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HDR Aesthetics

Magazine, Magazine - Digital Photo Pro, Software - Photoshop  Comment
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HDR imagery is expanding today’s photographic aesthetics. Identifying the characteristics of contemporary HDR images will help classicists and pioneers alike. The basic ingredients are desirable for both sensibilities, but in varying combinations and to different degrees. As with solving any problem, it’s easier if you break it down into it’s component pieces and then learn what each one does and how they interact with one another. First know what to look for. Second, know what a tool can do. Third, know how to apply a tool. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be well along the way to crafting a unique style that’s all your own.
Pronounced Shadow and Highlight Detail
Accentuated Edge Contrast
Accentuated Texture
Increased Noise
Smoothed Texture
Saturation Distortions
Read more in the current issue of Digital Photo Pro.
Learn these and other techniques in my workshops.

LDR

Half HDR

HDR Simulated

HDR Simulated With Photomatix

Photoworkshop.com Photography / Imaging Contest

Contests  Comment
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I’ll be co-judging this year’s Photoworkshops.com Photography and Digital Imaging Competition.
Here’s more information.
Deadline
May 1, 2009
Entry Fee
$25 for the first image, all additional images – $10 (up to 5)
Eligibility
Open to everyone 18 years of age or older except where prohibited by law.
Prizes
Over $17,000 in prizes
Selected images will appear on the covers and inside the pages of After Capture and Rangefinder magazines.
Two Categories
Straight Photography/Lightly Manipulated
Defined as generally straight photography with minimal or no graphics software enhancement.
Judged by Dr. Anthony Bannon, Director, George Eastman House.
Photo Illustration/Manipulated
Applies to images having undergone significant graphics software manipulation.
Judged by John Paul Caponigro, fine artist.
View the Complete List of Awards and Competition Rules here.

Ansel Adams Interviewed By Roy Firestone

Photographers, Video  Comment
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Few photographers, if any, were as influential to the development of the medium as Ansel Adams. Ansel Adams saw the digital revolution coming. Based on his writings, it’s certain he would have embraced many of the changes. But which ones? What would his working methods be like? What would it be like if he were still with us? Always interesting questions to consider.

Lightroom & Photoshop

Event - Seminar  Comment
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During the Epson Print Academy today, Jeff Schewe does a great job detailing how to set up an optimum relationship between Lightroom and Photoshop.
Use LR (or ACR) for parametric edits.
Use Photoshop for processing pixels.
The lion’s share of image processing happens during Raw conversion,
So, what kinds of things should you favor doing in Photoshop?
Here’s Schewe’s list.
Retouching
Industrial Strength Noise Reduction
Creative Sharpening / Blurring
FX
Compositing
Proofing
Text
Check out the Epson Print Academy here.
Only two more dates scheduled!
Check out my Fine Digital Print Workshops here.

Epson Print Academy – Chicago – 3/14/2009

Event - Seminar  Comment
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The Epson Print Academy comes to Chicago tomorrow. Both tracks 1 & 2 are full day information packed seminars offered at an unbeatable price.
I’ll be processing one of my new files from Antarctica live during my demos.
Henry Wilhelm will be making a special appearance.
It’s one of the last Epson Print Academy events and the only domestic one of the season; there are only two more after this in Toronto and Vancouver.

Check out the Epson Print Academy here.
Check out my Fine Digital Print Workshops here.

Illuminating Creativity – Lecture at the College of Dupage

Event - Lecture  Comment
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Tonight, for the first time, I’ll be showing new work from my Antarctica January, 2009 voyage. I’ll also reveal a lot about my creative process; camera, software, drawing, and writing technique and how it all goes together. The lecture is at 7 pm at the College of Dupage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois (outside of Chicago). Sponsored by Canon, the lecture is free and open to the public.
See my previous Antarctica posts. Type Antarctica into Search.
Stay tuned here and to Insights for upcoming online releases.
Check out my upcoming field workshops in Palm Springs, Namibia, Maine, and Iceland.

New Adobe Updates

Software  Comment
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Adobe has recently released a number of updates to their core photographic imaging products – Lightroom, Photoshop, and Camera Raw.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 update – February 24, 2009
* A number of issues that could cause slow performance have been addressed.
* Pen barrel rotation with Wacom tablets now works correctly.
* Photoshop now correctly recognizes 3D textures edited by a plug-in.
* The quality of the results of Auto-Blend Layers (Stack Images) has been improved.
* A problem that could result in a crash when pasting formatted text has been fixed.
* A crash that could result from a corrupt font no longer occurs.
Camera Raw 5.3 update – March 3, 2009
This new version of the Camera Raw plug-in replaces the original one that was installed with Adobe® Photoshop® CS4; Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0; and Adobe Premiere® Elements 7.0 software. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.
Lightroom 2.3 update – March 3, 2009
* Additional camera support for the Nikon D3X and Olympus E-30
* Includes several corrections for issues introduced by previous Lightroom 2 releases
Get all the updates here.
Learn about them in my workshops.

Kathy Beal – Alumni – Antarctica

Alumni, Workshop  Comment
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Kathy Beal has a thoroughly unique approach to making images, capturing out of focus fields of color on location and using them as a jumping off point for creating unique compositions in Photoshop. Though still inspired by specific places and their palettes, her images take you to entirely new places with a palette all her own.
Kathy’s one of my long standing alumni who has come so far so fast it’s thrilling to watch! It took a combination of many things to make breathroughts – commitment, research, persistence, risk, courage, feedback, sensitivity, passion, and the most important of all hard work. But she enjoys what she’s doing so much, it doesn’t seem like hard work. She’s become incredibly productive, producing thoroughly unique work. Her growth can only be described as an explosion of creativity.
Check out more of Kathy’s work from Antarctica here.
Check out my workshops here.

William Eggleston

Photographers, Video  Comment
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“Eggleston is the beginning of modern color photography.” – John Szarkowski, Director Emeritus, Photography, MoMA
“It would be difficult to imagine a world according to David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, Juergen Teller or Sofia Coppola without the world according to William Eggleston.” – The Observer
These are dramatic statements that bear further discussion. But Eggleston’s is important work and well worth becoming better acquainted with.
Eggleston Photos

William Eggleston Photographer

William Eggleston In The Real World

Learn more about color in my eBooks, DVDs, and workshops.

Resonance in Red and Gold

Images - Photographs, Images - Statements  Comment
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July 18, 2003

“Many meditation practices suggest gazing at the flow of water, in some cases watching or visualizing a drop of water hit the still surface of a greater body of water. Like many mandalas, Resonance in Red and Gold has a rhythmic centering quality.

The methods of both photographer and painter are married here. The color is an invention. The composition, both representational and abstract, offers a fluid structure to explore the power of color, physically and psychologically.

Red, the warmest color. Is its presence here the reflected glory of the heavens, a display of bodily fluid, or an omen of toxic waste? The power of this image can be found, in part, in tantalizing ambiguity. When looking at this image, I’ve asked myself why red, time and time again. I can’t answer the question. But by asking the questions that surround it I learn to more fully appreciate the presence and power of red.”

Read other artist’s statements here.

Find out more about my workshop The Power of Color here.