Skills taught: Cropping, color cast, sharping, cloning, noise reduction and artistic interpretation.

Video Type Available : Novice to Advance-Speed Clinic and Beginner- In-depth (coming soon)

Click here to view the video.

It all starts in the camera

While in Boston, a group of us went on a photo shoot of  the city. I saw a father and daughter standing on the subway holding hands. I quickly took a shot. Sounds simple?  Let’s explore the thought process and technical issues I had to face in a matter of seconds.

I was dealing with poor lighting, a moving platform, lots of people in the way and TIME. I calmly observed the situation and set the camera to ISO 1250, F/2.8  at 1/60 of a second using my 80-200 lens. Well if I were Joe McNally that’s what I would have done. Instead, BEFORE I entered the subway, Sandy Foster suggest I try a great feature found on most Nikon cameras, auto ISO. Now before you judge me, let me finish. On Pro and Pro/Consumer Nikon cameras you are able to dial in when to change the ISO. In my example, I programed the ISO to start at 200. If the shutter falls below 1/60 of a second, then the ISO changes but won’t go any higher than 1600. I kept the camera in Aperture Priority and steady myself against a pole. This feature is amazing. It let’s the photographer focus on composition while still allowing creativity by changing the aperture. A plus or minus EV (exposure value) can also be used.

You are probably wondering why not just keep the camera in the AUTO mode. Although you can, you are now letting the camera make ALL your creative choices for you. As a photographer, it’s always best if we can decide when to make a change to our settings. By using the method I just described, we would have come up with those setting IF we had an abundance of TIME.

This brings me to our tutorial, how to fix a really bad photograph. It’s always best to get the shot right in the camera. Under the difficult situation I was faced with, this was the best I could do. With a few tweeks in Photoshop, Lightroom and the help from a few plugins I was able to save this photograph.

Before the digital age, photographers were making incredible images. Don’t get caught up in the tools I’m using; Lightrrom, Photoshop, ect.., Try to focus on the concepts and work flow I’m demonstrating. Understanding these  concepts will enable us to work faster.

This tutorial will be available as a video and written instructions Monday, April 26, 2010.

I spent less than 5 minutes on this sample. I’ve included the original, (right out of the camera no adjustments), cropped and the Silver Efex versus Adobe’s Black and White adjustment layer.

Camera Gear

• Tripod
• Nikon D300
• Nikon Lens 17 – 55  2.8
• Remote trigger
• Circular polarizing filter

How I got the shots:

I shot at a focal length of 17 mm on aperture priority with an F/stop ranging  from F/11 to F/22.  I kept a low angle using the remote trigger.

What would I do different:

I knelt on cactus needles AGAIN, so either long pants or knee pads. The rock in the Valley if very sharp. I also would have made sure I cleaned my lens and sensor. Ohh and of course arrived a little earlier!

Peachpit has been publishing top-notch books on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, Web design and development, digital video, and general computing since 1986. They are sponsoring a special contest for Photoshop World attendees.

The bright lights of…Bakersfield, California are calling your name! Or perhaps it’s Tempe, Arizona. Or Butte, Montana. It’s time to capture the Neon in Your Neighborhood! Quick! Before it’s replaced with energy efficient bulbs. Grab your camera and take a few shots of your favorite local neon signs or art and submit one to flickr.

Your friendly photog authors, David DuChemin and Chris Orwig will pick 20 of their favorites to win a Phantastic Photowalk at the Neon Museum Boneyard in Las Vegas and lead them on a photo adventure that will include many more prizes and a few other great authors to help: Matt Kloskowski, Russell Brown, Frederick Van Johnson, Jeff Revell, Rick McCleary and more!

My talented neighbor, Scott Larson, and I went around Melbourne Florida taking photos of neon signs. Like most cities, neon signs are hard to find. Scott went out the night before scouting locations for our shoot. Here are a few tips from the shoot.

1. Scout ahead for locations
2. Wear a white shirt: I was heading out the door and I realized I was wearing all black. Not a good idea at nighttime. If you have a reflective running shirt that would be a better choice.
3. If people are working where you are shooting, go inside and tell them what you are doing.
4. Tripod, Tripod and….Tripod: The best way to get night shots is by using a tripod.
5. Use a remote trigger for the camera: This will lowers the chance of camera shake.
6. Experiment with a circular polarized filter and your EV mode (exposure value)
7. Shoot in Aperture priority mode using a high F-stop. (Most of our shots were F/11 to F/22)
8. Experiment with moving the camera around or zooming in or out after you press the shutter release. This will give you some interesting effects.
9. Shoot high, shoot low, take shots from all angles.: My tripod enables me to shoot at ground level. I also raised it as high as it could go and shot down.
10. Talk with you partner and give each other advice!

Camera gear: Nikon D300, Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 D lens, Nikon ED 17-55mm f/2.8G IF DX and a circular polarizing filter. Larson had the Moose Peterson’s warm circular polarizing filter.

I had to take this shot for the staff at NAPP. They seem to love Krispy Kreme. We shot at this location for a short time. We really weren’t feeling the creativity. There was a lot of street lights around and cars were coming in and out. I went inside to let the manager know what we were doing. I was tempted to grab a nice hot doughnut but the health freak Larson made a comment that he couldn’t believe the amount of people going in for junk at this time of the night! Wish I brought Reinert, he would have gone in on a few doughnuts!

To get the shot of the logo’s reflection in the window of the truck, I had to raise my tripod as high as it would go. Once I did, I couldn’t see what  I was shooting. I realized the Nikon D300 has live view. I never used it before and I heard it’s a battery killer. After Larson showed me where it was, I fell in love with it. I should add, Nikon is loaning me the D300. I normally shoot with the D200 and D2h. The point I’m making is you should know your equipment before you go out and shoot. I didn’t have the manual with me and it was too dark to see the dials. I was lucky Larson has the D300!

We went onto Checkers! I forgot to tell the manager what we were doing and they came out to inspect us. (Must have been the tripods.) I explained what we were doing and I apologized for not asking permission. She was more than happy to let us shoot. At first we shot in the drive thru and we realized that may not be the best place with the cars coming in from behind us. We moved all around the building and found the front to be the best. My tripod enabled me to lay flat on the ground.

After several traditional shots, I looked over at Larson and saw he had a blurry photo. He said he moved the tripod during the exposure. That gave me an idea. We started to shake the camera on purpose to get a few crazy shots. Back on the tripod, I experimented with long exposures using F/16 and -2 EV (exposure value). This gave me about a 10 sec exposure. After pressing the shutter release, I slowly zoomed my 17-55 in and out. I found that starting at a focal length of 55 and then zooming out to a focal length of 17 showed the logo of Checkers better. Plus it made the words “Order” and “Pick up” jump out of the frame.

I used Lightroom to boost the colors and added a -74 Post Crop Vignette. My goal was to do everything in the camera. I must admit, I did take a safe shot at first; meaning I didn’t move the lens. This gave me a fall back plan if the wild stuff didn’t work. I could have used Photoshop to get similar results, but it is always best to get it right in the camera.

Sunday we started off. All is well with the world. We are headed North on the thruway. The sun is shining. It is a beautiful day. But wait… Headed North, isn’t Delray South? Oops! Just a slight miscalculation. A quick U turn and we are on our way. Robbie’s artistic eye is seeing all these wonderful things to photograph. However I don’t think it would be a good idea to slam on the breaks while driving down the thruway, just to take a picture of an old building.

I was so excited to be going on this shoot. My photographic experience is to put my camera on auto, point, and shoot. Just as we pulled into the Japanese gardens it started to pour. My spirits sank. I thought we would have to turn around and just go home. Rob never hesitated. He just muttered a note about bringing rain gear next time.

First thing I learned was how to stand properly. Putting my left foot forward and holding my camera properly greatly reduced camera shake. Then I had a lesson on how to shoot in the aperture mode. Rob’s words. “The higher the f stop the more of the story you will see.” The lower f stop will blur your background . I also learned it is important to take a few pictures. Then take a break and review your pictures. Looking at mine revealed that I had strange white spots on my pictures. The cause was rain drops on my lens. Another lesson learned Always make sure you lens is clean. I also learned how to use the ev button. This allowed me to control the amount of light in my picture. Also it is very important to make sure that your camera is zeroed out. Having the wrong settings will greatly affect the color in the picture.

The last lesson that I learned was to arrive early. Then you have the time to take all the pictures that you want. The guards really don’t enjoy taking you by the collar and throwing you out.

Thank you Rob for a wonderful day. I learned so much!

Click here to view the video.

Photoshop World

People ask me if I still attend the classes. The answer: YES, as many as I can! I love hearing not just what they are teaching, but how they teach it.

My advice, take a partner with you. Split the classes up and then meet back and review what each of you has learned. PSW makes it easy by giving all the classes in a  thick telephone book. Leave the book in the hotel room and just take a note pad and class evaluation forms (found in the book) with you. Each and every evaluation form is read by a NAPP staff member. Our feed back is discussed and NAPP takes the advice very serious.

People ask;  “What classes does Vanelli take?” Here is my itinerary.

Tuesday, March 24
12:00p – 09:00p NAPP Photo Safari

Wednesday, March 25
09:00a-10:15a Opening Keynote
01:00p-06:00p Expo Open
10:45a-11:45a Lightroom Instant Enhancing & Effects With Presets
with Jack Davis

12:00p-01:00p Mastering the New Adjustments & Masks Panels
with Ben Willmore

06:15p-07:15p Prepare to Be Amazed
with Vincent Versace

Thursday, March 26
01:00p-05:00p Expo Open

08:15a-09:15a Lightroom for Wedding Photographers
with David Ziser

09:30a-10:30a Nice Glass NEW!
with Moose Peterson

10:45a-11:45a Photoshop for Designers NEW!
with Corey Barker

12:00p-01:00p Lighting Concepts
with Jack Reznicki

04:45p-05:45p InDesign CS4: Beyond the Basics NEW!
with Terry White

06:30p-08:30p Dinner with Scott

10:00p-12:00a Midnight Madness hosted by Scott Kelby
Friday, March 27
09:00a-01:00p Expo Open

11:00a-12:00p Now You See It – Now You Don’t NEW!
with Martin Evening & Jeff Schewe

01:00p-02:00p The Newest on HDR NEW!
with Ben Willmore

02:15p-03:15p Mastering Curves NEW!
with Ben Willmore

In between these classes I meet up with old friends and I try to meet as many new friends as possible. If you are not attending PSW Boston, make sure you attend Photoshop World on the West Coast in Seo

Exposure is the amount of light that contacts the imaging sensor (either film or digital chip) of your camera. There are two components of exposure: brightness and duration. In the camera, brightness is controlled with the lens diaphragm and duration is controlled with the shutter. Equivalent exposures can be made with many different combinations of diaphragm openings (also called aperture or f-number or f/stop) and shutter speeds. Although the exposure can be equivalent using different combination of aperture and shutter speed, the visual effects of these different settings will vary greatly. For this reason, it is good to have some understanding of how changes in f/stop and shutter speed will effect the final image.

Aperture and Depth of Field

The amount of light that passes through a camera lens is regulated by an iris diaphragm. The opening size, or aperture, of this diaphragm is referred to as its f-number or f/stop. The f/stop is derived by dividing the focal length of the lens by the aperture diameter. This leads to the counter-intuitive situation where a small number f/stop actually represents a large aperture, and a large number f/stop denotes a small aperture. More light will pass through a lens set to f/2.8 than one set to f/22.

Depth of field, which is the distance in front and behind the plane of focus that can be considered to be also in focus, is dependent on the f/stop. At a low f/stop (large aperture, say f/2.8) there is very little depth of field, while a high f/stop (small aperture, say f/22) exhibits much more depth of field. This can be visualized easily by photographing a ruler, tilted to a 45 degree angle, at these 2 f/stops. For this test a 60mm lens was focused on the number 6. At f/2.8, the depth of field extends from approximately 5.5 to 6.75 on the ruler. At f/22 the depth of field is greatly enlarged as the picture shows.

In real world terms this means that you can control the amount of your subject that will be in focus by choosing different f/stops. When photographing flat objects, the aperture setting is not critical, for if you have the camera back parallel to the subject it will all be in focus. When you photograph a 3D object though, you must decide which plane of the object you wish to be in focus and how you want to use depth of field. You can decide to use a shallow depth of field (low f/stop,2.8) to highlight one plane of the subject while blurring the rest. Conversely, you may decide to have as much of the subject as possible in focus by using a high f/stop like f/22. Remember though that if you have less light entering the camera, the exposure time must be longer in order to get a proper exposure on the image sensor.

Shutter Speed and Movement

The shutter on your camera controls the length of time that light exposes the image sensor. The numbers on a shutter speed dial refer to fractions of a second, thus the numbers 8, 15, 30, 60 really mean 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, and 1/60 of a second. It is not a good idea to hand hold a camera at exposure times longer than 1/60 second (unless blurs are what you’re after). For these longer times it is advisable to mount the camera on a tripod. If a tripod is unavailable, try bracing yourself against a wall or tree for added stability. Slight camera movement during exposure will result in poor quality pictures. If you notice directional streaks when viewing images at high magnification you should use a higher shutter speed or tripod.

When photographing botanical specimens it is also important to keep the subject from moving. This might require turning off fans, closing off drafty rooms, or blocking wind with sheets of cardboard.

ISO

The ISO setting refers to the sensitivity of film or digital chip to light. The ISO number of film is set in the factory when the film is manufactured. Film with a low ISO contains relatively less sensitizing material (usually silver), will require more exposure, and will exhibit finer grain than film with a high ISO. Some film cameras will automatically set the cameras light meter to the correct ISO by reading a bar code on the cassette while others require manual setting of the proper number.

The ISO setting of most digital cameras is variable and can be changed to fit the lighting conditions. On some cameras this is done through a menu system and on others it can be changed on a dial. It is best to set your digital camera to the lowest ISO that allows you to expose the subject with the settings (f/stop and shutter speed) you want. At higher ISO settings a digital image will get increasingly “noisy” and degrade the quality of the image.

Ambient Light
The available light completely surrounding a subject. Light already existing in an indoor or outdoor setting that is not caused by any illumination supplied by the photographer.

Angle Of View

The area of a scene that a lens covers or sees. Angle of view is determined by the focal length of the lens. A wide-angle lens (short-focal-length) includes more of the scene-a wider angle of view-than a normal (normal-focal-length) or telephoto (long-focal-length) lens.

Aperture
Lens opening. The opening in a camera lens through which light passes to expose the film or digital sensor. The size of aperture is either fixed or adjustable. Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers-the larger the number, the smaller the lens opening.

Aperture Priority
An exposure mode on an automatic or autofocus camera that lets you set the aperture while the camera sets the shutter speed for proper exposure. If you change the aperture, or the light level changes,

Aspect Ratio
The ratio of width to height in photographic prints – 2:3 in 35 mm pictures to produce photographs most commonly measuring 3.5 x 5 inches or 4 x 6 inches; Advanced Photo System cameras deliver three aspect ratios as selected by the user. The Advanced Photo System’s three user selectable print formats:

“C” – 2:3 aspect ratio used in 35 mm photography

“H” – 9:16 aspect ratio used by high-definition television (HDTV)

“P” – 1:3 aspect ratio produces prints of 3.5 x 10.5 inches or up to 4.5 x 11.5 inches; suitable for panoramic shots

Autofocus (AF)
System by which the camera lens automatically focuses the image of a selected part of the picture subject.

Automatic Camera
A camera with a built-in exposure meter that automatically adjusts the lens opening, shutter speed, or both for proper exposure.
strong>B (Bulb) Setting
A shutter-speed setting on an adjustable camera that allows for time exposures. When set on B, the shutter will stay open as long as the shutter release button remains depressed.

Backlighting
Light coming from behind the subject, toward the camera lens, so that the subject stands out vividly against the background.

Balance
Placement of colors, light and dark masses, or large and small objects in a picture to create harmony and equilibrium.

Bounce Lighting
Flash or tungsten light bounced off a reflector (such as the ceiling or walls) to give the effect of natural or available light.

Bracketing
Taking additional pictures of the subject through a range of exposures-both lighter and darker-when unsure of the correct exposure.

Camera Angles
Various positions of the camera (high, medium, or low; and left, right, or straight on) with respect to the subject, each giving a different viewpoint or effect.

Close-Up Lens
A lens attachment placed in front of a camera lens to permit taking pictures at a closer distance than the camera lens alone will allow.

Color Balance
How a color film reproduces the colors of a scene. Color films are made to be exposed by light of a certain color quality such as daylight or tungsten. Color balance also refers to the reproduction of colors in color prints, which can be altered during the printing process.

Color Noise
Better known as chrominance signal-to-noise ratio. A measure of how accurately the color signals are reproduced. Poor chroma signal-to-noise ratios are evidenced in color fringing on edges of objects and what appears to be thousands of moving dots in large areas of highly saturated colors (especially red).

Composition
The pleasing arrangement of the elements within a scene-the main subject, the foreground and background, and supporting subjects.

Contrast
The range of difference in the light to dark areas of a negative, print, or slide (also called density); the brightness range of a subject or the scene lighting.

Cropping
Printing only part of the image that is in the negative or slide, usually for a more pleasing composition. May also refer to the framing of the scene in the viewfinder.

more to come soon!