Photoshop Tuesday- Whats new in Photoshop CS 6

Kirk is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and a Technical Trainer. He is also a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like (for KW Masters Photography) if you like our posts -Go Here for FB & G+Links -Thanks for dropping by.

Introduction:What`s new in Photoshop CS 6

In the last post we discussed the features of the content aware tool  in CS 5. Today we will look at the improvements to this tool and some others found in Photoshop CS 6.

New Features

Brushes
- HUD brush resize and hardness can now change opacity
- Increase brush size to 5000px
- Change color dynamics to per stroke instead of per tip (user option for old behavior)
- Brightness/contrast slider for textures when painting
- Brush projection for static tips
- Brush cursor reflects brush dynamics for round and captured tips

Eyedropper
- Show the sample size popup for the various eyedropper tools (black point, white point,
etc.)
- Add ignore adjustment layers options bar item for the eyedropper
- New mode for eyedropper to select layers current and below

File formats
- Read common stereo image pair formats (JPS, PNS) Allow for more bit depths in TIFF files
- Read BIGTIFF format
- Give the user choices regarding how they want transparency treated in OpenEXR on file open

Grammar
- Policed throughout app
- Use consistent grammar style in the title of dialog windows (no commands such as "Choose a color:")

Layers
- Add a contextual menu item that deletes a layer effect not just disables it
- Add dither options to Layer Styles for Gradient Overlay and Gradient Stroke
- Allow 00 or Shift 00 to work when setting layer/fill opacity (previously no way to get 0%)
- Add bicubic sharper & bicubic smoother options when free transforming layers
- Allow changing of blend modes for multiple layers at once
- Allow locking of multiple layers
- CMD+J to duplicate layers and layer group
- Allow changing color labels to multiple layers at once
- Layer tooltips to include layer name (if defined)
- Opt+click on toggle arrows (groups and effects) in layer panel should close all targets
- Show blend if/Blending Effects badge on layer
- Show correct opacity and blend mode values for hidden layers
- Tab goes to next layer on inline layer rename, SHIFT + TAB goes to previous
- New command to raster layer effect into layer, merging the selected layers into themselves
- Reorder effects in the layers palette to match the Z-­­order style/blend mode (bottom most effects in termsof blending order, drop shadow is below the other effects

Liquify
- Resize Liquify brush with shortcuts
- Increase maximum Liquify brush size Add option to load last mesh

Presets
- Add new document presets for common devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, etc.)
- Add new Gradient Map presets for toning and split-­­toning
- Sticky reorganization of tool presets (changes persist after re-launch) Add Contact Sheet II as an Automation option

SDK
- Add the ability to return an array of guides in a document from the scripting SDK
- Add ability to access tool name associated with the tool preset name via scripting
Selections
- Make the marquee, lasso, and mask panel feather values support decimal places like the feather dialog
- Remember feather radius when showing dialog for selection from a path

Transform
- Improve dragging of vector curves
- Don't hide smart object icon when transforming a layer
- Rotate 90 with even x odd pixel dimension to be smooth (bjango.com)
- Undo or disable auto -­­rotate on open

UI
- Remove the app bar and reduce the drag/app bar over 30%
- [Windows] New/open document to context click on a document tab (has always been on Mac, now Windows too)
- Add "Don't show again" checkbox to Purge warnings

Miscellaneous
- Enable Split Channels for documents with layers
- Select Hex field by default and allow clipboard pastes with # in contents (i.e. #fffffff)
- Increased GPU stability by prequalifying GPUs on the fly before use
- Auto-­­select the best resample method based on the type of resize
- Enable Invert and Threshold adjustments for masks in 32 -­­bit
- Hold SHIFT during startup to disable 3rd party plugins
- Add warning message that 16 -­­bit images cannot display their file size in the Save as JPEG dialog
- Add command to insert "lorem ipsum" for type

OR

KW Masters Photography

Photoshop CS 6 Quick Summary

Summary:

That is a lot of things.  Adobe's Photoshop CS 6 also added two features to complement Content-Aware Fill, which was first introduced with CS5. These include one for moving objects to different part of the image, and one for patching up a spot with content taken from another part of the picture. Adobe has also moved the Mercury Graphics Engine previously introduced with its pro video software into Photoshop CS6, adding GPU acceleration to a new Crop tool and other processor-intensive tasks like Puppet Warp, Liquefy, and Lighting Effects Gallery. Coupled with 64-bit processing, the result is immediate feedback while editing and an overall zippier feel throughout the app.  Additionally, every slider for the Camera Raw 7.0 plug-in (exposure, contrast, etc.) has a freshly tweaked algorithm. And for anyone who's ever looked on helplessly as Photoshop locked itself up during a long file save, projects can now save in the background while you work on other things.  Auto recovery and the ability to search for specific layers has also been added. Fans of the dotted lines in Illustrator now get the same vector tools in Photoshop.

After including a 64-bit option with CS5, Adobe has made it mandatory on Mac OS X with CS6 (64-bit remains optional on Windows). This isn’t much of an issue for Mac users, since Apple rolled out the red carpet for 64-bit long ago; any system capable of running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion 10.7 will work just fine. The move to 64-bit allows for extremely welcome new features such as background save, so that saving large, layered files no longer grinds work to a halt.

I am looking forward to Testing the Video Editing Tools in CS6 also.  On Photoshop Tuesday we will review how to use some of these tools and of course how to use the old standard tools also.

The down side of all of this is the learning curve for the new program and to see if all of our expensive plug-ins will work and of course the cost of the Program/upgrade.

I added this today so that we would continue from last Tuesday on the Content Aware Fill Tool and see what`s been upgraded in this release.

References;

Quick Link to Whats new in Photoshop CS 6

Adobe TV-Whats new in Photoshop CS 6

Whats new in Adobe Photoshop CS 6 Extended

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How not to go Broke trying to get Bokeh

Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Or FB & G+ are here.-Thanks for dropping by.

Introduction:

Bokeh is pronounced Bo-kah.  It is that lovely out of focus background you see, sometimes with circles of light. Referred to as the "the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image."

Bohek varies widely dependent of the lens used.

Unfortunately not all lenses are created equally.

The manufactures of our cameras and to a lessor extent, the OEM lens manufactures would like us to spend thousand of dollars on their particular lens.

To get images with a blurred background try shooting with low F stops to limit the DOF and also try shooting telephoto lenses to compress the background.

Time when shooting a wedding  is like a speeding bullet.  It just zooms by.  My principle lens on my 5 D Mark II is the 24-105 mm F4.  I was looking at one of your recent wedding photos and I liked the blurred background of the image.  I glanced at the F-Stop -9???  How in the world did I get such a good bokeh in the image?

Masters-Tip:

1.Buy top quality lenses that produce great bokeh. Go over lens reviews before purchasing.

2. Use software to make or expand the bokeh of the image on the lenses that you already own.

But which software?  I have at least 3 programs to help me in this area.

The one that achieved the above results was again DXO-Pro version 7.5.  It is currently on sale. They added a bokeh slider in the upgrade at some time.  I had pulled it over to the right and my F9 image looked like an F2 image. Time to adjust - zero

Another great Photoshop plug in is Topaz Labs Lens Effects.  You can imitate those $2500 lenses and save your self a bundle.  We have such few shots requiring this feature, that software is a very economical alternative.

Do you want to see a great example of Bokeh?  Watch the TV and when you see those round circular points of light in the blurred background, that is Bokeh.

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See bokeh

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Lighting - The Essential Element - Part I

Kirk is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and a Technical Trainer. He is also a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Go Here for FB & G+Links -Thanks for dropping by.

Introduction:

In today`s post I will start my discussion of one if not the MOST IMPORTANT element to our photography.  All of the things that we do and buy, the pictures that we take must use it.  The pictures that we are most proud of use the key points that we will be discussing.  Failure to understand, learn and apply the elements of this post and you FAIL the Course.  That is what I would of course tell my students.  So wake up.  Get your cup of Java.  Note: This is not just my opinion but it will be shared by all top photographers in the world.

What makes up a Great Photograph?

These are:

• 1. Lighting
• 2. Composition
• 3. Gesture

Masters-Tip:  Master these 3 elements and you master photography

Characteristics of Light:

1. Direction

2. Color Temperature

3. Softness

4. Hardness

5. Intensity

6. Color

Direction of Light:

Masters-Tip: Before I position any person to photograph I must determine first the direction that the light is or will be coming from.  In many cases you will not be able to change the direction of the light.  You must move and position your subjects accordingly. With our studio light sources, we  move and position them relative to the subject.

As there are basically 4 lighting positions, how and where we position the light source will control the shadows and highlights in the photograph.  We will speak about positioning of your subjects in a future post. Inside a house, we check to see the direction of light coming from a window.  We want to pick our window light.  We don't want direct sunlight, but rather soft diffused light. Outside again we don't want direct sunlight, but rather soft diffused light usually found in the shade or on a cloudy day.  But there still will be direction here.

Color Temperature:

No one wants to look blue or yellow in a photograph.  Normal sunlight has a color temperature of about 5600 C.  Our cameras have a control called White Balance.  Finding the correct color temperature setting and we control how the skin tones will look in our photos.

Masters-Tip:  In his book "Skin", the author points out a quirk of human nature.  Light people like to be a bit tanned looking than they really are.  Darker skinned people like to look a little lighter.  So even if you get the correct skin color, the author points out that the customer preferences just might be a bit different.  Personally, I like to have a bit of a tan. So he is right on the money with me.

Masters-Tip: Take a picture of your subject inside with the room only being lite by yellow incandescent light.  Manually set your cameras white balance to daylight or 5600 C.  What do you see?  Change the White balance now to 2800 C and take the picture again. Now use your flash with the white balance set to flash or 5600 C and take the picture again.  What do you see? Repeat this outside.  Set the color temperature to 2800 C and take the picture.  What do you see?

In a future post we will gel the flash and take this picture again.  What did you just learn?  The white balance is digital's way of having a large number of built in color filters.  More on this in a future post. How do we adjust the color temperature.  You may first go back and read my post of white balance. Now use your flash with the white balance set to flash or 5600 C and take the picture again.  What do you see?

Masters-Tip:  Shoot color charts and calibrate the image.  Shoot a grey card (almost always a good idea).  For critical photos, like taking a picture of a VIP or any commissioned job, do this.  It will be there for your backup information in post if needed.

Masters-Tip: Use the built in custom white balance. With the right camera, we can take a picture of something white and use a custom white balance.  On some cameras, like our Canon EOS Mark II and 50D, we can correct this further.  More on how to do this in another post.

Summary: In our next post we will look at the remaining characteristics of light. Go out today and start to see where your light source is coming from.  Soon it will become second nature for you to first identify the direction of the light.  In the coming months we will be looking at our equipment like our flash guns, our speedlites to use them as our directional light source so keep watching.

Tomorrows  post will be:  How not to go Broke chasing Bokeh.  It was to be today's post but I though that we should post the lighting post today, so stay tuned folks.

We have a bunch of posts coming on camera review, tips and of course - Photoshop Tuesday where we will be dropping some tips every week.

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Depth of Field

Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Go Here for FB & G+Links -Thanks for dropping by.

Introduction:

One of the real gems of DSLR cameras is the ability to control the depth of field (DOF) of the image.  It is closely related to Bokeh but it is NOT the same thing.  Our next post will cover Bokeh (pronounced bow-kah).

If we set up 3 objects in a row about 6 inches apart and try to focus on the center object, the closest and farthest objects go out of focus.  That means they become blurred.  The distance from the in focus object or sharp object to a point front and back of the center object where we lose focus or sharpness is called our Depth of Field.

The amount of the DOF increases with increasing the F stop that we use.  Very small F-stops like F1.4 on a 85 mm lens can be as little as 2" inches in front and 2" in back of your focus point.  That means as you move away from your focus point things start to go soft(out of focus).  Holding the camera still can be a challenge under these conditions.

Masters-TIP: Keep your elbows tight to your body.Breath slowly or exhale and  hold your breath.

Here is a tool to help you calculate the DOF

The depth of field is a function of :

1.Lens focal length

2.Distance from the object

3.Camera type sensor size: "c" or "FF" (full frame).

4.F Stop used.

Masters-Tip: You may have to setup the micro adjustment in your Canon Camera if it has one,  to check for Front or Back focus problems.  More on this in another post.

Masters-Tip:

1.Choose a low F Stop for those tight closeup of one person. Start with F4 and work down to F 1.4 with your 50 mm lens.

2.Choose a F Stop of 5.6 to 8 when shoot groups and don't crop too closely.  Focus on the middle row.  Use a lens of 50 mm to prevent Volume Anamorphosis (see post of VA) if your don't have the software to correct for it.  You may even try shooting the same group of people with F5.6 then F 7.0 and then F 8.0 and look at the results.

3.Practice shooting with low F stops. F4 then F2.8 and F2.0 F1.8 F1.4

4.Use an F stop of 16 -20 if you want everything to be in focus ie Landscape Photography  Canon I believe should not be shot above about F22 (technical reason)

5.Try using the DOF button on your lens or camera.

6.One of the first questions you must ask your self when shooting groups of people or even a single person is "What F-Stop do I want to use to shoot this picture"?

It is extremely important for you to fully understand the impact of DOF on your photography.  It will elevate your photography to new levels over a point and click camera.

In times long past, you could simply look at your lens and there was a chart on it showing you the DOF and F Stop.

You don't have to run out and buy an expensive 70-200 mm IS F 2.8 (unless you are loaded) when an F 4.0 IS 70-200 mm will do the job.  More on this in another post and MastersTips on another post.  Yes the F2.8 now is a good lens but I don't really see differences here until I get to the low 2's.  The F2.8 was pushed when we couldn't shoot high ISO's (ie 6400, 12800).  It is only 1 stop at twice the price.  Go out and look at images shot at say 200 mm and 100 mm at F2.8 and F4.0.

Practice this over and over.

Next topic: How NOT to go Broke tying to get Bokeh.

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What ISO should I shoot at.

Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Go Here for FB & G+ .-Thanks for dropping by.

Introduction:

What ISO should we shoot at?  That is not a difficult question to answer.  What should we base our decision upon? What ISO gives us the best, noise free image?  Let us look at what happens to the image when we increase the ISO. I will compare two cameras: The Canon 5 D Mark II verse the Canon 5D Mark III.

ISO Sensitivity

ISO Sensitivity

What are we seeing.

OEM Rated: 50 ISO: Tested: Mark II is 73 for the Mark III is 80 ISO ISO.

OEM Rated 6400 ISO:  Tested: Mark II is 3990 and Mark III is 5179 ISO

Mark III performs much better or closer to its OEM rating.

Dynamic Range:

Dynamic Range

As we increase the ISO, things or quality of the image gets worst.  You want to keep your shots in the GREEN as much as possible.

Tonal Range

Tonal Range

Here being in the RED is BAD.  You want to shoot in the GREEN area.  Use fill flash to give you the best colors and don't shoot high ISO's unless needed and correct using Post processing software.

Masters Tips:

1.Get the shot.  If it means high ISO take it. We normally can deal with noise and camera losses.  But if possible choose the lowest (100 ISO) ISO possible for maximum dynamic range. You just might only be printing 4x6 or 5x7.  No software can currently correct out of focus images, so get them in focus.

2.If you need a bit of help with making it look good, try processing it in Black and White.

3.Photoshop and other Post processing software can build up missing/weak information making a poor image look great.

Conclusion:

What ISO should we shoot at?  There is an old axiom, "Try to get it right in the camera first". 

 Answer: The lowest number that we can.  Here the OEM is 100 to 200 ISO (or 80 for the Mark III ).  It is always better to start with the cleanest, highest resolution image that you can get.  High MP cameras really shine when you want to crop or use only a small part of the image or shooting large groups of people.  You simply have more information to use.  But remember, if you have a clean image, one click in Photoshop and 22 MP goes to 50 MP or what ever you want. There is also an axiom: "Good is good enough". Does more really matter?  We are limited by what we can see.  Exceeding these limits with equipment today and then flogging it is what Marketing is all about.  A great picture is not about which camera you used to take it.  If you want to find out what makes a great picture go here.  The 3 elements that make up a great photograph are not mine, but rather that of another photographer (I will have to find his name).  I simply agree with him.

One should also look at the printed images.  The last time that I checked, printers were only 8 bits.  So an image that is 14 or 16 bits is reduced  down to 8 bits.  This of course does NOT take into account recover programs used in RAW conversions.  We pump up the saturation and vibrancy and  mess with tonal curves to make things look great. Things today are all digital.  That means 0's and 1's.  No film.  Everything then can be manipulated in software. Tone curve a bit low, then pump it up. Dynamic range low,  adjust the curve.  We print to 8 bits or 0-256.  I can take the output from any camera and give it the tone curve of another in post processing.  If I shoot with Nikon and Canon, I can take the Nikon images and process them with the Canon tone curve and like wise, making things all look like they are from the same camera.  I will show you this in another post.

For example, I asked a colleague who shoots Nikon.  I said: "I will bring you in images from Olympus, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fuji, etc.  Could you tell me which ones came from Nikon or any other models.  His answer was no way. It is impossible to do that.

I am happy that he shoots and loves his Nikon.  They are excellent cameras and so are Canon. Marketing can blow your mind.  For Landscape shots and taking shots of large groups of people, today, the Nikon D800 is most likely one of the best cameras out there. The more resolution here the better.  It works great for weddings also but has more resolution than needed.  Again, our customers look for great pictures, we as photographers get to play with wonderful cameras.

Here's one for you.  Say you have an old Canon 40D with ISO limited to 3200 ISO.  You can process it at 12,800 ISO if you expose the original shot -1 EV or one stop under exposed in RAW.  Camera manufactures love to talk JPEGS.  I talk JPEGS after processing RAW files with a Quad Core Processor which has more ram and power than any in camera processing.  They say that the information normally is there, you just need the software program to extract it.

One thing that is very important is that noise reduction chip on the sensor.  Now you will have a better lower noise signal to amplify.  So the cameras that have this are much better than the ones that don't. Stay tuned for my future post on this.

Free free to comment on this as you would like.  

We trust that you enjoyed this article.  Thank you for your G+ and FB Like.  Have a great day taking quality pictures.  Stay tuned when we compare the Nikon 800 to the Canon 5D Mark III. Who will be the winner?  This is an independent review.  No one pays us for this but you with your FB Like and G+ click.  Thanks for dropping by.

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Review of The Canon EOS 6D - The end of the 5 D Mark II and 7D?

Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Or FB & G+ are here.-Thanks for dropping by.

Introduction:

We shoot Canon, straight and simple.  So we have a good collection of Canon's EF lenses. When a new camera comes out, like the 5 D Mark III, Canon wants to bump up the price by $500 to $1000.  That simply is lost profits to us.  Money that you will never see again. For us, it is about Image Quality and and some features.  So lets take a quick look at Canon's EOS 6 D. Possibly your next Full Frame camera.

Based on price, some people call it a budget FF camera with 20.4 MP's, if you can say that $3,000 with the 24-105 mm lens is budget.  I choose to call it Affordable.

Features That We Desire:

1. That it's a Canon and we can use our Canon EF lenses and TTL flashes.

2.That it is Full Frame and does not have extremely high MP's, which would increase the high ISO noise levels.  Give me a low noise picture any day for best image quality.

3. It has an upgraded focusing system.  I don't need 63 focusing point to focus on the bride's eyes.  11 will work fine

4.It shoots excellent video

5.0 Smaller size means less weight around my neck for 10 hours.  Add the flash, radio transmitters, bounce cards, black thingy and it get heavy.

6.Image quality is excellent

7 Continuous rate of 4.5 images per second.  I am shooting weddings not race cars.

8. Built in WiFi- I hope will allow transmission to your laptop for portrait sessions.  GPS used for?

9. Good 3in viewing screen. No swivel screen- boo

10.HDR has some good possibilities with 3 images-Tech Improvement

11. Multiple Exposure Mode -Can make 9 images into one.  Special effects here

12. 20.4 MP's mean limit of file size with excellent resolution +On board Noise Reduction Chip- Tech Improvement

13. Digimatic 5+ Processor (two would be better)-Tech Improvement

14 ISO Range 100-25600 plus expanded range.  That means 6400-12800 ISO should work just fine for those few times that you may need it. Fill flash is normally needed anyway.

14. Excellent low light performance - to exceed the Mark III by perhaps 1 stop.  Raw processing software can add even 2 more stops

15. Micro lens adjustment of correcting back focus lenses.  This is very important and it was I believe left out of the 60D?  I will not buy a DSLR that doesn't have this feature.

16. Live view.

17. Flash syc speed 1/180 sec Hey guys you are going the wrong way.  Give us 1/500

18. 1/30 to 1/4000 Shutter speed.  We want to shoot no slower than 1/30 as people move

19. Wireless connectivity built in.

20. No built in radio flash control that I know of.  Will have to use ST-E2 or 580 EX II

21. No built in camera flash - Long lenses usually block it anyway.

22. Lighter- Who wants to carry a heavy camera

Conclusion:

For wedding photography it seems to have everything that we need.  You might say a lighter and improved Canon Mark II .  It hits the key features of the Mark III excepting the 63 point focusing system which we would not be using.  With lower noise levels, image quality will be excellent.  I would like to put our order in today at Vistek.  There is a life cycle to this type of equipment.  Who knows what we will have in 5 years time?  New bubble sensors with 3d and high MP with little noise?  So why pay $1000's extra for very little.  (I don't use Nikon because they simply are too expensive with little or no gain but an excellent camera anyway.  We once went to a Camera Vendor Show and Nikon wouldn't even show us the D3 and we said that we were professional photographers.  They didn't even have the correct info on Canon's models).  Marketing drives camera manufacturers.  The high ISO push is a bit crazy when your best picture quality comes at 100 ISO.  See my ISO post coming soon.

Canon progressed in the last few years from the 40D and 50D (no video) which are good cameras to the 60D-no micro-adjustment.  Both the 7D and 5 D Mark II are getting OLD using the Digimatic 4 processors with no on board noise reduction chip.  I think that we have seen the last of the "C" sized image sensors.  It is NOT evolution but rather intelligent design (I trained as a Professional Engineer -Engineers design).  So Canon moves to the replacement of both of these models with the EOS 6D.  The semi-pro model wedding cameras will be the 6D and the EOS 5D Mark III ( too heavy and too pricey but nice-Specs are improved).  (The Nikon D800 and D600 are also excellent cameras with better Specs). Look for a new flag ship model to play the Mega Pixel game with Nikon. The 7D may hang around albeit at a lower price of $13-1400.  A lot of wedding photographers who now have the 5D Mark II just might give the 6D a good look.  Improvements needed:Weather proofing.

That is what I think  How about you?  

Here Are Some Review Links:

Canon EOS 6D  Canon 5D Mark III  Canon EOS 6D

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Shooting Large Groups of People

Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario   Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Or FB & G+ are here.-Thanks for dropping by.

Introductions:

In almost every wedding the time has come to shoot a large group of people.  You start to arrange them in rows  according to height and who's who.  It is a large group so you step back and shoot them with using say your 24 mm wide angle lens.  You move back far enough to get everyone in the picture.  You take 3 group shots in case someone has their eyes closed.  You check the lighting and choose an F Stop of between 5.6 and 7 to ensure everyone is in focus.  In group of 3 rows, you focus on the person in the 2nd row.  You have your key and fill lights setup to make sure the lighting is just right.

The next day you look at your work.  Everything looks great, lighting, positioning, etc. Then you see that Aunt Martha on the right end and Uncle Tom on the left end don't look exactly right.  They both seems to have gained a few  pounds over night.  What just happened?

You just learnt a new photography term: Volume Anamorphosis This is a type of distortion that occurs when you shoot object close to you with a wide angle lens.  I am sure the guy in the store selling you your wide angle lens told you that it would take great pictures and it will.  Wide Angle lens are best for Landscape Photography.

Here are two examples in portrait photography.

Volume Anamorphosis with a wide angle lens

After correction for Volume Anamorphosis

What you don't realize is that THIS happens all the time when you shot objects with a wide angle lens up close.

The above examples are a bit extreme but NOT totally wrong.

Masters Tip: 

1.0 To prevent Volume Anamorphosis eliminate the cause.  Shot large groups with a 50 mm  lens to prevent this type of distortion.

2.0 Post processing correction with lens correcting software.  We recommend DXO Pro.

Rather than saying to you customers, that's what came out of the camera, we post process over 20 items before giving the images to our customers.  Most photographers however, don't correct their images for VA.  I hope that this will be changing in the future.

We trust that you enjoyed this article.  Thank you for your G+ and FB Like.  Have a great day taking quality pictures.

Photoshop Tuesday: Content Aware Fill

Photoshop Tuesday: Content Aware Fill

Adobe's Photoshop Content Aware Fill: 

One of the most significant additions to CS 5 is the Content Aware Fill.  I normally select the item using one of many select tools found in the tool bar and use the short cut keys: Shift + F5 or you can find it in the edit: fill tab. This key has many uses.  You can use it to remove unwanted items in the photo that you forgot to remove or exist in the scene, like a stop sign, where you would get into trouble if you tried to remove it before shooting.

Before Content Aware Fill - Removal of unwanted objects

Before Content Aware Fill

Add a little skin enhancement and your logo and vola!

After Content Aware Fill

After Content Aware Fill with Logo

But there's More Uses of Content Aware Fill

But here is another great use of the fantastic tool.

How many times have we had our backs against a wall and could not physically move further back to compose the best shot in the camera?  Or, we simply realized later that we have a great shot but it will not setup well with say a 8"x10" crop. If we only had a larger image we could do what we want.

But here is the trick to making Content Aware fill work for you.

Key Point: Content aware fill always works better if it has some part of the picture to reference.

Masters-Tip:

First make your selection with say the rectangular select tool first.

Second give it part of the image information by expanding your selection.  You do this by going to Select:  Modify: Expand: and having it select an additional 10-15 pixels.  It's that simple

Before Content Aware will with 8x10 Crop and missing information

Now Apply CA Fill with an extended selection to give it some image information

After CA Fill, Skin toning and Logo

As you can clearly see,  you now have a beautiful picture of a lovely young woman.  The open space draws you eyes to the subject.  Just put your logo on the right side and you are finished.  I would do a little bit more but later on that.

That brings up another discussion that I had with a local photographer in Mississauga, Ontario.  He asked if I always cropped in camera so that he didn't have to spend the time post cropping the images.  I responded that it was impossible to crop in camera.  You should shoot a bigger picture and crop later in Photoshop.  You don't know if they want 5x7's, 8x10's or some other size.  The clerk at Vistek store nodded  his agreement with me.

For example, I was listening to a video by Bambi Cantrell.  You may recall that she took that world famous shot of John Kennedy Jr and his wife leaving the small church in Cape Cod (I believe it was).  It was posted in over 5,000 news papers at the time.  Bambi simply stated that she cropped the picture as it deserved out of the camera.  That her customers pay her so well, that she Photoshop's every photograph for the customer.  So I guess if you pay me $10-15K per wedding I too just might Photoshop all of your 2,000-3,000+ photos.

We generally limit our cropping to 5x7's, 8x10 or 24x36 or what ever size the customer wants.  So what do you do if the picture doesn't fit well on a say 8x10 crop? You crop the picture with proper compositional rules and use Content aware fill to fill in the white space and have a look at how the image looks.  You just might be amazed at how well Photoshop can fill in the white space.

I have seen this tool do things that I simply could not do with the clone stamp tool.

That is why I tell my customers to have me print the pictures for them.  We crop it, touch it up and add various enhancements.  That photo to the right just might sit looking at you for the next 40 years.  That is also called value added service.

Hope that you enjoyed this one.  More to come every Photoshop Tuesday.

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