Watch Out for Breaking Ice

You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice breaks.

Eskimo proverb

When You Are Through Changing, You Are Through

Here's Scott's 1st Shot For His Way-Cool Sessions Series

Hey Gang,

Click to enlarge image.

Simply put: Scott Rocks!

Please leave a comment here about the photograph.

Rick

I, IV, VII, III, VI, II, V, I

Scott's Session Series Will Rock

Click image for larger view.

Before recording five segments for D-Town, Scott Kelby asked me to sit for the first shot in his Sessions series - a series of large-format posters that will feature portraits of well-known photographers who also play an instrument. How cool. What an honor!

Each poster will be signed by the photographer and will list the photographer's favorite guitar and camera/lens. Mine: Martin acoustic/electric and Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 24-105mm IS L series lens.

Here are some behind-the-scenes shots from the shoot by Susan Sammon. (Middle: I was trying to make a few bucks between the shots.)

When I get the actual "Scott shot," I'll share it here.

My D-Town segments (hosted by Matt):

Wildlife

People

Low Light

Action

HDR

In between songs and the Scott shoot, Dave Cross had me as a guest on Photoshop User TV, were we talked about digital photography and my new app. More fun!

I hope to see you all at Photoshop World in Orlando - where I will be giving three talks (on photography, not on playing guitar) and where you'll get to hear Scott play with his cool band.

Explore the light,

Rick

Doin' D-Town TV

Can't wait to record my segments for D-Town tomorrow:

HDR (Images here show artistic, top, and realistic, bottom)

Lighting

Wildlife Photography

Action Photography

Low Light Photography

But . . . Scott Kelby is going to shoot me first!

Busy day!

Keep checking here to see when the segments will run on D-Town.

Explore the light,

Rick

Go Where You Are Looking

Hey Gang

Believe it or not, this happened to me last week in Palm Beach on my way to the FotoFusion Welcome Dinner - because I was not going where I was looking.

I wish I had seen this kind of sign before my close encounter.

Ouch is right!

So..... Go Where You Are Looking!

Rick

P.S. At the dinner, I interviewed Lewis Kemper, Adam Jones and Kevin Ames for the Digital Photo Experience podcast.

The following day, with a bump on my head, I interviewed Fatima Nejame, the director of FotoFusion.

Stay tuned to the Digital Photo Experience for the interviews and more.

Explore the light,

Rick

A Look at Today's Top Photography Apps

Good Morning Gang,

Here is a look at today's top photography apps from yappler.

I know for sure that lots of new content will be added monthly to the #1 app. :-)

Explore the light - and explore the app.

Best,

Rick

Seeing Pictures

I am big on seeing pictures and making pictures, as you guys know.

Here is an example of seeing a picture and making a picture - from a seemingly boring scene from the rooftop of our hotel in South Beach where I held recent my Travel Photography Workshop.

I really can't take credit for this one. Julie Johnson, one of my South Beach Workshop students, came up with the idea for a close-up of the building in the distance. After taking the top shot (as a before shot), I zoomed in for the second shot (as the after shot) and changed the color (using Hue in Photoshop) of the scene.

The idea here: you can find pictures everywhere. You just need to look for them.

Good work, Julie!

Explore the Light,

Rick

Sunrise at South Beach

Today was the last sunrise shoot on my South Beach workshop - the best light of the week.

Sure, we shot lots of HDR images over the past few days - and learned how to process the images in Photomatix, Photoshop and Topaz Adjust.

However, this non-HDR silhouette of a man feeding the seagulls is one of my favorite images from the workshop.

I did add a touch of Topaz Adjust to enhance the color in the sky clouds.

When shooting at sunrise and sunset, and almost always, try to expose for the highlights. Watch your histogram and overexposure warning on your camera's LCD monitor.

For me, the seagulls make this shot. However, for the HDR shots of the lifeguard stands that we were also taking, the birds were ruining the shots – because they showed up looking like dust spots on the image sensor. Kinda funny how the same subject can be good or bad.... depending on what you are looking for.

All the images you saw on my blog this week were taken with Canon 5D Mark II and either my 17-40mm lens (this shot) or my 24-105mm lens.

Explore the light,

Rick

Good-Bye South Beach

Today was the last day of my South Beach Travel Photography Workshop. Great HDR fun! Off to Orlando for a free seminar! Then to Kelby Training for some, well, training :-)

Explore the light,

Rick

Create Beautiful Black & White Images

While teaching my workshop here in South Beach, one of the students asked me about Nik Software's Color Efex Pro. Well, I was happy to demo!

The bottom image was created in Color Efex Pro using the Black and White effect. The key to creating this cool images was to set the filter color to yellow. Setting it to other colors produces a different effect - some good and some not so good.

When working with the Black and White filter (with Color Efex Pro and with Nik's Silver Efex pro, which is GREAT for black and white, too), play around with the color filter. You'll be quite surprised at the variations you'll get.

Explore the Light,

Rick

P.S. You can get a discount on all Nik products, as well as some other plug-ins, at the Plug-in Experience.

A Good Example of Why It's Important to Always Carry a Camera

Hey Gang,

Pictures are everywhere. We just need to find 'em. Always carry a camera, and you'll never miss a shot.

Explore the light,

Rick

Hot and Steamy in South Beach

Hey Gang,

It's pretty hot and steamy here in South Beach . . . 80 degrees and humid :-)

One of the best places I have seen for HDR.

HDR tip: Think selectively. In the top image, I selected the interior print (in Photoshop) and desaturated it just a bit. Otherwise, it would have been over satured due to the interior lighting. In addition, I use Unsharp Mask only on the interior print for added impact.

Both images are Photomatix + Topaz Adjust.

Explore the Light,

Rick

Shootin' HDR in South Beach

It's day 1 of my South Beach HDR workshop. We are all getting cool shots in this totally cool location.

Here's my favorites from today - Photomatix (3 shots) with a touch of Topaz Adjust (Spicify).

Photomatix tip: As the first adjustment, use the White Point slider - to preserve the highlights.

Photography tip: Photograph a subject at an angle to add a sense of depth to an image.

Life tip: Have fun! :-)

Explore the Light,

Rick

P.S. Get a discount on Photomatix and other plug-ins at The Plug-in Experience.

Here Comes Harry (My Interview With Harry Benson)

Hey Gang,

I have known photographer Harry Benson, and his wife Gigi, for 30 years. He's the man when it comes to photographing people - including the Beatles, presidents of the United States, and celebs like Jackie O - and Michael Jackson.

I interviewed Harry at the Holden Luntz Gallery in Palm Beach, where Harry is having a show.

Look for the interview on the Digital Photo Experience in a few weeks. Good info and good fun!

Explore the Light,

Rick

Topaz is Too Much Fun!

Hey, as always, click on images to see larger view.

Here are a few shots from today's HDR shoot (during my St. Augustine workshop) at the Magic Beach Hotel.

We all got cool images. Here are a few of mine, some of last pictures that I will be adding to my HDR book - due out in April.

I will be adding a short lesson on HDR on my app (see iPhone icon on the right side of my blog) soon.

See more examples of Topaz adjust on the Plug-in Experience. You can order Topaz from the Plug-in Page and get discounts on some plug-in there, too.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. Here's an important photo tip: Never underestimate the importance of a good - or very cool - subject.

HDR: Realistic or Artistic? The Choice is Yours!

Everyone is getting great HDR images on my St. Augustine workshop. A topic of discussion: Realistic (top) or artistic (bottom) images?

Well, my friends, the choice is yours. Use Topaz Adjust to create artistic images (Spicify effect here) and Photomatix (Tone compressor) to create realistic images.

You can also create more artist images in Photomatix using the Detail Enhancer - by moving the sliders more to the right.

You can get a discount on Photomatix (and order Topaz Adjust) on the Plug-In Experience.

Explore the Light,

Rick

Arrrr! ISO 6400 Rocks - As Does Render > Lighting Effects

Ahoy!

Our band of pirates (my workshop participants) just got off the Black Raven Pirate Ship here in St. Augustine, Florida. What fun - and what great photo opportunities.

Here is a sharp shot I took with my Canon 5D Mark II set at ISO 6400 - an ISO setting that I would not have even considered (even if available) two years ago!

To enhance the lighting, I opened the image in Photoshop, applied the Midnight Filter in Nik Software's Color Efex Pro (get a discount here), and then went to Render > Lighting Effects and selected the Spot Light effect. Kinda cool. Try it, you will like it.

Of course, being Rick "The Name of the Game is to Fill the Frame" Sammon, I cropped the picture tighter.

Hey, I gotta get this dude together with Russell Brown - who has been seen dressing like and talking like a pirate. Come to the Maui Photo Festival to see his Pirate Project. Way cool!

Explore the Light,

Rick

It's Not Easy Having Fun - The Story Behind Rick's iPhone/iTouch App

Hi All -

Dave Wilson here. I'm the dude who co-developed "Rick Sammon's 24/7 Photo Buffet" iPhone application. Good fun – but also a lot of work.

Actually, the app is more like an e-book - because it offers soooo much how-to info.

What's more, it's like an ever-expanding e-book – because new content will be added monthly. More fun . . . and more work :-)

For those of you who are interested in behind-the-scenes stories (and app development), here's the technical scoop on the app.

But first, check out the intro movie.

Apple started shipping the first iPhone in June 2007. There was, however, a problem for developers (like me): Apple didn't initially provide any way to write "native" apps for the iPhone.

Apple finally released their iPhone SDK to developers in March of 2008, and opened the App Store in July 2008. Developers could finally write real apps, and sell them to iphone and iPod Touch owners. This started the "Gold Rush" that today has produced more than 100,000 apps for sale in the App Store - in more than 70 countries.

To write an app for the iPhone, you need the following:

• Apple's Xcode development system - a free download.

• A good understanding of "object-oriented programming" (OOP). This can be hard to learn at first, but I started using OOP in 1987, so it was no problem by 2008.

• Familiarity with the Objective-C programming language, which uses a C syntax for most things, but a Smalltalk-like syntax for sending messages to objects. I had not used Objective-C since the late '80s, so I had to re-learn it. It's a cool programming language, but only Apple seems to use it. Most of the rest of the world uses C, C++, C#, or Java - which all differ from Objective-C in various ways.

• The iPhone SDK - a free download. Parts of iPhone programming are just like Mac OS X programming, but there are many new frameworks to support the "Cocoa Touch" user interface, so there's a lot to learn.

• A Developer account with Apple that costs $99/year, just to be able to put an app on your own iPhone for testing.

• An iTunes business account, so you can submit apps to the App Store.

By the time Rick and I met in September 2009 (in a helicopter at the Maui Photo Festival), I had four apps in the App Store. The design and development of "Rick Sammon's 24/7 Photo Buffet" took almost four months.

Tasks included:

• Deciding on the content - a four-month process that continues even today.

• Prototyping the user interface - about one month.

• Taking existing iPhone programs I had written, and munging them into what we eventually used - about one month.
• Detailed coding and debugging - perhaps two months.

• Picking a name for the app - weeks of suggestions, counter-suggestions, and brainstorming. This is the hardest part of app development :-)

• Submitting it to the App Store - a touchy process that took about two hours of messing around.

• Waiting for Apple to approve the app - only took three days (this could take weeks in the past - Apple seems to have greatly improved the process in the last few weeks).

"Rick Sammon's 24/7 Photo Buffet" incorporates 30+ years of Rick's photography and teaching experience (and his best photographs and techniques), and 30+ years of my programming and user interface design experience. So I guess you could say that this app took more than 60 years to develop. But it was worth it - it's a really cool app. Hey, I'm not the only one who thinks so! Check out our reviews on our app page.

Rick and I want to hear from you. Let us know (here on the blog) what topics you'd like us to add as we update the app - which should be at least once a month.

Thanks for listening.

Best,
Dave Wilson

Take a Guess: Compact Camera or SLR?

Hey all,

You know the old saying: Cameras don't take pictures, people do.

Well, I took two of these pictures with my compact camera and two with my digital SLR. All are captive animals.

Take guess. Which is which?

I am giving a free talk at B&H in NYC on Feb 21 on compact camera photography. Most of the tips apply to shooting with entry-level digital SLRs, too. Check my Events page for the link (when it's up, which should be soon).

Until then, you might want to check out my latest book, Confessions of a Compact Camera Shooter on my Books page.

If you already have my book, please don't spoil the fun for others by revealing which is which. Thanks!

Here's a tip from the book: When photographing people and animals, focus on they eyes.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. All my gear is listed on this page of my site.

Photography Keeps Us Young, Fit and Healthy

If you are over 55 (as I am), you probably get notices from the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) to join the organization. I received one recently - although I feel like a kid.

That got me thinking: many of professional photographer friends who are over 55 are more active than ever - shooting more pictures, working and playing more in the digital darkroom, teaching more seminars, leading more workshops, learning new techniques, marketing their work, and so on. Not one even remotely considers retiring - and that includes me!

So I venture to say that photography keeps photographers (pros and amateurs) young, fit and healthy.

Young because making pictures and working on them in the digital darkroom energizes us. I think this is especially true with HDR images - because images like the one pictured here were never before possible without this relatively new technology. How exciting! (The bottom image is the average exposure of the scene, the top image is the HDR image - created in Photomatix and then enhanced in Photoshop with a touch of Topaz Adjust). What's more: HDR helps us see - and picture – the world in an entirely new and exciting way. Before HDR, I never would have taken this picture - because the contrast range was far too wide.

Fit because we burn off calories and build muscles when we lug around our camera bags and tripods and walk around the countryside and through the streets of a city - sometimes for hours a day. What a great way to work out!

Healthy because we are constantly learning - and as the old Chinese saying goes: "Learning is health."

Hey, maybe I should start, iARP: International Association of Rockin' Photographers. Wanna join? :-) Please share your thoughts here.

I know my photography-loving dad would join. He's 91!

Hey, you don't have to do this to join!

Speaking of being older (physically) and keeping young, stay tuned for my interviews with John Isaac and Harry Benson over at the Digital Photo Experience podcast. Lots of good how-to articles by our staff on the DPE site, too - which includes some potential AARP and iARP - members.

If you need some inspiration on feeling young, check out Real Magic by Dr. Wayne Dyer over on my books page. I have a few books there, too, for photo inspiration.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. You can get a discount on Photomatix (and other plug-ins) and learn about Topaz Adjust (which I think is one of the coolest new plug-ins) over at the Plug-in Experience.

Take a Trip Around The World With Me, For Free :-)

Hi All

I am giving a free talk - Around the World with a Digital Camera - this Saturday night in St. Augustine, Florida. Here is the info:

Talk description:
In this fun-filled presentation, I will share my favorite travel pictures and stories from the Arctic, Antarctica, Papua New Guinea, Galapagos, Brazil, Botswana, Kenya, Cuba and some of the US National Parks. Photography techniques will be interwoven into this informative presentation.


Event info:

7 - 8:30 PM

Howard Johnson located at 137 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL

RSVP to: emasters@getaway4florida.com.

The presentation is the kick off for my St. Augustine workshop. Click here for info.

Hope to see you soon!

Explore the light,
Rick

Free HDR Talk in Orlando, 1/25

Hi HDR Shooters

I am giving a free talk on HDR photography at the Orlando Camera Club on January 25.

Hope you can make it!

Here is the info:

http://www.orlandocameraclub.com/Documents/RickSammon_Jan2010_Flyer.pdf

Explore the Light,

Rick

Looking for Pictures

Click image for larger view.

In reviewing my images from a shoot yesterday near Las Vegas, I got to thinking about what photographers look for when they are photographing.

On that shoot, I was looking for "animals and faces" in the rock formations.

What do you see in these two images? In the image on the right, I see a horse and a goat. The image on the left reminds me of two people kissing (or maybe two aliens kissing).

What do you see? Post your comments here. Also post a comment about seeing pictures if you like.

Both of these pictures were taken with my favorite landscape lens, my Canon 17-40mm lens.

Explore the light,

Rick

Going Overboard with Noise Reduction Can Be a Good Thing

At Friday night's sold-out talk in Las Vegas for the Nevada Camera Club (thanks Brad Edwards for taking the bottom photo at the fun event), I talked about HDR photography. Lots of interest!

In discussing noise reduction in Topaz Adjust, I suggested going overboard (sometimes!!) when reducing the noise - which softens an image to the point where it looks like a painting.

Now, I could tell you exactly how I created the top image, but I think you'll learn more, and have more fun, trying to create artful pictures yourself . . . and you'll probably come up with your own artful creations and variations of an image. My pal Trey Ratcliff agrees (on the do-it-yourself/learn-it-yourself method) - although he does share lots of his techniques in his books and seminars.

If you come up with cool images, post a link here. I'd love to see it!

FYI: I took the photograph at Bodie State Historical Park in California with my Canon 1Ds Mark III and 17-40mm lens at the 17mm setting.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. More info on Topaz and HDR at the Plug-in Experience. Discounts, too,

The Name of the Game Is To Fill The Frame

Hi Gang,

I am off to Las Vegas for a seminar tonight. Tomorrow, a few of us are going to shoot at a cool junkyard and then at Little Finland.

In getting ready for the junkyard shoot, I was looking at some of my HDR images from a recent junkyard shoot (a site on my Southwest Caravan). This image reminds me of the photo adage: "The name of the game is to fill the frame." Before taking this picture, I moved the piece of orange junk into the frame to fill up the dead space in the scene.

Filling the frame is good advice. However, there is a lot to be said for using "dead space," too.

Another tip: Make pictures, don't simply take pictures.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. I used Photomatix plus Topaz Adjust/Spicify to create this image. You can get a discount on Photomatix (and other plug-ins) at the Plug-in Experience.

Compact Cameras Hot Items at CES

One of the segments on the 1.6.10 TODAY Show featured some cool digital compact cameras from CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. It's amazing what these tiny wonders can do when it comes to image quality and user-friend features. And don't forget the affordable price!

Hey, I use my digital SLRs to make a living. However, I never leave home without my digital compact camera. In fact, I have been using a digital compact camera since the late 90s, when I took my first one to Nepal (top and middle photos).

I took the bottom two photographs with my Canon G10 last year. Wow - have compact cameras come a long way, in image quality, battery power and shutter lag.

If you learn how to see the light and compose and exposure carefully, and envision the end result, you can get get some pretty amazing pictures with a compact camera. Here is an article that illustrates this point.

If you are serious about having good fun with your compact camera and getting pro-quality results, check out my latest book: Confessions of a Compact Camera Shooter, listed on the Books page of my site.

Explore the Light,
Rick
P.S. Speaking of having fun, check out this fun article on having fun in Photoshop.

It Takes a Lot of Peanuts to Feed an Elephant

My dad (91) has a great saying - one he has used since The Great Depression (1929): "It takes a lot of peanuts to feed an elephant." What he means: Don't think that making pennies is not important. Those pennies can turn into big bucks if you have enough of them.

I have actually followed my dad's advice since I was a kid. In today's economy, that's especially important – because there are many ways to make pennies. Here are my top three recommendations:

E-books
Make your own e-book and promote it to your family and friends - and to all those who might be interested in the topic. All you need to do is to make a PDF of your e-book, post a description on your site or blog, set a reasonable price, set up a paypal account, tweet and blog and post on facebook about it - and you are on your way to feeding the elephant. I did that today, with my son's help, for my Life Lessons book, and we already sold our first copy – for a few "peanuts."

One of my friend, William Neill, has sold more than a few copies of his e-book, Impression of Light, at OutdoorPhotoGear.com - and my friend at the Digital Photo Experience, Juan Pons, is working on a collection of his best tips and techniques for his first e-book. Now it's your turn! What ya waiting for?

If your e-book does well, or if you just want to have a few copies to sell, you can make a hard copy at an on-line lab. I have found that Nations Photo Lab does an excellent job. What's more, a real book publisher might see your book and want to publish it. You never know. Remember: Your pictures do you no good buried on your hard drive.

Associates and Affiliates Programs
Many companies (just about all of them) have affiliates programs that give you a very small percentage (peanuts) of a sale for the recommendation. Amazon.com is just one. All you have to do is go to the company's web site to find out if they offer an affiliates program. Post links on your web site and blog. More peanuts for the elephant.

Develop an iPhone App
Hey, there are plenty of iPhone app developers out there. If you have an idea for an app, find a developer! (I met mine in a helicopter in Maui!) If you make a few "peanuts" on several thousand copies of your app, you'll be doing okay. Hey, you gotta dream and shoot for the stars - which is what I do every day. After all, there are kids out there doing this!! If they can do it, you can do it.

Feed the Elephant,
Rick

P.S. Hey, you may not earn enough peanuts to buy a Lamborghini, but you may make enough for a few tanks of gas for a Hybrid - and those tanks of gas could actually take you all the way across the country. Hybrids are that fuel efficient! I know. I have a Honda Hybrid.

Nik Software Discount Extended

Hey Gang,

Here is a great offer from Nik Software:

Nik Software has extended its Holiday Special until January 15: $170 off the Complete Collection Ultimate Edition and $100 off the Complete Collection for Lightroom and Aperture as well as 20% off new Nik Software products.

Go to www.niksoftware.com and select the product you would like and use this code - RSAMMON - upon checkout. Offer good until 1/15/10

For Nik Software Customer Service please call Nik directly at
619-725-3150 or email supportus@niksoftware.com M-F 8:30-5:00 PST. Tell 'em Rick sent you!

About this image: I took the original shot (left) in the Belize Zoo. To create the impression that I took the picture on the right at night, I used the Midnight filter in Nik Color Efex Pro.

Explore the Light,
Rick

HDR - The Natural Look

Happy New Year!

In getting ready for this month's Florida HDR seminar (Orlando) and HDR workshop (South Beach), I came across this before-and-after set of images.

The image on the left is the HDR image - complete with details in the deep shadow areas and even in the bright highlight areas (the stained glass windows). To capture that wide contrast range, I took six exposures at, over and under the recommended exposure setting - and then combined them in Photomatix (from HDR soft).

The picture on the right is the camera-recommended single exposure.

What I like about the image is that it does not look like an HDR image. Sure, I like to create funky looking HDR images, but it depends on the subject. Here, the natural look was the way to go.

You'll also notice something else about the HDR image: the perspective is corrected. I did that in Photoshop: Edit > Transform > Perspective - and then pulled out a top anchor point until the perspective was corrected.

You can get a discount on HDR soft's Photomatix on the Plug-in Mania page of the Plug-in Experience.

When creating HDR images in Photomatix, think about which way you want to go: natural or funky. The more you move the Photomatix sliders to the right, the less natural-looking your image.

Explore the light,
Rick
P.S. My HDR workshop is sold out. Sorry. But there is space at the Orlando event.

New Croton Dam Photo Contest

Hey Gang,

The new Croton Dam in Croton-on-Hudson NY is one of my favorite local places to photograph. It's also a popular photo location on my Hudson River Photography Workshops.

I am running a New Croton Dam photo contest. I am looking for the most creative picture of the dam. Attention former workshops students: you can't participate! You already have some very creative images!

Here's the deal: the picture can't be taken on a sunny day.

Just send me a link to the image (with your real name) in the Comments for this post. Please don't send an image. I'll pick the winner by the end of January. I'll make the winner a 20x24-inch print (from the original file you bring to my studio) on my Canon wide-format printer..."while you wait."

Good luck,
Rick
P.S. Maybe I'll see you at the dam - especially if it's snowing.

Winners of December HDR ScanCafe Photo Contest

Choosing the winners of my December ScanCafe HDR photo contest was a difficult task – because we had so many wonderful HDR images.

The winners are (pictured here from top to bottom):

1st place ($100 gift certificate from ScanCafe) - Mike Smith

Runner-up #1 ($50 gift certificate from ScanCafe): Joe Ercoli

Runner-up #2 ($50 gift certificate from ScanCafe): Rory Mole

Congrats to the winners!

This brings to a close my monthly ScanCafe photo contests. Thanks to all for playing along.

Explore the Light,
Rick
P.S. I hope to see you on one of my HDR workshops.