Calvinize Me

It was a few months ago that I was browsing in my local bookstore and saw a book called 'Calvinize' by Calvin Hollywood.  I'd never heard of him before but the cover image grabbed my attention.  A quick flip through the pages and I was intrigued by the quality and artistry of the images.  

Turns out it was a tutorial book by a famous retouch artist from Germany that has earned fame through his unique and highly skilled photo retouching skills.  It includes several pages of his images in print along with sparse text talking about everything from hiring makeup artists, models, lighting and accepting criticism.  The text is well done for someone who's first language isn't English and has some useful information especially for those photographers starting out building their first portfolio.  Having said that, there isn't much text.  I was able to read the book cover to cover including taking time to look at the images in under an hour.  

The photos inside the book range from jaw dropping amazing to OK for my taste.  But that's photography isn't it?  We can't all love the same looks.  The images are really high quality though and the retouching is top notch.  It's a joy and inspiration to flip through the images in print on paper.  One of my favourite things to do, look at and feel photographs on paper.  

Olympus E5 with 35-100 f2.0 lens.  ISO 200 1/160 sec f4.5

Enough of that though, what people really buy this book for is the attached CD which contains over 4 hours of step-by-step video tutorials on Calvin Hollywood's Photoshop techniques.  I've been through most of them, some of which were old news to me and some of which were really amazing tools for me to learn.  The photo in this post was inspired by Calvin.  

I'd say if you are looking for a series of tutorials on photo retouching and haven't found satisfaction online, then this book would make a good addition to your library.  It has some simple techniques and some more advanced multi-step techniques.  While Calvin warns you in the beginning that you should not be a total beginner with Photoshop before you try and follow along, I think that most users should be able to follow his step by step instructions with relative ease.  

Having great images to start with for the edit though is really the key and he points this out himself.  Get it right in camera first and you will be able to use this Photoshop advice to turn a good image into a great one.  That was advice I also heard from Scott Kelby on his Light It Shoot It Retouch It seminar and I think it is worth stating to everyone.  

Photoshop can make a Good image a Great image and a Great image an Incredible image, but it will never make a Bad image Incredible or Great.  Get it right in camera.  Learn your craft, and polish it in post production.  

Thanks for popping by the blog.  If you live in the US I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I ended up shopping online with BHphoto for some great Black Friday deals so thank-you for that tradition as well!  

My Newest Fascination

I've had the good fortune to play with a digital medium format camera in the past (a Leica S2), but as much a I loved it, I simply can't justify the cost.

So in an attempt to satisfy my medium format lust I recently bought myself a
Pentax 645N with the 75mm f2.8 LS lens that allows syncing up to 1/500th of a second when you use the shutter and sync port on the lens (otherwise The sync is 1/60).

The camera is a joy to hold, deeper than a regular DSLR front to back but not much larger otherwise. It's heavy but not horribly so and the lens is light so it's not as front heavy as you'd think. The grip is really nice to hold and the knobs and buttons on the camera are well laid out. I did read the instruction manual to learn to load the film properly and figure out some functions but it's a short book and once you read it you'll be using the camera like an old pro. I have the 120 and 220 inserts for the back and I understand that should I ever feel rich the lenses will work on the digital 645D.

I've just finished my first roll of film so I can't comment too much on the quality of the images. Film being the great equalizer I'd say the only risk is missed focus or a poor lens and from what I understand it's a very sharp lens. Focussing manually is a breeze with a huge bright viewfinder which is a dream compared to any DSLR viewfinder. There is a focus confirmation light/beep for manual focus lenses like mine but Pentax also made some autofocus lenses as well.

More to come about this camera for sure. Thanks for dropping by the blog.

OK, so bad photo, but it's an iPhone photo  :)

Shooting for the Thumbnail

Olympus E5 with 35-100 f2.0 lens

I started noticing something earlier this year and have been paying attention to it lately.  Looking at hundreds of photos on sites like Flickr or Facebook I noticed that some had more 'likes' or comments than others.  Well OK, we all notice that.  There are some things that are pretty obvious about what might draw more attention than others.  Photos of pretty women, cute photos of babies or kittens or photos of photography equipment seem to draw a lot of attention just because of the subject matter.  But I've seen a lot of images that I don't really love, (including images I've photographed) get a lot of attention and other images that I thought were pretty fantastic get virtually none.  I wondered what was up.

Now if you've been reading this blog for a while you probably know I can be a bit thick.  I'm thinking that most people know this already even subconsciously.  It's the images that look good as a thumbnail.  They are the ones that get the clicks, likes and comments.  

If they are high contrast, colourful and easy to distinguish in content while small, then they are getting a like.  Most people I suspect don't even click on the image to view them larger, they just click like and move on.  Another thing?  If there are a lot of 'likes' or clicks then there are more likely to be people that just join the crowd without looking.  The image above would get clicks.  Would get even more if she was photographed against an orange or purple wall I think adding a pop of colour.

So it doesn't mean that the images that get liked are bad.  In fact a lot of the time they are excellent, but really, from that thumbnail do we know they deserve our adoration?  I doubt it.  And none of this is a problem, or wasn't until I noticed something about my own behaviour a few months ago.  I started editing for the click.  I'd search through a pool of images from a photo session and post the one I had trained myself to know would generate those addicting clicks.  After all we all want to be adored don't we?  But was I choosing my favourite image?  The one that best suited my taste, my style and my passion?  No I wasn't.  

And there-in lies the problem.  Photography has boiled down to a half second glance on a thumbnail to generate fleeting popularity.  I'm sure photographers are now creating images on purpose and have even altered their styles to create the popular thumbnail look, even if they don't know it.  To me at least, that is a shame.  And so I console myself by flipping through large photo books, looking at prints and images full screen on my big monitor.  Because when I really want to fall in love with photography, I dive in.  I want to stare at it, figure out the lighting, feel the emotion.  I almost want to taste it.  

Can't do that with a thumbnail.  

Days Like Today

Well it's our last wedding of 2011 and it's days like today that I'm super glad I still have my Olympus cameras.  It's raining cats and dogs out there for a November outdoor ceremony.  I'll be getting wet, but the E5 and E3 will be just fine.

Olympus E3 and 50-200 Zuiko lens at 130mm  ISO 400 f4.0 1/250 second 

I prepare a little differently for days when rain is threatening my work day.  First off I pack both my Olympus gear and my Canon gear in separate bags.  The Canon gear gets used for the indoor portions of the day and the Olympus for the outdoor portions.  I don't really have to carry two bags because one can stay in the trunk between locations.  One tip though, in case you get your stuff stolen from your car, keep your memory cards on you at all times to avoid losing images.  Mine are in a card wallet that gets attached to the belt loop on my pants.

I also pack a couple of things that I normally wouldn't.  I pack some large Ziploc bags that I will put over my small flash to keep them dry for off camera work.  They are transparent so no issue there.  I also have  a large soft cloth that I keep in my bag.  I give my camera a quick wipe under cover just before I change lenses to avoid any excess water dripping into an open camera body by accident.  Of course keep your camera pointed down when changing lenses.  I like to change them only when I'm protecting them from the driving rain.

I pack a separate set of clothes as well to change into if I get a chance and if I need too.  Or at least I'm going to today for the first time.  :)  You are witnessing me learning my lesson.  I also pack a rain coat with a hood.  We bring umbrellas for the people we are photographing as well.  They keep people dry between shots and also can make for fun props.  I like to keep a towel or blanket in the car as well.

Well, I'm fully packed for my day, shirts are ironed.  Wish me luck.  I have a full weekend of editing to do but the E5 vs Canon 7D review is coming.

UPDATE:  Well, just home from the wedding now.  The sun came out and it looked fantastic, then.....during the middle of the ceremony a huge windstorm came, knocked down two trees, and the rain poured.  I had Geoff (our assistant) run back to the car and get my Olympus gear, but my Canon's got wet.  The 5D got water drops inside the viewfinder and fogged up hopelessly.  The 7D seemed to do better.  We got them under cover quickly and Geoff  dried them off and put them in the car.  Adam kept using his 7D and seemed to do OK with it.  The E5 was great to use.  Changing lenses under an umbrella was challenging, but we managed.  Here is a photo of Adam's 7D like a wet dog.