The Digital Photo Guy

Back to Wild Animal Park with a Plan

I went back to Wild Animal Park this past Sunday prepared to photograph large birds. Before I went, I had three large birds in mind. As always, Fred the Shoebill Stork was at the top of my list of favorites. Next, I wanted a good photo of the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill and, of course, the Secretary Bird.

The hornbill has such black eyes that I wanted a photo using fill flash to add a catchlight. As luck would have it, the hornbill was not in a mood to pose. Most times, he perches on a log in the middle of the enclosure but, this time, he kept pacing directly in front of me, behind a set of barrier cables. I had to wait patiently for him to make several runs through the tall grass before I finally managed to fire three frames. This was the best.

I used a Canon 7D with a 300/2.8 at f/2.8 and 1/80 second. My Canon 550EX was set to Manual at 1/4 power. The camera was on a Gitzo 3530LS with a Markins ballhead and a Wimberly Sidekick gimbal mount.

The Secretary Birds weren’t much better. Their interesting running behavior of the previous week was gone and one sat on the ground, just out of sight, while the other paced in front of a chain link fence, a distracting background. On a few occasions, it ran past us and I was able to make this photo.

For this, my Canon 7D with the 300/2.8 was set to f/2.8 at 1/250 second and the Canon 550EX was in Manual Mode at 1/4 power.

The White Egyptian Vulture was a treat. I had’t noticed him before so it was fun to make a photo. Again, his eyes were so black, it was difficult to get a catchlight unless he was looking in just the right direction. Shortly after I made this photo, he was chased off by a brown vulture. Here, I used f/8.0 because I wanted to dial back the light off the white bird. A 300mm at 30 feet has less than 12 inches DoF from f/2.8 to about f/8.0 so I wasn’t too concerned about the background. My main concern was not to blow out the white feathers.

Fred, the shoebill stork, as usual, didn’t disappoint. Here, I caught Fred in a contemplative mood as he studied the flowers in front of him. As fearsome as he looks, I would love to get up close to Fred.

All the photos were processed in Lightroom 3 based on techniques I learned from George Jardine’s LR training videos. If you’re serious about your photography, you should be using Lightroom and, if you’re using Lightroom, you need George’s videos. You can get all three (Library, Develop, Adobe Camera Raw) for about $50. That’s 16 hours of training for less than a dinner for two.

Understanding Layers and How To Use Them

Explaining Layers is like blind men describing an elephant. Depending on where on the elephant a blind man touched, it was variously described as python-like, wall-like or built like a tree trunk. Be as that may, I’m presenting a 30-Minute Webinar to demonstrate the different ways Layers can be used in PS/PSE. I’ll demonstrate Adjustment Layers, Layer Masks, Fill Layers and other useful Layers.

This webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 10 at 7PM Pacific Time. As always, the webinar is $3. Register HERE.

Understanding Layers and How To Use Them

After the last 30-Minute Webinar covering Unsharp Mask (USM,) I received an e-mail asking about Layers. Specifically, the person asked to learn more about how Layers work and how they are used. There are hundreds of videos and tutorials on the web about Photoshop (PS) and Photoshop Elements (PSE) Layers but many are a tangled mess of confusion.

Most people treat Layers as just another tool like the Crop or Lasso Tools. Crop and Lasso are specialized tools that perform clearly defined tasks. Layers, on the other hand, are general purpose tools that can be used in many different ways. In that respect, Layers are like Swiss Army Knives. Layers can also be considered a technique, a way of getting to the final result. Sometimes, Layers an intermediate step. Layers can also be used to modify the behavior of other tools. All this flexibility makes it difficult to produce a clear, concise and logical tutorial of Layers.

Be as that may, I’ve decided to present a 30-Minute Webinar to demonstrates the different ways Layers can be used in PS/PSE. Unlike USM, there won’t be a techie, geeky component to this webinar because Layers doesn’t lend itself to that. Instead, we’ll jump right in and start demonstrating Adjustment Layers, Layer Masks, Fill Layers and other uses for Layers.

This webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 10 at 7PM Pacific Time. As always, the webinar is $3. Register HERE.

Wrap You Mind Around USM

USM (Unsharp Mask) has been the “go-to” tool for sharpening in most advanced photo editing tools (Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, etc) for many years. I’m not positive but I believe USM was in Photoshop version 1 (hard to believe that was 1988.)

USM has its roots in the film era when an unsharp mask would be created by hand to add contrast to edges and enhance perceived sharpness. Can you imagine using an X-acto knife to tediously cut out edges where you want to add sharpening? That required patience and skill far beyond what most photographers have or are willing to learn. The width of the edge determined the amount of sharpness.

When USM was introduced to the digital world, photographers thought they had died and gone to heaven. But, as time progressed, people started seeing the shortcomings of USM and new technologies started to evolve. However, USM has withstood the test of time and remains a mainstay in the digital photographer’s toolkit.

Knowing how and when to use USM is an important skill for digital photographers. A full class on USM would take hours if not days but you can get your mind around the basic concepts in this 30 minute webinar. For just $3 and 30 minutes of your time, learn how to apply USM to make your photos look their best. Click HERE to register.

Lightroom Keyboard Shortcuts Are Da Bomb

I’ve been using LR since ver. 1 but never tried to integrate it into my workflow because I didn’t want to lose my investment in Photoshop. When one invests effort into learning something, one doesn’t want to change unless the new thing offers a clear advantage. It’s the old, “Don’t confuse me with facts, I’ve got my mind made up!” mindset. I was of that mindset until LR 3 was released last year. Now, I’m a LR convert and, like ex-smokers, I can be a PITA to non-believers.

Two things are needed for LR to work for you. First, you have to be a photographer. By that, I mean someone engaged in the art of photography, not a snapshooter. Second, it helps if you’re trying to organize and enhance your photos, not cut, clone, add, delete or otherwise move pixels. Read this MMT for more details.

If, however, you fall into that small percentage of photographers who simply want to enhance already good photos, LR3 keyboard shortcuts can make your post processing even easier and faster.

Even better, LR has a shortcut that brings up content specific keyboard shortcuts. In other words, if you’re in the Library Module and press Control + / (Mac – Command + /) a pop-up window appears with keyboard shortcuts for the Library Module. If you’re in the Develop Module, the pop-up display shortcuts specific to the Develop Module. This helps you learn the shortcuts much more quickly than a dog-eared, coffee stained “cheat sheet” on your desk, somewhere!

Twitpic Rips-Off Your Photos

Do you use Twitpic to post photos to Twitter? If so, you’re giving them “a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content.” In other words, they can do whatever they want with the photos, video or any other content in perpetuity. Yes, they retain your work even if you remove them from the Twitpic site. How do you like them apples! (LINK to story)

I avoid Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other forms of STD (socially transmitted dreck,) but I’m concerned my photos will be posted by someone else and become the property of Twitpic. If you’re an artist, you might want to ensure all your work is copyrighted.

The fastest, easiest way to apply a copyright notice to all your photo is to enter the info in the Copyright Info page of your camera. Most prosumer quality dSLRs have a menu for entering the owner’s name and copyright info directly into the camera’s IPTC fields. If your camera doesn’t have such a function, be sure to use the Metadata function in most photo editing programs to automatically enter the info as you process the images.

Keep in mind, you can’t collect damages unless you’ve registered your photos with the Copyright Office. Copyright automatically confers as soon as you press the shutter release but without it being registered, the best you’ll get is a removal of the infringing use.

Hummingbird Chicks Have Fledged

The larger chick, Big Guy  (BG, front) fledged this morning, just after I made this photo using a Canon 40D with 50/1.4 plus a Kenko 12mm extension tube and Canon 550EX with a Stofen Omnibounce. I was a bit concerned about using flash but thought the chicks were old enough not to panic. They got annoyed after about seven photos but didn’t seem worried. Since then, I’ve watched mama try to push the younger one out of the nest by flapping her wings but LG (Little Guy) wasn’t going for it.

It’s been an amazing journey, from watching mama lay the eggs to faithfully sitting on them for as much as 50 minutes each hour to seeing the chicks just after hatching. Now, the cycle is almost complete and the new hummingbirds are ready to start their own lives. I’m not a religious person but I can’t help but believe that there’s more to life on earth than PDL (Pure Dumb Luck.) I hope we don’t waste this opportunity with our self-absorbed, entitlement-minded, me-me mentality that says humans can do as they wish.

Photo Editing Tools Overview

Last week, I presented a short webinar discussing the differences between Photoshop CS, Photoshop Elements and Lightroom. I produced this because I saw too many people buying things simply because some “expert” told them so.

Most digital photographers just don’t need all these programs. Even professionals rarely use all these tools. Watch the video and learn how these programs differ and which best meet your needs.

Unlimited access to Photo Editing Tools video

After making a PayPal payment, you will receive a link to the video.

Cleaning Your dSLR Sensor

Unlimited access to Cleaning Your dSLR Sensor video

After making a PayPal payment, you will receive a link to the video.