Turn it around!

I speak to folks regularly that know just what they need to know to do what they must.  Let me explain.  The cell phone may have some helpful/organizational features but all it is used for is talking.  Same with your camera.  There are features that it has that could help to get that award winning photo but all that is known is how to shoot fairly standard photos.  Turn it around! So the first suggestion is to read your manual and learn any of those lesser known features so you'll have all the features to "attack" those upcoming photo challenges.  Learn all the features ahead of time, not when you're in a crunch to produce.  The suggestion was made to me years ago to read the manual once a year.  That was said at a time before the near-computer details that are commonplace on our cameras.  Now it is an even better idea.  I dealt with f-stops and shutterspeeds but the finer details that I learned were multiple exposure and changing viewscreens.  Did you spend the VHS tape generation, as I did, with a player blinking 12:00, 12:00, 12:00? Then you might need to listen to what's being said.  My kids have each saved their money and purchased very nice Mac Powerbooks and as I pursue their ability to learn more about the OS or some of the features they could make use of it became evident.  As long as they could access Facebook, eMail, iTunes and a few more basic features, they were pleased with their investment.  The pursuit of more knowledge was a waste of their time.  My goal in preaching this sermon is to get professional photographers and folks trying to advance their photography to put the time in to learn all the features of their camera and the associated software.  So the second suggestion is to pursue the menus of your photo software (PhotoShop, Lightroom, Elements, Capture, Photomatix Pro) so that as challenges come up you will have a full arsenal of knowledge to accept the challenge and solve it. Ask yourself what a menu item is and find it in the help to determine its use.  We will be amazed what is hidding there.  Soak up all the lessons and techniques not necessarily to accomplish some challenge in today's efforts but to be prepared for something in the future.  Turn it around!

Did it again!

Apple has been dropping hints about their entry into the tablet market for some time now.  It was announced today.  The iPad.  I'm sure it is impressive but I see some things that drastically stand out.  I would love to have had a Kindle or even one of the other eReaders but the books that I buy are colorful with photos and illustrations about graphics.  These books are many times not available on those readers and wouldn't be fun if they were.  For obvious reasons.  But today that has changed.  Color has come to the tablet world.  iPad could open up many more titles that us photo folks enjoy.  There is another rumor floating about some connection between Apple and Barnes & Nobles for supplying the needed titles.  I'm sure Apple would consider all the advantages of adding yet another department to The iTunes Store.  Check out the video to see this impressive piece.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/#video

Mr Joe McNally

If you don't know the name Joe McNally you need to.  This man does some of the most exciting shoots for some of the most prestigious magazines and does the work at a very high level. The big thing is that he tells the world all about his techniques. It surprises me the people that folks can learn from that many don't know about. To succeed in moving up get to know as many top notch pros as you can from different specialties.  I have plans of upcoming posts about numerous photographers that we can all learn from.  I'll be telling you about them in the next weeks or months.

I recently purchased Joe's book "The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes"  and I am once again impressed.   He details some very interesting shoots and gives the details from a technical viewpoint but also the creative.  Some of the shots get into the building of the photo.  From working with the environment to adapting to the ambient lighting. Of course adding the hot shoe lights.  Joe is the most knowledgeable professional using the SB lights from Nikon.  SB-800, SB-900 and occasionally the SB-600 make up his arsenal.  Many photos are made with multiples of lights serving the purpose of one light.


Besides his books on photography he can also be found in videos.  This first video is interesting and recorded in a time-lapse mode. Like his book, this shows how photos are built with the variations that may become a part of the finished project.  Light it this way; turn down that light; reduce the ambient light and then wow, what a photo.

Joe makes great use of the SB lighting from Nikon and uses the best of technology with the 
Creative Lighting System components. Nikon shows Joe at work in some very interesting videos. Once again, showing the technical as well as the depth that goes into his work. All based on small on-camera lights.

Control of Color Part 1 can be found and viewed at:

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/fy1hs59m/1/Control-of-Color-Part-1.html

Control of Color Part 2 can be found and viewed at:

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/fy1hs59r/1/Control-of-Color-Part-2.html

Control of Color Part 3 can be found and viewed at:

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/fy1hs59w/1/Repeating-Flash.html

"Inspirational" describes Joe's photography and he is an awesome teacher. His book "The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes" is in my library and continues to be 
enjoyment as I work my way through the interesting stories. My preference is to enjoy just a 
few shooting highlights, then let it soak in and at the next sitting there will be more to learn. It'sgood reading, many just can't put it down. If you'd like to add this to your collection just click 
on the titles.

More from Joe: "The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters" is his earlier book which also has a video available through Nikon.

Fix a Face with the History Brush

History Brush is a tool that has many uses.  The technique discussed is not that "far out" but it can make a major improvement to a subject who has rough skin or blemished skin.  Some photographers will use this and not use the wrinkle-by-wrinkle or blemish-by-blemish correction of the healing brush. It has the potential of reducing artwork time drastically.  Like the other techniques that we've discussed, always make your finished image look good but not heavily "corrected".                    

Step 1:  Select an image that you feel could improve with a little smoothing to the skin.  Open in PhotoShop. Duplicate the background layer.  Go to Filter/Blur/Surface Blur.  Radius can be at 1, it does not make much difference. The Threshold setting makes a major difference in blurring.  We are looking for a subtle difference in the skin.  I chose 15. Realize we have now "blurred" the whole picture but all we want to do is affect the skin. So....

Step 2:  We need to record this look so we can later use it selectively.  The snapshot feature on the history palette will do that.  The flyout menu shows "make snapshot".  After making the snapshot now we have a second stage at the top of the history palette.  Now throw away the adjusted stages of our history so that we are back to our sharp version.  The blur is gone until we need it.

Step 3:  Click in the checkbox left of the snapshot to make it active. Select the History brush in your tool palette and paint on the skin of your duplicated background image.  You are painting with the blurred version selected in the history palette.  Is that not cool?  You can now do as much as you want.  I can smooth or minimize wrinkles or blemishes.  My earlier decisions give me the sublety I want.  If I had made my blur too strong earlier then I can make an adjustment to the opacity of the this layer in the layers palette.  

Conclusion:  This is an awesome feature that was used heavily before the clone, healing and patch tool were added to PhotoShop.  Many have made great use of this because of the speed that success can be achieved.  Some would incorporate this in an action to further speed production.  If you try this, let me suggest that you experiment with the technique mentioned above.  Be a little heavy handed on the blur to cover many uses and then plan to tweak the results with the opacity of the layer to perfect the look. 

If you haven't realized it yet, the history brush can be used for a multitude of adjustments.  To selectively add a color; to warm up an area of an image; to increase the blur of an out-of -focus background and so many more tweaks.  Let your imagination go. 

Let me hear from you.  If this is not understandable, ask me a question and clarify it for you and other readers.  What technique would you like to know more about.  Send me a note and I will gladly pursue it.  Read on and ENJOY!

Fix a Face with the Healing Brush

Folks want to look the best and people pictured in ads and magazines will benefit from a little touch-up.  I try to make the artwork clean and smooth but very subtle.  The goal is for someone to feel that they "sure look good" but not to know what may have been done behind the scenes.  If folks see the artwork then I have made a major mistake.  Two exceptions seem to be fashion and high school senior photography.  Girls seem to prefer the clean look similar to corrected magazine covers.

See the fullness under the eyes.

Numerous tools are effective in fixing a face.  The healing brush is key to correcting the bags under the eyes, wrinkles and blemishes.  This tool is effective at correcting but leaving the sharpness.                            

The basic procedure allows us to use the healing brush to make all blemishes, wrinkles and bags go away.  All the work is on a duplicate layer.  That layer is then dialed back in opacity to between 60 and 80 percent allowing the un-touched image to blend with the corrected layer.  The result is more believable with all the character just toned down, not gone.  Let’s start.

Step 1:  Duplicate the background layer. Work on the new layer. Select the healing brush.  Pick your source for sampling.  It needs to come from a smooth area found around the cheek or forehead. Now correct with small strokes the area under the eye.  When you release the mouse, instantly,  the correction will blend with the surrounding pixels so the bags are gone. Work the area till it is all clear.

Step 2:  Use the brush in different sizes. You’ll see smaller brushes making patterns. Larger ones picking up surrounding areas. The correct size can do magic. You’ll get it with a little practice.

Step 3:  Aligned or not. NO.  This allows you to always be sampling from the same clean-skin area. When you sample at a point this becomes the starting point for each stroke of your healing brush. Aligned relatively connects your brush to its sample so the two points are attached. Try it both ways and you’ll see.

Step 4:  Once all the things are removed the image may appear too corrected. Adjust the opacity of the artwork layer to 60% (also try 80%), this gives a toning down of the wrinkles so things are minimized but still there.  You might say it takes 10 years from the subject, not 30 or 40.

Exception.  Some blemishes may need to be totally gone. Eliminate those first and with the opacity at 100% do Image/Merge Down to combine this layer with the background.  Then make your new layer copy and do all the above artwork that will need to be dialed down to 60 or 80 percent.

See the results.  This can be used for wrinkles, bumps, shine and even birthmarks and moles.  Experience will teach you that some things need to be discussed before removing.  I once had an artist remove the cleft from a  business executives chin. Not good.  Fifty 8x10's had to be redone.  So store this in your bag of tricks and make use of it to make your work stand out.  Got a question?  Let me know.