NOCCC Beginner's Digital Photography SIG

NOCCC Members Debate Everything

December 2011 Meeting Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG
SIG Leader: John Krill #3160

NEW Room Science 131A: We have moved our meeting location from Science 127 to Science 131A. To repeat we will be meeting in Science 131A from now on. Science 131A is next door to Science 127. Clear?

A Photo Shooting Holiday

Would anyone be interested in spending an hour or more walking the Chapman campus taking photos and talking about how we take pictures?

An Update On Buying A Digital Camera

One of the members e-mail me asking that I recommend a camera to him. He gave me a list of requirements for a camera and asked me to name a camera model. See last months report for the details.

The Update: Howard Phillips was the member who e-mailed me asking for suggestions for a new digital camera. So what did he buy? It was a Nikon 1 V1. He brought it to the meeting. It’s an impressive camera.

Now Howard has to show us some really great photos from the camera. You can do it Howard.

It should also be noted that another member brought in a new digital camera and it was the little brother to the Nikon 1 V1. It is the Nikon 1 J1. We think Nikon may have a hit on it’s hands. Both members really like their Nikon 1. I’m saving for mine (Nikon 1 V1.)

I’m Still Hoping That An Android Pad User Will Volunteer

I would like to demonstrate Adobe’s new Photoshop Touch App (http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-touch-apps/what-is-adobe-photoshop-touch/) I will pay you to install the software App on your Android ($10.00). Any one interested?

The February Meeting

Part of the meeting we will continue viewing the instruction video that Larry was showing in this months Advance Digital Photography SIG merting.

We may also go outside and show some ways to take interesting pictures.

We may also touch on Photoshop Elements 10. I just recieved it and I still need a bit of time to get used to it.

Standard Stuff That Is Always In This Report

This report should be up on the SIG’s blog. I may go into greater detail and I will include screen shots as well.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

Check out the SIG Blog for other information and maybe info on what we will discuss at the next meeting.

As always we will answer any and all questions.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

We had 15 members at our SIG meeting.

See you at the next meeting.

Note: I am using a new Web location for the photos I take at the meeting. I now upload the photos I take to Microsoft SkyDrive. A link will be put here every month to the folder with that months photos.

SkyDrive Photos for the December 2011 Club Meeting: http://tinyurl.com/75skc6m

PS: If you saw the actual link to the photos you would think it never ended. It’s the longest link I’ve ever had to deal with. Solution is the TinyURL web site. Give it a really long link and they give you a nice short one. That’s the link you see above.

SIG Blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/

Email: noccc.bgphotosig@gmail.com

Book Review by John Krill, NOCCC #3160

Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It
Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image
by Scott Kelby

Publisher: New Riders
Pages: 238
Chapters: 13
Price: $46.99 (Amazon: $27.68, Kindle: $19.79)

In 50 years of using a camera I’ve owned only 2 electronic flashes. I won’t even go into flash bulb era. So to say I’m ignorant in my knowledge of artificial lighting is an understatement. In my 4 years as a Marine Corps photographer I would go anywhere, do any assignment, but I would do anything to stay out of the studio. So when I was asked to review this book my first though was: Not in a thousand years!

I changed my mind. Why? Because I have two projects that are entirely portrait based and artificial lighting will be necessary. So here goes.

About The Author Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby has written so many books on photography and Adobe Photoshop that I gave up counting all of them at Amazon. He knows Photoshop. He is one of the most experienced experts on Photoshop. Scott Kelby just knows.

I mention all this because he knows how to write and how to present information in a way we can all understand.

His website is: http://www.scottkelby.com/.

What It Is?

This book is a how-to for setting up a small studio lighting system. It details what equipment to purchase, how to shoot with one, two, and three lights, and the steps the author used to process the images in Adobe Photoshop.

That’s it in a nutshell.

How Each Example’s Lighting Setup Is Presented

There are 11 different setups using one, two, and three lights and one setup using four lights, where he demonstrates the arrangement of the lights and their power settings and what settings he uses on his camera. He then goes through a step-by-step process of editing the image.

There are also several illustrated photos of each shooting showing the entire studio setup and the posing of the model. One nice thing he does is illustrate each lighting system with an overhead photo and he also removes all the extra clutter, cables mostly, that helps in showing the each layout clearly.

Since the lighting and shooting steps are fairly straight forward they tend to take up the least time. The major discussion is on using Photoshop. This is usually a long explanation for each step in creating the perfect image in Photoshop.

Even though most of the book involves using Photoshop that doesn’t take anything away from the lighting and shooting of each shot. All the information you need is presented in a very clear manner.

A Big Bonus

A really great bonus is at the end of the book. He goes through all the lighting setup over again BUT he uses hot shoe flashes. For me this is a big plus. Now I can get started on building a portable studio. This is much less expensive way of starting out in artificial lighting.

And Then There Is That Gear Guide

Lastly is a complete guide to all the equipment used in the book.

Don’t Forget The Extras Online

You can go online and download all the images that they use in the book. Note: The book uses RAW images but they only provide high res JPGs online. You can still load the JPGs into the Photoshop RAW editor.

If you have never setup multiple lights and controlled them by one unit (That’s me!) then take a look at the video provided.

The link to the photos and the video is: http://kelbytraining.com/books/lsr.

Just Get Started

Now I need to get online and use the book as a guide and start building my own studio.

Do you have the need to use software that will allow you to control your camera from a computer? Many people do. It’s called Tethering. As in I have my camera tethered to my laptop.

For many who need tethering software may only need it for very limited purposes and they’re (Include me)   unwilling to spend $150.00 or more for the software.

Can you afford $0.00? Thought so.

This is how to do it.

First is the tethered software. There is a company in the U.K. that has a free version of their software called Tethered Pro Lite. It doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to download and install the software and you’re up and running.

So Tethered Pro Lite will control your camera, take the photo, and download the image to any folder you assign.

So the photo is on the computer how do I view it?

In a word Picasa. And it’s also free. The beauty of Picasa is that once you have it continuously watching a folder it will then load the image into Picasa automatically and it’s then ready to view.

At the February 2012 meeting I will demonstrate the entire process of acquiring your pictures using remote control software.

The Picture: The flags at Chapman University were really flying what with all the wind. Tried to get the flags the moment they were both extended completely out. I flipped the photo 180 degrees horizontally.