The Digital Photo Guy

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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The Digital Photo Guy Blog Gets a Facelift

This is the 6th year for this site. During the first 4 years, it was a static site that was rarely updated because making changes was excruciatingly slow, complex and costly. In 2008, I resolved to fix the problem and commissioned a web developer to develop a new site that I could easily and quickly update myself. He recommended WordPress and the initial implementation took just 6 weeks. As soon as he was done, I started making changes and quickly learned how to do just about everything by myself. I’m no rocket scientist but WordPress makes everything simple and straightforward.

Now, a year after the initial launch, a new static home page has replaced the previous dynamic home page. A dynamic home page was fine in the beginning but, now, with so many articles and posts, it was quickly becoming unwieldly. Readers couldn’t easily find the information they sought. A static home page can act as ”street signs” to help point readers in the right direction. As you can see, some of the signs are still not working. That’s because all the MMTs, posts and articles weren’t always correctly or fully tagged.

Tagging the material at this time would be counter productive because each update would generate an e-mail notification of an update and readers wuld be innundated with e-mails.

Starting in 2010, I’ll be more careful about tagging each MMT, post and article so readers can quickly find all material pertaining to Cameras/Lenses/Gear, Photo Editing and Photography.

In the meantime, the existing tags (right side of main blog) can help you find specific articles or MMTs. You can also use the Seach box along the right side of the main blog.

A website is a never-ending process. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment here. Good light, good memories and good luck in 2010.

Monday Morning Tip – 12/07/09

If you’ve ever tried to cut a person or pet out of a photo and found it to be an exercise in frustration, you need to watch today’s Video MMT. Topaz Labs has released ReMask2 and it is an order of magnitude improved over the first version. Here’s a quick example of what ReMask2 can do for you.

The initial pass took about 3 minutes and I spent another 3 minutes cleaning up the edges. It’s still not perfect but much, much better and faster than previous manual methods. Click here to read the rest of this MMT

Monday Morning Tip

Another VMMT (Video Monday Morning Tip) has been uploaded to the MMT archives on the Tips & News page. This time, I mix it up bit and show how a Topaz Labs Adjust 3 preset can be used as a starting point but then segue into a demo of Dodge and Burn Tools.

The “take-away” from today’s VMMT is to use Presets and Effects as starting points, not as final results. These are just some engineer’s idea of what looks cool/cute/hot or whatever the flavor of the day happens to be. Don’t believe for a moment that an engineer sitting in his/her cube knows more about how to enhance your photo than you.

While I’m on this topic, don’t use effects as a means to cover up lousy photos. Work to get the photo as good as you can SOC (straight out of camera). Slathering on effects to hide bad photos is like slathering on icing to cover up a burned cake. It doesn’t work in either case.

Wild Animal Park Photoshoot

The next WAP photoshoot workshop is December 5 from 9AM until 1PM. We spend 3 hours inside the park covering all aspects Exposure, Focus and Composition. Then, we retire to my RV where we download the photos and demonstrate a basic Photoshop Elements workflow to make good photos into great photos by Cropping, adjusting Levels, Color Balance and Sharpening. Register HERE using PayPal.

Another 5 Minutes Out of Nearly 200 Minutes

After the jump, I’ve added another 5 minute clip from the Rob Sheppard webinar so, if you missed the webinar or want to see what it covered before ordering the DVD, follow the “more” link. Keep reading for more goodies…

Today’s MMT, as usual, is in the MMT page behind a password on the Tips & News section. (To get a password, please register) This MMT was inspired by a friend and former student who just bought a new Canon EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5 super wide angle lens and sent me some photos from his trip to Taos. Readers who have an 18-55 kit lens as their primary WA might have noticed that distant subjects tend to appear tiny when using a WA. This can be both a benefit and a disadvantage.

It’s immediately obvious that a WA isn’t a particularly good lens for photographing small, distant objects because they appear even smaller than they already are. But, if the small, distant objects form a pattern, the WA may be the perfect lens. So, while a WA isn’t useful for photographing the quarterback in the pocket from your seats in the nosebleed section, it may be just the lens for capturing the colors and patterns in the seats across the stadium.

A key technique when using a WA is to get as close to the main subject as possible and give the viewer the sensation of being in the photo instead of observing the photo.

We Have a Winner

Tracie from Hawaii is the first winner in the Photoshop Elements webinar and the class doesn’t even start for another 12 days. Tracie registered herself and two friends for the webinar and won a complete Topaz Labs Suite (Adjust, DeNoise, Simplify, Detail, Clean, ReMask, DeJPEG) worth $179.

There’s one more chance to win a complete bundle and that’s during the webinar when one lucky student will receive a complete Topaz Labs bundle. If you’re not familiar with Topaz Labs Photoshop and Photoshop Elements plug-ins, check out the cool tools on their site. 

But, even if you don’t win the bundle during the webinar, not to despair because I have a great deal for the rest of you. Go to Topaz Labs’ website and order the bundle using the code digitalphotoguy for a 15% discount. That gets you $340 worth of software for just $152.99. It don’t get no better’n that, citizen!

Remember, we also have lots of other door prizes including the 800+ page Workbook from Photoshop World, a BlackRapid camera strap and 1-2-3 of Digital Imaging book on a CD. Click here to see the door prizes and read the descriptions.

Wild Animal Park Photoshoot – Dec 5, 2009

The next WAP Photoshoot class is just 5 weeks away. If you’re the type that likes to see which buttons I’m pressing in what direction and why, this is the class for you. In just 4 hours, we’ll cover Exposure, Focus, Composition and basic photo editing.

Some challenges you’ll learn to overcome include setting the desired exposure by using the Exposure Level Indicator, Histogram and Exposure Compensation. You’ll also learn how to use flash during broad daylight to improve your photos, set your camera and lens for kids and critters in motion and composing for impact.

We end the session by meeting in my RV for a photoshop Elements session to learn the basics of photo editing. This is the fastest, easiest path for new dSLR owners to get “up-to-speed”.