Pinhole Paradise

Hey Everyone,

Well I got a lot of emails asking me about the Pinhole effect I showed in the blog from the announcement of Silver Efex Pro. Some folks asked what the before image looked like and how I did it. So to answer 2 questions at once I will go this route. So below is the original image.

And how I got there? Well that is in the book, but as a special thanks if you right click on the link below and choose “Save Link As” (Firefox) or “Save Target As” (IE) you can download the Silver Efex Style and import it into your own Silver Efex program and give it a go!! Enjoy

Pinhole Effect

Layers Part Deux

WOW!!!, if RC and Corey weren’t cool already with that amazing iTouch contest this week the guys shot me a plug for the new book on Layers . If you have not ever had the pleasure to meet RC and Corey then come to a Photoshop World event. These guys are amazing and just spending time in a single class with either of them, will send you soaring by leaps and bounds in your knowledge of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and the list keeps going. So check them out when you get a chance, I promise you will have a great time.

It is out there in the wild

Hey everyone,

Well here it is. In case you haven’t seen it, this is the cover to the upcoming book. Right now I have found out that it is on Pre-order already over at Amazon.com . I think everyone is going to be very pleased with the book (I know I am). While I did talk about a lot of things in the book including what I am about to write I just wanted to take a second and thank a lot of people who made this all possible.

First up my amazing wife and daughter who stood by me on many a late night while I was typing madly. Without them pushing me forward everyday I know that this would never have gotten it done.

Next my mentor and great friend Moose Peterson . Moose believed in me and believed I could be the one to get this book out there to share with the world. He has pushed me every step of the way since the first day I met him coming up on 2 years ago in August. He has shown me what the true joy of photography is and the only way I know how to repay him is to keep pushing the boundaries of photography and take the lessons he has taught me and pass them on to the next person who is eager to learn. A lot of what you see in this book was inspired by him and the lessons he taught me.

To my good friend Joe McNally who’s mastery of light inspired me to see if I could create light were there was none and tell a story. He has been a guide through many a time and his words of wisdom to me (including the quotes from Monty Python) have helped inspire me.

To Joe Sliger "The Adobe Master" you have sparked a lot of creativity both behind the camera and at the computer. I say without hesitation, some of the effects in the book are inspired by you and your amazing eye for detail. Thank you for being a great friend.

To my friends over at Nik Software , without those guys I would have no software to write about. Especially Sean and Josh who took the time to sit down and go through every aspect of every program with me (I owe you guys).

The list goes on and on: My great friends Brad , Laurie , Kevin D. , Kevin M. , Jeff, and Misty …

However, I would especially would like to extend a personal thanks to the amazing folks who I have got to meet at DLWS and Basecamp events. This book is for you and to help spark your imagination I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

A Touch of this a Touch of that

Hey Everyone,

If you haven’t heard the news, my good friends RC and Corey over at Layers Magazine are having a contest right now that if you’re the lucky winner you can score a brand new 16GB iTouch. Check out the link here for details. The guys did 2 podcasts with cool tips and tutorials for the new iPhone release so make sure you check out the podcasts .

Ladies and Gentlemen

So if things weren’t crazy enough around here. Nik has announced Silver Efex Pro . This is has got to be the end all be all of Black and White conversion, and I love it!! In fact all of the Black and Whites you have seen lately on the blog have been converted using Silver Efex pro. It has so many functions your head will spin, and it is well worth having.   So much so that is is also going to be in the new book!!  Nik has a 15 day free trial so go try it !!!

Here is another sample from Silver Efex Pro, and it is also in the book.

BTW if you have been wanting details on the book I have a few. It is scheduled to be on shelves in late Sept. early Oct. It promises to be a great one and I hope you all enjoy it. The site I’m working on dedicated to the book is going to have some nifty stuff including video tutorials.

So for those who have been wondering here is the big run down.

The book is going to discuss work flow from start to finish.
It will show you how to use:
Dfine 2.0
Viveza
Color Efex Pro 3.0
Silver Efex Pro &
Sharper Pro 2.0

The book is packed full of lessons big and small, and is based on the premise of starting an image and finsihing it in just a few minutes. It is going to have a CD with it that has some of the "before" images on it so you can use the effects on the exact image you see in the book, and the folks at Nik have thrown in some goodies on the CD as well, so stay tuned for more.

Captured with Canon 20D 100f2.8 on Lexar digital film

Happy Birthday!!

WOW!!!, another B-day for U.S.A. There is nothing like a shot of one of the Nation’s symbols to sum up a great day of celebrating the birth of a country. So enjoy the BBQs and the fireworks, and have a great day.

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while, between deadlines for the now FINISHED!!! book, and life in general, things have been nuts. There is all kinds of behind the scenes action going on here at the website.  Some of which you should get to see really soon.  Until then, however, there has been all kinds of news lately and if you have been out of touch with reality let me give you a quick run down of some highlights.

Nikon just announced the D700 and the SB-900, both of which I hope to get to play with soon to see how the perform. No in the time have not blogged I haven’t switched to Nikon, but I always enjoy getting to try out new equipment. Here’s a link to Moose’s blog to head you in the right direction.

At the same time Nikon also released a Firmware update to the D3. Moose had a great breakdown of what was in the upgrade and you can check that out here .

And if you haven’t been there lately go check out the goings on at my good friend RC Concepcion site at Layers Magazine. If you have never been then you are missing out on a ton on info that you should be knowing.

Have a great one.

Captured with 1D mark IIN 300f2.8 with a 2X TC on Lexar digital film

Dalls in the Morning

We went out this morning with the Base camp students for round 2 with the Dall sheep, and we won!!! We had 3 rams and 4 ewes that hung out with us for almost 2 hours before they headed back up into the mountains after feeding. What a great morning…

Captured with 1D Mark IIN 600f4 on Lexar digital film

Just add Water, I mean coffee

WOW, and that is all I can say… This week has been a non-stop mad dash and yesterday Base Camp took to the water. We headed out on a boat in search of sea creatures big and small. We had a blast and now I’m blogging at 2am getting ready to head right back out in 3 hours. There have been so many great shots and locations that I have been averaging 1700+ images a day while we’ve been up here. I love Alaska…

These two were just relaxing in the water as we cruised by in our boat.

And this cow was out and about looking for her calf when we were heading back to Anchorage after a great day on the water.

Otter captured with 1D Mark IIN 100-400f5.6 on Lexar digital film
Cow captured with 1D Mark IIN 600f4 on Lexar digital film

Playing with Dalls

What a morning for taking some great images. We headed out to the Chugach State Park to photograph Dall Sheep. We lucked out and this Ram came down from the top of the mountain to hang out near our shooting location. We’re headed out again in a bit so stay tuned for more…

Captured with 1D Mark IIN 600f4 on Lexar digital film

Practice Makes Perfect

Well, yesterday was a great start to Base Camp Alaska. We took the students out to the AWCC to get some practice in on wildlife that they were going to see so they would know what settings and lenses they would need to get "the shot." Practicing before you go out to photograph a subject is vital. It will give you information that you may have not had, and it will help improve your chances of capturing great images. So if you you’re going to see Inland Grizzlys then head to a place where they have some and experiment. Try different Apertures, Focal lengths, etc, and take notes on what you see. It will pay off in the end.

Captured with 1D Mark IIN 600f4 1.4tc on Lexar digital film