Blog Feed: 101 Quick and Easy Secrets

Since Google declared today as Keith Haring Day, I’ve devoted two blogs to the topic, this one and the Digital Traveler. Keith Haring was not only known for his wild and wonderful graffiti art. He was also an innovator in the art of text and image. Take a look at this political poster about apartheid, [...] > read more

Beginning HDR

Published on 2012-04-22 22:01:40

You often hear that including moving subjects/objects in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography doesn’t work out because when you combine the several images of different exposures, the people will show movement blur, or what photographers refer to as “ghosting.” If you’ve never made an HDR photograph that would make a lot of sense. What you [...] > read more

Flower Power

Published on 2012-04-14 20:03:06

Most photographers who sell their work know what the most important aspect of their collection should have–multiple photographs with the same theme. I’ve been developing two themes of late: 1. Flowers with Complementary Color Backgrounds 2. HDR Photographs of Paris Cafes I learned that those two themes, however trite they may seem to be, are [...] > read more

Writing Special: Defining an Audience for a Photography Book

Published on 2012-03-11 14:23:09

Interested in writing about photography? The reason I do it well and write photography books is because I was an elementary school teacher for 14 years. The job taught me how to change my writing to different levels. After analyzing the audience of my blog, Digital Traveler, which is the advanced amateur, I automatically write [...] > read more

The Haircut

Published on 2012-02-27 09:20:10

Here’s a busy street in Hanoi, Vietnam–kind of an odd place to set up a barber shop–but, hey, why not? Talk about reducing overhead. Only drawback to this quick and easy set up is that he’ll have to shut down really quick once rain starts falling. Taking the picture was no picnic. I wanted to [...] > read more

Movement: Richard Avedon

Published on 2012-02-21 04:24:19

Richard Avedon changed the look of fashion photography, having his subjects seemingly flow through the frame, updating the posed look of the Steichen years. His subjects appear animated–motion-filled figures frozen in movement, most of the time clothed in garb you’ve probably never seen before, nor will ever see again. This image shows some snapshots of [...] > read more

Photography for Kids

Published on 2012-02-13 23:02:19

There are a number of photography books geared to young people. One recent book takes the approach of integrating digital photography into the classroom (see below). All are great for teachers, students and parents. The books are: Digital Photography for Teens ($34.99) by Marc Campbell, ISBN 1598632957, Course Technology, 2006. Book includes setting up the [...] > read more

How Can Photographers Use the Cloud?

Published on 2012-02-06 22:50:34

If you’re pitching a how-to photography book, you’ve have to have a clear idea of what it’s going to be about. Here’s the description I gave for Photography Applications to Cloud Computing, a book coming out in a few months. Increasing numbers of photographers want to be able to store, access, edit and print their [...] > read more

How to Publish a Book Post by Post and Make Money Doing It

Published on 2012-01-30 17:15:25

For years, I have had a detailed book proposal with chapter forwards about signage of the 20th century. It’s been in my external hard drive for years wasting away. I created a blog to support it at Blogger. I had no intention of posting any part of the book because I thought I would be [...] > read more

Published on 2012-01-25 22:26:19

This, my friends, is a 32 bit image as it looks on my monitor. You see, my monitor can’t handle all the information that a 32-bit photo contains. As a matter of fact, your monitor couldn’t handle it either. No monitor can that’s build for consumers today. Another thing: In order for an image to [...] > read more

How Long Does Carbonite Take to Back-up?

Published on 2012-01-20 15:53:48

If you go to the Carbonite site you’ll find that it can back-up a few gigabytes a day. This is true with your average high speed connection, as I’ve tested it. Remember, too, that how fast you upload depends on how long you’ve got Carbonite shut off or paused. Your computer must be on and [...] > read more

Ten Celebrity Photography Tips

Published on 2012-01-15 11:13:56

Celebrity photography at events can be tricky. You have to think way ahead of time in order to get good photographs. I pondered how I would photograph James Franco at the Palm Springs International Film Festival screening of Sal, a movie he directed. This post is specifically for event photography. I was surprised that I [...] > read more

Sad News in Rancho Mirage

Published on 2012-01-10 23:46:17

A sad day for Rancho Mirage, California. The building in which the restaurant Gigi’s was located burned today and cannot be saved. The building’s curves hugged the ground, much of it tucked underground. The landmark structure, designed by Kendrick Kellogg in 1978, was identified by architectural buffs as “modern organic.” I shot the building awhile [...] > read more

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i and Cheaper Alternatives

Published on 2012-01-06 16:56:55

Before I got my Canon 5D, I had a Canon Rebel XT sometimes called the D 350. That camera was incredible in that it took great images, even at high ISO speeds. It does much better than the 5D in terms of eliminating noise at high ISO speeds. For this reason I can recommend the [...] > read more

Photoshop Smart Sharpen

Published on 2012-01-03 12:27:20

Smart sharpening is a good tool for web images, but not for stock. When you go to sharpen your image, change the resolution to 300 percent so you can clearly see what you are doing. Then sharpen the photo (Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen). Choose less than 2 for the Radius and then play with the Amount until [...] > read more

Favorite Type of HDR Tone Mapping

Published on 2011-12-30 16:39:46

I have to say my favorite HDR tone mapping choice in Photomatrix Pro is the painterly effect. If my image set is well-exposed, all I have to do in Photomatrix is select Painterly and I’m done. This brings to mind Photoshop HDR Pro. I think the two are very different. HDR Pro ends up being [...] > read more

Photoshop Express

Published on 2011-07-05 16:10:38

Take a peek at my new article at BrightHub about about Photoshop Express. > read more

Modern Chair

Published on 2011-07-03 09:01:02

This chair is a play on the 1950s lime green color. When I was growing up, we had a couch this color. It was one unit that was curved so that a kidney-shaped coffee table could fit snuggly into the nook that created in front by the shape of the couch > read more

The GPS Cameras

Published on 2011-06-26 16:55:12

Generally, camera manufacturers have not included GPS capability in cameras because of the cost. “Camera makers say they haven’t adopted widespread use of GPS in cameras because it’s expensive it can add almost $100 to the cost of a camera and > read more

Light Field Photography

Published on 2011-06-24 10:23:21

The internet is all a-buzz about light field photography, a method of taking pictures where the entire light field is captured on the camera’s sensor. The new camera, which brings light field photography to life, is a Lytro. The camera takes pi > read more

A Street Photography Synopsis

Published on 2011-06-21 15:43:06

Street photography has a long history that dates back to the late 19th and early 20th century. Eugene Atget, one of the first street photographers, took photographs all over Paris, including images of vendors, parks and buildings so that painters cou > read more

Searching Flickr

Published on 2011-06-17 00:17:17

My article about searching photo sharing websites is up at BrightHub. I use an example for a search of ”smoking men,” which turns up some pretty amusing images. This idea came up when I was having a conversation with a friend, who to > read more

PC verses Mac

Published on 2011-06-15 12:28:08

Back in 2007, when Darren Rowse, the creator of the Digital Photography School blog asked his readers about which computer they use for post processing; he got 143 comments. Most comments were favorable to both types of computers. It just depended up > read more

Entering Cuba

Published on 2011-06-14 10:20:39

The photography exhibition at the Getty in LA is called, “A Revolutionary Project: Cuba from Walker Evans to Now.” If you have an interest in the socialist revolutionaries of twentieth century, you’ll find this exhibition fascinatin > read more

Canon 5D Mark II Video

Published on 2011-06-07 20:46:50

Video speeds or frame rates have become important specifications on still cameras. The video speed is the speed at which the camera makes image frames. It’s measured in frames per second. The television standard is 30 fps, whereas film is shot at 2 > read more

Five Tips for Great Flower Photographs

Published on 2011-06-06 19:14:42

After writing an intense post on my other blog, the Digital Traveler, I’m ready for some flowers. I spent yesterday at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, which is a great place to photograph flowers. Here are some tips for photographing them: 1. > read more

Desktop Fine Art Photo Printers

Published on 2011-06-02 13:56:34

Printers come on all shapes and sizes. An ordinary color printer won’t meet the needs of a fine art digital photographer. Large stand-alone printers are used by many professionals, but they are pricy and take up an entire room of a house. What > read more

Photoshop Effects–Creating a Double Exposure

Published on 2011-05-31 22:52:23

One of the easiest Photoshop effects is to create a double exposure. You just need to have a little knowledge about how to create Layers. Here are the steps: 1. Decide on two images that you want to juxtapose, one on top of the other. 2. Open the two > read more

Tutorial for Photoshop: Enhance Sky

Published on 2011-05-30 15:57:07

In this tutorial for Photoshop, you’ll be able to enhance the sky of your photograph in a snap. While this tutorial for Photoshop isn’t as efficient as other more complex tutorials for Photoshop, it does the job in most cases. � > read more

Vintage Television Set

Published on 2011-05-25 17:54:42

In my latest effort to get my work out on the Internet, offering it for sale, I spent some time today revamping an image I’ve had for 7 years. Since then Photoshop has changed and is much better at eliminating noise and other bothersome artifac > read more

Famous Photographer

Published on 2011-05-25 02:40:07

Rodchenko was a famous photographer who placed his subjects in photographs a good distance from the foreground. A good example of Rodchenko’s trademark style is the image “Woman with a Leica.” There’s a good deal of foreground > read more

Camera Aperture

Published on 2011-05-23 19:15:58

If you’re a beginning photographer and are constantly getting soft (blurred) photos, consider changing your camera aperture. If you camera has Aperture Priority mode, shoot in that mode so you can widen your camera aperture to stop action. Have > read more

Camera Setting

Published on 2011-05-19 18:26:40

You may think camera setting is an easy chore, something you really don’t have to think about once you know the subject you are shooting. Camera setting is the act of setting your camera before you shoot. Since I’m mostly a street photogr > read more

Published on 2011-05-18 21:07:42

Another Slab City photo op. Here in this land of nothingness lies junk that is valued. People come from all over the country to see Slab City, a place where people settle on land that costs them nothing. You can find people here who have successful b > read more

Bay to Breakers Photography

Published on 2011-05-17 16:25:35

While it might not look like it on its Home Page, the Bay to Breakers is just one great big party. The 2011 Bay to Breakers race took place this last Sunday. To be sure, there were winners; but they are a small lot limited to the front of the race, > read more

Raw Photoshop

Published on 2011-05-16 15:38:34

Have you ever wondered how to open files in camera raw? Many people search for that on the Internet under the keywords “Raw Photoshop.” In order to use Raw Photoshop all you do is double-click on the image and your raw photoshop file will > read more

Photoshop Raw Black and White Conversion

Published on 2011-05-14 15:23:00

When changing your photographs from color to black and white, the first thing you want to do is make sure that the you have as much control of the gray tones as possible. There are several ways to get your photos from color to black and white in Phot > read more

Dreamstime

Published on 2011-05-12 18:29:18

I’m back in the microstock business. I look at it as more of a hobby than work. It gives me time to mull over the photographs I have taken these past few years. Most microstocks sell their photos as royalty-free, meaning that there is a one-tim > read more

Shall We Dance?

Published on 2011-05-11 17:46:53

This is an image hand-painted poster for the movie “Shall We Dance.” It was playing in Myanmar when I visited there in 2005. I thought it was incredible how they painted all of their advertisements for movies by hand. The image was shot i > read more

Pretzel Cart

Published on 2011-05-10 12:13:56

How’s about a pretzel? New York City is home to nearly 3000 food carts. The carts are clean and the pretzels are soft and hot. The regulations guiding these food vender carts are stiff. The place has to be clean or its taken off the street. Eat > read more

Tanks in a Desolate Land

Published on 2011-05-08 16:59:24

Where are these military tanks going? I saw them yesterday while driving around the Salton Sea about 60 miles south of Palm Springs. They were headed south. The only cities in the United States south of where I saw the train are Brawley and El Centro > read more

Pictures of Pictures

Published on 2011-05-06 16:48:06

Bet you’re thinking, ahhhh, they’re so cute. Some of the best photo ops are pictures of pictures. I think Barry Newman of the Wall Street Journal said it best in a January, 2011 article entitled, “If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Wo > read more

Mary Higgins Clark

Published on 2011-05-05 12:52:49

With camera hanging from my shoulder, I roamed the Los Angeles Times Book Festival at the University of Southern California campus ready to snap every author I saw. While I was shooting, I hadn’t recognized any of the authors. I assumed that th > read more

Photo Paris

Published on 2011-05-04 14:28:27

Taking a Paris photo requires a little imagination, some cool light and a surface upon which to set your camera. Paris is seen best by using a tripod to take pictures during the night. If you don’t have a tripod, set your camera down anywhere a > read more

Aaron Siskind Emulation

Published on 2011-05-02 12:47:00

Aaron Siskind was a master at turning wall scrawl into art. He’d take a close-up of graffiti, peeling paint and/or other aberrations of surfaces he found and make them into abstract art. Siskind was one of several photographers who could coul > read more

Best Sandcastles Ever!

Published on 2011-04-29 02:46:15

When you were a kid do you remember lazy beach days building sandcastles and watching them be washed away by the waves. The temporary art these days has gone big-time. Every other year Berlin hosts Sandstation, an extravaganza of sand sculptures so r > read more

William Eggleston Retrospective

Published on 2011-04-27 13:21:09

These days, there’s no modern art museums you can go to that won’t have something–books, images, exhibitions–by William Eggleston. From LACMA to MOMA he’s there. He’s everywhere–one of the few famous photogra > read more

Skew and Saturation Tweaks in Photoshop and Other Photoshop Tips

Published on 2011-04-26 11:36:33

Dramatic changes in an image are possible with some tweaks in Photoshop. The image on the left before I tweaked in Photoshop has two flaws: 1. The building has converging lines (the side slants inward). 2. The colors are dull. When I first saw this i > read more

New Take on Future of Cameras

Published on 2011-04-24 11:39:09

NEWS FLASH–The future of the cell phone camera update… This prototype has the functionality of a dSLR camera (interchangable lenses) and works with a mobile device. This innovative camera, the Camera Futura, has been envisioned to answer > read more

Type of Column

Published on 2011-04-21 14:29:47

Can you guess what type of column this is? If you like photographing architecture, it helps to know a little what type of column catches your interest. Many photographers take close-up images of columns to show the styles and designs of them. Some do > read more

Arkansas Church

Published on 2011-04-19 20:14:49

Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t design this church. His student, E. Fay Jones did. The church, Thorncrown Chapel, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas rises within a forest of tall trees. The church opened in 1980. It’s open mostly to visitors with no a > read more

Inle Lake

Published on 2011-04-18 12:53:21

Inle lake is one of the most enchanting spots in the world. I’ve written about it extensively on my other blog, Digital Traveler. At any time of day the clouds billow over the hills that wind around the lake. Long canoe-like boats travel, fil > read more

Listening Skills

Published on 2011-04-15 17:36:42

As photographers sometimes we think we know everything about picture-taking. It’s as if we have no listening skills while a camera is in our hand. Our eyes see and frame everything, never missing a thing; we hear nothing. Once we escape from > read more

Henry Cartier-Bresson

Published on 2011-04-14 13:03:45

As a photojournalist, Henri Cartier-Bresson founded the Magnum Photos (see history of agency), which has a library of images that cover the time period from the Spanish Civil War to today. He developed street/candid photography as an art and was one > read more

Lens Review

Published on 2011-04-13 16:19:26

Most of the time I’m not really into photographing flowers, so I don’t really don’t write macro lens reviews. Aside from that, just about everyone else takes pictures of flowers and writes about lens reviews of macro lenses. Most > read more

Images By … Harry Callahan

Published on 2011-04-12 14:52:25

Famous photographers of the 20th century defined architecture of the period. Harry Callahan was a famous photographer who created unique image of repeating patterns in architecture. Images by Harry Callahan used building windows to show patterns of > read more

Hungry and Homeless

Published on 2011-04-11 16:05:48

Traveling the outskirts of downtown LA brings forth a plethora of contradictions. Here is this homeless man with a sign that says “Homeless, will work for food.” When you see this guy, he’s obviously big and probably eats more t > read more

Paris Circus

Published on 2011-04-10 01:01:27

Richard Avedon took many of his fashion photographs using the scenes from the Paris circus in the background. In 2010 the fashion photograph of a woman, Dovima, sold for $1.2 million. You don’t have to be Richard Avedon to get the dramatic back > read more

Vignetting

Published on 2011-04-08 18:06:33

Vignetting, or the black halo you see around the edges of a picture can be a problem with Canon lenses. This picture that contains vignetting was taken with a Canon L series 24-105 mm lens. You’d think at $1000 the lens wouldn’t do that, > read more

Camera Reviews

Published on 2011-04-07 14:08:51

If you’re shopping for a camera and don’t want to read a list of camera reviews from some clogged up site with pop-up ads, consider learning about the different types of cameras available and what will be available a few years from now. T > read more

Photographing Landscapes with People

Published on 2011-04-06 17:20:46

Adding people (in this case a couple of guys) to a landscape is one way to keep it from looking like wallpaper as many landscapes do. In this shot the two guys appear to be looking at something; perhaps, they have found something. This leaves a quest > read more

Are Blown Highlights Acceptable?

Published on 2011-04-04 12:31:08

If you look closely at the men wearing the white uniforms in this image, you’ll see areas of pure white. Most professional photographers avoid these at all possible costs. A polarizing filter can reduce blown highlights that white surfaces refl > read more

Man with Message and Blogspot Domain Name Change

Published on 2011-04-01 15:28:38

Walking in San Francisco’s streets can offer many surprises. When I first passed by this guy, I saw his sign and took a close-up of it. Then a few yards later, I thought that it would be a more compelling shot had I gotten a picture of the gu > read more

Photographing Yosemite Valley

Published on 2011-03-31 17:32:31

This Yosemite Valley shot hit me while I was browsing through Bridge, Adobe Photoshop’s photo management program. This particular photo of Yosemite Valley came to me all at once why, out of nearly a hundred landscapes, I picked this one for my book > read more

Photography class in Riverside

Published on 2011-03-31 02:14:34

One photography class you probably didn’t get in photography school is the History of Fine Art Photography. That’s the photography class I’m teaching at UCR. It begins on Thursday, April 7, 2011 from 7 to 9 p.m. I’ve been wr > read more

Making a Movie from Your Images Using iMovie

Published on 2011-03-28 14:13:55

For you Mac users, there is software that comes with your computer that allows you to make a slideshow movie with your images, set it to music, and save it as a movie file or upload it directly to YouTube. To do this, find iMovie in your Applications > read more

Eastman Dry Plate

Published on 2011-03-27 12:40:16

From 1878 to 1929 developed George Eastman developed the Eastman Dry Plate to develop and expose film. This is the ad that describes the Kodak and how its used: The Kodak is the smallest, lightest, and simplest of all Detective Cameras–for the > read more

Buying a New Camera

Published on 2011-03-26 12:52:09

If you’re considering a new camera, this is the book to buy. Welcome to the future of photography. In this book you’ll get an up-close look at the latest cameras along with a peek into what the future of photography will bring. Also, I in > read more

Tiki Madness

Published on 2011-03-24 12:22:08

No rhyme or reason as to why these tikis rise about a Dublin street. The glass of beer on the billboard in the background adds a party-like flavor to the shot. Tiki motels, another type of party photo-op, are abundant in the United States. If you scr > read more

Ode to the Phone Booth

Published on 2011-03-22 14:15:54

The last phone booth I presented on this blog was blue. This one is red. It was found near Lake Merced in San Francisco. This one no longer has a phone in it. Phone booths are becoming part of the unused urban jungle. They are ripe for abuse and negl > read more

Klimas Will Blow You Away

Published on 2011-03-21 12:30:31

Martin Klimas is an incredible photographer. This image, courtesy of Foley Gallery, takes extreme skill to produce. The photographer drops the vase of flowers in a controlled environment (a dark room), setting the strobe so that it goes off when the > read more

Cover for My New Book, New Image Frontiers–Defining the Future of Photography

Published on 2011-03-19 02:32:35

> read more

Imagekind or FineArtAmerica?

Published on 2011-03-17 20:25:22

I finally did it! I uploaded my sign images to a site where they can be sold. I’ve been procrastinating about doing this project. Now that I’m in the process of doing the uploading, I can report that FineArtAmerica.com handles the uploadi > read more

Stepping Over a Puddle

Published on 2011-01-27 11:50:35

I adhere to the principle of pointing your camera in all directions, including down at the ground. Nothing like catching a person in the middle of stepping over a puddle. This was shot in New York City, a land of what will soon become a lot of puddle > read more

Twin Towers

Published on 2011-01-25 10:42:29

Here’s another set of twin towers in New York City. This set of buildings are not as tall or striking as the ones that were destroyed on 9-11-01. It’s amazing that Ground Zero hasn’t been rebuilt yet. There’s a plan, which you > read more

Fake Backdrops

Published on 2011-01-18 19:50:45

One of my favorite things to do in photography is to find an artificial backdrop for a friend to interact with. In this shot I found the perfect background for the subject to interact with. As you can see, she knew exactly what to do after I explaine > read more

Abstract Photography

Published on 2011-01-15 10:04:26

In New York where I had the opportunity to interview a gallery owner. During the interview we talked about abstract photography. You can produce this type of photography by photographing graffiti close-up as Aaron Siskind did back in the mid-twentiet > read more

Abandoned

Published on 2011-01-12 09:22:39

One thing I always look out for when out and about with my camera is abandoned building. The way they age intrigues me–the peeling shingles on the roof, the dangling wires inside the sign and the chimney that cuts into the building’s inte > read more

How to Make an HDR Photo

Published on 2011-01-10 12:40:50

Making an HDR (High Definition Resolution) photo is a snap in Photoshop CS 5. First, you shoot three images of an object/setting at -2EV, 0EV, +2EV. Use a tripod. After you’ve shot the three images and download them from your camera to computer, > read more

Musical VW

Published on 2011-01-06 19:59:25

An original VW usually will turn any photographer’s head, but a VW decorated with musical instruments is a heart-stopper. Luckily I wasn’t driving last October when I took this picture. “Slow down,” I said. “Drive the > read more

Old Polaroid Shot

Published on 2011-01-05 10:55:34

Here I am. I guess I was about 12 or 13. It’s hard to tell. This was shot with a Polaroid Instamatic camera, one of the best inventions the world has ever known. Lomographers are not the only photographers reviving old film cameras, refreshing > read more

Mickey

Published on 2011-01-03 19:44:16

This is Mickey. He’s part of an image that includes text (Mickey’s name on his shirt). The lighting in this shot is optimal. Mickey’s red shirt picked up all of the ambient indoor light. In order to take a good candid shot, you need > read more

Richard Avedon Self-Portrait

Published on 2011-01-02 19:55:07

Palm Springs Art Museum’s Richard Avedon exhibit is first-class. The show runs through Jan. 30th. The movement of the arms in this self-portrait is signature Avedon. Many of the portraits he shot show fluid fashion models gliding through the > read more

The Future of Photography

Published on 2011-01-01 18:34:07

Happy New Year! This one should be a great one. My new book, New Image Frontiers–Defining the Future of Photography, is the first photography book that describes what the future of photography will look like. From hardware to software, aesthe > read more

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Blog Feed: 101 Quick and Easy Secrets

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