What do you think?

This is the place to pick out an article here from any month, read it, try it out and reply with whatever you think. Feel free to moan and groan, or kick it up a notch and wail and waller.

Or if it was just what you wished for or even better you learned something, give us a major kudo: Donate to keep this blog healthy. Or at least a Hat's Off to yah!!!!

Don't be shy, let us have it. We can take it.

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Once in awhile a Really Fun Site Grabs Your Attention

Photojojo is not your ordinary house of photo horrors. It is indeed just the opposite. A Fun House of photography. Don't miss it. You won't be able to keep up with all the activities and reads. It is chock full of photo stuff. Some of which contain only an alliteration to reality, while others are side-splitting humor and yet you might find yourself spending more time there scrolling through the new articles like a list of movies you haven't seen, than you might at a oceanside bonfire in the midst of winter.

Come on take a chance. But do us a favor here too and let us know what you think. Without feedback we can't know if we are giving you what you want.

My Gallery at BetterPhoto

Just so you know what Better Photo offers take a look at my Free Gallery there. Their details on their Free Better Pholio are as follows:

under the heading Website/Miscellaneous > How can I get a free Better Pholio?

You'll find member threads on images which make the grade as far as BP staff designates. And as well others may comment on any other members galleries or individual photos. Mostly members are very kind & supportive and once in awhile a Staff Member steps in to add their comments for a learning experience. Contests on-site are always available according to differing criteria or by subjects. And as Jim Miotke likes to mention, If you have a question about your digital camera, exposure, composition, lighting, or Photoshop, feel free to ask Jim during the BetterPhoto Radio show, airing 1-2pm Pacific time each Friday afternoon. Call 1-877-474-3302.

Think about this as a personal guide to better photography, complimentary.

Imagekind & Free Shipping Mon/Tue Only

Ooh Too Bad you missed the deadline. But thanks to those who did and saved on shipping.


Let me alert you to Imagekind's Free Shipping tomorrow & Tuesday only. Check it out at IK and save if you had planned on buying some Fine Art Photography anyway. This is another great deal at Imagekind & trust when I tell you that my clients have given IK nothing but the highest compliments when it comes to Communication, the actual Print Quality & the Shipping packaging. They do a really professional job at all three. They are second to none. You have 2 days, so don't miss this.

Is this a plug for myself also? Hmmm, maybe.

Virtual Photographer Software Download

Take a rather ordinary shot of a landscape and by using a Plug-in called Virtual Photographer by OpticVerveLabs and you can create a simulated HDR effect such as the one I have done below. It does help to use a photo which has some strong contrast to it, but you can use ones without. You just won't get quite the same 3D effect. But try anyone you like just to learn it.
This is the first time I've used this so the effects are not fully realized. The effect I chose are harsh & sharp by utilizing 'Clear' as the effect, then did a Layer Adjustment and filled with a dark gray to overcompensate for a overexposed background and some too bright highlites in the grasses. Within this plug-in are 24 Color effects and 30 B&W effects with sliders for strengths. For the soft effect without using any layer adjustments see this one. Even the Soft one has more Pop than the original. Focus on the grain of the bark and the individual grass blades.It is a fun program to use, but it can also produce some really Professional work if the time is taken to massage the tools within. Take a look, try it out as the Download is Free. Here is a brief description of their tool Enjoy & get back to us with an example from your photo sharing site with a link, or a Up or Down ranking.

create your own christmas card with POP

Christmas Cards are always fun to send but making them special can sometimes be a real challenge. Here's a very simple technique to use. Out my back deck is a neighbor who already has all the lights up. You can enhance the look merely by rolling the telephoto while holding down the shutter button. The darkness will force the lens to stay open longer & the finished product will display a much more spectacular Christmas lights look. Add some text & voila.

Share yours by adding a link to your favorite photo site. Merry Christmas.

Digital Art

Wormhole Storm -09162007 by Randall Klopping

Wormhole Storm -09162007 by Randall Klopping — View Larger

Gorgeous piece of digital work. And amazingly affordable.

Prices for Wormhole Storm -09162007 begin at $9.34, subject to change.

Tags: Randall Klopping, Wormhole Storm -09162007, Imagekind

What Are ICC Profiles?

A HEADS UP -- Exclusively here at Shooting Outside: An Interview with Ethan Hansen of Dry Creek Photo coming up as an addendum to this soon. Keep your eyes open & you will learn a lot more than you know now about ICC Profiles.
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Every printer manufacturer out of necessity includes a color print profile to enable their printer to print a reasonably good photograph. Some are much, much better, than others. Still no matter how good a manufacturer's profile, it will never compare to custom ICC profiles. ICC Profiles are simply put, color space tables for a printer to interpret for printing. They must always include the Manufacturer's printer model or series and the paper type one might choose, such as Glossy or Matte. And for those of you who print directly from your printer you should have few problems using these standard included profiles. Just choose the paper type & print using the software included by selecting criteria for size, color, black & white etc.

But for those with the taste for accuracy, rather than choosing the generic profiles that are out there, you'll need to look up the ICC Profiles for the paper types you like to print on. You won't find ALL photo paper suppliers offering this. But for the better photo papers you can locate them. For example at Ilford you can quickly register to receive any ICC Profile free of charge. Clearly papers such as these or Museo brand can aid in your quest for perfection. You must remember that if you are willing to take the extra effort to get better prints, you will need to take the extra steps to accomplish this. You will have to calibrate your monitor. Buying software to do this is only the first challenge. It is not difficult, but it is not for those who simply want to share or print quick photos for the family. I am not talking snapshots here.

To read more about what it takes, rather than just jumping headlong into this whole idea of what ICC Profiles are, and believe me it can become very quickly confusing, you might want to start with a most basic understanding of what this could entail, read this brief tutorial at Luminous Landscape.

Remember this in where those of you who want the very best prints will eventually end up, but before you do, start out slow and read up on this first.

NOW, after reading, start thinking about those great pictures you are going to be taking on Thanksgiving and upload to your favorite photo sharing site, to share here in my T-Day Post coming soon to a blog near you. Well here actually.

Thanksgiving Photos are Coming From You

Share them with us all here at Shooting Outside. While we'd prefer outdoor photos from your Thanksgiving Day feast, Party, Suaree', Festivities, Get-Together or Solitare Celebration, you can share them with us if you Comment & leave us a link to your photos. Food shots usually don't shine well, but if you think you've one well exposed, T-Bird or No, add a link to your photo sharing site & we can all take a look

Here's one to get started of My Son, my Mother & my Self from last year. As you can see, no one was left hungry.

Pleasing Skin Tones

I like this tutorial less for following the guidelines exactly as they explain them, but more for what it teaches you to get to where you want. Pleasing Skin Tones is a Digital Photoshop Class unto itself, written by Dan Margulis, who also offers his book at Amazon called Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction for around $13 at my check (no I'm not making any money recommending his book).

I checked a photo I had taken yesterday at a Portrait shoot with a client who had done her makeup to perfection for a Real Estate business card and asked me to lighten the blush on her cheek. I did only that. It looked fine. Then I followed the tutorial every step exactly as explained and what occurred was a general toning down, a good thing, but also a cast which the client was not happy with. Fortunately I printed out both as proofs. She chose mine with, under CMYK restraints, at 24-Yellow, 25-Magenta & 8-Cyan. The tutorial's instructions were to adjust to 30-Yellow, 24-Magenta & 8-Cyan.

So even though these values are very close my advice is to always check with your own eyes. Don't blindly go in lock-step with any tutorial as lighting conditions, camera settings and client expectations offer too many exceptions to this rule. All in all though a great tutorial for learning the HOW of settings.

Take a run at this then let us know how it worked for you. If it turns out good and you don't yet have an online Gallery try Kodak

BTW, if your monitor is calibrated & you are using an ICC Profile for the paper type you will get accurate results, otherwise what you see on your LCD may not even be accurate.