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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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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