Free Webinar: Lightroom for Everyone

As a professional photographer in Los Angeles county, California I’m always ready to learn more about the tools I use.  Please note that David Riecks is giving away his very handy Controlled Vocabulary Keyword Catalog.  The information below is from Rob Sylvan.

Lightroom for Everyone

I’m very excited to have the opportunity to conduct a free webinar aimed at helping new Lightroom users learn how to get started on the right foot, avoid common pitfalls, and become more efficient with Lightroom; my absolute favorite photo workflow tool. We’ve only got about 100 seats left open, so head on over to  register now. The webinar is going to be streamed live on Tuesday, October 8th, 10-11 a.m. PST / 1-2 p.m. EST.

If a free Lightroom webinar was not enough reason to sign up we’ll also be giving away a free subscription to the awesome Controlled Vocabulary Keyword Catalog (thanks to David Riecks) and a full license to Lightroom 5 (courtesy of Adobe). Details of the giveaways will be given out during the webinar, and you have to be registered to be eligible to win. So head over to the Lightroom for Everyone sign up page and register!

This webinar is being sponsored by Stocksy United, which is an amazing stock photography co-op that is creating a sustainable business model for both contributors and customers by providing exclusive content at competitive prices that is fresh, authentic, and doesn’t look like the stock photography you can find everywhere else. I’m honored to be a co-op member and hope you will check them out the next time you need stock photos for your project.

Tribute to Ernie Brooks

Before going to Art Center College of Design and becoming professional  advertising and editorial photographer in Los Angeles, California I considered going to Brooks, Institute of Photography.  It had an outstanding name as a learning institution for photography.  A number of well known photographers especially underwater photographers have come out of Brooks, Institute of Photography.  It is not surprising that the tribute to Ernie Brooks filled the Arlington Theatre with over 2,000 attendees.

Many that attended seemed to be friends and long time collaborators of Ernie’s.  Some of those show their work to the enjoyment of the rest.  Along with a number of historical presentations were some newer photographs and video created by the speakers.  David Doubilet, a contributing photographer to National Geographic Magazine, showed some of his split over and under water photographs.

© David Doubilet

Visit his website at www.daviddoubilet.com for more beautiful images.

Howard Hall show some spectacular video footage of the kelp beds of Southern California among other places. Some of the work he has done is in the IMAX format which is an amazing feat to do underwater.

© Howard Hall

Visit his website at www.howardhall.com to see some of his beautiful videos.

LAST minute!! Art Buyers are waiting! Only a few hours left!

LAST minute!!  Art Buyers are waiting!  Only a few hours left!  Enter here NOW:

Guilin City of Water

My first stop as a location photographer in China is Guilin.  As a location photographer, how could I miss a chance to make images of one of the most beautiful places in the world.  The famed city of Karsh hills has the Li river snaking its way between the green velvet foliage covering the peaks you see in most movies of China.  Being the rainy season, there has been a steady rain creating a sea of umbrellas on the sidewalks.  Bright colors and the constant movement remind me of beach balls being tosed about.

 All this rain brings up a few tips for fellow travelers.  Take the new shirts and pants from makers like Patagonia, A16 and REI.  They wisk the mositure away from your skin and dry quickly from your body heat. When you do get back to your hotel, throw them in the bath. Then towel dry before hanging for use the next day.  Of course, take at least two of everything.

China the Revisit Totally Different

As a location photographer in 2001 I visted China, I finally I got a chance to return only to find many changes.  The people are still friendly but the pace at least in the cities has sped up.  Instead of bikes filling the streets, it is motorbikes filling the streets and sidewalks.  In China the electric bikes are cheap and you do not need a license.  Motorcycles that use gas and cars do require a driver’s licnese.  You can imagine the amazing traffic this creates.  Everyone just goes - pedestrians, bikes (yes, there still are a few), electric bikes, motorcycle, cars, bus and trucks weave about in a dance of bear misses with car horns setting the beat.

Pegasus the Versatile Slider Dolly

Pegasus-carbon-slider

The prize for the Best Commercial/Promotional category in the APA 2^nd Annual Short Video Contest is the Cinevate Elements Camera Slider Bundle.

The words I hear most often to describe the Pegasus dolly are versatility, creativity and fun.  We all know that moving the camera gives a feeling of presence and higher production value. As a kit, it has what you need for many shooting solutions for the independent filmmaker.

The Elements Bundle  is lightweight and easily handled by one person.  The Pegasus is easy to set up either as a slider dolly or a tabletop dolly.    The Pegasus dolly uses steel ball bearings that run smoothly along 15mm carbon rails making for a lightweight but sturdy slider.  The design allows the unit to be inverted on the rails for overhead shots that can add a unique moving viewpoint to many subjects.  Once you unhook the dolly from the track, it becomes a tabletop dolly that can perform both straight and curved dolly movements.

The kit includes an All Terrain foot system but can also be mounted using adapter plates using 1/4-20 and 3/8 (my favorite) threaded holes or 5/8 holes for  lighting stands.

For more information please go to www.Cinevate.com

To UV Or Not To UV

As a advertising and editorial photographer that shoots both in the studio using strobes  and on location using the sun I am covered in UV.  What I mean is that both light sources emit large amounts of UV.  Since, I have been a professional photographer for over thirty years, I started my career shooting film.  It was popular and useful to use a UV filter when shooting film.  Film is sensitive to UV, digital sensors are not.  So the possible carry over of using a UV filter is needless in this age of digital photography. So the answer is Not To UV.

This hold true for shooting digital video as well as digital still photography.

Sachtler ACEm fluid Head with 2 Stage Aluminum Tripod

I’ve been working with the Sachtler Ace M Fluid Head with 2-Stage Aluminum Tripod over the last few months and want to share some observations about it.  So, let’s start at the top ad work our way down.  The Ace M is made of a lightweight carbon fiber composite material. The camera plate is nice and long so as to accommodate just about any camera you might want to use. There is an optional camera plate for DLSRs.  The head has a payload of up to 8.8 lbs.  Both the plate and the top of the head have scale marks so you can find the balance you like and by noting the position on the scales you are able to quickly reposition the camera to the same balance point. The plate is held in place by a tightening knob on the side of the head just ahead of the safety release for the plate.

As we move down the head, in the back, under the balance plate is a place to store 1/4” and 3/8” camera screws which is handy.  Along the left side is the tilt lock and in the center is a large tilt dial making it easy to set the tension dial with three settings of drag and 0 for no drag. Next to the tilt tension dial is a smaller counter balance dial that has 0 to 5 steps of counterbalance for just about any camera system you would put on the head. It seems like I have to tilt the camera forward or back a bit after adjusting the setting to activate the tilt drag and counterbalance to the new setting. Below the tilt tension dial is the spirit level which is clear but is not illuminated which can make it hard to use in low light situations.

Moving on to the front of the head there is a locking knob for the pan and just below that is the large pan tension adjust dial with three settings plus 0.  This is nice because no matter how you position the system you are able to quickly ajust the pan drag setting.  I like the that the large dials for both the tilt and pan tension settings makes setting them easy.  Quick mention about the Pan Bar which is only on the right side but is adjustable for angle and tilt.

The head is supported on a 75mm ball allowing for a tilt range of +90 degrees to -75 degrees.  The ball fits into the 75mm bowl in the two 2-stage aluminum tripod with a mid-level spreader and with a foot spreader version available.  I find the mid-level spreader easier to deal with and still gives me the rigidity I want.  The legs are the split uppers with single sticks for the bottom two sections.   The system tops out at 66.5” and folders down to 33.5”.  The feet are a adjustable from soft rubber to spikes depending on the terrain.

Lee White working with Sachtler Ace M Fluid Head with 2-Stage Aluminum Tripod

Shooting with the Ace is a pleasure; the tension adjustment range is suitable for a variety of subjects.  I found the pan and tilt to be smooth from beginning to end without the jump that sometimes happens at the beginning with some heads.  Equally important there is no spring back when I stop the move.  The head is solid so I did not have to worry about holding it in place for the couple of beats I usually like at the end of my moves.  Check out the surfing shot I just did as an example.  I used the Panasonic HMC 40 recording onto a Hoodman Raw STEEL SDHC card to capture the shot.

For more information on the SachtlerACE go to http://www.sachtler.com/?id=1109/product_fluid-heads-75-mm_ace-m__description.html

Is It Time to Throw Your Lightmeter Away?

Cinematographer Gale Tattersall, DP of the TV show House, who was part of Canon’s Cine Expo EOS presentation on using the Canon 5D for the final episode, mentioned using Marshall Monitor for False Color. First, you should know what False Color is and how to use it.

Marshall Electronics describes their False Color Filter in the following way:

The False Color filter is used to aid in the setting of camera exposure. As the camera Iris is adjusted, elements of the image will change color based on the luminance or brightness values. This enables proper exposure to be achieved without the use of costly, complicated external test equipment. To best utilize this feature, you must understand the color chart and have a basic understanding of camera exposure. Normally, when shooting subjects like people, it is common practice to set exposure of faces to the equivalent of approximately 56 IRE. The False Color filter will show this area as the color PINK on the monitor. Therefore, as you increase exposure (open the IRIS), your subject will change color as indicated on the chart: PINK, then GREY, then a few shades of YELLOW. Overexposed subjects (above 101 IRE) on the monitor will be shown as RED. In addition, underexposed subjects will show as DEEP-BLUE to DARK-BLUE, with clipped-blacks indicated with a FUCHSIA-like color. Lastly, the color GREEN is used to indicate elements of the image that are approximately 45 IRE. This represents a “neutral” or “mid-level” exposure commonly used for objects (not people).

If you have come to any of my workshops, you have seen a practical demonstration of Marshall’s HDMI monitor’s False Color Filter in setting exposure. The latest Marshall 7 inch HDMI Monitor is the V-LCD70XP HDMI.

Surprisingly, Gale found Marshall’s False Color filter so useful that he seldom used his handheld meter while shooting with the 5D.

False Color Images

False Color Table

House Finale From the Inside

Any photographer learning video production would have been very interested in the Cine Gear Expo 2010 at  Paramount Studios in Hollywood.   One of the highlights was cinematographer Gale Tattersall,  DP  of the TV show House, part of Canon’s EOS presentation on using the Canon 5D  for the final episode.  I had a chance to chat with Gale for awhile privately before and after the presentation as well, so I was able to get a bit more information on his digital workflow.

Anyone who wants to see top work with a 5D Mark ll should watch the House finale episode.  To keep everything I’m going to write about this  in the right perspective,  we must keep in mind that Gale is the DP for what I hear is the most watched TV show in the world.  He has a team of experienced professionals working with him and the resources of a major network behind him.  These are not unlimited resources, but they will do.  Plus, he was concerned that he and his team only had three weeks of testing to refine the workflow before he started actually using the camera to shoot the episode.

Right off there was some concern about projecting the clips on a full size movie screen at the Expo.  Banding is a problem when you start off with a highly compressed format like the H264 coming out of the 5D Mark ll.  Everyone in the theater was impressed including Gale and moderator Tim Smith of Canon with how well the picture held up.  Remember, they made sure they started with the picture style set at neutral, the exposure was right on (I’ll write about this more later) and the color balance was right where they wanted it.  Plus, (and here is a big tip) a little film grain was added to smooth everything out.

More on this and what else I saw …