3 New DVDs!
Fine Art Digital Printing
Fine Art Workflow
Extending Dynamic Range – HDR Imaging
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Read more on Printing in my free Lessons.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.
OnOne Software has announced the immediate availability of Plug-in Suite 5. Plug-in Suite 5 combines full versions of six essential software tools in one affordable package: FocalPoint 2, PhotoTune 3, PhotoFrame 4.5 Professional Edition, PhotoTools 2.5 Professional Edition, Genuine Fractals 6 Professional Edition and MaskPro 4. In addition to the FocalPoint, PhotoTune, PhotoTools and PhotoFrame updates, the Plug-in Suite 5 now includes the onOne Panel which provides quick access to all products and Windows 64 bit support.
Focal Point makes selective focus effects astonishingly easy to achieve.
Genuine Fractals does an amazing job of making very small files very large.
Learn more about OnOne’s Plug-In Suite here.
Try OnOne Softwares in my Fine Art Digital Printing workshops here.
Good design leads to happiness?
Even if you’re not a graphic designer like Stefan Sagmeister.
More entertaining than enlightening, watch all the creative twists and turns he takes.
Joyce Tenneson is coordinating a fascinating new book The View and she’s looking for compelling images and stories.
“I am editing a book tentatively called “The View”. I have already received submissions from photographers around the world and would like to invite you to participate as well. There is no research that explains why certain views affect people so deeply – this project will attempt to shed light on this intriguing visual-psychological phenomenon.
I would be most grateful if you would send me a high-resolution photo or two (no smaller than 8×10”) of a “view” that has affected you deeply. I would also like you to send along 1-3 sentences describing, in your own words and in a simple fashion, what you felt or still feel when thinking about that particular scene. Thanks in advance for your time and perceptions!
I’d like to make it clear that I am not looking for a simply beautiful landscape – a picture postcard – quite the opposite. I am seeking to uncover what it is about certain places or photographs that, for some unknown reason, speak to our heart in an unforgettable and poignant manner.”
Find out more and submit images here.
Find out more about Cig Harvey here.
Whenever you can, spend a little extra time before and/or after a workshop (or any business trip for that matter). You go to great places. You always want more time. You might want to see a location again. Or you might want to see a nearby location that you didn’t get to. Stimulating as groups can be, sometimes you want to work alone and at your own pace. There are so many reasons to spend a little extra time.
On the way back from my White Sands, New Mexico workshop my wife and I visited the Bosque Del Apache bird sanctuary. Every year this marsh is filled with Sand Hill Cranes, Snow Geese and countless other birds. They fill the sky at dawn. The sound of the waking birds is wonderful.
As you can tell, I’m no Arthur Morris (one of the world’s premiere bird photographers). I hear he was at the Bosque at the same time I was.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.
Find out about my Illuminating Creativity field workshops here.
Photography is my favorite form of exercise. Sometimes you walk a lot. Sometimes you walk in challenging terrain. I love walking in dunes. It’s great exercise. Low impact. Lots of climbing. You lose your breath by the time you reach the top of a dune. But you’re so excited to make the next photograph, you forget about it. By the time you’re finished making the photograph, you’ve got your breath back. There must be another great picture just over the next dune. So you keep walking further. Just when you think you’re finished, you turn around and realize you get to do it all over again on the way back.
Find out about my field workshops here.
Stay tuned for more 2010 workshop dates.
Want to feel like you have a National Park all to yourself? Join the 1% club. Rangers say less than 1% of visitors walk more than a mile. This can make a big difference when you’re photographing. For instance, when you’re photographing sand dunes, near parking lots and trail heads you’ll see more footprints than wave patterns, but one mile out, you won’t see a single footprint. So if you’re seeking solitude and pristine nature, walk a mile.
Find out about my field workshops here.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.
When you first approach a subject it can be helpful to take an inventory of all of the components available to you.
At White Sands, New Mexico, I made a short list of all the elements available.
It quickly became clear that I was most interested in the sand dunes.
So I listed all the possible components of sand dunes.
Peaks
Valleys
Baselines
Crests
Ripples
Indentations
Slides
Wind blown sand
Hard pack revealed
Hard pack lines
Hoodoos
Shadow shapes
Light shapes
I quickly had a list of all the essential elements I had to work with.
I could search for one image that had them all.
I could gather one of each to tell a story of the composition of the place.
I could focus on just one element and find many meaningful variations.
I could look for images that had combinations of two (or more) interacting with one another.
Or I could look for them all to build an extended photo essay.
At this point, with so many ideas to pursue, it’s hard to get blocked creatively.
By taking notes, I was sensitized to and more conscious of my subject. I quickly gained many insights into how to best approach the subject, where to go, and when to be there. When you take this approach, you make visual search more efficient and focussed, saving time and energy for depth of perception. Being focussed doesn’t mean you can’t also work intuitively at the same time. There are always many surprises along the way if you just stay open to new discoveries.In fact, being focussed may help you realize more quickly what’s truly new and what’s the same old story. It’s easy to get fixated on a few things and miss other essential elements and creative opportunities.
Making notes on site can really pay off. And this is just one kind of note you can make.
Find free Creativity ebooks here.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.
During my White Sands, New Mexico workshop, we’ll be photographing in the same area for the next four days. On our first sunrise shoot, I timed the light and how it affected subjects.
5:45 Color on horizon
6:00 Color in sky
6:15 Color bright on horizon
6:30 Highlights on dunes
6:45 Strong texture Large areas of shadow
7:00 Less Less
7:30 Less Less
8:00 Less Less
8:30 Dark sides of dune affected by substantial fill light
12:00 No shadow
3:30 Long shadows
4:00 Substantial shadow
4:30 Fifty percent shadow
4:40 Highlights are accents only
4:50 Sun below horizon, definition falls, pink mountains to east
5:00 Color in sky blooms
5:30 Color in sky largely gone
5:45 Dim light in sky
Now I know what the light will do and when. I’ll use this information everyday for the next three days. So will everyone else. Making notes on site can really pay off. And this is just one kind of note you can make.
Find free Creativity ebooks here.
Find out about my 2010 White Sands Workshop here.
Camera Raw 5.6 and Lightroom 2.6 Available on Adobe Labs.
Here’s the link to ACR 5.6.
Here’s the link to Lightroom 2.6.
If you’re using Lightroom 3 read the notes before downloading/installing.
Find more Lightroom details on Lightroom Journal.