Minimalist Lighting

Photoshop CS5 Pocket Guide

Fotoblur Magazine

…

and the list goes on. You will be surprised at the variety of subjects and the quality of available resources. Give it a try. Share your finds and comments here with others if you like.

March 31, 20122
9:00 AM – Noon
Boston University
765 Commonwealth Ave. Room B50
(Entrance on Granby Street)

Andre Gallant, ANEC

Tuesday, February 28, 7:30 PM

This presentation is one you do not want to miss.

Professional photographer and author Andre Gallant will be traveling down from New Brunswick, Canada to judge the Greater Lynn International Exhibition and has graciously agreed to stay over to do a presentations for us on “Expressive Photography”.  Andre describes his program as an exploration into various expressive photography techniques such as Dreamscapes, Multiple Exposures, Panning and Montages which is the combination of 2 or more photographs. André will show some of his work and describe in detail how the images were created in camera, followed by a brief Photoshop demonstration. Andre states ”With my personal photography, like the expressionists, I’m less concerned about showing a representation of the subject matter, but would rather like to convey my feelings towards the subject matter, or unleash an emotion onto my canvases. I want the viewer to feel the photographs rather than view them”.

Our speaker is a freelance photographer who travels the world over, taking expressive, creative photographs.  A regular contributor to Photo Life magazine, his work has appeared in numerous magazines such as Outdoor Photographer, Canadian Camera, Canadian Living, En Route, etc. and he has been the recipient of two National Magazine Awards for his photography. He is also the author of numerous publications including the books “Expressionism: Digital Dreamscapes and other Techniques”, “Destinations: A Photographer’s Journey”, “Dreamscapes: Exploring Photo Montages”, and “Photographing People at Home and Around the World”.  Andre teaches photography workshops with Freeman Patterson with whom he co-wrote “Photo Impressionism and the Subjective Image”, as well as, the revised edition of “Photography for the Joy of It”.  He lectures internationally, throughout Canada, and the US.

Andre will have a selection of his books available for purchase the night of his presentation, and will be happy to autograph them for you. Please bring checks or cash. The prices range from $25 to $50. He refers to his latest book “Expressionism”, as the recipe book for Expressive Images.

To see more of his work, his web site can be viewed at www.andregallant.com

You will not want to miss this special presentation from one of the most creative photographers in North America.

Lightroom 3 on sale for $69.95Â

Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10 bundle for 69.95

Here is a quick synopsis of this evening’s presentation on converting color photographs to B&W:

1. This was a program on converting color photographs to B&W not about B&W photography in general, so some subjects were intentionally left out
2. The human visual system is very complex, very capable, with flaws that ironically help us make sense out of the world that surround us. The main factors that influence our vision, color perception, and tonal structure are:
   1. Color constancy
   2. Tonal constancy
   3. Equiluminosity
   4. Simultaneous contrast
3. We perceive colors with the influence of the factors above. Therefore, not every color photograph will not necessarily convert to B&W well. We have to accept that and learn to live with that
4. The tools for B&W conversion mentioned, although there were many more, were (1-4 in Photoshop):
   1. Look at the channels, RGB, Lab, CMYK. If a channel has acceptable B& image, copy the channel and paste it as a layer
   2. Use Channel Mixer adjustment layer, click on Monochrome check box and mix the channels according to image content and taste
   3. Add HS adjustment layer, change its blend mode to Hue. Above this add another HS layer and reduce saturation to zero. Now on the first HS layer you can pick the channels and move the hue slider for different effects. (I was clicking on the wrong blend mode during the presentation, that’s why it did not work.)
   4. Add B&W conversion adjustment layer and use the color channel sliders to change the luminosity of color channels. Remember that is a global adjustment unless you use layer masks (a different lesson session)
   5. In Lightroom HSL panel, reduce the saturation of each color channel to zero and adjust the luminosity of each channel according to image content and desired results. Tweak with the saturation and vibrance sliders as well as the color temperature and tint sliders. Make additinal tonal adjustments with the curves if necessary
   6. Use Split Toning panel to add toning effects if desired. Use the Hue for highlights and shadows and adjust the saturation for the desired results. The warm tone I indicated I used often were Hue=40 Saturation=10 for highlights and shadows
   7. If you wanted to apply real split toning with different hue for highlights and shadows, experiment with cool and warm hues for highlights and shadows. Remember, a little goes a long way.

In all digital editing the result should not scream “Photoshopped!” Photoshop or Lightroom are tools just like your lenses and cameras. What matters in the end is your photograph not the tools or techniques you used.

Also note that there are quite a few more B&W conversion tools and toning methods. I tried to cover those that are easy to replicate. In a longer workshop I may cover more detail and include different tools, if there is interest that is.

One Web site that you will find interesting to visit is http://www.webexhibits.org/ . There I used pages from their Color Vision and Art content, although other sections are quite interesting. You will learn plenty there about photography although the content does not specifically refer to it.

Here is the TED presentation by Louie Schwartzberg in its entirety.

PocketWizard has been a brand name associated with remote flash triggers. Their new series of devices are quite interesting indeed, compact to boot. Their Web site has a bunch of videos that inform the viewer about their line of products and how to use them. They also have a Webinar coming on February 7, 2012. If you are interested in remote triggering flash gear you may enjoy the presentation.

Thanks Mike DiStefano for bringing these to my attention.

This is a great opportuniy to have your favorite image(s) printed really big.  Seeing your work printed this big is truly spectacular.