Photographic Society of Rhode Island» Digital

Editing Photographs Presentation

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:12:26 +0000

The presentation titled “Editing Photographs: Train Your Eyes to Pick the Right Tool” slides are below. They are viewable on screen.

Editing Photographs

When the Frost is on the . . . Window

Dennis Goulet — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:35:05 +0000

Now that winter has finally kicked in, and the overnight temperatures dip into the single digits, there’s a good chance you’ll discover frost on your windows depending on the types of windows you have. The best way to photograph frost is to have the camera on a tripod with the camera back parallel to the window pane. It’s not always easy to accomplish, and here is a Photoshop technique to help. If you have to take the photo at an angle and can’t get everything in sharp focus, you can take several imagess, each with a different section in focus, then merge them in Photoshop.

Instructions on how to combine images together, align them, and merge them in Photoshop can be found HERE.

Create Output From Lightroom for Printmakers

A. Cemal Ekin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:38:20 +0000

Our local print lab, Printmakers, Inc. does a great job producing excellent quality output. However, the third-party software used as the intermediary, E-FTP and ProDesign are mainly created for photographers who order quantity and variety. If you want to order enlargements and if you do not do it frequently enough the process can be unduly complex. I have written an extensive tutorial on Kept Light Photography on how to create files directly from Lightroom that you can easily upload using their simpler software, E-FTP which is my choice. You may want to take a look at it before your next order.

Lightroom 4 Public Beta

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:26:32 +0000

Adobe announced yesterday the availability of Lightroom 4 public beta which anyone can download and use free of charge (download link at the bottom). It is exactly what it says, a preview version of the product. It will install along side of your existing Lightroom if any and will not import any existing Lightroom catalogs. This is to ensure the integrity of your live catalogs and to reinforce the idea that it is not yet ready for being your production software. Below are my quick observations to give you a head-start in your exploration.

After the installation, you can choose a folder to import to get a good taste of what is in the planned release of the software. Some features may not be visible and may emerge in the final version and others may actually disappear. I did a quick review to see what the changes are, I am happy to say that some features remained stable, some have been improved, and a few new features are added. Those of you who have read my two-part post on my site on Lightroom exposure and Brightness sliders might remember how confusing these sliders were. In a very good move, Adobe software engineers restructured the adjustment tools that appear to be more intuitive and easier to understand. A snapshot of the Basic panel is on the left.

Although it may take some getting used to the new paradigm my initial reaction is positive, they make sense and work as I expect. There are other changes here and there, some new features in the Adjustment Brush panel which may come in handy once we fully understand what they actually do.

There are a couple of new modules, Map, and Book are the new additions. Map will help in geotagging photographs on a world map and the Book module allows creating books on Blurb. Additionally, the book module can export the created collection as a PDF file. The Print, Web, and Slideshow modules seem to be about the same, although I have not fully explored every nook and cranny.

If you import a bunch of photographs that have some adjustments applied in an earlier version of Lightroom the applied adjustments may appear in LR4 as if you are working in the old version. The adjustment sliders will look like that of LR3. If this happens, look for an exclamation mark on the lower right corner of the image display portion of the interface and click on it. That will update the adjustments to the new standards and you will see the new adjustment sliders.

Download your copy from Adobe Labs.

Mac Attack

A. Cemal Ekin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:19:48 +0000

… no, not that kind! This information came to me by way of Ted Haley who got it from Dennis Ryan. It informs the Mac users against a phishing attack. It is published in MacWorld, it must be legitimate, at least as a concern. If you are a Mac user, take a look a this article and see what you need to do.

A New Magazine …

A. Cemal Ekin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:50:53 +0000

… and, it is free! Published by the Nielsen Photo Group (publishers of PDN and Rangefinder) has introduced PIX, The Photographer’s Field Guide, and online magazine. The premier issue is available for viewing and for the time being it is free. There is plenty of gear information along with some interesting photography. Take a look at it, the price is right.

Slideshows for the Holidays

A. Cemal Ekin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:30:25 +0000

Photodex, the maker of the popular Proshow Producer and Gold, and a PSRI sponsor has nice ideas for the holidays. Visit their blog to get some idea seeds and get to work! You have only a few weeks left for the holidays (I know I am slightly exaggerating, but not by much) to produce these shows and share with friends and family. Remember that PSRI members get a special discount on Photodex products, check the members only pages to find out the code if you are interested in purchasing a copy.

Take a look at the post.

Lightroom On Sale

A. Cemal Ekin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:06:06 +0000

I got the heads up from Ken Zirkel that B&H has Lightroom at 50% off, $149.99. This is a very attractive price if you were holding for a good time to purchase it. I also suggest that anyone interested in this deal check the price with Alan. Hunt’s may have the same deal locally. Here is the B&H deal. The sale ends on October 4, 2011, tomorrow!

View RAW Images in Windows Explorer

Dennis Goulet — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:34:34 +0000

Microsoft has released a Camera Codec Pack that displays thumbnails of RAW image files from over 120 different camera file formats. Once installed, the thumbnail images appear very quickly when the folder is opened in Explorer. Microsoft had a power tool for Windows XP Explorer and it was one feature I missed when I upgraded to Windows 7. I’m glad MS finally got this handy feature integrated into Explorer.

After loading the software you can plug in your camera to view your images or view the files already on our computer, or on any drive accessible via Windows Explorer. You must restart your computer after downloading and installing the codec.

Microsoft also offers other photo tools associated with Windows Live including Photo Gallery, you can create a JPEG copy of the RAW image to touch up with Photo Fuse and Panoramic Stitch! I haven’t downloaded the other features since I Adobe images editing products.�

DOWNLOAD Microsoft Camera Codec Pack

Over Retouching Shunned in UK

A. Cemal Ekin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:48:56 +0000

UK Advertising Standards Authority banned an ad featuring Julia Roberts on the grounds that the photograph was “Over Photoshopped”. I have been writing about this “problem” encouraged by tacit approval of competition judges and unnecessarily used by photographers. It’s about time photographers shun this kind of technique-driven photography. Read more about it.