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.

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.