The Digital Photo Guy

Go-o-o-d Monday Morning from Boron, CA

Yeah, you read that correctly. I’m in Boron, CA (pop 2000), just outside Edwards AFB in the California High Desert. We drove up here last night without any plans for where to stay and lucked out. George, the manager at the Boron Food Mart let us boondock in his parking lot so we had a very quiet night in the middle of Boron. Today, we’re meeting up with some friends and touring the wind farm in the area. There’s also a huge solar facility nearby. I hope to have some great photos to post next week.

Monday Morning Tip

Today’s MMT is open to all viewers since it’s something that many of us may need to do over the next few weeks or months, upgrading your Windows XP or Vista PC to Windows 7. I received Windows 7 last week along with a new 160GB Western Digital hard drive. I wanted to get out of Vista bad enough that I paid Microsoft’s usurious price for the new OS.

For most people, here’s a great set of instructions from Smart Computing magazine. In a nutshell, if you’re upgrading from Vista, is should be a snap. The operative word is should. Upgrading from XP requires a clean install meaning you need to backup your data, reformat your hard drive, install Win7 and then reinstall all your applications INCLUDING your settings. In other words, a complete and total PITA. Many experts are advising people with XP to consider just buying a new PC with Win7 preloaded.

Since my main Fujitsu laptop running Vista is just a year old and I like it, I decided to go the upgrade route. However, having designed disk drives and computers in a past life, I knew better than to trust the old, “when in doubt, swap it out” theory. I wanted to remove my old 320GB C: drive and set it aside in case things went “bump” in the process. That way, I could always fall back to the old Vista system if necessary.

I was only using about 60GB of the 320GB so I decided to order a new 160GB C: drive. When everything was back to “normal”, I would use the 320GB drive as a portable backup device. The theory sounded good but things started going sideways almost from the get-go. Most of it was my fault for using new software that I hadn’t yet tested. Without getting into all the gory details, here’s what I would recommend for people who want to save their old C: drive in toto.

First, a quick tip, buy the System Builder version of Windows 7 and save US$10 because the Retail version only gives you access to Microsoft’s vaunted (NOT!) tech support. You can tell how much they think of their tech support when they only charge an extra 10 bucks. This is where your kid, neighbor’s kid, kids’ friends, niece, nephew, etc can come in handy. Put them to work if you run into trouble. If things really go sideways, apply the $10 you saved toward a Geek Squad visit.

Quick tip #2. Follow the KISS principle. Use the Windows Easy Transfer utility (Start->All Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Windows Easy Transfer) to move your data and settings from the old C: to the new C:. The Smart Computing article (above) tells how to do this in great detail. Smart Computing used to offer free tech support to anyone but I think they’ve stopped that. These days, you have to be a subscriber. The Easy Transfer utility will need a medium sized removeable media (DVD burner, 16GB USB drive, External HD, Network drive, etc) to store all the data and settings that will be moved to the new HD.

Quick tip #3. Readers of this forum need to be especially mindful of this step. Deactivate Adobe Photoshop CSx. This is an option under Help in PS CS4, it may be located elsewhere in other versions. If you don’t deactivate PS CSx, it will think you’re trying to install a 2nd or 3rd version and will lock you out. Don’t ask how I discovered this. When I get home, I’m going to have to contact Adobe and prove to them that I have a legitimate copy of CS4, a royal PITA. There may be other programs that require deactivation so think about what programs you have on your PC before pulling the old C: drive.

All-in-all, my upgrade went fairly smoothly. There were a few things that surprised me such as the biometric scanner. The Fujitsu laptop originally came from Fujitsu with an integrated biometric scanner and password software. When I tried to upgrade the software, the developer wanted another $50 for a whole new program. Given this, I may look for a new password program. Many printers including the high-speed laser, the color laser and the Dymo label printer needed new drivers, which was no surprise. So far, the only thing I haven’t figured out is a Microsoft 2.4GHz transceiver. I don’t have a clue what that may be since everything else seems to be working.

Recommended Books

While in Bishop, CA for the Eastern Sierras workshop, I stopped by the Mountain Light Gallery which was established by Galen and Barbara Rowell in 2001, just before their untimely death. One of the books I purchased there was Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape. This is an outstanding book for all photographers, not just landscape photographers. It’s only US$30 and should be on every serious photographer’s bookshelf.

I’ll write a full review in a week or so after I’ve had a chance to distill what I’ve learned and continue to learn from the book.

IMPORTANT NOTICE for Photoshop Elements Webinar Students

A number of people registered for the webinar seem to be incommunicado. I suspect their e-mail program is relegating my messages to their spam folder. If you’re registered for the webinar and haven’t received the 3 e-mails over the past month, please check your spam filter. You need this information to participate in the webinar on November 14.

We have students registered from Hawaii to Connecticut to Florida to Washington. If you are a serious digital photographer or want to be one, you owe it to your artistic side to take this webinar. In 4 hours (9AM to 1PM Pacific Time), you’ll learn more about getting the most out of Photoshop Elements. And, you won’t find a better deal than this webinar.

It’s time for a new photo contest. This time, the theme is holidays. Being American, I’m partial to Thanksgiving during this period. For readers from other countries, the photos must reflect some sort of national celebration. The contest is open to registered readers of this site. Registration is free. The contest is open now and submissions will be accepted until December 8, 2009. The winner will be announced in time for them to receive the prize by Christmas 2009 unless they happen to live outside the USA in which case, all bets are off as to ETA.

800+, 8.5" x 11" pages

The prize is a Photoshop World Workbook from Photoshop World 2009 in Las Vegas. It is 800 pages of PS tips, tricks and hints from virtually every class at PSW. For a peek at the contents, see this description on my site. Because the book is heavy, I’m asking the winner to pay US$10 via PayPal for shipping.

Photos will be judged on three criteria:

1. Exposure – is the photo correctly exposed. Correctly does NOT always mean right edge of histogram at right side and left edge touching the left side. Many photos look better when one side or the other is pulled in to achieve a specific “look”. Color balance will also be evaluated.
2. Focus – is the photo in focus or was blur used artistically. If your portrait has a sharp ear but blurry eyes, it will be noticed. Not only must the important parts be in focus but the unimportant parts must not be distracting. Controlling DoF is an integral part of good photography, it will be evaluated.
3. Composition – what is the emotional impact of the photo? Does it tell a story or do the colors/shapes/lines/negative space evoke an emotion? Does the photo engage the viewer? Does it create tension through unanswered questions? More than anything else, I’m looking for photos that have impact, that makes me sit up and notice.

Since I am the sole judge and arbiter, here are some of my biases. As much as you think your kids/grandkids are precious, I rarely find any redeeming artistic value in photos of children or pets. On the other hand, I love landscapes, portraits, wildlife, birds, flowers, still life, architecture, old things, new things, shiny things, rusty things and just about anything. See photos on this site to get an idea of what yanks my chain, floats my boat, tingle my toes and, in general, makes me happy, sad, excited, thrilled, thoughtful or otherwise emotional. BTW, I’m also not a fan of street photography unless your name happens to be Henri Cartier-Bresson.

All photos must be resized to 640 pixels along the longest side and no larger than 1MB. Send it to me via e-mail or post it on your own website and send me a link. If you send a link, it should be a link to one photo. In other words, don’t link to a page with a gazillion photos and expect me to figure out which is your entry. The photo must have been taken with a digital camera (any type, make, model) and the only edits allowed are crop, color correction, levels and sharpen. No composites or collages will be considered. HDR will be accepted but the more it looks like a single frame, the better your chances. Each person is limited to three (3) submissions. Once a photo is submitted, it can be withdrawn but not replaced.

The purpose of this contest is to promote photography as an art. I want people to elevate their photography beyond snapshots of Fluffy & Rover at the backyard barbeque. I want more people to see the potential within themselves. Even if all you ever take are photos of your kids/grandkids, I want you to make them into art, not simple snapshots.

Legal stuff – By entering a photo(s) in this contest, you affirm that you are the photographer with all rights appertaining including, but not limited to, copyright. You agree to hold harmless the owner and publisher of this site and contest promoter from any claims, past, present and/or future arising from any actions related to the photo(s) submitted by you or in your name. By submitting a photo(s), you agree to convey an irrevocable, non-exclusive 5 year license to The Digital Photo Guy (Lee Otsubo) to display the photo(s) and use them for teaching purposes. All other rights remain with you. Any part of this agreement/contest may be modified by The Digital Photo Guy without notice.

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I wrote my last full MMT. (A full MMT is a separate article that’s archived as a PDF or video in the password protected MMT area.) The closest was my Depth of Field Calculator video back on Sep 23. Speaking of which, I’m going to renew my FREE DoF Calculator offer but I need some feedback regarding what lens focal lengths you need/want. Tell me via the poll to the right.

This week’s MMT is a review of a boring but necessary device for photographers, a monitor calibration system. It’s called a system because you need both the hardware (colorimeter) and software to calibrate your monitor. The reason you need to calibrate your monitor is because different monitors display the same color differently. In other words, you want the fire engine to look the same color red on all monitors. More importantly, if your monitor is off, how can you identify the problem point? When that fire engine print comes out looking like an orange, how do you know you sent the correct info?

It used to be that monitor calibration was expensive and tedious. Today, there are several choices well below US$100 that are a snap to use. Read my review of the Pantone Huey Pro monitor calibration system.

If, after reading the MMT, you decide you want to calibrate your monitor, check the Tips & News page for a screaming deal on colorimeters. Since I only bought these as tests and don’t need them for daily use, I have the original Huey and the new Huey Pro for sale along with a bunch of Canon gear I need to cull from my inventory. I recently sold my Canon 100-400 so now I’m motivated to thin my excess equipment even more.

As always, MMTs are here. You’ll need to register to get into the password protected areas where about 100 MMTs are archived.

Quick Tip

In Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Elements 7 (may apply to earlier versions but not tested), in the past if you wanted to unlock the Background layer, you double-clicked the lock icon and dismissed the dialog box that appeared with a suggested new name Layer 0. It wasn’t a big deal but a minor annoyance. It turns out you can simply click the lock icon and drag it to the trashcan. Whoulda thunk? It’s a lot quicker and more efficient.

More Eastern Sierras Photos

This is a hokey way to display photos but I just haven’t had time to figure out how the gallery software works. Like most anything in WordPress, I have a choice of about 10 gazillion photo gallery modules and they all seem to be written by Martians so bear with me.

In case you missed them the first set, here are some of my favorites in an earlier post.

I thought readers might be interested to get a peek at what’s inside the 800+ pages of the PSW Workshop that will be given away during the November 14 webinar by Rob Sheppard. It’s one thing to see a photo of an 800+ page book but a completely different thing to see and read some of the contents.

There were 77 classes at PSW proper broken down into 13 tracks: General Photoshop, Photoshop 101, Photoshop Design, Photoshop Fixes, Productivity, Lightroom, Techniques, Creative Suite, Creativity, Photo Studio Live, Motion Graphics, Digital Photography and Print/Prepress. There was another 20 classes (fee and free) before and during PSW. Some were inside the PSW Expo (trade show) and others were extra cost, several hours long seminars called Pre-Cons (pre-conference) before PSW. Also, many vendors in the Expo Hall (about 30 companies) had their own classes and demos where a serious amount of information was sprinkled in among the sales pitch.

All classes are taught by well known NAPP Photoshop and digital photography experts like Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, Dave Cross, Joe McNally, Ben Willmore, David Ziser, Russel Brown, and Lesa Snider. Some are superstars like Jay Maisel, Katrin Eismann, Kevin Ames and Vincent Versace.

One of the classes I sat in was Fixing Common Image Problems by Dave Cross. This was a mix of old materials with new twists as well as a few new fixes. Let’s face it, there are a limited number of fixes that can be applied to a photo before it’s easier to just reshoot the scene. Dave’s notes for the class comprises 14 pages in the Workbook. Because Dave is an excellent teacher, he starts with a general concept that he recommends for all PS fixes: don’t try to make a perfect fix in one swell foop. Almost every PS/PSE instructor, including yours truly, recommends that you use a combination of tools to arrive at the final fix. For example, don’t try to use just the Magic Wand to make a selection unless it’s a simple job like selecting a white cue ball against a green pool table. Use the Magic Wand or Quick Selection Tool to make a gross selection first, then refine the selection using the Lasso Tool, Magnetic Lasso or Polygonal Lasso to select small areas that weren’t selected by the gross tools. This is where knowing keyboard shortcuts like Shift, Alt/Option, Control/Command can pay off big time in efficiency.

Dave covers Fixing White Balance, Changing Text Background to Transparent, Colorize White Objects, Changing Black to White, Removing Harsh Shadows, Extending a Photo, Fixing Distortion from Glasses, Recovering Blown Details and Fixing Group Shots in the 14 pages. More importantly, he finishes most tips with a tip on how to avoid the problem in the first place. For example, under Fixing White Balance, Dave recommends the use of a Gray Card which makes applying a white balance adjstment a snap. But, what if you’re not in a studio or someplace where a gray card is convenient? In that case, try to get something white, gray or black in the scene. You can issue your kids white index cards before an outing to the zoo or park. For the first photo in every different light condition, ask them to hold up the card. If they’re won’t cooperate, staple the card to their forehead (just kidding).

Check back often for more tips from the PSW Workbook or, better yet, subscribe via RSS so you’ll know as soon as I post new material. Even better, register for Rob Sheppard’s Photoshop Elements for Digital Photographers webinar for a chance to win your own copy of the PSW Workbook.

Win a $179.99 Software Suite!

Another score for the Photoshop Elements webinar with Rob Sheppard. Topaz Labs has graciously donated a complete suite worth $340 to a door prize winner during the webinar on November 14. I watched the Topaz Labs demo at Photoshop World and I can honestly say it “blew my mind”. It takes a lot to impress me with software anymore but the Topaz products were in a totally different class. (bundle does not include Enhance and Momentum which are video plug-ins).

Go to the Head of the Winner’s Line

If you want to just grab a complete Topaz Suite for free and skip the door prize effort, get 3 people (including yourself) to register for the Photoshop Elements webinar on November 14 from 9AM to 1PM (Pacific Time). The webinar is just $59.95 and covers everything a digital photographer needs to know about Adobe Photoshop Elements including the newest version 8.

If you’ve already registered, just get two more people to register and put your name in the PayPal Comments section. Be sure to also send me an e-mail with your friend’s name in case your friend wrote something like “Peggy’s friend” when you’re registered as Margaret.

To date, here’s a list of all the door prizes for the webinar:

Black Rapid camera strap the easiest, most comfortable way to carry a dSLR

1-2-3 of Digital Imaging v5 (PC), a 3500+ page DVD book to learn PS and PSE

Photoshop World Workbook, 800 pages of hints, tips and tricks from PSW

Topaz Labs Bundle, a $340 suite of programs that normally sells for $179.99

Monday Morning Tip

Photography is a journey. If you ever arrive at your destination, you’re dead. Photography is a life-long pursuit of an ever changing vision. Even professional photographers are constantly learning and challenging themselves to improve their skills. The best way to learn is by listening and watching others who are better than you. In the beginning, it’s best if your teacher isn’t too far ahead of you on the learning curve but, as you improve, you want teachers who stretch and expand your horizons. Sometimes, you may feel as if the lessons might break you but always remember, what doesn’t kill you, just makes you better.

I just got back from 5 days in the Eastern Sierras on a Great American Photo Workshop led by Rob Sheppard. It was a great workshop with lots of fieldwork and, what I wanted, in-depth critiques. Too often, we drink our own KoolAid and start believing all the praise heaped upon us by friends and family. When you attend a workshop, you’re paying a professional for their honest feedback about the quality of your work and, more importantly, how you can improve. The GAPW workshops are a bargain at just US$795 (excluding lodging, meals and travel).

Here are some of my favorite photos from the workshop. I haven’t processed all my photos but these stood out. My MMT for the week is: take lessons at every opportunity. In the beginning, local camera clubs and camera stores can provide lessons for free or very minimal cost. As your skills improve, you might want to take paid local workshops. At the high end, workshops can range from a few thousand dollars to $10,000+ for exotic locales and name instructors. Just keep in mind that a big name doesn’t always translate into better lessons.

Ancient Bristlecone Pine

Fast Water

Color at Sabrina Basin

Magic Light

Nudes