August 17, 2010 by conrad
If you experienced crashes in Adobe Photoshop CS5 on the Mac after installing the Mac OS X 10.6.4 update, there were issues with the graphics drivers in that particular Apple update that may have caused your crashes. (The bugs may have also affected you if you use Apple Aperture or play certain graphics-intensive games under Mac OS X 10.6.4.)
Now the good news: Apple has released Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0. If you download it and then install it on Mac OS X 10.6.4, it should resolve the problem, according to Adobe.
If you had been holding at Mac OS X 10.6.3 like I’ve been, it looks like it’s finally safe for Photoshop users to move up to Mac OS X 10.6.4 as long as you also install Snow Leopard Graphics Update 1.0.
Posted in Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Photoshop, Apple, Mac OS X | Tagged Photoshop, Mac OS X, linkedin, Snow Leopard, crash, drivers, Apple, Creative Suite | Leave a Comment »
Several of my photographs, including new work, are on display in a group show named “A Place Called Home” at Ida Culver House in Broadview (north Seattle). The show is up from July 22 to October 31, 2010.
The reception is on Thursday, July 22, 2010 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
RSVP: 206-361-1989 by July 19. See you on the 22nd!
Click to download “A Place Called Home” poster and reception info (PDF document)
Posted in Exhibitions | Tagged event, exhibition, linkedin, photography | Leave a Comment »
Ante Rush, 5:46 a.m.
My image Ante Rush, 5:46 a.m. has been selected to be part of a set of images printed on note cards for sale as part of the Long Shot group exhibition at Photo Center NW. Pick one up on June 4, 2010 by coming to the preview at 4 p.m. or during the free party from 6 p.m. to midnight! When you buy this notecard, all proceeds will go to support the Photo Center NW school and its programs.
Long Shot is a 24-hour photo fundraiser, which is why this image was taken so early in the morning. Over 180 photographers around the world shot images in support of Photo Center NW, and on June 4 you’ll be able to see and buy prints of many of the images we shot throughout those 24 hours. Get there early if you want the best selection of affordable art at the show.
You can also support PCNW without buying a print; simply donate directly to Long Shot by entering my name as the Long Shot photographer you’re sponsoring on the PCNW donation form.
For more information, see the Long Shot blog and the Photo Center NW web site.
PCNW is at 900 12th Avenue (corner of 12th Ave and E Marion St) in Seattle.
See you there on June 4!
Posted in Exhibitions | Tagged benefit, event, exhibition, linkedin, pcnw, photo center nw, photography | Leave a Comment »
Dead of Night, 4:55 a.m.
My image Dead of Night, 4:55 a.m. will be on display as part of the Long Shot group exhibition at Photo Center NW. Check it out up close on June 4, 2010 by coming to the preview at 4 p.m. or during the free party from 6 p.m. to midnight! If you buy this framed print, all proceeds will go to support the Photo Center NW school and its programs.
Long Shot is a 24-hour photo fundraiser, which is why this image was taken in the middle of the night. Over 180 photographers around the world shot images in support of Photo Center NW, and on June 4 you’ll be able to see and buy prints of many of the images we shot throughout those 24 hours. Get there early if you want the best selection of affordable art at the show.
You can also support PCNW without buying a print; simply donate directly to Long Shot by entering my name as the Long Shot photographer you’re sponsoring on the PCNW donation form.
For more information, see the Long Shot blog and the Photo Center NW web site.
PCNW is at 900 12th Avenue (corner of 12th Ave and E Marion St) in Seattle.
See you there on June 4!
Posted in Exhibitions | Tagged benefit, event, exhibition, linkedin, pcnw, photo center nw, photography | Leave a Comment »
Adobe has announced that there will be a web launch event introducing Adobe Creative Suite 5 on April 12, 2010. The launch page contains several preview videos of new features and workflows.
The event is also billed as a “first look,” so don’t expect the software to be available right away.
See the launch event page at:
http://cs5launch.adobe.com/
Posted in Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop | Tagged Adobe, Creative Suite 5, cs5 | Leave a Comment »
When you change your clocks for Daylight Savings time, remember to shift your cameras by one hour too! It’s easy to forget since our computers and phones adjust to DST automatically. Until our still and video cameras do that too, we’ll have to remember to change their time settings manually.
The capture date and time recorded in a photograph is increasingly important. In the era of film it never affected very much except for people who liked to print the date on their snapshots. Today, the capture date/time affects whether images can sort properly by time. With one camera it’s no big deal, but if your business or family has multiple cameras that are not all set to the correct time, your software can’t sort the photos from all those cameras in chronological order. You may not think you have more than one camera, but for example, if you like to shoot with both your SLR and the camera on your phone, you might want to to put photos from both cameras together and have them successfully sort in chronological order.
Capture time errors don’t affect just the photos on your computer, but the copies of those photos that you upload to online services such as Flickr which let you navigate your photos by time. Of course, a one-hour DST error isn’t much, but it can affect you if you’re trying to pinpoint the time a photo was taken compared to the time of an event. In any case, the point is to remember your cameras when you go through any time change: DST, passing through time zones when traveling, and so on.
Posted in Cameras, Digital Photography, Taking pictures, Video | Tagged camera, time, daylight saving time, capture date, exif, metadata | Leave a Comment »
February 4, 2010 by conrad
If the number 604 is stuck in your head as the maximum size of an image that Facebook will display, it’s time to reprogram your brain (and maybe your Photoshop actions/Lightroom presets for Facebook, too). The Inside Facebook blog reports that the maximum photo dimension on Facebook is going up to 720 pixels on a side, but the maximum size of profile pictures is going down to 180 x 540 pixels.
This feature is being rolled out gradually, so you might not see it right away.
If you already uploaded photos and want them bigger, those probably won’t change. Since Facebook has no way that I know of to replace photos, the only way to make photos in an existing gallery bigger is probably to trash all the existing photos and upload them again, losing existing comments, Likes, and (probably) links in the process.
Posted in Facebook, Web | Tagged Facebook, images, photos, Social networking | Leave a Comment »
January 6, 2010 by conrad
Are you a photographer or designer and still not quite sure how color management works? Confused about how to use color profiles? Have you tried to read books and articles about color management, but are overwhelmed by the terminology?
Now you can better understand color management with my DVD and online video, Color Management without the Jargon: A Simple Approach for Designers and Photographers Using the Adobe Creative Suite. I created this video as an approachable introduction to the ideas behind color management and the basics of a good color management workflow. While there’s a lot of good material about color management out there, I feel that much of it jumps into jargon and abstract concepts too quickly. I saw an opportunity to explain color management in the simplest possible terms. I intend Color Management without the Jargon to prepare you for and to complement the deeper, more comprehensive, but also far more challenging material out there.
What you’ll learn
This 1½ hour training video helps beginning and intermediate Photoshop, Bridge, InDesign, and Illustrator users understand the basics of color management, including how to profile monitors and create consistent color in a production workflow. This video provides technical background without being overwhelming, and presents concepts and steps that are easy to follow.
How to watch
You can order Color Management without the Jargon as a DVD from your favorite bookseller or store, or you can watch it online as a streaming video from Peachpit Video. Here are some links to get you started:
DVD on Amazon.com
DVD on Peachpit.com
Watch online at Peachpit.com
More info
Below is the publisher’s marketing copy if you want to learn a bit more…
Every digital photographer or graphic designer knows that color management is important, but many still do not calibrate their computer monitors or understand how color works in different spaces. This 90-minute DVD will help beginning and intermediate Photoshop, Bridge, InDesign, and Illustrator users understand the basics of color management and how to create consistent color in their workflow.
Highlights of this accessible and easy-to-follow DVD video include:
- Calibrating your monitor and digital SLR camera
- Tackling color profile detective work in Photoshop and InDesign
- Assigning, converting, and embedding profiles
- Managing color output for print and the Web
- Integrating raw files and Lightroom into your workflow
- Handling color conversions between video-editing software and Photoshop
The supporting 48-page printed reference guide provides additional links and content.
Posted in Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Photoshop, Color management, Digital Photography, Printing, Training videos | Tagged Adobe Creative Suite, Color management, DVD, linkedin, Photoshop, training, Video | Leave a Comment »
November 24, 2009 by conrad
There’s a great tutorial over at Vimeo on controlling the dynamic range of digital SLRs when capturing video. It turns out that the video mode of digital SLRs is tuned like a typical JPEG mode: To get a contrasty, “finished” look right away. But like JPEGs, this means a lot of tonal and color information is tossed out before the capture is saved, which can be limiting if you need a look that’s different than what the camera gives you. If highlights are blown or shadows are plugged, you may be left with nothing to work with at the high or low end when you try to adjust the image quality.
The technique covered in the video linked below involves using Canon Picture Styles (presets for how the camera processes images) to dial down the contrast and color in an attempt to squeeze as many of the original scene’s tones as possible into the range the sensor can capture. A file captured this way looks flat and lacks contrast, and isn’t something you would show as finished. But that’s because, as with raw capture or like Ansel Adams shooting film, we are at a step in the process where we’re not trying to create a perfect picture at the moment of capture, we’re trying to capture enough of the right data from which we can produce a perfect picture in post-processing. That’s an important difference.
It’s also important to understand that this capture technique isn’t quite as good as actually capturing video in raw format, but video cameras that do are pretty rare and I think most of them are expensive and called RED. This technique is about doing the best you can with the non-raw capture you have.
This capture technique is often called increasing or maximizing the dynamic range, but I prefer to call it optimizing. You’re not making the sensor capture more tones, you’re rearranging the tones you’ve captured before they’re recorded. I suppose you could call it maximizing the available dynamic range.
Here’s the URL to the video:
http://vimeo.com/7256322
While the video talks about the technique in terms of the Canon 7D, Canon Picture Styles can be used with the 5DMkII and others. And the principle can be applied to other brands of cameras that give you control over the image quality of the video.
Posted in Cameras, Canon 7D, Video | Tagged Video, dynamic range, Canon 7D, Canon Picture Styles, video capture | Leave a Comment »
October 29, 2009 by conrad
The Tallyn’s blog has posted a list of error codes you might see in Canon digital SLRs:
Canon Error Codes Revealed
What, no Error 99? (Actually, the post says the list is for the 5DMkII and later models.)
Posted in Cameras, Digital Photography | Tagged Canon, error | Leave a Comment »
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