So finally Adobe got with the program and updated its now infamous iPad/iPad 2 only app Photoshop Touch by making full resolution output possible for up to 10 layers. Previously, the app only output low res versions of your tweaked images which lead users to remark, “what’s the point.” With that solved we can now go merrily back to working in photoshop while on the bus, plane, or yacht. While sipping those pink lemonades, we can now also all go back to wondering why Photoshop CS6 is still so expensive? I recently read an article that stated that more money is made from Photoshop how to magazines and books because people buy those after they pirate (steal) the software. Everyone I talk to says that it is utterly breathtaking, and not at all in the good way. Please Adobe, make your software more affordable. You will sell more product and gain happy loyal users. . . -Carlos
So today I completed part one of a two session iPhone photography class at Rayko Photo Center in wanderlust filled San Francisco. People always say what could you possibly learn, iPhone photography is easy its just one button . . . well dear reader, take the class and find out. You will not be disappointed. This will be the 4th time I have run the class in two and students left today excited about what they learned and were eager to apply their new concepts. I’m excited to see what images they come up with and will share them here. . . - Carlos
Students love my composition lecture and the creative strategies I teach them in my photography classes, but here is one of my idols giving it to us straight on how we can all be more creative. Hopefully it will inspire you, dear reader, to make better pictures while having fun doing it. Enjoy – Carlos
Adobe unleashed CS6 today which has upgrades for all the beloved Adobe programs like Photoshop, In Design, Illustrator, and my new love Premiere Pro (to happily replace Apple’s Final Cut Pro X). But they also fully released the Creative Cloud, which is a subscription based pay as you go service from Adobe. For $49.99 per month, you have all the adobe programs as up-to-date versions. That is right. For that low cost, you basically have access to the Master Collection which retails for $2599.00. Since you don’t have a calculator in front of you, it would take you 52 months at $50 to reach that retail price. So what is the deal . . . well Adobe is finally catching on that their software is super over priced and they are losing customers because of it. Ah, but the real reason is to stop piracy. With such cheap access to the suite, isn’t better to pay $50, and have legit full fledged design access with no problems, crashing, or viruses, than try and get a bootleg copy that doesn’t work right, crashes, and causes viruses to spread like the computer apocalypse. Good move Adobe, well played. Here is a video link on what this is all about. . .
To mark the beginning of the end of DSLR’s, yes you heard it here first. . . we should all learn how they work before this beloved type of camera goes the way of the Laser Disc or CD’s. The latter is more appropriate since people still have CD’s and use them, but not to the dominating level they used to. The DSLR is on that path as sales continue to plummet, and smaller cameras like the iPhone continues to dominate. Don’t think so. Here are a few small bites to chew over . . . Lytro camera which captures data in a way to let you choose focus later or iPhone with RAW capabilities shooting 12mp. . . or an iPhone with both Lytro technology and RAW. Hum . . . next couple of years are going to be interesting for sure for DSLR’s.
The new dawn is about to be upon us. Draw your swords and get ready for some battle with the the new Adobe Photoshop CS6. Challenges you will face include, a darker, PS Elements inspired interface, a new crop tool (snooze), and the ability to have more editing features for video within photoshop (double snooze). If you choose to accept, you can download the beta version for free at the link below. The video below is the infamous Russell Brown, Photoshop Guru, walking us through the “exciting” new features.
My overall first impressions of CS6 is that content aware move and the new features in the Raw convertor are where the winning new options are. Other than that, all the other new features are nothing to boast about. For example, the new blur features that mimic a tilt shift lens are nothing to wow about since you can buy an app that does it for $0.99. Besides, if you really wanted to do that, you always could have if you know how to use photoshop. I think Adobe is running out of ideas and it really shows in this release. Please, please do yourselves a favor Adobe, price this Photoshop to actually be affordable so that you will gain more new users rather than deter. Currently, I’m not interested in upgrading.
Carlos, why would I want to use this, when I can just use itunes to search for apps. Answer: Cause the itunes search actually only works well if you know exactly what your looking for. This allows you to have very loose search terms to find recommendations. My favorite part of using this is to see what apps are trending. If you ever wondered what the Times or the Daily or other publications use to recommend apps to their client base, I bet this is part of it.
Have fun times –
Our good friends at Joby, makers of the gorilla pod tripod (pictured above) are having an iPhone photo contest. It is completely free to enter so you should upload your phonester piece to enter and win some cool gear! Yours truly is one of the esteemed high ranking judges. Good luck to all who enter and please help spread the word to all your friends. Everyone is eligible and it is in the spirit of celebrating photography in this new form. I’m excited to see what you all come up with.
Due to all the excitement around Lightroom 4, I thought I would share an awesome keystroke tip that helps me get farther faster in Lightroom when making local adjustments. For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, Lightroom is known as a global editor, which means that any edits applied happen to the entire photo. The way to make local adjustments (only effect a certain area) is to use the adjustment brush. If you have never used this feature, you are totally missing out. Below is a youtube video on how to use it. This posting is how to speed up the cleaning up process through keystrokes and here are those:
Adjustment brush: K
Make brush bigger: ]
Make brush smaller: [
Turn Auto Mask on and off: Control A
With between the Brush and Erase: Hold down the Alt
The last two keystrokes are ultra useful in speeding up workflow, and help your hand from cramping by saving you having to go back and forth from your image to your panel to switch between paint and erase. A key point is when to use and when not to use the Auto Mask Feature. That function needs help from your image for it to work correctly, and by help, I mean your image needs to have a contrasty edge. That contrast edge, is what keeps the auto mask in its place when brushing.
Here is brushing along the edge using no auto mask:
Here is the same image using auto mask.
The last keystroke tip I would like to share is how you can see the overlay (green in this case) to see what you are painting for the mask. Most people go down to the bottom, and always turn this on and off by checking ht xbox on and off.
Instead, use the letter O on you keyboard for overlay to turn it off and on. If you ware wondering how I switched my overlay color from that awful rosy pink, to this equally awful lime green, you hit Shift and the O key. That will cycle you through the overlay color choices which are as follows:
It may be a little cumbersome at first using the keystrokes, but believe me, once under control and handled in your mind, these key strokes help speed up your local adjustment capabilities like you wouldn't believe. In the above images, I used this capability to make the white background go pure white L:100 for future clipping into websites or to load a false background easily.
