The Digital Photo Guy

Catching Up on Post Processing

Between classes and workshops, I haven’t had time to work on photos from Cibola NWR so I decided to roll both this week’s MMT and post-processing Cibola photos into one task.

I saw the green and red navigation lights on the bridge when I parked my RV along the bank of the river. It was originally in landscape mode but I thought it looked better as a vertical. Other that cropping and slight levels adjustment, this is pretty much SOOC (straight out of camera). Click to read more

Precisely Identify Neutral Gray When Adjusting Color

A number of people who attended the free Photoshop Elements webinar a few weeks ago asked me to explain in more detail how I identified an area of neutral gray when adjusting levels. I posted a video a few days ago but then realized it might be of general interest. I first learned this tip at Photoshop World. If you’re thinking of attending, it will be worth your while. I try to attend every other year.

To recap, when adjusting levels and color balance, it’s important to identify the white, black and gray points in a photo. White and black are simple (if you forgot, see my YouTube video) but 50% gray (neutral gray) is a bit trickier. This technique isn’t something you use on every photo but, when it’s important to get it right, this will usually do the trick. I say usually because you might run across a photo that doesn’t have a neutral gray area.

Of course, the easiest way to set neutral gray is to include a Gretag-Macbeth Color Checker or a gray card in the scene but that’s not always practical. Can you imagine a soccer mom running onto the field yelling, “Time out! I need my kid to hold this gray card!” On second thought, skip that, I can imagine it happening.

I used the color checker in this shot to be sure I got the color of her blouse as well as her skin tone correct in post processing.

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Rick Sammon & Outdoor Photographer Show You How

Outdoor Photographer is one of the few magazines to which I subscribe. It’s always packed with useful articles and inspirational photos. In the past, their website was a bit of a hodge-podge but now they’ve made major improvements and it’s a regular stop for me. One of the cool new features is OPTV. Here’s a video by Rick Sammon that should be very useful for typical students of The Digital Photo Guy.

This is the basic level of photography that my students are seeking. If this is too simple for you, you’re probably too advanced for my classes.

Why a Manual Flash is Good for You

Last week, we reviewed the LumoPro 120 and showed how it stacked up against Canon dedicated flashes. Today, we’ll cover some flash basics and show why a manual flash is a good tool for learning flash techniques other than just saving money.

When you use ETTL (Canon) or iTTL (Nikon) or any other automatic flash system, the flash and camera communicate to make all the decisions for you. This is fine for most snapshots where people accept the harsh, flat, deer-in-the-headlights look of straight-on flash. But, when you want to step up your flash photography, manual control of a  remote flash is a much better.

Here’s an example of a remote flash at work. I placed the flash on the seat of the car and fired it with a remote. Without the remote, it would have just been another antique car photo.

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Save $269 and Improve Your Flash Skills

Here’s a preliminary overview of the LumoPro 120 that I bought for a flash workshop I’m developing (free session 1/30). It’s not a Canon 580EX or, even, a 420EX but it saves you $269 while giving you 80% of the capability. The first image places the LP120 between Canon 550EX and Canon 420EX in physical dimensions.

Let’s first get the obvious negatives out of the way. The build quality, while good, isn’t anywhere near the heft and feel of a Canon or Nikon dedicated flash. The plastic housing reminds me of cheap Chinese products but seems sturdy enough.

Next, this is strictly a manual flash. There’s no E-TTL, iTTl or any other flash-to-camera communication. But, that’s good because manual flash is the best way to learn flash photography.

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