WHERE WILL 2010 TAKE US?

Shout out to Chase Jarvis

Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Demo from Stargate Studios on Vimeo.

INTRODUCING - ALEX UNCAPHER

Alex Uncapher is a former student at CDIA and quite the visionary. Where most students struggle with coming up with creative insights or curious points of view, this is where Alex lives. Check out this months issue of After Capture magazine for the full scoop.

article...

DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY

My recent posts have featured most of my images shot with my trusty iPhone (or my 3Gs Pro) as I call it. The new name is there only to move away from the stigma that iPhone photography has now. For me it was entirely about quieting the mind on the calculations we all make when approach in making an image. Which lens, ISO, shutter and depth of field to name the primary culprits of our distractions. The 3Gs Pro allows me to focus on composing and more composing. I leave the post processing elements where they belong - post. To keep things pure (or as pure as one can be) I try and keep the processing in camera (iPhone) and do as much as possible I can there. Some of the newest apps are quite outstanding. Where can you by an imaging app for 1.99 or a macro lens for 16.99? iTunes for one...I know...I know...I drank the kool-aid a long time ago and have probably gone back for seconds and even thirds. Watch out all you nay sayers because if you have not yet noticed the process is really evolving. A side note - another advantage is that no one and I mean no one ever bothers you when shooting with the 3Gs - no permits or "do you have permission?"...just like it should be - capturing what inspires.

My recent work can be scene at: www.lightyearimaging.com/airhead

3 TIMES A CHARM?

Once again, I was honored for a third time on John Paul Caponigro's blog. This time showing my HDR style as was in the second post. In progress north this evening, ahead of the storm (I hope).

Happy Holidays to all that follow or peak at this blog and a toast to what will be coming in 2010.

Check this post out on JP's blog here.

IF IT ONLY WENT TO 11... ~ APPLE 3Gs

Recently I attended an outstanding workshop with John Paul Caponigro at his home studio in Maine. It was a group of 10 participants and all were high level photographers and everyone contributed to the flow and delivery of information during the week. It is something I would HIGHLY recommend!!!

Skills in the craft as well as many creative aspects were in the mix which I found as the most unique part of the workshop. I was honored by a blog entry on JP's blog (www.johnpaulcaponigro/blog/) which has evolved the following link for a body of work presently under construction. The link is as follows and can be accessed through the blog as well: www.lightyearimaging.com/airhead/

Enjoy

BESIDE MYSELF...iPHONE STITCH

Special thanks to John Paul for the recent post of the iPhone images on his blog. Attending this workshop has been nothing short of spectacular. It was my birthday week and one I will not soon forget. If anyone can here him speak or attend a workshop here in Maine, I would highly recommend it. The focus here has been as much on the craft as it has been on the vision. I have met a number of great photographers and now friends on this adventure and look forward to doing this with JP again soon. Here is a shot of the birthday cake that JP's wife made for me - yum!

BIRTHDAY BOY

I am in Maine with John Paul Caponigro at the best workshop ever and have been really inspired to push this cell phone stuff even further. Thanks to all of my fellow workshoppers for their kind words and motivation. Yep - tomorrow is my birthday so...I thought I would share some of my favorite apprs for the iPhone. Some cost a few dollars but others are free. Try some - yum!
Cheers

CHRISTMAS WITH THE OZ

What would the holidays be like without a little Ozzy?

Beginning or End?

With all of the hooplah recently about placing blame on image manipulation I thought it necessary to show one side of the equation that most never talk about. Everything that happens to "control" the image even before things like photoshop. Anyone that has been around stock shoots on location or advertising shoots for clothing know what the image would look like from the angle the viewer never sees. Duct tape, clips, pins - you name it everything and anything to make the clothes and the image look perfect. And this is not limited to just the clothes - anyone or thing in the picture would be subject to this level of perfection.
This is not to let the retouchers of the world off the hook as far as being responsible - more a spread of the responsibility. Take a look...

HDR to PS Options2

Here we talk about one way for us to use Photoshop after an image has been tone mapped.

OPTIONS - NOT ALWAYS BLACK AND WHITE!

In this tutorial Chris will walk through a few of the more important things to think about and how they may effect your final conversion to Black and White - at the very least they will show how they effect your results.

IT'S COMING! - PHOTOPLUS 2009

Huge Event with all the latest and greatest tools and toys for photographers as well as a lengthy list of excellent seminars and instruction - except for mine that is?! ha

• Conference

• Schedule

DOUBLE HEADER - POST PRODUCTION

On October 4th, Chris Alvanas will host a double workshop/lecture at CDIA. 10-12 will be on Extending Dynamic Range and 2-4 will be on Glamour Retouching. Seating is limited so please RSVP to calvanas@cdiabu.com. This event is free and not limited to CDIA stiudents.

024 RT Last One

This video represents the last phase of a serious retouch. There is a need to get away from the screen to give your eyes a break and come back to finish up. When coming back there will almost always be final tweaks in finishing the image.

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN...

...does not always mean you should. The ethics of beauty retouching - how far is too far! This topic has perplexed me for sometime and I know it does not take much to freeze me into the headlights but I think it really requires a bit of thought(the ethics that is). The following video shows a normal speed (I wish) sample of a retouch job. Now for the sake of showing techniques I show what IS possible, but think for a moment about what you require for delivery to your client. A nip and tuck here and there never hurt anybody - maybe. I enjoy post production work. Truly I do!

But ask yourself what you are doing and better yet why you are doing it. It has never been intended to be there as a reason for poor photography - more about making great photography even greater. Taking it to places that excite ones imagination not to mention the workflow advantages and do overs. I am appearing at PhotoPlus 2009 and have 2 sessions, one on HDR and the other on Glamour Retouching. We'll dig in and show how we can solve problems as a retoucher and we may also ask a few questions about when and why? Enjoy

T Soft2 High End Skin Softening

This is a repeat post of high end skin softening, but this time the audio works all the way through.
Cheers

Return Skin Texture

Returning the texture to the skin is often times what makes or breaks the softening technique. Here is what is important.

BACK!

Sorry to take a brief break in the action, but I recently moved - Wow, I thought Photoshop was difficult. Anyhow, I am back and ready for a few new trick and tips to show. Stay tuned as we will dive into some Skin Softening techniques in my next post. Thanks for standing by.
Cheers

HDR People

Multiple tone mapping of the same image and getting better results in registration as well as skin tone.

LET'S NOT FORGET THE MUPPETS

Alway having fun - the name of the game...

PHOTOPLUS EXPO 2009

Hey there... wanted to share the video about this years show and let you know I will be there again this year teaching a seminar on HDR and on Beauty Retouching...hope to see you there. MORE

HDR Many Ways

There are many ways to skin a cat and if your cat happens to be a bracketed or non-bracketed scene, there are in fact many ways to process.

DEKE'S MASKING ESSENTIALS

HOW MANY MEGA-PIXELS???

Got to thinking, which although not that frequent - can be dangerous, about the present state of camera wars and the megapixel battles that result. With rumors now out on the D4x and other super cameras, where does medium format start to fit in? As the cost of the systems starts to meet somewhere in the $10-$20K range it make some start to think about things like bit depth and sensor size. Now the 35mm cameras have not got to that price range yet, but that day is upon us. Hasselblad and Mamiya are both getting competitive with system pricing to make pros think twice about why they are making the investment in 35mm. I have shot both systems and find medium format quite nice when working with skin tone, fine detail and brilliant color. The 35mm groups are not shabby by any means in these areas either it's just that the climate seems to be changing, so keep your options open and your credit cards ready.

DO YOU SUCK AT PHOTOSHOP?

Thought this might be a bit entertaining as I come back from holiday and get ready for some new stuff.

LATEST FROM JPC

Is it Bad ASS Enough?

iPhone - iPhone - iPhone
production by Isaac Oboka

iPhone Jazz - Perspective and Processing

Entire Collection

LAYERS TUTORIAL RE-DONE

iPhone with Cup Cake

Check out the entire collection here...

iPhone Jazz in B&W

VECTORS IN CS4

WINNERS OF THE 48HR FILM FESTIVAL IN DC

My friend and fellow human, Kevin Good (shown here) with Barry Gribble produced this in an amazing 48hours check this out! Best Writing, Best Effects, Best Wardrobe, and Best Picture. You can check out the finished silliness (Gwedonlyn Dangerous and the Great Space Rescue) at: www.crisislab.com

MUSIC CORNER

TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE

My article on HDR has hit the stands and shows off with a special dedication to author Stephen King - much thanks to my friend Barry T. for the great writing. Pick it up!

iPhone Jazz

Image _001

NEW WINDOWS IN CS4

This is part of the new navigational advances in CS4. This upgrade seems mostly about better use of screen real estate and navigation along with a few other nice bonus features we'll talk about soon.

HI PASS SHARPENING

There are so many ways to sharpen an image and it posses another question of when to sharpen as well. With all of the possibilities that Photoshop offers, the hi-pass sharpen has given me the most flexibility and success. Check it out...

PHOTOSHOP CS4 - NAVIGATION

Again Adobe has produce another version of Photoshop. Like it or not - it is what it is. I will say a number of the new features are small but robust. The use of monitor space and navigational workflow is pretty nice as are a number of other features. Here are some of the navigation changes i CS4.

BRIDGE CS4 NAVIGATION

I am finding the major boost in the upgrade to CS4 seems to be mostly about navigation.  There are a number of other features in Photoshop proper that have a lot of value, but navigation and workflow would surely be one.  By the way - stop calling me Shirley

DEKE MASKS...

DEKE DOES IT AGAIN...

DEKE AND GRAYSCALE

RETOUCHING - ETHICS!?

Recently, the New York Times aired a video on some ethical questions about Beauty retouching.  You should check it out.  It begs the question of how far is far enough when it comes down to how we influence our children about role models and "un-achievable" goals for the sake of advertising.  As a father of an 18 year old daughter and a professional retoucher I am confronted with this question every time I pick up my mouse and begin to work on an image.  After a while you come to the realization that first of all it is certainly not only the retouching of an image that creates this issue, but let's just focus on those aspect of it.  At the end of the day it is YOU the retoucher that decides how far to go and wether or not you choose to use the bat to hit a softball or crush some ones skull.  It is not the bat that is the problem.

I promised to keep this rant as short as possible, but we typically give the client what the client wants and don't really worry too much about the ethics and leave that to the client - maybe-maybe not.  This video does mention one important thing (I think) along with the ethical questions it poses.  Why don't retouchers get credit on images where retouching has taken place???  This brings me back to the change in times that digital has fueled in that retouching can be a large part of the image making process and perhaps by giving the retoucher credit it would not just give credit where it is deserved but also help readers understand that in some cases the image does not reflect reality - really!  Check out the video and ponder this the next time a client asks you to piece together a fashion image from 4 separate photos of the same model to get the very best part of each and ask yourself - should I get any credit and does the reader dererve the right to know that something was done to retouch this image???

ALL HDR - NO!

I know this blog has been a bit heavy on the HDR "thing" but be assured that more is to come. Beauty Retouching that is.  That's right - if you are interested in high end beauty retouching techniques and topics then stay tuned.  There will also be a future blending of the two - HDR/Beauty or something like that.  Also stay tuned on the new blog by Rob Van Petten if this topic tickles your fancy as this one proves to be about all you can handle on lighting, fashion and digital print making.  Oh yea - I may be contributing some Photoshop Tips from time to time - shameless - I know.

Cheers

HDR STEP BY STEP2

This is the second (obviously) of 2 movies regarding step by step processing for HDR.  Chris has a 28 movie DVD due out later this month on the topic .

  Here is a small taste...

HDR WORKSHOPS - PENN CAMERA

Penn Camera is sponsoring 2 events here at CDIA.  Each will be a full day event with everything HDR.  We will go from the overview of process and what is HDR through capture-merge-tone mapping and final enhancement in Photoshop.  Go to the Workshops and Events tab for more info...

HERE WE GO - HDR STEP 1

I have posted the first movie in a series of overviews dealing with my techniques in HDR.  Please stay tuned for the full DVD on the topic of HDR due to be released in March 2009.

HDR Full Day Workshops

These events are put on by Penn Camera and hosted at CDIA (1055 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW)

The dates are:

3/29/09 - SOLD OUT!

4/19/09 - SOLD OUT!

5/31/09 - SOLD OUT!

6/28/09 - SOLD OUT!

8/2/09 - OPEN

Contact Penn Camera to reserve your place today. The day will be as follows:

AM - HDR Overview and Capture SetUp

PM1 - Shooting Session

PM2 - Running HDR Merging and Tone Mapping on images from shooting session.

Will take place in a fully functional Macintosh lab with Lightroom, Photoshop and Photomatix all loaded. Participants need to bring their camera as well as a HD to put all images on as the machine get re-images every day.

MISSING YOU ALL!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  I have been busy finishing the latest DVD on HDR.  It will be going to press very shortly and be available by the end of this month.  Remember, I have 2 workshops on HDR scheduled.  2/24 at CDIA is a Photoshop User Group (PUG) meeting at CDIA and I will be lecturing on HDR and hope to have the DVD's available.  I am also scheduled to do a full day event through Penn Camera also here at CDIA on March 29th.  This will be a paid event through Penn Camera and hands on for all those participating.  Should be a blast!

I will try and post some snips from the DVD to give you all a taste.

THOSE WACKY BLEND MODES!

I was thinking about who or how I could explain in logical or not so logical terms, the 25 blend modes in Photoshop.  They are frequently used when working at an advanced level of Photoshop and warrant some understanding to grasp how and when to put them in play.  Deke McClelland just posted this video that really does a wonderful job in explaining those frustrating but very necessary blend modes.  Enjoy!

HDR Teaser (part2b)

In this clip, Chris talks about how exporting through Lightroom get additional option when interfacing with Photomatix.  Sometimes they are not useful but it is always good to have more option.

HDR - Teaser (part 2)

In this part 2 of the HDR teaser series, Chris Alvanas walks through the details of working with Lightroom as an application that can export to Photomatix for generating an HDR image and ultimately providing tone mapping.

Deke Does It Again.

In his own wacky way Dele McClelland shows off the power of channel masking difficult items like hair in CS4.  Deke is always entertaining and one of the most informative teachers I know.   Although I don't really know him, you get the idea.

Here's Deke...

HDR - Teaser (part 1)

In this tutorial Chris Alvanas walk us through the basics of how and why HDR works, when to se it and overview what the basic purpose and effect HDR has on digital photography.

Deke McClelland and Masking Basic #2

Lightroom - Selective!

I know, I know... CS4 and only CS4, but I need to acknowledge the photographers out there using Lightroom, right?  I just don't feel right ignoring their very fiber - whatever that means?

I felt that it was important to make mention of the brush tool now available in the newest version of Lightroom.  In fact it has been out for some time, but it seems some are just getting around to using it or just discovering its potential.  Even though it falls quite short of masking in the wonderful world of Photoshop it does bring more flexibility to those using Lightroom. Well enough of my psycho-babble, here we go...

Happy Freekin' New Year

Adobe TV

In this episode Jullieanne Kost takes an in depth look at Adobe Camera RAW in CS4.  You will also find other episode dealing with a variety of topics from Lightroom through Photoshop here at Adobe TV

enjoy!