*How to shoot HDR Composite imagery with people

indbeautyhdr

Sure, we’ve all seen the images that have been run through an HDR-like tonemapping, contrast increasing filter, making the grungy, saturated and contrasty images we’ve all come to accept as HDR, or at least, HDR-like shots.  While the “HDR” look can bring about photographic debates bordering on political or religious polarity, there is a way to actually capture and process the actual dynamic range of a scene, not just try and make it look like a processed, HDR image.  If you’re not a fan of HDR, by all means, feel free to ignore this post, but to and for me HDR can be a very useful tool, and one that, in this particular situation can help stretch a limited budget by being able to get a good range of exposure for a dynamically diverse scene without tons of lighting.  Now, the trick here when wanting to do this with human subjects is that you’re needing to take multiple frames at differing exposure values, which means, in short, a person or people would need to stay statue still to make it work, right?  Not so.  C’mon in and I’ll show you how to get around this unfortunate challenge…

Continue reading

*Brand New Topaz Clarity Announced, discounted until the end of the month!

IMG_6634

Just announced, and available HERE, (use code “claritynew” for a 40% discount!) Topaz Clarity is a new plugin that helps further define detail in your images. I’ve been playing around with the Beta version for a while and just got my hands on the full plugin last night. I can say that it is going to become part of my workflow, especially for landscape and interior work. Read on for examples and more details on this new, cool, affordable plugin…

Continue reading

*Moving upward and onward!

backyard shenanigans

don’t worry, there were no kids harmed during the photoshopping of this image.

Hello everyone!  You may have noticed that I’m quietly adding content to the site.  This is being done to try and make a more complete resource for those visiting the site to reference specific tutorial articles or find gear reviews, etc.  The biggest changes are the new “Tutorial” “Review” and “MyGear” pages up at the top of the page.  I will be trying to catalog the more popular tutorials and reviews for easy reference, and the new gear page has allowed me to link certain cameras, lenses and miscellaneous gear that I use to my affiliate links at B&H.  Yup, you read that right.  I’ve finally succumbed to the monetary necessity of trying to make a little coin to keep the site going.  Read on for my reasoning and ever cheesy gratitude…

Continue reading

*Topaz Black and White Effects 2.1 Update, free for existing users, discounted for the rest of us!

topaz B&W Effects

Hello All.  You may remember my original review of Topaz B&W Effects back a little while ago.  It was, in my opinion, a great black and white plugin for the money.  With B&W Effects 2, they streamlined the interface, added more filters along with a few other bells and whistles.  With the 2.1 upgrade, (which is a free upgrade for existing users of B&W Effects, or available for new users at a 30% discount using promo code “BW21” here at TopazLabs.com) They’ve added an 11 Zone review system along with a new smattering of awesome borders.

Continue reading

*Share the love, Alien Skin plugins 30% off!

share-the-love

 

For the next week, Alien Skin is offering 30% off of all their wonderful plugins.  I use and love Exposure 4, Snap Art and Bokeh 2 personally and feel that Alien Skin does a wonderful job at providing a really solid product for the money.  You can download free trials of any of their plugins before buying if interested by going here Alienskin.com!  While you’re there, download their free iPhone app Alt Photo, it’s radical.

 

You can read more about my personal take on some of their plugins below:

Alien Skin Exposure 4, it just keeps getting better!

Alien Skin Bokeh 2!

Alien Skin Snap Art, release your inner artist!

 

They’ve also just released Eye Candy 7, which is a plugin that is gaining fanfare for graphic designers.  Unfortunately, I’m not a good person to ask about it, but it does seem to be getting a lot of praise, so it may be worth a trial for those interested in that type of stuff.

 

Happy Valentines Day to all, and I hope all is well for everyone.

 

Cheers,

Tyson

*50% off All Topaz Plugins!

From right now through November 26th, all Topaz plugins are 50% off!!!  Kind of insane actually seeing that so many of them are already so realistically priced.

Click HERE to see the Plugins that Topaz offers (listed at full price) and enter the code “CyberSavings” at checkout to cut the price in half!

Here are some of the plugins that I’ve reviewed:

Topaz DeNoise5 (a killer noise reduction plugin)

Black and White Effects (very budget friendly B&W processing)

Clean (edge detail and skin softening plugin) which also doubles as a Fractalius like plugin for Mac!

I also love Adjust and would highly suggest any (or all) the Topaz plugins, especially at 50% off!!!

Cheers,

Tyson

*FotoMagico4, slick slideshows made easy.

I was asked to review FotoMagico4 recently.  Knowing nothing about the software, I found it an interesting task when I read up on what FotoMagico was.  Being a parent to two young kids, I’m always looking for fun ways to document our events or outings for family and the sake of familial posterity.  Being a photographer, I’m always on the lookout for ways to present a streamlined visual product.  Coming at it from either of my personal directions, FotoMagico seems to tick all the boxes.  Learning a software program from the ground up can be daunting, so I put my head down and got to work learning this new version from Boinx Software.  Luckily, it proved to be pretty intuitive once I got going.  Read on for my experiences and opinions…

Continue reading

*Creating a digital Cameo (profile silhouette)

A couple years back, Mrs Squeeze had asked me if we could produce a silhouette of our new little guy (Little Baby What’s His Face, or LBWHF for short). I hadn’t done it before, but figured it would be pretty simple and we’ve enjoyed it so much, we just did one for our new little guy (The Amazing Pantso, or just Pansto for short).  We shot each of their silhouettes at almost the exact same age (just about 5 months) and it is really cool to see just how different they are, well, how different their physical profiles are anyway.  Read on for a step by step on how to accomplish this…

Continue reading

*Topaz DeNoise 5, like a fine wine.

***UPDATE See the new Topaz DeNoise 6 reviewed and compared to DeNoise 5 HERE***

Smooth, yet refined with an impeccable attention to detail.

Noise has become less and less an issue for digital photographers over the last few years as sensor technology gets better, in camera processing is capable of shouldering more of that load than ever before and digital asset management software/RAW converters are up to the task for much of the noise reduction needs.  Still, with analog to digital information translation, there is an inherent signal:noise issue that can always be further helped by a good noise reduction software.  Add to that, pro-sumer 35mm format models breaching the Medium Format pixel counts, or compact sensors pushing the pixel pitch to near immeasurable dimensions, there is, and will be a need for a manual noise reduction control through post processing.  While Lightroom and Aperture have good noise reduction algorithms, they are the swiss army knife of image processing, giving you many handy tools, but what happens when you need a power tool?  That little Swiss army knife’s mini-saw ain’t gonna cut through that noise riddled log for you, you’ll need a chainsaw.   Enter, Topaz DeNoise5, your powerful, noise reducing chainsaw.  You can download a free trial, or purchase DeNoise.  If interested click HERE to go to Topazlabs.com.  I’ve used Noise Ninja and Nik Define in the past, and I think both of those have just been pushed out of my workflow.  Read on for examples and my take…

Continue reading

*Photovision 2012 discount, it’s that time of year again!

 

Hello everyone.  If you’ve followed me over the last couple years, you may have seen me post about Photovision, an instructional series that aims to help all photographers with insight into shooting, setting up a business, marketing and technique as well as offers discounts for many photographic goods and services.

 

I’ve subscribed for the last 3 years and have continued to glean tons of great information and would highly recommend anyone interested in getting a detailed behind the scenes look at many working professional photographers to do so as well.

 

This is my link which enables a substantial discount ($49 for six DVDs, normally $199, or access to instant content for a monthly price) and with signups enters me in a drawing, so if you do plan to subscribe, any subscriptions done through my link would be greatly appreciated 🙂

USE THE CODE “PVFAN” to gain the 75% discount via this link:

 

http://www.photovisionvideo.com?afid=65508

 

Thanks and happy shooting,

 

Tyson