Plug-ins: Rant or Rave?

I recently read an article by a photographer who was ranting against plug-ins, kinda dissing them as a cop-op way to turn a not-so-great shot into a totally cool shot.

Well my friends, compare the image above, enhanced with Nik Software's Color Efex Pro (Bi-Color User Defined, Detail Extractor and Image Borders), to the straight out of the camera shot below. I took the grab shot during my Coney Island photo walk workshops while waking down the boardwalk.

I think effects like this are something to rave about. What do you think? Post a comment here and join the conservation.

I also think plug-ins can help photographers awaken the artist within. Sure, getting the best possible in-camera exposure is key. But when we remove some of the reality from an image, by changing the color or sharpness or saturation, our pictures can become more creative. More artistic.

What's more, plug-ins are fun to use. And what's wrong with having a little digital darkroom fun?

All the plug-ins I use are listed on my Save on Creative Plug-ins Page.

Explore the light,
Rick Sammon

P.S. I like straight shots, too :-)

Landing At Squarespace

"It's been a long time comin'."  -  David Crosby

I finally have a web site that represents my photography and my photo philosophy. I chose a SQUARESPACE web site as my home on the web for my blog, galleries, workshops - and more - because it's the only self-publishing web site that I've found to be easy to manage and fun to use. Customer support and all the creative options for photographers are yet another reason why I landed here.

Explore my Galleries. Check out my workshops and seminars.

Of course, please subscribe to my blog, which will be the home page for ricksammon.com. I will try to post useful info every day . . . when I am in the country.

Click here to subscribe to my blog. Thanks in advance for following along.

If you have an idea for a post, please shoot me an email.

And speaking of my blog, notice that the pictures look bigger and better. That's quite nice!

If you are looking for an awesome place to host your website, check out SQUARESPACE.

Explore the light,
Rick Sammon

My Second Canon Speedlite Session at Photo Plus

I'm just back from my second Canon Speedlite session at Photo Plus in NYC. Good fun, as always.

My goal was to illustrate what can be done with just one speedlite. I was using the new Canon 600EX- RT speedlite and new Canon ST-E3 radio transmitter wireless system.

One speedlite was placed in a 28-inch Westcott Apollo soft box to camera left and aimed slightly in front of our handsome model, Lorenzo. My friend Steven Inglima, who heads up the Canon Explorer of Light program, was kind enough to hold a reflector directly opposite the softbox, a technique that adds a little fill light to the shadow side of a subject's face.

Of course, we had a cool model, which always helps. So cool in fact that I think Lorenzo should be on the cover of Cool Dude magazine :-)

Explore the light,
Rick Sammon
Canon Explorer of Light

P.S. Thanks to my fiend Vered Koshlano, a wonderful photographer, for helping out with styling and the models. And of course, thank to Jerry Ward at Canon for all his help in the Canon Speedlite booth.

Peace, Love and HDR

Final HDR Image

Here's one of my favorite HDR images, as well as one of my more peaceful images.

Title: Beautiful Buddha Reflection (We shoot here on my Croton Creative Workshop)

Location, Kent, New York

Exposures: 0, -2, -3, +2 EV

Tips:

The name of the game is to fill the frame. Notice how every inch of this frame is filled with an interesting subject.

I used my Canon 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens on my Canon 5D for this image. Without HDR, the reflection would have been very dark.

When using a fish-eye lens, make sure your camera is level. A slight tilt to the left or right can mess up your image.

Also: Shoot RAW, but to save HDR processing time, convert your HDR images to JPEGs. One technique is to use Image Processor in Photoshop.

HDR sequence.

You'll find more HDR info in my iHDR iPad app and iHDR for your Mac.

Click here to see the plug-ins I use for HDR.

Explore the light,
Rick

Take Control of Color - Your Color or Accurate Color

© Rick Sammon

I receive many emails about how to get good color, so I am reposting this post.

In one of my posts last week I talked about color - creating an image with the colors you like, as opposed to accurate colors.

I took the image above in Death Valley, where I am doing a workshop next year. I hope you can jon the fun.

The colors you see, created in Nik Color Efex Pro, are not the natural colors, they are the painterly colors I wanted in my image. The original image is below.

© Rick Sammon

Of course, getting accurate color is important, too. That's what I was striving for when I was working on my iPad app, Flying Flowers.

© Rick Sammon

For accurate in-camera color, I use the Passport Color Checker. Click here to read about this essential accessory for getting accurate color on site. Check out the sale price and save a few bucks.

Passport Color Checker

For accurate color on my desktop and laptop, and even with my printer and digital projector, I use the ColorMunki. Click here to read about this cool color tool. Check out the sales price for this product, too.

colormunki

Here's a link to a free webinar that my friend Joe Brady is hosting on color!

Here's a short movie I did on getting accurate color. If you like HDR, you'll like this movie.

Here's a post on changing colors in an image using the Color Replacement tool in Photoshop.

Explore the light,
Rick