The Digital Photo Guy

Photoshop Elements in 6 Weeks, starts Feb 16

Flash Photography in a Flash, Feb 26

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Spring Desert Wildflowers, late March 2011

Free Photo Critique

Visualizing a B&W Photo on a dSLR

I started with Black & White photography. I learned how to shoot, develop and print Tri-X in darkrooms, real darkrooms lit with dim red bulbs and smelling of fixer. When I could afford it, I changed over to color slides and prints and never looked back. Now, in the digital age, we can have our cake and eat it, too. We can make color images and convert to BW in Photoshop. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my ability to imagine an image in B&W. It’s a struggle to ignore the colors and evaluate the B&W tonalities.

Recently, I read an article by Rob Sheppard in Outdoor Photographer, one of the few photography magazines to which I subscribe. In it, Rob talked about using the Monochrome Mode in most modern digital cameras to make BW images. I’ve never subscribed to this idea because you don’t have a color image to fall back on if your BW doesn’t turn out well. I also feel that converting a color image to BW gives better control over the final image.

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Pin-Up Shoot – Sock Hop Theme, Jan 16

Photoshop Elements in 6 Weeks, starts Feb 16

Flash Photography in a Flash, Feb 26

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Spring Desert Wildflowers, late March 2011

Combining Tools and Techniques into a Process

Several months ago, while teaching a Photoshop Elements webinar, I discovered that some people don’t differentiate between tools, techniques and processes. Having been trained as an engineer, it seemed odd that non-engineers wouldn’t think the same way! (That’s a joke!) Today’s Video Monday Morning Tip (VMMT) is a look at how I might combine tools and techniques into a process to try to salvage a really bad photo.

Caveat – the best thing for this photo would be the round file followed by a reshoot. This photo has been further lightened from the Jan 3 version.

This two-frame panorama was posted on last week’s Monday Morning Tip (MMT). I was trying different ideas for capturing a scene that had previously eluded me. This attempt wasn’t any better so I was ready to trash these photos when I realized I could use this as a good example of combining Tools and Techniques in a Process. Follow the link to view the video.

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Wild Animal Park Workshop

Pin-Up Shoot – Sock Hop Theme

Flash Photography in a Flash

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Spring Desert Wildflowers, late March 2011

Photography In & Around San Diego

As my students know, I drive an RV to photo workshops. The RV is my on-site digital darkroom where I teach Photoshop Elements as part of the workshop.

Here’s Arbey (RV, get it?) in early evening light at Joshua Tree NP. Notice the moon just above and to the left of the rock. I keep telling myself I need to substitute a larger moon into this photo.

Anyway, I belong to a forum of similar RV owners. They plan to meet (Rally in RV jargon) in San Diego in May 2011. In a moment of weakness, I volunteered to teach a digital photography class at the rally. Since these rally attendees are more snapshooters than photographers, I thought a guide to San Diego area photo opportunities might be useful to them. And, what better way to develop such a list than through Monday Morning Tips?
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Wild Animal Park Workshop

Pin-Up Shoot – Sock Hop Theme

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Sending High Quality Small Photos

Last time, we covered resizing & compressing photos using Windows Photo Viewer, an easy, free tool for Windows users. That’s fine if you just intend to sent a photo to someone who’s not all that critical. However, sometimes, you want to send a higher quality image at a size and/or compression ratio that’s not available in WPV. Or, you might already be in Photoshop Elements and want to send the photo you just edited.

As in all things PSE, there are several ways to do this quickly and easily. The photos below show where several of these tools hide and how to use them

     
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Sandhill Cranes at Cibola NWR

Wild Animal Park Workshop

Pin-Up Shoot – Sock Hop Theme

Resize and Compress Before Sending Photos

Each week, I receive lots of photos and I’m constantly amazed at the different sizes and shapes that are sent. Today’s MMT is a primer for resizing and compressing photos sent via e-mail. I’m using the dimensions and qualities I prefer but I believe these are  pretty universal.

Let’s start with the basics. A typical dSLR produces images about 12-18 megapixels in size. For example, a Canon 40D image is 3888 x 2592. Multiply the two numbers to get 10.07 million pixels (advertised as 10.1MP). If the photo was taken in Large, Fine JPEG, the file size is about 3.5 megabytes. This is obviously too large to send via e-mail, especially if you send 3-4 images.

The easiest way to resize and compress all photos to a similar size and compression is to use Windows Photo View in Windows 7, Vista or XP. Unless you’ve changed the file associations, double clicking on a jpeg file should launch Win Photo Viewer. (below, left)

Notice the E-mail command along the top left. Clicking this will launch the resize dialog (above center). For photos you simply want to share with me, select the smallest size, 640 x 480. For photos you want me to critique, select either Small (800 x 600) or Medium (1024 x 768). If I ask you to send me a large photo, use 1280 x 1024. Rarely, I’ll ask for the original. Next click Attach and your e-mail client (the software you use for e-mail) will launch (above right). In this example, the original file was 3MB while the resized & compressed file is only 195KB.

Notice how a generic Subject has been enterd. PLEASE change that. I receive lots of e-mails from spammers, scammers, hackers and dirtbags trying to get me to open a virus laden or other yucky e-mails. If it has a generic subject, it will be trashed.

Sandhill Cranes at Cibola NWR – Sat, Dec 11

This coming Saturday, Dec 11 at 6AM, I’ll be at Cibola NWR near Blythe, CA to photograph sandhill cranes. If you’d like to join me, send me an e-mail and I’ll send directions for where you can meet me. The temperature will be about 40F-45F. Once you photograph these magnificent birds, you’ll be hooked.

Wild Animal Park Workshop – Sat, Dec 18, 9AM

Learn to control and master your dSLR during a “hands-on” workshop at Wild Animal Park. In just 3 hours, learn tips and techniques that can be applied under any condition. Practice the techniques on the spot to make it easier to remember. This has always been our most popular field workshop. Includes 1 hour Photoshop Elements class at WAP. Click for more details.

Sock Hop Theme Pin-Up Shoot – Sun, Jan 16, 2011

On Sunday, January 16, 2011, I’ll be photographing 3 cute models for a Sock Hop Pin-Up shoot. There’s no formal instruction but you’ll have the opportunity to work with me and a few other experienced photographers. There are 3 spots left. If you’d like to join me, send me an e-mail. There will be a $25 fee plus an $8 entrance fee for the venue. The $25 goes to the models for their time, makeup and accessories.