March 9th, 2010 by admin

Julieanne Kost gives a 3 part overview of the new features in the soon to be released Lightroom 3.

March 7th, 2010 by admin

Besides interesting photo blogs, there are some excellent podcasts available. One example is Lens Flare Live.

March 7th, 2010 by admin

This week’s banner image was submitted by DIG member Barry L. White. Thanks Barry!

Image Details from Barry:
This rock outcropping is just below Tom’s Thumb in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Like a photographer he shoots with often (MJ), he is beginning to see faces in the rocks and this grouping had several.

Camera: Canon 5D MKII
Lens: Canon 24-105
Focal length: 58mm
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
Exposure: 1/800th sec at f/8

Would you like to see your image here? Members only…..Please Email your image and/or your website/blog links to: meeting@digmeeting.com with a subject of “DIG member images”. Image dimensions must be: 827pixels wide by 306 pixels high. When choosing an image to upload, keep in mind that there will be text at the upper left (as shown) and a white bar across the bottom of your image for the tabs. So share an image where you won’t mind these parts being covered up.

ALSO….please share a little information regarding your image. Suggestions: Location, time of day, equipment, etc. Also tell us if it is Photoshop art. Yes…Photoshop creations are welcome and encouraged! Just remember that the very bottom of the image will be barely visible.

March 5th, 2010 by admin

DIG March 2, 2010 – Minutes of the meeting supplied by Howard Wood.

We convened on 2 March at the Mustang Library in Scottsdale with approximately 45 members and guests in attendance. Howard Wood was moderator in the absence of Chuck Williams.

While there was no formal presentation, Howard demonstrated the use of Content Aware Scaling (a part of CS4) showing several examples of potential use as well as some limitations. A lively group discussion followed with several members sharing their experiences. The following is an excellent link for those interested in more material. An of course a Google Search will produce additional source material.

http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/ContentAwareScale_SM.mov

Following the break, Howard introduced Viveza 2 (NIK Software.com) and demonstrated some examples and uses. Viveza 2 is a plug in for CS4, Lightroom and Aperture and features the NIK patented U-Point technology (Control Points). This topic generated much interest and because of this Howard used the remaining time to demonstrate Nikon Capture NX software, showing how he uses this software in his workflow. Nikon shooters in attendance were much appreciative of this demo and Canon took the back seat for a few minutes :>)

February 27th, 2010 by admin

This week’s banner image was submitted by DIG member George Keller. Thanks, George!

Image details from George:
This picture was taken while on a shoot with friends at a lake in Sun City. It was a dark and dreary day, looking like rain at any minute. The heron flew in front of the cloud covered sun allowing me to make this photo. Not much processing except for changing if from gray to a warm mauve in Photoshop.

Model – NIKON D300
DateTime – 2009:01:28 13:58:26
ExposureTime – 1/250 seconds
ExposureProgram – Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings – 400
ShutterSpeedValue – 1/250 seconds
ApertureValue – F 6.30
FocalLength – 86.00 mm
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm – 129 mm

Would you like to see your image here? Members only…..Please Email your image and/or your website/blog links to: meeting@digmeeting.com with a subject of “DIG member images”. Image dimensions must be: 827pixels wide by 306 pixels high. When choosing an image to upload, keep in mind that there will be text at the upper left (as shown) and a white bar across the bottom of your image for the tabs. So share an image where you won’t mind these parts being covered up.

ALSO….please share a little information regarding your image. Suggestions: Location, time of day, equipment, etc. Also tell us if it is Photoshop art. Yes…Photoshop creations are welcome and encouraged! Just remember that the very bottom of the image will be barely visible.

February 25th, 2010 by admin

Here’s a video featuring the founders of Adobe Photoshop.

STARTUP MEMORIES

February 25th, 2010 by admin

Among the topics for open discussion are “blend modes” and “content aware scaling” in Photoshop CS4. We will have tutorials on these topics and again members are encouraged to participate with their questions and experiences. Should be a fun session.

As usual we encourage all members to bring prints, projects, etc. for review and discussion.

February 24th, 2010 by admin

Thanks to all who have submitted images for our banner! You will see a new one at least once a week.

To be a little more clear as to how to crop your images: A quick way to crop is to set the options of your Crop Tool to the exact dimension and then just drag out the crop.

NEXT, you need to keep in mind that the bottom of your image WILL be covered with the tabs so keep this in mind when deciding where to crop. Depending on the image, this will mean that part of your image might not be seen. If your image is mostly light in tones, as in the example below, the image will probably be seen through that bar. If you want your copyright to show, it should be positioned ABOVE this bottom area.

Image before and after

The exact dimensions of this bottom area is 827 pixels by 43 pixels. To see how this will affect your image, you can set your marquis to this size and drag out the selection at the bottom. Look at the second image above to see how that selection will be lightened in order for the tabs to show up.

Marquis Tool Options Setting

February 21st, 2010 by admin

This is a call to DIG members for photos to be used as the banner of our website and also for your website and/or blog address for the “MEMBERS” tab of this website. Email images and links to meeting@digmeeting.com with a subject of “DIG member images”.

Image dimensions must be: 827pixels wide by 306 pixels high. When choosing an image to upload, keep in mind that there will be text at the upper left (as shown) and a bar across the bottom where the tabs go. There will be no other text.

The banner image will rotate weekly or bi-weekly depending on how many we receive.

The current image is sunrise at Rock Knob in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and comes from Marianne Jensen.

Who’s next?!

February 16th, 2010 by admin

Click on the photo below to download an application for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy’s annual photo contest.

Click image to download contest application