The Digital Photo Guy

Topaz Black & White Effects Plug-In

Topaz Labs produces 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 health issue (see bottom) and I never got back to it.

Today, feeling well enough to review and edit photos for the first time in two weeks, I fired up Lightroom to find a photo for B&W conversion. I’m not saying this is the best I have available but I thought it turned out well (If you disagree, tell me why in the Comments below.)

Topaz plug-ins will be among the subjects I cover in my 30-Minute Webinar series (below.) I’ll show you what the controls do so you can customize the Preset to your own vision. Below is another photo that I made years ago. It never did anything for me in color but the Topaz B&W (middle) looks nice. The second conversion used BW Presets in LR3 Develop Module. It reminds me of the Twilight Zone.

Fast, Easy and Cheap – 30 Minute Webinar Series!

What more can you ask for in photography lessons? Are you aware that I have a separate site called Photography Webinars and Shoots? On that site, I list photography webinars and photoshoots. In fact, many of the photoshoots are free.

At least once per month and, sometimes, more often, I present a 30 Minute Webinar covering some aspect of digital photography and photo editing. To date, webinars have covered Cleaning Your dSLR Sensor, Applying Unsharp Mask, Using Layers in Photo Editing, Tips for Restoring Old Photos and others. Click HERE for a sample 30-Minute webinar (no password.)

Due to the popularity of these short, to-the-point lessons, I’m incorporating them into my annual subscription services. Starting December 1, 2011, I’ll offer two annual subscription plans: Basic and Premium.

Basic Subscription Service includes all 30-Minute Webinars (minimum 1 per month) for one year, free access to videos of all 30-Minute Webinars and e-mail support for questions of general interest. So, if you have a question about digital SLR photography or photo editing that may be of interest to other readers, I’ll post an answer on the web site. Until December 31, the Introductory Price for a Basic Subscription is $50 per year. After December 31, 2011, the price is $60. Readers who have previously attended 30-Minute Webinars are eligible for an Introductory Subscription price of $36 (send me a copy of your PayPal receipt.)

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Premium Subscription Service includes access to all 30-Minute Webinars (minimum 1 per month) for one year, free access to videos of all 30-Minute Webinars, e-mail support for all digital SLR and photo editing questions, free photo review and analysis for up to 12 photos per year and three hours of 1-on-1 consulting time via webinar. The three hours can also be used for a webinar class (does not include guest speakers.) Until December 31, 2011, the Premium Subscription price is $99. After 12/31/11, the regular price is $120. Readers who have previously attended 30-Minute Webinars are eligible for an additional discount, just $89 for 2012.

An added benefit is “Competition Review and Feedback,” a new service to members wishing to enter photo competitions. Honest, detailed feedback is important to win photography competitions. The Digital Photo Guy will provide insightful and incisive reviews of your photos to not only select the best photos for a particular competition but also ideas for improving your chances of winning.

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Eastern Sierras Photoshoot

Next Friday, Sep 30, I’ll be in the Eastern Sierras for 10 days. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome. I’ll be in some areas you may never find on your own and I’ll be experimenting with techniques such as star trails and long exposure night photography. For details, click this LINK.

Facebook Paradigm Shift

I recently read an article titled, “Does Facebook Really Care About You?” by Douglas Rushkoff. As I read the article, I suddenly realized what it was about FB that I don’t like. To quote Rushkoff, “…on Facebook we’re not the customers. We are the product.” In other words, FB packages your information and resells it. That, in turn, makes FB users unpaid employees, “The hours Facebook users put into their profiles and lists and updates is the labor that Facebook then sells to the market researchers and advertisers it serves.” Think about it.

Reports of My Death Have Been Exaggerated…

But, not by much. I rarely get sick but, when I do, it’s a doozy. Also, as I get older, it it takes longer to recover. Over the past two weeks, I experienced the worst gout attack in ten years. Then, I developed a sinus infection from allergies. Knowing I had just a few days before the infection dropped down to my chest and put me out for 6-8 weeks, I rushed to my doctor for amoxicillan. The point to all this is that I missed posting a Monday Morning Tip last week.

A Little Light is Wonderful, Too Much is Yucky

On my Meetup site, we recently scheduled a shoot at Cruisin’ Grand, a summer weekly hot rod show on Grand Avenue. I like events like Cruisin’ Grand because it’s a fun, challenging opportunity to practice PJ skills. The crowds make it nearly impossible to make photos without lots of “extras” in the background. Because it starts late in the afternoon and closes after dark, it’s also an opportunity to practice making fast decisions with my flash.

The first two shots of a fire truck are with and without fill flash. Both shots are SOOC (straight out of camera) without any editing except resizing and compressing. Although my main focus was on the flag above the truck, the second shot with fill flash is better because the lighting is more balanced. However, notice how the flash turned the reflective lettering on the trucks white. These won’t win any awards for artistic merit but they clearly show the value of fill flash. The third photo demos use of the catchlight (kicker) panel on a Canon 580EX II. I pulled out the kicker and angled the light at 45°. That gave me enough light to fully light up the engine without harsh shadows. If your flash doesn’t have a kicker, you can do the same thing with a white business card rubber banded to the top of the flash.

You can see more “real” photos on my Meetup site.

The Absurdity of Burning Man

For those who have never heard of Burning Man, it’s an annual “counterculture experience of self expression and discovery” in the Nevada desert (read that as a drug and alcohol fueled orgy.) For those who have heard of Burning Man, here are some interesting thoughts to ponder.

For a “counterculture experience,” the organizers raked in over $15,000,000 dollars this year. That’s fifteen million US Dollars. So, for that kind of dough, what does one get from BM (an apt acronym?) You get the right to squat on a piece of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) property for a week with absolutely no amenities except porta-potties. You also have the right to buy (that’s right, BUY) water from the organizers. Everything else has to be hauled in by yourself.

You are NOT allowed to buy or sell anything other than what is offered by the organizers, after all, this IS a counterculture experience. The party line is that BM is a “gift economy” and everything is to be freely given without expectation of anything in return. Of course, this “gift economy” doesn’t apply to the organizers.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against any entity establishing their own rules. After all, this is a capitalistic society. What amazes me is the number of dolts who actually pay to attend such an event. Included among these dolts are professional photographers who sign a contract that gives BM all rights to all their photos PLUS 10% of all revenue generated by the photograher. In other words, photographers are BM employees working on straight commission.

Here are some interesting reads on BM baloney:

Electronic Freedom Foundation, August 2009

Burning Hypocrisy, 2003

San Francisco Chronicle, August 2011

Fun with Flash

Most hobbyist photographers never take full advantage of all the bells and whistles in their fancy external flash, aka Canon Speedlite or Nikon Speedlight (I guess Nikon has a better spell checker!) Here are three things you might do with your flash.

A Canon 550EX and Canon 7D was used for all these photos but this can be done with most any modern digital camera and flash. Caveat: most advanced features are only available on dedicated flashes (made by the camera maker.)

Bounce the Light: If you’re just blasting light straight ahead, you may as well get closer and use the pop-up flash on your camera. Of course, with the greater power of an external flash, you might be able to get some really cool redeye effects. To soften the light and cast shadows that add depth, texture and character to your photos, bounce the light off a (low) ceiling or a handy wall. The bounce surface should be white to reduce odd color casts unless you’re into that look!

The flash in the first photo below was bounced off the 10 foot ceiling in my office while the second photo was with the 550EX pointed directly at the subject. Notice the harsh shadow directly behind the subject. Regardless of whether the subject is 6 inches or 6 feet tall, there will always be a harsh shadow. The bounced photo has a soft shadow that is less objectionable. If the subject is 6 ft tall, the shadow will be barely perceptible. For small subjects/objects, read on for a tip near the bottom.

2nd Curtain for Motion Effects: Many people have read or heard about 2nd curtain sync but haven’t quite figured out the purpose. In the default 1st curtain setting, the flash fires as soon as the shutter opens. This is usually of no consequence when the shutter speed is brief (<1/30 second) or the subject is static. However, if the shutter speed is >1/30 second, subject movement may show unnatural aberrations.

The first photo below shows a moving car captured with 1st curtain. The flash fired as soon as the shutter opened so the body of the car is to the left of the frame while the headlights extend forward as if the car was firing photon torpedoes. In the second photo, setting 2nd curtain caused the flash to fire just before the shutter closes. Now, the headlight trails are behind the car, a more natural image. These were handheld since the crowded sidewalk wasn’t conducive to deploying a tripod and I actually like the blurred lights. For a more traditional 2nd curtain image of automobile light trails, use a tripod and a stronger flash output.

Freeze Frames: This last photo is an example of Multi or stroboscopic flash where the flash is fired repeatedly at a set rate. In this photo, the Canon 550EX was set to fire at 4 times per second. The camera was set to 2 second shutter timer and the toy was released shortly after the timer was tripped. As the toy swung in front of the camera, the shutter opened for 1 second and the flash fired 4 times.

Now, remember in the first part where I described bounce? The small size of the subject showed a large, albeit soft, shadow. Here’s a previous Monday Morning Tip where I describe using Multi Mode to produce small product shots without a shadow.

Photography Classes at Palomar College

Did you know you can register for my Palomar College classes regardless of where you live? Even if you’re in Moosebreath, Montana, you can attend my classes via webinar. Check out Digital SLR for New dSLR Owners on Tuesday and Thursday, September 13 and15 from 7PM to 8:30PM Pacific Time or Photoshop Elements for Digital Photographers on Tue/Thu, Oct 11 and 13 at the same time. All you need is a PC or Mac, high-speed Internet and $59. Register today to get the most out of your digital photography.

Last Pin-Up Model Shoots

Since the Monday Morning Tip about the reader who unsubscribed due to, “Too many under-dressed female models…” I’ve had a huge spike in hits on this site. Today is the last of the series for a while because one can only photograph underdressed female models so many times.

The 2012 Cuties for a Cause Calendar launch party is Friday, October 14 at the Lafayette Hotel in San Diego. It’s only $10 so I encourage all my readers to attend if you can and, at least, buy a calendar. Proceeds go to the San Diego Animal Support Foundation, helping to improve the welfare of animals.

The following photos were made at the Lafayette Hotel which was featured in the movie Top Gun. The famous clamshell stage will be the backdrop for a fashion/swim suit show.

I also did a Cuties shoot at a private residential pool in Escondido, surrounded by tropical palms and ferns. Here are some of the best. The last photo is Melissa, the 2nd shooter/assistant at both shoots. Her photo of Tina number 7 (ignore my signature.)

Computers as Modern Necessary Evils

I started my life in computer engineering. This was back before geek was chic. Geeks wore white shirts, black ties, crew cuts and carried slide rules. In case you’ve never heard of a slide rule, here’s my original student slide rule (top) and my “professional” slide rule.

Last week, my HDR Webinar crashed and burned when the Screen Sharing plug-in died. For the first time in a long time, I had to cancel a webinar due to technical issues. The webinar service shrugged and said, “Stuff happens.” Just as there are no ex-Marines, there are no ex-geeks. I discovered a workaround but that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to fix the problem, not just add a patch like an old British sports car.

In the process, I found a tool that appealed to my inner geek. TweakNow PowerPack (TNPP) is like the Swiss Army Knife of PC utilities. Like a Swiss Army Knife, it is small and elegantly designed. Like a Swiss Army Knife, it is full of surprisingly useful tools and accessories. Like a Swiss Army Knife, you can hurt yourself if you’re not careful.

The main tools I needed were a registry scanner/cleaner and a temporary Internet files remover. Think of registry files as recipe cards. As you use them, they become splattered with tomato paste, Worcestshire sauce and canola oil. It becomes harder to decipher and errors creep in. Eventually, the cards need to be cleaned or replaced. In a PC, the registry becomes cluttered with info about old programs that you’ve removed, upgraded or somehow changed. In most cases, you never even realized the registry was modified. Eventually, the registry is too damaged and something fails.

Repairing the registry is not for the faint of heart. One slip of the keys and your PC can be rendered deader than the proverbial doorknob. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of registry cleaners that claim to make your PC well again. Some are outright scams while others are ineffective. Good ones tend to be expensive for a tool that does just one thing. TNPP is amazingly effective (based on my short tests) and, best of all, it’s free. I thought it was good enough that I donated $50 via the donate button on the TNPP site.

TNPP will clear out all sorts of accumulated junk and, in general, help make your PC run faster using fewer resources. But (you knew there had to be a catch,) I seriously recommend users stick with the default settings. DO NOT adjust settings like you might increase or decrease amounts in a recipe. If removing 10GB of junk is good, don’t assume removing 20GB is twice as good.

If your PC is more than 2-3 years old and your grandmother can add 2 + 2 faster, it might be useful to download TNPP and give it a whirl. After all, it’s free and can’t hurt as long as you don’t get stupid.