Photographic Society of RI » Digital

Manipulated Photographs – Adams’ Take

A. Cemal Ekin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:56:34 +0000

During one of my presentations at NECCC last weekend I expressed my view that Ansel Adams never made realistic photographs. Every photograph he took never ended at the point of releasing the shutter, never. He exposed for a particular vision, then developed the negative in different developers, sometimes in multiple developers with water baths in between. Then in the printing stage he exercised utmost control to produce the print that he had in mind. Then I added “if manipulation was OK for Adams, why is it not OK for digital photographers?” I think the answer lies in the accessibility of the tools for control. In the old days only the most skilled, master craftsman, the most patient could either do it in the darkroom or those who could afford hire the skilled people to do it for them. Today, the tools are well within the reach of everyone interested. That is the good part, but there is the rub; not all are skilled enough to produce the desired results and the technique becomes too visible, and it comes to the forefront.

I stumbled upon an interview with Adams just a few minutes ago where he clearly states that his pictures are not meant to be realistic and always had manipulation. Later in the interview he also talks about the then future electronic imaging. It is worth viewing and contemplating.

(You can see my presentation notes on my site, read from bottom up.)

Expo 2010 – Canon Wonder Camera

A. Cemal Ekin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:37:54 +0000

Enhance Proshow

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:04:27 +0000

Photodex Proshow Producer or Gold has been around for quite some time and I have enjoyed using it for short presentations. Others in the club adopted one version or another and it is on its way to becoming one of the popular software among PSRI members.

A while ago, I was invited to participate in the beta testing program of Proshow and have learned more about how others use these products. One of the neat features of Proshow is the style packs and other presets offered by Photodex and a group of developers. Using these, one can produce very interesting results, they are certainly worth a look. Below are some links to the available resources where you will find demo shows strutting their techniques and capabilities. The prices are certainly in the affordable range. There is even a forum for Proshow Enthusiasts. Take a look, you may get hooked!

http://www.photodex.com/products/stylepacks
http://www.theframelocker.com
http://seemonasblog.blogspot.com
http://www.fenimorephotovideos.com/PSP/
http://trulytangotemplates.wordpress.com/
http://choicebackgroundsserver.com/
http://www.outsidethebox.name/
http://www.dilyla.com/

http://www.proshowenthusiasts.com/index.php

Lightroom 3 Resources

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:24:32 +0000

In case you did not get a chance to explore the available resources elsewhere, here is a short list that will give you a kick-start with the new release of Lightroom.

Kelby | TV offers many interesting photo related programming

Lightroom 3 Training Center from the knowledgeable guys as NAPP

Julieanne Kost on Lightroom also check out her other programs

Lightroom Killer Tips by Mat Klowskowski

Learning Lightroom, various resources provided by Adobe

In addition to plenty of information on Lightroom, you will also find information on Photoshop and other Adobe products at most of the Web sites above.

Photoshop Lightroom 3 is Out

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:11:06 +0000

Adobe has released Lightroom 3 which is a major upgrade over version 2. It brings the same highly tuned RAW processing engine, a very capable noise reduction, the same lens correction filter that is in Photoshop CS5, and many more new features. Learn more about Lightroom 3 and download a 30 day free trial to see it first hand.

Upon start, Lightroom 3 wants to upgrade your older catalog. This may be a bit nerve wracking, but the program seems to make a copy of the LR 2 catalog leaving the old one intact. That said, I will suggest making a backup of your old catalog and previews if you want to be on the safe side.

Free Software

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:57:35 +0000

One of the leading add-on software makers, onOne Software, has made some of their products available at no charge. If you want to download a copy of these, which have fewer presets than the paid versions, point your browser to onOne Software Web site page. The price is right!

Photoshop CS5 Unveiled Today

acekin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:26:47 +0000

Adobe will take the wraps off the CS5 series of products today, in fact in less than 3 hours as I write this post. If you want to watch the unveiling live online go register for the event and stay tuned!

Adobe CS5 Countdown Timer

Photoshop CS5 processed photographs

acekin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:51:30 +0000

Adobe allowed, even encouraged the beta testers to post images created/processed using Photoshop CS5. Although there will still be no information on what features yielded the photographs, you can take a peek at a few I processed using Photoshop CS5. Point your browser to this related post on my site.

Adobe Lighroom 3 Public Beta 2 Available

acekin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:25:41 +0000

If you are a Lightroom user you may be curious what’s coming down the pike when the next version arrives. Well, you can try Lightroom 3 Public beta 2 to see for yourself. It has some new and improved features that you can experience first hand by using this free software. Remember, do not use it as a substitute for your regular Lightroom, install it along side the version you are using. It will not use the same image database as Lightroom 2 and you should not use any beta software for production and critical work.

Photoshop CS5 feature set, around the corner

acekin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:47:32 +0000

I have been one of the beta testers for Photoshop CS5. I cannot speak of its features because of Non Disclosure Agreement I signed before joining; however, I can tell you that the wait to learn the feature set is getting shorter. In fact, Adobe has a countdown page where you can find tidbits of information. Mind you, when they announce the feature set you will not be able to go out and buy it yet. Stay tuned …

The following video, showing a very cool feature, was put on YouTube by Adobe.