Petrified Dunes, Zion National Park.
Zion National Park is well know for its towering sandstone cliffs, but it has other treasures for the photographer willing to look, like these petrified dunes.
POTD: Petrified Dunes, Zion National Park
Category Archives: General
Keep a Photo Trip Log
Photo Trip Log
A photo trip log is a good way to refresh your memory. It comes in very handy when you want to find a photo location again if your photos aren’t GPS tagged, and a photo log is very useful when a photo editor wants the details on one of your photos. This photo is of two pages out of a total of four pages of notes I made on April 25, 2011.
Five Southern Utah “Parks” in One Day
One Day in Utah
When I left home headed for Northern California I had no intentions of being in Southern Utah. By the time I reached Denver, snow in the forecast for N. Utah, Nevada, and the mountain passes in N. California made a detour much more appealing than fighting snow on I-80, especially since I have never been to the spectacular parks and monuments in Southern Utah.
Jennifer Blakeley Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies
Jennifer Blakeley does beautiful newborn photography. Her celebrity client list includes Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green; Vanessa and Donald Trump Jr.; and Jocelyn Towne and Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory). She is also the founder of Alphabet Photography. A highly respected and award winning Canadian photographer, she has also worked with the Canadian Olympics Gymnastic Team.
Make Big Prints!
20×30 inch Cougar Print
I admit it, I am hooked on big prints. You are looking at a 20×30 inch print (or technically, you are looking at a digital photograph of a 20×30 print). Big prints look great hanging on a wall (or held by one of your favorite models).
Weddings: Candid Moments
The bride helps the ring bearer with his boutonniere.
Half the fun of photographing a wedding is capturing candid moments. This is the bride helping the ring bearer with his buttone . . . . his boutonai . . . . his flower!
POTD: Piano Reflection Portrait
Piano Reflection Portrait
This portrait is from a spontaneous photo shoot. I had three great subjects (sisters), perfect light, and a baby grand piano to work with, and I almost always have a camera and one or more lenses with me.
If You Love Photography – Watch This!
If you love photography. If creating images has crept into your heart and soul. And especially if you have been around long enough to work in the chemical darkroom. Watch this!
Bride’s Portrait: Solving Mixed Lighting Challenges with ACR
Before and After
Mixed lighting (lighting with different color temperatures) can be a real color nightmare, especially if you are shooting JPEG files. Shooting RAW files and processing them with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is one of the best solutions to the problem. ACR comes with recent versions of Photoshop Elements and Photoshop.
POTD: The Moment of Birth!
Moment of Birth
There are very few moments on earth that match the birth of a baby. Such wonder, awe, and love. It was a privileged to be asked by the parents to be there and photograph the big event.
POTD: Baby’s First Footprint
Footprint
Baby’s first footprint. The story behind this delivery room photo shoot (lighting, metering, color temperature issues, RAW file conversion) is here.
POTD: A Few Minutes Old
Baby Boy, A Few Minutes Old.
I had the happy privilege of being asked to photograph the birth of a baby boy. The mother found some of my photos on the internet, she was impressed with my work, and sent me an email asking if I was interested in photographing the delivery of her son. Of course I was!
National Geographic Would Disqualify This Photo
Sunstar Over Turnagain Arm, Alaska
If I had submitted this photo to the 2012 National Geographic photo contest it would have been disqualified. Why? It hasn’t been digitally altered in any way. And the “sunstar” isn’t the problem.
This Text Message Made My Day!
When I work hard on photos for someone and get a thanks like this, it really makes my day!
How To Test Your Camera’s Color Exposure Latitude
Color Exposure Latitude Test for a Canon 7D.
Testing your camera’s color exposure latitude is a key to getting good color in your digital photographs. This is a sequel to The Best Colors Come From the Best Exposures. I would suggest you read that article first.
The Best Colors Come From the Best Exposures
Gretag-Macbeth ColorChecker
When it comes to your digital camera, the better your metering skills, the better your colors will be. If you learn how to master exposure, you will get the best possible colors your camera is capable of producing. Why not put your camera on auto exposure and then correct the exposure on the computer? Because you won’t get the best colors. In auto exposure mode your camera is designed to give you average exposures, not the best exposures. This is very important: If you don’t nail the exposure in the camera, the colors in a photo will shift in different directions and no amount of computer work will bring them back. This is one of the best kept secrets of great color and it is why professional landscape, fashion, and advertising photographers are obsessive about exposure. There is no getting around mastering exposure if you want great color.
How To Do A Business Headshot
Kristina – Business Headshot
A business headshot requires pretty even lighting.This portrait was created with three studio lights against a black backdrop, a main light, a fill light, and a hair light.
Portrait Retouch in 6 Minutes
My first YouTube video. I did a video screen capture of a 90 minute retouching job and sped up the video 16x to a little over 6 minutes (not counting opening and closing titles). Watch it here or see a larger version at YouTube.
Adobe’s Improved “Process Version” for Adobe Camera Raw
Vermilion Lakes Sunset, new and old ACR “process versions”. Click on the photo to see a larger image.
Adobe has a new “process version” for Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). This means better image processing for your RAW camera files.
Q&A: Is Photoshop 6 The Same As “CS6”?
Adobe Elements 11, Lightroom 4, and Photoshop CS6
Question:Â “I’m looking at photography courses online. The courses are free but some require students to own or have access to various versions of Photoshop. Does anyone know if Photoshop 6 is the same as Photoshop CS6?”
How To Photograph City Lights at Night From a Commercial Jet
The Las Vegas “Strip” from the Air at Night
There are serious challenges to photographing city lights at night from a commercial jet. Here are some suggestions that will help.
POTD: Southwest Jet Over Las Vegas
Southwest Jet Over Las Vegas at Dusk
I was getting impatient as our flight was delayed over an hour. I was anxious to get a photo of the Las Vegas Strip from the air before the sun set. But impatience turned to gratitude when our delay made this photo possible.
Hitler Rants About the Price of the Nikon D3X
This was created three years ago but it is still very funny and well done. If you have ever mumbled and grumbled about the price of a high end digital camera, this is for you.
How to Photograph the Milky Way
Night Sky Over the Mojave Desert.
How do you photograph the Milky Way, that milky band of light across the night sky that has our galaxy’s brightest concentration of light? With a wide angle lens and a tripod it is simple if you know a few tricks. Finding a dark enough sky is more of a problem.
Metering People in the Snow
Kristina in the Snow
The snow in a winter scene will often fool a camera meter into underexposing a photo, so here are the steps to take to get the right exposure. I throw in a few portrait suggestions too.
Best Digital Cameras of 2012 (Including 2009 – 2011)
(Originally written Nov. 19, 2012. Most recent update: Jan. 16, 2013.)Â Â It’s that time of year. The holiday season is here and I am getting the usual questions about which digital cameras I recommend. The camera lists below will point you to the highest rated models. There is also some information and advice on choosing a camera. The lists will be updated throughout the holiday season as new, highly rated cameras become available.
Metering Evening Winter Scenes
Snow Hummocks, Merced River
Just like metering daytime winter scenes, the key to metering evening winter scenes is knowing what to meter and deciding how much exposure compensation to use.
Metering Snowy Winter Scenes
Mount Hunter from a Bush Plane. Denali National Park. Alaska.
Metering for scenes with a lot of snow can be tricky since the snow fools the camera meter. I see a lot of winter photos online with gray, underexposed snow, which means the camera meter did what it was designed to do and the camera owner didn’t know how to use exposure compensation. The solution is quite simple provided you know what to do.
Instagram Says It Can Sell Your Photos Without Permission or Notification
You are online and to your surprised yo see a photo of one of your children in an ad for a product you don’t approve of. How could this happen? Do you use Instagram? As of January 16, 2013, Instagram claims the right to sell your photos to anyone they choose without paying you or notifying you. You will have no control over who the photos are sold to or how they will be used. And you won’t be notified.
PopPhoto Reviews: Canon 5D Mark III, Nikon D800, Sony Alpha 99, Fuji X-Pro 1
The Popular Photography magazine article in my December 12 post is now online. The editors picked the Canon 5D Mark III, the Nikon D800, and the Sony Alpha 99 as the three best cameras of 2012, with the Canon as the winner. The honorable mentions are the Fuji X-Pro 1 and the Olympus OM-D EM-5.