I get a lot of benefit out of continually learning how to use my tools better. Today’s example:
I recently watched some tutorials by photographers using Lightroom. Picked up a few things I didn’t know. And because of it, discovered a few other variations that were even better. I knew this stuff in Photoshop, from back in college. But — as is the point — Lightroom has a much better interface for doing it.
Here’s the original RAW photo, from the recent shoot with Lea. Blown out, yadda yadda yadda. Won’t bother going into why it is this way… but it just is. A lot of missing details, though you could tell it was a beautiful look.
Thankfully, by shooting in RAW format, you preserve a lot of information that would have been lost in a JPEG. I lowered the exposure, and recovered a lot of detail. Still a bit light, but much better. Really pushed it, though. To the point where the boundary on the face between the light and dark has gone slightly yellow. But still a stunning woman.
After watching the Lightroom videos, I have been moving away from strictly relying on the exposure/black/fill sliders for color correction, and relying more heavily on various features of the Curves. It gives me much greater control over individual light levels in the photo. Transitions are much smoother. More details are preserved. And as I said, the interface to do all this is very intuitive.
I think this last photo is the best so far.
This — of course — is also why I tend to be so reluctant to pursue photography professionally. While I often think “These are some great photos”, somewhere down the line, I almost always look back and think “gawd… I am SO much better than I was when I did THAT!”.
EDIT:
Okay… this is what happens when you don’t proof on multiple monitors. New version, without the gray. (Thanks, Jenny)
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
Strange.
I tried copying some photos off a CF card I haven’t used in a while. This card has never been used with the newer card reader. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t show up. Then I noticed a “hot” smell, and when I went to pull the card out of the reader, it burned my fingers. It had been in there off any on for less than a minute total.
Works fine in the old card reader. No heat.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
Picked up a new toy, this week. Well, I picked up several, but this one is my favorite so far — a new camera strap.
The old strap — from Epic Software — itself was holding up fine. But the connectors for attaching it to the camera were failing one-by-one. The smallest leather straps actually snapped less than a week after I got the strap. But not big loss. I just merged a couple of the metal bits. But in the last month or so, the larger leather straps have been failing as well. One is already gone. And while I CAN again just merge a couple metals connectors, I lose the capability for the strap to swivel, so it inevitably becomes twisted. And the last leather connector gets worse every day. Every time I grab the camera out of the bag, I cringe and wait for it to snap.
And even if I was willing to live with that, because I’m now down to metal bits connecting the strap to the camera, it has been scratching the hell out of my camera body. While I’ve never been one to baby my equipment, I don’t feel the need to purposely deface it either.
Older cameras just had small swivel points with just a single small hole in them for mounting a strap. So ring connectors made sense. But newer cameras almost universally have slots for attaching straps. These nylon strap connections are less damaging, more flexible, and usually last longer.
But since I had neither the thin straps nor the sewing machine to attach them, I just went looking for a new strap. Can’t stand the straps you find at most camera stores or online shops. They’re all either flat black straps, or the come with the manufacture’s name emblazoned on them in bright, bold 150pt type. But almost no one makes more interesting straps. Epic’s straps were great looking… very retro. But I wasn’t interested in going through the same problems again. A little searching, though, and I finally found My Funky Camera. A woman who apparently buys the parts and makes her own straps — neck or wrist. Thy sounded pretty good, and I found some good reviews online. Her website is a bit lacking in details, but I figured it was worth the minor risk. My order arrived yesterday. Initial impression: I was impressed. It was actually made of much sturdier material than I expected. And it did indeed have the nylon attaching straps. I’m dubious about how long the extra neck padding will last, but it looks good right now, and could be easily removed later. It fit easily only to the camera. It looks great. I have a shoot tomorrow, and a major trip coming up in a couple weeks, so I will be putting it though it’s paces.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
While looking at pictures of a photographer who recently died, I notice in dozens of photos, he is never holding a camera. Old pictures of photographers… say… 1800s through approximately 1960s, when you saw a “candid” picture of a photographer, they had a camera in their hands or in front of them. But now? Not so much.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
Click on any photo to be taken to the full set.
(Questions or comments about why so many pictures have attractive women in them, will probably be answered with “duh”)
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
I’ve been looking for years for a decent “To Do” application. Much as I hate the idea of it, I am much more productive at work when I have lists to keep me organized. (10 – 15 jobs at any given time, with various stages in each…)
Something that lets me create a list, with child items. Allows me to very simply prioritize items. Make changes on the fly with little effort. I want to be able to check off items, and collapse items for simpler views.
I don’t want feature bloat. I don’t like most of the “GTD” applications and ideas, because they’re more impressed with their lists than what they can accomplish with them; and they often rely on multiple interlocking lists. If I have to think about this list, it’s blown its point.
While I found a couple that seemed promising, they all either were too expensive or were not available for my version of the computer’s OS. So I’ve just kept the idea on the back burner for a year or so, assuming I would pursue it the next time I upgrade the OS.
Today… looking for a video program in my Applications folder, I realize one of the bundled free applications this computer came with (quite a while ago) was OmniOutliner.
Which does… you know… exactly what I need in exactly the way I want. Already licensed. Sitting ’round. Waiting for me to … well… you get the idea.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
IMO, Ray Bradbury can put words together like no one else. I would read a recipe book, if he wrote it. But as he has shown repeatedly in recent years, he is a cranky old fart. 🙂 Thankfully I don’t need to worship someone to like what they produce.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
Playing with some TTV photography, today. (Taking pictures with a modern camera through the viewfinder of an antique box camera.) In this case, sitting on the fountain in Dupont Circle. Click the image for bigger.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
I have no doubt I am being greatly biased by my wonderful memories of Friday night, but…
I really like this kind of picture. Reasonably good quality. Highly dynamic. High Contrast. Capturing a very specific, unique moment. And it never would have looked this good on my previous camera.
There were some other great shots that night:
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
Walked past the Chinatown subway exit on my way to a store on the same block. Went in, found what I wanted right away. I paid and left. Walked back towards the metro.
People were crowded around. But there was a guy playing Caribbean music, so i just figured he was popular. Saw bright red KoolAid spilled on the ground near the exit. Then I noticed the guy slouched in the corner, with his hands over the side of his face. And there’s a cop standing over him.
And maybe that wasn’t KoolAid. And judging from the spray, and the fact he was holding the side of his face, I’m guessing that wasn’t a bloody nose. Must have gotten slashed.
And the steel drummer played on.
Please keep in mind that this post is more than 6 years old. Who the hell knows what I was thinking back then?! Damn kids... get off my lawn!
Picked up a new toy, this week. Well, I picked up several, but this one is my favorite so far — a new camera strap.
