Photo Book Review – Digital Masters: Nature Photography
Author: Ralph Lee Hopkins
Publisher: Lark Photography Books (Sterling Publishing)
Review by Conrad J. Obregon
Sometimes a book is perfectly fine for its purpose and is worth reading but doesn’t stand out above others in a crowded field. This is the case with Digital Masters: Nature Photography: Documenting the Wild World (A Lark Photography Book)
The author begins the book with an encouragement to photographers to find their passion in nature photography and then goes on to explain the gear that is appropriate for nature photographers. Next is a workflow chapter that discusses some of the basic camera settings that a nature photographer should use and the workflow to follow from the field to archiving which emphasizes backing up one’s images. The author then discusses the nature of light, the elements of composition and the importance of capturing the moment. There are then chapters on landscape, wildlife and macro photography. The book is profusely illustrated with the author’s excellent photographs and the organization is clear and logical.
The book is aimed at photographers who already understand the fundamentals of exposure and focusing, but have never given much consideration to nature photography. For the most part, the ideas presented are at the most general level without much specific advice. I often find something to disagree with in technical photography books. That wasn’t the case here, but I also couldn’t find anything to sink my teeth into. There is little technical information about capturing images, unless one considers the explanation of such things as the basic rules of composition technical. There are no details about post-processing. In fact an experienced nature photographer is unlikely to find anything new here. On the other hand, the competent camera user may find the book an excellent way to ease into nature photography. It’s too bad that the author didn’t provide a bibliography of books that the photographer could read to follow up on the broad themes which he introduced.
In summary, here’s a good book for someone just getting into nature photography to read to whet his or her appetite. He will still have to do a lot more learning to figure out all the tricks of the trade. Experienced nature photographers will have heard all of it before.
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This post sponsored by WHCC – White House Custom Colour – Get Five Free 8×10 Prints From WHCC
Photofocus Podcast Episode #50
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Direct download – Download this MP3 episode here.
Thanks to Geoff Smith, the massively-talented musician who created our new custom open for the show.
Show notes will appear here soon.
Photoshop World Wrap Up
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved
It was so fast. I can’t believe it’s already over but Photoshop World Las Vegas 2010 is over. It was a great show. I learned as much as I taught and made some new friends. I was also excited to get to meet many of the Photofocus audience. That was really cool.
As for Photoshop World proper, I’ll simply say that Scott Kelby and his organization know what they are doing. If you saw the behind the scenes work that goes into pulling this thing off you’d be thinking you didn’t get charged enough for your all access pass.
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved
In a down economy, some people just couldn’t afford to sign up for the conference sessions. They could still get in to PSW simply by obtaining a free Expo-only pass. Now normally, this would mean being limited to listening to vendors trying to sell their stuff. But at PSW there’s as much training available ON the Expo floor as in many of the conference sessions.
Now don’t get me wrong – if you are planning to come to PSW next year, save up for the conference pass. You get the Photoshop World workbook which is full of notes from each instructor. The classrooms were full of eager learners for this and other reasons. The faculty is the best in the world bar none. But plan on coming either way. Even if all you do is hit the Expo floor, you’ll learn something.
One of the coolest things on the show floor was the Westcott live studio. Actually, Westcott had FIVE studios. They had one in their booth on the Expo floor and then they had four more in the back of the show floor. Each booth was full of Westcott Spiderlite TD5s and all the trimmings, i.e., softboxes, stands, etc.
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved
The studios were staffed by incredible professional models who were made up by a world-class makeup artist. It was almost TOO popular and you had to be patient to get a shot. I made all three of the images in this post while shooting over, under or in between several dozen photographers. But I think the images tell the story and the story is it was worth it.
I think Photoshop World is probably one of the healthier trade shows in the photo business. I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t been to attend. It’s become as much about photography as it has Photoshop and if you want to learn more about photography, you will at PSW.
Thanks to Scott Kelby and company for inviting me to be a small part of the show.
My Five Wishes for the Camera Lenses Of The Future
I was privileged to sit on a panel of advisors for one of the lens manufacturers last year. I was allowed to give my input to a design team that was working out the lens of the future. I doubt I’ll live long enough to see most of these recommendations come to life, but I decided that I’d share my general ideas here in a post.
1. Lighter weight please. My first request is that the manufacturers continue to seek out and find lighter-weight materials. Composites can be stronger than steel. While the glass is always going to be the heaviest component, the rest of the lens needs to be lighter still to make it easier to carry and use. Heck, I don’t need lots of vibration reduction if you can make my five pound lens weigh a pound less.
2. New technologies please. Canon developed a technology called Diffractive Optics. It’s used in their EF 400 F/4 lens. It works well and makes the lens much smaller and lighter than it would be otherwise. But what happened? There’s been no additional DO lenses from Canon. And what about other optical technologies? I am afraid that the lens makers use the old tech because it’s safe, cheap and easy. Time to take chances. Let’s see what we can do to change the rules. We don’t need to do things the same way we always did.
3. Lens with built-in filters please. Why not simply build in both neutral density and polarizers right into the lens? This would allow the flip of a button to deploy the filter. If we can build drop in filter holders for big lenses, then there’s no reason in my mind why we can’t build the two most often needed filters (ND and Pol) right into the lens itself.
4. Better video integration please. DLSRs that shoot video (hybrids) aren’t going away. This is a growing trend. So why not make lenses that are better suited to video? Why not incorporate the follow focus gears? Carl Zeiss has in fact already done this on their CP.2 lenses and we need to see more of this on the traditional low-cost camera brand lenses.
5. Bring back the aperture ring please. Yes I know, many of you reading this have never even seen an aperture ring. But in the old days, turning that ring set the aperture and the field marks on the glass made it easy to set the hyperfocal distance of the lens via focusing around the aperture marks. I miss that. I really do.
These are just five of the dozens of points I made on the panel. I know some of these will make it to market. Some will not. Some will be here very soon. Some will come a long time from now. But it’s fun to speculate.
Photoshop World Las Vegas
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Westcott had more going on at the show floor than ever before. They set up four cool studios for attendees to use free of charge and staffed them with props and models. They even hired a kick-butt makeup person to prep the models. This was my favorite model-she worked as hard as anyone at the show!
I’m honored and privileged to be a part of this year’s Photoshop World. I went last year and helped out with blogging the keynote and leading a Tweetup. This year I am part of the conference speaking with Rod Harlan on how photographers can use Twitter.
So far, it’s the usual success. The folks at Kelby Media Group are simply first-rate and first-class in every way. The presenters here are the best in the business. It appears that attendance is up slightly this year from last. That’s a big deal considering the down economy.
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Scott Kelby hosted a meet and greet dinner for the speakers at Maggiano's Little Italy. It's an outstanding place to eat and the photography and Photoshop horsepower in that room was amazing.
The programs are well-organized and run. There are tons of volunteers available to make both the attendees and the speakers comfortable. The Mandalay Bay has done a good job accommodating the conference.
But as it is with most of these things, the real value in attending any such conference is the time you get to spend networking and reconnecting with old friends while meeting new ones.
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved - My pal Clay Blackmore was absolutely on fire in the Westcott both - working with a model and teaching like crazy. It was a special day since Clay's mentor the great Monte Zucker would have been 81 today had he survived his battle with cancer. It was very special to be with Clay today.
I was very excited to see my pal Clay Blackmore teaching in the Westcott booth. He was demonstrating their continuous lighting products. If you get the chance to watch Clay teach – don’t miss it. Really. He’s one of the best in the world. I was also happy to see Nicole, Vanelli, Rich, Colleen, Scott, Victor, Matt, RC and a host of other pals at the show. Seeing old friends is simply my favorite part of the show.
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Scott Kelby's shoes made him literally 10-feet tall!
The keynote was a blast. Kelby and company actually came out on stage dressed as Kiss and played LIVE. It was awesome. Adobe came and discussed CS5. Not much new but they did make it clear that they are going after the DSLR / video hybrid market pretty agressively. They are making it easier to use Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Yes this mall is cool because there is an Apple Store right next to the Tommy Bahama store - gotta love Las Vegas!
There was plenty of free education available on the show floor since many of the booths featured speakers. I also saw Nik Software demonstrating their HDR plugin. Peachpit Press had just about every photography book they’ve ever published at the show. And of course Kelby Media had a free place to view Kelby Training materials online.
The mood was upbeat. The audience and the faculty all seemed very happy to be there. I’ll write one more post after I give my talk on Twitter with Rod Harlan.
NOTE: All these photos were made with my Olympus PEN E-P2 12.3 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 17mm f/2.8 Lens and Electronic View Finder
Attention Emerging Photographers – Learn From The Masters
Rembrandt Self-Portrait Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I see comments like these in the photo forums – mostly from the younger emerging photographers. “Oh I’ve seen that done to death.” “That’s such a cliche.” “That’s nothing new.”
These comments seem to indicate that a photograph which may contain elements they’ve seen before is valueless. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let’s take portraiture for instance. The younger you are, the more likely you don’t light or pose a portrait the way that the masters do/did. Why?
a. You think that making a good photograph is about doing something NEW.
b. You haven’t really studied how the masters do/did it BECAUSE it’s not NEW.
c. Because you haven’t studied, you don’t know HOW to light and pose a portrait the way the masters do/did.
Yet, if you look at the traditional “Rembrandt” lighting scenario – this is a portrait approach hat has stood the test of time – hundreds of years to be more concise.
So while it may be cool to do something new in your opinion, in MY opinion, it shows respect, discipline, concern for craft and character to at least learn how the masters do/did it before you decide to break the rules. And lastly, I think refusal to learn how the masters work is a little bit lazy.
Now here’s where the lazy comes in. I have had assistants and interns who told me learning all that “old stuff” like the difference between broad and short lighting, butterfly or split lighting, etc., was “too much work.” Sort of like the excuse I gave in grade school when I complained to my mother “Oh Mom I don’t need to learn how to play all those musical instruments. Why do I have to practice so much?” I chuckle because in college I ended up minoring in musical performance. I now play several musical instruments quite proficiently. But back then, what I was really telling my mother years ago was that I was lazy. I was too lazy to put the work in. I just wanted to be a rock star. I didn’t actually want to learn any chords! My assistants and interns have sometimes been in the same situation. They just want to pick up a camera and be great. Good luck with that. I just want to look in the mirror and be young again, but so far, not happening!
My challenge to you is simple. Don’t be lazy. If you mistakenly think that being new is being cool – go right ahead. If that’s how you feel I probably can’t change your mind. But at least learn the standard (traditional, old call them what you will) ways first. Know (like the back of your hand) what rules you’re breaking before you break them. That shows respect, discipline, concern for craft and character.
And if you’re a regular reader here you probably know what’s coming next.
Being cool isn’t about being new, it’s about being YOU. Learn how the masters approach this and then put your own spin on it – use your own imagination. Develop your own story and your own voice. But know WHY you’re doing what you do and pay homage to the masters who came before you. Now THAT will be cool.
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Sponsored by PMA – It’s not too early to mark your calendar because this is big. For the first time in the USA, the PMA tradeshow and conference will be open to the general public – September 6-11, 2010 in Las Vegas. See you there – http://bit.ly/9yaL2I
Pro HDR for iPhone – Mini Review
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved
Pro HDR by eyeApps LLC is a cool little iPhone 3/4 app that lets you make HDR photos with your iPhone. With version 2, you can indeed create stunning full-resolution HDR images on your iPhone 4 or 3GS.
I tested the program on an iPhone 4. When you start the app, you are presented with a few simple choices.
1. Make an auto HDR photo
2. Make a manual HDR photo
3. Look at your library of stored HDR photos
You also have a choice to set some preferences via the settings tab or get help. That’s all there is to it. In practice, it’s just as simple.
Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 - All Rights Reserved
Start the app, point your camera at a scene you’d like rendered in HDR and click AUTO or MANUAL HDR. I found the results in AUTO so good, I haven’t messed with the MANUAL choice much.
Once you select AUTO HDR you just tap the screen once and the program does the rest. After the image is made, you can adjust it further by moving some sliders back and forth that let you control things like saturation, contrast, brightness and warmth.
I made the two images in this post using an iPhone 4 and Pro HDR for iPhone. I liked the results. They took just a minute to refine in Aperture and the photos provide a surprising amount of detail and richness of color given their origin. (If you want to see them a bit bigger they are on Flickr here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/applephoneshow/sets/72157624687460757/)
CONCLUSION
Pro HDR won’t eliminate the need for a DSLR and tripod for serious HDR shooters, but if you just want to have some fun with your iPhone, this app provides a bunch of it for $1.99.
Highly recommended!
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Sponsored by PMA – It’s not too early to mark your calendar because this is big. For the first time in the USA, the PMA tradeshow and conference will be open to the general public – September 6-11, 2010 in Las Vegas. See you there – http://bit.ly/9yaL2I
Camera Lens Basics – A Newbie Photographer’s Guide To Lenses
We all own a lens or two or five. Not everyone knows how modern camera lenses work. So I thought I’d write a short post going over some of the basics. Some newbies might find this interesting. Even though I am no newbie, I still enjoyed preparing this post.
Compared to the best lenses we had 30 years ago, the lenses of today are extremely high quality. The glass and parts are all precision made and extensively tested. Making matters more complicated, today – most lenses includes sophisticated electronics that do everything from aid in autofocus to vibration reduction. 30 years ago, a zoom lens that didn’t crap out on you at the long end was considered a great lens!
The basic parts of a lens are:
1. the mounts
2. the barrel
3. the focusing ring
4. the aperture
5. zoom ring (if applicable)
There are two mounts on most lenses. The front mount accommodates filters and lens caps. The rear mount attaches the lens to the camera. It often also houses the electrical contacts that allow the camera’s computers to interface with the lens’ electronics.
The barrel acts as a housing for all the various parts that comprise the lens.
The focusing ring (not present on some less expensive or point and shoot cameras) allows the photographer to manually focus the lens. It also may drive the optics or work a servo motors that drives the lens elements.
The aperture moves in one-stop increments to allow more or less light into the lens. More sophisticated cameras offer fractional stops between aperture openings.
The zoom ring is found on zoom lenses and allows the photographer to change the focal length of the lens.
ACCESSORIES
Most lenses come with lens hoods and front and rear caps. In my opinion, you should always use your lens hood and use front and rear caps when the lens is not in use.
More expensive lenses come with carrying bags. If possible, it’s a best practice to leave your lens in the carry bag when not in use. This provides a maximum of protection.
CHARACTERISTICS
After the basics come the important characteristics like focal length – which impacts angle of view, minimum focal distance, minimum and maximum aperture.
The “faster” a lens – the larger the aperture. Meaning a fast lens has a large aperture or a small f-stop number. Another important factor when choosing a lens is its minimum focal distance. Most photographers don’t have a great deal of experience with 600mm (and up) lenses and are surprised to find that these lenses often have minimum close focus distance of 20 feet or more.
The quality (and usually price) of a lens will often impact the lens flaws or lack thereof. And all lenses have flaws. 99.99999 percent of the flaws are untraceable by the human eye. But there are flaws we do see such as chromatic and spherical aberrations, coma and light falloff. The more expensive lenses are corrected for these problems. The less expensive lenses are not. But don’t worry. Even the consumer-level, kit lenses you can buy today are pretty good to great compared to the lenses we bought 30 years ago.
SPECIALTY LENSES
There are special lenses like macro lenses – which allow you to work very closely to your subject, or fish-eye lenses, which allow you to get a super wide field of view that will often be distorted in a circular manner. These specialty lenses offer unique characteristics and qualities which make them a must-have for some photographers, and a not important acquisition for others.
CONCLUSION
This is a very basic, and very quick rundown on camera lenses. Hopefully this post will spur you on to learn as much as you can on your own about lenses and how they impact your photography. In the end, buy the best lens you can afford. But don’t miss sleep over it. 98% of all lenses are better than 99% of all photographers anyway.
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This post sponsored by X-Rite Color and the ColorChecker Passport
Five Random Questions & Answers About Photoshop
Copyright Scott Bourne 2005 - All Rights Reserved
I get lots of Photoshop questions and because I don’t use Photoshop as often as I used to, I’m much less the Photoshop wiz that I once was. That said, I do occasionally get some Photoshop questions I can answer. Here are five.
1. Do you work with more than one monitor when you use Photoshop and if so, what are the advantages of doing so?
Yes I work with two monitors. I work with my MacBookPro 17″ monitor and my Apple 24″ LED Cinema Display. I find the advantage is that I can view the image on the large display while putting all my pallets and other tools on the laptop display. This avoids clutter and makes it easier to study the photography without distraction.
2. How many times can I install Photoshop on my own personal computers?
Adobe allows two Photoshop installations per serial number. If you buy a new computer, it’s important to deactivate your Photoshop program before you sell your old computer. That way, you can reactivate Photoshop on the new computer without a lot of drama. Adobe will help you out if you forget but it’s better to do it the right way. If you need more than two copies running at the same time you’ll need another copy of Photoshop.
3. What is the Targeted Adjustment Tool used for?
The TAT is used to make tonal and color corrections by dragging directly on a photo, rather than by using sliders in the image adjustment tabs. You can correct things like Hue, Saturation, Luminance, or Grayscale Mix. This works better for people who are more visual and doesn’t work as well for numbers people.
4. What advantage is there to running Photoshop in 64 bit mode? Why does everyone think that is so cool?
64-bit mode produces some dramatic speed improvements in cases where you are working on complex image solutions or working with large data sets. In other words, it matters to Photoshop users working with large images or applying lots of layers to an image. To everyone else, not so much.
5. I was looking at my Photoshop preferences and saw a selection related to “Scratch Disks.” What is a Scratch Disk?
A scratch disk is any drive or a partition with free space. Photoshop uses this like a RAM disk to store overflow data. By default, Photoshop uses the hard drive that the operating system is installed on as its scratch disk.
You can change this and furthermore, designate additional scratch disks to be used when the primary disk is full.
Always make sure your main scratch disk is your fastest drive. It should be a different drive than the one that holds your image files. It should have as much unfragmented space as possible.
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This post sponsored by X-Rite Color and the ColorChecker Passport
Copyright Scott Bourne 2009 - All Rights Reserved
It happens to everyone. If you have photographed for a long time you find yourself in the occasional rut. A simple way out of that is to start (and finish) a photo project. Here are five ideas to get you started. If these don’t work for you, try to come up with some of your own.
1. Collect Backdrops
You never know when a cool pattern or background could be used as a texture or a digital backdrop in a composite.
Shoot colors, textures, patterns. Look for old, new, and in between. Use your imagination. Closeup lenses make this easier. Build your collection and whether or not you ever use them in a composite, you’ll at least have benefitted from training your eye to find this level of detail.
2. Shoot Reflective Surfaces
Whether it’s water on natural objects such as rocks or something like sunshine reflecting off glass windows or doors, reflections offer all sorts of visual stimulation and are very attractive to most human brains.
Experiment with reflections in both color and monochrome.
3. Go Prop Shopping
No matter what you shoot, props can liven up your photography. Portrait shooters for instance can change the entire look of a shoot with the right props. Whether it be parasols or feathered caps, you can make a real statement with props and it all starts with prop shopping. Props can help illustrate concepts. Think of some concepts you want to illustrate and then go to thrift stores, antique stores and estate sales and look for cool props to help tell the story.
4. Time of Day
Make the same photo – at the same place at different times of day. Light changes minute-by-minute. So the same photo is not possible if taken one minute before or after the one it seeks to replicate.
Light moves and makes changes. Subjects look different in different light. The color spectrum changes as does the light. This can be inspiring to even the most bored photographer.
5. Juxtaposition
Mix objects that don’t normally go together. Photograph an elderly lady holding a skate board. Photograph a basketball team standing in a swimming pool. Try looking at things in an inside out manner.
When you work with objects in an unexpected manner, you shake up your viewers and your own imagination. It’s a great way to jump start your photographic vision.
These are merely idea starters. Use them to come up with your own ideas. Get busy and get out of the doldrums.
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This post sponsored by WHCC – White House Custom Colour – Get Five Free 8×10 Prints From WHCC
