How To Retouch Eyes Using Adobe Photoshop CS6

In this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast Terry White shows How to Retouch Eyes using Adobe Photoshop CS6. If you photograph people, then you’re going to want to watch this tutorial on how to make the eyes of your subjects look better.

Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

Shooting Tethered with the Nikon D4 via Ethernet

I’ve done posts here in the past showing various ways to shoot tethered to a computer or to an iPad. When I got my Nikon D4 I popped for the WT-5A Wireless Transmitter too. While it works perfectly, it’s not as fast as a wired connection. Since the D4 has a 10/100 baseT Ethernet Port built-in I decided to give it a shot and shoot tethered via Ethernet.

Understanding the difference…

Most Nikon and Canon DSLRs are supported natively by programs like Adobe Lightroom for USB tethering. That means you just connect the camera via a long USB cable and the software can bring in the images as you shoot automatically. However, when it comes to non-USB connections such as WiFi or Ethernet, this support is usually NOT built-in. Nikon’s Wireless Transmitter Utility will enable you to bring the images into a folder as you shoot, but then in order to get them in Lightroom you have to use the Auto Import feature in Lightroom. Keep in mind that this adds a second or two to each image import vs. native USB support. However, with that said Ethernet is still faster! With USB tethering my 16.2 MB RAW files typically take about 6-8 seconds to come in via USB. When shooting via Ethernet, they actually come in in batches of about 6-7 images within a few seconds. My guess is that there is some overhead from the time files get dumped into folder before Lightroom sees something new and then imports them all at once. Also the Ethernet connection is a lot less fragile than the USB connection I’ve used in the past. 😉

The D4 allows you to switch between a wired or wireless connection via the Network menu. This means that I can disconnect the 100′ Ethernet cable that I bought and go wireless via the WT-5A module without skipping a beat. Wired or wireless, the images are going to the same Watched folder that Lightroom is looking at.

The Bottom Line

If you use the D4 in a studio environment and you shoot tethered, you definitely want to give Ethernet a try. Rather than going through a switch/router, I have the ethernet cable plugged directly into my MacBook Pro for the fastest possible connection. It would have been nice to see a Gigabit Ethernet port considering what the D4 costs, but the 10/100 baseT connection is still pretty fast.

How To Create A Facebook Cover Photo Using Photoshop CS6

In this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast Terry White shows How to Create A Facebook Cover Photo Using Photoshop CS6. Using the New Crop Tool and a couple of tips and tricks.

Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

Review: Rogue Grid for Your Speedlight

Most of you know that I’m not really a fan of on camera flash. If I use a speed light, then chances are it’s on a stand. When I do use a speed light I usually use a modifier of some type. The one that I usually always have with me is the Rogue FlashBenders. Since I like the FlashBenders so much I decided to take the Rogue Grid for a spin. This is not my first attempt with this product. I received a review unit when it first came out and quite honestly I found the strap to attach it to your speed light so cumbersome that I never actually used it. I gave up. I let the folks at Expo Imaging know and they listened. They completely redesigned the Rogue Grid and made it MUCH EASIER to attach. I took it with me to South Africa and decided to take a couple of candid shots with it.

Focusing your light

The point of a spot grid is to focus your light to a more narrow beam. The Rogue Grid does this task with your speed light. I started with my colleague Jason Levine.

First without the speed light at all
Then with my Nikon SB 900 and the Rogue Grid

Although I saw some potential, it wasn’t quite right yet. The I adjusted the power settings on my SB 900 and took another shot of one of the hostesses at our event.

On this shot and subsequent shots, the Rogue Grid really started to shine

The light was good and not to harsh.

The Bottom Line

I still like the FlashBenders best, but I can definitely see some use for the Rogue Grid too.  Next up I’ll give the Rogue Diffusion Panels a shot.

You can get the Rogue Grid here: B&H or Amazon.

 

Skooba Design Outs a New Skooba Tablet Messenger v.3

The more I travel, the more I see people using iPads (and to a much smaller degree Android tablets) in lieu of laptops. This is especially true on planes.

On my recent flights I’m seeing iPads out number laptops by about 5 to 1

In some cases I myself have gone on short trips and used just my iPad instead of my laptop. With more and more useful iPad Apps coming to market each day, I find that I don’t require a laptop nearly as much as I used to for day to day communications and social media activities. The iPad may never replace my need for a “work” laptop, but it certainly goes a long way towards reducing that need for things like email, web, expense reports, blogging, etc. That being the case I can see times where carrying just my iPad in my laptop bag is overkill.

Skooba Design has the answer with their New Skooba Tablet Messenger v.3

This new bag is designed from the ground up to be a tablet bag, not a laptop bag. It has a special pocket inside for a 10″ tablet.

It has plenty of room for the tablet and accessories such as a charger, sync cables, headphones, keyboard, Jambox speaker, etc. I was also pleased to see that it was large enough to also accomodate a 13″ MacBook Air. This makes it a great bag for me because I can really go light with just the iPad or if I think I may need a computer, I can still bring my MacBook Air without totally weighing it down. Since most TSA checkpoints don’t require that you remove your tablet from your bag, you can just send the whole bag through the x-ray machine.

I would say the only disadvantage that this bag has over my Skooba TSA Friendly Backpack is that it’s not large enough to carry my DSLR, but that’s OK because it’s so small that I can still carry a small camera bag and fit both under the seat in front of me.

Can you get by with just an iPad on a trip?

This question comes up all the time and my buddy Calvin Carson had a great suggestion: Before going on your trip, try using just your iPad for a day or two while you’re still at home. Do the same things that you would do on your trip. Then you’ll have a pretty good idea of whether or not you can get by without your laptop.

You can get the Skooba Tablet Messenger v.3 here for about $40 below list price.

Also check out my FAVORITE iPad Keyboard!

Adobe Lightroom 4 is Now Part of Your Creative Cloud Membership

Since the launch of Adobe Creative Cloud, my readers have been asking “When will Lightroom 4 be available to Creative Cloud Members?” The answer to that question is TODAY! That’s right, if you are a current Creative Cloud Member or you sign up from today forward, you can now also get Lightroom 4 in addition to all the other services.

Creative Cloud will go for $49.99/month (with a 1 year commitment), but remember from now though August 2012 (time is running out) you can get your first year for only $29.99 if you’re an existing Creative Suite customer. This membership gets you access to all the Apps of Creative Suite Master Collection, Adobe Muse, Adobe Edge, Business Catalyst web hosting and now Lightroom 4.

Check it out here.

It won’t stop there! Creative Cloud members will continue to get additional benefits all year long.

Nikon Safari – Photographing the Big 5 in Sabi Sabi South Africa

One way to end a ten week international tour is to simply take a 16-18 hour flight home from Johannesburg, South Africa. Another way to end it is to have Nikon South Africa sponsor you on an African Safari at Sabi Sabi before that flight home! I was fortunate enough to have the latter.

I just came back from an Amazing week finishing off the international portion of our Adobe CS6 and Creative Cloud World Tour. The last two international stops were Johannesburg and Cape Town (see my earlier post). After leaving Cape Town we flew to Nelspurit and then drove on to Sabi Sabi (a private game preserve). This was my second safari in South Africa and it was a pleasure to be back.

I put together this photo book using Adobe Lightroom 4.

It was great photographing this magnificent creatures in the wild! It was even better doing so with a Nikon 200-400mm f/4 lens. Didn’t want to get too physically close 🙂

Continue reading “Nikon Safari – Photographing the Big 5 in Sabi Sabi South Africa”

Thank You South Africa!

What an amazing week I just had in South Africa! Johannesburg and Cape Town were the last two international stops of our Adobe CS6 and Creative Cloud World Tour and I must say that South Africa pulled out all the stops.

Flying over Johannesburg!

Kicking the week off with a special Nikon V.I.P. event at the Nikon South Africa Headquarters!

The crowds were great in both Johannesburg and Cape Town!

As you can see, they really got into Adobe CS6 🙂

Both cities offered a FULL DAY event and there was very little drop off by the end of the day.

Jason, Paul and I not only enjoyed our time presenting, but it was great to interact with you all live via social media.

Of course free t-shirts are always fun to toss out at random.

I gave my Nikon D4 a work out here in South Africa and this beast really performs.

It’s always great when fans come up and ask us questions.

I must say that Jason was really getting into it. He’s is crowd activated and the South African crowds got him going. The hair came down and the spontaneous singing began. Good thing he’s a musician too 🙂

Continue reading “Thank You South Africa!”

Who Owns The Shot?

Image compliments of iStockphoto.com

Nothing sparks passion and debate like a good ole’ fashion copyright discussion. I’m sure this question has been asked before and probably answered, but I thought I’d ask it here and see what my readers feel…

If someone picks up your camera and snaps a photo, who owns it?

Yes technically it’s your camera and you physically have possession of the shot, but whose copyright is it? Does it matter if you gave permission to use your camera or not?

Sound off in the comment section…

Monoprice: So much more than low cost cables

 

Over the years I’ve published posts about spending too much money on cables. When you go to retail store to buy your electronics those stores typically lower the cost of the gadgets themselves to remain competitive (otherwise you’d just buy online or down the street). However, they tend to recoup that lost revenue in other areas and services such as cables. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen a sells rep bring out a $100+ Monster HDMI cable explaining to the customer how much they really need a “quality” cable. I agree! You should have a quality cable. The problem is that it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. I’ve got some really low cost HDMI and Ethernet cables over the years that are still in operation to this day without any problems.

Whenever I bring up the topic of low cost cables, someone enviably calls out monoprice.com. Monoprice has become my goto source for low cost/high quality cables of all types. Especially HDMI, USB and Ethernet. The prices are almost too good to be true and the quality of the cables is outstanding!

The point of today’s post is that Monoprice is more than just cables. I wanted to mount a 32″ HDTV on the wall in my office. What I didn’t want to do was pay an arm and a leg for the mounting bracket. This is another source of revenue for retailers. These brackets can easily cost $100 or more. A quick search on Monoprice.com revealed that not only could I get the bracket I needed a fraction of the cost, but it even offered a nifty built-in level. I ordered my bracket, installed my HDTV and I couldn’t be happier. It came with everything to mount the bracket to the wall/studs as well as the necessary screws to attach the TV to the bracket. It came with a variety of different screws for all kinds of wall materials and different TVs.

 

The next time you want to save money on cables and accessories, check them out!