Your Raw Files Aren’t Being Held Hostage by Adobe

Posted by Richard Harrington on May 24, 2013
Posted in: Opinion, Tips. Tagged: , , , , .
Photo by Bliznetsov

Photo by Bliznetsov

The recent Creative Cloud announcement has left some of you feeling hostage.  You worry that you won’t be able to upgrade cameras as they won’t be supported by the version of Adobe Camera Raw that you have.

Here are four solutions you should know about if you don’t want to make the move to the subscription model of Photoshop CC (priced at $9—$19 per month or available in suites ranging from $29—$79).

  1. Buy Lightroom —Adobe Photoshop Lightroom will continue to be sold as boxed software.  No changes to the licensing or approach will be made.
  2. Convert to DNG — The DNG (or digital negative format) allows you to convert almost any raw file to a new format.  The original raw file can be embedded, and you lose no functionality in editing. DNG is a publicly available archive format that’s broadly supported.  It’s also a free download and can convert newer camera formats into one that can be recognized by older versions of Photoshop and Lightroom.  Lightroom can also convert to DNG on import.
  3. Continue to Use CS6 — Adobe plans to update Photoshop CS6 (and all the CS6 apps) for the next Mac and Windows operating system releases.  They’ve also promised to deliver a version of Camera Raw 8 that supports all the new cameras (but removes things like Spot detection and Upright).  Remember to keep an eye on labs.adobe.com for early updates to Adobe Camera Raw.
  4. Use Photoshop Elements — The latest version of Photoshop Elements is incredibly robust. It even offers features like Photomerge.   Oh, and it’s often found for about $70. Before you grumble, download the free demo and see if it doesn’t work better than that old copy of Photoshop you don’t want to upgrade.

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Professional Portrait Light from a Simple Tool

Posted by Richard Harrington on May 24, 2013
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials, Tips. Tagged: , , .

Guest Post & Photos by Levi Sim - Circle Levi on Google+

jane-105-1

 A little while ago I showed you how I used a translucent diffuser to create soft light with a speedlight and hot red hairdo in a hot red jeep. When you shine a little through a translucent material, it’s spreads out that light and makes it bigger, and a bigger light is a softer light. I love soft light.

But speedlights are expensive and calling them temperamental is an understatement. The diffuser can be had for well under US$50, however, and is the perfect complement to the largest, cheapest light source in the solar system: the sun.  I’d go as far as to say that the cheapest, fastest way to make your portraiture better is to learn to use this simple tool. My preferred style is the 40 inch by 60 inch oval, and it comes with covers in black, white, silver, and gold; search for a “5-in1 reflector” and millions of choices will pop up (roughly 42,400,000 choices).
In the picture above, I’ve used two of these to create soft light on the subject’s face and a warm hair light from behind. The hair light is done simply by standing in the sunshine behind your subject and bouncing the light onto the back of her head. It sounds simple, but you should really practice finding the light and bouncing it the right direction. It’s especially tricky when the sun is setting low and long shadows get in the way of standing in direct light. Photographers usually ask me what to do if you don’t have assistants to hold these, and my answer is: get and assistant to hold these!
You can reflector holders that will mount to a light stand, but they are easily blown over in the lightest breeze. Plus, you’re missing out on an opportunity to build a relationship with a fellow photographer if you don’t ask someone for help. When you work with other photographers you build trust, learn new skills, and add resources to your network. That is the most valuable thing you can do as photographer or business person. Just ask someone in your camera club, or your Facebook group to join, and return the favor. My best friends are those who I have worked with helping each other on shoots.
7secretscandid-138
Now, about that soft light on the face. The sun is the largest light in the solar system, but relative to me, it’s no larger than my finger tip, and that small light throws a hard edged shadow. Using the diffuser to shine the dune through enlarges that light and eases the edges of shadows making the transition from bright to dark very gradual and soft (that’s why it’s called soft light). Just check out the transition between the bright and dark sides of the model’s face in the picture; you can see that one side is brighter and one side darker, but you can’t point to one spot and say, “This is where the dark side is,” because it is a soft transition.
You’ve got this big light source, but there are a couple of tips that will make this tool really valuable. First of all, the closer you put the diffuser to your subject, the brighter your subject will be. For the image above, the diffuser is barely out of the frame, just 18 inches or so from her face. The closer it is, the brighter the bright side will be, but the darker the shadow side will be. I love that! I love to have shadows in my portraiture because they reveal form and texture and without darkness light is understated.
Second, place your subject in front of a dark background. the diffuser makes the light larger, but it also reduces the brightness. That means if the sun is shining on your subject and also shining on the house behind her, when you diffuse the light on her the proper exposure on her face will be darker than the exposure on the house and the house will appear blown out and there will probably be many distracting elements in the image. Placing your subject in the sunshine in front a dark background or a background in the shade will keep your viewers attention on the brightest thing in the image: your subject. Plus, since it darkens the sun, it often makes it easier for your subject to not squint.
Third, redirect the light. If the sun is directly overhead, you can hold your panel at an angle and create a different direction of light that is more flattering on your subject. That means I can create good light on a bride at high, and that should keep you from being grumpy about shooting weddings in the middle of the day.
sargent sealing-246
sargent sealing-235
In these wedding images you can see the difference the diffuser makes in softening the light, redirecting it, and darkening it. The light is high overhead, leaving hard edged raccoon shadows in the eye sockets. With the diffuser I’ve redirected the light so that shines more from the side, lightening their eyes and leaving a softer edged shadow. Without the diffuser, the exposure on the couple was f/8, and with it dropped to f/5.6. Note the difference on the spires in the background.
Lastly, pay attention to your own shadow, and the edges of the light. When I photograph a senior, the mom is often along for the shoot, and I’ve seen some photographers use her to hold reflectors for them. The thing is, you’ve got to be diligent about the placement of the light, especially with a reflector. If mom turns a little to the left, the light on the face disappears. It’s really tough for people who haven’t practiced to maintain a constant light for you, let alone find the right light to begin with. Mom can probably handle a hair light, but I need an attentive assistant to hod the diffuser and make sure their own shadow doesn’t block the light shining through. Then, while I’m looking through the lens, I’ve got to be sure that the all the light falling on my subject is coming through the diffuser so there are not hot spots as on the hands and sleeve at the bottom of this image.
alicia&john-236
It’s still a great expression, and the little breeze in her hair is nice, but I’d probably crop it so the light is more homogenous.
Photography is all about light, and using a the diffuser from an inexpensive 5-in-1 reflector kit will help you create great light anywhere in the world.
alicia&john-268
     alicia&john-286
I’ve learned many of these skills working closely with other photographers and instructors at Skip Cohen University. The classes are remarkably intimate, and the skills learned in classes are inculcated after class with other students and throughout the year in the online forums.  It is the best education available in photography today, and I hope I’ll see you in Chicago in August.

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More On The Changes At Flickr (Nothing To Do With CEO’s Pro Photographer Comment)

Posted by scottbourne on May 23, 2013
Posted in: Opinion. Tagged: .

imagesimages-1images-2Lost in the shuffle of the PR flub by Yahoo’s CEO about pro photographers, was a real discussion on the significant changes to Flickr’s pro accounts. The CEO’s comments about pro photographers skewed the conversation. But now that I’ve had time to dissect what really went on (of substance) there are things to ponder.

One thing is for sure. Flickr’s announcement is a clear message – Flickr is not going silently into the night. The overall changes revolve around three big ticket items: the site redesign, the new Android app, and the big news: the free Terabyte!

The site redesign and the Android app is Flickr playing catch up. The redesign is five years overdue and an Android app to go with their iOS offering is par for the course these days. The news that really made waves was the free terabyte. Something about terabyte got people talking – maybe people just like saying the word “terabyte”.

On Flickr’s blog they say you could take a photo every hour for the next forty years without filling a terabyte. For those who are looking for a little more context, it’s somewhere between 100,000 and a half a million high-res photos depending on size.

Who has this many photos? Some professional photographers will have that many and some sincere hobbyists who have been shooting for years.

The genius of the announcement is that it sounds absolutely wonderful. To those in the know, it’s absolute nonsense. Photographers who work with photos regularly, and who understand file size, realize that to 99.99% of people out there a terabyte is meaningless. The consumer types will never fill it, not even if they upload all the family photos their aunts, uncles, and cousins took at last year’s family picnic.

Flickr used to say  they offered unlimited photos. But that is no longer sexy. And Flickr needed something to make the media sit up and take notice. Something the media could run with. Something people would stand around the water cooler discussing the next day…hence 1TB!

But what does it say about their target audience? The old target audience, (serious photographers like us) would see through this simple ploy – wouldn’t they? It’s almost as if Flickr was intentionally trying to break through to another market, a less photo-savvy market. Possibly a market that takes photos of their food and likes to upload “selfies”.

Positioning the free terabyte ahead of real value for photographers hints at Flickr’s desire to move away from being a social network for photographer’s in favor of the more lucrative social network for people who happen to have photos. Don’t be tricked into thinking those are the same thing. It makes more sense when you look at it in the context of the Tumblr buy. Flickr wants to be a social network not a photo sharing network. It’s a nifty bit of slight-of-hand, but if you’re paying for a “Pro” account at Flickr you might want to read this next part carefully.

As I mentioned in my previous post on the Flickr announcement, they obviously borrowed their design cues from Google + and 500px. But after that, they moved in different directions.

Google+ is essentially ad free. 500px is absolutely ad free. Flickr Pro is ad free and the non pro account shows ads. So let’s dig deeper into what you get for your money if you don’t want ads.

500px doesn’t mention exact storage size anywhere else on their site but the TOS. And you all know I am that guy. I read their  terms of service page. A free account at 500px allows you 20 photo uploads per week for the rest of your life. Over 40 years this only amounts to around forty thousand photos.

When upgrading to 500px (Plus Acct – $25 a year or half the charge for Flickr Pro) you get “unlimited” uploads. Unlimited – there is that word Flickr so callously threw away. I think we can all agree “unlimited” is far less sexy than “a terabyte.” But it is better because – well it is unlimited. This reminds me of the book “1984″ when the bad guys would reduce the chocolate ration and then start a PR campaign telling you they raised it.

To look at it another way, on 500px $25 will get you three terabytes of storage, on Flickr this would cost you $999.98.

But again, the terabyte is almost meaningless. It’s hype. It’s a word the media can latch onto. But to guys like me, it’s just another way to make noise without making something worth talking about. When breaking it down, Flickr’s changes aren’t good for the photographers who would be regular readers of Photofocus. It’s not good for the people who were paying $25 for a “Pro” account and are now paying $50. Maybe the family that wants to store 400 vacation pics a year would dig it, but there is nothing there for pros anymore. Now on to Google+…

It’s harder to quantify how this plays out once you throw Google+ into the mix.  I can’t quite figure out their approach. Their TOS uses words like “standard” size (which is smaller than full size) and unlimited, but then talks about purchasing more storage. Here is their fee structure.

From the Google Site:

“Google Drive storage plans

Choose from the following monthly Google Drive storage plans to be shared between Google Drive and G+ Photos. When you purchase one of these plans, your Gmail storage limit will automatically increase to 25 GB. Yearly plans aren’t currently available.”

Storage Monthly Rate
25 GB $2.49
100 GB $4.99
200 GB $9.99
400 GB $19.99
1 TB $49.99
2 TB $99.99
4 TB $199.99
8 TB $399.99
16 TB $799.99

It seems pretty clear that G+ is more expensive than Flickr and G+ as well as Flickr are more expensive than 500px. 

In the end, the service you choose will be based on your personal taste, your budget, and you’re intended audience. I think Yahoo has just actually made Flickr less relevant by instituting these changes. Time will tell.

(P.S. I welcome someone from Google to contact me (photo focus@me.com) and explain their plan – especially if I got it wrong. But I don’t think I did.

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Need to Remove Camera Blur or Shake? There’s an App for That.

Posted by Richard Harrington on May 23, 2013
Posted in: Screencast. Tagged: , , , , .

Learn how to remove unwanted camera shake from a photo (aka Deblur) in Photoshop CC.

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Mosaic — A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

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Remember When I Said Flickr Is Back? Never Mind.

Posted by scottbourne on May 22, 2013
Posted in: Opinion. Tagged: , , , .

Screen Shot 2013-05-21 at 3.01.24 PM
Back in December of last year I wrote a post praising Flickr mostly because they had a new mobile app that I really liked.

Fast forward six months and WOW. What a screwed up mess. Two days ago Flickr made even more changes. Most of the photographers I polled on Twitter weren’t happy about them – at all. About 70% were unhappy, 20% happy and the rest “meh.”  And to add fuel to that fire, those chiming in on Flickr’s own forum aren’t happy. (NOTE: This link may be bad by the time you read it since Flickr has a habit of banning anyone who says something bad about Flickr on their site. That is their right and I don’t fault them for it but just wanted you to know in case the link is broken why it might be.)

Essentially, Flickr tried to copy 500px and the new G+ photo theme and at first blush, they did a good job. The front page is pretty – if a little disorganized. The photo stream is attractive but organization is a mess here too. The single page photo view is completely FUBAR. In any event, the changes to the interface are pretty much just skin deep. A few clicks in and it seems that the old Flickr is there lurking.

On the account side, Flickr now offers free accounts 1TB free storage – supported by ads. This is causing many who held a pro account to wonder why they should pay since there was so much new free storage. But there are problems with this free account. There is 1TB free storage, but in my tests Flickr throttles the upload process so much that it would take a long time to actually gain the advantage of the free 1TB storage. The 1TB storage needs to be accompanied by great upload service or sync and so far, that is not happening.

I still think this might be a good deal for casual users who want a free account and don’t mind the slow uploads and lots of ads. There is a price to free no matter who you use. But this is only half the story.

Now as for the pros and the pro accounts (not necessarily the same thing) there are deeper problems.

First the asinine comments from the new CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, who actually said the following…

“There’s no such thing as Flickr Pro today because [with so many people taking photographs] there’s really no such thing as professional photographers anymore.”

Wow – just wow. You know, it’s a great business strategy to attack an entire group of your customers. NOT! If it’s okay with you Marissa, I’ll keep cashing those checks that come in every month for my “professional” photography. I hear you came to your job from the coding side of the business. Perhaps sucking down bags of Oreos and Jolt cola have left you brain damaged but I got news for you – there are plenty of professional photographers out there – whether you like it 0r recognize it is inconsequential. (And this is an open challenge to Marissa. Come on Photofocus and debate me on this subject. I seriously doubt that you have the stones.)

Beyond demeaning, mindlessly attacking and writing off a major subset of her customer base, Marisa also delivered a price increase without really telling us what she plans to do to justify that increase. I am okay with businesses raising prices. They need to make a profit. But there should be some new features for pros to go along with it. And so far, I don’t see any.

The whole change feels rushed, kludgey and poorly thought out. My guess is that they rushed to do this because both 500px and Google+ just rolled out major enhancements to their services.

I’ve had a Flickr account since July, 2007 but with Flickr’s CEO essentially attacking my profession I’m moving on. The 7000 plus of you who have photos in the Photofocus Flickr account will need to know we’re moving that account – where I don’t know – but within a few weeks we’ll have a new place for it. You’ll have to re-join us wherever that ends up being. As for me, I’ve closed my Flickr account and am moving my meaningful photos to 500px or one of my blogs. I guess I’ll be closing my Tumblr blog too since Marissa has her fingers into that. It’s too bad. Flickr had a good thing going. Then Marissa showed up.

UPDATE: I have challenged Marissa Mayer to come on the Photofocus podcast and let me ask her questions about her statement for ten minutes and in return I will give $1000 to her favorite charity. So far, she is still hiding in her bunker somewhere in Silicon Valley. If she finds the stones to come on the show I’ll be sure to let you know.

UPDATE #2: I hereby withdraw my offer to Mayer to come on my show. It’s clear she won’t and it’s clear that her PR machine is going to make sure that this event goes away as soon as possible. Mayer has backed off her statement about professional photographers – at least a little. While this Tweet was not posted to her general stream (something the PR hacks at Yahoo probably forbade) it did appear in her reply stream. She said…

“@karon @johndphoto I worded my answer terribly. I really apologize for what it sounded like outside of the context and notion of Flickr Pro.”

Now pay attention to the wording. She’s not saying she was wrong. She’s not saying there are indeed professional photographers. She IS saying she was taken out of context. If you read the entire statement she made during the announcement it’s clear she didn’t get taken out of context. It’s too bad she doesn’t have the courage to simply stand up and say what she should say; something like: “I was wrong. It was foolish of me to say there are no professional photographers. I value the professional photo community and my mistake was inexcusable. I hope you will forgive me for screwing up.”

Now THAT would be an apology. Either way, she at least back tracked a little so I am happy about that. I am also happy that this got so much attention because people like Mayer need to be held accountable when they slight an entire profession. Her PR people (as the PR people at Yahoo/Flickr are famous for doing) are circling the wagons, and have engaged the Yahoo fanboys to go out and defend Mayer. It’s too little too late for me. The rest of you decide as you see fit. I am loving 500px.com and am encouraging people to give that a try.

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Mosaic — A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos.  You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service.  Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

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Drobo - Not only is Drobo 5D fast, but it’s easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

New Camera? Want RAW Support In Adobe Camera Raw? You Don’t Have to Wait.

Posted by scottbourne on May 21, 2013
Posted in: News. Tagged: , , , .

acr81

A lot of folks don’t know that Adobe often releases software early as part of its Adobe Labs program. Here you’ll find “prerelease” candidates which simply means software that every thinks is good enough to ship but they want to test a little longer.

A new version of Adobe Camera Raw was released — version 8.1. It is a beta version and will work until June 30, 2013.

Here’s what’s new

  • Using a retina display? HiDPI capable monitors are supported.
  • New Camera support
  • New lens profiles for automatic lens correction.
  • A new DNG Converter to reprocess raw files to a lossless format.

New Camera Support

  • Hasselblad H5D-60
  • Olympus PEN E-P5
  • Olympus PEN E-PL6
  • Phase One IQ260
  • Pentax Ricoh GR
  • Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G6
  • Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LF1

New Lens Profiles

Canon PowerShot G1 X Canon
Canon PowerShot G15 Canon
Hasselblad HCD 4.8/24 Hasselblad
NIKON COOLPIX A Nikon
NIKON COOLPIX P330 Nikon
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Nikon
HD PENTAX-D FA645 MACRO 90mm F2.8ED AW SR Pentax
HD PENTAX-DA 560mm F5.6ED AW Pentax
SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC HSM A013 Canon
SIGMA 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM C013 Nikon
SIGMA 19mm F2.8 DN A013 Olympus
SIGMA 30mm F2.8 DN A013 Olympus
SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC HSM A013 Sigma
SIGMA 19mm F2.8 DN A013 Sony
SIGMA 30mm F2.8 DN A013 Sony

Download the Camera Raw 8.1 release candidate

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Mosaic — A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Not only is Drobo 5D fast, but it’s easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.

A Few Considerations When Choosing Raw over JPEG

Posted by scottbourne on May 21, 2013
Posted in: HDR, Opinion, Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: , , , , , .

I wanted to share a few points on why I choose to shoot raw for 95% of my workflow. I still encounter many users who are afraid to make the switch to raw, so I offer these considerations to help you decide what’s right for you.

The image on the left is how the camera captured a JPEG. Making adjustments to the image is possible, but will lead to more degradation in image quality. The image on the right is a properly developed raw file. Working with raw files gives you access to greater control over an image.

The image on the left is how the camera captured a JPEG. Making adjustments to the image is possible, but will lead to more degradation in image quality. The image on the right is a properly developed raw file. Working with raw files gives you access to greater control over an image.
  • Memory cards used to be expensive. Photographers could not afford multiple or high-capacity cards, so they wanted more images to fit on a single, smaller card. This is not the case any more for almost all users. Cards have gotten dirt cheap.
  • JPEGS are small. Internet connections can be slow… that’s why JPEG files were popularized. JPEGs are meant to post to websites and send via email. Make a JPEG after you develop your high-quality file.
  • Small is not best. A distribution format like JPEG (one that’s easy to email) doesn’t mean it’s a good authoring format to capture your photographic vision. A JPEG file looks for areas where pixel detail is repeated, such as the color white on every key of your computer keyboard. The file then discards repeated information and tells the computer to repeat certain color values or data to re-create the image. The drawback is that a JPEG file is lossy, so every time you modify it and re-save, additional compression is applied to the image
  • More info means more options. Raw (or native) formats have several benefits over shooting to JPEG. The images are usually captured at a higher bit depth, which means that the pixels contain more information about the color values in the image. Most raw files have a depth of 10, 12, or even 16-bits per channel instead of the 8 used by JPEG. This raw format also has a greater tonal range, resulting in better exposure for shadows and highlights.
  • Almost everything works with raw. Whether you use iPhoto, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, Photoshop, Photomatix, Nik, or more… they all support raw files. Most cameras work with most software tools. You already own the tool set, why not use them?
  • Get better exposure, sharpening and contrast. While your camera may contain settings for sharpness, exposure, or lighting conditions, the raw file stores that info as modifiable information and captures the original (unmodified) data that came through your camera’s sensors.
  • Advanced photography works better. Want to shoot HDR or Panoramic images? The use of raw makes it easier to blend images together. You’ll get better looking results by feeding in more information to start.

Be sure to get the most from your camera. If it shoots raw, use it. If you really want JPEGs out of camera, you can shoot Raw+JPEG and simply write both to the card.

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Mosaic — A complete solution for photographers using Lightroom who want to manage and share their photos. You can easily view images with their iOS app or web service. Plus your photos are backed up to the cloud with several plans to match your needs.

Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.

Drobo - Not only is Drobo 5D fast, but it’s easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.