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Posted by on Aug 10, 2012 in Lightroom | 83 comments

Win A Free Ticket to My Lightroom Seminar in Seattle, St. Louis, or Kansas City

Happy Friday everyone. Just wanted to give you a quick update on some cities I’ll be taking my Lightroom Live Seminar Tour to in the next month or so (and the chance to win a free ticket). First, I’ll be heading to Seattle on August 24th. I’ll actually be in Portland during the week before, so if you have any good shooting locations around (or even within a few hours drive) of there let me know :)

Then I’m on to St. Louis, MO on September 11th and Kansas City, MO on September 12th. I won’t have too much time to shoot but, again, if you have any great locations I need to hit please let me know as well.

If you want to win a free ticket to the seminar, then just leave a comment here, along with what city you’d like, and I’ll pick one by the end of the day. Also, here’s a quick 2 minute video where I talk about what we cover during the day so you can get an idea of what the seminar is all about:

If you have the chance, check out the website for the seminar tour. I’ve taught this seminar to thousands of people worldwide, and it really seems to be exactly what everyone needs to finally start using Lightroom to it’s full potential.

Thanks! Have a great weekend!

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Posted by on Aug 9, 2012 in Lightroom, Photoshop, Reviews | 9 comments

Review: Tiffen Dfx V3 Lightroom/Photoshop Plug-In


I’ve been wanting to try out Tiffen’s Dfx V3 Lightroom and Photoshop plug-in for a while now. So I installed it a few weeks ago and started diving in. I’ve gotta tell ya up front. I’m a total onOne Software and Nik Software snob. For a while, I’ve felt that all I needed in a plug-in was covered by those their products, so why even try something else? Now that I’ve played with Dfx for a while I can now see what all the hype is about.

What I Thought Going Into This?
Personally, I don’t long for the days of film to be back. I don’t care much for “film” effects either. I rarely add grain, cross-process, or bleach bypass effects to my photos. Going into this review with Tiffen’s Dfx, I thought that’s what the plug-in was all about. I couldn’t have been more wrong though. There’s A LOT more to it.

Which Version Did I Use?
First off, I used the Photoshop plug-in, the Lightroom version and the standalone version. It’s really a matter of which program you use most but I figure most people will use either the Photoshop or Lightroom versions, rather than the standalone.

The Interface
I found the overall interface pretty easy to get through. I didn’t watch a demo or read a manual or anything, so I had no idea how to navigate around when I first opened it (typical guy right? who needs directions or user guides?!). I thought getting to all of the filters was really easy. In fact, in some ways I like their implementation the best out of all the plug-ins I’ve used.

See, I’ve always been a fan of the old Variations dialog in Photoshop. It’s not around anymore but the way it worked was simple. You’d open it, and the dialog would show you 6 or 7 variations of your photo in small thumbnail previews. You clicked on the one you liked best and that was it. No sliders to mess around with. Well, Dfx’s filters are kinda of similar. At the bottom, you click on the overall “style” of filter you want to apply. Then the Presets panel (on the left in my screenshot below) opens for that filter and you choose which level or intensity of that filter you want to apply. Each one has a thumbnail preview already and you can just pick the one that looks best without messing around with sliders (although you can if you want). Maybe it’s a personal preference but I kinda liked it.

(click to see larger)

Customizing The Interface
I also liked the fact that you could customize the interface. They have a version of layering effects that’s almost like layers in Photoshop (which is a good thing because most people are familiar with that concept). But when I first opened it, I noticed the layers were on the left (opposite where they would be in Photoshop). But then I realized you can drag panels where ever you want, like you can in Photoshop, so I was back in my happy place :)

The Filters
As I mentioned before, I was really surprised at the filters. I thought Dfx was mostly just recreating traditional photographic lens filters and film effects (which it does a lot of). But there’s a bunch of other stuff in there. The “Light” styled filters were some of my other favorites and I thought the “Texture” filters were really slick too. But if you’re looking for photographic and traditional-style screw on filter effects, I think you’ll see Dfx shines here.

(click to see larger)

Thing I’d Like To See
There are a few things I’d like to see improved:

1) The biggest issue I had was the lack of vignette, edge, border and detail-sharpening-like effects. I love Tonal Contrast in both onOne’s Perfect Effects (which is free by the way) and Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 4. I love vignettes too. They both have detail/sharpening presets as well which let’s me get some really nice looks and finishing effects in my photos. Now… Dfx does have a Sharpen filter in it but I didn’t feel I got the same look I get elsewhere.

2) The layers-like interface was a little confusing at times. Just the way that things were named was a little too different for me than Photoshop or Lightroom. Now, it’s not bad and I eventually got used to it after about 30 minutes of using the plug-in. On the plus side, they even have layer masks and I thought their version of them (with gradients, spotlights, paths and their EZ Mask option made layer masking MUCH more approachable than you’d see in Photoshop.

Overall Thoughts
As I mentioned in the beginning, I was a total onOne and Nik Software snob. If I’m behing honest, I tried Dfx out just because I thought I had to since I’ve been hearing a lot about it lately, but I had already resigned myself to thinking I wouldn’t like it over my beloved onOne and Nik filters. But I gotta tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only will I not be uninstalling this one, but I have a feeling I’m going to be using it a lot more for certain effects. That said, I always tell people that just about every plug-in out there has a free two-week or 30 day trial and Tiffen is no different. So download for yourself and give them a try because what I’m looking for, could be totally different than what you’re looking for.

Hope this helped. If you have any questions or comments be sure to leave ‘em and I’ll do my best to jump in an answer. Have a good one! :)

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Posted by on Aug 8, 2012 in Personal, Photography | 3 comments

If You Spend $15 on Photography This Week, Spend It On This


Okay, I did something today that I haven’t done in years. I printed a bunch of 4×6′s. The ones you see right at the top of this post (from a recent family vacation to New Jersey). Full disclosure though… my post today has two purposes. First, it’s to help my friends at MPIX get the word out about a special they’re running today only which basically get’s you good quality 4×6 prints at 50% off (around 10 cents). But I want you to really think about this in another way, because my other purpose is to encourage you to get out there and print.

I’m As Guilty As the Next Person
I’m guilty of it too. Totally the pot calling the kettle black here, because I haven’t printed like this in years. In fact, I’d even go as far to say that I’ve often said printing is dying. But I’ve definitely been convinced otherwise lately. Not by anyone in the industry, but by my family. True story: we’ll often go to events (cub scouts, football practice, neighborhood parties) where some one (way more organized than me) is taking pictures. After the event, they go where ever, and print some 4×6′s and give a few out to all the people that were there. My kids totally jump on it. Seriously, they immediately grab thumb tacks and start putting the pictures up in their rooms. My wife grabs a few and puts them on the fridge, and then some get put away into our photo box or drawer (which I have to say we look through much more than we look through old hard drives). As much as I thought print was dying, this shows me it isn’t.

So Here’s Your Task For Today
Get your cell phone out. Why? Because it’s probably your best point-n-shoot camera you own, and I bet there’s a lot of great family moments on it. Download the last 100 photos you have on it. Don’t bring them into Photoshop or Lightroom or iPhoto, don’t try to edit and don’t critique the lack of quality in the photo – nobody cares – they just want memories to look at. Send ‘em to MPIX to print today (you have to do it today because the sale ends at midnight). The deal is you get 50% off 4×6 prints (I used the .19 cent print option) which brings the typical print to around 10 cents (+ shipping). Seriously, if it’s 100 photos it’ll cost you $10 bucks. If it’s 200, it’ll cost you $20. Skip the pizza night this week, bring your lunch to work one day or skip whatever it is you spend $10 on without even thinking. Print the photos and give them away. I guarantee you that if you have a family or friends, it will be the best $10 you spend this week.

The special code to get 50% off your prints is 4X6SALE12 and here’s a link to their website (I chose the .19 cent prints). And if you’re a NAPP member don’t forget you get discounts each month on the NAPP Member website.

That’s it. Just do it. I know I said in the beginning that part of this post was helping out my friends over at MPIX spread the word, but I truly believe that by spending that $10-15, you’ll help yourself out too and be happy you did. Have a good one!

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Posted by on Aug 7, 2012 in Photography, Story Behind the Photo | 19 comments

The Story Behind the Photo (Week 3)


This photo probably goes down as one of my “not so smart” moments in photography stories. Now, I’m not saying what I was doing the evening I took this photo was the height of life-threatening by any means, and I’m sure there’s many people reading this, that have done many worse and more dangerous things than this to get a photo. But at the end of the day, it definitely wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done either, and it does make a good story.

But First…The Story Behind, The Story Behind the Photo
A while back, Scott Sheppard interviewed me over on Nik Radio. It was basically a 30-40 minute interview on how I got into photography and Photoshop, what inspires me and a bunch of other things. Here’s the link in case you missed it. Well, toward the end of the interview, we started talking about how the story behind the photo is sometimes as captivating or interesting as the photo itself. So it got me thinking about a possible series of posts here on the blog. Let’s get started:

The Photo
(click for a larger version)

Location: Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood in Oregon

Date: April, 2012

The Gear

  • Camera: Nikon D800
  • Lens: Nikon 28-300mm
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/6 second
  • ISO: 100
  • Really Right Stuff TVC-33 Tripod and BH-55 Ballhead

The Story and My Plan
I was out in Portland this past April visiting my buds over at onOne Software for a few days. I decided to head out to a place called Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood for a sunset shoot. It’s a beautiful lake and since the winds usually calm down at sunset I figured I could get a nice reflection. Plus, it looked like the sun went down just to my left if I were facing Mt. Hood, but out of view. When I shoot landscapes, I always like to be shooting at something that the sun is hitting during sunrise or sunset, rather than shooting directly into the sun (although I do at times). Whatever the sun is hitting gets illuminated by that beautiful light and mountains (with all the texture and depth) can really look awesome.

Anyway, The weather didn’t look good and the guys at the onOne office didn’t think it would be worth it, but I was there, and it was only an hour away so I figured what the heck. Keep in mind, nobody at this point had mentioned snow. Maybe it’s such a way of life there, at that time in the year that nobody thought about it – but being from Florida I’m thinking “It’s April… spring time… what better time for photography!”. That was my first mistake :)

The Drive Up
So I’m driving up to Mt. Hood and I pull off to send a photo to my friend at onOne, Brian Matiash, to show him how things were looking. As I got closer, the clouds cleared and it looked like it would be an awesome sunset.

Arriving at Trillium Lake
When you turn off the main road to Trillium lake there’s a 1.5 mile driveway that takes you down toward the lake. Well, as soon as I pulled up I realize there was a problem. The gate was closed and there was about 4-5 feet of snow in front of me (the green thing you see in the photo is about waist high). So I got out of the car, climbed up to the top of the snow and realized it was packed pretty tight. I could stand and walk on it easily without sinking in too far. I called Brian (who, by the way, was the only one who knew I was up there) to joke around about my misfortune but sadly my phone was out of battery (damn iPhone!) and died about halfway into our conversation. I’ve since bought one of those Mophie Juice Pack battery cases, but that’s totally unrelated.

What the Heck!?
So I decided to go for it (stupid move #1), saying to myself that if I felt the snow get too deep or sink down into it too badly at any point, that I would turn around. Mind you, I wasn’t hiking in the back country with nobody around for miles. This was a paved 2-lane driveway I was walking on, that was right off the main road so I figured I was safe. Plus, I had borrowed Scott’s new Nikon D800 and was determine to come back with a good photo from it :)

Oh Yeah, Did I Mention All I Had on Was a Hoody and Running Shoes
By the way, I may have forgotten to mention all I had on was a long sleeved shirt, hoody, jeans, and Reebok running shoes (stupid move #2).

The Walk to the Lake
The walk to the lake took about 40 minutes up and down hill. It was a lot like walking in sand and my feet sunk down about the same amount. Every hundred yards or so I’d sink about a foot in, but it was packed snow so I just pulled my leg out and moved on. I exercise a lot, so it really wasn’t that bad and I kept a good pace since I was losing light fast (I hadn’t planned on the hike). I did pass two people going back on snow-shoes and remembered being slightly jealous. (Lesson learned here was give yourself more time than you think)

Arriving at the Lake
I arrived at the lake and saw a sign that was pretty much buried in snow. It was at that point things started to go downhill (both literally and figuratively). As soon as I turned off the driveway (I was about 400 yards from the lake), I sunk down to my thighs in snow. I thought I must have hit a soft patch, but it never ended. I’d made it that far though so I wasn’t turning around. So for 400 yards, every step literally sent me almost waist-deep in snow. If you were standing there you’d have heard some pretty colorful language ;) but after about 10 minutes of post-holing my legs through the snow, I made to the lake only to see it was completely snow-covered (stupid move #3, which really could have been stupid move #1 because I should have done my research).

What the Hell, I’m Here So Why Not Shoot?
I was there so I made the best of it. I took out the slightly wet D800 (shhhh, don’t tell Scott) and started shooting. The light on Mt Hood was actually beautiful and the whole scene looked great. Not what I had planned but not bad either. Had it not been around 35 degrees it would have been awesome, but I was starting to get cold from sweating so much earlier.

Landscapes Need a Foreground Element (And My First “Oh $h*t” Moment)
At this point, everything I was shooting had a vast sea of white in front of it (see photo below) since the lake was snow covered. I like to put foreground elements in my landscape photos so I started looking around. I see a cool little tree behind me and to my right that looks like it would be perfect. So I grab my tripod and start walking to it. Splash! Now I’m standing knee-deep in ice-cold water (insert more colorful language). Yup, I broke through the ice (that I didn’t even know I was standing on) with nothing but ankle socks and running shoes on. At this point I started getting a little worried because the light was fading, my feet were now getting numb and I still had to walk back 45 minutes to the car. So I shot for a few more minutes, but since the light had pretty faded off the mountain, I decided to head back.

(click for a larger version)

Getting Back
The walk up the driveway really started to worry me (remember the driveway was the point where I hit the waist deep snow). As I mentioned, I’m in decent shape, but I hadn’t made it halfway up the driveway before I was huffing and puffing like I’d just ran a marathon. I didn’t have any water with me either (stupid move #4). After about 15 minutes, I made it up to the start of the driveway again, but it was a long haul to get there which left me pretty much drenched in sweat. The 1.5 mile walk back after that was pretty uneventful. One hill looked like the next. It was dark by this point, but I could still see well enough. I kept hoping each hill would be the last, but there was always another waiting. Luckily it didn’t get too cold once the sun went down, and my feet went between semi-numb to just-a-little-numb, so I was okay.

Lessons Learned
Do I really even have to go here? Yeah, it was dumb. Out there alone, nobody really knew I was there and the one person who did know, didn’t have any kind of check-in plan with me since he thought I was fine. I was the only car in the parking lot. Cell phone was dead. No water and not dressed for cold weather. I’ve definitely done smarter things in my life (and sadly I’ve done things even more stupid than this too). All that said, it wasn’t that cold when I started. Had it been 15 degrees when it was light out, I’d have never even started the trek. In the end, I got some decent photos from it, and even got to test out the weather-proofing on the D800 (shhh again… don’t tell Scott) ;)

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed the story (and keep all lectures to yourself). Have a good one! :)

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Posted by on Aug 6, 2012 in Lightroom, Photoshop | 16 comments

Lightroom 4 Presets – Portrait Black & Whites


Last week’s free Black and White Landscape photo presets for Lightroom were so popular I figured I had to follow it up with my portrait presets this week.

You’ll see there’s 4 presets in this download. One of them is an all-purpose B&W effect that I use most of the time. But there’s a few others for outdoors, beaches (which is a little different than the general outdoors one, and indoor portraits). Remember, they’re portrait presets though, so they all have a similar look to them with just a few differences. But the whole point is to show off the people in the portraits so you won’t see a huge difference in each of these like you would the Lightroom 4 landscape presets from last week.

Here’s a quick before/after of the general-purpose preset (photo courtesy of Fotolia.com).

And it kinda goes without saying that there’s no rule that says you have to use the beach preset on beach photos. It’s just what happened to work best for me when I was creating them, but I’m sure you’ll find every photo looks a little different than the other.

Enjoy!

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Posted by on Aug 3, 2012 in NAPP, Photoshop | 1 comment

If You’re Thinking About Going to Photoshop World Then Watch This Video


Happy Friday! Yesterday, some of the guys at NAPP and I sat down for a live chat about Photoshop World. Before you read any further, this video is really only useful for people that are either A) going to Photoshop World, or (even more so) B) thinking about going to Photoshop World. If you are, then you’re about to invest a decent amount of money in Photoshop and photography education. We know that and we’ve seen a lot of questions over the last few weeks from people wondering just what to expect from the conference.

It’s not a quick video. We said 15-20 minutes in the beginning but it turned out to be almost 30 minutes by the time we were done. If you have no desire to go to Photoshop World then you’ll be bored to death and you should definitely skip this one. But if you are going, or thinking of going, I think this could be one of the best things you could watch this weekend when you have a few extra minutes.

The early bird discount of $100 ends this weekend. While you can still sign up right until the day of the conference, you’ll save yourself $100 if you do it soon. Either way, I hope you’ll consider putting Photoshop World on your to do list soon. Thanks everyone and have a great weekend! :)

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