I was looking around near where I work in D.C. recently when I happened upon this alley. Not just any alley, but Luigi’s alley. I like the way the light was that day, and I like the glow on the pipe to the left of the frame. In general, I just enjoyed shooting this photo. I did bring up some of the shadow detail in Lightroom and work with the contrast just a little bit.
Wordpress has released an app for iPhone which allows full posting capability including categories and tags from anywhere. Pretty neat. I’m posting from it now so we will see how this goes.
Did you know there is a whole web site not only dedicated to collecting photo contests, but also evaluating each one for suspicious ToA items and unfair rules that could wind you up with no rights to your own images? There is, and you can find it right here. It’s a great idea and a good page to check out once in a while.
Many photo contests (including a certain high-profile one from Microsoft) have Terms of Agreement that include essentially full ownership of your image. Not only can the contest runners use your image in any way they like; they can even prevent you from using it! Don’t fall into this trap. Contests are fun and great but you should always check the rules and terms.
Scott Kelby and Jeff Revell have put together the first ever World Wide Photowalk. I’ll be attending the DC one which will be held in Old Town Alexandria. Not every country has a walk planned yet but there are still cities being added. Space is limited in some cities so register your spot today!
I think this is a neat concept and I know Old Town is rich in photo material, so I’m quite looking forward to this.
It’s here! The new Lightroom has been released.
Also, a new DNG Profile Editor for creating and editing custom profiles released. These profiles contain information about every camera supported by Camera Raw:
labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles
The DNG Profiles include “Camera Matching profiles that match the camera manufacturers’ color appearance” This is going to be huge for many people because it means theoretically, your RAW files in Adobe programs can now match the camera manufacturer’s settings. -My D300 presets may now be are obsolete. (see test image above)
Also, an update to Camera RAW 4.5 is up:
Mac: www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3940
Win: www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3941
Short post… just wanted to point out a great post by Joe McNally on his blog. The article covers two techniques I find really creative and actually not difficult to pull off.
One is zooming a flash to a narrow beam (he uses the new SB900 flash but you can achieve this with any flash and a home-made “snoot” [a tube to narrow the beam of your flash]) so that you get a splash of light on the torso and head of a model in an otherwise dim scene. The other is the idea of throwing a beat up wooden crate in front of the flash to create dramatic shadows for an environmental portrait. Looks like a million bucks, and it’s not exactly rocket science.
Which reminds me; great photos aren’t found, they are created. Whether that means complicated studio flash setups or simply waiting for the sun to go down and using a bit of fill -it’s the fact that great light (and thus great photos) doesn’t just “happen.” (ok, once in a while it does, but that’s luck not skill) The effort is in creating (or waiting for) just the right light.
I’m definitely guilty of just “pretending” the light is right. I think a lot of amateur photographers put little effort into the light. It can be the pressure of friends and family to get on with the day’s activities, or a lack of thought when placing / diffusing flash. In any case, we have to remember that good light does take some effort and patience. That’s why I think it’s so cool that pros like Joe post simple techniques like I mentioned above that anyone can pull off.