Category: technical

Sharpening in LAB Mode

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That’s right, the podcast is done…this is part deaux of what will likely be a three part series that speaks to my work flow in LAB mode. The first tutorial dealt with curves and luminance adjustments in the LAB color space, and here, I illustrate how to sharpen in the LAB color space. Great stuff here, and I also briefly touch on producing an action that will create various layered sharpness levels so you can pick and choose which suits your needs best.

Also helpful are some formulas I’ve learned on what works best for various scenarios. I intended to include these in the podcast, but I am trying to cut down on podcast length and keep extraneous info to a minimum. Nevertheless, the various sharpness levels are relevant, so I am including them here:

For people, portraits, etc.: An amount of anywhere from 120-150%, a Radius of 1.o, and a Threshold of 10 works well.

For cities, architecture, etc: An amount ranging from 50-65%, a Radius of 3 and a thresh hold of 2 does great.

For general everyday use: For all others, I try an Amount in the range of 80-85%, a Radius of 1, and a Threshold of 4.

As always, these numbers are not set in stone, and will vary depending on the types of photos you are working with and your particular tastes. Nothing is ever set in stone in a subjective field like photography, so take this information with a grain of salt, and pepper to your own tastes.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the Sharpening in LAB tutorial! Enjoy! (And feel free to leave a comment or idea – if you do, you’ll be the first!)

Outpatients and outages, but we have a new tutorial!

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It’s been a few days since making a post, as there have been a few issues that have come up, not the least of which was an outage or two from my provider. As a result, I was not able to get online for more than a few minutes at a clip for Monday and Tuesday as a result.

Additionally, I had an outpatient procedure done yesterday at the Doctor’s Office so I needed a little time to recuperate after that. Things are slowly working their way back to normal though, and I have the first in a two part series of tutorials designed to give some insight to my work flow and the use of the LAB workspace for both lightness and curves adjustments. Check them out via the link at the end of this post. In the meantime, happy shooting, and I’ll be back in a day or two with the remainder of the LAB work space tutorial…

Curves Adjustments in LAB

Camera Raw Tutorial is up!

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I gave up again trying to figure out how to embed the flash file into the blog page, and keep the layout somewhat decent looking, so I am going to continue linking to a dedicated video podcast page, where I will likely end up building an html front end to reference down the road. It’s an admittedly rudimentary look at ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), and while there are some really great extensive resources out there (I highly recommend Jon Canfield’s book on the subject), this should be a nice intro for those that have shot jpg and are thinking about making the move to raw.

In any case, here it is…enjoy! Thanks for stopping in and don’t forget to vote in the Content poll! 🙂

Fair warning though – it’s a long video, and the audio is kinda on the loud side…

Camera Raw Video Tutorial

No news for Monday

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Well, that may not be entirely true, as Tips from The Top Floor has a few updates both in audio and video format, so stop over there for some weekyl news and info about Chris’ trip to the great ole U.S. of A. He’s going from CO on to California, and then some other place before finishing up in St. Lucie FL, so if you get a chance between now and Oct. 18th to listen/view – you may wanna do so as now I am even thinking of making my way down there for a few days.

Please also say a prayer for Scott Sherman and Michael Stein from The Digital Photography Show. Before this week I did not know that their affiliation began because both their children are affected by Cerebral Palsy.   Scott’s had to have a surgical procedure this last week, and yet he still managed to find some time to produce the show. Suffice to saw, I would have been long gone and Canon Blogger would not have even been on my radar – so thanks to Scott and Michael and my prayers go out to both of you as you walk this noble path – esp. to Scott given the recency of its impact on his life personally.

Finally, Strobist had a couple cool posts recently, first one about Flickr where you can see your “ranking” on there – serious submitters only though as if it’s less than that, you probably won’t show up many times. Another cool post is about using small off-camera lights to help illuminate landscapes. A neat example is there too, so go check that out.

Finally, another podcast is ready for viewing! I did run out of time for production tonight though, so will have to wait until tomorrow to finish it, but promise a rather lengthy one (about 30 minutes) is forthcoming and discusses quite a few details about working in Camera Raw for your post processing. Stay tuned and it should be online in less than 24 hours! Until tomorrow then…Happy Shooting!

Non-photo post again today

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Hate to do this two days in a row, but I am just swamped at work, and got home quite late.  Suffice to say, I am still very low on the learning curve for the MBP and may have to resort to a Windows box for the next post with any meaningful content.  Although I will say I am a little confused about the available tracks for Garage Band.  I would think that these tracks would be included when shipped if it’s as easy as a download away.  WHy force us through a 2 gig downoad?  Plus, if Garage Band tracks are independent of the Software Update service, then why make us go through SUS first before downloading the latest patch files and tracks for the software that was supposed to be “full featured” on arrival…the first nit on the MBP – Garage Band goes through SUS – why?  Seriously…Cupertino, are you listening?  I could have made another podcast on Windows by now and GB still hasn’t downloaded/installed the tracks needed to mix something together.

No post today..

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Following the trend of the more visible photoshop guys (a.k.a. Scott Kelby), there will be no post today beyond this:

My MacBook Pro arrived today, so I am anxiously crawling up the learning curve (Garage Band is nt the most intuitive of applications for a Windows user to adjust to..on top of the button placements, I’ve never even used the app before.  But it is getting easier here and there).  I’ll be back in a few days with hopefully a few tutorials and some of my thoughts on the new acquisition!  Hello Macworld – here I come! 🙂

Blog addition

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I’ve added an XML feed to the site, so for those that may be interested in adding a widget to your Google Homepage or your Google Reader, that link is available now.  Thanks go out to Google for making it so easy! 🙂

Hard to say whether I’ll finish my next tutorial in time to post tonight, or if it will have to wait until tomorrow after work.  Check back or keep an eye on your readers for a new one soon though.  Don’t forget to vote in the poll either – it’ll be going through the end of the month.

And in todays news…

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The last few days I’ve been kind of busy putting together some shots for a family trip I went on last weekend, mentioned down-thread a little in the blog here. After almost filling up a 2 gig flash card, it was time to post the shots so family members could view/download the ones they liked. With that motivation, I dedicated the last few days to really getting my photography site (not just a blog, a dedicated photo site!) up and running. A grand total of two galleries are in place now, my landscapes and one event gallery. More will come periodically, and I’ll announce those here too. Please keep in mind that the website (as well as my photography efforts) are always works in progress. I’ll try to keep announcements current in here too, but can’t make any promises (to all 7 of my readers! *grin*).

To whet, the appetite, here’s just a few shots from the gallery:

sunset-on-the-marsh.JPG trail-through-the-cypress-knees.JPG let-there-be-light.JPG

For the whole schmear, check out the site, over at:

www.jasons-photography.com

Apple pulls a Dell?!?!?!

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I was shocked! After much hemming and hawing over which way to go for future purchases, I convinced my wife we should get a Mac – the Mac is the only platform I don’t really “know” – we need a laptop, and the budget is there. She always came up with excuses but finally, she agreed, and we ordered a Macbook Pro – C2D, and she got the iPod Nano using her school discount. $2500 into debt, we are actually excited…she has been wanting an iPod for a long time and I’ve been begging for a laptop.

To make a long story short, the iPod shipped first and we received it today. After about an hour of trying to connect it and make it sync myself I had performed countless softwre uninstalls/reinstalls, and 1418 errors, I googled results and reinstalled USB drivers, then tried restoring the device, all to no avail. Being in IT, I do not like giving up, but I am new to this – let’s see that stellar name of Apple deliver.

So I call Customer Service. Another 4 hours of dropped phone calls, (no callbacks) and one agonizingly long final call with a qualified tech, his supervisor and billing, here’s what happened: We performed troubleshooting on multiple USB ports, at least 5 installs and reconnects (on multiple computers), and no resolution or restore works. The Apple tech declares it DOA and says he’s going to ship me a box to return the iPod. Great, I say, so when the replacement and return box should get here when? He says, “No, just a box…after we get it back, and verify it doesn’t work, we’ll send a replacement out. So, 5 hours of troubleshooting, 4 disconnected calls, and now I have to wait another two weeks to get a measly $200 piece of peripheral? Um, no…

I ask for the supervisor who confirms. Apparently Apple RMA’s don’t send you replacements on a verified bad system (even though they already have your money). This is very much unlike the rest of the industry, everyone I have ever dealt with from Dell to IBM, to HP, to Sony, CDW, Newegg, Crucial, and all others in between, replacements are sent with instructions to return the bad one in the packaging with their apologies. Not Apple…they want to delay things a little longer…just to be sure.

Yeah Apple, that’s my scam. I sit on the phone for 5 hours trying to get a $200 DOA iPod to work in hopes you’ll just let me keep it and send a replacement. In 5 hours I could have done my blog posts, checked my web maintenance, hit my photo sites, spent some family time with my wife, played with my dog, watched some evening television and be in bed now. There is a reason I am leaving Dell – crappy customer service.

Apple has long been lauded as having superior equipment, superior service, and superiority complexes. Having thought I’d “seen the light” on why they feel superior, I convinced myself and my wife to buy into it. Now, all that’s left is a series of rude, untrained, half-literate telephone calls, missed family time, and an entire evening lost due to the “It just works” company showing its true colors as just another multi-million dollar business with no interest beyond taking your money.

The iPod is being returned and the MBP has been canceled. At least with Dell I know where I stand…