PhotoWalkPro

Here’s a quick rundown on some items I found of interest over the past couple of days that you might have missed.

Damn that Joe McNally -

It’s bad enough that Joe is a rockstar with a camera and lens but now he’s taken to waxing philosophic on his blog in such incredibly superb fashion that he looks like he has made his living with the keyboard instead of the camera.  Telling the story only the way he can, Joe talks about a chance encounter that he had coming out of a Starbucks and in doing so, captures the psyche of a photographer.  You rock Joe!  We Just Can’t Help It Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it seems that things are looking up a little bit for the blog thanks to the heroic efforts of my buddy RC Concepcion.  After removing malicious code from over 1000 files, it seems that all of the nasty stuff is now gone.  But I do have a favor to ask from you, my blog readers.  First is, if you visited my blog on Friday and you are using a Windows-based machine, please make sure that you run a virus scan to check for any malware that might have infected your machine.  If you aren’t running any then let me suggest that you visit AVG and download their free anti-virus software.  It’s pretty solid and will find most all of the nasty bugs running around out there.  The second favor I am asking is that you notify my if you see any strange behavior on my page or as a result of visiting it.  It would have taken me a lot longer to find out that the blog was infected if it weren’t for emails that I received.  Thanks Len and Mike for the heads-up.  Your alert allowed me to get working on this problem much sooner.  If you do happen to see a problem with the blog, please send an email to admin (at symbol) photowalkpro.com 

Once again, a huge thanks to my buddy RC who, if you didn’t already know, teaches some kick butt classes on Kelby Training.  If you want to know more about Dreamweaver or creating a WordPress blog then you definitely need to check out his classes.  They are worth the price of admission.

You probably know that white balancing is extremely important for reproducing accurate colors in your photographs.  The question is, when exactly is the best time to set your white balance.  Most every digital camera sold has some ability to change the white balance depending on the type of light that you are shooting in (daylight, cloudy, shady, flash, fluorescent, and tungston).

Most cameras also have a setting whereby the camera will pick what it believes is the most appropriate color balance for the light, also referred to as Auto White Balance.  The big problem with built-in white balance settings is that they are rigid and don’t take into account the subtle changes in color temperature that can affect the colorcast in an image.  Things like atmospheric conditions (clouds, smog) and reflective and translucent surfaces all have an influence on the color temperature.  Then add a little mixed lighting like fluorescent lights and daylight from a window and you have a color temperature that no pre-set balance will be able to handle.  Even the auto setting will have trouble with scenes like this.  Auto settings can also be influenced by colors of objects in the image so once again, not the best choice.  This is why many advanced dslr cameras now have custom white balance settings to assist you in getting the best possible color rendition in your images.

Some cameras make setting the custom white balance a snap.  All you have to do is set it up in the menu and then point your camera at a white surface and take a picture.  All that is left is to select the custom white balance setting and start shooting.  Other similar methods use a disc that is placed over the lens when setting up a custom balance.  The disc takes all the light in the scene and averages it into its basic color component and records a proper setting for shooting in that particular lighting environment.

These are generally good methods of setting a proper white balance but they are ones that I reserve for shooting in JPEG or TIFF modes.  The reason for this is that the white balance that you select at time of shooting is baked into the file and, while it can be changed later in post-processing, it just seems to be best to get it right during capture when all of the other image processing is taking place.

If you shoot RAW, I would advise a different method of setting a white balance.  My preferred method is to shoot with the camera set to Auto-WB, shoot a white balance card, and then correct the color in post processing.  I use a Whi-Bal card because it is small and has a nice quick release lanyard so it’s always handy.

The card is placed in the scene, ensuring that it is being lit by the same light source as my subject.  Then I take a quick picture and then get on with my shooting.  If I change to a different location, such as a shady spot, I grab another quick image of the card so that I can keep control over any colorcasts.  Once I bring the image into Lightroom or Camera Raw, I use the White Balance Selector tool to click on the card and BAM, instant white balance correction.  The other thing I like about my little Whi-Bal is that it has two different greycards, one that is neutral and one that renders a slightly warmer balance.  You can also buy white balance cards that are specifically made for portraiture. Once the white balance is corrected, the setting can be applied to all the other images in the series with equally accurate results.

The one thing that you want to do no matter which method you choose is to constantly update your WB as you change settings, lighting setups, or time of day.  A passing cloud can make a huge shift in your white balance, which you will have to fight with later if you don’t deal with it at time of capture.  To find a whole selection of custom white balance and white card solutions, check out this list at B&H Photo.

I’m taking the rest of the week of to wrap things up before the holidays (get it, wrap things up, like presents and…nevermind).  I hope that whatever you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, (Insert favorite celebratory occasion here), that you get to do it with loved ones and that you have a safe and happy holiday.

See you next week!

As part of the celebration of the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, the folks from RIT are going to light up the building for a Big Shot tonight.  RIT has been conducting these “painting with light” projects since 1987.  To put it in their words. Big Shot is “An annual night-time community photography project sponsored by the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, New York, USA.”  Past projects include photographing the USS Intrepid, the Royal Palace in Stockholm, The George Eastman House in Rochester and many more.  To check out all 24 of the past Big Shot projects click on over to the Big Shot Gallery page.

If you would like to participate in tonight’s Big Shot event you will need to get to the museum by 7:30 PM (meet up at the main museum entrance) with your hand-held flash or flashlight.  Don’t forget to wear dark clothing as well.  If you do participate, you will receive an 8×10 photo of the final project, courtesy of Nikon Inc.  How cool is that?  If you would like more information on tonight’s event or the RIT Big Shot program, head to the official Big Shot website.  Tonight’s event details can be found by clicking on the 2009 Project link on the main site.

I have been incredibly busy the past few days and I need to grab some serious sack time.  So here’s what’s on my radar screen.

♦ – I read about Chase Jarvis’ new iPhone app yesterday on Scott Kelby’s blog and I have to say that I am now more ticked than ever that Apple did not release the new iPod Touch with a camera.  It’s true that you could use Chase’s app, called Best Camera, without a built in camera by selecting images from the library but where’s the fun in that?  If you haven’t checked out the app yet and you own an iPhone, you really need to head on over to iTunes and see what all the fuss is about.  It’s that good.  The app is going for $2.99, which I think is a real bargain but I am a little confused about the +12 rating for Mature/Suggestive Themes???

♦ – Being the procrastinator that I am, I just made my travel arrangements to Las Vegas for Photoshop World.  I think it has something to do with fear of committing my money.  Anyway, I was pleased to find that I could still get a decent price for a non-stop flight.  I am a United guy and was able to get my flights for under $400.  I know a lot of you don’t dig United but being 6′5″ makes me a huge fan of their Economy Plus seating.  I’ll take 5 extra inches of legroom over an extra bag of peanuts any day.  As for hotel, I am staying off strip so I was able to get a pretty good price on my lodging.  It’s hard to complain about a decent hotel with internet access and free breakfast for under $45 a night.  That certainly makes the 10 minute drive to the Mandalay Bay well worth it.  Besides, parking is free at the Mandalay so I can take my affordable rental car instead of paying the crazy taxi fares in Vegas.  You can rent a car for less than what you would end up paying for 2 taxi rides a day.  And here’s something that a lot of folks don’t know.  Valet parking at most hotels is FREE.  Just tip the fast running attendants a couple of bucks and you are all set for curb-side drop off and pick-up.

♦ – While I am on the subject of Photoshop World I wanted to remind those of you that are going about the Neon in Your Neighborhood contest that was sponsored by Peachpit.  The contest closed today but the images can be found on Flickr and the winners will be selected soon.  I can’t wait to join you at the Vegas Boneyard Museum for some early morning photography and fun.

♦ – Finally today, I would like to thank those of you that responded by comment and email to my questions about using a Netbook as a travel machine and leaving my MacBook at home to do the heavy lifting.  After some encouraging thoughts from others, I have made the plunge and purchased the Acer Aspire One Netbook.  The things that sold me on it were the 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, the 11.2 inch screen, and the incredible 8 hours of battery life (of which I will be happy to get just 6), all for under $330.00.  I am going to load it with Lightroom and should be toting it around Photoshop World.  I will let you know what my impressions are when I get back.

That’s it for today. The weekend is all down hill from here.