Sep 2008
A New Lower Price! $17,995
September 30, 2008 11:26 PM Filed in: Photography
By Robert Lachman
Is this Hasselblad ad talking to me? “If you thought you couldn’t afford a Hasselblad. Think again.”
I can think again and again and again, I still can’t afford a Hasselblad even during this limited time offer for a price of $17,995.
When did camera start costing as much as cars? The price only includes one lens. There no mention of compact flash cards either. I don’t think one my 512MB cards are go
ing to work very well. There’s no way I could justify or afford this camera.The advertising continues, “For a little more than high-end 35mm solutions and much less than many competing medium format solutions, you too can begin using the world's most advanced digital camera system.”
I don’t think they have seen the new Canon 5D Mark ll camera announced this month. It shoots beautiful photos, plus stunning HD video for a price of ab
out $2,500, not to mention, I already have the lenses. For you Nikon shooters on a budget, the Nikon D3, probably the best quality producing DSLR is selling for a measly $4,500. If you go the Nikon or Canon DSLR route, you would have enough money to buy yourself that used Porsche convertible you’ve alway wanted.
|
One Expensive 50mm Lens
September 29, 2008 11:23 PM Filed in: Sigma
The new Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Lens has a M.S.R.P. (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price
) of $730.00 USD. Of course, it does corrects sagittal coma flare. I have no idea what it is. According to a physics website, sagittal coma flare is a degrading aberration which is associated with a point a short distance from the axis.
It comes from the fact that the principal planes
can actually only be treated as planes only in the paraxial region. In reality, they are principal curved surfaces.
The best I can figure out is sagittal coma flare is a bad thing and this lens gets rid of if so that a good thing. I tried not to get too technical here. :-)
I may have gotten sagittal coma flare with some of my lenses. I’m just not sure. I certainly hope it’s not contagious.
I’m still a little dazed and confused over the $700 price tag for a 50mm lens from Sigma. You can buy a Canon name brand, 50 f/1.8 lens, for $80. It’s hard to say how much difference most photographers would notice between the two lenses.
The lens is available with mounts for: Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony cameras.
Here are the lens stats from Sigma:
*Standard lens with large maximum aperture of F1.4.
* It creates sharp images with high contrast and ensures superior peripheral brightness.
* Incorporates molded glass aspherical lens, perfectly correcting coma aberration and creating superior image quality.
* Super multi-layer lens coating reduces flare and ghosting.
* Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) ensuring silent, high-speed AF.
) of $730.00 USD. Of course, it does corrects sagittal coma flare. I have no idea what it is. According to a physics website, sagittal coma flare is a degrading aberration which is associated with a point a short distance from the axis.It comes from the fact that the principal planes
can actually only be treated as planes only in the paraxial region. In reality, they are principal curved surfaces.The best I can figure out is sagittal coma flare is a bad thing and this lens gets rid of if so that a good thing. I tried not to get too technical here. :-)
I may have gotten sagittal coma flare with some of my lenses. I’m just not sure. I certainly hope it’s not contagious.
I’m still a little dazed and confused over the $700 price tag for a 50mm lens from Sigma. You can buy a Canon name brand, 50 f/1.8 lens, for $80. It’s hard to say how much difference most photographers would notice between the two lenses.
The lens is available with mounts for: Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony cameras.
Here are the lens stats from Sigma:
*Standard lens with large maximum aperture of F1.4.
* It creates sharp images with high contrast and ensures superior peripheral brightness.
* Incorporates molded glass aspherical lens, perfectly correcting coma aberration and creating superior image quality.
* Super multi-layer lens coating reduces flare and ghosting.
* Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) ensuring silent, high-speed AF.
Need To Do Some Rule Bending
September 28, 2008 08:06 AM Filed in: Lensbaby
Do you need to change your focus?
How about the Lensbaby Muse, Composer or Control Freak?
By Robert Lachman
I just used my original style Lensbaby the other day. It can really produce some creative pics with an amazing shallow depth-of-field. Did I say shallow depth-of-field, I meant to say no depth-of-field?
Lensbaby has a va
riety of newly designed products including: Lensbaby Muse, Composer and Control Freak. They operate in a different ways but produce similar results changing the tilt of the lens elements axis and changing its normal parallel relationship to the film plane.
Normally this is used
to create perspective control with 4-by-5 camera with bellows using swing-and-tilts to straighten architectural lines. With the Lensbaby, you use the same principals but do a lot of tilting to shallow up the depth-of-field and break the rules.
The new Composer really looks great. Normally with the old school Lensbaby you really need three hands to work it and holding your camera, focusing and changing the depth-of-field. Also, every photo was different because there was no way to hold the lens in place. I guess that’s real art.
The Composer, with it’s
new design, looks like you can easily change the tilt on the lens and can focus in a more traditional way with a barrel focusing ring instead
of the funky squeeze-the-lens to manually focus. The Lensbaby Composer selective focus DSLR or SLR lens which will be available soon and sells for $270 on their website.
Their ad says, “Those devoted to squeezing can also rejoice! The Original Lensbaby, 2.0 and 3G have not gone away. They have been reborn as the Muse and the Control Freak, updating our classic lenses with the new Lensbaby Optic Swap System. Unleash your vision.”
I want to get the new Control Freak, it really looks great. I could concentrate more on taking pics instead of bending, tilting and squeezing the lens trying to get things in focus. Lensbaby is really moving ahead into some new cutting edge sharp and fuzzy technology.
Your options for the Composer lens mount include: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony Alpha, Minolta Maxxum, Pentax K, Samsung GX, Sigma SD and Oympus 4/3.
Four photographs taken with the Lensbaby 2.0 by Robert Lachman © 2008
How about the Lensbaby Muse, Composer or Control Freak?
By Robert Lachman
I just used my original style Lensbaby the other day. It can really produce some creative pics with an amazing shallow depth-of-field. Did I say shallow depth-of-field, I meant to say no depth-of-field?
Lensbaby has a va
riety of newly designed products including: Lensbaby Muse, Composer and Control Freak. They operate in a different ways but produce similar results changing the tilt of the lens elements axis and changing its normal parallel relationship to the film plane.Normally this is used
to create perspective control with 4-by-5 camera with bellows using swing-and-tilts to straighten architectural lines. With the Lensbaby, you use the same principals but do a lot of tilting to shallow up the depth-of-field and break the rules.The new Composer really looks great. Normally with the old school Lensbaby you really need three hands to work it and holding your camera, focusing and changing the depth-of-field. Also, every photo was different because there was no way to hold the lens in place. I guess that’s real art.
The Composer, with it’s
new design, looks like you can easily change the tilt on the lens and can focus in a more traditional way with a barrel focusing ring instead of the funky squeeze-the-lens to manually focus. The Lensbaby Composer selective focus DSLR or SLR lens which will be available soon and sells for $270 on their website.Their ad says, “Those devoted to squeezing can also rejoice! The Original Lensbaby, 2.0 and 3G have not gone away. They have been reborn as the Muse and the Control Freak, updating our classic lenses with the new Lensbaby Optic Swap System. Unleash your vision.”
I want to get the new Control Freak, it really looks great. I could concentrate more on taking pics instead of bending, tilting and squeezing the lens trying to get things in focus. Lensbaby is really moving ahead into some new cutting edge sharp and fuzzy technology.
Your options for the Composer lens mount include: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony Alpha, Minolta Maxxum, Pentax K, Samsung GX, Sigma SD and Oympus 4/3.
Four photographs taken with the Lensbaby 2.0 by Robert Lachman © 2008
Football, Chili, Disney & Misc. Photos
September 27, 2008 08:53 AM Filed in: Photography
Check out a few of my recent photographs. - RL
Photographs by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times © 2008
Photographs by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times © 2008
A Few New Things
Sure, Adobe has gotten a lot of attention with the release of 
Photoshop Lightroom 2 and the announcem
ent of Abobe Photoshop CS4, but no one seems to mention the pending release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. Of course it’s only for PC. What surprise! Adobe seem to leave the Mac users way behind when it comes to Elements. They finally released version 6 last spring and didn’t even bother with a version 5 for us lowly Mac users.
Notice the cool art work on the box for Elements 7 compare to the Photoshop box. I think the attractive, attention getting box will work when the software hits the shelves of retails outlets. I’m not sure why Adobe uses such boring graphics on their profession high-end software packaging?
NEW SEARCH:
Check out the new feature function I added to the site with the new RapidWeaver plug-in, RapidSearch 2.0 from Josh Lockart. Just click on the new menu item on the left.
MY MOM’S PHOTOS:
I added a menu button on the left so it’s one touch for everyone to finds my Mom’s artistic “Wheels of LA” photographs. New photos coming this weekend.
NICE SOFTWARE:
Take a look at the JPEG Extration Utility “Instant JPEG From Raw” from RawWorkflow.com.
Photoshop Lightroom 2 and the announcement of Abobe Photoshop CS4, but no one seems to mention the pending release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. Of course it’s only for PC. What surprise! Adobe seem to leave the Mac users way behind when it comes to Elements. They finally released version 6 last spring and didn’t even bother with a version 5 for us lowly Mac users. Notice the cool art work on the box for Elements 7 compare to the Photoshop box. I think the attractive, attention getting box will work when the software hits the shelves of retails outlets. I’m not sure why Adobe uses such boring graphics on their profession high-end software packaging?
NEW SEARCH:
Check out the new feature function I added to the site with the new RapidWeaver plug-in, RapidSearch 2.0 from Josh Lockart. Just click on the new menu item on the left.
MY MOM’S PHOTOS:
I added a menu button on the left so it’s one touch for everyone to finds my Mom’s artistic “Wheels of LA” photographs. New photos coming this weekend.
NICE SOFTWARE:
Take a look at the JPEG Extration Utility “Instant JPEG From Raw” from RawWorkflow.com.
A Few Book Recommendations
QUESTION: I am looking for a book that addresses how to take and edit digital pictures. I don’t know an f-stop from a truck stop...lighting, ISO settings, and just looking at a camera with a dozen various adjustments is very intimidating. -Kenny
ANSWER: For a general photography book, I recommend "The Digital Photography Book Volume 2" by Scott Kelby. I reviewed it on my website earlier this year. It's a very good book, plus it's one of the cheapest at $16.49 at Amazon. Make sure you get Volume 2. It is the new one.
If you're using a Mac, I would recommend iPhoto (free) and then Adobe Elements 6 for Mac for at $79. You can check out my review of Elements. It's the best deal when it come to photo software. It includes a Raw image converter if you need it, Adobe Bridge for organizing and Elements for photo editing.
iPhoto does a fine job with most stuff if you're a Mac user. If you have a PC, you can get Elements 6 for PC but you could wait for Elements 7 for PC which should be out soon. They always take longer to get the Mac versions out.
Again, I would go with another Scott Kelby book for "Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers" or the "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book" if you have Photoshop.
If you want to stick with iPhoto, which is a fine choice for most needs, I would highly encourage you to get either “iPhoto 08 Visual QuickStart Guide” by Adam Engst or “iPhoto 08 The Missing Manual” by David Pogue and Derrick Story. Both are excellent references and will help you get the most out of iPhoto 08. The Pogue/Story "Missing Manual" is more expensive but has more information. -RL
Made with the Canon 5D Mark II
By Robert Lachman
Check out the amazing video made with the new Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera by photographer Vincent Laforet. He made it with a bu
dget of $5,000 which included a $2000 helicopter ride. We are talking about making a high quality HD movie with a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens-Reflex) camera.
Read about how Canon pulled the rug from under photographer Laforet and made him take his high quality version of the movie off SmugMug (a photo sharing website for creating online photo albums and buying prints and related products), so it would only be available on the Canon website. The problem: It is now in a lower quality. Click here for the movie on the Canon site. One thing for sure, this video will sell a lot of cameras for Canon.
Also, take a look at the Laforte’s how-it-was-done video on the SmugMug site.
Here is some text from the SmugBlog by Don MacAskill, CEO of SmugMug, in response to Canon pulling the movie. Click here for the full version.
“UPDATE: There should be an embedded video of the short film right
here, and a link to the HD version. But there isn’t (anymore). If you’d like a perfect example of a great company (Canon) making a terrible decision and wrecking a mountain of great PR, this is it: Canon has asked Vincent to ask us to take down the footage. What’s worse, Canon’s own website only includes video that’s marginally better than DVD quality. So here they are, with the most amazing camera the world has ever seen, and the press is calling us left and right, and customers are gushing over it, and what does Canon do? They squash it. I guess they don’t want to sell many of these camera bodies afterall.”
Check out the amazing video made with the new Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera by photographer Vincent Laforet. He made it with a bu
dget of $5,000 which included a $2000 helicopter ride. We are talking about making a high quality HD movie with a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens-Reflex) camera. Read about how Canon pulled the rug from under photographer Laforet and made him take his high quality version of the movie off SmugMug (a photo sharing website for creating online photo albums and buying prints and related products), so it would only be available on the Canon website. The problem: It is now in a lower quality. Click here for the movie on the Canon site. One thing for sure, this video will sell a lot of cameras for Canon.
Also, take a look at the Laforte’s how-it-was-done video on the SmugMug site.
Here is some text from the SmugBlog by Don MacAskill, CEO of SmugMug, in response to Canon pulling the movie. Click here for the full version.
“UPDATE: There should be an embedded video of the short film right
here, and a link to the HD version. But there isn’t (anymore). If you’d like a perfect example of a great company (Canon) making a terrible decision and wrecking a mountain of great PR, this is it: Canon has asked Vincent to ask us to take down the footage. What’s worse, Canon’s own website only includes video that’s marginally better than DVD quality. So here they are, with the most amazing camera the world has ever seen, and the press is calling us left and right, and customers are gushing over it, and what does Canon do? They squash it. I guess they don’t want to sell many of these camera bodies afterall.”New CS4, Google Android, and dekePod
It’s a big day for tech-photo news, Abobe introduces their updated Photoshop CS4, Google showed off their new Android software for the T-Mobile G1 cellular phone and dekePod 6 has arrived.
The new T-Mobile G1 (below).
Landmark Release Packs Powerful Editing Punch and Harnesses the Creative Potential of 3D
From Adobe press release:
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sept. 23, 2008 — “Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended, the highly anticipated, new editions of the professional industry standard software for digital imaging. Providing a fluid user experience, complete creative control and higher efficiency, Photoshop CS4 leverages the power of the latest hardware to extend imagin
g possibilities and offer faster, more flexible ways to accomplish core tasks like image adjustments and masks. All of these features and more can be found in Photoshop CS4 Extended, which serves users with advanced motion graphics functions, dramatically expanded 3D visualization capabilities and precise image analysis.” For more information about the new features of Photoshop CS4 you can watch the videos at www.PhotoshopUser.com. Also, take a look at First Look: Photoshop CS4 by Lesa Snider King on the Macworld website. Don’t forget to take peek at the new features on the new dekePod video below.
Kodachrome is Slip Slidin' Away
September 22, 2008 11:29 AM Filed in: Kodachrome | Kodak
“Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colours
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the worlds a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a nikon camera, I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my kodachrome away”
--from the Simon and Garfunkel song Kodachrome
Kodachrome made by Kodak, probably the most famous film ever made, appears to be on the road to extinction. It’s looking very bleak for the once prestigious and renowned film as reports are surfacing that Kodak will not gear up and make it anymore. Also, there’s only one remaining Kodak certified Kodachrome film processor left to develop it, Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas. - RL
For more information check out:
Is the rich-hued Kodachrome era fading to black?
From Yahoo and AP
“It is an elaborately crafted photographic film, extolled for its sharpness, vivid colors and archival durability. Yet die-hard fan Alex Webb is convinced the digital age soon will take his Kodachrome away.
‘Part of me feels like, boy, if only I'd been born 20 years earlier,’ says the 56-year-old photographer, whose work has appeared in National Geographic magazine. "I wish they would keep making it forever. I still have a lot of pictures to take in my life."
Time for Dessert
September 21, 2008 11:48 AM Filed in: Food Photography
Check out a few of my dessert photographs. - RL
Photography by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times @ 2008
Photography by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times @ 2008
It's Cool to Chase Jarvis
September 18, 2008 06:26 PM Filed in: Strobist | Photography
Cool Points Scoreboard: Jarvis 8 Lachman 7
By Robert Lachman
I was crusin’ the web and noticed the new video by Chase Jarvis on the Strobist web site. David Hobby, creator of the site used the headline, “Betcha Can’t Watch it Just Once.” He’s right. Very cool and very creative. Then I tried to compare this photo shoot to one my typical photo shoots.
01. Hey, he’s got an assistant. How cool is that? I never have an assistant, no cool points for handing the camera to yourself.
02. Wait. I watched more of the video, he has lots of assistants. It could be as many as ten. I think that ranks as super cool.
03. They used the Phantom HD video camera on set which can shoot at 100,000 frames-per-second. That’s fast and cool. Now we’re talking some real stop action. I wonder how much one of those video cameras cost. The don’t say how expensive their cameras are on the Vision Research website, so I know it’s got to way too expensive. The cost of the case is $500. I’m still using a broken-old video camera which shoots in the old fashion 4:3 format. It will not get me any cool points.
04. Jarvis got to use fire and water on this the photo shoot. Those assistants were flinging fire and water everywhere, while this guy was Kung Fu dancing. This was cool and hot. I’ve never splashed water on anyone during an assignment. I might try this first before fire thing. It just seems a little safer.
05. He has an assistant work on his photos which had file sizes up to 2 gigs. First, I don’t have a computer with enough memory and processor speed to handle that large a photo and second I shoot JPGs.
06. Did you get a look at that studio? This one needs no explanation. Point to Jarvis
07. The Chase Jarvis YouTube video has received over 15,000 views and I have 1,500 views on my last YouTube video. Not bad for me. I’m only short one zero. Another cool point to Jarvis.
08. Jarvis is young and happening. I’m old enough to be his dad. Point to Jarvis.
09. I work for a newspaper, certainly nothing wrong with that. We’re talking about a well respected newspaper, with a lot of Pulitzer Prizes. Jarvis was shooting pics for an HD video for some cable channel. This one’s is very close, but were but I’m giving the cool point to Jarvis. Wait, I changed my mind I was getting confused by glitz, the fire and ice, I’m giving myself the point on this one.
10. I am feeling better at this point, I’m on a roll. Hey, I’ve never heard of the fighter he was shooting. Last month I shot pics of the MMA (Mix Martial Arts) heavy weight champion. One cool point to Lachman
11. We both have blogs. I write more often, he gets more comments. TIE
12. I just clicked on his website and he has a staff including: Chief Retoucher (I’m sure he uses curves when making adjustments, maybe he could teach me), Producer, Digital Asset Guru, Videographer and another Producer. I just looked around for my staff and all I see is one of the dogs sleeping on a chair. Very cute and fuzzy, but not much help. Cool point to Jarvis.
13. He has press according to his website, I’ve been published in the newspapers, magazines and websites. I lost count how many times. (Trying to act a little cocky here.) It gets me a point. I know more people have seen my photos than his. Lookout now, another cool point.
14. Hey I’m starting to pick up little steam. Although, I’m older and probably need more rest, I’ve photographed many more famous people than he has. Taking pics of stars gets you points. This gives me the Annie Leibowitz cool point.
15. Also, I don’t see any cool food photos on that website. One last cool point to me.
It was a tough battle, but I’m never going to wrestle the crown from Jarvis. Keep up the great work.
By Robert Lachman
I was crusin’ the web and noticed the new video by Chase Jarvis on the Strobist web site. David Hobby, creator of the site used the headline, “Betcha Can’t Watch it Just Once.” He’s right. Very cool and very creative. Then I tried to compare this photo shoot to one my typical photo shoots.
01. Hey, he’s got an assistant. How cool is that? I never have an assistant, no cool points for handing the camera to yourself.
02. Wait. I watched more of the video, he has lots of assistants. It could be as many as ten. I think that ranks as super cool.
03. They used the Phantom HD video camera on set which can shoot at 100,000 frames-per-second. That’s fast and cool. Now we’re talking some real stop action. I wonder how much one of those video cameras cost. The don’t say how expensive their cameras are on the Vision Research website, so I know it’s got to way too expensive. The cost of the case is $500. I’m still using a broken-old video camera which shoots in the old fashion 4:3 format. It will not get me any cool points.
04. Jarvis got to use fire and water on this the photo shoot. Those assistants were flinging fire and water everywhere, while this guy was Kung Fu dancing. This was cool and hot. I’ve never splashed water on anyone during an assignment. I might try this first before fire thing. It just seems a little safer.
05. He has an assistant work on his photos which had file sizes up to 2 gigs. First, I don’t have a computer with enough memory and processor speed to handle that large a photo and second I shoot JPGs.
06. Did you get a look at that studio? This one needs no explanation. Point to Jarvis
07. The Chase Jarvis YouTube video has received over 15,000 views and I have 1,500 views on my last YouTube video. Not bad for me. I’m only short one zero. Another cool point to Jarvis.
08. Jarvis is young and happening. I’m old enough to be his dad. Point to Jarvis.
09. I work for a newspaper, certainly nothing wrong with that. We’re talking about a well respected newspaper, with a lot of Pulitzer Prizes. Jarvis was shooting pics for an HD video for some cable channel. This one’s is very close, but were but I’m giving the cool point to Jarvis. Wait, I changed my mind I was getting confused by glitz, the fire and ice, I’m giving myself the point on this one.
10. I am feeling better at this point, I’m on a roll. Hey, I’ve never heard of the fighter he was shooting. Last month I shot pics of the MMA (Mix Martial Arts) heavy weight champion. One cool point to Lachman
11. We both have blogs. I write more often, he gets more comments. TIE
12. I just clicked on his website and he has a staff including: Chief Retoucher (I’m sure he uses curves when making adjustments, maybe he could teach me), Producer, Digital Asset Guru, Videographer and another Producer. I just looked around for my staff and all I see is one of the dogs sleeping on a chair. Very cute and fuzzy, but not much help. Cool point to Jarvis.
13. He has press according to his website, I’ve been published in the newspapers, magazines and websites. I lost count how many times. (Trying to act a little cocky here.) It gets me a point. I know more people have seen my photos than his. Lookout now, another cool point.
14. Hey I’m starting to pick up little steam. Although, I’m older and probably need more rest, I’ve photographed many more famous people than he has. Taking pics of stars gets you points. This gives me the Annie Leibowitz cool point.
15. Also, I don’t see any cool food photos on that website. One last cool point to me.
It was a tough battle, but I’m never going to wrestle the crown from Jarvis. Keep up the great work.
Canon 5D Mark ll - It's Here
September 17, 2008 12:18 AM Filed in: Canon
Full-frame, 21-megapixel Canon 5D Mark ll DSLR which shoots HD video
The new 5D Mark ll features from Canon:
*21.1 Megapixel Full-frame CMOS sensor, 14-bit A/D conversion (16,384 colors/each of 3 primary color), wide range ISO setting of 100-6400 (expandable L: 50, H1: 12800 and H2: 25600).
*Full HD Video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution for up to 4GB per clip with HDMI output for HD viewing of stills and video.
*High performance with 3.9 fps continuous shooting, new shutter with a durability of 150,000 cycles and improved weather-resistant body.
*Live View Function for stills (Quick, Live and Face Detection AF modes) and video.
*3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) monitor with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings for improved viewing and smudge protection.
*Updated EOS Integrated Cleaning System specifically designed to work with a full-frame sensor.
And the new Canon G10
*14.7 Megapixel digital camera for the highest image quality.
*High powered 5x Optical Zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer plus a 28mm wide-angle lens 
gets you up close and personal to your subjects as well as captures more in your frame.
*New DIGIC 4 Image Processor improves Face Detection, adds Servo AF, Face Detection Self-Timer and Intelligent Contrast Correction for greater flexibility.
*Full range of shooting and recording modes including RAW + JPEG for the ultimate creative control.
*Large 3.0-inch PureColor LCD II (460,000 dots/VGA) with even greater true-to-life color reproduction.
Photoshop CS4, How Brilliant is Adobe?
September 16, 2008 06:43 AM Filed in: Photoshop
By Robert Lachman
Adobe seems to be pretty full of itself these days. When you tell me how brilliant you are it seems very self serving. They’re inviting
us to be a part of the Adobe Creative Suite 4, noteworthy, invitation-only, brilliant web broadcast on September 23.
Just give them your email address and you’ll be able to watch this super-special highly-secret brilliant commercial. Where do I sign up?
I’m going to do this right after I buy the Platinum Pass for $1,695 to watch Steve Jobs give a live Apple commercial at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco in January.
How about giving us a free upgrade for Photoshop occasionally for the people who buy the software and support the company? Oh yeah, there’s no free lunch or free software upgrades in this day and age. I go back a few years when software companies would actually give free upgrades because they were considered improvements, not new features.
Talking about the Adobe commercial, Scott Kelby on his Photoshop Insider website says, “You will be amazed!”
Hey, I’ve been a magician member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood for over 25 years. It’s world famous, so I must know something about magic and being amazed. I am trying to be optimistic here, but I’m going to have to wait to see if Adobe can pull a rabbit out of their hat so I, too, will be amazed.
Adobe seems to be pretty full of itself these days. When you tell me how brilliant you are it seems very self serving. They’re inviting
us to be a part of the Adobe Creative Suite 4, noteworthy, invitation-only, brilliant web broadcast on September 23.Just give them your email address and you’ll be able to watch this super-special highly-secret brilliant commercial. Where do I sign up?
I’m going to do this right after I buy the Platinum Pass for $1,695 to watch Steve Jobs give a live Apple commercial at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco in January.
How about giving us a free upgrade for Photoshop occasionally for the people who buy the software and support the company? Oh yeah, there’s no free lunch or free software upgrades in this day and age. I go back a few years when software companies would actually give free upgrades because they were considered improvements, not new features.
Talking about the Adobe commercial, Scott Kelby on his Photoshop Insider website says, “You will be amazed!”
Hey, I’ve been a magician member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood for over 25 years. It’s world famous, so I must know something about magic and being amazed. I am trying to be optimistic here, but I’m going to have to wait to see if Adobe can pull a rabbit out of their hat so I, too, will be amazed.
Lightroom 2 Review
By Robert Lachman
Lightroom 2 is a powerful photo-editing software, that is used to import, organize and make some adjustments to your photos.
Most consumers who are happy using iPhoto on their Macs for photo editing, are probably fin
e, and may not be quite ready to take the leap into Lightroom 2. iPhoto is like driving a Ford and Lightroom 2 is like driving a Ferrari to get to the same location. It's a ramped up, supercharged, photo-editing machine with a multitude of features.When you do need the high performance of library modules, dual-monitor support, web-gallery exporting, great control over Raw image import, color correction, gradient tools and adjustment brushes and smooth integration with Photoshop, Lightroom 2 from Adobe is your best choice. The Apple product in this category is Aperture 2.
Lightroom 2 does have a fairly steep learning curve, but that doesn’t mean that there's not an abundance of ways to learn about the softwa
re program. There are plenty of seminars, tutorial videos and books on the subject. A quick check on the Amazon site gave me the name of ten Lightroom 2 book titles which include: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers, The Serious Photographer's Guide to Lightroom Efficiency, Photoshop Lightroom 2 Adventure, Workflow not Workslow in Lightroom 2 and Lightroom 2 For Dummies.I consider myself to be like the average photographer. I still shoot JPGs on a regular basis, and just do a little color balance, burning-and-dodging, cleaning up the dust spots in Photoshop and then moving on to the next photograph or adventure.
For most of us, you can do a lot of this for a cost of $79 with Adobe Photoshop Elements, which also includes a raw photo converter and the organization photo-editing software Adobe Bridge.
So where does Adobe Lightroom 2 come into play with a list price of $299? You can find it for less at retailers like Amazon or other stores with student discounts.
The program is designed for the serious amateur or professional photographer who wants to get organized and use words like workflow, image capturing and raw non-destructive photo-editing.
The new version, Lightroom 2 continues to work the way the old version did with an interface divided into modules which include: Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web. They go in the workflow order.
-Library Module is used to import, organize, rate and add metadata to your photos.
-Develop Module is used to make corrections to your photographs like color balance, exposure, shadow recovery, clarity, vibrance, saturation and curves.
-Slide Module is designed for presenting your work and has added new introduction screens.
-Print Module is improved with it’s systematic way of arranging photos for printing with different templates, including multiple picture packages from the same photo.
-Web Module gives you a variety of ways to assemble beautiful flash and html web galleries including: Simpleviewer, Autoviewer, and Postcardviewer.
A lot of photographer’s had complained about the inadequacy in the first version of Lightroom because their was no way to make corrections on selected portions of the photograph. Any type of alterations were utilized to the complete image.
On the other hand, Photoshop and Elements both have these features but this was an area Adobe wanted to improve upon with Lightroom and they did accomplish that.
With my workflow, I still make changes in isolated areas to exposure, color balance, saturation and sharpness with Photoshop. With its more advanced layering and masks, it’s really the best choice.
Here are the new features which I would use in the new version Lightroom 2.
Adjustment Brushes, this is probably the most asked for feature. This feature is super advanced for this type of program. You can now use a brush to burn and dodge with exposure tool, add brightness and contrast saturation clarity and sharpness to specific areas using the adjustable brush sizes with an auto mask feature.
You now have a Graduated Filter Tool for adding exposure, vibrance, brightness and contrast in a gradual way .
The new Dual Monitor feature is really nice. This is the top new feature for me. It’s really nice to spread the photo-grid view on a second monitor.
The program now has seamless Integration with Photoshop, making it easier to switch between the two programs to work on a photograph.
Also added in the new Lightroom version 2, is improved sharpening, a new color selector and Smart Collections.
The new version of Lightroom has added many new features and improved others for a more streamlined workflow.
The software is the best in its class but it’s not cheap, making it a tough choice for those advanced amateurs looking for a step up. It’s probably possible to get along with what you already have, but if you’re ready for an innovative, photo-editing workflow, this software is a great choice.
Photoshop Lightroom 2 by Adobe definitely continues to be a complementary implement to use with Photoshop and the upgrade has added some very nice new features.
I would give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
Sugarland with Canon, Lomo & Holga
Photographs by Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times © 2008
I used three different cameras, Canon Mark II, Lomo Oktomat (35mm film), and Holga (120mm film), while on assignment photographing the band Sugarland for the Los Angeles Times.
Click here to check out the story and photo on the Los Angeles Times website. Also, click here for another story about the band in the Times.
I used three different cameras, Canon Mark II, Lomo Oktomat (35mm film), and Holga (120mm film), while on assignment photographing the band Sugarland for the Los Angeles Times.
Click here to check out the story and photo on the Los Angeles Times website. Also, click here for another story about the band in the Times.
Jerry and Bill, The Long Version
By Robert Lachman
The new Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld commercial is out and available for viewing on YouTube. Their new concept seems to be that if they make it longer, it will be funnier. Gates and Seinfeld try to reconnect with, and learn about, ordinary people in this 4 1/2 minute video. Better writing and tighter editing would have helped this one. It’s worth one small chuckle at the 1:52 minute mark, when Bill Gates is helping to fill the above ground pool with a hose. He asks, “How long until it gets warm.” The homeowner dad replies, “It never gets warm.” I doubt Bill or Jerry have used above ground pools at their palatial estates. The video ends with them walking, chatting, and dragging their luggage down a middle-class suburban street. How about having them pulling away in a giant-stretched limousine, adding one touch of realism to the commercial?
The new Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld commercial is out and available for viewing on YouTube. Their new concept seems to be that if they make it longer, it will be funnier. Gates and Seinfeld try to reconnect with, and learn about, ordinary people in this 4 1/2 minute video. Better writing and tighter editing would have helped this one. It’s worth one small chuckle at the 1:52 minute mark, when Bill Gates is helping to fill the above ground pool with a hose. He asks, “How long until it gets warm.” The homeowner dad replies, “It never gets warm.” I doubt Bill or Jerry have used above ground pools at their palatial estates. The video ends with them walking, chatting, and dragging their luggage down a middle-class suburban street. How about having them pulling away in a giant-stretched limousine, adding one touch of realism to the commercial?
World's Largest Chocolate Fountain
September 11, 2008 08:05 AM Filed in: Photoshop World
The Photoshop World Expo was nice but can’t compete with the World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain at the Jean-Philippe Patisseri at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The amazing device is a glass-encased 27-foot-high fountain with 2,100 pounds of melted flowing chocolate.Here are the Chocolate stats:
* White, medium, and dark confectionary grade chocolate
* Chocolate circulates at 120 degrees F
* Chocolate rises 27 vertical feet from lower level pump
* Designed by Montreal artist Michel Mailhot
* 6 pumps circulate close to 2 tons of chocolate
* Over 500 feet of stainless steel piping
* 6 ceiling spouts disburse chocolate 14 feet above floor level
* Chocolate cascades into 25 hand-crafted artistic glass vessels
* It took two years of engineering, planning and design
More Fun and Color at Apple
September 10, 2008 08:09 PM Filed in: iPod Touch | Apple
By Robert Lachman
Yesterday was Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event. It was really a ho-hum affair.
I guess it has to do with all the great software they have. I haven’t found one of them which makes me laugh. The “Pull my Finger” software might have but Steve Jobs didn’t allow it on his iTunes Store site.
Next, how about a new Nano-Chromatic? Yikes, it sure sounds special but were just getting a few new Nano colors, a different shape and a screen that turns from vertical to horizontal which lets you watch movies and TV shows with it’s 2-inch widescreen display. Would someone please hand me a magnifying glass?
They also have added Cover Flow to the Nano in the horizontal mode which is supposed to help you find your music faster. The line at the Apple store must be getting really long now. Nope, those people are waiting to buy iPhones which take a ridiculous amount of time for the in store activation.
And, last and least important, “The Musical Genius” feature which Jobs says is going to be like having your own personal DJ. I don’t even have the interest in figuring this one out. Letting Apple pick out which songs I want to listen to has no appeal to me. For more info on the Apple announcement check out: Los Angeles Times, MacDailyNews, NY Times, and Gizmodo.
More Vegas and Photoshop World 2008 on the next post.
Photoshop World 2008 in Vegas Photos
September 08, 2008 12:58 PM Filed in: Photoshop World
Pull My Finger, Seinfeld, and Gates
Go Ahead, Pull My Finger
By Robert Lachman
After cruising the internet and making a stop at Your Mac Life and I noticed Shawn’s note how Apple is getting a little picky about which applications they’ll allow onto to the iTunes Apples store. Some they deem, are not appropiate. I guess Apple will make all decisions on what is appropriate for us to have on our iPhones and iPod Touch. According to the CNET post by Tom Krazit, “Apple apparently doesn't think fart jokes are very funny.”
“The developer of Pull My Finger, an iPhone application, told MacRumors that Apple decided to reject his application from the iTunes Store because it was ‘of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community.’ Pull My Finger does pretty much what you would expect it to do, generating about five or six different sounds of flatulence from your iPhone depending on your preference.”
Bill meet Jerry
I thought Bill Gates retired. I guess he didn’t spend his time off taking acting lessons. Gates has paired up with comedian, Jerry
Seinfeld to star in the new Microsoft commercial. It’s supposed to be warm, fuzzy and hilarious Microsoft. One thing for sure, it doesn’t work for me. It is just awkward and stupid. I would never picture Bill and Jerry hanging out the mall. It’s not warm, in fact it’s all wet, it ain’t fuzzy and it ain’t funny. Nice try. People buy microsoft products for business, they have the market cornered with the software and networking, and because their laptops and desktop computers are cheaper. I don’t know, I have a hard time believing Bill Gates is a platinum Clown Club card carrying member at Shoe Circus. The only real question for me, did they use a stunt double for Gates when he gave Seinfeld, “The Signal,” by adjusting his shorts while walking away in the parking lot? Oh yeah, I can picture Bill and Jerry walking away chatting, carrying their shopping bags in a parking lot. What’s the problem, were their chauffeur driven limos unable to pick them up?
No one is going to buy a new laptop based on seeing a commercial of Bill Gates buying shoes at the make believe Shoe Circus.
Other references to the story can be found at:
Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal
By Robert Lachman
After cruising the internet and making a stop at Your Mac Life and I noticed Shawn’s note how Apple is getting a little picky about which applications they’ll allow onto to the iTunes Apples store. Some they deem, are not appropiate. I guess Apple will make all decisions on what is appropriate for us to have on our iPhones and iPod Touch. According to the CNET post by Tom Krazit, “Apple apparently doesn't think fart jokes are very funny.”
“The developer of Pull My Finger, an iPhone application, told MacRumors that Apple decided to reject his application from the iTunes Store because it was ‘of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community.’ Pull My Finger does pretty much what you would expect it to do, generating about five or six different sounds of flatulence from your iPhone depending on your preference.”
Bill meet Jerry
I thought Bill Gates retired. I guess he didn’t spend his time off taking acting lessons. Gates has paired up with comedian, Jerry
Seinfeld to star in the new Microsoft commercial. It’s supposed to be warm, fuzzy and hilarious Microsoft. One thing for sure, it doesn’t work for me. It is just awkward and stupid. I would never picture Bill and Jerry hanging out the mall. It’s not warm, in fact it’s all wet, it ain’t fuzzy and it ain’t funny. Nice try. People buy microsoft products for business, they have the market cornered with the software and networking, and because their laptops and desktop computers are cheaper. I don’t know, I have a hard time believing Bill Gates is a platinum Clown Club card carrying member at Shoe Circus. The only real question for me, did they use a stunt double for Gates when he gave Seinfeld, “The Signal,” by adjusting his shorts while walking away in the parking lot? Oh yeah, I can picture Bill and Jerry walking away chatting, carrying their shopping bags in a parking lot. What’s the problem, were their chauffeur driven limos unable to pick them up?No one is going to buy a new laptop based on seeing a commercial of Bill Gates buying shoes at the make believe Shoe Circus.
Other references to the story can be found at:
Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal
Hair Color, Disco & CD Weighlifting
September 05, 2008 08:06 AM Filed in: Lesa King
By Robert Lachman
Lesa King has a great tutorial on changing the color of your hair with Photoshop on her Graphic Reporter website. A few Hue/Saturation adjustments, layers’ tweaks and you’re done. You’ve got a beauty shop in your computer. Who says you shouldn’t have a little fun with Photoshop? Best part, you don’t need to use curves, I still can’t figure it out.
How about a green, environmentally safe way to do something with those old, unwanted CDs? I have more useless CDs than I can lift. This great idea of CD dumbbells come from Danny Seo’s website, Daily Danny, “Green
Living Expert Danny Seo's eco-friendly and crafty ideas for everyday living.” He has excellent ideas on the site.Ok, so you’re not interested in a CD weightlifting competition but need to be a constructive at home with some redecorating, check out the article how to How to Make a Disco Ball With CDs.
Finding dekePod Vegas
Photograph by Robert Lachman © 2008
By Robert Lachman
I am on my way to Las Vegas for the Photoshop World Expo 2008 and of course a stop at the World’s Largest Gift Shop. You can check out my photos from the event on Flickr. Just click here.
Here is a copy the letter I sent to Deke McClelland, author, creator of dekePod, and speaker at Photoshop World 2008 in Las Vegas.
Hi Deke,
It looks like you’re going to be having a good time in Vegas. I plan to be there with my wife for a few days, checking out the Photoshop World Expo and then it’s vacation time. I need some rest after my first epic feature video from the Kelby Photo Walk in Hollywood. You know, you’re in the business, dealing with all those production people, stars, and editing.
After the critical acclaim I’m thinking of moving on with my next planned feature, “Finding dekePod in Vegas.” It has a great theatrical ring. And, when you mix in the springboard effect of mixing the mega hit dekePod name it’s got to be a sure winner. How about some product placement? They use it in all the major movies. There’s got to be a fortune in it for us.
Actually the movie camera is broken, the call of a raft in the pool and an adult beverage is way too strong and sounds like a lot more fun.
Hope to see you at the blackjack table,
RL
The new dekePod has arrived. This one is about Adobe Illustrator, again. I want more Photoshop! Check it out below. Just click on the little play triangle.
Mac Software Promotion
September 03, 2008 08:32 AM Filed in: Software | Photoshop Elements
By Robert Lachman
Either I have too much software or the MacUpdate Promo doesn’t cut it this time. Yeah, I guess ten software programs for $49 is a good value when you add up
the retail value of $371.
Software promotions can be a great deal if you have had your eye on at least one of these programs. In the new MacUpdate bundle promotion, none of the products are real main stream programs. Many like Norrkross Movie and LightZone are good products, but they’re similar to programs I already have.
This MacUpdate bundle include: (1) Hookup, a streaming product to share your iTunes libraries over a remote network. (2) Alarm Clock Pro, this is your computer clock on steroids sending
messages to your cell phone, and takes control over the computer tasks like startup and shut down; (3) Periscope, it takes control of your webcam with time-lapse and other controls. (4) DEVONagent, I have no idea what this program
does but it’s supposed to organize your life and computer; (5) Mellel, a word processor, I already have Pages and Simple Text. (6) Norrkross, it’s supposed to be a substitute for iMovie06 and iMovie08 but these programs are free and have more features.
I’m not sure why I started this, but I will make it to the end. (7) Bookends, this software is a bibliography reference product so they say. Maybe it works for major book worms. I don’t know who would use it. (8) MacJournal, sounds cool but it’s another word processor with password protection. If you do like to write journals, this may be for you. It lets you add video and photos to your memoirs. (9) Contactizer Pro, I guess if you are a super sales person with lots of contacts, meetings and appointments it could be on target for you. I don’t know that many people and don’t have more appointments that iCal can’t handle. I have so few appointments, I can actually remember most of them. This one is waiting to be unlocked.
You’re only going to get it if a certain amount of people buy the bundle. It’s part of the sales pitch to make it seem more exciting. And finally, the software which is also locked and is waiting to be opened and added to the bundle is photo-editor, (10) Lightzone. Everyone has photo editing software already. What product is it going to replace? Photoshop, Element 6 which only costs $79 and includes Adobe Bridge. The offer does include a lot of software at a reasonable, $49. Certainly a deal if you need any of the software, especially, if the last two products get unlocked and are included in the bundle.
Check it out at www.mupromo.com. The offer ends very soon, so take a look now if you’re interested.
Either I have too much software or the MacUpdate Promo doesn’t cut it this time. Yeah, I guess ten software programs for $49 is a good value when you add up
the retail value of $371.Software promotions can be a great deal if you have had your eye on at least one of these programs. In the new MacUpdate bundle promotion, none of the products are real main stream programs. Many like Norrkross Movie and LightZone are good products, but they’re similar to programs I already have.
This MacUpdate bundle include: (1) Hookup, a streaming product to share your iTunes libraries over a remote network. (2) Alarm Clock Pro, this is your computer clock on steroids sending
messages to your cell phone, and takes control over the computer tasks like startup and shut down; (3) Periscope, it takes control of your webcam with time-lapse and other controls. (4) DEVONagent, I have no idea what this program does but it’s supposed to organize your life and computer; (5) Mellel, a word processor, I already have Pages and Simple Text. (6) Norrkross, it’s supposed to be a substitute for iMovie06 and iMovie08 but these programs are free and have more features.I’m not sure why I started this, but I will make it to the end. (7) Bookends, this software is a bibliography reference product so they say. Maybe it works for major book worms. I don’t know who would use it. (8) MacJournal, sounds cool but it’s another word processor with password protection. If you do like to write journals, this may be for you. It lets you add video and photos to your memoirs. (9) Contactizer Pro, I guess if you are a super sales person with lots of contacts, meetings and appointments it could be on target for you. I don’t know that many people and don’t have more appointments that iCal can’t handle. I have so few appointments, I can actually remember most of them. This one is waiting to be unlocked.
You’re only going to get it if a certain amount of people buy the bundle. It’s part of the sales pitch to make it seem more exciting. And finally, the software which is also locked and is waiting to be opened and added to the bundle is photo-editor, (10) Lightzone. Everyone has photo editing software already. What product is it going to replace? Photoshop, Element 6 which only costs $79 and includes Adobe Bridge. The offer does include a lot of software at a reasonable, $49. Certainly a deal if you need any of the software, especially, if the last two products get unlocked and are included in the bundle.
Check it out at www.mupromo.com. The offer ends very soon, so take a look now if you’re interested.
Thanks to Everyone
September 01, 2008 09:36 AM Filed in: Websites | Photography
By Robert Lachman
Just wanted to thank everyone for checking out my website. The page views continue to go up each month, which makes the time spent and effort worth it and easier. Don’t forget to tell a friend about the site, leave a comment or ask a question. It’s really amazing, visitors from all 50 states and 49 other countries in just eight months. Thanks to everyone!
Just wanted to thank everyone for checking out my website. The page views continue to go up each month, which makes the time spent and effort worth it and easier. Don’t forget to tell a friend about the site, leave a comment or ask a question. It’s really amazing, visitors from all 50 states and 49 other countries in just eight months. Thanks to everyone!
Need to Give the Canon 50D a Little Love
From the CANON website:Canon's new EOS 50D bridges the gap between the novice and the seasoned pro with a perfect combination of high-speed and quality. It features an APS-C sized 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor for tremendous images, new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for fine detail and superior color reproduction, and improved ISO capabilities up to 12800 for uncompromised shooting even in the dimmest situations. It features a refined 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots) monitor, supercharged Live View Function with Face Detection Live mode, plus a number of new automatic Image Correction settings and HDMI output for viewing images on an HDTV.