The Digital Photo Guy

Cuties for a Cause 2012 Calendar Launch

I’ve been busy shooting a group of pin-up models for the launch of their 2012 calendar in October. Last week, we shot at the Lafayette Hotel in San Diego which has a long history with the Hollywood set back in the 40s and 50s including Bob Hope, Betty Grable, Ava Gardener and other stars of a bygone era. The pool is called the Weissmuller pool because Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) is said to have designed it.

The Cuties were enamored of the clamshell stage in the Mississippi Room (so named because it fronts Mississippi Street.) It was a lot of fun shoot that iconic old stage where you can almost hear the strains of the big bands.

The interior shots were taken with a Canon 7D and 24-105/4L IS. A Canon 580EX II was popped into a 36″ white umbrella as the key light. The outside shots were with the 580EX II on camera in E-TTL mode. It was such a straightforward lighting situation that I decided to let E-TTL do the heavy lifting.

Tomorrow (Monday, Aug 29,) I’ll be photographing the Cuties at a private residence around a pool surrounded by tropical landscaping. Those photos will be post later in the week.

Topaz Labs Announces B&W Effects

I received an invitation from Topaz Labs to beta test their newest plug-in, B&W Effects. As the name suggests, this plug-in converts photos to black & white. I tried it and was immediately struck by how much more polished it was than some previous Topaz releases.

Don’t get me wrong, Topaz has great products but some were released a bit too soon and rough edges around the UI (user interface) showed it. B&W Effects is ready for prime time. Here is an example that, I have to admit, was PDL (pure dumb luck.) I randomly selected a photo and applied the Warm Tone I preset just because it sounded good. I think it came out well for no more than 15 minutes effort including time to load the software. The original was a 3-frame HDR shot at Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum down the road from me. Unfortunately, some of the richness of the B&W was lost when the photo was resized and compressed for the web.

HDR is Hot!

The first photo above is the metered exposure, the second is a true HDR and the third is a pseudo-HDR (pHDR) using just the original metered exposure. The pHDR image is “overcooked” to make it easier to see the effect that even a single frame can produce.

I’ve dabbled with HDR for several years. Being a contrarian, I didn’t want to follow the crowd and jump on the Photomatix bandwagon. I wanted software that gave me greater control over my HDR. In my quest, I found Dynamic Photo – HDR published by Mediachance.com.

Originally, HDR was made popular by a few popular photographers who took it to extremes and turned out garish, cartoon-like results. While the effect was interesting, I didn’t feel it had legs. Who wants to turn their carefully crafted photos into cartoons? I wanted something that let me enhance my photos to portray a wider dynamic range than my camera was capable of capturing but still retained a natural look.

Here’s another HDR, this time, from Deer Park Winery, just down the road from me. This is a typical application where the camera isn’t able to capture details in both the dark areas and the lights. To maximize and balance the image, I used Digital Photo – HDR to combine three frames into one, then tone map the image to squeeze everything into an image that can be displayed on normal monitor or printed on a regular printer.

 Recently, I found this Flickr page containing a whole slew of HDR photos processed with Dynamic Photo – HDR.

If you’d like to know more about Digital Photo – HDR, register for my 30-Minute Webinar on HDR this Wednesday, August 24 at 7PM Pacific Time.

By Popular Demand

Subscribers come and go on my site all the time. Many don’t give a reason for unsubscribing, some lose interest in photography, others are satisfied with their current skills and some have progressed beyond the beginner level material on this site. Last week, I had a first. A person unsubscribed because, “Too many under-dressed female models…” Well, today’s post is dedicated to that former subscriber.

Next week, I’m shooting Tina and several other pin-up models for the launch of their 2012 calendar for Cuties for a Cause. This year’s cause is the San Diego Animal Support Foundation, a private, volunteer organization dedicated to improving the welfare of animals. So, if you’re an animal lover, buy a calendar to support their cause. And, if you’re offended by pin-up models, this is not the site for you. (I feel so much better now. )

Restore Old Photos – 30 Minute Webinar, Wed Sep 14

If you have old, ratty, torn photos with dog-eared corners, creases, coffee/water stains and “goop” of unknown origins, you’ll want to register for this 30-Minute Webinar. In 30 minutes, you’ll get a quick overview of restoration techniques to make your photos useable.

Combined with tips and techniques learned in other 30-Minute Webinars such as levels adjustment, color balance and layers, you’ll be able to confidently fix badly damaged photos. As always, 30-Minute Webinars are on Wednesday evenings at 7PM Pacific Time and, currently, just $3. Later this year, prices will increase to $5 per 30-Minute Webinar or $50 for a dozen.

Lightroom Tips – 30 Minute Webinar, (TBA)

If you’re new to Lightroom and want to get started on the right foot, this is the 30-Minute Webinar for you. Because LR is totally different from Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, it takes a few moments to figure out where to start. Heck, if you just climbed onto the bandwagon without really knowing about LR, you might not even know what LR does. Don’t laugh, many people buy LR simply because “it’s on sale at a killer price!”

In this webinar, we’ll cover what LR does and demo some basic tips for making the best use of LR’s powers. As always, 30-Minute Webinars are on Wednesday evenings at 7PM Pacific Time and, currently, just $3. Later this year, prices will increase to $5 per 30-Minute Webinar or $50 for a dozen.

A Grand Time at Cruisin’ Grand

What more can a guy ask for? I spent Friday evening at Cruisin’ Grand Friday evening cruise with three cuties (Tina, Michelle and my wife.) Tina is my favorite pin-up model and Michelle is one of her “Cuties” from Cuties for a Cause. We had a great time photographing two pin-up cuties with classic cars from the ’40s and ’50s.

If you’re interested in photographing pin-up style models, Cuties for a Cause will be featured at the ArtHatch reception on Sept 9 after Cruisin’ Grand. The reception offers live music, book signings (available for purchase), pin up girls, Stone beer, hors d’oeuvres, plus over 30 local artists works and 75 national and international artists works on display for $25 at the door or $20 in advance.

Learn Something Useful in 30 Minutes

Last month, I started offering a 30-Minute Webinar Series. To date, we’ve covered an overview of photo editing programs, a tutorial on cleaning dSLR sensors, how to apply USM and an overview of layers in photo editing. The next 30-Minute Webinar, on Wed, August 24, covers High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography.

The advantage of short, focused webinars is minimal time and money investment. Anyone can set aside 30 minutes to learn something they really enjoy. To date, the webinars have been priced at just $3. Later this year, the price will increase to $5 per webinar.

Anyone who registers for a webinar before the price increase will be eligible to register for 12 webinars for $36. After the price increase, the series will cost $50 for 12 webinars or $5 each.

Here’s a short sample video of the Layers webinar.

Lightroom Makes BW So-o-o Easy

OK, I admit it, I’m a little slow at times. My friend, Rob Sheppard, suggested a BW webinar a while ago but I couldn’t get enthused due to previous (bad) attempts at BW. I just didn’t want to spend any time learning. Well, I should know better because Rob is Editor-at-Large for Outdoor Photographer, one of the oldest photography magazines. He had suggested using Lightroom and I was still in the process of learning LR and didn’t want to take on anymore at the time.

Recently, feeling somewhat competent with LR, I turned my attention to BW in LR. Wow! It’s much better than the clumsy BW tools I’d been using. Granted, it’s been 45 years since I tried my hand at BW so my eye isn’t as well tuned to the nuances of BW as I’d like. Still, I really like some of my first attempts. LR makes it so easy to unscrew an adjustment if I screw it up.

Adding icing to my new found interest in BW, the Epson 3880 I bought a few months ago prints beautiful BW. It has three shades of black so the tones are as smooth as a newborn baby’s butt.

If there’s enough interest, I may fire up the BW Webinar idea again with Rob Sheppard. Let me know via the comments section.

Canon T3i and Wireless Flash

 Last week, I conducted a Flash in a Flash Workshop at Deer Park Winery. The student was using a brand new Canon T3i that I had recommended when she upgraded from an Olympus E500. I was impressed just reading the specs on the T3i but I was even more impressed when I actually got to use it. The T3i compares very favorably with my Canon 7D except in a few areas that probably won’t matter to most hobbyists.

Best of all, the T3i has wireless flash, just like the 7D. If you’re wndering, “What’s the big deal with wireless flash,” you’re in for a treat. How would you like to position your flash off camera without nasty, messy cables? How would you like true, honest-to-goodness E-TTL in a two, three, four or more flash setup?

If you have or are thinking of buying a Canon T3i, contact me for my Flash in a Flash Workshop. It will make your flash photos jump right off the page.