Category: Adobe

Camera Profiles

Jason1 Comment

So, today I had the day off work, and was catching up on a few things.  I read through most of my piled up photo magazines, caught up on some NAPP tutorials, and some overdue email replies to various asundry things.  One of the tutorials I watched was from Matt Kloskowski on installing camera profiles for ACR in both LR and CS3/CS4.  It’s pretty cool stuff.

Basically, Adobe has worked with various camera vendors to get the ACR to approximate the same colors that are shown in the vendor proprietary software (Digital Photo Professional for Canon and Capture NX for Nikon, and a whole host of others.)  Matt did a great job of showing how close it gets while even still in beta.  I was convinced enough to go ahead and download the plugin to use in CS3.  Fair warning though, you do need at least ACR version 4.5 or higher to use these profiles (I have 4.6 installed).  Since my bodies are Canon-specific my interface may look a little different, but thought I’d share the screenshot of what it looks like for me:

My thoughts are that the Camera Landscape beta is the closest to what DPP shows.  Since it’s all happening in camera raw, as Matt stated, it just gives you a better starting point with less editing to get to your final results.  I really can’t wait to see how this develops and moves out of beta.  Just hope that Adobe sees fit to release the final shipping version for CS3 owners as well as CS4.  What about others – has anyone else installed this?  How do your pictures look?  Are they close to your vendor software?  Feel free to jump in with the comments!

In other news for Friday, this is the last day to participate in the economy-photography poll from the sidebar.  You RSS readers – stop in and vote, we’re trying to break 30, and only have until midnight!  Other than that, it’s been a great day – I even got some cool shots of the dog after our walk with the sunlight glistening in her eyes.

I’ll leave with my favorite What the Duck of the Week.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again on Monday – have a great weekend!

Be careful with Adobe updates!

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I was just in the NAPP forums (a great place to learn by the way), and learned about the ACR update.  Since I already am good on the gear compatibility side, I went to the readme.txt file to see if there were any other updates to the programs that I should be aware of (Podpress has made me very cautious about updating too soon…)

Turns out there are some LR issues with a few tools and with XMP sidecar files versus database entries.  If this is all gibberish to you, then don’t worry you are probably fine.  For the more technically inclined though, their readme file is something to look at before you upgrade ACR this go-around.

Linked here

Proof positive that the old adage of “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” can still apply in a modern world.  If you don’t have a specific need for the update (a very recent camera purchase), I’d hold off until the next update ships as this could break Lightroom to a degree, as well as prevent respecting of previous edits if you use the database option for XMP data.

In more CB-specific news, the last poll finally wrapped up today.  With 30 responses, here was the final tally:

The newest poll is now up on the sidebar.  2 weeks does seem to return more meaningful information as that gives people enough time to respond.  Feel free to chime in at your leisure.  The question is:  Does the current economic downturn had an impact on new photography-related purchases?  For those reading in feed readers, stop in to see the options and vote!  Let’s try to crack the 50-count this go around! 🙂

On a lighter note, the WTD series this week was really pretty darn funny.  Here’s my favorite:

Have a great weekend everyone, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here Monday morning!

The Weekender – Web stuff and some thoughts on CS4

Jason3 Comments

The last few days have been insanely busy with work and home obligations, so out of necessity I have not had time to devote to content for the blog.  My apologies for abandoning the readership temporarily, and without warning.  I’ll endeavor to give advance notice before that happens again.  So, with that out of the way, I thought today it might be useful to get a wrap-up of what I have been seeing and reading around the forums, blogs, and internet that’s photography-related.

  • Jeff Revell, who has become quite well-known for his photowalking blog made a few interesting posts recently.  In one of them, he did a reminder on updating your firmware.  Great idea Jeff – if you’re interested, I actually put together a post with all the Canon firmware updates as of a few weeks ago.  The other one was ab out the Epson Print Academy season for 2009 has been published.  I had been meaning to go to one of these for a while, and for a mere $150 think it is definitely worth the cost.  They’re coming to Denver and it’s a mere block or two from where I work so I will most assuredly be in attendance this go around.
  • Scott Kelby, master instructor of Photoshop, Lightroom and author of more books than I can count, is also bringing his tour through Denver some time in December.  Check out the schedule here if you want to see him live and in action at what he does best!
  • David Ziser has offered up a Digital Wakeup Call DVD worht $75 to some lucky participant if he gets 20 ideas on how to incorporate video into your selling packages for photography businesses.  Not a bad deal for 5 minutes of your time!
  • Don’t forget, I’ve expanded the poll here at CanonBlogger to go longer than the 1 week, so the numbers are a more accurate representation.  What features do you like about the curreng generation of camera bodies on the market?  What motivates you to buy?  Share your thoughts on the poll to the right.

Last, but not least, the hubub on most forums lately has been surrounding the release of CS4 and LR2’s latest updates.  The reason for all the hoopla comes every time there is a new release to the software, and it’s a cycle that likely will not end.  Rather than just pile on and vent, I thought for the second half of this double-feature wrap-up, I’d share some thoughts on why people are frustrated rather than just saying “people are frustrated”.  So, here’s a different perspective.

Software is not a tangible asset

Software is not like a camera body, or a car, or a television, it’s something that lives on your computer.  Thus, the value of it is not as easy to see.  We are very much a society that thrives on all our toys, and software just isn’t the same as having the latest body, or flash or television or car.  It’s not something we can touch and feel and show off to our friends.  It’s only on our computer.

Necessity

With software, we are sometimes obligated to upgrade.  I personally had to upgrade because CS2 did not offer a raw converter for the Canon 40D.  Sure, there’s the Adobe DNG converter for free, and I actually have incorporated that into my work flow for the Mac where I don’t have CS3, but that does present another step in the process of a work flow that I was previously happy to not have to deal with.  Anyway, the point here is that if you don’t upgrade your software, you will find yourself unable to maintain a stable and consistent work flow (since you re upgrading other gear all the time too).

Competitive Pricing

With other technologies, competition keeps prices under control.  Camera vendors like Canon, Nikon, Sony, and the rest all have to compete with one another for your business.  Adobe really has no competition in the market place.  Okay, sure, there’s Corel, and the GIMP, but come on, who are we kidding?  Adobe is the market when it comes to photo editing software.  All the others are simply “alternative programs”.  Without a competitor, Adobe can price things however they want, knowing that those of us who have already invested are pretty much committed to maintaining our work flow by keeping the software interface as consistent as we can.  To their credit, upgrades are cheaper than the full blown versions of the software, and there are often promotions and suc (educational pricing is the best way to go imho – take a community college class once every two years and you will save anywhere fro $300 to $700 on pricing for the CS products).

Release Schedule

Do we really need to upgrade our software and work flow every 18 months?  With cameras, (which are released on the same schedules for most SLRs), most people I know wait at least 2 generations before upgrading.  Another analogy that has been made here is to cars – anyone upgrade their car every two years?  What about televisions?  Do we really upgrade our televisions every 18 months?  Unlikely…and even if we do, is the old television still usable?  Often times, the older version is relegated to the basement or a childs bedroom, or even sold second hand.  Who buys outdated software?  No one that I know of…

So, there’s the second half of the weekend post.  What do you think?  Am I off base?  Is the software market competitive?  Do you think the pricing is fair and equitable?  What about the upgrade schedule?  Does 18 months sound about right?  Sound off in the comments!

Again, sorry for the lack of material over the last two days.  Hopefully this will make up for the lack of content on Thursday and Friday.  Now, since you’ve finished this, take that last sip of coffee, pack up your gear and go have fun shooting!  (In other words, Happy Shooting!)  We’ll see you back here again on Monday.

The last of the panoramas (for now)

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As promised, I have a black-and-white version of the original panorama from the trip across the country finished. Also, as I finally had some down time with the camera, I took off in search of some sunset scenery (I am used to sunrise shots from SC, so now I have to switch to sunsets being on the western side of the country!). I found one two days ago, and the scene really screamed “this is a pano” to me, so my first shots from Colorful Colorado are also for the benefit of panoramic photography! Enjoy these shots. The latter of the two (the sunset) was my inclusion in the upcoming Geographic Composition series hosted by Jason D. Moore so be sure to stop in there tomorrow for a look at the others in this regular event. The theme this go-around was “transitions”, and I thought this was an appropriate shot – my first shot in CO, and the water, to mountains, to sky, plus some super nice color transitions to boot.

Black and White Panorama of the Kansas Skies

Colorado Sunset Panorama

Jason D. Moore – Geographic Composition Series: Transitions

Well, that’s all for today, Thursday. Remember, Jason’s Geographic Composition Series collection will begin tomorrow, but since I am posting this rather late (9PM Mountain time), the readership will likely see this tomorrow morning. Until tomorrow night then, happy shooting and watch those apertures!

Some Friday Photos

Jason5 Comments

As promised earlier this week, I finally have some photos to share. In the middle of the drive across country from SC to CO, I stopped a few times and saw some possibilities for panorama shots. Keeping in mind a couple tips, I switched my camera from landscape mode to vertical (a.k.a. portrait) mode, and captured several scenes on my 40D. Here is the first installment of my attempts at panoramas:

So, you’ll notice that the color on these is a little off, and the exposure is a little dark. I realized that I would have issues though, if I tried to expose for such a wide scene and range of colors across the entire panorama, most especially when trying to use the Photomerge function of Photoshop. So I set my White Balance to cloudy, my exposure to one frame, and just snapped across the image.

Here’s where it gets fun…I am running CS2 on my Mac laptop which cannot read my 40D files. My CS3 was set up on my Windows desktop. The Dell only has a 2.3 Ghz Celeron processor with 1.5 GB of RAM (I never got around to adding that last 512 before the move…). Needless to say, without being set up right, I really couldn’t process 8 shots each at 10MP (that’s a grand total of 80 MP in the final pano)! Even now with the portable AC on the Dell, it was screaming along as I ran the Photomerge utility through Bridge. Once I got the photomerge done, I stamped the layers (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) and converted to a smart object.

I then double-clicked the smart object to edit in it’s own window. This image file was now at 480 MB! Needless to say, I did some layer adjustments for exposure, and curves, then saved the file. I was now back in the full pano composite. I saved the full pano as a PSD file, then flattened before making some downsizing. For the curious, the full size pano is over 8000px on the long side. For the purposes of the web, I did have to downsize it a little. Clearly downsizing to allow the blog to show it would be out of the question, so here’s links to a large sized version (1600px long side), and a xl sized (3200px long side).

Large Pano

Extra-Large Pano

So, here’s the question: was it worth it? 🙂

Slideshow Secrets

Jason4 Comments

As I thought about the tutorial for today, I pondered doing a quick set of tips for Photoshop, like CTRL+J for a duplicate late, CTRL=ALT+SHift+E to stamp all visible layers on to a new layer, and other such trinkets.  While debating which ones to include I was continuing the process of winnowing down the last of my photo magazines to just the articles I wanted to keep.   I was also thinking that perhaps a subject would come to me that could add a new dimension to the blog, when as luck would have it – the subject came to me.

From back in October of 2006 – nearly two years ago, I saw an article in PCPhoto that took a look at tips for making great slideshows.  Written by Chuck Summers, it reminded me of the days of yore when my dad would crank up a slide projector to have us watch slideshows of ourselves in Florida, the Grand Canyon, and other family adventures.  Well, the digital age is most definitely upon us, and one area I’ve not gotten into much is that of slideshows.

Chuck did a great job with this article, and I’ve condensed it down here to the nuts and bolts of each tip (twelve total, which makes for great alliteration – it pains me to dodge the obvious usage!)  Anyway, here’s his 12 Slideshow Tips:

  1. Determine the Theme and Purpose of Your Show
  2. Set a length
  3. Methodically edit your images
  4. Maximize image effectiveness
  5. Prep images
  6. Set Image Order
  7. Determine transitions
  8. Title Slides
  9. Choose music to set the mood
  10. Time the Presentation
  11. Preview, Evaluate and Revise
  12. Test Projection Needs

While very informative, and logical in layout (I like logic!), what the article did not present is software recommendations.  I’ve read various bits and pieces around but have not had reason to delve into it thus far.  However, with a cross country move coming up, I thought it might be fun to take images that capture the trek from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains and compile them into a slideshow when done.

To do that though, I need some software that is designed for slideshows.  I know Photoshop and LR can do these functions, but as an old hat, I like a specially designed piece of software for each function.  Thus, I can’t help but wonder what would be the best software to accomplish these ends.  I recall Proshow Gold as a name, but forget who produces it.  In the interests of full disclosure, I feel that I should also state that I actually have not really tried the slieshow functions in either PS or LR, so am appropriately ignorant on both counts.

So, what should it be?  Should I use Proshow Gold, Photoshop, Lightroom (I am using the Beta 2 via invite), or is there some other software out there that is better purposed to these ends?  Any slideshow superstars care to share their own secrets on software and other tips for making great shows?  Feel free to educate me in the comments.

Meanwhile, happy shooting, watch those apertures, and see you here again tomorrow.  (Perhaps a video tutorial is in the air for then…ya never know! 🙂 )

What’s This? Week 5 – or is it 6?

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This last week have been rather hectic for me, so I honestly don’t remember what week we are on for the “What’s This?” theme.   I think it’s Week5, but perhaps someone could confirm this for me in the comments.  Truth be told, I also have not had the luxury of much surf time so I don’t have much in the way of web traffic to point people to. Just a couple links to float out there for you.  First, this is day 6 of the first ever CB photo contest “Photographing Freedom”, so keep that in mind.  News and info on that available from the July 3 post here.

In web news, I will say that there was an amazing post by a guest writer at Scott Kelby’s blog today. (I am going to refrain from my personal thoughts on the subject, but it’s worth reading – especially if you have a background in higher education like I do). I’d be interested in hearing what others think on this subject in the comments.

The other fun bit of news also involved another guest writing on Scott’s blog, courtesy of John Nack, one of the senior staff over at Adobe.  He wrote on his appearance about the desire for transparent windows and was met with a little bit of ruffled feathers from others in the field.  Check out the respective posts to the discussion here, here, and here to get Matt K.’s take, John’s take, and then Jeff Revel’s take.  Interesting world we live in.  Three people all with direct ties to “the man” and three different opinions on it.  I wonder which way Adobe is going to go on this?  While I realize that there is some agreement on parts of it, and alternatives vary depending on whether you’re talking about transparency or translucency, but to me, it’s a window that I have off on my second monitor anyway, so I don’t really care.  Go with John’s approach and devote R&D to other more meaningful improvements.  But, I said this would be a quick post today, and this is starting to ramble, so I’l leave it up to the readers:  Where do you think PS development should go?

So, moving quickly to the “What’s This?” subject for this week, I went through some of my own archives to see if I could find an interesting crop (and I did), so here is a crop of a much larger image. I’ve tried to keep some of the context, but at the same time make it intriguing to guess what this is. So, without further ado…What’s This?:

What's This - Week 5?

Last week, in case you hadn’t guessed it – it was a flower!  Congrats to those who knew and saved their comments for a more challenging post (ahem – today!)  Good luck, have fun, Happy Shooting and we’ll see you here tomorrow!

Pics, Trips, and Tips

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What's This? - Week3

Welcome to week 3 of the “What’s This?” series! Last week I had a close-up shot with some great guesses including carpet, a towel, and a toothbrush – but the answer, as it turns out, is a candle wick!

What's This? - Week 2

I had cropped out a portion of it, to give kind of a different twist! Thanks to all for participating! So, as we move into week3, here is another everyday object that I’ve zoomed in on, and taken a cropped portion to share. Can you guess what this is?

In other news, it seems I will be somewhat busy over the next few weeks with several trips on the horizon. Late June, a friend is getting married, and that will require a trip to NC. Then, shortly after that, I will be traveling (driving) to New York for the 4th of July festivities. Very shortly after I get back, I will likely be accompanying my wife out to Colorado as we transition to that area from SC. She’ll move on ahead to start her job, while I stay behind to close up shop and sell the house. Oh yeah, did I mention? We’re moving to Colorado!!!

So, for the last tidbit of news, I did actually knock out the tip for the week as previously mentioned: displacement maps! I read about this technique in my most recent issue of NAPP and had a few images that I thought it may work for, so thought to give it a whirl! Pretty neat effect, so feel free to try it out yourself!

CB Episode #44: Displacement Maps

What is this?

Jason4 Comments

What is this?

Welcome to the Wednesday walk around the web. Before throwing the web gems for this week at you, I figured it might be fun to bring in a new feature for Wednesdays: “What is this?” I’ll take a shot of something at an unusual angle, perhaps zoomed in super close, or intentionally blurred. See if you can guess what it is (use the comments). If you’re right, guess what you win? That’s right! Fame, fortune, and glory! Well, not really – but you do win the “What is this?” for the week so you can brag to all your photo peers that you won the CB “What is this” photo game. I’ll make the first one easy and give a hint – this was taken in my home office. Now, with that in mind, look at the picture above, and see if you can guess what it is! Good luck to all – and now for the Wednesday web gems.

  • This Week in Photography (TWIP) – Scott does regular photo-related posts, just like the rest of us, but he does bring a unique approach to the table. Another cool thing: he has contests, with actual prizes! Cool blog and ltos of useful info.
  • Frederick Johnson – Learned about this guy in the NAPP forums. He’s the Senior Marketing Manager for Professional Photography at Adobe – and while the title and company are impressive enough – check out his Flickr stream, and he has a blog too! Very cool stuff.
  • Jason D. Moore – His weekly P&P listing is up – everything there is of at least a first and second glance!
  • John Nack – Well known Adobe guy, and on my daily hit list. Always good info there. Actually thanks to John, I should qualify the statements that I made a few days ago about Adobe using the GPU for the next version of PS – his clarification on the subject was that it might be coming…but not sure when and as he said he “can neither confirm nor deny” it – he was just sharing possible developments.
  • Okay, it’s a bit of self-promotion, but I’ve not heard much feedback on the Advanced Online Photography Test (a.k.a. TOP Test) since migrating it. So, stop over to the TOP TEST to take your photography skills to the next level!

That should be enough for your morning surf time, now either get back to work or get out and shoot some pictures! Don’t forget to guess on the picture above, and throw a vote in on the poll. Happy shooting, watch those apertures, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Custom Brushes

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Custom Brush

For this weeks tutorial, I thought to take a look at custom brushes and brush sets. It can be a pretty handy thing to have some custom brushes of things you do often, or looks and styles that you apply often to your photos (such as a signature, copyright, or some other such logo). The idea came from someone in one of the photo forums (NAPP forums if I recall correctly), asking if there was a brush set out there that had a set of hash marks (like for the days of the week). We talked back and forth on a few alternatives when it dawned on me – we could make a brush to do that! You really can make brushes to do whatever you want, it’s just a matter of doing it once and then saving it, much like an action.

So, here’s a tutorial that examines how to create, save, and load custom brushes inside of Photoshop. We’ll see you back here tomorrow! Until then, Happy Shooting and watch those apertures!

Creating Custom Brushes