Blog.JimDoty.com

Sunstar Over Turnagain Arm, Alaska. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

May the wonder and joy of the season be yours.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Rule of Thumb:  When buying photographic equipment, check the price at B&H Photo, Adorama Camera, and Amazon.com (all three are linked and recommended at my main photography site). If an item is selling for significantly less than at these three companies, something is downright suspicious.

A friend of mine is looking for a Canon 7D. Prices from reputable dealers are generally in the $1700 price range. He found it at SkyPoint Digital for $879, an apparent savings of over $800. I told him that a price that low raises all kinds of red flags for me. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I might believe someone can sell the 7D for $1600 (and it would probably be gray market), but not $879.

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Each new version of Photoshop has new and wonderful tools, but each version requires more and more computing horsepower. If you are buying a computer today, what do you need to run Photoshop?

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How do you pick a good online photo lab, and how do you get the best results from your lab?

It is almost Christmas (or any other time of year), you want some prints or cards made from your digital files, and you are thinking about sending them to an online photo lab. With so many labs out there, which lab do you  use? And how do you get the best results from your lab?

My short answer: Use Mpix and Shutterfly for prints of all sizes, plus a host of specialty items. Use EZPrints for panoramas. Why these three labs? Keep reading. For maximum color accuracy, convert the files to the sRGB color space before sending them to the lab, and turn auto enhance off at the online photo lab. More about that later.

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You can’t go far wrong buying a recent model Digital SLR.  They are all good cameras and most of them are great cameras.

Over the last twelve months, the following DSLRs received a “Highly Recommended” rating from DP Review, their highest rating (with sensor size in megapixles – mp):

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 21 mp
Canon EOS 7D, 18 mp
Canon Digital Rebel T1i, 15.1 mp
Nikon D3X, 24.5 mp
Nikon D300S, 12.3 megapixels
Nikon D5000, 12.3 mp
Olympus E-620, 12.3 mp
Olympus E-30, 12.3 mp
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1, 12.1 mp
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, 12.1 mp
Pentax K-7, 14.6 mp

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2009 SHORT LIST (Top rated cameras listed by name, sensor size in megapixels – mp, and the zoom range of the lens):

Best point and shoot “transitional cameras” (point and shoot cameras that take interchangeable lenses):

Olympus Pen E-P1, 12.3 megapixels, interchangeable lenses
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, 12.1 megapixels, interchangeable lenses

Best point and shoot cameras:

Canon PowerShot SD880 IS, 10 mp, 4x zoom
Canon PowerShot SX110 IS, 9 mp, 10x zoom
Canon PowerShot SX10IS, 10 mp, 20x zoom lens
Fujifilm FinePix F100fd, 12 mp, 5x zoom
Fujifilm FinePix F200 EXR, 12 mp, 4.4x zoom
Panasonic Lumix FZ28, 10.1, 18x zoom
Panasonic Lumix LX3, 10.1, 2.5x zoom
Panasonic Lumix TZ5, 9.1 mp, 10x zoom
Panasonic Lumix ZS1, 10.1 mp, 12x zoom
Panasonic Lumix ZS3, 10.1 mp, 12x zoom

Best underwater point and shoot cameras:

Canon Powershot D10, 12.1 mp, 3x zoom lens
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1, 12.1 mp, 4.6x zoom

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How do you learn the basics of Photoshop before going on to the books I recommend in the MASTERING PHOTOSHOP series? Look at the books below. And why did I lump Photoshop together with digital photography? Because some of the basic and intermediate books cover both.

There are any number of good, basic and intermediate photoshop/photography books. Look for books by Tom Ang, Rick Sammon, Tim Grey, Martin Evening, Bruce Fraser, and Scott Kelby.  Also worth reading are Deke McClelland, Barbara Obermeier, and Peter Bauer who authored the popular “Dummies” series of books for various versions of Photoshop.
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Two essential and challenging Photoshop skills are Masking and Compositing.  Fortunately for all of us out in Photoshop land, Katrin Eismann has written a masterful book on developing these skills, Photoshop Masking & Compositing.

You will learn about selection tools and techniques, how to use masks and layers, advanced selection techniques for difficult subjects like human hair, and how to do flawless composites.

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Katrin Eismann is a world class expert on photo retouching. She is one of the best of the best. In 2005 she was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. Anything she writes should be high on your reading list if you are serious about making the most of your Photoshop skills.

Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (3rd Edition) has become a classic and it is is now in its third edition. You would be hard put to find a better book on Restoring and Retouching photos with Photoshop. Once you’ve learned the basics of Photoshop, this book is a must read. Just look at all the 5 star ratings at amazon.com and read the glowing reviews.

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If you aren’t shooting RAW files with your digital camera (as opposed to jpeg files), you should think about the advantages of shooting in RAW. Read the article RAW vs JPEG Camera Files at my photography web site.

A lot of the quality of your final image will be determined by what you do with your RAW files when you open them in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR).

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Everything you need to know about Dan Margulis is in Advanced Color Correction, Part One.

After you have devoured the book I recommend in that article, you will know why you need to get Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace.

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If you want to master color in Photoshop, Dan Margulis is the best of the best. He is one of the first three persons to be named as a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame. And the book to get is Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction (5th Edition). What Margulis teaches you to do with color is amazing. The before and after images will make your jaw drop.

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