You probably noticed a number of e-book reviews on this blog. I love reading. To be honest, I probably love reading even more than taking pictures. I buy almost every e-book available on subject of photography and consume it on spot.

The introduction of the years ago e-books allowed me the instant download. I could read them on my computer. Not very convenient. Then- on the iPhone- small screen, but I could already move out of my desk into living room sofa. And then came the iPad. It was the end of the paper.. well, almost anything, for me. I stopped printing papers to read for work. I moved all my magazine subscriptions into virtual world of Zinio. I started buying some “real books” as electronic versions. I stopped borrowing the paper books from library- I signed up for a number of electronic services. And on top of it all- more and more e-books are landing in my iBooks library.

I thought there is no way back for me printed media. I saw no advantage. The portability, accessibility, price of electronic was unbeatable.

Until one thing hit me today. None of the e-books, from Craft & Vision or any other site, can I get ever from the local library for free. Sometimes, you don’t want to pay the price, even of $5. You want to read the book, return it, and feel no need to ever go back. I found the huge disadvantage in what I thought is the perfect new reality. If the e-book ever replace the hard copies, and more and more people will go into self-publishing, the availability of the written knowledge will decrease. To those who will afford. Even the small, but still the price.

How about you? Are you embracing the new electronic world? Do you enjoy or despise it? Why?

“Photo nuts and post” is third in the Digital Photography School series of “Photo nuts and …” books by Neill Creek ment to introduce beginners into world of digital photography. “Photo nuts and bolts” teaches the reader the mindful use of camera and all its buttons, while recently reviewed on blog “Photo nuts and shots” shows compositional and creative techniques to improve overall feel of photographs.

“Photo nuts and post” is written to show beginning photographers the need of post-processing techniques, not intended to manipulate the photo beyond the recognition, but to present it as its best. The author is not taking a stand in post-processing discussion, just introduces the really basic techniques and mentions few more advanced like panorama or HDR.

“Photo nuts and post” contains 110 pages of theory and tips, combined with side by side presentation of before and after images to prove just what a difference simple corrections make in improving the photos. The e-book is also accompanied by 8 videos.

What will you find in the “Photo nuts and post”:
- introduction to digital image, with explanation of terms like metadata, histogram, color spaces, RAW format. You might find that boring at first, but it will help you understand the whole need and idea of post processing.
- very interesting and needed chapter on workflow, with suggestions on organization of photographs, backup, editing.
- explanation of global and local adjustment tools, and what effects can be achieved with either of those. There is no specific software described in the e-book, and although screenshots are from Lightroom, similar tools can be found in Aperture and many other software packages.
- practical examples on post-processing the example photos, including portrait, environmental portrait, landscape. You can either read the description of steps in the e-book or watch the process happening in fron tof your eyes on the video. Hint for the author- it would be helpful to have videos titled on the site, to easier find the particular clip.
- solutions to many popular photographic problems, like blown highlights, noise, chromatic aberrations, vignette, skewed horizon. This is an important chapter, because many of so called “problems” might be considered creative tools. The authors discusses several photographic myths here to help you make informed decision on what is acceptable and what disqualifies the image.
- preparing photos for output, especially optimizing for web sites, including watermarking.

A few general thoughts come out from the pages of “Photo nuts and post”. First- only practice will get you proficient in use of all the slides. Probably the very first images will be overdone, before you get a feel for what looks best. Secondly, each of the tools can be used as much to correct the flaw as to create a new, interesting effect. Thus- practice and experiment.

What “Photo nuts and post” is NOT:
- it is not a software specific guide, showing you how to use described tools. If you are not familiar with any post-processing software, including Lightroom, you will need another manual. Depending on your expectations, it is an advantage as much as a disadvantage of the e-book.

In summary, “Photo nuts and post” is a great introductory e-book, showing the need of basic post-production techniques to photographers at all levels. It wil help you to move from just uploading your photos straight from camera to phot-sharing website to create images with “wow” factor in just few clicks.

Use the special introductory offer to get “Photo nuts and post” for only $19.99. Just click the button below!

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At one point in your photographic adventure, you learned all you could from books, e-books, blogs, online classes and now you are ready to extend your horizons even further. You are considering taking a workshop. Maybe you want to hear some feedback from other participants or have your image critiqued by an instructor. Or perhaps you want to see how a person you know from a blog creates his images, want to meet them and learn from them live. But how do you choose an event to attend?

Since sometime last year, I am seriously considering participating in one. I went to a couple of seminars, and now I want something more. But so many web sites and more or less known photographers offers some kind of teaching, that it can get really overwhelming. How do you find what best suits your needs and the instructor who will be knowledgable and engaging, and possibly likable? Struggling with all of this, I started to pay attention to articles and blog posts coming through my computer on the subject, trying to learn more. Let me share with you what I learned.

It is always good to approach a problem with a systematic list of check points. Here is a list of points to consider before choosing and going to a photographic workshop:

1. Start from defining why you want to take a workshop and what you want to learn. Do you want to learn a lighting technique or some post-processing workflow? Maybe you want to learn more on shooting certain subjects, like wildlife or macro. Consider how advanced you are, and how much money (and time off work and family) you can really devote. Do you want to travel far to be inspired by different location or do you want to stay close to home to learn to think creatively about what’s around?
All of those will let you narrow down the choices.

Discover some more ideas in this article by Peter West Carey for DPC.

2. Choose the right type of event for what you want to achieve. There are seminars, often focused on post-processing or lighting, but might also be about certain type of photography. In either case, those are just presentations, no shooting time. There are workshops, with time to photograph, learn, interact and critique. There are photography tours, with minimal teaching but with experienced guide bringing you to the right spot in the right time.

Read more about different types of offerings in this article by Rob Shepard for “Outdoor photographer”.

3. Check out the instructor and the event as much as you can. Maybe the instructor has blog, see if his personality suits you. Check his portfolio online to see, if you like his style, if this is what you want to learn. Find testimonials from previous attendees. Contact them, if you want to learn more.

Learn more about what to pay attention to in this article by Peter West Carey for DPS and this article by MIchael Clark on Pixique. Also, check several workshop leaders talking about their events in this article for “Outdoor Photographer” magazine.

4. Prepare well to get the most out of the experience beforehand. Majority of instructors will provide you with the requirement list. But it might or might not include really basic stuff, like flashlight or spare batteries. Also, consider the season and weather in your destination.

Some example things to pack and consider are discussed in this article by Fred Troilo for DPS and Gary M Hart in “Outdoor photographer” magazine.

5. Come to the event with the right state of mind. Relaxed, open-minded, ready to learn and be physically exhausted. And don’t be this one participant who knows everything better then instructor! It spoils the event for everybody.

To learn more about preparing yourself fot the experience, check those articles by Eva Polak on Digital Photography School and on her web site.

I hope these points and articles will help you make the decision and go out for a workshop this year. If you are aware of any resource or would like to share your experience, please leave a comment below.

Meantime, I am going to search for a workshop with shooting and image critique in the group, conducted by somebody with compelling wild life portfolio, happening in Africa :). Wish me luck.

The author

“Making the Print” by Martin Bailey was announced for the first time in Craft & Vision free e-book - a collection of essays written by all authors associated with the company. Among them was Martin Bailey and promise of e-book on printing in January. I knew Martin Bailey before from his beautiful wild-life and landscapes from Japan, where he leaves, and his podcast about all things photography. I guess I did not know how passionate printer he is, until I browsed through his e-book when it finally arrived.

The premise

I was around photography all my life. My dad always had a camera in his hands, documenting our family. At first, he was developing the black and white film in bathroom changed over to darkroom. I still remember mixing chemicals, cutting masks, doding and burning techniques. The process was extremely satisfying, especially after he got me a camera and I could work on my own images.
Years passed, and with the color film, the process got to complicated too do it at home. We were just dropping off the film in the commercial lab.
Then, digital photography happened, and I moved on another continent, and we stopped printing at all. The photos were being uploaded onto virtual gallery or e-mailed. We almost forgot how the print feels- and what it is.
Just few years ago, when I started seriously (or consciously) taking photographs, the trend continued. I was post-processing them and posting on my blog. Not many were printed. I print some to enter those contest which still require prints and for home decor. With such low needs, I never seriously considered printing my own images. I was sending them off to the one of big on-line commercial labs. And I was loosing the feel of satisfaction and accomplishment by attending to my images from the moment they are registered in the camera, to holding a finished beautiful print on fine art paper in my hands.
Until I read “Making the Print – Printing Techniques for Digital Photographer” by Martin Bailey.

The e-book

I am sure many of you can see themselves in my story. If you have not hold a print in your hands for a long time, and lost the idea of photography as a hard copy, image on fine art paper you can hold in hand, you should read “Making the Print – Printing Techniques for Digital Photographer” by Martin Bailey. And if you never printed images at home, maybe the passion coming from the pages of this e-book will make you at least want to try. Right there, on you office printer, following the advice in the e-book, before you invest in real equipment.

Martin starts “Making the Print” from the list of points to consider before buying a printer and photographic paper. He gives some recommendations to his favorite products, at the same time letting you chose what you think is right for your needs. He follows up with lesson on histogram and basic exposure adjustment to ensure that your first print has all tonal range and looks like what you see on the screen. From there, he moves into intermediate tasks, introducing you to printer profiles, sharpening and some software you might be using for your printing. He talks equally about Lightroom, Photoshop and Aperture, but he is partial to Lightroom. He simply states “it just works”. I totally agree with it, and many people still don’t understand or appreciate Lightroom as just the right tool for photographers.

The last part of “Making the Print” is for the most advanced, but the most interesting at the same time. Here are techniques for total control freaks- like calibration of monitor, printer and even camera (well, it is more like correcting white balance). With total color management explained, he discusses soft proofing (in Photoshop only, as Lightroom 4 beta, first version with soft proofing was just released last week). He stresses the importance of sharpening, talks about resizing for large format prints, adds some more information on fine art papers. There are some tips on preparing prints for gallery exhibition. And my most favorite part of the “Making the Print” – step by step, illustrated instruction on creating the canvas wrap at home! I don’t think I would try this at home any time soon but it was a fascinating read.

“Making the Print” ends with a resource section, collection of links to products, many with discount coupons.

It is almost impossible not to achieve a great printing experience at home after reading and following Martin Baileys instructions in “Making the Print – Printing Techniques for Digital Photographer”. In fact, now the process seems to me to be quite straightforward, after it was all explained to me in simple language. If you would like to check for yourself, click here to buy Martin’s Bailey “Making the Print”.

The value

“Making the print – Printing Techniques for the Digital Photographer (A Masterclass)” by Martin Bailey is now available at Craft & Vision website as an instant pdf download for just $5. But if you make a purchase by Saturday, January 21 11:59 pm, and use code PRINT4 at checkout you will get “Making the Print” for just $4! Or use code PRINT20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more e-books from ever-growing Craft & Vision collection. So don’t wait, click to purchase here.

The links in this post are affiliate links. I was also provided a free review copy of the e-book. See details of our affiliate policy here.

As usual on such occasion, many bloggers were writing on it on their blogs, regardless if they are Lightroom users or not. You know first rule of blogging – write about something which is hot. I have nothing against it, after all this is what I am doing now. ;) But if you write about something just to make sure you keep in touch with the news, you might end up telling nonsense. Among others, the most “interesting” opinions” I saw this week was “new version of this image management software” and “very powerful tool for the average photographer who wants to get more out of their images without spending the money and taking the time to learn Photoshop”. Really?

The release and blog frenzy coincidentally happend shortly after I was helping in Lightroom instruction in a local camera club. There were several people in the audience, mildly interested in learning more about Lightroom, but not really sure they will pursue it further. After all, it would require from them to learn new software, where post-processing philosophy is totally different. See the irony? It sounds almost like Nikon-Cannon battle. I use Lightroom, why would I learn Photoshop. I know Photoshop, why would I learn Lightroom?

Of course, Photoshop is very powerful tool. For artists, graphics, photographers, and many other creative folks. It has a lot of advanced image manipulation options, layers, masks. It is so complex, that doing simple tasks like adjusting mid-tones requires several clicks, after spending 15 min Googling in which menu it is hiding. And after making decision if you want to do it on the separate layer or destroying your RAW capture.

In contrast, Lightroom was designed from ground up with a photographer in mind. There are few more modules then just Library for excellent image organization, with folders, collections, and many tagging options. There is complete Development module, which easily lets you post-process many images at the same time. You can adjust exposure, with sliders, or cuves, effect each color separately, it has excellent noise reduction. Those are global adjustment , and since version 2- you can also do touch-ups with Local Adjustment brush. You want to create several versions of the same image? Color, black and white, duotone? Just create Virtual Copies or make Snapshots, and it is all virtual, almost not taking space on your hard drive. You can also create collections, virtual sets also almost not taking additional space on your hard drive, of images to print, prepare a slide show, web gallery, book.

If all of this is not enough to convince you, let me tell you that. Many real, professional photographers (as opposed to “average photographer”) are using Lightroom as a sole post-processing tool or as major one, with just scarce trips to Photoshop for some more complex tasks. They even share their workflow ideas in books (and e-books), telling you what and how can be done. To give you just examples, take a look at “Light & Land” by Michael Fry, “Vision and Voice” by David DuChemin and “Taking stock” by Rob Sylvan. It is whole range of photographic genres represented here, landscape, portraiture, stock photography…

Bottom line- if you are at least a little bit open to a change, take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with Lightroom right now. Download the Lightroom 4 beta, for free. Import few images. Check out many tutorials and resources, the link will take you to constantly updated site by Tom Hogarty. Understand, that Lightroom is so much more than image organization, and in fact, it will save you a lot of time in opst-processing your images.

Meantime, I am going to discover some more possibilities with winter photos in Lightroom 4.

The links in this post are affiliate links. I was also provided a free review copy of the e-book. See details of our affiliate policy here.

“Photo nuts and shots” is the continuation of the basic e-book on photography titled “Photo nuts and bolts” from Digital Photography School. Written by Neil Creek, this is a perfect reference for intermediate photographers, who are already familiar with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO and want to take their photography to the next level. At the same time, I am sure some more advanced amateurs will find in “Photo nuts and shots” useful tips to improve their technique and a source of inspiration.

In the simplest terms, “Photo nuts and shots” takes you from photo taking to photo creating. It is an introduction to some more advanced photographic subjects, including light, composition, exposure (with reading a histogram), sharpness. Both the light and composition chapters, in my opinion the strongest parts of the e-book, offer a very unique and practical view on those subjects, showing them as problems on one side, and a creative elements on the other. A great variety of concepts gets mentioned, although some are not explained in great detail, requiring to look for other sources. Luckily, “Photo nuts and shots” contains some suggestions for further reading, like blogs articles and fora.

I found the recommendations for keeping your gear clean very useful as well as the advice on holding the camera in various positions (with images!). I also liked the general tips in the chapter on organizing a photo shoot. Also, I found his comments on working the point of view very convincing. It reminded me of some photography contest motto: “show us the world like we have never seen before” here done just by choosing the low or high vintage point! Great creative tip.

The text of “Photo nuts and shots” is very well illustrated with photographs. There is really a lot of images, from every genre of photography, and I was quite surprised to learn that they were all shot by the author. It shows great versatility of Neil Creek as photographer himself.

The e-book is accompanied by a one page pocket troubleshooting guide for extra value. It contains the most often encountered problems with photographs and simple solutions in the very portable form. Just print it out and stick in your camera bag.

I have some minor complaints about “Photo nuts and shots”. One is that although it is in a form of downloadable pdf, it was not optimized for reading on an iPad. It is slightly smaller then the screen, which makes letters smaller then they could have been. Further, in the light chapter the mixing of ambient and flash light is mentioned, but not rear synch curtain, which might be too difficult to explain, but worth mentioned as useful setting. Also, although HDR as technique is mentioned, no recommendations of software are made, which is a pity. Lastly, one of the chapters towards the end contains additional thought on lighting, off-camera flash etc. and I am not sure why this part was separated from the “Light” chapter earlier in the book.

In summary, don’t look for simple answers to improve your photography in “Photo nuts and shots” – it will require a lot of work and practice on your part. The e-book gives you basic knowledge which you need to take with you on the field (along with trouble shoot guide ;)). You need to experiment for yourself with choice of lenses, point of view, framing. But if you do, and follow other advice, like mindfully creating images with purpose, you will quickly notice your craft improving.

So, go now and get “Photo nuts and shots” for just $29.99 by clicking on this link.

The links in this post are affiliate links. See details of our affiliate policy here.

Unless you are lucky to live in one of those places which actually got any snow this winter season, you are struggling your own photographic cabin fever. Instead of snow-covered landscape, wherever you look, it is same old brownish remnants of last year’s vegetation. Unless you live in a place with spectacular vistas, like Arches, you cannot see anything worth photographing around. Your continuing lack of inspiration is getting frustrating. Welcome to snowless winter in Midwest. Or Alberta. Or Northern California.
So, what you do?

Let me share with you a few tips which saved my sanity over this season holidays.

Photograph during golden hour

There is not better time to take advantage of Golden hour then winter. It is readily accessible in the morning, before you go to work. Shortly, the sunset will also move to the time when most people get back from work, and it will be possible to catch an image or two before dinner is even served. And the greatest advantage – most mundane subjects can look amazing in the magical, warm light of golden hour. It just transforms the look of everything.

Get close

Most Midwest landscape in late fall (or snowless winter, like now) is not rendering great as sweeping panorama. It will be much easier to create something unique by focusing on “smaller picture”, getting close, photographing details. Leaves, plants, grass, branches can all be turned into delicate fine art prints. Look for patterns and textures. With amazing light (see previous tip) falling on every subject, all those elements will come to life.

Explore

Look for new subjects you have previously not given a second thought. Try “static object” panning while photographing tree trunks to create beautiful abstracts of lines and colors. Look for reflections in unfrozen lakes and rivers. Observe the patterns and colors of clouds in the sky. Use your macro lens to get really close and take a photograph which will make everybody wonder what it is.

For even more ideas, be sure to check out these photographers blog posts: Valerie Jardin’s “Morning light and frost” and “Down on the prairie“, and “Bare branches” by Patty Hankins. These are just few examples of creating beautiful fine art in your neighborhood!

And if you want to read more about finding inspiration around the place you leave, take a look at the wonderful e-book by Stuart Sipahigil “Close to home”.

The links in this post are affiliate links. I was also provided a free review copy of the e-book. See details of our affiliate policy here.

While preparing yesterday’s post, summarizing year 2011, I did a lot of cleaning on the blog, checking tags and categories and things. It made me jump to the least expected posts, sometimes quite old. I looked at this image from summer 2008, and I had some ideas how I would process it differently now. It probably is an evidence of not only how far I came in post-processing, but also how my esthetic changed. Although I still can appreciate contrast between light and shadow in my photographs, I prefer to see detail in the main subject.

To achieve that effect, I went to original image and discovered the Exposure was slightly brought down. I returned it to the original level and opened the image in Photoshop to try one-image tone-mapping. Did I generate a lot of digital noise doing that? Sure I did, but luckily I was also able to clean it up at the end. But I not only opened the shadow in which the church was hiding. I also exposed the warm setting sun rays on the side of the church, and let them contrast with blue light from shadows on the other side, the one facing the viewer. Unfortunately, the HDR treatment exposed a busy foreground, with many street signs and small side walk construction area, previously hiding in the dark. While still in Photoshop, I cleaned them and saved image back to Lightroom for finishing touches. At this point, all was left to do was to boost contrast, add a bit of vignette, and done.

I would love to her from you, if you find the Before & After series useful. My idea behind them is to show you, how image can be improved with your increasing post-processing skills. I am not giving you the ready recipes, rather I am showing some concepts to take back to your images taken years ago, at which you just look and wonder – “how could I let it be like this?”. But if you feel like more detailed technique explanations would be in order, let me know!

I have a side note to todays post. I wanted to share with you a non-photographic resource. If you would like to learn more about effective blogging from an expert in the area, check out “31 days to Build a Better Blog”. It is an e-book written by Darren Rowse. I have recently purchased it, read over holidays and found extremely inspiring. If you feel like this blog go re-energized, its the effect of the ideas I found in the “31DBBB”. If you would llike to do something with your blog, use the code FWOB33 at checkout and you will get “31DBBB” for just $19.99. But you have to decide by Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

The links in this post are affiliate links. I was also provided a free review copy of the e-book. See details of our affiliate policy here.

The whole idea of years summary comes from Jim Goldstein, who presented it for the first time in this post on Digital Photography School. It is still not too late to enter your blog in this year’s summary here.

I think I started to develop at least the favorite photographic subject, if not a beginnings of the style. I shot far more around the place I live, and I made a conscious effort to have subjects available. I had a small tomato garden and a bunch of wild flowers on the deck, which kept me occupied most of the summer. Also the number of trips I took, I tried to make each of them a photographic opportunity for some type of subjects.

Establishing myself as nature photographer, please take a look at some of my favorite images from last year. Please leave a comment, if there is something you particularly like. Or dislike.

Favorite flower

Last year, I created a small wildflower garden in front of my house. It made the flower subjects available to me even if had only 15 minutes to photograph on a given day. I created many of my favorite images there, and it was really hard to pick the best.

See more images in flower category.

Favorite wildlife

As much time as I spent photographing flowers, I also had some time to take trips to three large towns around my place. Two of those have large zoo’s – Chicago and St Louis. I could practice the wildlife photography. Among the images I created, trying to exclude all the captivity indicators, this one is my favorite.

See more images in wildlife category.

Favorite landscape

I used to present far more landscape images on the blog in the previous years. Last year, however, I did not have many chances to shoot them. Only the trip to Badlands in May gave me the occasion for real landscape shooting. This image was a result of patient waiting for the weather to break for spectacular sunset.

See more images in landscape category.

Favorite abstract

In contrast to previous one, this image was an outcome of growing frustration. When you cannot beat the weather, and create sharp image on the windy day, try working with what you have. I took the movement of this spring grass to extreme, creating this abstract.

See more images in abstract category.

Favorite HDR

I shoot HDR images on interior or cityscapes usually, where it gives me a chance to open shadows and show details and texture. But this scene just opened up in front of me on a trip to a park this autumn. If I wanted to have star burst and fall foliage in one image, it was the only way to go. Now I am thinking to make a large print for the wall of it. I like it that much.

See more images in HDR category.

Favorite B&W

Compared with previous years, I almost havent’t posted any black and white last year. Something to keep in mind this year. But this scene was the perfect candidate. Great light, and it was all monochrome, all green. Might as well loose the color and focus on the light and form.

See more images in black and white category.

“Ten” and “Ten more” is where it all started. These are the two e-books written by David DuChemin which were such an amazing success and made Craft & Vision e-books publishing company happen. Today, there is 35 e-book on different subjects and written by 13 different authors available on the site.

I purchased “Ten” and “Ten more” when they first come out, in August and September of 2009. Although the conten did not change and is still valid, they both got re-designed recently (in July 2011). It was a great move, as those e-books, even those downloaded as pdfs (and they have also a dedicated iPad app) look and read great on the iPad.

The success from those two e-books comes from the fact that they give the numbered list of answers to the most basic question: “how to make my images look better”. And none of the points listed in “Ten” and “Ten more” requires you to purchase more gear, which became the motto of Craft & Vision. What they do require is spending time to understand the gear that you do have. And foremost, you need to practice as much as possible with this gear as well as to set aside time to analyze the images you created. The e-books just gives you the points to study and a number of creative exercises to go out and figure things by yourself. It is the best way to learn and remember the knowledge for life.

I re-read “Ten” and “Ten more” recently, preparing this review. It was very inspirational. Many things seemed obvious now, with two more years of photographic experience. But I also got reminded about many things I still do not pay too much attention. One of them is that the focal length of the lens is not the choice based on how far from the object you are ;). It also affects the relation of the elements to each other. I hoep to be more aware of it from this point on.

I feel comfortable recommending “Ten” and “Ten more” to every photographer, regardless of the experience level. I am sure you will learns something, even from being reminded of the basics.

You can buy “Ten” and “Ten more” separately, for $5 each. You can also purchase a bundle of the two for just $8. Go to the Craft & Vision store now.

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