Great Plugins

One of the items that can come in handy for your Post-Production is plugins or add-on software for your Photoshop and Lightroom. These can be handy little programs that can give your images a little extra “pop” to make them really stand out.

The ones I want to talk about today are the Creative Kit 2016 pack by Macphun software. Macphun makes software for Macs only and their plugins are very good and can really take your images to the next level.

Creative Kit 2016 comes with six programs, which are Intensify, Tonality, Snapheal, FX Photo, Focus and Noiseless.

Intensify will help with powerful Structure, Sharpness and Details using Pro contrast and comes with dozens of built in image presets.

Tonality is a Black & White photo editor, which allows you to reimagine your monochrome image editing with hundreds of presets, layers,unique digital controls, authentic grain effects and more.

Snapheal allows you to remove unwanted objects and strangers from your photos. You can cut any odd or excessive details. It also features a Clone & Stamp tool to help you replace them with something nice. I like this one as I think it does a better job at removing objects than Photoshop alone.

FX Photo Studio allows you to experiment with styles and looks for your images. Use the large selection of filters to create customized, unique images, you can combine or apply them selectively for some really “special” images.

Focus allows you to add Pro lens effects without the expensive gear. Use smart blur controls and powerful lens effects, including adding your own bokeh in Post Production.

Noiseless will get rid of digital noise and preserve details in your structure and save your night shots by turning them into crispy & clear images. Have Noiseless work on your images pixel by pixel to make them smooth and vibrant instead of deleting them because of noise.

You can buy the entire Creative Kit 2016 on sale for $129.99, marked down from $339 and you can buy it in installments of $25 over 5 monthly payments. If you search the web you might be able to find it even cheaper, I got a deal through Stack Social and I paid only $53 for the entire kit and the nice thing is you can install it on as many Macs as you want with one license.

One final note, some people Love the new “Photos” app in OS X that replaced Aperture, some people hate it and want Aperture back. I prefer Aperture myself and bought it years ago so I will always have it. But if you do like using the “Photos” app for even minor post production, Macphun has updated Creative Kit 2016 so their plugins will even work in “Photos” as “Extensions” or plugins in the Apple world.

All of these plugins will install into Aperture, Photos, Lightroom, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements so you can use them on whichever of these programs is your favorite.






Comments/Questions

Shooting HDR

Hello everyone

A belated Wednesday hello to everyone. It is almost Thursday so I do apologize for the late post here. I have been extremely busy with some night photography so I missed an early morning deadline because I was away from technology for a day or two.

Today I am going to discuss some HDR effects and what you can do when you are working with mixed light situations. Now I know many of you do not like shooting HDR because of the grungy look. You may not have even considered it before. Why should you even consider doing something like this?

Do you know what I am referring too?

Yes, it looks something like this...

In this image I used a plug-in to make some adjustments. The adjustments that I made were done using Nik Software from Google. I used HDR Efex Pro 2. The image is bordering on cartoony (if that is really a word), so it is not what I was looking for. The lights are close to been solarized and the tone compression has been crunched down to much.

Now, why should you continue reading? Well sooner or later you will be required to shoot some HDR photographs for some of your classes. Yes, you will not be getting away from it so easily. So you need to practice.

Now you don't need to buy any new plugins for this effect because it already comes built into Lightroom CC. If you do not have a subscription you will have to export the images to Photoshop and do the HDR there. It is found under Edit in... at the bottom of the list.

Well, if you don't like the HDR effect that you get when you use this method then that option may not be the best one to work for you. Well there is another way that you can get a realistic looking photograph without using the HDR effect process. 

As you can see in the image above you can export the bracketed files to Photoshop, but this time use the "Open as layers in Photoshop" option.

What you do this it opens  your bracketed images as layers into Photoshop and you now have the option to apply a mask to the photographs to help pull out the highlights or add shadows to your baseline photograph, i.e.: 0EV and build your "HDR" photograph.

In this photograph I have added my three bracketed photographs -2EV, 0EV and +2Ev photographs as layers to Photoshop. It is interesting to note that I have moved my 0EV photograph to the bottom of the stack. This becomes my baseline image.

Now add a black layer mask to your other two exposures. You have your under-exposed image and your over-exposed image. Using a medium to small soft brush you can now paint in your highlights and shadows and adjust your photograph to get a more realistic photograph for your final submission. Remember to adjust your opacity if you find the brush strokes are to bright for your highlights or to dark for your shadows. Once you have made your adjustments merge your layers, "CMD + E" on a MAC and "ALT + E" on a PC.

It is a great technique for future classes so I suggest you practice now. When working with mixed light in photograph it can help to even out your exposures for both outside and inside without getting the grungy look and feel to your photographs.

Here is the final result of to my merged photographs while using the Photoshop layers method.

There are so many ways that you can do HDR to manipulate your photographs so make sure to try as many of them while you can. 

One last point before I leave you and say goodbye. You all have access to Lynda.com training from the library module on your dashboard under the Online Library link . Get in there and learn something new each day. That is the best way to learn Photoshop and so many other applications.

It is located under the Photography icon

under the Industry information section.

Here's to having another great week and as always, please let me know if you would like to learn something new. Send me an email at denzilern@stu.aii.edu or just leave a comment for me under this post.

I would love to hear from you.

Have a great week and I will speak to you again next week.

Bye for now. 

Denzil

Ethics in Photography and Photojournalism

Good Morning and Happy Sunday! Today I wanted to touch base on a few things that I had to research in my last class which was Intro to Photojournalism. This will be a slightly longer blog than usual, but I think that it touches on some very good points.

The subject of ethics in photography has been a long standing issue; there have been instances of fraud that have been documented back to when Lincoln was President.  In the last decade, with the introduction of Photoshop and other photo editing programs this has become an easier task for people who want to bend the truth and give a totally distorted view on a certain event or situation.

The first documented case of fraud occurred around 1860, with a photograph of President Lincoln. “This nearly iconic portrait (in the form of a lithograph) of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is a composite of Lincoln’s head and the Southern politician John Calhoun’s body.”  (Four & Six). This is just one example.

Then there is another example is of General Ulysses S. Grant, this photo composite was apparently done circa, 1864. “This print (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division) appears to be of General Ulysses S. Grant in front of his troops at City Point, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Some very nice detective work by researchers at the Library of Congress revealed that this print is a composite of three separate prints: (1) the head in this photo is taken from a portrait of Grant; (2) the horse and body are those of Major General Alexander M. McCook; and (3) the background is of Confederate prisoners captured at the battle of Fisher’s Hill, VA.” (Four and six).

But in recent years the news services all over the world have been caught printing and circulating fraudulent photos. Ethics and morals go hand in hand, when a news agency enhances or uses a photo out of context it constitutes fraud. Reuters has come under fire with others like U.S New and World Report for misrepresenting images.

“The recent discovery that the Reuters news agency released a digitally manipulated photograph as an authentic image of the bombing in Beirut has drawn attention to the important topic of bias in the media. But lost in the frenzy over one particular image is an even more devastating fact: that over the last week Reuters has been caught red-handed in an astonishing variety of journalistic frauds in the photo coverage of the war in Lebanon.” (Zombietime.com)  In the images s how by this blog, Reuters used the same woman in different areas, on different dates claiming devastation to her home.  When the truth came out, the images were just recirculated with a new caption, this is fraud and creates mistrust in the people that are printing or circulating the images.  Below are a few of the images of the same woman.

      

Again if you have any comments or questions please feel free to ask.

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

References:

Four and Six, . "Photo Tampering throughout History." www.fourandsix.com. Four and Six.com, n.d. Web. 5 Sep 2013. <http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/>.

Four and Six, . "Photo Tampering throughout History." www.fourandsix.com. Four and Six.com, n.d. Web. 5 Sep 2013. <http://www.fourandsix.com/storage/photo-tampering-history/c1860-Lincoln.jpg>.

Four and Six, . "Photo Tampering throughout History." www.fourandsix.com. Four and Six.com, n.d. Web. 5 Sep 2013. <http://www.fourandsix.com/storage/photo-tampering-history/c1864-Grant.jpg>.

Zombietime.com, . "The Reuters Photo Scandal: A taxonomy of Fraud." Zombietime.com. Zombietime.com, 2006. Web. 5 Sep. 2013. <http://www.zombietime.com/reuters_photo_fraud/>.

The Art of Architecture (and why it is imortant)

Saturday Ambassador

I enjoy architecture for all its myriad details, the complexity of its engineering and the art form that it presents. I also enjoy photographing it; however, architecture presents a special challenge in this regard:

Hayden Ferry Lakeside Building, Tempe, Arizona, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013

It is imperative that the vertical lines of a structure remain straight in order to provide an accurate representation. Also, this is the way we perceive architecture after our brains automatically correct the distortion caused by perspective. Your camera, however, makes no such correction on its own. When you tilt the camera back to look up at a tall structure, a "key-stoning" effect is the result:

Hayden Ferry Lakeside Building, Tempe, Arizona, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013

You can use this to aesthetic advantage with symmetrical compositions which highlight architectural details and exaggerate the height of the structure, though usually a more precise approach is preferred.

               

 

Hayden Ferry Lakeside Building, Tempe, Arizona, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013

There are a number of ways in which this may be accomplished: Traditionally, architectural photographers often shoot large format with a camera which allows movement of the lens in relation to the film or sensor plane. However, tilt/shift lenses for the DSLR are becoming more common. They achieve the same purpose, in a more practical (and affordable) manner. For the rest of us, perspective correction must be achieved with software. Both Lightroom and Photoshop have excellent tools for this:

·         Lightroom: In the Develop Module, scroll down to Lens Correction and select Manual. There are sliders for distortion, vertical, horizontal, rotate and scale.

 

·         Photoshop: Under Filters, select Lens Correction, then the Custom tab. Here, you will find essentially the same options.

The effective use of these tools requires some practice, along with minute and careful adjustments. The end result, however, can be stunning:

Hayden Ferry Lakeside Building, Tempe, Arizona, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013

As an industrial photographer, the ability to shoot architecture is important to me. However, regardless of your genre, it can be a handy skill. For example, portrait and fashion photographers often pose their subjects in an architectural environment, and commercial shooters regularly photograph within interior architectural spaces. Regardless of your intended path as a photographer, honing these techniques can only prove beneficial.

Oh, and don’t forget the details:

Hayden Ferry Lakeside Building, Tempe, Arizona, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013

~Saturday Ambassador

 

Thoughts on Creating a Series and Presentation.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday... I have had a busy week with my current class and life in general. This Sunday I just wanted to touch base on a subject that I am currently dealing with, the subject is a photographic series. Im sure that many of you have seen these before. I know I have some are very interesting and others.. well, others not so much. Now the questions is why were they not so successful, I don't really have an answer, but the one thing that has been weighing on my mind is how the series is presented to the viewing audience. Does that series have that "WOW or SHOCK VALUE" factor. If they do then I would assume that they would be rather successful vs. the series that doesn't give the viewing audience something to think about or draw them in.

I have been working on my own series. Its the Post-Apocalyptic Gas Mask Series. Over the past few weeks I have photographed for this series, it part of my final project for class,but they will all fall into place when the project is done. The one thing I have noticed is that all the subjects I have photographed have one thing in common... The Gas Mask, they all have some "Shock Value", but Its missing something.. This weekend I figured out what it is, so I am on a quest to fulfill the missing aspect of my series. Until I get that done, I still have the task of figuring out how to present it. I thought of it as if it were a book. You have the title then all the chapters. I am in the process of working out the details, but if any reader has any suggestions or comments please feel free to comment,leave suggestions or opinions.. I love opinions. Again its been a busy week, sorry for a short blog today. Below are a few of the photographs from my current series.

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

Again if you have any comments or questions please feel free to ask.

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Creative Self-Portraits

Happy Sunday Everyone! We all made it through another long and busy week. I think I mentioned somewhere that my current class is Photographic Design. Honestly when I started the class, I wasn't sure what to expect. The information on it really didn't go into great detail. We just hit the end of week 2 and class is just cruising by, I wanted to talk a little about one of the assignments this past week: Creative Self-Portraits. This assignment took a lot of thought and serious reflection on my part. I mean you have to think about who you are and what makes you, you.. Keeping in mind that you, cant necessarily be in the photo itself. That means no putting it on the tripod and taking a full face shot. You can have body parts in the photograph, but not your face.. Sounds difficult.. Slightly, but if you really think about it, the ideas will come streaming out.. Don't forget to jot them down so you don't forget..

I did some research and found some really amazing photos taken by some very talented photographers. That just added to the motion in my head. So I pose this question to all of you out there hopefully reading this blog.. What do you think makes a great or outstanding creative self-portrait and how far would you go to take one that will really make an outstanding impression.

Below are a few that I took this past week. Please feel free to leave feedback... We all LOVE feedback.

 Photos by Wayne Salat

                                                                    Photos by Wayne Salat

 Photos by Wayne Salat

                                                                                           Photos by Wayne Salat

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Photograpic Design

Good Morning and Happy Sunday... Today I wanted to touch on a few things that I have been going over in PH135 Photographic Design. The Principals of Design where we use Lines, Balance, Shapes, using Positive and negative space and camera angle to create an awesome photograph.  Over the past week, I have been searching for places and things to photograph that fit the assignment that I had to complete.  I went to several different places, I was down by the Delaware River in Philadelphia in a few of the river front parks and I found an old coal pier that is no longer in use and has graffiti all over. That place was amazing. I also went to some really great spots to take photos. On Wednesday I drove 2 hours to Hummelstown, PA, near Hershey PA to the Indian Echo Caverns, where I took some more photos for class as well as going to the  Antique Automobile Club of America where I spent a few hours.. 

The Image below was taken at Penn Treaty Park, located in Philadelphia right on the Delaware River, I chose this landscape and famed it to incorporate the lines of the rocks on the shore to the Ben Franklin Bridge, as well as use the negative space ( the sky) to help the viewer move around the photograph flawlessly. 

Photo taken By Wayne Salat

 This Photo was taken at Pulaski Park, it is also on the Delaware River not to far from Penn Treaty Park, with this photograph, I attempted to use the negative space and draw the viewer in with the angle and lines of the dock as well as using the water as negative space to try and create a balance. 

 Photo Taken By Wayne Salat

 Taken at Indian Echo Caverns this was quite a challenge, as there is little to no light. I attempted to use the lines of this lime stone as well as different angle to make this more appealing.

 Photo by Wayne Salat

 The old Port Richmond Coal Pier, has been defunct for many years, its not an easy place to find, but when you do, its a photographers dream place to shoot. Below I used the lines and framing to help make this photograph appealing to the viewer. 

Photo By Wayne Salat

That's all for today, Please feel free to make comments and ask questions.

 Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Liquified!

Good Thursday morning everyone. I had someone mention my last post in a class the other day. That was so exciting. It really means a lot to us to know you are reading. We cherish your feedback!

Something else that excited me happened this week also. Last Saturday I took fashion photos out at the beach and then got to play with them. I planned to create a water effect from this image, but I was overwhelming surprised by the liquefy effect in Photoshop. I took shells, and water colored tulle for my model to lay on and in. The image with no post-production was quite satisfying, so I assumed I could really go someplace great with it.

I had an image of a lighthouse with its reflection on the water that was slightly rippled, but very calm for Lake Michigan! Because I was working on a Lighthouse project, this image worked into my scheme.  By itself it creates a very interesting image, but a lot of people will wonder what the shadow is along the side.

Placing the water over my model, I lowered the opacity to 66% so that it created a soft watery look over her. Then came the fun. I duplicated my portrait layer first of course to preserve it (don’t forget this step)! Using the Liquify (apparently Adobe doesn’t know how to spell J) tool, found under Filter, I began playing with her hair and the tulle around her. I used varying sized of brush and pressure. The rest, beneath the water layer, was almost like oil on water. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to share.

What have you created lately that you couldn’t wait to share. Tell us about it. We get as excited over other’s work as our own!

Current Project...

Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope you had a great and productive week. Today's blog wont be a long one, I just wanted to talk briefly about personal projects. Many photographers have a personal project that they choose to do for their own reasons, many are unsolicited.

I had mentioned in a previous blog post about the current class that I have Digital Image Illustration. The final assignment is to produce a surreal image for a fake company that is "Green" and what could happen if we abuse our natural resources. While initially it was just a school assignment, it put so many different ideas in my head, which lead to my personal project.

My personal project I think can and will speak for itself, but the reality is... we could end up in this situation if we don't step up and take action. My personal project has me photographing then doing so radical edits to images of people in different settings wearing gas masks.

This is a work in progress below are some of the newer images I have created this past week.

 Photos By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photo By Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Sorry for such a short blog this week, life has been a bit crazy

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Adobe Photoshop - The Professional's Resource

Saturday Ambassador

Creating art is a very personal endeavor, even when it is at the behest of a client and involves their input. The outcome is a representation of the artist's vision, as it applies to that project. As artists, we have myriad tools at our disposal with which to create, particularly in this day and age, and it is both sensible and productive to utilize them.

One of the most powerful resources available to the contemporary photographer is Adobe Photoshop.

Many students, and even some professionals, feel intimidated by the complexity of the program and, thus, avoid it. As students, we have a remarkable advantage in that we may purchase software such as this through Journey Ed at an incredible 85% discount. Also, the Art Institute offers a free short course, which addresses the fundamentals of Photoshop.

Perhaps an even greater advantage is access to the Lynda.com tutorials. The Art Institute maintains a subscription with Lynda.com that allows students full access to this resource.

1.    From any assignment page, click the tutorial link:

 

2.    Select a tutorial from the Lynda.com section. Any link will do, as you may search for a specific program or topic on the site.

3.    Create a user name and password so that you may access all the features of the site.

4.    Search for a topic or program and experience the wealth of information contained within this site.

Learning the basics will place you on the road to success with Photoshop, and practice will allow you to refine your skills. This remarkable tool will facilitate transforming the mundane into the extraordinary with minimal effort.

Transport Power, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, Digital Composite

 

 

~Saturday Ambassador

Sources:

"Adobe Photoshop CS6 Logo". Photoshop Travel.com. 2013. Web. August 2, 2013. <http://www.photoshoptravel.com/ how-to-change-background-in-my-template/>

"Software Purchase". Journey Ed.com. 2013. Web. August 2, 2013. <http://www.journeyed.com/dept/Software/284008>