http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/photography O'Reilly Digital Media Blog en Copyright 2008 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:45:15 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification kangaroo holding Katie Rose, and I thought their hands together made such a great contrast of sizes that I snapped away. Katie has come such a long way, and grown so much, but comparing mother-and-daughter hands reminds me she is still pretty small. Yesterday she gained two ounces and she is gaining quickly on four pounds. We're starting to hear talk around the NICU that is promising: maybe Katie will be ready to move out of her isolette and into a basinette soon. Maybe the hospital will schedule a medical meeting in a couple of weeks to start thinking about discharge plans...it all seems like a dream. Speaking of dreams, here's a digital photographer's surreal and dissonant moment: The other night I couldn't sleep. So I made a cup of chamomille tea and turned on the network and computers. At 4AM I was working on the photo of Katie and Phyllis holding hands. There were no major exposure issues. But I did find that Phyllis's hands needed some work, and I knew she would never forgive me if I posted the photo without giving her a digital manicure. So there I was, sipping tea, smoothing cuticles, fixing dry skin, and rounding nails. Katie's hand doesn't need this kind of treatment, yet. ]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/hands.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/hands.html Photography hands retouching Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:45:15 -0800 The Golden Gate as you've never seen it before...Now available, 100 Views of the Golden Gate by Harold Davis from Wilderness Press. These are digital photos, taking full advantage of the extraordinary light and exposure conditions of the Golden Gate. Here's the copy from the publisher's to-the-book-trade postcard advertising my new book, 100 Views of the Golden Gate. With a bow to the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) whose woodblock series 100 Views of Mt. Fuji celebrates Japan's iconic mountain, Bay Area native Harold Davis has created a collection of over 100 striking digital photographs of the Golden Gate---the strait that connects the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean and the Bridge itself---as well as back stories for each photo. Author of several photography books, Harold Davis is a frequent speaker on digital techniques at Bay Area venues, ranging from Book Passage to MacWorld. 100 Views of the Golden Gate by Harold Davis: $30 * 1st edition * hardcover * full-color * 176 pages * 9 1/2 X 10 * ISBN 978-0-89997-447-7]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/100-views-of-the-golden-gate.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/100-views-of-the-golden-gate.html Photography 100 Views Golden Gate San Francisco Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:30:27 -0800 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. Here's another video I have posted on YouTube. It has nothing to do with photography. But it's fun! If you like videos with photos and music, check out Animoto. The process is fast and easy - and totally cool. Speaking of presentations, if you are serious about great color, check out Eye-One Match. It's a great accessory that help you calibrate your computer and projector the room light - which can change from presentation to presentation. Take good care, RS ]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/keynote-garage-band-snapz-pro.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/keynote-garage-band-snapz-pro.html Photography Digital Photography Namibia Presentations Travel Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:27:41 -0800 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. For action shots like this, I set my Canon EOS 1D on the AI Servo mode, which tracks the subject right up until the moment of exposure. I also set the frame advance at its highest rate. To "freeze" the action, I use a shutter speed of at least 1/500th of a second. This festival only happens in June. If you want a real-life photo adventure, check out Mongolia - and check out "Mongol." Best, Rick]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/must-see-mongol.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/07/must-see-mongol.html Photography Digital Photography Mongol Mongolia Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:12:07 -0800 Hey All - Here are a few pictures of some kitty cats that I've photographed around the world. They have several things in common: they were originally RAW files (which have a wider exposure latitude than JPEG files), all were cropped (because I like to fill the frame with the subject) the kitty cats were all photographed with my Canon 100-400mm IS lens at f/8 (the sharpest f/stop on that lens), I focused on the eyes (as I always do), and I took all the photos close to eye level (because I like to see eye-to-eye). One photo is different. I know it's kinda obvious, but someone asked me why? As soon as I post this note, I'm going to try to find out the answer. Any guesses out there? If so, post away! Thanks, Rick P.S. No, these photos are not in my new book, Face to Face - but maybe I can talk my publisher into a Face to Face book on animals :-)]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/which-kitty-is-different.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/which-kitty-is-different.html Photography big cats Photography Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:04:33 -0800 View this image larger. I made four exposures while we sat and chatted. Everything looked dark, so I was surprised to see oodles of color in the LCD screen after each exposure. No matter how many times this happens, it always surprises me. In an apparently dark and monochrome world, there are transcendentally beautiful colors. Vincent van Gogh put it this way: "It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored than the day." View this image larger. Where do the colors in these images come from? I've two theories: possibly the colors in the clouds are ambient light from the city of San Francisco, reflected off clouds and around the bend. Also, some of the colors may be left over from the sunset. I've noticed that these colors do grow less vivid as the night progresses. Our human eyes simply don't have great sensitivity to the light waves that are present after sunset. (Vincent van Gogh may have been an exception.) Digital sensors do, and maybe animals of the night see these colors as well. View this image larger. At a recent workshop I gave, I was asked whether I worked to recreate a scene the way I saw it when I was there. I answered, to a certain amount of gasping, that actually I didn't care what a scene I photographed "really" looked like; my concern was for the way my imagery came out. Of course, the merits of photographic fidelity to a subject depend on the goal of an image. Journalistic photographers and documentary photographers are correctly held to a standard of recreating the actual look of their subjects. On the other hand, advertising photographers have the intentional goal of misleading by exaggerating the visual benefits of the products they shoot. I believe, as a photographer with the stated goal of creating art, that what "was there" when I took the original photo is essentially irrelevant. One reason I use the term "image" to describe the pictures I make, rather than "photo" or "photograph", is to say that my work cannot necessarily be regarded as a literal depiction. It takes work to tease these colors out of my RAW files. True, I couldn't tease them at all if something wasn't there in the first place. But still, in someone else's hands these images would be processed very differently. For me, I care far more about the final visual result than the classification of the technology used to create the image. I'd be happy to use digital photography and post-processing to make night landscapes in the tradition of van Gogh's magnificent Starry Night. What you see is not always what you get. View this image larger. [All images Nikon D300, ISO 100, tripod mounted. From top to bottom: (1) 12-24mm Zoom lens at 12mm (18mm in 35mm terms), 180 seconds at f/5.6; (2) 12-24mm Zoom lens at 12mm (18mm in 35mm terms), 180 seconds at f/5.6; (3) 10.5mm digital fisheye, 180 seconds at f/5.6; (4) 10.5mm digital fisheye, 903 seconds (about 15 minutes) at f/11.]]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/surf-and-stars.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/surf-and-stars.html Photography night night photography sensor time exposure Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:56:19 -0800 Zion Canyon at night, exploring the Wave, and getting lost in the desert, Phyllis fielded a business call from Ringing Cedars Press. Ringing Cedars is the English language publisher of a series of books by Vladimir Megré. The Ringing Cedars series conveys the wisdom, strength, and experience of Anastasia, a woman found naked upon the Siberian taiga. Anastasia provides insights on a wide range of topics ranging from health and utopian lifestyles to the measures needed to save our earth. Apparently, there's a mysterious energy encoded in Anastasia's words, and the more you read the books "the better you'll feel." In any case, the Ringing Cedar series is a massive bestseller in Russian. While an English edition was in print at the time the Ringing Cedars publisher contacted us, the publisher was interested in creating a completely new and elegant design for the United States market. To this end, the publisher had hired noted book designer (and artist) Bill Greaves and conducted a massive artist search. The goal was to find an artist with a body of work that could used as cover art. The cover art had to convey inspiration, and that it was both natural and imbued with a strong, creative life force. In addition, the art needed to be unique, distinctive, instantly recognizable, and cohesive. With these requirements in mind, the Ringing Cedars publisher was interested in my Digital Photogram series, which they had found on the Web. You can read more about some of the techniques I used to create this style of image in Xrays, Photograms, and Cross Processing, Oh My! Here's a product shot of the nine Ringing Cedars covers in a group. The deal that I eventually negotiated with Ringing Cedars for the cover art was interesting because it was one part licensing, and one part assignment. Six of the images that wound up being used on the series cover were licensed, with minor modifications in some cases. On the other hand, I created three new cover images to fit the specific needs of the series titles. I always enjoy this kind of creative image creation, which usually leads me into some neat places in the process of fulfilling the needs of my client. In the same way that the business arrangements were both fish and fowl (licensing and assignment), in a very real sense all the Ringing Cedars cover images involve both photography and digital painting. Each cover image is different in terms of where it falls on this spectrum. For example, the sunflower used for the cover of the first volume ("Anastasia") is pretty much a digital photo, whereas the butterfly used on the cover of the fourth volume ("Co-creation") is mostly digital painting from an original photo. That said, I think the team consisting of the publisher, the designer Bill Greaves, and Phyllis and myself, did a wonderful job of coming up with a cohesive look across a wide range of subjects. Here are a few of the nine Ringing Cedars covers (along with some links to stories about how the images were created). These three covers show the range of imagery from photography to digital painting. You can see the full set of nine covers in the story on my blog. I blogged the image used on this cover here. We ultimately cut the flower off its stem to make it "float" on the black background. At the request of the client, I also worked in Photoshop to enhance the red glow in the center of the flower. I blogged the image used on this cover here. More dragonfly images in this series. I blogged the image used on this cover here. You can see the full set of nine covers in the story on my blog.]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/ringing-cedars-covers.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/ringing-cedars-covers.html Design Photography book covers cross-processing photogram xray Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:03:20 -0800 Lithographers Club of Chicago is a printing industry trade group. They selected an image of mine to use for the cover of their May/June 2008 magazine issue (the cover is shown below). Printing was contributed by Komori (they are a large manufacturer of printing presses) and demonstrates the Hexachrome process-color system. I'll explain Hexachrome color later in this story. View this cover larger. Here's my photo Wind, taken as a full horizontal, but cropped for this usage to fit the vertical cover format. You can read the story of how I came to make this image originally. View this photograph larger. Hexachrome color is a six-color process devised by Pantone in the 1990s. As you likely know, most process color printing is done with four process-color inks. The four process colors are Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black (or CMYK for short). The two colors that Hexachrome adds to CMYK are Orange and Green, so the six colors in Hexachrome process color are CMYKOG. What's the point of this? From the viewpoint of the digital photographer, the range of colors, called the gamut that CMYK can reproduce is limited. If you've ever had your photos reproduced via offset, you'll know that some of them come out OK, but others lose a substantial part of their color range. CMYKOG (Hexachrome) has a much greater gamut than CMYK (see diagram below). In fact, the Hexachrome gamut falls somewhere between the sRGB and Adobe RBG 1998 gamuts, making photos reproduced via Hexachrome look very comparable to what you see on your RGB monitor (and your camera LCD). If you've ever flipped the color profile of an image in Photoshop from RGB to CMYK, and watched a huge color shift occur, you'll know that this is potentially a big plus for digital photographers. Commercial printers may not care so much about fidelity to an on-monitor RGB version of a photo. But they do have concerns about efficiency. For these printers, an important benefit of the Hexachrome process color system is that most of the solid colors included in the Pantone Matching System can be simulated using Hexachrome color. Simulating PMS colors means you don't have to stop printing presses to prepare special plates for spot colors that have been specified using the PMS system (a common occurence in applications such as packaging). This translates to a potential boost in efficiency and cost savings. So how does my photo do in CMYKOG? This is an image that has been reproduced a number of times in books. Each time, I've had to work on the CMYK files. But this time the reproduction shows the full range of colors in my photo and looks pretty much just like it does on my calibrated monitor---straight from the RGB file, with no special prep work on my part. In other words, I like it.]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/hexachrome-color.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/hexachrome-color.html Photography cmyk hexachrome pantone pod process color Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:33:33 -0800 wonderful self-effacing story about both he and his shooting buddy setting up for a golden hour shoot of the New York skyline, only to realize neither of them had free memory. These kinds of stories are great for reminding ourselves that we're human. For more co-misery, check out Derrick's podcasts on "Learning Things the Hardway." Any wonder why people love these stories?]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/leaving-the-house-without-a-me.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/leaving-the-house-without-a-me.html Photography memory cards photographers Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:16:35 -0800 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 :-) Hope to see you on my monitor! Take good care, rick ]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/join-the-fun-join-my-live-web.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/join-the-fun-join-my-live-web.html Photography digital photography Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:30:32 -0800 Hydrangea Sheila blooms in the shade of my garden. I snipped this crown of flowers, and brought it inside to play with. The image combines two captures, both exposed for transparency, and a flatbed scan. View this image larger. [Composite image derived from Epson flatbed scanner and two Nikon D300 captures, one at 3 seconds and one at 1 second. Both captures: 105mm f2.8 macro lens (157.5mm in 35mm terms), f/36 and ISO 100, tripod mounted.]]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/hydrangea.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/hydrangea.html Photography composite photogram scanner Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:13:04 -0800 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 well-known teacher, author, photographer and Photoshop expert Katrin Eismann, co-author of The Creative Digital Darkroom. If you haven’t heard, Greg’s workshops aren't your typical workshops. He takes each one and personalizes it with his unique teaching techniques in an inspirational location. Each time I visit during the workshops, I'm amazed how Greg takes the art and science of photography into an environment that fuels the creative process. First, Greg opens up his personal, oceanfront home and studio in picturesque Mendocino, CA to the students. What an intimate experience to learn from a master in a location that is certain to supply a photographer with a canvas to be inspired. By the end of the week, the students, staff and Greg have created a small community that lives on after the workshop is done. Second, Chef Ueli, a famed Los Angeles-based chef, crafts exquisite lunches for the students. At the welcome reception and the final dinner, Greg brings elements of his other passions, like wine, to share with this newly formed group. These elements together with Greg's hands-on teaching techniques take the learning experience to a higher level. With the artful direction of one of the best, Greg focuses on digital photography with topics on lighting, color management and printing techniques. There are also two models on hand for portrait photography sessions. This workshop is truly unique in that it brings together photography technique, visual art, camaraderie, breath-taking locations, food, and wine. Around the industry, it’s always fun to hang out during tradeshows and at events, but it’s so much better to sit on the couch, admire the great photography captured during the week, and participate in conversation with two of most respected photographers on topics ranging from f-stops to hardware. At dinner with Greg at one end of the table, Jeff at the other end and several thousand dollars in cameras hanging on the backs of chairs, the conversation was never dull. Chef Ueli prepared a delicious appetizer and before moving on to the main course; Jeff took on the difficult task of taking a panoramic set of photos of this spectacular location before sunset. He had it set up for hours and like most photographers, waited for the perfect light. The science of setting up the shot and the technique for capturing it was discussed and debated as we ate. Luckily, Jeff lucked out with warm weather without any wind to interfere with the shot. I hear Jeff is on his way back to Chicago on his motorcycle, so I'll have to wait until next week to see how it all turned out. I can’t wait for Greg’s August workshop with guest speaker, Katrin Eismann. It is sure to be a unique learning experience in an inspiring location. For more information on attending one of Greg’s workshops, see Greg’s website: www.gormanphotography.com. ]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/dinner-with-greg-gorman-and-je.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/dinner-with-greg-gorman-and-je.html Photography digital photography Greg Gorman Jeff Schewe katrin eismann Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:55:30 -0800 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. In addition to including my favorite photographs in Face to Face, I included a few before/after (and good bad) examples. I figure that seeing how a photograph can be easily be improved with a reflector, diffuser, fill-flash, prop, etc. is an effective way of teaching. The picture in this blog post is an example. After opening the image in Apple's Aperture and cropping it, I used the Dodge & Burn tool (Image > Edit With > Dodge & Burn) to selectively darken, sharpen and saturate parts of the image, which I took in Venice, Italy during Carnival earlier this year. Learn more about Aperture at Inside Aperture. For more about how I use Aperture, check out the article I did for Double Exposure. Speaking of Venice, I included 22 pictures, taken during the workshop I was doing, in my book. If you plan to go to Carnival, make your air and hotel reservations early. Flights and rooms book up fast. Maybe I'll see you there next year! I have a few folks interested in a a workshop. Stay tuned for my workshops on the Where's Rick? page of my Web site. Catch you later! Rick]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/face-to-face-tech-info-locatio.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/face-to-face-tech-info-locatio.html Photography digital photography Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:52:12 -0800 Katie Rose is looking more like a newborn baby. Katie is looking like herself. Katie is going strong and closing in on three pounds fast. View this photo larger. In the NICU, they've turned off the environmental settings in Katie's isolette (they are keeping it warm, but they've turned the humidity off). This means that she is wearing clothes now, and very happy when all swaddled up, as you can see in this photo that Phyllis took of Katie on my chest: View this photo larger. Wrapped up like this, Katie is the sweetest bundle. While I was holding Katie, a nurse who had helped resuscitate Katie on the day she was born, and who hadn't seen her since then, came over to talk with us. She told us how happy she was to see Katie alive and well, and what a miracle it was. All babies are miracles, of course, but Katie seems more of one than most! View this photo larger.]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/holding-katie.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/holding-katie.html Photography katie rose nicu Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:51:51 -0800 Digital Media site and on The Digital Story. When something particularly good or notable catches my eye, I'm posting a tweet about it on Twitter. If you're interested in these "editor's picks," then you can find me as Derrick Story on Twitter.]]> http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/digital-media-gems-on-twitter.html http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/06/digital-media-gems-on-twitter.html Photography digital media photographers twitter Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:20:07 -0800