YOUR FIRST HOME PHOTO STUDIO

Photography can be expensive…but it doesn't necessarily have to be.
If your a pro, you more than likely need pro equipment—and it ain't cheap.
BUT
if you are an amateur, or a part-timer (maybe a graphic designer who does a handful of product shots and the odd headshot or two here and there;-) you can set up your studio with some "McGyver" ingenuity and a few bucks.

There are tons of "photo-teacher-celebrities" now on Youtube, Vimeo, and Dailymotion who have some great ideas of how to start. I personally have enjoyed the "stick-n-stones" photo studio guy, Joe Edelman with his T-8 fluorescent (pseudo kinoflo) track panels [and later LED ones btw], and many, many others.

I personally have discovered the joy of reading labels. For example, not any fluorescent tubes can be used! T8 fluorescent tubes (with their higher refresh rate, 85 or better CRI rating, and daylight color-balance  of 5800 -6200K) are best.

The SLANTED LENS offered this one up a while ago, but with several students asking how to get by "on-the-cheap,"  I think it bears re-examining.

10 Powerful Photoshop Techniques every Photographer Should Know

I recently came across this video on a Photography site that I frequent (Petapixel). Its provocatively entitled "10 Powerful Photoshop Techniques every Photographer Should Know."
Many times (as Petapixel contributor DL Cade states) these articles are a bit of a letdown. I found a few of the approaches in this video pretty interesting and not too basic nor too difficult.

Its worth a view on a lazy weekend, and at 36 minutes long it covers several topics.

1. Face Aware Liquify Filters | 0:53
2. Color Lookup Tables | 4:30
3. Transform a Selection | 8:07
4. Frequency Separation | 9:03
5. Calculations for Selecting Hair | 15:06
6. Selective Sharpening w/ High Pass | 20:46
7. Color Range on Live Mask | 24:12
8. Curves | 27:21
9. Combine Adjustment Layers with Blend Modes | 29:50
10. Camera RAW filter on anything (Use Dehaze for interesting contrast) | 32:28

of course, this is a sample for a product that the video's authors (Tutvid) are hawking for a small fee...but I don't mind the free teasers that these places toss to us every so often. Enjoy.

RAW Processing test

I read an article about the differences between the various ways different RAW processors handle files, and decided I wanted to try it with a "backyard shot." The shots lack any compositional or artistic merit, but they have a range of edges and tones that simultaneously allowed me to test a new camera and lens.

I shot the scene in daylight, and then again after sunset (at 3200 iso setting). I also was simultaneously checking the autofocus on this camera and lens combo with the zoom fully wracked out at the 210mm/tele end.

Take a peak at the results and see what you think. It looks to me like Phase1 or DxO gave me the  best results—but you may find another attribute within the photos lacking.
[click image to see the Flickr gallery]

An Open Source Workflow for Photographers?

In the 24 odd years of teaching, invariably at least one student will ask if there is an alternative to buying "industry standard software." There have always been alternatives to the industry leaders, but the fact remains that much of the industry has been structurally locked into the leader (and usually with a pretty sound logic behind it).

Let me say that I strongly advocate an industry standard workflow. The standardized plug-ins make negotiating things like color space matching very easy for beginners. And if you are doing anything that will appear in print, there is a whole other dimension to press profiles that needs to be added to the mix.

There are OPEN SOURCE software solutions. This recent PETAPIXEL article about an entire free, open-source workflow solution intrigued me. And to the student/s about to ask me the question on a Photoshop Alternative, here you go.

It really looks quite impressive and comprehensive— addressing most of the concerns in a full-process workflow.

However for me, I'll stick with the 90 plus percent marketshare leader. But I will certainly check this out (and keep it book-marked for those adventurous enough to jump into a full-on Linux workflow.

GREAT PHOTOSHOP RESOURCE

I regularly come across these, and on occasion repost them. They are curated by others (Michael Zhang for Peta Pixel here…or in some other instances a collective of others) and offer many different tutorials and “how-to” guides. This offers 50 “GO TO” tutorials on some of the most frequently required items.
Enjoy!