LR Videos Streaming Free

If you have not seen this announced yet, Elephorm is streaming Hal's Lightroom training videos free until the 31st of January.

We are biased but there is no better Lightroom training available and FREE for the next two weeks makes it even better.


Elephorm Lightroom


Have fun and Fiat Lux!

Topaz DeNoise Webinar is Available on YouTube

My recent Topaz DeNoise webinar is available to watch on YouTube. 

Enjoy.

Fiat Lux!

Denoise Video

A recent video showing my Topaz Denoise and Detail process.

Thanks for the questions that help generate these videos!

Fiat Lux!

Elephorm Universal Player FAQ - For Hal's Lightroom Tutorial

We have received a lot of questions regarding how to use the Elephorm Universal Player with Hal's Lightroom videos.  Here is the entire FAQ for the player with step by step description and images.

For those who might not be familiar Hal's Lightroom training is available via streaming video or you can download the content to your desktop/laptop.  If you download the interface to play the videos is the Universal Player.

Currently, you can stream all of the videos on your idevices but the content is not downloadable there yet.  An iOS app for iPad/Phone is almost ready though.

Thank you to everyone for providing the great feedback and reviews!

If you have not checked the training out yet, you can find it here Elephorm - Lightroom

Universal Player FAQ What is the Universal Player ? If you have access to Internet, you can view our tutorials with no installation needed. But what if you want to train yourself on the train, the plane or in an hotel with sluggish internet access ? That’s when our Universal Player comes in handy. We’ve made a super simple to follow step-by-step. Player installation   Connect to en.elephorm.com with your email and password, and locate the Universal Player Blob, as shown on picture below. Click on the Install button and follow instructions. Player Login   After installation, the player will open automatically. You will then be prompted to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) and to enter your details (same email and password you use to connect to en.elephorm.com) Your library   You are now in your library, and you’ll be able to download your tutorials to HD in a few clicks. Click on the Arrow Icon on the right to initiate download On first Download, you’ll be prompted to choose a directory. We suggest you use the one proposed, and avoid external HDs. Once chosen, all tutorials you may download must go into the same folder. The flashing Arrow and the VOD label that turns into a HDD label means your videos are being transferred to your HD. If you see a VOD label next to the Arrow Icon, you didn’t downloaded yet, but can view as you would on the site, that is streaming. Please move on to next section to understand what’s happening behind the scenes Understanding the Player   NOTE: To access the Lessons Summary shown in the picture below, you just have to click on the Chapter Access button in the Library. A few things you should know: The player will download all the videos in a folder that should not be moved or renamed. You can choose which directory the folder will be created to, we suggest you should use the one first proposed. Some tutorials have 200 chapters, and an over 15 hours duration. It will take some time to download, so please plan ahead ! The player downloads a maximum of 3 videos at a time, to save bandwidth. These three videos cannot be watched until completely downloaded (a progress bar shows download status, see picture below), all other videos, either downloaded or not can be viewed. Still need help ?   Please feel free to contact us on en@elephorm.com !

 

Recent Topaz Webinar is Up for Review

Topaz Labs just posted the webinar I did with them a couple weeks ago.  Enjoy and, as always, send me any questions, comments, or concerns.

Fiat Lux!

Bull

Blending Landscape Exposures with Marc Muench

This weekend we are happy to have Marc Muench here to teach Light students the latest tips and techniques in exposure blending. Last night we shot along the Bluff Trail in Montaña De Oro State Park to gather images for HDR processing.

The fog left us alone just long enough to get some great shots of the sunset.



Today we'll be using the images from last night to explore the different ways to blend multiple exposures together to create stunning High Dynamic Range images.

We hope to have Marc back soon for another awesome workshop.

There will be more HDR learning opportunities during the California Photo Festival Oct. 12-16, 2011.

Check out our website www.LightWorkshops.com to see the rest of our summer workshops.

Fiat Lux!

Lightroom in the House this Week

 After three minutes in Lightroom

Raw capture straight from the camera

Our Lightroom 3 course is in full swing at Light.   People are often surprised we offer a five day LR course and remark "What could you possibly talk about for five days?" 

Lightroom is such a powerful program it will make your workflow as effective and efficient as possible, but only if you use all of the tools, tips, tricks, and techniques.  To get a full understanding of the digital workflow and how each LR module, feature, and function applies takes some time.  We have found five days is the perfect amount to go from total beginner to complete master.  Interestingly, the same often applies to folks who have been using LR for years. 

I have always thought much of Lightroom's power is in the Library Module.  Most of the photographers we meet have some inefficiency when it comes to the first three stages of the digital workflow, Import, Edit, and Organize.  This is where a strong understanding of digital asset management and Library functions come together to save the day.  I find it this aspect so important I normally spend two full days with the Library Module ensuring everyone has a supreme grasp of its power.  Only after the required legwork can we get to the fun and sexy stuff in the Develop Module. 

Man cannot live in the lab alone so we will be out shooting tomorrow morning and for the rest of the week to build some source material and hone our workflow.

We did get to experience a fun little bug in Lightroom today though. Always interesting when the big demos do not go as advertised.  Not sure whether this is new in 3.4.1 or was in 3.4 but will do a bit more troubleshooting tomorrow.  Fortunately, the bug is a very limited scope issue.  I do a demo Import of several files and rename the files in the process.  The files I use have a combination of upper and lower case file extensions.  If you happen to have "Leave as Is" selected in file extension on the import dialog-File Renaming tab, LR will not rename files with an upper case extension.  This only seems to occur when the import source contains files with both upper and lower case extensions.  So probably only applies to me in a few demos. 
Fiat Lux!

Topaz Detail Webinar Replay

Here is the replay of the webinar I did with Topaz Detail a few weeks ago. 

The mask process I quickly describe is available here.

Please send me any of your questions or comments to hal@Lightworkshops.com

You can find other Topaz webinars here.

Fiat Lux!

Composite Images for Easy Expanded DOF

I shot the two images above for this demo while onboard our yacht tour a couple weeks ago.  We weren't in perfect position for the composition I really wanted but pixels are free so I shot anyway.  The eagles are separated from the mountain and glacier background by about 10 miles.  I had a Canon 400mm f/2.8L on my 7D at the time and could not get both foreground and background in focus with the given focal distance.  I decided to quickly shoot with eagle focus and again with glacier focus; the only thing that changed between shots was focal point.  Although I was on a tripod the boat was moving so there was a slight shift in the images. 

Once back in Lightroom I performed some basic optimization, selected both images, synchronized, right clicked, and chose the option shown below.  If you are working Bridge, the same optimization and synchronization may be done via ACR.  Select both images and then choose Tools-Photoshop-Load files into Photoshop Layers.

With a stack (a multi layer image in which each layer comes from an individual image) in Photoshop I needed to do some masking in order to selectively reveal and conceal each layer.  I wanted the foreground from one image (with the eagles in focus) and the background from the other (mountain and glacier.)  As always with Adobe I had at least three options: 1) I could add a mask to my top layer and then use a brush to paint. or 2) I could select the eagles and rock in the foreground and then add a mask (turning my selection into a mask.) or 3) I could let Photoshop do the work and Auto-Blend.  The Auto-Blend option (Edit-Auto-Blend Layers)when set up as below uses contrast as a discriminant to build a mask.

There are two main "gotchas" with Auto-Blend.  The first is if there is a shift in the images you might need to Auto-Align first.  Interestingly, in this case Auto-Align did not work as the images were fairly different without enough common pixels to scene map.  Second, to activate Auto-Blend as an option multiple layers must be selected.  Use click + shift click functionality to select multiple layers.  

After the blend, Photoshop gave me the layer masks you see above.  Not perfect but pretty good and extremely fast.  I made a few more changes to the images in order to correct color and boost contrast in the background.  I used a Curve adjustment layer for color correction and then stamped visible and set the resultant pixel layer to the Multiply blend mode with a reduced Opacity.  I copied a layer mask from above in order to reveal the effect on only the background.  To copy layer masks from one layer to another hold Alt (Win) / Opt (Mac) and click, hold, and drag a layer mask.  

I also wondered what the image might look like with only one eagle so I removed the bird on the left.  To do this I first selected the left most eagle with the Quick Select Tool and then Filled using Content Aware Fill.  This did most of the job but left a few places to touch up with the Healing Brush and Clone Stamp.  Finally, I cropped a bit differently. 

In the end, the eagle is too centered for my taste.  Normally the center is deadly (As Rick Sammon likes to say.)  Potentially, an argument could be made that the extended depth of field allows the viewer to leave the centered eagle and explore the in focus, interesting background.  Regardless, I think this image will only serve as a demo.

Fiat Lux!

Jack and Jane

Jack Davis and Jane Conner-Ziser are here this week with a Photoshop, Lightroom, Painter, and shooting extravaganza.  I cannot say enough about this course.  The amazing tips, tricks, and techniques from these two Masters are nonstop. 

The multi-instructor workshop is an excellent opportunity to pick up two unique points of view for the entire digital workflow.  To me one of the great things about photography is the ability to apply our creative vision to the shoot and after capture process.  There are very few cookie cutter approaches when shooting and optimizing.  Listening to two instructors, we are forced to accept and use multiple techniques and options to achieve the final image.

Jane Conner-Ziser fine tuning a pose

The attached shots are from a location shoot we did here in Los Osos.  Jack and Jane are masters of light, posing, and composition.  The shoot was an excellent break from the computers and a huge learning experience for all (also made some cool images.)

Jack Davis shooting (note big camer over shoulder and iphone in hand)

We are back in the lab today hitting it again.

Fiat Lux!

Instant Polarizer Video Tip

A Foggy Moon Eclipse

Last night my 3-yr old daughter and I were able to get a few snaps and a few videos of the eclipse. Though it was a light foggy night I was able to get a couple interesting shots of the moon getting covered up.

Reagan tried to get a few with her little Xsi and 85mm but she was not pleased with her results.

I set up the Canon 7D with a 100-400mm on an Induro CT-313 tripod and the BH-55 from Really Right Stuff with a Canon Cable Release (easy for a 3-yr old to handle as well). So actually, I guess Reagan took the majority of the photos!

Most everything was taken as stills during the video recording. Once I get the video put together I'll try to get something up so you can see the fog blowing by the moon. It was pretty spectacular to watch.

For this collage I opened several images from Lightroom as layers. I doubled the length of the canvas size and created a black background.  I masked the moons so that I could minimize the black area around them  (making it easier to grab them with the "auto select" tool option on my move tool as well as making the document size a bit smaller). That way when I click on each moon it automatically selects the moon I want. I then put each moon into a "lightening" blend mode...I chose Linear Dodge just to see how it looked and stuck with it. I'm sure there are others that would work just as well.

I then used guides to line up each of the moons so that they are centered on the document as well as in line with each other. I cropped any excess canvas off and Voila! A beautiful moon pano ready for Christmas!

Keep shooting! Even when you think it's too cloudy!

-Victoria