TrevorCarpenter.com

Yesterday I was in a special mood. I don’t know why, but I was grouchy for a bit. However, as usual, I wander the internets reading blog posts and articles.

Apparently, I stumbled upon one of my dailies, and posted a comment. Well, I guess my comment was a bit off topic, or something. I was also critical. I know, I know, that’s out of the ordinary for me. Usually I’m such an amicable kind of guy.

Well, the blog post in question was over at Scott Kelby’s blog. The article is titled, Camera Raw, Bridge, or Lightroom? Basically, Scott had a question about the confusion over using the RAW converter in Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom. Rather than answer the question directly to the asker, he blogged it. Makes sense. I’d do the same. In my special mood, I read the article and was curious about why Scott didn’t mention anything about Apple’s Aperture.

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

Now, let me be clear. I was a bit harsh in my comment. I was being sarcastic. I guess it was enough for Scott to reply with a blog post today.

However, I am still curious about Scott deciding to take a specific question, from one fan, and answer it generally for the public. Now, if the original question happened to come from a Windows user, then a Windows based answer is appropriate. But, to bring the discussion to a more open forum, and attempt to become more general, why not include a wider set of variables to the question?

Why not consider the RAW converters in most of the industry standards for photographers? I’m sure if you included Apple Aperture, Nikon NX, and maybe an open solution, he’d have generated a much more curious dialogue. I expect a more narrow conversation from lower level bloggers, like myself. But from the top bloggers, I expect more.

So, I apologize for my attitude. And I wish I had posed my question differently. However, I am still curious. I understand that Scott has made his brand loyalty choice. That’s fine. However, when reading his awesome book, The Digital Photography Book, you don’t have him telling you all about his Nikon cameras. Yes, he prefers Nikon. But, his book looks more generally at the issues facing all photographers. Scott is a great writer and instructor. Why can’t I expect that a blog at ScottKelby.com would provide me with the same high level of fairness in evaluation?

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I won’t get into all the details here, but the April Challenge, over at PhotoChallenge.org has begun. Our theme is entropy. Come on over and join us!

I’ve already begun. Here’s the first and the second. Below are the photos:

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I have two, unrelated, things to discuss right now. I really, really want your input.

#1 Wordpress 2.5

Wordpress 2.5 is finally released. I haven’t upgraded yet. Mostly because I was a little afraid. You see, the administration panels are drastically different. I’ve been listening to WP podcasts, and reading WP blogs so that I can learn as much as possible.

Someone suggested a test blog. So, this morning I decided to launch a test blog, at http://test.trevorcarpenter.com, and play around. I have been wanting to play with a few plugins, and decided that this would work best for them too.

Once the blog was up and running, my plan was to mess with the plugins first, then upgrade to the 2.5 beta. But, when I sat down to begin, I saw that 2.5 was out of beta, and official. So, I tossed the plugins for now.

The test blog is running 2.5, and the admin dashboard is very different. I’m excited. I like new things.

#2 Moab Photography Workshop

I have the days off, and I really, really want to go to this exciting photography event in Moab, Utah. I can drive it in 10 hours, and I’m willing to take my car. I plan on camping, to save cash and have a bit more fun. If you can make it, you should try and attend this one. Ann Torrance, who helps plan and organize the Salt Lake City Photowalks, is speaking and she give it a good review.

For those SoCal photographers, who want to go, let’s carpool!

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Yesterday I had the great opportunity to shoot another architectural photo shoot. I shot two residences and earned enough to acquire a copy of Apple Aperture 2.0 and step a bit closer to my first real strobe kit. I’ve been shooting with my one speedlight and renting more when I need them. Yesterday, I rented a pair of genuine dyna-lite strobes, from Samy’s. I’m very grateful to have been able to shoot with those nice lights. I’m sold on strobes!

Additionally, I tested out Aperture 2.0, with their 30 day trial, over the last month. My trial expired a week back, and I was actually sad when it did. Not that I don’t have decent alternative asset management  and editing. I have been using a combo Adobe Bridge and Photoshop system. It has worked well for almost a year. Unfortunately, upgrading to Adobe’s Lightroom is really the professional step they want you to make. I trialed Lightroom late last year, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the modular system. I didn’t like how it performed on my slower Mac Mini. I simply didn’t like how it flowed.

I had played with Aperture in version 1.0, and quickly didn’t like it. But I think the biggest killer was that it was dog slow. Then came version 2.0.

The most important change to 2.0 was the speed enhancements. It’s now quite smooth, even on my slower Mac Mini. I can’t afford to upgrade the Mac right now, so a software solution that can effectively operate on it, is more than likely going to get my vote. In the next week or so, I’ll review what I do with Aperture, and show you my workflow. I have noticed that many more people use Aperture than I originally thought. So I’d like to help increase Aperture’s awareness just a bit.

So yesterday, I got it installed and processed the photo shoot with it. Lovely.

Today I woke up to see a big announcement from Apple about Aperture 2.1. What?! No problem, a free upgrade for me. It’s not loaded with a huge number of improvements. However, it is loaded with one massive feature addition. PLUGINS!

Now third party developers can design plugins to assist and enhance the editing within Aperture. Over time, I may not need to load Photoshop at all. I don’t have a problem with Photoshop, but how sweet will it be to only need one clean solution for my photo processing needs. I’ve heard great things about the solutions from Nik Software. Maybe they can be enticed to produce their plugins for Aperture too.

To show us how nice this new plugin system is, Apple included one nice plugin with the update.

“Dodge & Burn Plug-in. A sample plug-in is pre-installed, taking advantage of the Edit API introduced in Aperture 2.0. The plug-in adds brush-based tools for Dodge (Lighten), Burn (Darken), Contrast, Saturation, Sharpen and Blur.”

I was actually poking around the manual last night, looking for dodging and burning. Sweet! I’m real excited about all these new tools and how I’ll get to use them.

****edit***

StudioLighting.net is reporting that several top notch plugin developers have announced…

Expected additions to Aperture plug-ins include:

• Nik Software’s Viveza plug-in, powered by U Point technology, which provides a powerful, precise and easy way for photographers to selectively control and adjust color and light in their digital images;

• PictureCode’s Noise Ninja plug-in that delivers advanced high ISO noise analysis and reduction;

• Digital Film Tools’ Power Stroke plug-in that features a simple, stroke-based interface to quickly mask and intuitively perform targeted adjustments;

• The Tiffen Company’s Dfx plug-in that provides an expansive suite of creative filters and effects;

• dvGarage’s dpMatte plug-in, which is a high performance chroma key tool for creating seamless composites, and the HDRtoner plug-in that enables the selection of multiple photos to create a single high dynamic range (HDR) image; and

• Image Trends’ plug-ins that include Fisheye-Hemi to quickly and effortlessly correct fisheye lens distortion, ShineOff which automatically removes shine from faces and PearlyWhites that automatically whitens and brightens teeth.

Sweet! I shot over to Nik Software’s page and discovered that they’re already announcing compatibility with Aperture 2.1 in May 2008. (less than 2 months away)

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So one of my Vimeo contacts made this totally cool video from taking photographs. Below he describes it. I’m completely and totally excited about this, and I’m going to give it a try ASAP!

“A photograph taken at every ten paces as an experiment to see how a technique closer to stop-motion with composed images and control over random factors (especially joggers) compares to standard video time-lapse.”

RiverWalking from adam deeves on Vimeo.

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A week back, I really wanted to hit The Getty Center with my daughter, The Princess. We lost our shot, and so I rescheduled for this week.

Yesterday, we drove down to the parking structure, adjacent to the 405 freeway, just down the hill from The Getty. If you don’t know about The Getty Center, it’s possibly one of the best and largest collections of art in the Southern California region. It opened a few years ago to some huge fanfare and has been busy ever since.

You have to pay $8 for parking, but getting into the museum is free. Yeah, free!

I actually wanted to take public transportation all the way down there. Unfortunately, public trans in LA is a joke. There are several different organizations operating different parts of the system. So, we’d have to get on a borrowed seat on the Amtrak train out of Camarillo. Technically we’d be traveling the Metrolink. However, they don’t have enough trains, or something, and they rent seats on Amtrak. Then we’d connect with LA’s MTA for a bus to the Sepulveda/Getty drop-off. Here’s the catch. It’s $18, per person, one way. So, the two of us would be paying $72! That’s more than two tanks of gas in my little commuter Scion. We opted to drive. If urban communities want to help people contribute to helping the congestion, they need to be cheaper than driving. Even with today’s high gas prices, it’s a joke to think that I’d choose a 2 hour trip down and then 2 hours back, for more money.

OK, back to The Getty.

The Princess and I had a great time. We arrived around 11am and headed straight to the first building. We basically wandered from one to the next, covering every inch of each building. In one of the paintings exhibits, the have this really nice room with several large pieces on the walls and a couple of sculptures. They are all very typical museum pieces. Then, in the middle of the room they have several tables and drawing easels set up. The point is for anyone to wander up and sketch your own interpretation of the art on display. There were many people of varying ages that wandered in and out as we were there.

Well, The Princess is a very good artist. So we took the time so that she could sketch something of her own. She sat down at the table and looked around for a bit. Then she sorta grunted an “OK, I’m ready.” She leaned down and began to draw. It took me a few minutes to realize what she had chosen as her focus. She was drawing a young woman a few feet from her, who was in turn drawing one of the large paintings. It really was surprising to me. I was even a little emotional as I considered what she was doing. I wondered how many accomplished artists would have considered to draw someone drawing.

I could not pass this chance up, so I shot off a few frames. As you can see, she did a splendid job.

We took a break for a late lunch and then continued into the Photography exhibit. It was there that I discovered that they want to show you photographs, but don’t really like photographers.

Let me clarify. No one really gives me a hard time. I don’t let them. Also, the average security guard is intellectually scared off when you start using 3 or more syllable words. I engaged him with a short diatribe about copyright, and derivative works. He didn’t follow. I allowed him to leave, and I shot my one and only rule-breaking-shot. “This one’s for Thomas Hawk,” I thought to myself.

When we finished there, we decided to head home. We didn’t have time for the beautiful gardens, nor much more than one quick stop to enjoy the view. I promised her we’d return once more. Possibly for a group photowalk, this summer.

Above all, I had a great time with my daughter, enjoying some beautiful artwork and taking picture together. She’s a lot of fun. Oh yeah, BTW, that was her school day.

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So I hit the Pro Photo Expo, in Pasadena, CA, recently. It was a little bit of a let down, but fun none-the-less.

I expected the expo to be a bit larger. However, I did get all the questions answered that I needed, and I got to play with some cool equipment.

Because I have a Nikon D40, with a limitation on which lenses will connect, I was curious what everyone was planning to offer in the near future. Wanting to continue to grow my lens assortment, I need this information. I also have been considering a few different bag choices, more on that later. The guys at the Sigma booth were very helpful, even let me put a few lenses I’m considering on my D40, to play around. The guy at the Pocket Wizard booth was helpful, and confirmed my plan of attack for building up an assortment of those bad boys.

The two highlights of this event for me were the Apple booth and the Lowepro booth.

First, Apple. When I first walked in, I made a swift right hand turn and proceeded to wind through the expo, hitting every isle. The first booth I stopped at was the Apple booth. They were there promoting one product; Apple Aperture 2.0. Since I’ve recently fell in love with Aperture 2, I was a bit excited. I looked at my watch and asked one of the Apple guys, “How long is the demo?” He said it was about 45 minutes, and I decided to sit just as they began a new one. This proved very profitable, as now I feel equipped to get started with Aperture 2 as my primary asset management and post production tool. I’ll do the majority of my editing with Aperture 2, only switching to Photoshop for the major stuff.

Second, Lowepro. As you may know, I have a unique day job. With this day job, I am authorized to carry certain tools that require a little concealment. So, on occasion, I am limited with what clothing I can wear, or what packs and bags I can carry. Being right handed, I generally am also limited with how I can carry my camera bag, a nice Lowepro waist pack/shoulder bag. So I have been actively seeking a bag that can serve both needs.

I found what would be the absolute best bag, made my Maxpedition. This bag is not really a camera bag. However, with the proper padding, it would serve me quite well. I told this story to the nice lady, Suzie, at the Lowepro booth. Without hesitation, she swept me to the products, to find the bag that most closely matches the inside measurements of the bag I want from Maxpedition. Not understanding her point, I picked the proper bag. She then handed me her card, and instructed me to email her my address. She had Lowepro ship me the “guts” to this bag, for my own use in inserting them into the Maxpedition bag. Unbelievable! That’s customer service!

I was really excited and surprised at her offer, and I really didn’t believe it until the “guts” actually showed up just a few days later.

The fit is not perfect, but I will be able to make it work. Most importantly, I have a nice, padded compartment that will hold my camera, with a lens, and two additional lenses.

This bag has the large compartment, for the camera stuff, and several additional compartments for a variety of items. I’ll be able to carry along a typical Nalgene bottle, my special cargo, and many other important items.

I now have a man-bag!

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Today was my very first official portrait session. I shot an interior designer and her team for about an hour and a half. (The interior designer is my mom. Shhhh!)

We had selected an old church in the old town part of Camarillo. The church’s building is loaded with great large doors and a beautiful courtyard. I knew we’d have many opportunities for a variety of scenes to shoot.

I had 3 people to shoot in a group photo, then each one needed a headshot. Of course, I did the group shot in several places, so that I’d have many to pick from for final selection.

For my gear, I used my Nikon D40 and my favorite lens, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. This set up rocks for portraits, and gave me great clarity in my final images. I did make a small error in my depth of field selection, making some of the group shots not clear for everyone’s face.

I rented a couple of Nikon SB-800’s, Pocket Wizards, and stands. I already had a couple umbrellas for diffusion. This set up was perfect. I could have used one more light, for one shot, but I’m not dwelling on it.

Over all, I’m very proud of the final work, and I’m excited for future opportunities to shoot portraits like this.

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I briefly blogged about the upcoming Pro Photo Expo, in Pasadena, a few weeks ago. It starts this week, and I’m planning on attending on Sunday.

Oh, and Bryan, the Expo only price is $10. w00t!

Upcoming link.

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I’d like to tell you all about a really awesome new photoblog that is launching today, Fine Art Photoblog. This exciting new site is not just the hard work of one person, hoping to capture a small audience. In fact, this is a joint venture between 7 of the most talented photographers I’ve had seen in quite a while. You can learn more about each photographer here. You’ll recognize one right off the bat, Brian Auer, my friend from Epic Edits.

The Fine Art Photoblog is a unique website dedicated to collectors and admirers of fine art photography. The site is something of a mix between art gallery, photoblog, and search engine.

You’ll find that they’re one part gallery, one part photoblog, and one part search engine. Basically, it’s not that they’re just trying to pimp their photos, but that they’re hoping to share their photography experience with you. This isn’t for every photo they take, it’s for the very best. Even now, you’ll see some really great looking photographs and you just might want to purchase one to hand on your wall. Of course, you can do that there too!

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We took the kids to the park yesterday. We had a great time and The Princess rode her bike, (minus the training wheels), for the first successful time. Oh, she’s been without them for quite some time, but this was the first time she really did it.

Deanna chased her around for hours and she was doing great by the time we left.

Click on the photo, or the few below, and wander around at a few of the other photos from that day.

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Today starts the February Challenge, over at PhotoChallenge.org. I hope all you photonerds have planned to join me on this one. We’re shooting with color theory in mind, all month. I’ve encouraged all the participants to choose a new color each week of the month. This way we don’t get sick of just one color, and it is a little fresh each week.

I’ve started with green for this first, albeit short, week of February. Head over and check out my first post!

Oh, and I’ve also just posted my weekly 2008 Challenge shot too!

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