john_demott

December 2, 2011

Here's a touched up version using just a couple control points to reduce brightness in Nikon Capture NX2, plus a very small amount of tonal contrast. In Photoshop, you can do the same thing with the Nik Viveza and Color Efex plug-ins.<div>

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October 3, 2011

Look for the book, Digital Art Studio, Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials by Schminke et al. Also check out <a href="http://www.digitalartstudioseminars.com/DigitalArtStudioSeminars/Home.html">http://www.digitalartstudioseminars.com/DigitalArtStudioSeminars/Home.html</a>

August 29, 2011

As you have discovered, the terminology for managing color can be confusing, especially since the terminology has been changing as described in the article you link to.

If you are using an older camera like a D2X, then Capture NX2 will, by default, show choices for "color modes" under the camera settings tab. You have the option in NX2 to switch to the more modern Picture Control settings, even for older cameras, if you like. If you are using a more recent camera like a D90, Capture NX2 will not show "color modes" but will show choices for "Picture Control" settings. The concepts are similar, but the choices and the appearance of the colors are different..for me, the Picture Control choices are far superior to the older color modes in almost all cases.

As you have correctly understood, "color spaces" are something different. The two most popular choices for color spaces are sRGB and Adobe RGB. Color spaces specify the range of possible colors that are available for your photo. sRGB is the smaller color space, meaning that there are some colors that are available in Adobe RGB that are not available in sRGB. For example, you might find that a very saturated red flower displays as uniform red in sRGB but when the same flower is photographed with Adobe RGB, then you can see subtle variations in the color that could not be recorded in sRGB. You might therefore logically think that you should always use Adobe RGB instead of sRGB. However, sRGB is the standard color space for the Internet and many browsers and email readers will not correctly display colors from Adobe RGB files. Many photographers do all their work in Adobe RGB and then convert files that will be displayed on the web to sRGB. As you investigate, you will learn that there are many heated discussions about choice of color space and how it relates to the capabilities of various display devices and printers.

Color modes or picture control modes are proprietary "recipes" that Nikon uses to give a pleasing overall look to the colors in a file. The mode for portraits emphasizes warmer tones and softer contrast than the landscape mode which tends toward saturated colors and strong contrast. If you process your file using landscape mode, for example, and save an sRGB version, it should display properly on anyone else's browser even if they don't have Nikon software--the color choices embodied in the color mode will simply be the colors in the file. If you save a file using the Adobe RGB color space (or another non-sRGB space) then a viewer must have software that is able to correctly interpret that color space in order to display your photo properly.

August 3, 2011

Like David, I've never heard of individual guides for Death Valley photo shoots. There are so many guidebooks and online resources that give detailed information about things to photograph, how to get there, etc., you should have no problem establishing your own itinerary. For example, there is the Photograph America newsletter series. You can rent Jeeps in Death Valley now if you're concerned about getting to some of the out of the way places.

If you are determined to have a guide, you might call the Furnace Creek Resort and ask if they know anyone. Or you could call some of the photographers who offer workshops in Death Valley--perhaps they have used an assistant who would like a little extra work. Or maybe a young photo.netter who knows his way around would welcome the chance to do some shooting if you were paying expenses.

@David--there must be some obsidian mixed in the dirt along the road to Eureka Dunes. I had a tire totally shredded in the same location. I even had a tire repair kit with me but it was beyond repair. And of course it happened just before dark. It's a long way to the nearest tire store.

July 29, 2011

When you check the Activity Monitor, look at System Memory--specifically the amount of Free Memory (RAM). When free memory gets very low, then the computer gets very slow. Two photo related applications that I have found can eat up free memory and slow my iMac are Adobe Bridge and Nik filters for Photoshop. If you have Bridge set to allow a very large cache file, it can suck up a lot of RAM. The Nik filters (which I otherwise love) seem to handle memory very poorly and if I use them intensively, I soon see the pinwheel. This appears to be a problem specific to Nik operating under Photoshop, since I don't have a problem with Nik filters in Nikon Capture NX2.

July 28, 2011

Well, you're right that there is at least an apparent contradiction in performing two procedures that have somewhat opposing effects. But...there is always a "but"...there are two things to keep in mind. First, almost any image will benefit from some appropriate sharpening as the final step in post processing. That is simply because the viewer's eye will appreciate the additional local contrast along the edges. Second, if there is visible noise in the image, sharpening will accentuate it. So, if you have excessive noise, you really need to remove the noise before you sharpen. Ultimately, it is a balancing act--don't go too heavy on the noise reduction and don't over-sharpen either. Sometimes, you have to spend some time to apply the noise reduction only in certain areas like the sky and deep shadow and then apply the sharpening mainly in the areas of important detail. In general, you can go heavy on removing color noise without destroying detail.

Bottom line...a noisy image will never be as good as one without noise. Up to a point, you can rescue a noisy image but it will always be a compromise.

July 26, 2011

A great resource, particularly for beginning and intermediate photographers, is <a href="http://www.tmelive.com/">The Mindful Eye</a>. You need to view a number of the online videos, such as Daily Critique photos of landscapes.

July 6, 2011

I probably should supplement my earlier response. One place where a lens longer than 85mm will definitely be useful is the Great Gallery. The petroglyphs are high up on the wall and the best viewing is well back from the wall. When I was there, someone had thoughtfully left a nice pair of binoculars chained in a metal ammo box for viewing. Bringing your own binoculars would be prudent in case there aren't any available at the site. (I still think the 80-400mm is a big lens to carry for the few times you'll need it...and I personally would not see a need for the range beyond about 200mm unless you hope to find some wildlife.)

July 5, 2011

I agree with all the foregoing comments about the importance of adequate hydration and basic hiking safety. A few points on your specific photography related questions:

The 80-400mm seems like overkill. It is quite heavy and I don't think you're likely to use the long end of that range very much unless your goals depend heavily on a long lens.. Maybe you could consider a lightweight kit lens to have along in case you need something longer than 85mm.

I have purchased and abandoned several camera backpacks and now use a regular hiking backpack, a Kelty Redwing, which is much lighter and has lots of room. Camera equipment rides in waterproof stuff sacks. It is easy to carry a tripod on the side of the pack. I have the larger size but my wife uses the smaller model and finds it fits her frame very comfortably.

The weight saving of a carbon fiber tripod is definitely worthwhile. If you don't want to pay for Gitzo, take a look at Hakuba which I have used for years without any problems.

Definitely take at least a polarizing filter and a ND grad filter (2 stop soft edge). Make sure you have a hood for all your lenses. I carry a microfiber towel to wipe off the camera equipment.

A high clearance 4WD vehicle is a big plus in getting to some of the interesting locations in Canyonlands.

Horseshoe Canyon (Great Gallery) can be a VERY hot hike, especially because the climb out of the canyon comes at the end of the hike when you are already tired and thirsty and afternoon temps are high. Very worthwhile but try to do it early in the day on a cool day.

Have fun!

June 13, 2011

I have found the purpose-built bags and inserts from LowePro and others to be too bulky for use in a typical hiking backpack. No doubt they provide a high level of protection, but if you, like me, keep your backpack on your back while hiking rather than flinging it over cliffs, then a small amount of padding is sufficient protection. What is really needed is protection against moisture and dust. I bought several waterproof/water resistant stuff sacks in varying sizes at the local outdoor store. Camera and accessories are packed in the stuff sacks and go somewhere near the top of the backpack. You simply need to exercise some common sense about not packing the camera gear next to things that could damage it, but that is easy since I don't carry many heavy, hard objects.

I also bought a microfiber towel (useful for wiping and cleaning camera gear) which can be wrapped around the camera inside its stuff sack. If I'm packing the backpack for a situation where I anticipate it might get tossed around, then the stuff sacks with camera gear can be wrapped in a sweater or other item of clothing for more protection.

April 9, 2011

If I were going to suggest only one spot to set up for a sunset shoot, I'd pick the area around the Mesquite Sand Dunes. Not only do you have a chance for an iconic shot of the dunes themselves but there are lots of vistas in various directions to give you a chance to capture the changing light on the surrounding mountains (and hopefully some clouds), and also set up some nice shots of desert vegetation. You can find a nice location where you can move around a bit and watch how the light develops. There are always lots of photographers approaching the dunes from the south, but there are great locations in other directions also, if a little more difficult to get to.

If it were me, I wouldn't want to waste half or more of the best light of the evening trying to drive from Badwater to Artist's Drive to Zabriskie, especially if I wasn't familiar with where to set up at each location. But as David says, it really depends on what you want...you're only going to get the briefest of introductions to the area in a short visit.

April 8, 2011

A day is a very short time to visit Death Valley. Like many landscape locations, some of the best photography in Death Valley is around sunrise and sunset. Locations that are best at those times include the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells, the view from Zabriskie Point and the salt flats at Badwater. During the hours between sunrise and sunset, you might consider exploring some of the side canyons such as the drive through Titus Canyon or hiking Darwin Canyon or visiting some of the old mining towns and sites like Rhyolite. There is much, much more to see, but the area is so vast that you can spend days just driving to and from various destinations.

March 31, 2011

Lightroom is better for organizing and retrieving files. Capture NX2 has more editing features (but not as many as Photoshop) and, for me, it is easier to get the results I want with NX2. If you use NX2 you can also use View NX2 as a file browser, but it is still not as full featured as Lightroom as an organizational tool.

The choice depends mainly on what you do and how you like to work. Since you use Photoshop, you must use Adobe Camera Raw--if you like ACR and find you can do all your editing in ACR then Lightroom will probably be a good choice. If you want more editing control, particularly if you want to do local edits, NX2 should give you great results easily. If you generate thousands of images on a regular basis and need to sort, catalog, organize, etc., then LR is the way to go.

March 22, 2011

I'll just chime in that in photo shop sharpening is one of the few things you can't do as a layer

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While you can't do sharpening as an Adjustment Layer, you can do sharpening (and many other things) on a separate layer, and through the use of Smart Filters you an re-edit the layer as well.

First create a new top layer that has the same content as all the layers beneath it--Cmd-Opt-Shft-E or Crtl-Alt-Shft-E. If you want to use Smart Filters, select Layer > Convert for Smart Filter. Then apply sharpening to taste to the new layer. You can apply layer effects like fading opacity and you can add a layer mask to apply sharpening selectively. If you used a smart filter you can go back and change the settings. And of course you can delete the layer if you simply want to undo the process. Like many things in Photoshop there are probably a number of ways to do this.

The PhotoKit Sharpener plugin I mentioned above does its sharpening on a layer so you can delete it or mask it or whatever.

March 22, 2011

Like most things in photography, there is lots to learn about sharpening...so I'll start with just a few basics. Most sharpening should be the last step in your processing, after you have made all the other adjustments and are ready to print or post a copy to the web. Unless you are planning to use a jpeg file straight out of the camera, turn off the in-camera sharpening. You can do a small amount of pre-sharpening when the raw file is first opened in Adobe Camera Raw... a good starting point is the default setting in ACR. The image will not look especially sharp at that point...that is pre-sharpening only.

After you have made all your adjustments and have the file at its final resolution, you are ready for output sharpening. The correct amount of output sharpening depends on the type of image and how you plan to use it...i.e., print or online. A lot of people including pros use a Photoshop plug-in called PhotoKit Sharpener which makes the whole process very easy. I think they have a free trial download, and just reading the user manual would be a very worthwhile lesson in sharpening. If you decide not to spend the money on PhotoKit Sharpener, you can access some of its functionality in Adobe Camera Raw by using the output settings at the bottom of the screen.

Smart Sharpen in PS also does a decent job, but you have to learn how to use it. PhotoKit Sharpener has done all the work for you. After you learn a bit about sharpening, you'll see that it is often necessary to sharpen images selectively...for example, sharpen a subject's eyes but not the subject's wrinkles. PKS also has tools to make that sort of selective sharpening easy. Hope this helps.

March 3, 2011

At Chaco Canyon, you might run into a dozen people, it is VERY remote.

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Chaco Canyon is a fascinating place. Your comment made me think of a piece I saw a while back in which the rangers at Chaco listed the questions they were most frequently asked. High on the list was "why did the Indians build so far from the highway?" Also near the top was "how many undiscovered ruins are there?"

March 3, 2011

If I went with the Zion / Bryce Canyon suggestion would I be better served with a four wheel drive vehicle, or will flavor car do?

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For a 3-5 day visit, you almost certainly will be staying on paved roads, suitable for a passenger car. Be aware that Bryce Canyon road is at 8,000-9,000 feet of elevation so winter driving conditions are possible for much of the year. (Bryce is quite beautiful in the snow however.)

March 2, 2011

Now, I am definitely intrigued by Death Valley, have only considered it for camping someday. Would people who have been there say its equally good for hiking and photography, or more so for just hiking? How close to DV are accommodations?

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Death Valley is a wonderful place for photography, at least as good as any of the other locations. It is also a vast area, about 1-1/2 times the size of the state of Delaware, so it doesn't fit your desire for a compact destination. There is a lot to see, but you will be doing a lot of driving also. Because it's so big, it is definitely not crowded, particularly if you get off the beaten path. There are accommodations in the park, at Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek (and a private facility at Panamint Springs), plus several campgrounds. Staying outside the park is not a good option because the driving distances are so great anyway. Stovepipe Wells is very popular with photographers because it is close to the dunes for morning shooting. Don't even think of going in the summer.

March 2, 2011

Robert, I don't question that you and some others may be having problems with SEP 2. But I'm bit puzzled to have seen your very similar postings on a number of photo websites, in each case cross-referencing your own posts as evidence of widespread problems. You must have had a very frustrating experience. Waiting for the bugs to be worked out of new software is always reasonable advice, but for someone who intends to upgrade eventually anyway, there isn't a lot of downside in giving it a try.

My own experience on a Mac--SEP 2 has some nice new features that make it a worthwhile upgrade from the first version. There are several additional controls that let you adjust highlights and shadows separately and there are a wide range of border effects as well as a much wider range of presets. It runs noticeably slower than the first version, but I haven't had problems with crashing. Nik is a small company and you're right that they seem a bit overwhelmed at the moment but they do seem to really want to solve any customer problems. For me the bottom line is that their products give results that are difficult or impossible to duplicate--SEP is a great product for black and white conversions.

March 2, 2011

You don't say when you want to visit. All the national parks are very busy during the peak summer travel months. Zion meets many of your criteria, i.e., it is compact, offers a lot of variety in scenery and activities, and is drop-dead spectacular. It is also extremely crowded in summer. In off-peak months, it is ideal for a 3-4 day visit and would be my first recommendation. Be prepared for some moderately strenuous walking if you want to really see the park (although there are certainly nice sights to be seen along the roadways).

Moab would be my other suggestion, because there are so many different things to see within manageable driving distance--Arches NP, Canyonlands NP (a vast area with many different options), Dead Horse Point, Horseshoe Canyon (part of Canyonlands), Colorado River Gorge, etc. Arches is also very compact and therefore can be crowded in peak times. Canyonlands is vast and less crowded. Most visitors to national parks seem to be intent on seeing as many parks as possible and they spend just a few hours at each park, resulting in huge crowds on the roadways and at the most accessible viewpoints. If you get out and walk, you can usually leave the crowds behind, but you need to be prepared for hiking with adequate clothing and sufficient water. Access to most of Arches and to the major viewpoints in Canyonlands is on paved roads, but some of the more interesting areas require 4WD or at least a vehicle with good ground clearance and all terrain tires (Jeep rentals are available in Moab).

Monument Valley is a great area to photograph, but personally I wouldn't spend more than a day there in a single trip. If you decide to do Monument Valley, you might want to combine it with either Canyon de Chelly or Mesa Verde.

Two notes of caution: First, the Congress seems to be heading toward a game of budgetary chicken, with a partial government shutdown at least possible...if that happens national parks would likely be closed. Second, don't be deceived by the apparent closeness of things on a map--distances in the Southwest are vast. You are wise to limit your visit to a compact area and enjoy the time you have available in a defined area rather than spending your entire holiday in a car.

March 1, 2011

The SEP 2 borders feature is a very fine addition---there is a nice selection of effects. If you want to use one of the SEP 2 borders on a framed print, you have three choices. First you could cover the border with the mat, which seems like a complete waste. Second, you could frame without a mat (generally not a great idea since the print ends up touching the glass). Third, you could "float" the print so that the mat does not overlap any portion of the print, i.e., the entire print including borders is revealed so the print "floats" in the space bounded by the mat . Personally, I probably would just use the SEP 2 border for online display and use a traditional matting method for prints without borders. But I have seen some very classy looking gallery displays using the floating method for prints with "dirty" borders.

February 6, 2011

As David says, choice of gear is very personal, but if it were me I would at least take the 10-22mm, 50mm, and the long lens that you most use, plus a tripod. A graduated neutral density filter can be very useful--2-stop soft edge is a good choice.

It is difficult to predict temperatures at that time of year, but you should be prepared for cold weather at Bryce and Grand Canyon. Other locations like Moab and Zion might be warm or not. If you are at Moab, don't forget about Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse Point State Park.

The Southwest can be dusty--don't forget to take a basic cleaning kit. Even if you do a good job of keeping your gear protected, you can easily find yourself in blowing sand, etc. and you'll want a blower and brush to clean things up in the evening.

January 20, 2011

You might try using the Nik Tonal Contrast filter (part of Nik Color Efex), which controls local contrast for highlights, midtones and shadows separately. It works as a PS plug-in. There is a free trial download on the Nik website.

January 18, 2011

You get around the main canyon in Zion by shuttle bus (except during the winter). It is just a few minutes' ride on the bus from the lodge to the bridge where the classic shots of the Watchman are taken. Expect to find other photographers there. There is also a trail from the visitor center that takes you closer to the Watchman for some nice views. A less frequently photographed view of the Watchman is from the Sand Bench area, which is a couple hours' walk from the lodge on a trail that is used for horse rides in the summer, looking down on the bridge and river where the popular shots are taken.

Morning view from The Watchman Trail:

January 15, 2011

In the limited time that you will have in each park, you will probably be able to make the most of your visit by exploring the established viewpoints and walking trails, particularly for your first visit. The established trails are quite extensive and would certainly take you more than two or three days to see them all at each park. Those are well detailed in the brochures and online information from the National Park Service, which generally show clear maps of the trails, with information on distances, degree of difficulty and what sights are to be seen:

<a href="http://www.nps.gov/zion/parknews/newspaper.htm">http://www.nps.gov/zion/parknews/newspaper.htm</a>

<a href="http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/hiking.htm">http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/hiking.htm</a>

<a href="http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/brochures.htm">http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/brochures.htm</a>

For more detailed maps, you can do a search on Amazon for Maps and the name of the park. The Trails Illustrated maps from National Geographic are usually quite good.

For information specific to photographic locations, you might want to order a copy of Photographing the Southwest, Vol 1. Southern Utah by Laurent Martres, available from Amazon.

The hike to the Subway is a backcountry trail that will take most of a day. Information on that hike can be found with a Google search.

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Posts posted by john_demott