Photoshop 1 at Lepp Institute

Once again I spent an amazing weekend at Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging in Los Osos, California. Many of my peers are aware that I am not currently a Photoshop user. While I do use Photo Mechanic to cull, rename and inject IPTC data into my images and LightRoom to do RAW conversion and catalog, I am a fan and user of Ulead's PhotoImpact product. But this must change as I really need to be "Industry Standard" and that is Photoshop. I've known this for a long time and have had installed versions of Adobe Creative Studio since their first version. I just haven't used it, sigh.

So, in my quest forward, I have read several Photoshop CS3 books. I really like Martin Evening's book. I didn't care for Scott Kelby's book. I am currently reading Blatner, Chavez and Fraser and like it so far. And I really like the ever prolific Tim Grey's "Photoshop CS3 Workflow" book. But I was very surprised to discover that Hal Schmitt's Photoshop 1 course really smacks down the books! :-) Really, no kidding. From making great sense about the organization of menus and panels and their flow in your workflow, navigating about the images, how to approach each tool and where to look for options, to the ever popular 'learn those damn keyboard shortcuts' drumbeat [although I must take off one point for Hal's failure to include the shortcuts in his handout!] Hal has good image material on which to demonstrate and practice what is taught. The whole weekend had a super flow and Hal used the inevitable student errors in navigation and option selection to bring home his experiences on these same paths and reinforce his teachings.

A word about Hal: besides photographer/Photoshopper, he is a winemaker. Oh, wait, while that's true it is not where I want to go. Hal is an Instructor. He knows how to instruct people. I am sure he would be great teaching enology. He spent quite a while instructing aircraft fighting for the Navy at Top Gun and while his vast experience in this area goes almost unmentioned (although there are several pertinent photographs that keep popping up), it is clear why the brass would have selected him for such a job ... he really is a "Natural" at instructing. In my 30 plus years as a computer person I have taken many classes. And I have given many seminars, lectures and presentations to both handfuls and auditoriums of people on fairly esoteric computer topics ... my specialty was Operating System modifications in machine language for one of IBM's two mainframe Operating Systems, VM. I understand about teaching arcane and unintuitive topics. So does Hal. Plus he is much more personable than I am. :-)

So, I finished Photoshop 1, a weekend course, this past weekend. I will take Hal's Photoshop 2 next weekend. I won't bore you with how he divides topics or what specific tools/techniques are in each segment. I will mention that I am signed up for Hal's LightRoom 2.0 weekend next month even though I will have to miss a significant portion of it to go shoot at the Santa Barbara County Harvest Festival at Rancho Sisquoc for my both of my corporate clients ... but Hal, the winemaker, will understand. And so you know that it's not just Hal that I like at Lepp, I'm also signed up for Andy Katz's winery and vineyard photography workshop the first weekend in November and Kevin Ames photographing women week long seminar also in November. Lepp really has something for everyone! I am already reviewing their 2009 courses and have found two for which I am budgeting ... but that's another story!

I need to include a couple of other things. First, my wife and I have a truck camper and she likes to come up to Los Osos, well actually Morro Bay, with my daughter and camp out while I go to Lepp. There are numerous RV parks, public and private in the area that make attending classes into a vacation with extensive photo-ops. Second, I am not affiliated with Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging, it's employees or owners or sponsors in any way and am not compensated for sharing my thoughts about them. I have just found that every experience with Hal and Victoria (his much more of an artist wife) has been much more rewarding than I expected and plunged me forward into areas that I have resisted. This is a place you need to check out if you want to be one of those "Advanced Amateurs" who all seem to have the best of all possible worlds in photography. In fact, I think there are still slots open in all the courses for which I am signed up ... although there are some 2008 courses that are full. So, check out the courses as well as this lovely little coastal town.

Be safe!

Dwight

Equipment Review: 1d

Busy, busy, busy, busy! Lots of boxing work and family things. But I am back although this will be fairly brief, to do slot #7, which contains one of my Canon 1D Mark III bodies with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. I have two of both of these items. They are by far the most used combination of body/lens I own. This pair generally sits in their slot as a pair that I rarely take apart.

The Canon 1D Mark III [not to be confused with the 1Ds Mark III which has about twice as many pixels and costs almost twice as much] is a 10.1 MP photojournalism body. It can expose 10 frames per second, has very high speed AutoFocus (recently fixed by firmware update 1.2.3) and a huge number of features that I have barely tapped. I'm not going to go through the feature list as that is on the Canon website as well as many other places on the internet and there are myriad reviews of the body and lens. It is a photojournalism body because of its frame rate and adequate pixel dimensions. I will talk about how I use it for various things after I get through the general equipment review.

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS [IS stands for Image Stabilization, a very useful feature for us old shaky people] is probably Canon's most often seen lens. When you see the newspaper 'togs lined up to shoot some celebrity, a large percentage will be shooting with the 1D Mark III and a large percent of those will have the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. It is just one fine combination. It comes in a non-IS version but that isn't nearly as useful. It also comes in an f/4 version.

Well, that's it for this entry. I promise things will get more interesting along the way. :-)

Be Safe!

Dwight

A Couple of Days of Boxing

ShoBox: The New Generation is Showtime's professional boxing entry level boxing production. They showcase young new boxers who have shown great promise. The Chumash Casino Resort will host two of these fight cards this year and one is about to happen. The fights will be tomorrow night, but there is quite a bit of action that will happen today: the Samala Room will be converted into a boxing arena with a boxing ring erected and lighted; the fighters will arrive in Santa Ynez, California; the California Boxing Commission will arrive and check the credentials of all the participants; Gary Shaw Productions staff will arrive and make sure the boxers and their entourages get their work done; weigh-in; and who knows what else. So, I will be at the casino for the action this afternoon.

And, in case I don't get back to this blog by then, I'll be back at the casino tomorrow afternoon and evening for the entire fight card. I'll try to get some pictures up here as things progress but it is a very busy time so no promises.

Be Safe!

Dwight

Just A Quick Update: Frank Doorhof Workshops

Frank Doorhof, who will be doing a two day workshop in L.A. in early June, just made a post to his blog talking about the many questions he gets about his mind numbing glamor photographs that I wanted to share ... it is HERE.

Equipment Review: 1c - 12 Compact Flash Cards

Slot #4, which is empty in my original image, sometimes holds these three Compact Flash card cases. Unlike the compact flash card case in slot #5 which I'll talk about next time, these three cases, each with four 1G Sandisk Ultra II CF cards are only used for a couple of special purposes.

So, why do I use Sandisk? I used to use Lexar. Unfortunately, on one of their very expensive cards that I purchased (about $450 if I recall), they had a problem with the embedded driver so that it dropped images, corrupted images and generally wrecked havoc on me. When I finally found out what the problem was, no thanks to Lexar, I also found out they were going to replace them. But, I had to pay to return the card and then wait while they then sent one back. So I was out shipping and without the card for a couple of weeks, without any compensation ... not even a credit toward the next card. So, there will never be another Lexar card in my cameras. I've never had any trouble with any Sandisk card. So, while I am sure there are zillions of folks without problems with Lexar, I think there are many fewer who use them in the very most expensive Pro line of DSLRs and utterly rely on them for their clients ... I simply can't afford that kind of arrogance.

So, what are my "special purposes" for these 12 cards? I have two actually. The first has to do with the Supper Club shots I do at the casino. Normally this is just me wandering around the Samala Room at the Chumash Casino Resort where a dozen round tables with elegant place settings, a four diamond catered buffet for about 130 people and dinner music and then entertainment is served up for invited guests only. I have the marvelous job of asking people who have come to have dinner and enjoy a show if I can take their picture while they are trying to eat! Sounds awful ... but after the first three or four events I got the hang of it and now everyone really enjoys it. Sometimes when I walk into the room with my camera hands go up at tables. In fact, I now stand just ahead of the buffet line and capture the guests while they are waiting in the line ... no food in teeth and something to entertain them. Many couples have albums of my little refrigerator pictures ... they get them in 4x6 prints.

But from time to time, we setup a themed photobooth, bring in studio strobes and then shoot & print immediately, put the pictures in frames and give them back to the guests before they leave. And when we do this, I need to shoot a few, give the printer operator the CF card that they print from, and start a new card. Also, since I need to provide digital images to the casino of all these prints, I can't recycle the cards. Turns out that a dozen 1G cards works out really well. And interestingly, I normally have a 12G Sandisk Extreme III in my primary body, although I expect I will get a couple of Extreme IV's to use in my 1DsMIII which supports DMA, a higher speed transfer protocol.

And the other use ... shooting boxing with an assistant. This allows me to shoot one or two rounds, pass the card to my assistant with a laptop, who can download, cull and edit the RAW images while I am shooting subsequent rounds or bouts. The reason for this fast processing is that Showtime (for whom I do this on rare occasions) or other media want the images as soon after the fights as possible to go with the ringside commentary that their writers turn in. They'd like to have the images before the fights but that isn't yet possible! :-)

Hope this gives some of you some good ideas or a different perspective.

Be Safe!

Dwight

Frank Doorhof Glamor Workshop in L.A. June 7 & 8, 2008

Many of you know that I am beginning to explore Portrait/Glamor photography. I've spent a bunch of money putting together a small studio in my house with high end equipment. I've spent a lot of time reading and experimenting. But when push comes to shove, the best learning comes from actually seeing what happens on a photo-shoot (as with the Jason Cole DVD I recently reviewed which has just started pressing and will be out in about two weeks) or even better, participating! Last year I attended Frank Doorhof's glamor workshop in Los Angeles and learned a huge amount. I had never used my lightmeter in the studio before the workshop ... I just tethered my camera to my laptop and did a long series of exposure tests until I got where I wanted. After seeing how to do this properly with my meter at Frank's workshop, it now takes maybe three test shots because the exposure is so close when I start. I now always do the first shot in every lighting change having the model hold a gray card to her face ... huge difference in white balance correction, as I saw in Frank's workshop. I also saw how to create subtle but interesting lighting on my background papers and how to use gels.

Since I can't recommend this kind of learning strongly enough and since Frank, from the Netherlands, is coming back to L.A. on June 7 & 8 this year, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware since he doesn't do much in the way of advertising. Frank runs sold out workshops back home every week. You can see a portfolio of his work at http://www.frankdoorhof.com/portfolio/ and his workshop schedule at http://www.fotografie-workshops.nl/ENGELS/overview.html with an email address to request a slot at a workshop.

So, you might ask if I am attending this year? No. I have conflicts with my casino work and will be out of the country immediately afterward ... and I had a free invitation, sigh. But Frank will be visiting with me for a couple of days to go wine tasting in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation where I live, visit a few missions, play at the ocean, and generally relax.

I'll have the next installation of the Equipment Review sometime in the next few days ... I'm very busy, as always.

Be Safe!

Dwight

Equipment Review: Part 1a

I'm going to back up for a second and talk about Pelican cases. First, they come in a huge variety of sizes and shapes and purposes. They are guaranteed against almost everything almost forever ... see the warranty here. I have five Pelican cases in three sizes. The one shown in my last post is a Pelican 1610 and is my primary case of which I have only one. I will also be showing my two Pelican 1510 cases and two Pelican 1660 cases. I bought all my Pelican cases from B&H in NYC. And I'll stick a quick disclaimer in here: I have no relationship other normal customer with either Pelican or B&H, but I am a customer because they deliver and are totally reliable for me.

I have two bits of information that are the core of today's post: (1) Pelican is very responsive to case failures, which do happen, and (2) the Pelican 1510 is a masterpiece.

First, yes, Pelican cases can fail. But you need to consider that they are designed to be waterproof and to withstand huge pressure changes. [Please note that this is my understanding and I am not guaranteeing anything personally ... you must verify this yourself with Pelican.] They have gaskets that need maintenance and replacement and they have pressure relief valves. Amazing stuff, eh? Yes, I had a failure on my Pelican 1610. This case has four latches. All the Pelican cases have more latches than minimally necessary. The left front latch on my Pelican 1610 broke upon opening one day. The other three latches were easily adequate for continued use. I filled out an online form at Pelican. Next business day I got phone call from a marvelously pleasant young woman. She asked me to describe the latch and it's failure. She assured me that I could easily replace the latch and she was sending me a latch replacement kit. She did. I did. And I have an extra latch, which I think will fit any of my cases as the kit contained two latches. No charge.

Second, and this can be VERY significant these days, the Pelican 1510 is within the size limits for carry-on luggage for continental and intercontinental air travel ... check the Pelican 1510 link above for details. Last summer we vacationed at Club Med in Cancun, Mexico. I wanted to take camera equipment but am unwilling to check it. So I loaded up my Pelican 1510 with my 5D and some lenses and Epson P-2000. In fact, my wife liked the case so much, mostly because of the wheels and handle, that I loaned her my second one for her carry-on. While one of the flight stewardesses thought it was too big for overhead and it did require some wiggling, it comfortable fit into the overhead luggage racks of four different aircraft. And it sure is nice, when your flight connections fail and you have to walk miles and miles in the airport, to simply pop the handle and roll it. There are also handles on two sides so you can carry it in the portrait or landscape mode. :-) And you can sit on them ... the 1510 was perfect for my then 5-year-old daughter to rest her weary bones.

The cases I have all have the option of inserts as shown in my 1610 image, or pick-a-part foam inserts or nothing. I believe they also have lid pocket inserts available but I don't use these so I am not familiar with them.

So that's it for now.

Be Safe!

Dwight

Glamor Photography Instructional DVD: Jason Cole

This is sort of an advert for Jason Cole's soon to be released instructional glamor photography DVD: The Passion of the Art. Jason is a wedding and glamor photographer out of Wollongong, Australia, down the coast a bit from Sydney in NSW. He has shot for FHM and Ralph among other well known glamor slicks. For reasons not clear to me, Jason decided to put his vast experience into a DVD tutorial. I found out about it as he posted for suggestions at Photography-on-the.net, an online, somewhat Canon oriented forum run by a Finn with a very large, world-wide membership in which I have been a very active participant for the last three years. Next thing I knew, Jason (who doesn't know me from Adam) asked if I would be a Beta reviewer for the DVD, getting it a month or so before GA and giving him feedback. I explained to Jason that I didn't know much about glamor photography and he pointed out that this is just what he needed: someone familiar with all the equipment (cameras, studio lighting, experience shooting lots of things) but not experienced in glamor. So, I asked, "What's in it for me?" As he does so frequently, he laughed (well, actually, he put, "lolol" in his email) and said that he'd give me a final copy of the DVD when done. So I agreed. And now, even though it will not benefit me a farthing (or whatever the Aussies use for currency) I want to make you aware of its existence ... well, in a couple of more weeks. This is a really useful reference.

The Passion of the Art contains three basic sections: equipment, models and shooting. Jason explains the equipment he uses (which is Canon and Broncolor), some tidbits about models with help from his MUA, and then four extensive photoshoot sections: one in the studio, one in a mechanic's garage with lots of machinery, and two at the beaches of NSW. This is the meat of the DVD for me. Jason gives one tip after another on dealing with the models and setups and then you get to watch him do the shoots as he again narrates his activities. The videography is first rate rather than just having a friend with a consumer video standing around like the YouTube spots. He explains why he selects his lenses and lighting choices and shows what some lighting options look like and how each addition enhances the overall effect he is after.

What impressed me most about this DVD was getting to see and hear Jason work with the models. How he communicates with them. How he gets them into the right mood. How he gets the right look. And the second, and for many the most important thing is, he explains in depth how to shoot a magazine spread. He explains what is needed and then talks you through the shooting and finally shows how the post processed images to be given to the editor look. Each of the four shoots has a theme and he shows how to tie them together to make a coherent story.

At my latest check Jason was offering the DVD, due out in mid-April, for $69 USD at http://www.jasoncolephotography.com.au/_portal_page/off-pages/dvd-vol1/dvd-vol1.html.

Be Safe!

Dwight

Always Have a "Plan B"

I had expected to receive my 1DsMIII from B&H of NYC yesterday. When it didn't show up I checked the tracking information (always available if you are registered at B&H and place your order online ... in fact, all your orders are available online this way as mine are since about 2002.) Anyway, there was the problem, "Train derailment in Vernon, California" and a notice that delivery has been rescheduled. So, it'll be a day late, not all that unusual for UPS. That's why I am a FedEx shipper.

As it turns out I won't be able to get it today, either, as I have to leave UCSB about noon to cover the weigh-in at the ShoXC Elite Challenge fights on Friday at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, and our deliveries are always in the late afternoon. I guess it's OK since I won't have time to try it out for a few days as I have another event at the casino on Saturday.

I ride one of my bicycles almost every day. But I don't ride just anywhere ... I ride along the Pacific Ocean at Coal Oil Point in Goleta, California. As you can see, it's kinda pretty. I've riding it for about six months in a 7-1/2 mile loop and I've been watching it get prettier and prettier as the mustard has been starting to bloom. I finally couldn't resist bringing in a camera and getting a few shots. These pictures were taken with a Canon 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS with a polarizing filter.

One thing that has become ever so clear to me since becoming a professional photographer ... ya' gotta' have a Plan B because so many people and companies simply aren't reliable. And even if they are only unreliable 1% of the time, if you do a lot of business then you're going to get hit by them. So, my Plan B for getting my 1DsMIII on time as promised right up until the last second by UPS (even though they knew about the derailment) was to go bike riding.

So, I am actually hoping to post again this evening with images from the MMA setup but as I want to post regularly and know I may get overtaken by events, I thought I'd throw this out this morning as a kind of Pre-Plan B.

Be Safe

So Much Going On ...

I have a lot of projects underway and there seem to be quite a few people who are interested so I am really, really going to try to post regularly on this blog, sigh. My studio is on the very verge of being ready and I have new things going on at the Chumash Casino Resort and new equipment with more on the way that I will post about, as well as my critiques of some equipment and vendors, good and bad. So, I will try to post a couple of times a week to let you know what I'm doing and even more, I will try to make the posts educational.

So, I'll be back shortly with something interesting!