Category: news

Calendar Templates, Part II

Jason2 Comments

This week I wrap up the tutorial started last week on creating a Calendar Template using Photoshop. One of the things I found most useful was performing the screen captures of each month prior to beginning the place functions inside Photoshop. As you can see in the tutorial, the results came out really nicely.

This whole project started from wanting to make a single-page calendar and in looking at the design offerings on Mpix, thought “Hey! I could make that!” The second half of the genesis came courtesy of Matt Kloskowski over fro the Photoshop Guys where he did a tutorial a while back on making a desktop calendar for a single month. So…I put the two ideas together and this is the end result of that effort. I figured it may also have some interest for other photographers in making calendars incorporating either their own prints or those of their clients. Clearly, this is a “down and dirty” version, but if anyone is interested, I do have a pretty high resolution sized template that I would be willing to share on request.

In other news, I’d like to give some shout outs to Brian over at Professional Snapshots, who just last Friday celebrated the birth of his new daughter Isabelle! Congrats to Brian, even though this means he has pretty much lost the ability to sleep through a night for at least the next 18-24 months! Yeah, this may be your fourth, but I’ve heard the stories from siblings and neighbors! Enjoy!

Also, don’t forget to stop over at Jason D. Moore’s weekly summary of all things photography! I always head there to make sure I’m not missing anything interesting.

Last, but not least, the tutorial links: Flash first and QT second…

Calendar Templates, Part II

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Another weekend shot to….heck

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First it’s the teeth, then it’s the toes – anyway, another weekend of hopefully getting out and shooting for a change of pace (I really do prefer to be out taking pictures, rather than in PS or LR editing them, or even be inside on a computer, but being in the IT industry as a profession, well, that’s the fallout…anyway I digress).  As it is, I am stuck inside again, so after a day of actually walking around on my feet, I am trying to post with one leg sticking out to the side (left) and leaning back to write.  Needless to say, it’ll be a short post.  As a kind of wrap-up of the various projects I have in the works, here’s a week in review:

  1. Work is almost finished on the web gallery articles.  I have one more video tutorial to record on JAlbum, and two articles to share with the readership.
  2. My magazine cutting frenzy continues as I shred through stacks of almost two years of photo magazines.  The binder is getting thicker and the magazine stack is getting smaller!
  3. I’ve launched a beta for a new idea on a sub-domain for Canon Blogger, The Online Photograph Test (or TOP Test), which has already seen a few corrections and improvements, so thanks to those that wrote in and emailed…keep ’em comin’!

In other news around the photo world:

  1. Adobe launched their new “TV” service…it’s really a flash-based online multimedia portal to all types of content, naturally with much of it focusing on Adobe products.  Seems like a cool enough idea, and probably intended to compete with YouTube, but on with a more professional and polished approach.  We’ll see if it catches on – my guess is yes with the poster boys talking it up all over the web.
  2. Adobe makes the weekly news twice as they re-released Camera Raw 4.4 that were previously pulled.pulled, have since been re-released by Adobe.   This link is for the Windows version of CS3, LR and Mac versions are also available from the download site – just use Google as needed to find the version you are looking for.
  3. In case you missed it earlier this week, Donny did his last episode (my guess is “of the season” in another hysterical segment of You Suck at Photoshop -careful with kids around…’nuff said.  Well, it ‘s been followed up by a “honorarium” of sorts where you can vote for the DIY’er in both Photoshop and comedy categories.  Kinda funny, but not the same as Donny – so go watcfh, then vote to bring Donny out of hiding!
  4. What The Duck makes it’s Friday appearance below, which means my leg is getting numb and the hour is getting late, so it’s time to bid a hasty adieu!  Good night, have a great weekend, happy shooting, and watch those apertures!

What The Duck - Friday, April 11th

How well do you score?

Jason2 Comments

First off, let me state that I am aware I missed a post and did not really give much advance warning.  Now that it’s done, and at least ready to see a beta response, I guess I can announce it here.  Well, before I make any announcements, let me back up a little bit.  Since inception about 6 months ago, I have endeavored to put forth meaningful and thoughtful comments and ideas on this blog – mostly about photography.  Sometimes I have presented things from as professional a perspective as I can muster, and at other times, I have been admittedly personal in my expressions.  Either way, it’s probably fair to say that I have been putting a lot of time, thought, and energies into posting articles, content, and interesting materials for all to enjoy.  This got me thinking about the constantly changing nature of blogs.  Something new each and every day – the time and energies to putting new and fresh content out on such a regular basis can be overwhelming, to say the least.

So, with that little nugget, I was thinking – what if I were to put together something more constant, but still with the ability to change and improve?  Not articles mind you (and my set of web gallery articles is still progressing – almost there, I promise!)…but an online, interactive approach to sharing and offering resources to help people learn more about photography.  Now that would be cool, right?  Well, here it is!  It’s the brand, new, just been born, never-been seen before:

The Online Photography Test

That’s right – I’ve been putting some time into setting up a site that can give people a place to go and see how they are doing with their photography.  Right now, it’s in a beta form, with only 20 questions, but I am hoping to add more with time, and also to add various types of tests.  Eventually, I see the site as having a set of metrics where people can go to see where they’ve improved, what they need to work on, and where they are pretty solid in their knowledge base.  Naturally I am starting with the basics and intermediate material here, with more advanced stuff to come later.  There will hopefully also be a comment section eventually, where people can submit ideas for new questions, and discuss the material or see some dialog there within the photographic community.  That clearly is “just a dream” right now, but should be fairly easy to implement if there is sufficient interest.

So, without further ado:  stop over at the beta test site and take what I am affectionately calling the OPT Test.  Take the test and see how you score!  Did you do well?  Any material you would like to see added?  Dropped?  Changed?  What do you think of the wording and format?  Since comments aren’t enabled there – please come on back here to CB and share your thoughts on the newest and latest addition to the CB set of resources.  I’ll put forwarding on at the final site once things are more cleaned up and there are various versions for people to explore.  So, take the test, and see how well you score!  Happy shooting and see you back here again tomorrow (watch those apertures!

Photoshop Reloaded – Web Galleries with a twist!

Jason4 Comments

A couple weeks ago I did a tutorial about how to create web galleries using Photoshop. As one of the steps, I advised to sort through your images first and pick out the ones you want to put in your web gallery into a dedicated folder to make the process easer once you start in Photoshop – well, that advice was a little short-sighted.

I got my most recent issue of Photoshop User (from the great folks over at NAPP), and read through an almost identical tutorial, with one notable exception – they used Bridge! That’s right, you can use the companion software to Photoshop, Bridge, to select your photos rather than sorting them before hand. Well, hey that’s cool, right? Saves you a step. Well, it could – depending on whether you have any sort of file management in place. See, in photography (and with most disciplines that use a lot of digital files), there’s an idea called digital asset management (or DAM), that gives you guidelines on how to save, store, archive, and design an effective means of managing your digital imagery. If used properly, any image you want is only moments away. It involves a lot of pre-planning, effort, and discipline to implement and maintain. So, this week I re-did the Photoshop Web Galleries tutorial with that in mind.

You get a peel into some of the basics of how I implement a DAM system that works for me, and an explanation as to why using the Bridge method for selecting your photos for a web gallery is better than the first method I used. *cough/duplicates/cough* Having said that, there are still a few nuances that Lightroom has where Photoshop lacks a little in this regard, but, if you have PS, you can streamline things a little more by incorporating Bridge.

So, without further ado, check out this week’s episode, which I am admittedly naming for perhaps a little visibility:

 

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Monday Madness: Some news and Making Money ideas for Small Timers

Jason1 Comment

Hello again all, and first off, let me apologize for not making my typical Friday appearance, some stuff came up here that called me away from the blog on short notice. I’m back today though, and I’ll give a Friday Funny at the end, courtesy of WTD, but for the time being, I have a few exciting things to share:

  1. I am almost done with my photo gallery articles! – I will likely have another podcast or two on using other apps like Jalbum, but would like to finish out the written version first before devoting time to that. More to come this week on that subject.
  2. As my photo friends return from PSW chock full of their own tips and excitement at the show, I saw two of them throw a few trackback links to some stuff from here at CB, so thanks and shout outs to Mark and Jason!
  3. As if I don’t have enough things to do on my plate, I also started yet another project that I had been meaning to pick up. I am ditching all my photo magazines! I have been a regular subscriber to Popular Photography, Shutterbug, Rangefinder, PC Photo, and Photoshop Insider for some time now, and they are now all going in the garbage can. Read on for more info on that!

Continue reading “Monday Madness: Some news and Making Money ideas for Small Timers” →

Funny April Fools posts

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Today was a day of mirth and merriment on the blogosphere…with lots of fun stuff specific to photography too. Here’s a few I ran across in my daily perusal:

Happy Fools Day all….if you’ve got your own stories, photos, and pranks, by all means, share ’em! The double whammy of a root canal on Thursday, and a wisdom tooth extraction yesterday has left me a little worn out, so I’ll keep it short today.  As my parting thought for the day, I’d like to throw some props out to Jason D. Moore.  He’s got a great website, with some very cool tutorials, and a blogroll of the “Who’s Who” in photography.   Regular posts will resume tomorrow. Happy shooting and watch those apertures!

Monday Mental Challenge

Jason2 Comments

This week I am taking a different tack on my blogging for two reasons. First, I’d like to start featuring more articles, both as individual segments that can stand on their own, but that also could become part of a larger work. Based on feedback I’ve received from family and friends, it seems I do sometimes have a knack for the written word. I’d like to share some of these articles with the blogging community i the hopes of receiving more critical and objective feedback on their usefulness. Second, the thrust behind this initial thrust of articles is based on some repeated questions I’ve received in both the blogging community and the photography community of local and online brethren. So, in at least a tangential sense, the larger scope of this is not only to compile a series of articles that is publishable, but also as independent topics that can serve as tips and helpful resources for those that do read this with any regularity. Continue reading “Monday Mental Challenge” →

At long last…

Jason1 Comment

Well, the tooth ache is aching for a reason – apparently I am about to join the millions of Americans who must experience a root canal first hand. While I can take pain, a pain in the mouth is much more difficult for me to deal with than a pain anywhere else. Having had my share of broken bones, back aches, hang nails, migraines, hang overs, sprains, burns, scrapes, scars, and all that other stuff – for some reason oral vulnerabilities seem to cut me to the quick.

My guess is on that day, there will be no post. But…until then, I will try to keep to my regular schedule. So, here’s some Friday fun to share:

Happy Easter, happy shooting and watch those apertures!

Thursday’s Thought – HDR photography

Jason4 Comments

After Scott Sherman and Michael Stein’s most recent show from DPS, where they bring in Jeff Revell and talk about HDR photography, I am reminded of the attention that HDR got when CS2 first came out. I had tried some HDR back then and it really didn’t come out too well, likely because of the tone mapping that Jeff referred to.

So…now armed with CS3, and the recovery slider, I decided to re-visit some shots that were good candidates for HDR. As it turned out, with the recovery slider and a little bit of attention in Photoshop with normal layering, I turned out a few pretty good ones without having to go the HDR route. Here’s two:

waterfall.jpg

woodedpath.jpg

So… anyone else into HDR photography out there?  Share your thoughts, shots, and links to your own work in the comments.

Wow – Wednesday went fast!

Jason1 Comment

Wow…a long day at work, a short dinner, and a few diversions, now it’s 9:30 and the only “news” that I know of is that Canon released a firmware update for 2 cameras in the line – the 5D and the 30D.  News hit the wire yesterday, and there’s a pretty good synopsis of it at the Adorama site, along with links to grab the updates.  Check it out here:  Canon Firmware Updates

In other news, today it seems Macworld got the bead on a new X-Rite product, called the Colormunki Photo

I am sure other news is out there to be had, but I’ve still got a frog in my throat, so will have to assume y’all know the news reels for the day.  Since it’s kind of a skimpy web gem Wednesday, here’s a POTD I contributed to a thread over at the NAPP forums, theme of the thread:  BOATS

Cypress Gardens, SC

Enjoy the break from the weekly post-news.  We’ll catch up more tomorrow.  As always, happy shooting and watch those apertures!