The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Washington D.C.
POTD: The Vietnam Women’s Memorial
Monthly Archives: May 2016
In Remembrance
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Washington D.C. Click for a larger version.
Richard Duane Klug (the name just above the rose) was born January 26, 1946. He died in Darlac Province, Vietnam, November 14, 1967 at the age of 21. He is one of over 58,000 American soldiers that died in Vietnam, and one of over 1.1 million American soldiers that have died in all American wars (almost half of them in the Civil War). It is with a profound sense of gratitude that I reflect on the lives of those who “gave the last full measure of devotion” on behalf of their country.
POTD: Reflections
My concept was to photograph a young woman in a stream with reflections of her and the trees in the ripples of the water. I had just the right stream in mind and at this time of year there was just enough water. This isn’t the pose I originally had in mind. More about that later.
“How To” Series: Photoshop’s Color Tools and Systems
Photoshop Screen Capture with Color Picker. Click to see a larger version.
To work with colors in Photoshop it is helpful to understand how Photoshop deals with colors and the relationship between the RGB, HSB, and other color systems. This series is a basic introduction to Photoshop and color.
Tutorial: Using Photoshop’s Color Selection Tools
This tutorial will guide you through the basic color selection tools in Photoshop. Other kinds of image editing software will have a different layout, but similar tools. Before you go through this tutorial, read Learning Photoshop Colors – A Color Picker Tutorial. It covers some Photoshop color information that is basic to understanding this tutorial.
Learning Photoshop Colors – A Color Picker Tutorial
Screen Capture: Color Picker at ColorPicker.com
Using a color picker is a quick and simple way to learn how software (like Photoshop and Photoshop Elements) identifies digital colors with numerical systems. You can follow along in this tutorial. To make this tutorial quick and simple, we will use an online color picker.
A Handy Online Color Picker
There is a convenient online color picker at ColorPicker.com. It is quick and easy to use when you are online and don’t want to take the time to fire up your favorite image editing software.
The Nik Collection Is Now Free!
With excellent reviews, the Nik Collection of seven software plugins is highly desired. Discriminating photographers have been buying individual plugins or paying $499 for the whole set. Google bought the Nik Collection and dropped the price for the full collection to $150. Now you can download the whole collection for free. This is great news for everyone who has been wanting this powerful set of software editing tools but has been putting it off due to the price.
The Best “How To” Nature Photography Books
Some of my favorite nature photography books.
Want to be a better nature photographer? Read anything by John Shaw, Galen Rowell, Art Wolfe, Freeman Patterson, Tim Fitzharris, George Lepp, Larry West, Arthur Morris, Allen Rokach, John Netherton, Leonard Lee Rue III, Brenda Tharp, Tony Sweet, and the Stackpole (publisher) nature series.
Now for some specific suggestions as to the “best of the best” books to look for. These are my favorites out of hundreds of photography books in my library. Continue reading
Nature Photography Books: The Three Essentials
Nature Photography Books
A good photography book can put you well ahead of the game, and three essential nature photography books (plus maybe a few others) can save you years of time learning things the hard way.
The Best of the Best: Recommendations For The Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, Magazines, DVDs, Online Photo Labs and More
The best of the best cameras, accessories, photo books and more.
UPDATE: The most recent update and re-posting of this article is here.
I get lots of photo questions and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone shopping for a photographer.
Here is my list of “best of the best” of articles recommending the best photo gear, software, books, DVDs, calendars, online photo labs, and a whole lot more.
Last posted Dec. 21, 2015. Updated May 12, 2016
Free! The Digital Printing Quick Start Guide from John Paul Caponigro
Screen capture from John Paul Caponigro’s web site.
Get it free while you can! John Paul Caponigro is one of the best of the best. This is your chance to learn from the master. Caponigro de-mystifies the challenges of getting beautiful, high quality prints that match the colors you see on your monitor.
Better Images: Adobe’s Improved “Process Version” for Adobe Camera Raw
Vermilion Lakes Sunset, new and old ACR “process versions”. Click on the photo to see a larger image.
Adobe has a new “process version” for Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). This means better image processing for your RAW camera files.
The Movie Film Preservation Guide
Do you have movie film that you don’t know how to care for, protect, and preserve? The Film Preservation Guide is for you. It is a free PDF download. You can thank the National Film Preservation Foundation. As an added bonus, they show old historic films on their web site.