The Digital Photo Guy

I produced three Video MMTs over the last 2 days which I’ll be releasing while I’m leading the Spring Desert Wildflower Photoshoot Workshops this weekend and next. There’s still time to register so sign up now. When’s the last time you went to the desert to photograph wildflowers? Here are some photos from last year.

While taking a break, I came across the following videos and thought readers would get a kick out of them. This is the perfect, non-violent yet extremely painful, costly and effective revenge against an uncaring corporate giant.

Last Song Released

Most everyone remembers a YouTube video that went viral last year about a Canadian guitarist whose Taylor guitar was broken by Unitd Airlines. The airline refused to do anything until over 50,000 people viewed the video in the first 24 hours. By the time the video finally peaked, it had been viewed over 8 million times, a PR nightmare for UAL.

In the ensuing 7 months, UAL has (ineptly) tried to mollify the artist, Dave Carroll, but never really “got it” regards customer service. Carroll reports in his last song (he promised to write 3 songs about the experience) that he still hears daily from people who have been badly treated, mistreated or simply ignored by UAL. Click to read more and see videos

UPDATE: Just heard from Roger at LensRentals.com (see end of MMT) that they have a 5% discount going on right now. Sounds like a great excuse to rent a wide angle or macro or both and join me at the Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflower Workshop next weekend (3/13 & 14) or the following weekend (3/20 & 21). If you rent a lens from LensRentals.com and e-mail a copy of your invoice to me, I’ll take 5% off the price of the workshop. (Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts).

Duh! forgot to include the discount code: PIXEL5. Somedays, it’s better to stay in bed. I don’t know when the discount promo ends. Send LensRentals an e-mail if you think you’ll use it in the near future.

Yeah, yeah! I know today is Friday and this is a Monday Morning Tip but I won’t have time this weekend so it gets posted today. If it bothers you, just wait until Monday to read it. Sheesh!

Topaz Labs releases Adjust 4

Until recently, I pretty much used plug-ins to make specific adjustments, not create a final result. When I bought the Topaz Labs bundle at Photoshop World, I was more interested in using the tools to help me tweak photos, not produce a finished, final image. But, as they say, “Even an old dog can learn new tricks if properly motivated!” (OK, so I just made that up) Maybe it’s just laziness in my old age but I’m beginning to like several presets in the new release of Topaz Labs Adjust 4. Some were available in Adjust 3 but I never really explored them thinking I could do better than some geek engineer who’s probably never seen sunlight, much less a dSLR.

Here are some side-by-side examples of Adjust 4 presets versus my normal workflow:

One photo in each set (I’m not telling which) is my normal workflow. The other is a Topaz Adjust 4 preset where I simply clicked a button and said, “Do it!” There’s no right or wrong but do you have a preference? BTW, one photo is an HDR produced with DP-HDR. Click for more examples

Shoebill Stork Video

Anyone who’s taken a Wild Animal Park “Hands-On” Photoshoot with me knows of my fascination with the shoebill stork whom I’ve nicknamed “Fred”. He’s an interesting bird, not just for his massive beak but also because he almost seems to be observing the people who stop to view him. A friend and former student who is an aviculturist sent me this link.

Monday Morning Tip

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Monday Morning Tip

OK, so it’s a little bit past morning. It’s my blog and I say it’s still Monday Morning in some remote corner of the world.

I presented a Photoshop Elements webinar this past Saturday and had prepared seven short videos to be played during the webinar. Unfortunately, the instructions for loading the videos were incomplete and I couldn’t get them to play. So, rather then let go to waste, I decided to upload them as my MMT for this week.

The videos cover PSE7 Organizer, Quick Fix & Smart Fix, Create a Slideshow, Bypass the Annoying Splash Screen, Workflow – Crop, Workflow – Levels and Workflow – Sharpen. Click to read more

Some photographers transcend photography and become icons. Ansel Adams is such an icon. I’ve read lots of articles about Adams, sat through many lectures about the him and admired all of his iconic images but it seems that every new story has a different nuance about this multi-faceted giant. I really enjoyed this video and hope you will too.

The reason I found this video was because I was at Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Refuge in Los Angeles over the weekend. It was pleasent and interesting but not exactly what I would call a wildlife refuge (except for the baggy-pants homie birds). Anyplace I have to keep an eye out behind me isn’t exactly a natural pool of serenity.
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