Still More Pin-Up Models
by Lee on Aug.28, 2011, under Articles, Lightroom, Monday Morning Tips, Photo Editing
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.
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September 24th, 2011 on 12:08 pm
[…] some of my favorite PS, PSE and LR plug-ins so when Nicole Paschal of Topaz invited me to try B&W Effects, I jumped right on it. Unfortunately, life has a way of getting in the way including a prolonged […]