The Digital Photo Guy

Questioning Conventional Wisdom

We all know that for maximum post-processing flexibility, we should shoot in RAW. Unfortunately, there are circumstances that force us to shoot in JPEG. For example, a Canon T2i is limited to 6 RAW files in Continuous Mode before the buffer is full and the camera stops to digest the data. At 3.7 fps, that’s just 1.6 seconds of action. If you’re trying to capture lots of action, the camera may not be ready for the next burst. In this situation, it might be better to use JPEG.

Conventional wisdom says, with JPEG, the trick is to nail white balance in-camera because it’s messier to make corrections once the in-camera processor has mucked with the data. Besides, who wants to adjust WB for dozens of photos.

This week, I tested conventional wisdom by scrounging around for some old jpegs with bad WB. I used 3 different techniques for adjusting WB and I think you might be surprised at the results.

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Compositing Photos

As always, whenever I post an article I receive a flurry of e-mails asking, “How’d you do that?” This week, it was about replacing the dull Parisian sky with a bright blue SoCal sky. This is a pretty simple task so I prepared a short 3 minute video.

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How Your Camera’s AutoFocus Works

(and why you should care)

I posted this as a question on a site I visit from time-to-time and no one either knew the answer or cared. Therefore, I decided my readers were a better audience for something a bit more technical but, nonetheless, important to getting the most out of your camera gear.
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Tips About This Website

Hover your cursor over the home page slideshow until the cursor turns into a double-headed, slanted arrow and click the mouse to maximize the photo. The image won’t be as sharp because they’re compressed and resized to smaller dimensions. You can also go forward or backward by clicking the cursor near the  left or right edges.

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Cloud Photos

I stepped outside the other day and was amazed at the clouds above the house. I don’t often see clouds in San Diego and I especially don’t see unusual or interesting cloud formations.

All these were taken within moments of each other but because I faced different directions, the light shifted, causing the colors to be different in each.

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Friends of The Digital Photo Guy promo for CA Photo Festival has ended!

Thanks to everyone who took advantage of the 10% discount. CPF says it was so successful they’ve hit their goals and have ended the promotion. But, you can still get the Early Bird registration fee of just $449 until August 20.

A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Lose

Feeling guilty for not having produced an MMT in several weeks, I resolved to remedy my backsliding ways this week. I sat down and produced a Video MMT in record time but, as I started to render the video (convert to a final, viewable format), I had a sense of déjà vu. Looking through my past videos, I found that I had produced a near exact copy of a video from several years ago. Old age and senility is finally taking its toll on me.

Questions about Selection Tools are one of the most frequently asked. For some reason, everyone wants to select an object in a photo, extract it out and move it to another photo. This video shows you how to use the Magic Extractor to do just that. The video also quickly covers the Selection Brush Tool that everyone thinks is the cat’s meow but I’ve personally never much cared for.

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Fixing Critter Eyes (both 2 & 4 legged)

I was planning to produce several more Photoshop Elements videos but couldn’t come up with a topic or theme. So, I’m recycling a video that, according to my logs, was very popular when it was first uploaded.

Everyone has taken photos of Fido or Fluffy with weird green or white eyes. This is the animal form of red-eye. This technique can be used to recreate a more realistic result than that nasty old Red Eye Removal Tool in PSE. For anyone who has never tried the Red Eye Removal Tool, you’re not missing anything. It simply replaces the red with another color. Unless you’re very precise or very lucky, the new color will not match the real eye color.

Using this method, you’ll actually replace the eye with a good eye from another photo.

Video Monday Morning Tip, 3-29-10
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Female Assistant Needed – Friday 7/30

I need a female assistant (read as “slave labor“) to hold reflectors, position & adjust flashes, keep track of equipment and otherwise help me during a beach shoot. The shoot will be early morning and/or late afternoon, Friday, 7/30 at Oceanside Harbor. The model is Tylor, the young lady I photographed a few weeks ago but this time we’re doing an Ava Gardner look on the rocks at Oceanside Harbor. I need a female since you might need to brush back her hair, adjust her bathing suit straps or otherwise work very close to her. Shoot me an e-mail ASAP if you can help.