RetouchPRO - Blogs http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/ en Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:54:38 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg RetouchPRO - Blogs http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/ Professional Imaging 2010 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/176-professional-imaging-2010.html Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:02:17 GMT Yesterday I went to a Photography trade show. Scott Kelby was the big draw. He seems like such an approachable down to earth guy. I got to play with the new Cintiq. Which was really cool. While I was waiting in line for my turn I thought working without shortcuts would be problematic but it was... Yesterday I went to a Photography trade show. Scott Kelby was the big draw. He seems like such an approachable down to earth guy.

I got to play with the new Cintiq. Which was really cool. While I was waiting in line for my turn I thought working without shortcuts would be problematic but it was a non-issue. It would be terrific to actually work on the image. It was very difficult to hand over the stylus to the next person in the queue.

The show was full of wedding books and large format printers. I got to see Eizo and LaCie monitors.

I also sat in on a class on FinalCut Pro - just because I could. Nik software was there but I think they were the only plug in with a stand.

What impressed me most was Frank Doorhof. He'd brought along models and makeup artists and was working in association with a lighting company. I really felt like I was in the presence of greatness. ]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/176-professional-imaging-2010.html there must be a better way http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/175-there-must-better-way.html Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:04:20 GMT I've been watching tons of tutorials over the last week on how and why to retouch. I think the perfect teacher would have the following qualities;

Philosophy of Chris Orwig (most definitely a favorite)
breadth of knowledge of Deke McClelland (he's amazingly thorough)
and the voice of Colin Smith (I can listen to him endlessly)

Notes on changing to a Mac.
The magic mouse can be programmed to have a right click. Woot!

There's good and bad about the glossy screen. I have to take frequent breaks or risk a headache. In one sense it makes everything look good. In another sense I can see details that were not visible before so it's difficult to know when I'm done.

Many, many of the free plug-ins aren't available for the Mac. I do have a Windows partition but it's such a pain to use that I probably won't.

I can't believe how quickly I was able to rebuild my Nano. This was a task I was avoiding and it only took a couple of hours.

]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/175-there-must-better-way.html Dandelion seed brushes http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/palms1/174-dandelion-seed-brushes.html Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:14:24 GMT I have been messing around today making these brushes and thought i would post them incase someone else finds them useful they where made in cs2 so not sure if they will work in older versions ( sorry) Palms I have been messing around today making these brushes and thought i would post them incase someone else finds them useful
they where made in cs2 so not sure if they will work in older versions ( sorry)

Palms
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]]> palms1 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/palms1/174-dandelion-seed-brushes.html <![CDATA[Windows > Mac]]> http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/173-windows-mac.html Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:50:00 GMT I guess I should chronicle my switch from windows to Mac here. Why a Mac? DH was behind on a 50th birthday present and a 30th wedding anniversary present and the local shop ran an amazing 3 day sale. So he told me it was now or never. They were clearing things out for an end January inventory... I guess I should chronicle my switch from windows to Mac here.

Why a Mac? DH was behind on a 50th birthday present and a 30th wedding anniversary present and the local shop ran an amazing 3 day sale. So he told me it was now or never. They were clearing things out for an end January inventory count we suspect.

First of all the dinky keyboard, isn't. It's really slick. I type with all my fingers and it's a joy. I haven't really gotten the shortcuts for cut and paste to work (which meant I got locked out of RetouchPRO while trying to log in on the new machine. The horror! The horror!) The magic mouse is pretty neat but the first thing I did was install my Bamboo fun.

What struck DH and me most is that things seem logical. With setting things up on Windows we usually puzzle through something and once solved think, 'now why in the world did they do it that way/put it there?!' But setting up the Mac it's more like, 'But of course! That's so logical.' DH keeps remarking on how functional and beautiful the design is both the physical structure of the hardware and the software.

I am lamenting the dearth of digital darkroom software. I tried to download a trial of Corel but it didn't go well. There was nowhere to choose between PC/Mac and I think I got the PC version. :blank:

I was afraid seeing my work on a 21.5 inch monitor would make me cringe...and it does...but because it's all so bright and colorful. Actually the bigger monitor makes everything look better. I was able to see some flawed places on the skin of the RAW file that I had missed. ]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/173-windows-mac.html the zen of retouching/Too much choice http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/172-zen-retouching-too-much-choice.html Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:57:26 GMT I've read so many books lately I dont know where to start in altering my workflow. I do realize that the best tool for the job is the one you know.

I've been playing with Google Earth and SketchUp. And while it's really cool that I can type in my street address and get an eagle's eye view;



It's also rather creepy in a big-brother-is-watching-you kind of way.

I played around with two files made available here at RetouchPRO;



I know the eye catchlights are cringingly, embarrassingly bad. But I was really stoked to try my hand at this kind of retouching.

And then five (!!!) more were made available. With these I learned of my sorry limitations. :blush: One was mostly cyan/magenta - that one veered wildly out of gamut instantly and was quickly set aside. This second one was a great file for me to work on while I tried to understand this thread. I'm still kinda fuzzy on why it works but the results are truly amazing. And it was also an eye opener to attempt editing on such a large(ish) file with my 5 year old Dell. It would grunt and wheeze away giving me heaps of time to determine my next move.



The first retouch was so exciting and I thought, 'people get to do this for a living?' The second one I found rather tedious. And thought, 'hat's off to those who do this for a living.' ]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/172-zen-retouching-too-much-choice.html Conversion Software http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/171-conversion-software.html Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:44:35 GMT During my last webinar I was asked what i used for processing raw files from Photographers. The easy answer would be to say whatever software I am feeling is a favorite at the moment. BUt of course that would be a bit arbitrary and not always the best choice. I currently have several... During my last webinar I was asked what i used for processing raw files from Photographers.

The easy answer would be to say whatever software I am feeling is a favorite at the moment. BUt of course that would be a bit arbitrary and not always the best choice.

I currently have several applications that I use. ACR and Lightroom are two of them. Even though Lightroom is based upon ACR and ACR is pretty easy and straightforward to use, I tend to lean more towards Lightroom. I love the ability to go backwards in time with the image whenever I want. Or to make virtual copies of an image to see side by side comparisons of various corrections. There are really a lot of reasons to use Lightroom and not to many not to.

Occasionally I will get a few files that just don't seem to work all that well coming out of ACR or Lightroom. For whatever reason. At those times I move over to another piece of software that has been around for awhile and has caught up with Lightrooms flowing workflow.

Capture One 5 has come a long long way and has some exceptional controls for color correction and sharpening. It handles pretty much the same amount of raw files that its competition uses, but it invariably handles Phase files a lot better. Lightroom opens some of these files and handles them fine, but sometimes there is a new release that Capture One handles better... for instance the new P65+. Fantastic images. ACR and Lightroom open the files but you can see a huge difference when placed side by side with the output from Capture One 5

For the last year or so I have also been utilizing a great piece of software called RPP, or Raw Photo Processor. It is a pretty advance processing application that is a bit confusing to get used to. But it offers some qualities that no one else on the market does.

Its free for one.... always nice!

RPP handles nearly every camera on the market and is constantly updating profiles and adding new ones for new cameras. There are two version, the free one, and the version where you make a donation that gets you some added capabilities. Both versions give you a very film like output and are capable of sending to Photoshop a 32 bit image. It also does 8 bit or 16 bit, along with a variety of colorspaces.

But the 32 bit capability to me is what makes this application shine. It is very valuable for images that are rather dark and you need to bring out shadow detail. Used with Photoshops ability to open and adjust the 32 bit images there are a world of corrections opened to you that you never had. This application also takes into account BOTH green channels that a sensor has. And while you can adjust that second green channel, its not recommended. Let the application handle it.

Ok.... there is one other capability here that really shines. Probably more important to most people even over its 32 bit capability. It has the nice function of being able to push exposure while protecting Highlight. Its really quite nice to push an exposure up 2 steps and not worry about blowing out the highlights etc in an image.

RPP does not process noise.... meaning there is no remove noise capability. A problem I have yet to run into with any image coming out of it.

Here is a link to the website for info and a download link:

http://www.raw-photo-processor.com/RPP/Overview.html

Try all of the processing software you can get your hands on. They all work differently and all have their quirks. But you never know when one of them is going to come in handy and possibly save your.......

Chris ]]> cricket1961 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/171-conversion-software.html <![CDATA[Remember the game "20 questions"? This isn't it.]]> http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cj-swartz/170-remember-game-20-questions-isnt.html Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:26:27 GMT http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/01/twenty-questions.html http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/01...questions.html ]]> CJ Swartz http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cj-swartz/170-remember-game-20-questions-isnt.html <![CDATA[don't shoot the retoucher]]> http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/169-dont-shoot-retoucher.html Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:10:04 GMT I'm finding the coverage (or lack there of :-) of Jennifer Hawkin's nude cover on Feb 2010 Australian Marie Claire endlessly amusing. First of all who uses the term 'air brushing' anymore? And second of all it seems completely arbitrary to me that she can have the best make-up, photographers and lighting but entering the digital darkroom is a no no. lol, like nothing happens in camera. Yawn! This argument is so tired.

I got a number of books on Photoshop for Christmas which I am slowly working my way though. I suppose it's not unexpected that Margulis would say that LAB is almost always better than RAW processing but personally I found it a total relief to have such a definitive answer and am in the process of adjusting my workflow accordingly. Towards the end of 'Professional Photoshop' it actually started to make sense, gasp! Now if I can just tie that together with the Russell Brown tutorial where he changes the file's color space and makes extra channels (can't find it again, if you know what I'm talking about please send me the link) then I am in for some fun experimenting.

I also received Steve Caplin's 'How to Cheat' which is totally mind boggling - how can he be so organized and creative at the same time? I accidentally got it for CS4 and I am so glad that I did because it gradually explains the new features. ]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/169-dont-shoot-retoucher.html Corrected Separate Channels Action http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/168-corrected-separate-channels-action.html Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:03:18 GMT I have added in the missing RGB channels to the action. And corrected a misnamed channel. Chris I have added in the missing RGB channels to the action.

And corrected a misnamed channel.

Chris
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]]> cricket1961 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/168-corrected-separate-channels-action.html Webinar Suggestions. http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/167-webinar-suggestions.html Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:48:07 GMT Hello Folks!

I'm glad that so many of you are getting something from my webinars. Always happy to hear that "open thinking" is occurring.

In the future, I have plans for additional Calculations chows, Apply IMage shows, Gradient Map shows, and eventually.......the custom filter...

Of course I am going to continue to do Beauty Retouches for all as long as they are needed.

But, please feel free to give me ideas for what you want ME to delve into for you in the hope of opening any doors that are locked etc.

Chris ]]> cricket1961 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/167-webinar-suggestions.html Channel Action from the First Calculations show http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/166-channel-action-first-calculations-show.html Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:10:49 GMT Hello Everyone

Here is the action mentioned in the show to create the separate document with all of the masking channels included.

Please don't forget to install the HSB/HSL filter from your original Adobe Photoshop instal dvd.
Without that plug-in, you will not get some of the masking channels available to you!

I will post at a later time a better explanation of the blend modes to better understand starting points using calculations.

Chris
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File Type: zip Seperate Channels.atn.zip (1.7 KB, 213 views)
]]> cricket1961 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/166-channel-action-first-calculations-show.html Stylized comic book action http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/palms1/165-stylized-comic-book-action.html Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:21:27 GMT This action is made from a tutorial by Corey Barker seen here (http://www.planetphotoshop.com/stylized-comic-book-effect-tut.html) It works on quite a few different images it just needs the odd bit of tinkering ( mainly colour etc ) All that i have done is made it into a action this is... This action is made from a tutorial by Corey Barker
seen here

It works on quite a few different images it just needs the odd bit of tinkering ( mainly colour etc )

All that i have done is made it into a action this is all Corey's workflow

I hope it is of some use to someone and that you enjoy the use of the action!
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]]> palms1 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/palms1/165-stylized-comic-book-action.html <![CDATA[It's my birhtday and I can Photoshop if I want to]]> http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/164-its-my-birhtday-i-can-photoshop-if-i-want.html Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:43:14 GMT On my birthday I decide not to worry about anything and just play with Photoshop. I forgot about perspective, light, color and trying to make any kind of sense. It turned out to be a rather interesting exercise in imagination. Makes me wonder how much we have to force eyes to see in our made up... On my birthday I decide not to worry about anything and just play with Photoshop. I forgot about perspective, light, color and trying to make any kind of sense. It turned out to be a rather interesting exercise in imagination. Makes me wonder how much we have to force eyes to see in our made up images and how much we can trust our brains to complete the story.

]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/164-its-my-birhtday-i-can-photoshop-if-i-want.html New Tutorial Posted http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/163-new-tutorial-posted.html Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:21:45 GMT Hello All I have a new tutorial posted in the usual place... (here is the link for those who have not yet been there.... http://www.pmai.org/content.aspx?id=9970) As usual it is another technique that uses a tool for something other than what it is meant for. And its intuitive..... go... Hello All

I have a new tutorial posted in the usual place...
(here is the link for those who have not yet been there.... http://www.pmai.org/content.aspx?id=9970)

As usual it is another technique that uses a tool for something other than what it is meant for.

And its intuitive..... go figure.

This is another tutorial on masking, and even though it has the same name as my last tutorial, it is using a different tool altogether.

This tutorial takes all of the benefits of the Shadow/Highlight command and uses them to build precise masks on a global basis. You can of course integrate the resulting masks with existing masks to get up close and personal with local areas.

Try it out and see how it works for you.... you might be pleasently surprised!

Chris ]]> cricket1961 http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/cricket1961/163-new-tutorial-posted.html Too many permutations http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/162-too-many-permutations.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:03:05 GMT Yesterday I listened to two great Podcasts from here; Podcasts (http://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/podcasts.php) One was with Fay Sirkis and the other with Katrin Eismann. And in a way they said the same thing. That the more traditional art (painting/photography) you know the better your... Yesterday I listened to two great Podcasts from here;

Podcasts

One was with Fay Sirkis and the other with Katrin Eismann. And in a way they said the same thing. That the more traditional art (painting/photography) you know the better your Photoshop work will be.

I've learned so much lately that I'm fairly paralyzed with all the different ways to achieve the same effect. Which probably means I'm doing way too much in ACR, LAB, Photoshop adjustments layers, filters & Plug-Ins I guess that is just part of the learning process.
:D
I'm really proud of the details that I pulled out of this old capture;



link ]]> Nasturtium http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blogs/nasturtium/162-too-many-permutations.html