Photography
Holga + Vivitar 285 = ?
May 07, 2008 11:00 AM
By Robert LachmanWhen is simple better? This is an example of simple lighting with an inexpensive strobe. This portrait of actor Neil Patrick Harris was photographed by me the for the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times. The lighting setup was simple: one Vivitar 285HV ($90) off camera on a stand with a light orange gel and a small snoot on the strobe to narrow the light beam. It's nice to focus the light into a smaller beam. I used a Holga, a $29 camera, shooting ISO 400 Kodak 120 film. What look like a second light is just the blue cast of the background fill from the shady balcony. I only shot every other frame on this film which gave me the dark edges left and right when I scanned the negative. The vignette is caused by the low tech quality of the Holga camera with the plastic lens. Ok I did use a a Pocket Wizard radio remote to set off the strobe. I could have use a sync cord. Just an example of old school mixing with the new school digital age.
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Ansel Adams
May 07, 2008 11:00 AM
Check out a very nice multimedia project in the New York Times which features an interview by Ansel Adams' assistant Andrea Stillman and some of Adams' most famous photographs at www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/27/travel/20080427_YOSEMITE_FEATURE.html.______________________________________________________________________
Matt Kloskowki’s new book “LAYERS”
March 08, 2008 09:40 AM
By Robert Lachman
When I was browsing through the photo books at Amazon.com, one book in particular, really jumped out at me, Matt Kloskowski’s new book, “Layers,” the complete guide to Photoshop’s most powerful features, so I clicked the buy button. That was easy. I am a sucker for any new photography book, you could say, I’m an easy sell.
Some people, I guess, want to sit by the fireplace with a good novel, but for me, it’s a computer or photography book. I really feel like I have hit the geek wall because I’m spending way too much time in front of the computer.
I guess I should be out exercising more. Tomorrow, I am going to ride my bike to the beach while listening to the new Steve Martin book from Audible.com on my iTouch. Exercise and computers, what a great combination.
OK, back to the book review. I did look forward to receiving the book and I wasn’t disappointed. “Layers” is designed for the the beginning to intermediate Photoshop or Elements user.
Matt definitely has the credentials for writing the book, he has hosted photoshop podcasts, written articles for Photoshop User and he works full-time for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The book is on the smaller side for a computer book, just 255 pages. Did I say 255 pages? I saw another “Layers” instructional book at the Barnes and Noble bookstore which contained over 800 pages. Yikes, that’s a little too many “Layers” for me to digest.
I’m still trying to figure out curves and the histogram.
The book is an easy read with nine chapters. Including: Basics, Blending, Adjustment Layers, Masks, Type and Shape, Enhancing Photos, Retouching Layer Styles and Smart Layers.
You can also follow along building projects with the examples which you can download from the internet.
I would consider myself an intermediate photoshop users so this book is perfect for me. Matt uses nice graphics on each page to to drive home his points and goes over the important features you will use.
In Chapter Two, he talks about Blending Layers. This is an important part because it always confuses me. Matt simplifies it by breaking it up into “The Three Most Important Blend Modes You Need.” Multiply, Screen and Softlight. Three is good, I have just enough brain cells left to remember this data. The explanations are concise and to the point.
Let’s skip ahead to chapter six, “Dodging and Burning Done Right.” I’m fired up now! I usually just use a the simple burn-and-dodge tool. It’s not really the correct non-destructive way. It’s simple, not the cool way. I’m ready to do it the right way: add a layer, make it 50-percent gray, and then use black and white brushes to paint to dodge and burn. With this technique, my Photoshop I.Q. should be through the roof.
I always enjoy learning new techniques. Photoshop gives you many ways to do the same thing.
There is really a lot to learn in the book and Matt uses nice graphics to illustrate his points. At the end of each chapter, he has a Q&A to help reinforce his points.
Other topics which are included in chapters are: combining multiple exposures, painting with light, selective sharpening, creating soft focus, creating reusable photo effects and using type with layers.
If you’re looking for a photoshop book which is easy to read and not the imposing giant computer books, I highly recommended picking up a copy of “Layers."
The price of the book is $39.95. I bought it at www.amazon.com for $26.39 US.
I’ve finished eight of the nine chapters leaving me with Smart Layers. I didn’t know layers had any intelligence. I am ready for the next chapter, “Four Reasons Why Smart Objects Rock!”
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When I was browsing through the photo books at Amazon.com, one book in particular, really jumped out at me, Matt Kloskowski’s new book, “Layers,” the complete guide to Photoshop’s most powerful features, so I clicked the buy button. That was easy. I am a sucker for any new photography book, you could say, I’m an easy sell.
Some people, I guess, want to sit by the fireplace with a good novel, but for me, it’s a computer or photography book. I really feel like I have hit the geek wall because I’m spending way too much time in front of the computer.
I guess I should be out exercising more. Tomorrow, I am going to ride my bike to the beach while listening to the new Steve Martin book from Audible.com on my iTouch. Exercise and computers, what a great combination.
OK, back to the book review. I did look forward to receiving the book and I wasn’t disappointed. “Layers” is designed for the the beginning to intermediate Photoshop or Elements user.
Matt definitely has the credentials for writing the book, he has hosted photoshop podcasts, written articles for Photoshop User and he works full-time for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The book is on the smaller side for a computer book, just 255 pages. Did I say 255 pages? I saw another “Layers” instructional book at the Barnes and Noble bookstore which contained over 800 pages. Yikes, that’s a little too many “Layers” for me to digest.
I’m still trying to figure out curves and the histogram.
The book is an easy read with nine chapters. Including: Basics, Blending, Adjustment Layers, Masks, Type and Shape, Enhancing Photos, Retouching Layer Styles and Smart Layers.
You can also follow along building projects with the examples which you can download from the internet.
I would consider myself an intermediate photoshop users so this book is perfect for me. Matt uses nice graphics on each page to to drive home his points and goes over the important features you will use.
In Chapter Two, he talks about Blending Layers. This is an important part because it always confuses me. Matt simplifies it by breaking it up into “The Three Most Important Blend Modes You Need.” Multiply, Screen and Softlight. Three is good, I have just enough brain cells left to remember this data. The explanations are concise and to the point.
Let’s skip ahead to chapter six, “Dodging and Burning Done Right.” I’m fired up now! I usually just use a the simple burn-and-dodge tool. It’s not really the correct non-destructive way. It’s simple, not the cool way. I’m ready to do it the right way: add a layer, make it 50-percent gray, and then use black and white brushes to paint to dodge and burn. With this technique, my Photoshop I.Q. should be through the roof.
I always enjoy learning new techniques. Photoshop gives you many ways to do the same thing.
There is really a lot to learn in the book and Matt uses nice graphics to illustrate his points. At the end of each chapter, he has a Q&A to help reinforce his points.
Other topics which are included in chapters are: combining multiple exposures, painting with light, selective sharpening, creating soft focus, creating reusable photo effects and using type with layers.
If you’re looking for a photoshop book which is easy to read and not the imposing giant computer books, I highly recommended picking up a copy of “Layers."
The price of the book is $39.95. I bought it at www.amazon.com for $26.39 US.
I’ve finished eight of the nine chapters leaving me with Smart Layers. I didn’t know layers had any intelligence. I am ready for the next chapter, “Four Reasons Why Smart Objects Rock!”
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A Quick Photo Slide Show, Think Fotomagico
February 08, 2008 08:00 AM
I'm sure most of you have shot a lot of photos over the holiday season. And I mean lots of photos, it's pretty easy to do. Maybe too easy. Who holds back with a digital camera? A one gig SD memory card I picked up at Sam's Club for my daughter cost $15. Since storage is cheap, always shoot those family snapshots at the best quality the camera will take. You can always edit later and delete photos you don't like, but you can't go back and get better quality photos. OK, it's time to step up to the plate and do something with the photos. Don't just let them sit around like the days when photos would end up in a shoebox in the closet never to be seen again. Now what program do you use? There's plenty to choose from. I'm going to talk about a few: Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, iMovie8 , iMovie6 and iDVD.
1. Final Cut Pro is a good choice if you already spent $1,200 to buy the new software, you have plenty of horse power. Don't bother on a G-4 unless you have a lot of free time to watch it process. Next you need to know how to use the program. And like I said, you need some time. Trying to move photos with those wire frames is a lot of work and tedious.
2. Final Cut Express is a better alternative just because of the lower price at $199. I don't want to spend a week on this project. I'm not Stephen Speilberg making a new sequel to ET. I want to get this thing done in a few hours.
3.iMovie8. Haven't tried it don't plan on it. Well maybe. It's tough to go out and buy the new iLife suite for $100 to get the new iMovie8 which has less feature the older version.
4.iMovie6. This has been my video editing program of choice for years. It's ease of operation for video and stills is great. Plus, it has two tracks of audio with decent control. You can you use the Ken Burns effect to give your photos motion. It has a much easier learning curve than Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express. One disadvantage is the photos can have motion from point to point but, must stay on their horizontal access. You can't give them any rotational motion.
5. Your can use iDVD to make your slide show but it is very rudimentary. Leaving you with no real choices for creativity.
None of these programs, have a quick way to make screen saver and stand alone slide shows that will fill an entire screen with good quality pictures. I don't know of a program which will take care of all of these features.
Choose your intended use of your slide show:
The choice is for a slide show or screen savers for the computer.
Use this one for making a DVD for use on your television.
Pick this one for computer projectors.
Probably one of the most overlooked software programs for creating a quick professional program is FOTOMAGIO by Boinx software. It would get my five star rating if I had a rating system. Easy to use, fast, great interface and provides you with either a way to make slide shows with music for screen savers, regular display on the computer or a DVD. The only problem is the audio track is very simple. If you want to use more than one song, you need to do some mixing with a program like Audacity or Garage Band and then import the track into FotoMagico. This really is a pretty easy to work around.
The speed which you can put together a professional slide show with photos is amazing. The software features a timeline where you can pick photos from iPhoto within the window or pick photos from other folders on your computer. It's easy to set the time and add a transiton between you photos. The best feature which I think set it appart from other is the ease of setting still photos into motion (the Ken Burns Effect"). Two simple window do the trick, one for the start and one for end of your motion. It tackles this easily by use two simple rotation wheels that set the size, tilt and location of the start and stop of the motion effect. It tackles this much more intuitly than iMovie or Final Cut Pro. iMovie uses very small windows and Final Cut use wireframe has a much stepper learning curve.
Next you add your much from the iTunes library. It does give you the option of automatically setting the time of you photo to match the song. If you're putting together a quick slide show for the family with a single song you are done. One weakness of the program is the sound editing. I just need a few more options here. With only one audion track you can have more than one need start the next song after the one before finishes. There is now way to fade in or out or overlap songs with the program.
My workaround is to export the slide show as a full version quicktime movie and then drag it into iMovie for the few cooler titles and the audio. Then I send it to iDVD. Another way to solve the problem would be to make your audio track fire with Audacity or Garageband and then import it to Fotomagico before you start.
This is the perfect program for someone who wants to put their kid's soccer photos to music, pics from a party or even a portfolio of photos together to display using transitions, titles and yes, the ever so popular "Ken Burns Effect." (OK not everyone knows what the Ken Burns Effect is.) That's where the photos come to life moving and zooming in and out. This program does much more with the "Effect" than iMovie does and you can compete with Final Cut Pro. That's the $900 Apple video program plus, it does more. It costs $49 for the express and $129 US for the pro version and you don't need to take a seminar or buy a big expense tutorial book at Barnes and Noble.
The program features all the basic transitions: Cut, Fade, Dissolve, Linear Wipe, Circular Wipe, Slide, Push, Twirl, Zoom, Aperture, Flip, Cude, Shuffle, and Topple.
Leaning this program is very easy. There's A very nice free tutorial that can be found at the Teachers Corner website: http://www.teachers-corner.org/visual_helpdesk/previous/lessons/lesson8.html.
The cost is $49 US for the Express version which according to the developer can export to iDVD, Toast, for the Web, Apple TV. iPhone and iTouch. Standalone players and screensavers do have a watermark. The Pro version at $129 . More information can be found at http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/.
Speed, a free tutorial, a easy learning curve, lot of great features, an affordable price for the express version and a little high priced for the pro version although I own because in the long run it is worth it. I highly recommend it. - Robert Lachman