My Dad's Cool Kodachrome Images (Part V)
Check out the photo of Bob Hope on stage photographed with 35mm Kodak Kodachrome film by my Dad in the 1950's and 60's during one of the Christmas trips entertaining the troops. More photos to come.
It's Coming, The Nikon D90
USA Today
New York Times
Nikon
Engadget
CNET
Scott Kelby
Digital Photography Review
Popular Photograpy
By Robert Lachman
The Nikon D90 is official on it’s way. Nikon is pushing the envelope with the video feature added to new DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera. It seems so natural when most point-and-shoot cameras already are capable of shooting video. I have listed a variety of links with reviews and information on the new camera in the $1,000 range. Not much more I can add.
The important features according to Nikon:
- Newly designed Nikon DX-format CMOS image sensor with 12.3 effective megapixels and Integrated Dust Reduction System
- Incredibly low-noise performance throughout a wide sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200; can be set to ISO 6400 equivalent
- Incorporates Nikon's comprehensive digital image-processing EXPEED concept
- The world's first D-SLR movie function: D-Movie, selectable from 320 x 216 pixels, 640 x 424 pixels or 1,280 x 720 pixels in AVI format
- Scene Recognition System, utilizing 420-pixel RGB sensor, improves autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance performance and is also integrated with the new Face Detection System
- Live View enables face priority AF with the 3-in., approx. 920k-dot, high-density color LCD featuring 170° ultra-wide viewing angle
- Picture Control System offers new Portrait and Landscape options for more vibrant customized colors
- Active D-Lighting for smooth tone reproduction in high-contrast lighting
- Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus sensor module featuring 11 AF points offers fast and precise autofocus coverage across the frame
- Viewfinder with approx. 96% frame coverage and an easy-to-view 19.5 mm eyepoint (at -1.0 m-1)
- Advanced Scene Modes that automatically adjust exposure, image processing, Active D-Lighting and Picture Control settings for superior image quality
- Extensive palette of in-camera Retouch Menus including several new retouch options such as Distortion Control, Straighten and Fisheye
- 4.5 fps continuous shooting and quick response of 0.15-second start-up and 65-ms shutter release time lag (CIPA standard)
- Built-in flash with 18mm lens coverage and Nikon's original i-TTL flash control that commands Advanced Wireless Lighting
- Highly efficient energy-saving design that allows approx. 850 images on a single charge of the Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e (CIPA standard, with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, with 50% of pictures taken with flash)
- Versatile Pictmotion menu that creates slideshows combining five choices of both background music and image effects
- Compatible with HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output
- Optional Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D80 extends shooting capability and enables use of six R6/AA-size batteries
- Included Nikon ViewNX software makes browsing and organizing your images easy
- Optional photo-editing software, Capture NX 2 allows users quick and easy photo editing
- Lightweight compact body
If you want more information click on any of the links above or check out the video from photographer Chase Jarvis.
Scott Kelby has a post with all the winners from the Worldwide Photo Walk at www.photoshopuser.com
/photowalk/winners.html.
Photo Walk, The Video
Check out the video I made from Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk. Our location was Hollywood, California on August 23, 2008. I want to thank Scott for putting the event together and Paige Jeffers Burghardt for hosting our local walk which was a lot more work than most people would think. The evening was a lot of fun, meeting new photographers, taking photographs and then sharing the work on Flickr. Thanks again to everyone for making it a great event. I'm looking forward to next year.
Back to Work
It is time to go back to work after five days off, which means It’s time to load up the iPod Touch for the commute to Los Angeles. Here is my list of podcasts:
Mac OS Ken
The Mac ReviewCast
Typical Mac User
NosillaCast
The Maccast
The Tech Guy
I hope to put together a short video on the Hollywood walk. It should be up on Wednesday or Thursday. Have a nice week.
Walking Hollywood Photos
Photographs by Robert Lachman © 2008
By Robert Lachman
It was a great day in Hollywood, meeting new photographers and shooting photographs along Hollywood Boulevard in the city where dreams are made of during Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk. It was a little like shooting ducks in a barrel, there’s certainly 
was no shortage of subjects. In an era when most people are paranoid about having their pictures taken, in Hollywood, it seems like people expect it.
My wife, Lorelei and I got there a little early and the only problem I thought I would have would be finding a parking spot. It actually worked out fine as there was plenty of space in the first indoor lot we picked. Mission accomplished.
Next, it was the walk along Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Kodak Theatre and the hand and foot prints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. We were meeting the other photographers around the corner at Mels drive-in parking lot near the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.
Now, this is where the circus starts. Characters galore. Which look alike are you looking for: Superman, Superwoman, Spiderman, Darthvader, a Swashbuckling Pirate, Batman, Playboy Bunnies, Sponge Bob? Also, there’s a whole group of characters who have their own persona. Tall people, short people, silver people, even gold people. I kept thinking Randy Newman would be around the corner writing a song.
It’s a tough pick. So many cool subjects, not enough time. I had my photo taken with Sponge Bob and a guy p
ainted gold. Everyone needs to be a tourist. Of course everyone expects a buck. And certainly, some of the character were much more aggressive than others about getting those tips. It sort of knocked them off their superhero pedestal. It just doesn’t seem right that Superman is working for tips.
Next, it was off to the Mels drive-in parking lot for the meet-up and any last minute instructions from Paige, who was our Photo Walk leader. She did a great job getting everything organized, picking the route and the restaurant for the gathering after. Everything ran a smooth as possible and I’d like to thank Paige for doing such a great job.
I’m looking forward to next year. I hope you enjoy the photos. Have a nice week.
Click here to check out the photos on Flickr from our Hollywood Photo Walk group.
Working on Photo Walk Photos
It's Photo Walk Satuday
There will be a lot of walking so I would recommend traveling light using one camera body with your favorite couple of lenses.
Standby, I need to go charge my camera batteries and clear my digital memory cards.
It’s important to start slow, don’t put the pedal-to-the-metal on your shutter button early, you’re going to be out there for two hours, relax and have a good time. Although, if you have unlimited cards and hard drive space go for it. A little reserve and editing as you shoot does make it easier when you get back home and work through the edit process. Remember you’re shooting still photos not movies at 29 frames a second.
Choosing your lens your lens options ca
n be tough. Lenses equal weight. You probably don’t need any super telephotos at an event like this. A nice wide angle and moderate telephoto should be fine. Zoom lenses are great and convient but usually are slow meaning they don’t let in a lot of light so they can be tough to use in the shade or low light.A combination of a versatile zoom and a fast 50 f1.4 might be the way to go. Don’t forget to charge your camera batteries and bring enough clear digital flash memory cards.
I may bring along my Lensbaby 2.0 which brings one area of your photo into sharp focus, surrounded by increasing blur. It brings shame to the f 1.4 fast lenses plus it’s very small and light. This lens with it bending-and-tilting takes the background way out of focus.
Just another way to give your photos a creative look.
Have a nice weekend. Check back for Hollywood and Zoo photos soon.
Too Much Cool Stuff, Not Enough Time
Check out the amazing photography by Sports Illustrated photographer Heinz Kluetmeier’s of Olympic Champion Michael Phelps touching the wall .01 seconds ahead of his opponents to keep his gold medal streak alive enroute to a record 8.
Click here to check it out.
Click here to check out the Olympic photographs from the Los Angeles Times.
Tim at the MacReviewCast put his speed test on his website so I did a speed test to check out how fast my cable is. Here is my result. I have no idea what this means. Is this fast or slow? Would someone send a comment and explain it to me. I put links to different speed tests if you want to try it out with your cable or DSL.
Speedtest.net
www.dslreports.com
Bandwidth.com
Two days and counting to the Worldwide Photo Walk. I will be spending Saturday evening shooting photographs in Hollywood. I will set up a Flickr page with the results. I’m looking forward to it.
Check the Cali Lewis’ review of Cut and Paste
for the iPhone and iPod Touch
from Cali Lewis on Vimeo.
New Deke: Stretching a Photo in Illustrator
Annie Leibovitz's Queen Elizabeth photography assignment video.
Check out the David Hobby’s play-by-play on his strobist blog.
Poking a little fun at Nintendo’s Wii’s music gaming by Sarcartic gamer.com
Food Is Our Friend
Here are a few of my food photographs taken on assignment for the Los Angeles Times.
Photography by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times @ 2008
Worldwide Photo Walk
Photograph by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times @ 2007
Delauné Michel author of the book “Aftermath of Dreaming” photographed in HOLLYWOOD last year.
By Robert Lachman
I’m going to Hollywood. It’s time for Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk. There are definitely some cool locations including: Paris, Beijing, Sydney, London, Vancouver and New York but I think I’ll be at one of the best. We’re talking HOLLYWOOD. And in the spirit of cool and arty photography I’m going into be shooting in the RAW mode, no .JPG for me. No compression for me. My photos need to be natural, I’m not losing any pixels when I don’t need to. Everyone there will be shooting RAW and I want to fit in. Note to self: Make sure to clear all my digital flash memory cards.
It will definitely be a different kind of shoot for me, more of a free flow. It’s usually work related stuff for me or I use my point-and-shoot for family stuff. Details and photos to come over the weekend.
More Miscellaneous: I get 60 free days of MoblieMe. I’m not sure what I’ll do with all the money I save :-)
MobileMe Update from Apple: “We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users' patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension.
This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of.
We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around.” - The MobileMe Team
Read this article for more details.
Click here to check out the Olympic photographs from the Los Angeles Times.
Note from the Oympics:
From Fox Sports: “NBC fails to show Michael Phelps record-breaking swim after moving the swimming finals to suit its advertisers, US television giant NBC didn't show Michael Phelps' historic swim live yesterday. The juggeranut network haggled with Olympic authorities and other networks around the world for several years to have the swimming finals moved to the mornings to cater for the US prime time television audience.
At one stage, NBC threatened to withdraw their nine figure rights deal if the finals were not switched to mornings. Swimming bodies complained about the change because of the way it would affect the swimmers' preparation. They were forced to re-arrange all lead up swimming events to ensure swimmers were well prepared for the dramatic change.
But we can reveal today that Michael Phelps' and other major swimming finals have not been telecast live into the US even though the events have started in prime time in the US. When Phelps swam for his tenth Olympic gold medal yesterday, Los Angeles NBC was screening entertainment program, Access Hollywood.”
I want this camera or a Nikon D3
From ephotozine: “Leaked specifications of the NEW Canon 5D MarkII.”
- 16.7 MP FF sensor
- Single Digic MkIII Processor
- ISO100-3200 (Low: 50 + High 6400)
- 6-8 fps - depending on grip
- 3in High Resolution OLED LCD
- 11 point AF
- 35 Zone Metering
- Viewfinder: 96 percent coverage .72 magnification
- Pop up flash
- New Lithium Ion Battery
- Weather Sealing slightly better than 40D
Exposure 2 Review
By Robert Lachman
This week I am going to review Alien Skin’s software, Exposure 2, the Photoshop and Photoshop Elements’ plug-in to give your photographs the look of film.
It’s a one-click way to give photographs that edgy, arty, cross-processed film look. It also can be used to add a soft focus glamour look, change your color photographs to black and white
Why would anyone pay money to make their photos more grainy, or maybe have a color shift like in the cross-processing or have the highlights blown out in the high contrast mode? It’s the million dollar question or should I say, it’s more like the $249 question because this software ain’t cheap.
Only one answer I can think of: ART.
Now these are things you could do on your own if you had the time to figure them out, but it would be difficult for most, especially with such a quick-click and choose method.
This is definitely make your new school work look old school
The Exposure 2 software will work on both Photoshop Elements version 4 or newer and Photo
shop CS2 or later. It definitely makes your new school photographs look old school.
First I tried the Exposure 2 software plug-in on a portrait of my daughter and of course, I used TRI-400 setting. Wow, I mean I’m using Tri-X 400 again. It seems like old times. My photos have grain instead of digital noise. That’s very cool. But now I’m getting confused. Back in the olden days, we tried our best to get rid of grain and worked to make it as fine as possible. There were special developers like Accufine which was designed to make the grain small. Now I have really digressed.
The interface is easy to use. Once you have the photo up on the screen, just pick the menu item filter, then Alien Skin Exposure 2 which will give you the choice of menu color or black and white.
It’s very easy to use and has a very nice split screen preview feature. The software plug-in gives you a choice of the split going horizontal, diagonal, or vertical. You can decide which side of the screen is the affected side.
Also, in the preview window there’s an option to enlarge and move the image for a close look at the detail. This is one of the best preview windows I have used.
There are so many settings: saturation increased warm, overcast, golden hour orange, faded sun, saturated-slide-film, high and low contrast and cross-process featuring every imaginable film that was once available.
The choices of film styles are endless: Tri-X, Kodachome, Polaroid, Fuji’s Velvia and Reala. That’s just a start, how about GAF or Agfa Scala.
Other effects include: softening, push processing, contrast and curves, toning, infrared, dynamic rage, color temperature, saturation, softness, grain and sharpness with slider controls.
The only downside to this Alien Skin software is the $249 price tag making it more of a professional photographer’s product who have a specific need for a quick one-click arty look to make their photos look different and to to speed up their work flow.
It’s just too expensive for the average consumer to add to their repertoire. They do offer a 30-day trial to check it out.
I would give it four out of five stars, with the price as the main detraction.
Check out the audio version of the review on The Mac ReviewCast podcast.
More Eight is Enough
A photo of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) champion, Fedor Emelianenko, taken with my Lomo Oktomat 35 mm film camera with eight built-in lensesl. You get eight exposures in two seconds on 35mm film. The film is scanned into a digital image. See more of the image by clicking on the Eight is Enough menu item in the left sidebar. Click here to see how it appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
Here’s a more conventional photo just using window light.
Photograph by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times
Have a nice weekend. Look for a review tomorrow on the Alien Skin’s software Exposure 2. - RL
Olympic Portraits, NBC, Worldwide Photo Walk
Check out the Olympic portraits by Los Angeles Times Staff Photographer Jay Clendenin featured in the Olympic special section in the newspaper and at the LA Times Website with downloadable PDFs. The shots were produced using a Zone V, 4-by- 5-inch camera on Polaroid film. The film, developed by Edwin Land, will be discontiuned this year with just
enough made to last throught 2009. The Poloraoid camera was first sold to the public in November of 1948 and was discontinued last year. While there was a certain kind magic of watching photos develop in your hands, it certainly couldn’t compete with the digital photography revolution. Be sure to check out the beautiful portraits.
Just downloaded the Microsoft Silverlight player from the NBC website to watch Olympic highlights and coveage on the computer. It’s still not the same as watching it on big a 16:9 flat-screen TV. Too many commercials!If your interested, don’t forget to sign up for the Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk scheduled for
August 23, 2008. The social photography event has a little bit of commerical overtones because it’s connected to celebrate the release of Kelby’s new Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers. Even with the commercialism involved, it should be a fun event and a chance to meet photographers in your area. It certainly appears to be a well organized event considering the size and will give you a chance to dust off the trusty DSLR or point-and-shoot and mix it up the other photographers.Have a nice weekend - RL
Things I Didn't Know
1. There is a Photoshop Hall of Fame. Who knew? “The Photoshop Hall of Fame was
founded in 2001 to honor those individuals whose contributions to the art, business, and development of Adobe Photoshop have enduring value,” according to NAPP.2. I didn’t know what DNG is? How embarrassing. I’m a famous photography columnist. OK, I’m not a famous photography colum
nist. “It (DNG) stands for Digital Negative. “It’s specification was announced on September 27, 2004. The same day, Adobe introduced Digital Negative to the market with its free Adobe DNG Converter program. According to Adobe, Digital Negative was a response to demand for a unifying camera raw file format. Digital Negative is based on the TIFF/EP format, and mandates use of metadata. All Adobe photo manipulation software (such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom) released since the announcement support DNG,” according to Wikipedia.3. The College Humor website has some very funny videos include one on Fonts at www.collegehumor.com. This info from deke.com. Check it out below.
SMOG, iPhoto, and Backup
I'm sure you don't remember me, but I was the one who sat in front of you at the SMOG meeting. I was the one who made the comment about many of the SMOG members having a screw loose.
I noted from your blog that you are new with iPhoto, so I wanted to mention a special application you might find interesting. It is iPhoto Library Manager. You can download it -
along with every conceivable Mac utility - at www.versiontracker.com. Version Tracker is sort of a Google for Mac applications and utilities. If you want to find a Mac utility that can help you raise llamas, look there.iPhoto Library Manager (ILM) allows you to have multiple iPhoto libraries. Many small libraries open more quickly than one large library. That's the advantage. The disadvantage is that you sometimes might not remember in which library you put your pictures. Having to open multiple libraries can be a hassle. In your line of work, you might have a library for each project.
I've used ILM to create two libraries, which is a small enough number so I know where I put things. One library has 10,000 pictures in it, and the other has 30,000 pictures.
I was impressed by your web site (I'm the web master for the SMOG group). I'm guessing by the fact that iPhoto was new to you that you also are new to the Mac. I wanted to say a word about backup. I owned a financial newsletter business for 18 years, so I thought a lot about safeguarding my records. The problem with working for a large organization like the L.A. Times is that backup is someone else's j
ob. You might not even think about it. But with a personal computer, make sure you think about it. What if your home burns down tonight, or someone breaks into your home while you are at work, and steals your computer? Will it be a minor nuisance, or a major disaster? I use two external hard drives. One is in the bank safety deposit vault, and I use the other one for a week. Each has a complete copy of the Mac operating system.
I plug in my backup hard drive once a day (I use a laptop) and an application called ChronoSync automatically backs up all changes I have made. Chronosync also automatically backs up my laptop files onto my laptop drive three times a day. So if my laptop drive fails, I can boot from my external hard drive and in five minutes I can continue working.
Every Monday, I go to the bank and exchange the hard drive I've used all week with one that has sat in the bank vault all week. So if my home burns down, at worse I will lose a week's work. I can live with that.
Martin Scorsese is a semi-famous TV writer. He recently had his house burglarized. The burglar stole his computer - and the external backup hard drive that was attached. Martin had no other backup. 20 years of writing - gone.
If you're already backing up, then I apologize for wasting your time. But most people don't think about what bad things can happen to them until it's too late. I was an Infantry point man in Vietnam. I was the first person to walk down the jungle path to find the mines, booby traps, snipers, machine gunners and ambushes. The experience taught me the advantages of planning ahead.
Thanks, Bob. Very important stuff, especially about backing up. -- RL
I plan make it to the next meeting, the topic will be Pages08, Apple’s iWork ’08 suite’s word-processing application, this Saturday day morning. I’m sure I will learn something new. Everyone always seem to know another cool trick with each application. For more information, check out their website at: www.ocmug.org.
iPhoto Question
When editing photos in iPhoto, the Adjust panel gives you the ability to alter the settings fo
r up to ten aspects of the photo. I generally only tweak the sliders for: contrast, highlights/shadows and saturation and occasionally for temperature, tint and sharpness.--In what order should I be carrying out the adjustments?
--Are there other adjustments that I should consider?
Your advice would be much appreciated, as always! -- Jane from Perth, Austrailia
Answer:
The adjustment in iPhoto are fine for most photos. I would start with the levels adjustment at the top. It has three sliders. I use this in
Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. I usually start with the middle slider. It controls the overall brightness to the photo. Then use the slider on the left to bring back some of you black and the slider on the right for the white.For problem photos, you can try the shadow control to bring back extra detail in the dark areas.
Next, I would move on to the saturation, temperature and tint.
You can add a little Sharpness but I would keep it to minimum if you need it.
For any real control and photo editing, I would suggest using Photoshop Elements. At $79, its a great deal and simply a lighter version of Photoshop. I always recommend it over similar priced photo editing programs because there are so many fine books and tutorials available on it. --RL