If your a regular on the blog, please update your favorites or whatever you do!
Please stop by to check this out! It looks hot :) Cheers to everyone:
4/28/08
New Blog Site!! So Long Blogger
We have a new blog website finally published live...We will not be using blogger for any more blog posts in the future. We have a much prettier blog happening over at www.davidmacvicar.com/blog
If your a regular on the blog, please update your favorites or whatever you do!
Please stop by to check this out! It looks hot :) Cheers to everyone:
If your a regular on the blog, please update your favorites or whatever you do!
Please stop by to check this out! It looks hot :) Cheers to everyone:
4/24/08
A Bit About The Workflow
Hey Y'all,
This post is geared toward the fellow photographers who may drop by to read this b.l.o.g.
In digital photography, the term 'workflow' is the big buzzword; essentially its how we manage the large number of files that digital photography facilitates and how we process these into final 'products'. There are not many digital photographers who take photos straight out of camera (abbreviated SOOC) and are finished with them. Most go through some sort of process of post processing ( often referred to as PP) to enhance, color correct or artistically alter the photograph.
That being said, I am going to let you know how I approach this whole workflow process and the key software pieces, photoshop actions, etc. that I use to create my pictures.
All photos are taken with Canon DSLR's (40D and 30D) with various lenses - some wide, a telephoto zoom, some prime lenses, etc. at the RAW format (uncompressed, pure pixel goodness)
After the photos are taken, they are imported into an incredible application called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
This powerful RAW editor allows you to make key adjustments to the photos that could not be done as easily on a JPEG file. You can fix exposure levels, white balance, tone curves, white point recovery, black point (shadows), and then some. I often use Lightroom to tone my images and do general color corrections. I use it mostly as a library or organizing application, neatly organizing my whole collection of photography into folders, all fully accessible in one or two clicks.
Once the photos are generally managed for color, etc., they are then imported into Adobe Photoshop (CS3 on Mac OS X Leopard) for 'retouching'. This can include blemish removal, removal of unwanted elements, plus general local enhancements such as color boosting in certain areas and sharpening.
ACTIONS!
I am a huge fan and user of photoshop actions for the speed and great looks that can be achieved. There are a 1000 photoshop actions out there that are free I do not use these actions personally, but there are alot out there. You can also make your own using the action editor. If you find yourself doing alot of the same things in Photoshop, such as certain curves adjustments, you can set this up as an action to automate the process. It's really quite awesome.
There are a few action sets by other professionals that I use on a continual basis. These are most from Kevin Kubota (the photoshop action God), Boutwell's Totally Rad Action Mix (the most popular set probably out there now) and some by Parker J and NicoleV.
The possibilities with this actions is enormous. I will do some before and afters for you to check this stuff out!
Here is the sample image I'll use for the time being. This one is SOOC (straight out of camera) with some blue toning done in Lightroom.
Now if we apply some action to this image, we can do a number of different things. Using some of kubota's actions, we can get results like these:
Kubota Daily Mutlivitamin; The Look;
Daily Multivitamin; Punch Drunk (from the new V4 set)
Boutwell's Technicolor Dream World; Warm-it-up Kris, Boutwell's Magic Glasses
Boutwell's Old Skool Fast; Magic Glasses
Here you can see simple 'retouching' done at the click of a button. That's right, there is no meticulous photoshop work going on in these images. These are actions run by a single click of a mouse. Mind you, you can alter the look of the resulting action through layer opacities and the like, but alot of the time the results from running the action are very good, just salt to taste! Alot, alot, alot of digital photographers utilize actions in their workflow. The number of people who use Kevin Kubota's artistic tools is staggering. With everybody using the same actions, it is important to fit them into your style so that you can manipulate the image and not have it look like everyone else's. I use these actions for generally popping my image (compared to straight out of the camera), but with all these actions aside, the photography of the image is still the most important element. An action is not going to make a bad photo look great. But if you start out with a great shot, and use the actions to pop your image, you can create some really great stuff!
I am going to start posting some video tutorials (not sure when!) but I would like to demonstrate stuff like this using videos instead of long blocks of text.
Until next time,
Dave
This post is geared toward the fellow photographers who may drop by to read this b.l.o.g.
In digital photography, the term 'workflow' is the big buzzword; essentially its how we manage the large number of files that digital photography facilitates and how we process these into final 'products'. There are not many digital photographers who take photos straight out of camera (abbreviated SOOC) and are finished with them. Most go through some sort of process of post processing ( often referred to as PP) to enhance, color correct or artistically alter the photograph.
That being said, I am going to let you know how I approach this whole workflow process and the key software pieces, photoshop actions, etc. that I use to create my pictures.
All photos are taken with Canon DSLR's (40D and 30D) with various lenses - some wide, a telephoto zoom, some prime lenses, etc. at the RAW format (uncompressed, pure pixel goodness)
After the photos are taken, they are imported into an incredible application called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
This powerful RAW editor allows you to make key adjustments to the photos that could not be done as easily on a JPEG file. You can fix exposure levels, white balance, tone curves, white point recovery, black point (shadows), and then some. I often use Lightroom to tone my images and do general color corrections. I use it mostly as a library or organizing application, neatly organizing my whole collection of photography into folders, all fully accessible in one or two clicks.
Once the photos are generally managed for color, etc., they are then imported into Adobe Photoshop (CS3 on Mac OS X Leopard) for 'retouching'. This can include blemish removal, removal of unwanted elements, plus general local enhancements such as color boosting in certain areas and sharpening.
ACTIONS!
I am a huge fan and user of photoshop actions for the speed and great looks that can be achieved. There are a 1000 photoshop actions out there that are free I do not use these actions personally, but there are alot out there. You can also make your own using the action editor. If you find yourself doing alot of the same things in Photoshop, such as certain curves adjustments, you can set this up as an action to automate the process. It's really quite awesome.
There are a few action sets by other professionals that I use on a continual basis. These are most from Kevin Kubota (the photoshop action God), Boutwell's Totally Rad Action Mix (the most popular set probably out there now) and some by Parker J and NicoleV.
The possibilities with this actions is enormous. I will do some before and afters for you to check this stuff out!
Here is the sample image I'll use for the time being. This one is SOOC (straight out of camera) with some blue toning done in Lightroom.
Now if we apply some action to this image, we can do a number of different things. Using some of kubota's actions, we can get results like these:
Kubota Daily Mutlivitamin; The Look;
Daily Multivitamin; Punch Drunk (from the new V4 set)
Boutwell's Technicolor Dream World; Warm-it-up Kris, Boutwell's Magic Glasses
Boutwell's Old Skool Fast; Magic Glasses
Here you can see simple 'retouching' done at the click of a button. That's right, there is no meticulous photoshop work going on in these images. These are actions run by a single click of a mouse. Mind you, you can alter the look of the resulting action through layer opacities and the like, but alot of the time the results from running the action are very good, just salt to taste! Alot, alot, alot of digital photographers utilize actions in their workflow. The number of people who use Kevin Kubota's artistic tools is staggering. With everybody using the same actions, it is important to fit them into your style so that you can manipulate the image and not have it look like everyone else's. I use these actions for generally popping my image (compared to straight out of the camera), but with all these actions aside, the photography of the image is still the most important element. An action is not going to make a bad photo look great. But if you start out with a great shot, and use the actions to pop your image, you can create some really great stuff!
I am going to start posting some video tutorials (not sure when!) but I would like to demonstrate stuff like this using videos instead of long blocks of text.
Until next time,
Dave
4/21/08
Sara - GBHS
Today was an awesome day. The continual good weather we've been having is very inspiring and it just makes you want to shoot!! I hooked up with an upcoming senior at GBHS named Sara and we made are way around the town to get some stand out shots in the natural light.
These were taken around 6:45-7:30 and most in the shade. The beautiful light was diffused by putting her in shade like environments. Doing this creates soft flattering light pretty much everytime!
These were taken around 6:45-7:30 and most in the shade. The beautiful light was diffused by putting her in shade like environments. Doing this creates soft flattering light pretty much everytime!
4/20/08
Something old, something new, something borrowed and something...free?!
I came across this little internet tid bit today and I thought i'd share it. It's called eWedding and it allows couples to set up free wedding planning websites that allows you to easily share your wedding details, etc. It's free with basically unlimited everything - photos, events, rsvp's, updates, etc.... Check it out!
http://www.ewedding.com/index.php
http://www.ewedding.com/index.php
4/18/08
Introducing...
AMANDA!!!
Unbelievable that Amanda hasn't made her way on here sooner; bad me! Anyways, this is the most beautiful woman I will ever lay my eyes on. She is the most amazing mother, girlfriend and business partner. When times are tough, Amanda pushes me through. When I am being illogical - Amanda is there to make sense of it all. Her role in my photography adventures is absolutely huge and because of this, I cannot thank her enough. I try everyday to let her know how impacting she is on all of this, but words cannot describe.
Amanda attends most weddings with me to help me throughout the day with a large number of things. If she is not helping me with off camera lighting, she is attending to the Bride or Groom to make sure things move as smoothly as possible. Again, I cannot thank you enough for being there for me.
To all the up and coming Bride's and Grooms, we are so stoked to spend the summer with you and take in these amazing times. Thanks for inviting us along and we will see you all soon!
-Dave
Unbelievable that Amanda hasn't made her way on here sooner; bad me! Anyways, this is the most beautiful woman I will ever lay my eyes on. She is the most amazing mother, girlfriend and business partner. When times are tough, Amanda pushes me through. When I am being illogical - Amanda is there to make sense of it all. Her role in my photography adventures is absolutely huge and because of this, I cannot thank her enough. I try everyday to let her know how impacting she is on all of this, but words cannot describe.
Amanda attends most weddings with me to help me throughout the day with a large number of things. If she is not helping me with off camera lighting, she is attending to the Bride or Groom to make sure things move as smoothly as possible. Again, I cannot thank you enough for being there for me.
To all the up and coming Bride's and Grooms, we are so stoked to spend the summer with you and take in these amazing times. Thanks for inviting us along and we will see you all soon!
-Dave
4/17/08
Kelby Training
This one is for photographers or anyone really, who interested in honing their photography, post processing skills. Scott Kelby, photoshop guru/God has created an amazing online resource of all things photography/photoshop. The Kelby Online Training website was launched recently and it features live video lessons from some of the great names in the industry including Eddit Tap & Joe McNally. Basically you can pay it all up front, or pay about 19 dollars a month, and that is full access to each class, and each class is very detailed, through and since its video screen casts, you follow right along in photoshop or whatever class your learning. Definitely hop on over if your interested...I've been following along for a month and I am about to extend that for another month! Check it out
http://www.kelbytraining.com/online/index.html
http://www.kelbytraining.com/online/index.html
Ok I know I am biased...but...
Isn't this guy the most handsome lil' boy ever? I think so - like I said, I am biased, but he's just so damn cute! Ben is getting so big, here he is sitting up in the tub getting all sudsey!
It was amazing timing - as soon as I started taking my photography alot more seriously, I was given the most amazing subject to take photos of. He came right in the height of my first wedding season, August 18th - believe it or not, I was at a wedding the day he was born. Thankfully, Kim & Derek were amazing and let me go during their supper!! I made it to the hospital and had time to coach Amanda through the last part of the labor. Then he came!! My god it was the proudest and most profound moment of my life.
Crazy enough, I headed back to the reception and finished up the wedding! Everyone at the wedding was cheering me on throughout the day because we knew we were having a baby that day. It was the most memorable day in all aspects of my life. It amazing that he is 8 months already...
It was amazing timing - as soon as I started taking my photography alot more seriously, I was given the most amazing subject to take photos of. He came right in the height of my first wedding season, August 18th - believe it or not, I was at a wedding the day he was born. Thankfully, Kim & Derek were amazing and let me go during their supper!! I made it to the hospital and had time to coach Amanda through the last part of the labor. Then he came!! My god it was the proudest and most profound moment of my life.
Crazy enough, I headed back to the reception and finished up the wedding! Everyone at the wedding was cheering me on throughout the day because we knew we were having a baby that day. It was the most memorable day in all aspects of my life. It amazing that he is 8 months already...
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