts from a variety of choices and then dragged images from the thumbnails at the bottom of the screen into the empty image placeholders. I could resize the images by double-clicking them and then using the sizing slider and dragging the image around in the frame until it was positioned just the way I like.
By the way, you can even backscreen your pages. I found this out by accident as I was dropping an image into a frame and missed. I let go on the page instead of the frame and it automatically snapped my image into the background. I then located the wash filter and I had a beautifully washed out backscreen for my page. Just too cool. You can also customize just about anything else on your pages as well. You can resize the picture frames and drag them all around he page until you have it just the way you want it. If your image doesn’t look right, you can double-click it to take it back into the adjustment portion of Aperture and when you’re done, just double-click it again and you are right back into the book building section.
Here’s another cool feature. When I was done, I could have selected to send my book off to the printers but instead I turned it into a PDF document. You can’t tell me that isn’t slick. Can you imagine creating a wedding album and then sending a PDF proof off to the client for final approval before sending it to the printers.
I could go on and on about some of the very cool features in Aperture but I’m still learning my way around and frankly, that’s have the fun of it. So if you are a Mac owner and you haven’t tried Aperture 3 yet, head over to Apple’s Aperture page, read up on the “What’s New” section (there’s over 200 new features, which is why I’m not going to even try and list them), and then download a free 30-day trial version and have some fun.
Hi gang, it’s Tuesday and that must mean it’s time for some news updates. Here’s what’s happening:
Canon releases Firmware Update -
As promised, Canon has released a new firmware update for the 5D Mark II. The update is a pretty easy procedure to perform and the benefits should be well worth it. One big fix is the addition of new video frame rates that will now let you record in 1920×1080: 30fps, 1920×1080: 24fps, and 640×480: 30fps. Also included in the update is the ability to manually adjust sound recording levels, the ability to display a histogram for shooting movies in manual exposure mode, the addition of Av and Tv modes for shooting movies, and changes to the audio sampling rate. you can find the update here.
Speaking of video…
There’s a poll over at the Digital Photography School that asked readers if they actually use the video recording feature in their digital cameras. I wasn’t really too surprised at the results. I guess that’s because I am still on the fence when it comes to buying a DSLR with video. Of course the decision will probably be made for me down the road as it seems like every new camera will incorporate this feature in the near future. Click here to see the results of the poll.
Get Captured by the Light in Kentucky -
Wedding shooter and author of the amazing new book, Captured by the Light, David Ziser, is holding a wedding/lighting webinar this Wednesday. The actual webinar is already full but if you happen to be in the Park Hills area in Kentucky, you might still be able to snag a seat as part of the live audience. For more info, check out the registration page.
Orlando Flickr Group is up -
I have created the Flickr Group for my upcoming photowalk in Orlando on March 23rd. The photowalk will take place in the downtown Orlando area and is open to Photoshop World attendees or anyone that wants just hang out, take some photos, and have a great time. I will be posting more specific details in the next few days but if you are planning on going, head on over to the group and join. I am limiting members to just those individuals that are going to participate but the photos will be visible for everyone to enjoy. You can find the group here.
iPad available for pre-order -
Finally today I ask the age old question, should you pre-order an iPad or just wait a bit. Pre-orders were opened up by Apple last Friday and people have been jumping at the chance to get theirs right at the opening bell. The question though is should you take the leap of faith and buy one sight unseen or wait a bit to really find out a bit more. Of course waiting means that you might have to wait a bit because stocks will probably be depleted in the first month or so after the release. On the other hand, you will certain get the benefit of hundreds of hands-on reviews as maybe even dodge a few bug bullets by waiting. So the question is, will you or won’t you take the pre-order plunge. Cast your vote below.
That’s all for today, have a fantastic day and be sure to rest up for all that Irish stuff tomorrow.
It’s amazing how a little processing can change the look of an image. This is especially true when the image process is HDR in nature. There are so many looks to HDR and it seems that most folks really like that hyper-realistic look that comes from pushing the sliders to their max. If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, check out this image from inside the St. Salvator’s Cathedral. I shot a 3-shot series of images for this picture and then used Photomatix Pro to create the HDR and tone map for the final look.
Please click on the images for a larger view
As you can see, it has some extreme stuff going on but it does have great information in the shadows and highlights. Unfortunately the colors are way too vivid and the mid-tone contrasts are way over the top. Or perhaps I should say that they are way too over the top for me. That’s the thing about HDR, some folks really prefer the way this image would look over the ones below. For me though, it’s just completely unrealistic and doesn’t come close to representing what I saw.
To get things a little more on track, I ran the process again but this time I was less aggressive with the sliders. It still has that classic HDR look to it but there are less halos, the colors aren’t nearly as bright, and the tonal contrasts are a little smoother.
Still though, when I sent this to a buddy, he kind of snapped me back to reality that this image was still not very “true to life”. After giving it another look, I decided to process my image one more time, just to see if I could tone things down a bit more while still getting the benefit from the HDR process, which is better tonal values in the shadows as well as the highlights. To do this, I ran the bracketed images through HDR Photostudio 2. I find that this program has a much smoother look to it when creating photo-realistic HDR images. As you can see from the result below, there is much less of a gritty look to this image and yet it still has great tonal values thoughout.
I guess the moral of the story is that when it comes to HDR processing, there is definitely more than one way to move those sliders and it’s all about where your personal preferences lay as to how much is too much.
Yesterday’s post discussed some scenarios that require shooting a little unconventionally with the intention of using Photoshop to complete the photographic process and complete the pre-visualized image. I ended the post with a picture of the I Amsterdam sign that is located in a park in Amsterdam. I also told you that I shot the image with the express purpose of using Photoshop to make it look the way it does below.
Several of you posted your guesses as to what I did in Photoshop to make it look like it does above. Unfortunately no one had the correct answer. So here’s the deal. My buddy, Jeff Kelby, had been to Amsterdam before and he told me about these letters he had seen that were located in a park in the Southwestern part of the city. We set off to the park and sure enough, we rounded a corner and there were the big red and white letters, spelling out the I Amsterdam slogan that is found all over the city (mugs, bumper stickers, hats, t-shirts, you name it). I really wanted to get a photograph of the landmark but it was covered in tourists. They were climbing and posing and basically blocking me from getting a good shot. So here’s where I had my “shoot for Photoshop” idea.
As I walked around the rear side of the letters I noticed that there was no one there. Everyone was posing on the front side so that the letters would be readable in their own pictures. That’s when I pulled out my camera and composed my shot of the rear of the letters, completely unobstructed by other tourists. Of course the letters were backwards in my image but that was my plan.
Once I had my shot, I simply opened it in Photoshop and then flipped the image to reverse the backwards text so that it read correctly in my image. No multiple image stacking or masking as some of you guessed, just a simple horizontal flip. Crazy, huh? But totally conceived at the time I took the image with the intent to change it in Photoshop. Sometimes a little planning can really go a long way towards getting the shot that you want. Here’s the original image as it came out of my camera.
That’s it for me this week. I am going to try and catch up on some well needed rest and put some finishing touches on the D3000 book. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you Monday.
Getting the shot right in the camera should always be the goal of any photographer but sometimes the shot you want is beyond the camera’s capabilities. So what do you do when you know what it is you want but you know you can’t get it in one exposure? In those circumstances, you can shoot for Photoshop. Here’s a good example of what I mean.
While walking in a cathedral in Bruges last week I saw a beautiful stained glass window at the end of a large hall. I wanted to capture the entire scene but when I shot with a proper exposure for the hall, the window was completely over-exposed. When I shot to get a good exposure of the window, the hall became so dark that you couldn’t see any detail. To remedy this, I decided to shoot two exposures with the intent of combining the two images in Photoshop.
To get the two images as one, I adjust the images in Lightroom and then opened both of them as layers in one Photoshop document. I then had Photoshop align the two layers and used a layer mask to combine the best parts of both. I am sure that some of you are wondering why I didn’t shoot an HDR and the truth is that I considered it but I think that the processing would not have given me the result that I was after.
So here’s another shot that I took with the intention of fixing it in Photoshop. I’m not going to tell you what I did but take a look at it and see if you can figure it out (Jeff and Scott Kelby are not allowed to comment). I’ll post the answer on Friday.
The weather on my last trip was pretty dicey in terms of photographic potential. But that’s the thing about travel photography is that you just never know what Mother Nature is going to dish up for you. Some days you can go out and be greeted with beautiful sunrises and other days, the sun just pops up into the sky without any fanfare at all. Still other days you could be met with clouds or rain or even snow. There’s just no way around it and unless you live in the area and can go shooting when the weather is optimum, you only have two choices, shoot what you have or don’t shoot at all. Frankly, I would rather have something to remember my travels than nothing at all so I shoot. That doesn’t mean I always have to settle for bad shots when the skies won’t cooperate. One of the best ways to overcome blank, overcast skies is to just ignore them and shoot for black and white. Either in camera or through post-processing, you can get some pretty decent black and white shots on those cloudy days.
Not the greatest of shooting days...
...but not too bad as a black and white image.
Another option is to not show the sky at all. Cloudy conditions mean no sun but they also mean no harsh shadows and nice, saturated colors. If the clouds move in on you, try concentrating your photography on colorful items that will come to life when the skies are gray. Just make sure you adjust your white balance to compensate for the typically cool tones that accompany a cloudy sky.
Taken inside a Tea Room while shaking off the cold.
The sun finally came out shortly after I took this shot.
Sometimes as photographers we get lucky and all the necessary components line up just right for us and we get that shot that we envisioned. Sometimes we need to look past those shots and deal with what we have. These are the moments that make us better photographers.
, David Ziser, is holding a wedding/lighting webinar this Wednesday. The actual webinar is already full but if you happen to be in the Park Hills area in Kentucky, you might still be able to snag a seat as part of the live audience. For more info, check out the 
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