Entries tagged with “digital photography” from O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

The intelligent, engaged crowd at fabulous old-school bookstore Book Passage in Corte Madera (Marin County) got a preview Sunday of an upcoming Macworld event. Derrick Story moderated a panel of our digital imaging experts, Lisa Snider-King (Photoshop CS4 Missing Manual), Mikkel Aaland (Photoshop Lightroom 2 Adventure) and Deke McClelland (Adobe Photoshop One-on-One and Photoshop Channels & Masks One-on-One.) Hot topics...

Good friend of O'Reilly and Adobe Photoshop PM Bryan O'Neil Hughes has written a guest post today on John Nack's blog, featuring all the things that are new and interesting for Photographers in Photoshop CS4

Just back from teaching for my 4th time at the Maine Media Workshops. What blast! My students learned: painting with light, low light photography, shooting with reflectors and diffusers, Photoshop... and the big hit HDR. We used Photomatix Pro to craft our indoor and outdoor pictures - my HDR image of the Pemaquib is attached. More of my HDR images on the HDR page of my site.

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination" is one of my favorite John Lennon quotes. Think about it and you'll realize that it's true. I was thinking about this quote when I was photographing a pond near my house. I was trying to envision how the pond would look if I used Photomatix Pro from HDR Software on a set of seven pictures (each taken at a different exposure setting).

How totally cool! Vincent is the man. I will be adding Canon 5D workshops (shooting and editing) to my 2009 schedule. Hope you can make one!

Dick, a former RIT professor, adds: "I always reminded my students that a caption is part of the photograph, part of the gestalt--just as the choice of mat and frame, and the size of the print and the surface of the paper, etc."

Last week I had the pleasure of giving a short lecture at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC. One of my Photoshop heroes, Katrin Eismann, Chair of the Digital Photography Program, had invited me to share some of my photographs and travel adventures from my books, as well as my philosophy on the all-important business side of photography. To start off my session, as I often do, I asked the students to answer this question: What does your photography mean to you?

The majority of famous painters “illuminated” their subjects from above and to the left. For whatever reason, we seem to like that kind of lighting. Here are three of my pictures that illustrate that lighting technique. Hey, if it works for famous painters and if it works for me, it will work for you! In very low light and at night, your eyes have an ISO of about 800. Mid-range digital SLRs have a high ISO setting of 1600, and high-end SLRs have high ISO settings of 1600, 3200 and even 6400! So in effect, a camera can see better at night that you can - so don’t stop taking pictures when the light gets low and when the sun goes down.

Many years ago, I attended a seminar given by a professional photographer who said something like this: “Every decision I make is a business decision.” I took his comment quite seriously, making many decisions over the past 20 years based on the final and potential financial outcome of the project - be it a book, assignment, speaking engagement, workshop, seminar and so on.

For years, scads of readers have been receiving digital imaging guru Tim Grey's (almost) daily email newsletter Q&A called DDQ: Digital Darkroom Questions. Each email takes on a single user-submitted question to which Tim provides one of his salient, to-the-point, trying-to-un-confuse-you answers. We've collected the best of these and published them in Tim's new book, tearing up the charts at...

Hey All Check out this video that I have on YouTube. I created it on my Mac using Keynote, Garage Band and Snapz Pro X. Basically, I first created a slide show in Keynote. Next I selected some cool music in Garage Band. Then, playing the slide show and the music, I recored the whole thing with Snapz Pro X for a cool presentation.

Hi All I just saw the movie, Mongol. It is one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen. The photography is stunning, breathtaking.It's a must-see for movie-goers - and anyone interested in filmmaking. Check it out and I think you'll get some good ideas for photographing people and events. I was in Mongolia last year taking pictures for my new book, Face to Face. I took this photo at the Chingis Khan Calvary Ride festival. These guys are from the real Mongolian army. Once a year they put on this show.

What are you doing with your portable recorder? Former O'Reilly producer Justin Watt and partner Stephanie Soleil capture whispery ambiences and upload them to the White Noise Lounge. They complement each brief aural trip with an artsy black-and-white photo. The project started as a joke, but like everything Justin touches, it's elegant and thought-provoking.

Hey All I hope some of you can join me for my live Web Cast on June 26 at 1 PM NY time. I'll be sharing my favorite photographs (including this "love bite" photograph that I took in Botswana) and, of course, my favorite tips and techniques. Basically what happens is that through the magic of the internet, attendees can see what I am doing on my monitor. I'll have my Keynote show opened and will scroll around to find pictures that illustrate certain digital photography techniques - as well as some of my photo philosophies. I'll also be sharing some of the pictures in my latest book, Face to Face. All you have to do is sing up. Space is limited. I know all my family members will be rushing to sing up fast..... so don't delay :-)

Last week, I was in Mendocino for a day during world-renowned celebrity photographer, Greg Gorman's workshop. About four times a year, Greg hosts a workshop at his home in Mendocino and each time, he brings in a guest speaker for the class. This time it was well-known digital photographer and Photoshop expert, Jeff Schewe. Up next in August, is another...

Hi All - I tried to pack so many photographs and so many practical tips (as well as my favorite photo philosophies) into my latest book, Face to Face, that we ran out of pages for the tech info for each photo - as well as the location. The good news is that you can get this info easily. Click Here to download a PDF.

Hey All! Just back from Papua New Guinea (PNG) - one of the last great adventures left on the planet. An adventure due, in part, to the clan wars that have been going on for generations. The other parts? I'll share some stories at Photoshop World. Hint: has to do with two machetes!! Here is a favorite shot - which did not, like all my PNG shots, make my new O'Reilly Face to Face book, which was actually published when I was there...

The metadata table in Derrick's book proves it's not about the camera you have, but the one you have with you. (And knowing what to do with the one you have with you.)

Have you ever forgotten to reset the ISO or white balance after a shoot, only to use your camera the next day with the wrong settings? I have. And to help us all remember how to be ready for the next session, I've posted this handy reference card that you should refer to "After Every Shoot".