Last Great Photo Adventure

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 book, Face to Face, which was actually published when I was there.

Anyway, PNG is an amazing place for people pictures - for among other reasons, the people are so willing to be photographed (if you pay them a few kinas).

Like many of my photographs, this is a set-up shot. You see, I like to make pictures, rather than simply taking pictures. I discovered this beautiful waterfall (by looking at a brochure at the lodge) and met this Huli Wigman (the security guard at the Ambua lodge). I put both elements together to make the photograph - one of my favorites from the trip (actually a workshop that I was leading).

During the workshop (and in my book), I talked about the importance of "catch light" in the subject's eyes. For this photograph, catch light was created when I asked the man to look up. (You can also add catch light with a reflector or a flash.)

Of course, I shot ONLY RAW files. In situation like this, where I want to maintain detail in the water (highlights) as well as the detail in the man's face (darker area), RAW rules. I also always choose the lowest possible ISO setting to get the cleanest possible shot. That said, I have a version of this picture in which I added some noise in Photoshop, which I also like.

Speaking of RAW files and Photoshop, I used Image Processor (File > Scripts > Image Processor) to covert my RAW files to JPEGs each night for a slide show. If you have never tried Image Processor, check it out. It's not only totally cool, it's super fast!

As far as Photoshop work on this image goes, I demonstrated a very basic Adjustment: Shadow/Highlight. I know! I know! It's super basic. But I have used it on more than a few photos with pretty darn good results. Try it, you'll like it.

Of course, do as many adjustments (such as Recovery and Black Point) as possible in Camera RAW or other image-editing programs (Aperture or Lightroom) first. I only mention Shadow/Highlight in Photoshop because we were all playing around with JPEG images after happy hour.

Well, I gotta go. I still have a bit of jet leg (as my son used to call it) from the 2.5 day trip back from PNG, and I'm kidna tired. I am also having quite strange dreams (which wake me up at night) due to the Mefloquine (malaria med) that I am taking. And, my stomach is bit upset from an antibiotic that I am taking to get rid of this strange rash on the back of my leg. As I said, PNG is an adventure. :-) Great fun being a travel photographer.

Take care,
Rick

P.S. I have a few fav photos posted on the New page of www.ricksammon.com. Also check out the Workshop Photo page. GREAT photos, here too!!