Not ones to rest on their laurels, Unified Color has updated it’s already impressive HDR Photo Studio 2 application and given it a new name: HDR Expose. This app allows you to take raw-processed, bracketed exposures, and apply a range of tone, contrast, detail, composition and color edits in a single elegant UI. If you don’t have Photoshop CS5 or just want a dedicated, stand-along HDR app, this one is definitely worth a look. More intuitive IMO than other apps like PhotoMatix, and very affordable.
Good news; Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is finally “in the house”, finished and ready to roll. Many people have already given Lightroom 3 a look in the public betas but there’s a lot going on in this update. Here are a few of the biggest plusses in my book:
• Incredible Luminance Noise Reduction – it still amazes me, even after testing the product for many months, how easy it is to breathe new life into old photos with this tool. You can clean up so much of the noise while leaving details intact (and which can be enhanced as well with improved capture sharpening) that it really changes the whole NR / sharpening workflow for me. Cuts out extra steps.
• Improved Import – the new import dialog is fantastic. Gets the pictures into my catalog quickly, the way I want them set up. The only missing thing here is a Favorites option for the Drive / Folders list but hopefully that will be available down the road in a future update.
• Lens Correction – like the Photoshop and ACR versions there are still some kinks to be worked out here but the idea that Lightroom can auto-detect which lens was used and if a profile exists, correct for geometric or CA problems on the fly, is great news. Especially for a lot of wide-angle architectural shots.
I will post more information on Lightroom as the week moves on, to tell you about my upcoming book and training video! Thanks for dropping in, as always. -Dan
There’s no denying that the Iceland Volcano which has been erupting and spreading a cloud of airliner-unfriendly ash over Europe, has caused some serious headaches for travelers of all stripes across the continent. However there’s also no denying the inherent beauty and sense of power that comes with volcanic eruptions on Iceland. Because of its unique geography and history, even Hawaii can’t quite match some of the pictures and videos we’ve seen.
Yahoo Editorial has put together a Flikr Gallery of some of their favorite shots.
Here is a collection of incredible lightning-in-cloud shots from National Geographic.
I am posting this for no other reason than a recent twitter post reminded me of it, and some of the photography and video is amazing. This is Mike Parsons surfing some of the largest waves ever recorded, off the Cortes Bank, about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. A huge underwater sea mount causes the swells to rise up and create monster waves. By far the coolest surf video I’ve ever seen.
This video gives an excellent explanation from Parsons and another surf / ocean expert, of how the swells are created and what it’s like to surf there. Seriously extreme environment.
Blizzards, blizzards everywhere! It’s the dead of winter and for many photographers who don’t work in studios, that means a reduced travel schedule and fewer days in the field. Sometimes the gray skies and snow can keep us locked up in our offices, doing other things for weeks. But I think winter is a great time to reinvigorate your sense of purpose and to find new sources of inspiration for what you love to shoot. Take a look at what other photographers and publications are doing, and start planning for the first spring thaw! Maybe take a long weekend somewhere you’ve always wanted to photograph so when the weather turns you’re back in the mindset of capturing the people, places or moments you most want to capture! Or, maybe take a look at your current gallery and think about how you might want to change the vibe or new directions you might want to take for 2010.
Canon has opened up a fun contest for photographers and video enthusiasts. The idea is to show an interesting still image, and then capture with video the story behind it. At least that’s how I’m interpreting it! Vincent LaForet shows us how it’s done, though he likely used some type of production crew, cast and lighting setup for this demo. Many won’t have that luxury but still this is a great chance to show what you can do if you’re into story telling and cinematography. Grab your gear (or borrow some), get your friends and go for it!
DP Review is reporting that Nikon recently released a slew of firmware updates for their high-end DSLRs. The key thing about this particular set up updates is that it’s much more substantial in terms of the number of functions it affects, vs. a typical update.
White Balance and ISO Performance, Auto-focus performance, GPS support, long-exposure support, and several other areas have been tweaked. Definitely worth a download to keep your camera performing at its peak, and something I’ll be doing shortly for my D700….
Do you love your digital camera? If so chances are good you owe a debt of gratitude to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith (of Bell Labs), who pioneered the Charge Coupled Device (or CCD). The CCD (first successfully tested in 1969) allowed the first and many current digital cameras to capture light and convert the information to image data. Today, in honor of their achievements and the huge changes they’ve brought to millions of people who can now capture and share their lives and vision more easily, they have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. Congratulations to you both and thank you!
