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Get rid of distractions . . .

We should always try our best to get the shot right in the camera. Sometimes however, when we look at them on our larger screen, there are some distractions that take the eye away from the main subject of the photo. Take a look at the two images. Most of the corrections were made in Lightroom 5 but I did have to go into Photoshop for a final clean-up.

When the sky is not interesting. . .

There are times when you’re out shooting and the sky is overcast or just not interesting at all. If you can’t totally eliminate the sky from the frame, try keeping it to a minimum.  It might just save the shot.

When we see an interesting subject, most of us stop and shoot at eye level. We usually shoot down on a flower and up at a building. By changing our “point of view”, we can make some beautiful, interesting photos.

Don’t be afraid to work the scene. The best shot may be only a few feet, a few inches or a different camera angle away. 

What's new in Lightroom 5?

I think every serious photographer should use Adobe Lightroom. It’s a wonderful way to organize and process your photos.

There are several really cool features in the new release of Lightroom 5. The Library Module stayed the same but the Develop Module has new features that make processing even faster and easier.

Here are a few of my favorites: 

Advanced Healing Brush: Adobe has upgrade the healing brush from just being able to remove dust spots with a round brush to being able to remove areas of irregular shapes. It works pretty well for a lot of things. I still have to go into PS for really close work, but it’s a great improvement over the previous versions.

Upright: If you shoot buildings, you’ll love this feature. It straightens tilted images with a single click. The new tool analyzes images and detects skewed horizontal and vertical lines, even straightening shots where the horizon is hidden. It works great with just one click.

Radial Gradient: Adobe finally realized that photographers like to make photos with the main subject off-center. The Radial Gradient tool lets you create off-center vignette effects, or multiple vignettes within a single image. It’s a bit strange to use at first, but you get used to it. The concept is good but I’ll bet they change it in the next release.

Smart Previews: I haven’t used this one yet but it could come in handy. If you store all your photos on an external drive, during Import Lightroom can generate smaller stand-in files of your full-size images. Without the external drive attached, you can make any adjustments to these files and the changes will automatically sync when the drive is attached.

There are some other changes to the Book and Slideshow Module, but I haven’t gotten there yet.

Give Adobe Lightroom a try if you don’t use it already.

Shoot in RAW

If you're shooting with your camera set to JPEG, it's time to give RAW a chance.  

There are 2 big advantages to shooting in RAW:

First, it provides the highest quality image. That's because the camera does not compress the file.

Second, the image is just as it was captured by the camera sensor, a digital negative so to speak.

A JPEG image is processed inside the camera, using a computer program to determine what you see, rather than you deciding what you would like to see. It also deletes a lot of information that may be useful to you later if you post-process. 

If you shoot RAW, you should know that when you look at the display on your camera you are seeing a JPEG image that has been processed inside the camera. When you download the image into your computer, it will look a bit flat and dull. You will have to do some post-processing to make it look the way you want it to look.

That's the disadvantage but the advantage is that you'll have lots of information to work with. Give it a try.

A few days before the riots in Turkey. . .

TURKEY: Only two weeks ago, Alan photographed a colorful, happy night scene on Istanbul’s famous pedestrian avenue, İstiklal Cadessi. The avenue, which runs from the medieval Genoese neighborhood around Galata Tower and leads to Taksim Square, was the site of violent clashes this weekend between protesters and police, the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years. Reports say that “windows had been smashed, scaffolding torn down, and the old stone walls of the grand buildings had been plastered with spray-painted graffiti – anti-government slogans, mostly.”