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Posted by on Apr 9, 2013 in Photoshop | 5 comments

Free Article: Photoshop For Landscape Photographers Featured in Photoshop User Magazine

Free Article: Photoshop For Landscape Photographers Featured in Photoshop User Magazine

See that dork holding the magazine in the poorly lit and worst background area in our office? That’s me holding the latest issue of Photoshop User with my feature article “Photoshop for Landscape Photographers” in it. I just got my copy a few days ago and was psyched at the way my 9-page feature turned out. So psyched that I was able to grab a PDF of the article for you to download here. My hope is that you won’t just take the article and run, but also consider joining NAPP because this is the kind of stuff you get all year long. For example, the latest issue of Photoshop User Magazine is 110 pages and you get it 10 times a year. Not to mention I think the member website with the online training is worth it by itself (you can try it for 24-hours for free by the way).

Here’s a link to download the article.

Here’s a link to NAPP’s 24-hour free trial page to sign up (no credit card needed).

Enjoy the article. Have a good one!

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Posted by on Apr 8, 2013 in Lightroom | 4 comments

Lightroom Presets – Black and White Tonal Contrast Effect

Lightroom Presets – Black and White Tonal Contrast Effect

A while back I released some presets that simulated one of my favorite effects in Photoshop plug-ins – the Tonal Contrast effect. onOne Software’s Perfect Effects has it, and Nik has it as well. But I know that lots of people still don’t use 3rd party plug-ins, so I set out to recreate the effect in Lightroom. Well, as with many of the presets, I find that sometimes a black and white version always works out well too. So that’s what I have for you today. Black and White Tonal Contrast presets. There’s actually 3 of them (Light, Medium, Strong) for various levels of the effect.

Also, don’t forget that there’s definitely something in the “special sauce” that the plug-in companies use. So if you have the plug-ins (or are thinking of getting one), I’d still use them. Given the choice, I’d use the Perfect Effects Tonal Contrast effect before I’d ever use the one that I have here. But for those that don’t, this is a great alternative to help get that gritty/edgy/contrasty look right in Lightroom.

NOTE: I’m going to put my usual HDR disclaimer here too, because I find that tonal contrast effects have a similar HDR-ish feel to them. So, here goes: If HDR (or tonal contrast) is the kind of thing that incites anger and criticism from you, then these presets aren’t for you. Don’t download, don’t try them out and don’t leave a negative comment on how HDR (or tonal contrast) is bastardizing photography and how everyone that uses it is a horrible person ;)

Here’s a few samples. You really have to try the presets out though, since they don’t show up as well when the images are small.

Hope you enjoy. Have a good one!

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Posted by on Apr 4, 2013 in Lightroom, News | 6 comments

Lightroom Magazine Issue #4 Is Out!

Lightroom Magazine Issue #4 Is Out!

I just got word that the latest issue of Lightroom Magazine (issue #4) is up on the App Store. If you’ve got an iPad, here’s the link to the free app where you can download the first issue for free. Each issue after that is $4.99. I’ve also included a few screen captures from the app (Cover, Table of Contents and my Editors Note).

Cover (click to see it larger)
cover

Table of Contents
toc

Editors Note
letter

The magazine app has been getting rave reviews from everyone I come across so I hope you’ll check it out. Here’s the link to the app on the App Store. Enjoy!

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Posted by on Apr 3, 2013 in Photography, Story Behind the Photo | 18 comments

The (simple) Story Behind The Photo

The (simple) Story Behind The Photo

I was looking through my photos from my trip to the California coast and Big Sur last December, and I came across a photo that I barely remember taking. I’m assuming I’m not the only one that goes through their photos (like I did after the trip) and heads straight to the photos that they know were some of their favorites just by looking at the thumbnails in a grid view. The problem with that is sometimes you miss photos that may be really good because they don’t immediately jump out at you as a small thumbnail. That’s exactly what happened here.

(you really need to click on the photo to see it larger)
bigsur_road

The Story
I woke up one morning to shoot sunrise along the Big Sur coastline. I was above the fog layer and wound up chasing photos for about 10 miles down the coast, stopping constantly to shoot different views. As the sun came up I was driving into some fog and this is what I saw ahead of me. Something about the backlit trees, dappled light, god beams and angle of the road made me think “Wow, that looks cool!”. I debated on whether to turn around or not, and I actually made it to the bend in the road you see in this photo before I did a U-ey and went back to the view you see above.

The Gear
The gear was really simple here. It was my Nikon D800 with my Nikon 16-35mm lens. Aperture was f/16 and shutter speed was 1/45 second. No tripod (although I probably should have at 1/45 second, but I think I propped my camera on the roof of the car), no filters, no nuttin’. I just got out of my car. Snapped about 10 photos from different angles and got back in. The whole process couldn’t have taken more than 2 minutes from the time I decided to turn the car around.

So… the question of the day… does that ever happen to you? One of your favorite photos from a trip is nothing like what you thought you’d get when you embarked on that trip? Thanks for stopping by. Have a good one!

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Posted by on Apr 2, 2013 in Photography | 4 comments

Announcing My Full Week Landscape Photography Workshop With Bill Fortney

Announcing My Full Week Landscape Photography Workshop With Bill Fortney

A while back, my buddy Bill Fortney invited me to teach a full week landscape photography workshop with him (and our friend Jim Begley) this coming June. He asked what locations I was interested in, and I picked the Palouse region of Washington state and Olympic National Park on the coast of Washington. See, I’ve been to the Palouse before, but I A) didn’t have the right gear that I wished I had and B) liked it so much that I’ve always wanted to go back. As for Olympic, well, I’ve only been there once for a few hours driving through and it’s been on my bucket list for a while now. Here’s the link to Bill’s website and workshop page.

The Agenda
First we fly in to Spokane, WA and start off shooting in the Palouse (about 60-90 minute drive from the airport) on Sunday June 9th. We shoot there for a few days and then make our way over to the coast to shoot Olympic NP for the remainder of the week. Along the way we’ll be doing photo critiques, classes when we’re not shooting and we’ll have lab time for you to work on your photos while Bill, Jim, and I stand by to help you out.

As I mentioned, I was there a few years ago and below is one of my favorites from the trip. You’ll find old barns like this throughout the Palouse area.
_BAM2885-Edit

It’s also a great place to capture those large rolling green fields with (hopefully) beautiful puffy clouds in the sky.
_BAM2426-Edit-2

_BAM2394-Edit

Signing Up
Okay, here’s the deal. The workshop is close to filling up. Basically, as soon as Bill announces these things on his blog they fill up immediately. However, some people sign up early thinking they can go, but then as the time gets closer they realize they can’t make it. So… we have about 5 spots open right now. I know it’s not a lot, but it’s entirely possible that more may open up, so the best thing to do is head over to Bill’s website and call/email him that you’re interested. We’ll fill the spots on a first come, first served basis and then start putting names on a waiting list in case someone cancels (which almost always happens, so you may still get in).

If you’ve never been on a workshop like this before I urge you to give it a try. There’s a reason why Bill’s workshops come close to filling up right away and that’s because he knows how to do it right. Trust me, you’ll have a blast, get some great photos and make some awesome friends along the way.

Hope to see you there. Have a good one!

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Posted by on Apr 1, 2013 in Lightroom | 6 comments

Lightroom Presets – Sunflare Glow Effect

Lightroom Presets – Sunflare Glow Effect

Hey everyone! This post is brought to you by a post-Easter-Sunday-chocolate-sugar-high, so I can make no claims as to it’s accuracy or usefulness :) But I do think you’ll like these presets. They’re an update to some I released a while back, that went over really well. Basically, it’s a warm sunflare glow effect that makes a nice finishing touch on your outdoor photos.

It’s pretty simple. There’s a “Left Side” version and a “Right Side” version. They both emanate from the upper corner of the photo and were created using the Graduated Filter. They add some warmth and overall brightness to the corner you choose. And they work best on photos that have some sort of sunlight visible in them to start with (so you probably wouldn’t like the effect on a photo taken on a cloudy day or in a studio). If you want to adjust the color or intensity, just select the Grad Filter (keyboard shortcut is the M key), and adjust the settings.

Here’s a sample:

Hope you enjoy. Have a good one!

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