Project 365: June 30, 2008

A black and white darkroom contact print - paper negative, hand-colored.

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Project 365: June 29, 2008

A black and white, solarized version of the storm clouds hovering over my neighborhood this afternoon.

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Project 365: June 28, 2008

Sorry, lame photo. It's the only one I took today. I'll do better tomorrow, I promise!

I'm selling these on eBay if anybody is interested - like new! Only used twice!

Women's Rollerblade EVO 07W Inline Skates - Size 9 - Like New

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Photoshop Piglets and Droplets, Oh My!

Yes, this post sounds like I've taken on children's storytelling with Pooh bear, but not so (though no diss on Pooh bear, as I love Pooh! Though Piglet is indeed my very favorite. He is a Very Small Animal, you know).

I've learned something and figured out something and just all around came to a revelation of sheer post-production joy.

1. Lightroom's sharpening kind of sucks. (*gasp!*) I know, I know. I had heard that Photoshop's Unsharp Mask was the way to go, but I just hadn't gotten around to really playing with it. Now that I have, I want to cry, because Photoshop does SUCH a better job at sharpening, and Lightroom's is SO lukewarm at best in comparison. The torment I've been putting my photos through! The tragedy! Thou shalt never be lazy about learning a new trick ever again.

2. You can automate the running of Photoshop actions on export in Lightroom via Photoshop CS3's "Droplets." I learned this from Scott Kelby's awesome book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers. I just got around to finishing it last night. This can be used, for example, to run a sharpening action in Photoshop before exporting photos from Lightroom.

3. Using the "Run Any Command" piglet from Jeffrey Friedl's Lightroom plugin collection, in conjunction with his Lightroom - to - Flickr upload plugin, you can execute a Photoshop Droplet upon Lightroom export, then automatically upload the resulting photos to Flickr. (Note: Jeffrey's also got upload plugins for Zenfolio, SmugMug, and Picasa Web, and I'm betting this process would work the same on any of them).

So, all of that is just too cool for words.

Here's how I got #3 working under Mac OS X Leopard:

In Photoshop CS3, record your Sharpening action (or any other action - noise reduction, etc). My sharpening action is based on Scott Kelby's advice, which is to create a Luminosity Sharpening action. There's actually an excerpt from his book on how to create his Luminosity Sharpening action. Don't forget to include the File - Save and File - Close commands in your recorded action.

Then, create a Droplet in CS3 (File - Automate - Create Droplet). Save the Droplet in your Applications folder. I called mine UnsharpMask.

Then, choose a photo in Lightroom to export. Do a File - Export and choose the Flickr export (or destination of your choice using Jeffrey's plugins). Enable the Run Any Command piglet in the Lightroom Export dialog (you may have to restart Lightroom). Type into the Run Any Command box:
open -a UnsharpMask

where UnsharpMask is the name of the Droplet  you created in Photoshop. 

The -a tells OS X to look in your Applications folder for the application to open.

Voila!

I am the happiest camper alive a) to see how wickedly good Photoshop's unsharp mask works, and b) to be able to not only automate the sharpening action, but to automate it in a way that fits right into my existing Lightroom workflow, including the use of Jeffrey's uploading plugins. This is seriously just way, way cool.

For the Windows users out there, a previous poster on Jeffrey's blog left instructions on how to do the same in Windows. That's what inspired me to figure out how to do it on my Mac. I haven't tested this, but here are the Windows instructions (credit to Mark Alston):

Make a .bat file that contained the following:

@ECHO OFF
C:\path\to\droplet_name.exe %1
exit /b 0

And then to use this batch file as the command to run in runanycommand.

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Project 365: June 26, 2008

Re-processed this shot from my Seattle trip in October 2007. This was taken at Viretta Park, the de facto memorial to Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.

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Project 365: June 25, 2008

Made this in experimental class tonight. We covered the digital methods of solarization (versus the darkroom methods, earlier in the week). This is a photo I took sometime last year at Pilcher Park in Joliet.

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Project 365: June 24, 2008

My modded 35mm pinhole camera

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Solarization

We learned solarization last night in experimental darkroom class (aka the Sabattier effect). These are 2 prints I did in intro class, processed in the darkroom with solarization. We first partially developed the print in weak developer, then rinsed the print in water and flashed/re-exposed the print with another enlarger. Then we finished developing using some exhausted developer, then fixed and washed as per usual.

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Pinhole Resources

Here are some of the sites I'm using as I learn about pinhole photography:

Here's a good all-around site:
www.pinholeresource.com/

And here's the tutorial I used to mod an old 35mm manual camera into a pinhole camera:
silverbased.org/plasti-pinhole-pt1/

And here's my next project - new body caps are in the mail for me to try this out! Mod a dSLR body cap into a pinhole, for digital SLR pinhole photography:
www.flickr.com/photos/shuttermonkey/123964624 1/

And if you search "pinhole" here on Flickr, you'll find some amazing images. My favorite so far is:
www.flickr.com/photos/daisyjellybean/
She even does weddings with pinhole photography!

If you Google for "pinhole photography" or "pinhole camera" you'll find a wealth of information! I was shocked at how much is out there :)

Happy pinholing!

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Project 365: June 23, 2008

My back yard, as seen through a modded pink princess pinhole camera. ISO400 color film. Exposure was 6 seconds or so.  

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Project 365: June 22, 2008

Maverick, sleeping in my favorite spot

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Project 365: June 21, 2008

Allegan Lake, Michigan

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Project 365: June 20, 2008

Swirly deliciousness, as seen and eventually consumed in Allegan, Michigan.  

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Project 365: June 18, 2008

At the car wash, yeah...

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Project 365: June 17, 2008

Fantasy Ride

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Project 365: June 16, 2008

Eye for Love

From PHOTO282 - Experimental Darkroom class tonight. We made paper negatives from magazine pages and processed them.

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July 2008 Calendar

Download the large size -
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2582874758_783e95982e_o.jpg

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Project 365: June 15, 2008

One of Many

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Project 365: June 14, 2008

Fire Truck

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Desktop Calendar Photo: June 2008

Click the photo above to download the larger size.

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Project 365: June 13, 2008

The invitation for "Whiskers & Tails," my first art gallery exhibition - an invitational exhibit. Four of my pieces were accepted (photography). The exhibit opened tonight and will run through July. Check it out of you're in the neighborhood - Union Street Gallery, 1527 Otto Blvd, Chicago Heights, IL, just off of Route 30 near St. Joe's Hospital. There's some fantastic art in this show. I feel privileged and quite humbled to be a part of it!

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Photo Assignment #3: Photo Story

I've got a Flickr photo pool of friends, working on some self-assignments. Feel free to work along with us :)

Photo Assignment #3: Photo Story, June 15-29, 2008

As you know, I'm taking a couple photography classes this summer, and one of them is about to start wrapping up. My final portfolio needs to include 12 shots that adhere to a common theme or tell a story. I am at a total loss for what to shoot for my project - thus, this assignment!

Here it is:

Shoot at least 3 photos in a series that tell a story. The story is up to you!

Who's with me?! :)

Post the shots for your Photo Story by June 29th.

Shoot on!

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Project365: June 12, 2008

Eric playing pool. Shot this in my bw film photog class. Worked on it today in digital darkroom class. Scanned original film, edited in photoshop. Unfortunately, over-sharpened E's body and didn't do it on a new layer, so saved over the original scan. Boo, me. Lesson learned. Also removed Kevin fixing the broken TV from the back corner.  Messy, but when I realized I messed up the sharpening, I pretty much gave up on this iteration of the photo. Live and learn.

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Project365: June 11, 2008

This one has been on my to-do list for a LONG time - finally got around to clipping out the articles that I want to keep from the ginormous stack of magazines that have been piling up bedside.

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Project 365: June 10, 2008

This is from a shoot I did this past winter of a half demolished house near the new I-355 south extension. It was originally black and white film. I used a film scanner in photography class tonight to scan it into the computer for post processing.

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Project 365: June 9, 2008

Driving home from work  

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Project 365: June 8, 2008

Merlin, preparing to attack his reflection in the window.

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Not a Canon photographer!

Found this on PostSecret today - Not from a Canon photographer, of course! :P j/k

While this made me laugh, it's also pretty scary. I mean, I'm sure it's true - and from what I've seen from some of the photographers out there, there are quite a few that are making a living at this and aren't very good at all. While that can be encouraging (in the "I can do better than THAT!" way), it also makes me wonder if the competition is even that much more fierce when people can so easily disguise themselves as "professionals" without a lick of talent or knowledge. How does an emerging photographer that truly wants to learn the ropes distinguish him or herself from the fakes?

By making great pictures, I guess.

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Project 365: June 7, 2008

Roadside Breeze

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Project 365: June 6, 2008

Dave Matthews Band - Bridgeview (Chicago) 2008

The tailgating was fantastic, and the ominous skies held shut for what turned out to be awesome weather for an awesome show. Bela Fleck!! Oh, good times. Good times.  

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Project 365: June 5, 2008

My dad. I miss you every day.  

We don't have too many photos of the guy, as he was always behind the camera, not in front of it.

I scanned this photo from the original color negative, then restored it to get rid of dust spots and scratches (the negative is 15 years old and was not stored in a sleeve) and applied selective color.

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Project 365: June 4, 2008

Probably cheating for the date, as this was shot May 28th and processed while I was bored in photo class on Tuesday... but hey, it's my project, and I want this picture in there! :)  

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Canon Photo Paper Profiles

For the next time I can't remember which profile to use in Lightroom with which Canon photo paper:

MP = Matte Photo Paper
PR = Photo Paper Pro
SP = Photo Paper Plus Glossy

The numbers are for print quality. Lower numbers are better.

So...

PR1 = Photo Paper Pro, Highest quality
PR2 = Photo Paper Pro, Next best quality
SP1 = Photo Paper Plus Glossy , Highest quality
MP1 = Matte, Highest quality

Jotted this down off the web once upon a time, and I'm tired of digging up the scrap of paper every time I get a different paper! :)

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Project 365: June 3, 2008

As seen while driving to work...  

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Project 365: June 2, 2008

My WatchCat, Merlin  

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Project 365: June 1, 2008

The printer that is driving me insane with the printing of the stray marks that I can't seem to clean. Grrrr!  

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Project 365: May 2008

1. After walking, 2. Tonight's Rainbow, 3. photo171_portfolio-05062008-5, 4. Seagull enjoying McDonald's, 5. Printing in the darkroom, 6. For Mom's Day, 7. Urbanization I, 8. Trippin Goose, 9. raccoons-05132008-3, 10. The View, 11. Home for the week, 12. After dinner drink by candlelight, 13. Your Mom, 14. Enjoyed the sunset, 15. Geotime, 16. clouds-05262008-4, 17. At Least..., 18. Seasoned, 19. Someone's been sleeping in MY bed!, 20. drawings-05312008-10, 21. Resurrected Sandals

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