Mike and I chat about the world of technology as it relates to getting the best images from your camera. As a Lumix Luminary, I get access to new cameras and the opportunity to try out lots of new gear. The beginning of the show we talk about Professional Photographers of America’s (PPA) International Photographic Competition (IPC). I was an entrant and didn’t do too bad. (recent IPC posts on Successful-Photographer here)
Tech Talk – There is International Photographic Competition chat until about 10:45 then we move on to Lumix Cameras and quality along with new tech moving into the world of Micro 4/3rds cameras.
Solid entertainer. Stage presence. Beautiful voice. Guitar licks that take you down with the blues our make you soar with riffs that just kicks a**! Add to that two super-pro backup musicians on bass and drums and the evening is made!
I normally don’t post images of performers from Sounds Bites Grill shows until I have the artwork completed for the ‘Wall of Fame.’ But, add to the fact I so enjoyed Jackie’s performance and she is so photogenic I had to slip a couple in for a ‘sneak peek.’
Jackie Venson – Captured with Lumix GH4 and 35-100mm f2.8 Lumix Vario lens SOOC
Jackie with Alán Uribe on bass/backvox and Rodney Hyder on drums. Captured with the Lumix GX8 and the 12-35mm f2.8 Lumix Vario lens
Jackie breakin’ out of the blues.
If you want some more info on this talented artist check out Jackie’ website. Stand by for the art image coming soon.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Can’t wait ’til Jackie comes back to Sedona! I wanna be in the house for that!
Playing with my Lumix GX8 in panorama mode is a fun time. Being able to have a panoramic image of the scene in front of you stitched in-camera can be a great help. Sometimes these are all I need. Sometimes there can be a bit of a ‘hitch-in-the-giddyup’. Let’s look at the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly and how to make the best use of all of them.
Sedona, Arizona red rocks – All panoramas were captured with Lumix GX8 in panorama mode
Here’s the same view with a different amount of foreground
Sometimes a panorama gives you the field of view you are looking for, but its height is just not quite right. Then it’s time to do another row and stitch them together in post-production.
When making in-camera panoramics proper technique is imperative. I learned an old videographer’s trick that makes for better captures. Point your feet where you would like the panorama to end. Place the camera against your forehead and lock elbows down to the side. Use your stomach muscles to rotate the lens to the start of the pano. Press the shutter and use the stomach muscles to turn to the end of the image. With in-camera images, I recommend going past where you wold like the final part of the picture to finish because the image will cut off a little before it appears to in the viewfinder. There’s a ‘Goldilocks’ speed for the rotation. You don’t want to go too fast or too slow. You want to move ‘just right’ to help the camera give you a good image. If it is radically wrong, the camera will notify you that it can’t process the image because of processing errors.
Poor technique led to lines captured in the image. It’s important to play your panorama back to ensure you’ve achieved a good result. It can sometimes show OK with a quick glance. I will often shoot the scene a couple of times to make sure I’ve got a good clean result.
Panorama in silhouette. I saw this scene developing in the distance and stopped the car the first chance I could. I used MacPhun’s Intensify plugin* for Mac to help bring the scene back to what had attracted me to make the image. By the time I was able to pull over the sky had started to lose its color. The software brought back the sky as it was moments before.
We have incredible tools at our disposal in the photographic world. I enjoy learning how to push them to the next level.
How about you?
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
* Special deal on MacPhun’s Intensify and Uplet (a software for uploading images to Instagram from your computer)
A major league baseball manager, Yogi Berra, was a font of excellent one-liners that more than stated the obvious.
The one I wish to share with you today can easily be applied to the arts. Yes, while it’s obvious, sometimes we need reminders of just that. And Yogi was a pro at that!
“You can observe a lot by watching.” Yogi Berra
The reason I bring this up today is the quote jumped out at me after returning from a guitar concert under the stars last night by Anthony Mazella at The Collective in Sedona. Anthony is a world class musician who creates magical times with his guitar.
As always I carry my camera. Lately, I’ve been trying to follow Yogi’s advice although I didn’t realize it was coming from him. I’ve been trying to be more aware of light. Paying attention to it. And trying to capture more of it in challenging situations.
I used the Lumix GX8 with a 35-100mm f2.8 Vario lens. While Anthony filled my head with his music, I kept myself aware of the changing light as the sun dropped below the horizon. The lights in the area began their illuminating dance through the venue. And I recorded.
Here are a few of those captures.
Shadow, color, composition, shape, and form were the things that caught my eye
A glance up and this silhouette appeared. I watched for a few moments, and the little girl was moving in and out of the frame I waited until she was moving out to capture this. The play of the complementary colors was a bonus.
Of course, the star of the show couldn’t be left out. The blue, purple and magenta lights added some serious color to the warm toned brickwork.
Had I not been aware and keeping my eyes peeled for an opportunity to see I might have missed these little vignettes of light and color. So remember Yogi’s advice, “You can observe a lot by watching.”
I find myself playing with my photography images in Photoshop.
This is where I test out new ideas, explore possibilities, and have a bit of a romp through Adobe Photoshop’s Blending Modes just to see what I might discover.
A Juniper tree was the subject. Depth, dimension, and color were the objectives.
Here are some results.
Here’s one that’s good fun but a bit over the top of in saturation. If you don’t push the boundaries, you don’t know how far to go.
Easing up the saturation through changing blend modes makes this an entirely different image.
Adding the moon changes things once again
Here’re a few tweaks to the moon addition. Gives it a bit more life.
If I were doing this as more than an exercise or decided that I wanted to make this into an art piece for printing, I would have spent much more time on making selections and blending the various textures and layers together. Play doesn’t always have to have a pay-off more than a new feel for the tools with which you are working.
Lessons learned in this session. Be careful with selections from the beginning of the process. Verify before moving too far along in the project. Once a mask is made and reused throughout the process any mistakes will be magnified. Ultimately, having had this session I will save time and frustration in the future.
Initial image was captured with the Lumix G7 with a 20mm f1.7 lens. The moon photograph was created with the Lumix GH2 handheld with a 100-300mm lens extended to 600mm equivalent. I keep lots of reference files of textures and various elements on hand to help in the art process. I think of my texture images as an artist would their paint & set of brushes.
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
