SLR Camera Simulator
Here is an interesting web application. It is a SLR Camera Simulator that works like a real camera. It has Semi-Automatic modes like Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority as well as full Manual mode lets you adjust the ISO, Speed, f-stop to see what those changes do. There are also environmental settings for distance and light to show how those things can change the composition.
If you are new to Manual mode, pay attention to the light meter
[ 2--1--0--1--2]
just under the image, try getting the pointer near 0, then see what happens when you move it to one end or the other.
Fantastic way to use a Luminance Mask for photos
Looking over various workshops at the Aperture Academy I saw this post about using a Luminance Mask and tried it on an image that seemed a bit flat. This is the result.
BTW the instructions list Mac commands, on a PC it is:
“CTRL + ALT + 2″ to create the Luminance selection
“CTRL + J” to load the selection as a layer
Michael Frye talks about Lightroom 4 tone controls
Head on over to Michael Frye’s site and check out his video on Lightroom 4 : the new tone controls. If you are not reading Michael’s blog on a regular basis you are missing out on some great landscape photography imagery and tips, so add him to your RSS feed and stay tuned.
This explains a few things – Photoshop rotation chaos
Head on over to bjango.com and check out this write up on Photoshop image rotation using the transform tools.
I have seen issues like this in the past but had not found and easy fix, Mark Edwards has. The article discusses how rotation goes wrong and methods to keeping things clean.
Free Craft & Vision ebook available
Head on over to Craft & Vision and check out the free ebook
Craft & Vision
11 ways to improve your photography
It includes articles from several notables including Michael Frye, who I have written about here before. His section includes one of my favorite spots to take pictures of Half Dome and the Learning to Direct the Eye section is fantastic.
Photoshop Curves Explained by PhotoshopCAFE
The folks over at PhotoshopCAFE have made one of the best explanations of Curves I have seen. I though I knew everything about curves and I still learned a thing or two. It’s worth a look. Lightroom and Elements also have Curves adjustments and the principles talked about in the video also apply.
A Hack for when Lightroom can’t find Photoshop
I made the foolish mistake of uninstalling Photoshop 5 after installing Photoshop 5.1. After the uninstall, Lightroom 3.5 could no longer find Photoshop. “Edit in Adobe Photoshop” was grayed out as well as “Merge to Panorama…” and “Merge to HDR Pro…” when multiple photos were selected was also grayed out. Meanwhile there is no setting I could find that would let me change it.
To make matters worse, Bridge was somehow pointing to PS CS4 which it may have been doing for a while now, I have not used it since I started using Lightroom.
I have stuff to get done and after trying to re-install the latest versions of Lightroom and Photoshop with no luck, I decided to do a little Windows 7 64bit hacking (this should also work in Vista). What I did was create a Symlink, (described in more detail here here ).
WARNING: I am presenting a fix that worked for me. You could mess things up here if something goes wrong. Chances are it wont but if it does, you are responsible for your actions. Also, this is longer than my normal stuff so hang in there, go step by step.
This assumes you have already uninstalled older versions of Photoshop and both Photoshop and Lighroom are closed.
- First find all your Photoshops, I had folders for
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4 (64 Bit)
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit)
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 Bit)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1
- Remove any presets, scripts etc that you might want to save from the older versions.
- Copy the folder names down in notepad, (press Windows + R, type “notepad“, press Enter).
Hint: If you click in the address bar, it will change the “friendly” name to the real name that looks like those above.
- Delete the folders from the uninstalled versions. DO NOT DELETE THE CURRENT VERSION(S)
- Open the command line as the administrator by going to: Windows Ball (start) > All Programs > Accessories
- Right click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- You should see a box with a command prompt of C:\Windows\system32>
- Then type the following command at the prompt and press enter
mklink /D “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit)” “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 Bit)”
Hint: You can copy and paste this if your paths are the same
Hint: This line above says MakeLink /Directory FromHere ToHere
When you press enter, it will show a verification:
“symbolic link created for C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit) << ===>> C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 Bit)”
- Do the same for the other folders
mklink /D “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4 (64 Bit)” “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 Bit)”
mklink /D “C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4″ “C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5.1″
Now everything looking for Photoshop.exe will find the one you want to use.
How to – Copy Layer Fx in Photoshop
To copy layer fx in Photoshop.
Go to the Layers panel
Alt + click “Effects” or a sub effect like “Drop Shadow” and drag the effects to the new layer, now both layers have the same effects
How-To: Easy X-rite ColorChecker Passport Profile Generation in Lightroom 3
My earlier post contained a link to a video from X-rite that goes into detail about how to use the X-rite ColorChecker Passport in Lightroom and ACR (Adobe Camera Raw).
This is just the quick steps to generate a profile in Lightroom 3
- In Lightroom, select a picture you took with your camera of the ColorChecker Passport
- Right click on the picture and select Export > ColorChecker Passport
- Give it a name that will mean something to you later,
I use: (camera model) – (conditions) – (Photos WB settings) - Wait… and done.
- Restart Lightroom and it will show up in Develop > Camera Calibration > Profile
A Nice Article on Lens Testing
I follow a blog called Canon Rumors and this week they posted an article from Roger Cicala over at LensRentals.com about lens testing for people who take pictures called How To Test a Lens.
Roger brings an interesting perspective to this conversation because LensRentals.com have so many lenses and test them so frequently. Something most of us don’t have the luxury to do.
Another great article from Roger is This Lens is Soft that delves in tolerances of camera and lens manufacturing and how one lens might be soft on one camera and not on another.