Welcome to my technology blog!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2VXeqwlZF8
Adobe's Worldwide Evangelist for Video and Audio, Jason Levine is back once again to give us his second installment on Getting Started With DSLR Video for Photographers.
Download a FREE fully functional 30 day Trial of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and work right along side Jason.
Continue reading “Getting Started with DSLR Video for Photographers – Part Two”
I love my Nikon glass! However, when it comes to regular travel I don't like carrying more than one (maybe two) lenses unless the trip is to a photography specific event/location. My old standby for years has been my Nikon 18-200mm VR DX lens. While I have certainly gotten some really good shots using that lens over the years I have yet to hear a photographer brag about it being a tact sharp lens. Quite frankly it's not the sharpest lens I own. Not even close. However, I was willing to give up a little sharpness for the versatility in range/size/weight and using it for most situations throughout the entire trip.
I was very excited to see Nikon introduce their new Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom Lens. The beauty of this lens is that it not only covers a great range for most shooting situations (28-300mm), but it's also a full-frame lens too. That means that I can use it on my D700 as well as my D5000 without it cropping (producing a lower megapixel image on the full frame D700). Even though I was already sold on the specs, it wasn't until I got a chance to play with one at an exclusive Nikon event in South Africa that I was immediately sold! I had my D5000 and my 18-200mm VR (the original one) lens with me and I had already taken some shots in the dimly lit restaurant (no flash) and I was getting the kind of shots that I was used to with that lens. However, I put the 28-300mm VRII and took some shots and I could tell an immediate difference right on the camera's LCD. The images were definitely sharper.
shot handheld (available room light) 1/5 sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200 116mm with the D5000 and the 28-300mm lens (
I told the local Nikon reps "you just sold one!" I ordered it immediately when I returned to the states.
For me this was probably not only my busiest Photoshop World, but probably my best. There was a good vibe going on all week long! I not only got a chance to see some old friends, but I also got a chance to teach some new classes and do some presentations that I hadn't tried before.
shot by Cari Gushiken
The last time I was on stage for the Photoshop World Keynote was actually the very 1st Photoshop World Keynote 1999 in Orlando FL. Back then I was the keynote speaker and oddly enough back then the big news was Adobe InDesign 1.0. Wow! A lot has changed in 10 years! This year I took the stage along side Johnny L to show a quick 5 minute demo on taking your photos and DLSR video from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.2 into Adobe Premiere Pro CS5. It was great to hear so many photographers that were thinking about getting into DSLR video come up to me afterwards and say "I think I can do that".
If you missed the keynote, you can watch the replay here.
Adobe took a totally different approach to the tradeshow floor this time. Normally our booth is the typical theater with demo stations and continuos demos of our latest wears. This time we paid tribute to the 20th Anniversary of Photoshop by setting up Macs running every version of Photoshop all the way back to version 1.0. These Macs were running the version of the Mac OS and Photoshop of their era. Users could walk up and play with the earlier versions of Photoshop to remember just how far Photoshop has come in 20 years. I started with Photoshop 2.0 and yes I can remember a time before Layers, editable type, multiple undos and installing Photoshop from floppies.
We also had "Spotlight" sessions throughout the day where Adobe Evangelists and partners showed Photoshop tips and techniques.
photo by Brad Moore
photo by Brad Moore
that thing we call Midnight Madness 🙂 photo by Brad Moore
I had 4 classes on the conference track instead of my usual 2. Not only did I get to do my 2 InDesign classes, but I also got to do one on Lightroom as well as a Social Media Class dealing with Facebook. Thanks goes out to all that attended my classes and the many kudos you gave me.
I also did a couple of lighting demos for Bogen and Westcott. Sarah K on the left lit with the Elinchrom BX-RI 500 against a Lastolite Hi-Lite background and Tala lit with the Westcott Spiderlite TD5s. Both shots taken with my Nikon D700 and 28-70mm f/2.8 lens.
Wacom also asked me to give a demo in their booth of the Intuos 4.
Westcott added something very cool at this show. They had their usual corporate booth with various lighting setups and equipment on hand. However, they also added a second area near the rear of the show floor with Live Shooting Bays. They had 4 bays setup so photographers could walk up and shoot the various themes and models they had for each day. I was completely blown away by how well this worked and it was the buzz of the show floor. It was one thing to have this very creative setup, but I was stunned when it changed each day. A lot went into this for sure. The real beauty of this setup was that it allowed Westcott to REALLY SHOW OFF their Spiderlite TD5 Lights. These continuous lights don't need triggers and therefore not only is it what you see is what you get, but its perfect for allow multiple photographers to shoot at the same time. Bravo to the Westcott team for pulling this off and allowing everyone the opportunity to get some creative shots!
See more of my shots here:
If you also did some shooting in this Gallery the guys at Westcott are offering you a shot to be featured in their next catalog. Check out the details here.
I told the Westcott guys, "you know that you can't ever come to Photoshop World again without doing this right?" they smiled 🙂
Don't rely on one camera battery. I figured one fully charged battery would last me the week. Normally it would have, but the Westcott Shootout took it's toll on my battery and at the end of the week I was only able to get off two shots during my Lightroom Class (tethered shoot) before it died. I have several batteries, they're small and don't weigh much. I could have easily fit two more in my bag without even noticing the added weight. Next and once again I was reminded how important it is to have comfortable shoes. I normally wear or bring sneakers, but this time I was tight on space and left them. Lastly, I brought my Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 lens and while it's a great lens, I was really wishing I had brought my 70-200mm f/2.8 instead. It's not that much bigger and it would have been so much better for the shoots I did.
I look forward to seeing you all in Orlando for Photoshop World East 2011!
You might remember last week when I posted my video showing how to publish your photos to Facebook directly from Lightroom 3.2, well now that Lightroom 3.2 is officially out I can also tell you the same exact publishing feature is there for Smugmug users too! That's right if you're on Flickr, Facebook or Smugmug you can now publish your photos directly to any of these popular services directly from Lightroom. Even if you shot in RAW, Lightroom will make JPGs and upload them for you all in the background.
It adds camera support for:
This update also adds support for a ton of new Lens Profiles and several bug fixes.
Download Lightroom 3.2 update (Mac | Win}
Download the Camera RAW 6.2 update for CS5 & Photoshop Elements 8 (Mac | Win)
Continue reading “Adobe Lightroom 3.2 & Camera RAW 6.2 are here – Smugmug users rejoice!”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Mh1CK6z0Q
Adobe is just about ready to release the Lightroom 3.2 update, which features support for several new cameras as well as a slew of new lens profiles and bug fixes. In addition to these features there will also be a new Publish Service – Facebook. Just like the Flickr Publish Service, you'll be able to upload your photos directly to your Facebook albums from Lightroom 3.2. Above is a video I recorded to show you how the process will work.
You can download the latest Lightroom 3.2 RC (release candidate) here on labs.adobe.com
The NEW highly anticipated 85mm f/1.4 lens is here. I have the older model and it is definitely one of my favorite lenses. The depth of field is amazing! I LOVE IT! So what's new with this updated model? For one it's nano coated and everyone that I've talked to that has a nano coated lens swears by the difference it can make in cutting down glare and getting sharper shots. I have the new Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with nano coating and it's very nice. The other thing that this lens supports AF-S autofocusing on some of the consumer/prosumer bodies like the D5000. Although I'd love to have this new lens, I can't really justify the upgrade unless I sell the one I have (hint, hint). My current lens works great, so I may have to sit this one out for now.
You can pre-order the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 here for $1,649.95.
When I travel and I can only take one lens, it's usually going to be my Nikon 18-200mm lens. However, that's a DX lens and therefore isn't really designed for full-frame cameras like my D700. This new 28-300mm changes all that. This would be the ONE lens I'd want to carry if I could only carry one lens for my D700 or my D5000! It's also a VRII lens and has the nano coating. Papa needs a new travel lens baby, and I think this is it!
You can pre-order the New Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 lens here for $1,049.95.
Although the first two lenses I mentioned above are the ones that I'm currently drooling over, Nikon did announce two more lenses:
The AF-S Nikkor 24-120m f/4G ED VR and AF-S Nikkor 55-300 f/4.5-5.6 ED VR.
As a photographer I certainly value having a set of GREAT DSLR bodies and a wide range of lenses to choose from. However, the question always comes up, "do I have to have a top of the line camera to get a great shot?" Any photographer will tell you NO! It's about having an "eye", a great subject and GREAT LIGHTING! So after seeing a video over at the FStoppers site, I wanted to put this theory to the test. Here's my video shot using the Westscott Spiderlite TD5s and the end results may surprise you! Although I start off the shoot with my Nikon D700 and 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens, I finish it with my iPhone 4.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpQePVqpbmI
See more about Westcott's lighting products by joining me on the Top Pro Tour.
The other day I was in the studio taking some portrait shots and for some reason I was getting lens flare left and right. I thought to myself I've done this lighting setup more times than I can count and I just don't remember ever having this many lens flare problems before. Then it dawned on me that I hadn't setup any flags.
I typically have a second light off to the side behind the subject as a wrap around light or hair light and normally I have a homemade flag (it's just a big piece of black cardboard) separating that second light from me. In other words the light is lighting the subject, but not directly shining back into the lens. Once it hit me what the problem was I just moved the light until the problem went away. I was being lazy and just didn't feel like digging out my flag and setting it up. This is definitely the wrong way to do it. I should have put the light where I wanted it and then flagged it. I think that part of the problem was that my makeshift flag is big and a pain to get to stand up on its own. I realized at that moment it's time to invest in some "real" flags. I have nothing against do-it-yourself-solutions. However, when the solution becomes too much of a pain that you sacrifice the setup you want as a result,it's time to come up with something better. So I took the advice of my buddies over at D-Town TV and ordered the Matthews 24×36 flags.
There's lots of buzz out there about DSLR video. The benefits of lens selection and a more film like feel to HD video shot with these cameras can't be denied. However, from what I can see the people that are most interested in this new power are typically people that were already doing video. In other words they are videographers who see this as a way of getting better video. Now don't get me wrong, I know that there are some photographers out there that are certainly excited about the possibilities of adding video to their digital story telling. However, I'm just not seeing a landslide (yet) of "traditional" photographers getting into it. I have some theories on why this is and I think it has more to do with the post processing than anything else. Photographers already know how to capture a good image. It's probably not a stretch to say with practice they could capture a good video too. With that said, is there time for both? If you're shooting a wedding for example, chances are you're going to concentrate on one of the other. You don't have time to capture both great stills AND great video as the bride is walking down the isle. So this means having someone else that can be on hand to capture the video. Let's call that person the "videographer." 🙂
Moving off that situation for a moment, let's say that it's something that's not as time critical as a wedding where you don't have the ability to do it over. Let's say that you are capturing portraits of the couple before the big day and you also have time to capture some video clips of them interacting with each other. Great! Now you've got both good video and good stills. What next?
Here's where I think a large part of the problem lies. Many of the photographers I know, don't like to do image retouching and spend a lot of time on the computer working with photos. They'd rather be out shooting. So now we bring video into the mix and most of the "traditional" video editing tools are just as complex if not more so than Photoshop. Sure there are some easier programs out there like iMovie, Adobe Premiere Elements and the basic editing in Aperture, but in many cases even those apps can be daunting to a person who has never edited video before (and probably doesn't want to). So let's step back for a moment and ask the question, "if someone were to build the perfect video editing tool for a PHOTOGRAPHER, what would it have in it?" I have some ideas, but I want to make sure that I didn't miss anything, so please chime in if I did:
Those are the ideas off the top of my head for what I would see in a dedicated simple video editing App for photographers. Now let's say this App existed and was reasonably priced. As a photographer would you do video? Do you care or do you feel that video work should be done by people that do video? Or tell me why you're just not interested in doing video if I've missed your reasons.
It's called the Zacuto Z-Finder Jr. It goes over the back of your LCD so that you can really have a much better idea of when something is in focus or not. You can get the Zacuto Z-Finder Jr. here from B&H.
Or go with the PRO model if you really want a great one (thanks Bruce):
The Zacuto Z-Finder Pro goes for $375.25 at B&H here.
P.S. My buddy Jason Levine has recorded some videos on DSLR Video Editing. Check them out here.
The good folks over at G Design have modified their popular iPhone Tripod Holder (original review here) to accommodate the slimmer iPhone 4 handset. Now that the iPhone 4 is sporting a 5MB camera and HD video, more and more budding photographers and videographers are taking it more seriously.
This is basically the same holder that they made for the iPhone 3G/3GS, they merely added rubber grips (bumpers) on both sides to fill the gap and hold the iPhone 4 in place.
Just like the previous model there is very little danger of the iPhone 4 sliding out and falling to the ground. As you can see here I've got it completely upside down. Although I can't think of too many times that I would need to mount it this way (sideways/landscape is fine), it's good to know that it holds it in place if I do.
Not only would this work well for your next photo/product shoot or video project, but it would also be handy for those extended FaceTime sessions.
You can get the NEW iPhone 4 Tripod Holder here from their site. You can get the GorillaPod featured above here.