Havin' Some Photoshop Fun - via Scott Kelby

I'm sure you know about my friend Scott Kelby's best-selling book: Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It. If you want to learn about about portraiture, Scott's book is a must.

Today, while I was working on some of my wildlife photographs from a recent trip to Kenya, I was thinking about the importance of tracking an animal, photographing the animal, and then enhancing the image: a three-step process - just like Scott's process, which makes good sense.

© Rick Sammon

So, to take a break from my serious work, I had some Photoshop fun - creating a dummy home page for an iPad app: Track It. Photograph It. Enhance It.

It's not an actual app! Again, I just created the image for fun.

© Rick Sammon

Scott: thanks for the fun idea.

Now it's time to get back to serious work - if you can call enhancing wildlife images in Photoshop work.

© Rick Sammon

To enhanced my leopard image, I used the Paper Toner filter in Nik Color Efex Pro. Click here to get a discount on Nik and some of the other plug-ins I use.

Speaking of serious and fun, if you want to have some serious fun learning about composition, check out my latest class on Kelby Training: Composition - the strongest way of seeing.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Click here to see my app - the real ones!

Stellar Shot of a Stellar's Jay

© Alex Morley

I saw this shot and had to share it with you. It was taken by my friend Alex Morley, with whom I am leading a workshop on the Oregon Coast later this year.


Alex: "Stellar's Jays are found only in western North America. They are closely related to the blue jay found on the rest of the continent, but have a black head. Steller’s Jays are bold, inquisitive, intelligent, and very noisy!! And their color – unreal! They are one of my favorite birds and always remind me of the beautiful deep forests of the Pacific Northwest where I live."


Alex - I love the framing, background, focus, rain –  and catch light in the bird's eye. Truly a stellar shot!


Explore the light,
Rick

Gearing Up for My 5D Mark III

SOLD.

I'm selling my Canon 5D Mark II with grip. I'm gearing up for my Canon 5D Mark III.

Includes:

Body
Grip
One Battery
One Charger
SmugMug cool strap
Brand new 16GB Lexar card
and
DVD on how to shoot HD videos - $50 value.

Click here to read about the awesome new camera.

If you are interested in my 5D Mark II, please give me a call at 914-271-6132 - or shoot me an email.

US shipping only.

Explore the light,

Rick

Play with Light - and Walk Like an Egyptian

Model Kimberly Askew. © Rick Sammon

Here's a fun idea for playing with light. Place a speedlite directly behind a subject (hide the stand with the subject's body) and point the speedlite toward the back wall. Fire the flash remotely. I used Pocket Wizards.

Use a Honl Grid over the flash head to focus the light. Place a Honl Gel over the flash head to add color to the white light.

I took this photograph in Parish Kohanim's Atlanta studio last week during our lighting workshop. I added lens flare effect in Photoshop - where I also created my mirror image of model Kimberly Askew.

My camera gear for this shoot:

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 24-105m IS lens... my favorite lens.

Have fun with the ligh this weekend.

Explore the light,

Rick

For more lighting and photo tips, see my apps. Or, come on one of my workshops.

Rick's List: Wildlife Park Photo Gear & Photo Tips

© Rick Sammon

I'm gearing up for my April Fossil Rim Wildlife Center photo workshop. I've been to Fossil Rim five times and to Kenya twice. The folks at Fossil Rim do a good job of simulating the African experience.

Here's a list of the gear I am bringing. I recommend the same gear for all wildlife park shoots.

Cameras

Canon 5D Mark II or Canon 7D. The cropped-sensor 7D will make your lenses act like longer lenses.

Lenses

Canon 100-400mm IS - my main wildlife lens.

Canon 70-200mm f/4 - at Fossil Rim, the animals come very close.

Canon 24-105mm IS lens - for wide-angle shots of the gropus of wildebeest and zebra.

Accessories

Canon 580EX II - for daylight fill-in flash shots, which I will teach on the workshop.

Computer Stuff

MacBook Pro loaded with Lightroom or Photoshop and my favorite plug-ins.

Photo tips

• Shoot at a wide aperture to blur the background (especially when signs and fences are behind the animals.
• Put your lens right up against the fence and position it at an opening in the fence. Shooting at a wide aperture will blur the lens and make it disappear. Tip illustrated in opening photo.
• Try to shoot at the animals eye level.
• Learn about the animals before you go to the park.
• Take close-ups and wide-angle shots. Tell the whole story.
• Use a flash for fill light, especially when the subject is in the shade.
• Try to get some action shots . . . even the movement of a paw.
• Focus on the eyes.
• Try to get a behind-the-scenes tour. You'll get some cool shots.
• Play with shutter speeds. Use fast shutter speeds to freeze action, slow shutter speed to blur action.
• When shooting through glass, put your lens up against the glass and cup your hand around the lens to eliminate reflections.
• When shooting with a flash through glass, shoot at a 45-degree angle to eliminate the reflection from the flash.
• Get to the park early, before it gets crowded.

Explore the light,
Rick