By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP 

The new Sigma APO 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM lens with its 10X zoom range is one impressive lens. Sigma pitches this lens as the “all-in-one” dream lens, especially for nature photographers. It’s also suitable for landscape photography and has enough zoom for photographing wildlife. I have to agree with Sigma.

This lens is designed for full-frame DSLRs, but also functions with cameras with APSC- size sensors. Using the 50mm setting (a 35mm focal-length equivalent to 80mm on my Canon 40D), I photographed a nuthatch in a tree (Figure 1). As you would expect, it’s tough to even find the bird in the image. Zooming to the telephoto end of the range, 500mm (the equivalent of 800mm on my Canon 40D), I was able to capture the nuthatch in great detail (Figure 2).

By Marianne Drenthe

Educational materials for children’s photographers are a common sight these days and with good reason … there seems to be big business in showcasing the in’s and out’s of this specialty in photography. With so many photographers opening up shop, an equal number of established pros are getting in on the teaching game. It can be tough to know where to turn for good, solid, usable information.

I’ve seen some good, some bad (ok, awful) and some overpriced educational materials. I have heard horror stories about poorly produced DVDs and instructional materials. I admit I may be particularly picky as I do some teaching as well, and I'm particular when it comes to my business and the art and skill involved with photographing children. When you adheres to stringent rules about your own work and what you produce, you tend to be equally hard on others.

“Inside Contemporary Children's Photography” with Tamara Lackey displays impressive quality. Once you begin, you are immediately sucked into Tamara’s world. Her speaking style is effervescent, friendly and instructional. This DVD is unique, in my opinion, because it’s filmed in an infomercial-like style; it’s the very why of how this DVD pulls you in and keeps you watching. Who can resist a good infomercial? Not me!

Though I was a bit leery to review a photo-education DVD because there’s so much out there that falls short, I’ve only heard good things about Tamara Lackey’s presentations, so I was excited to see what she had to share. Being confident in my own business and experience children’s photography, I was doubtful that I’d get anything new out of watching it. On this point, I was wrong because she gave some great tips.

By Stan Sholik

Photographers actively involved in high dynamic range (HDR) imaging often use different HDR programs for different images since each program has its own algorithm for tone mapping the multiple exposures into an image. Many of these programs are complex and non-intuitive and don’t accurately portray the final image until processing is complete.

HDR PhotoStudio from Unified Color Technologies, LLC, was different, offering a more intuitive and user-friendly approach. Unified Color has replaced that program with a much-improved one, HDR Expose, which is suitable for HDR beginners and advanced users alike.

The user interface in Expose has undergone major revisions from the PhotoStudio version, and all for the better. It now boasts the visual styling of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Apple Aperture and other imaging programs, although the keyboard shortcuts are generally different. HDR Expose allows the export of source images from Lightroom and Aperture directly to the program. And when you have completed your HDR composite, Expose exports the image back to whichever program you used to send them for processing.

But the biggest change and the greatest improvement lies in the addition of a Brightness Histogram at the top of the Tool Panel. The Brightness Histogram displays not only the tonal distribution of the entire 32-bit image, but also, with a lighter toned gray region, the section of the curve that will display in the final image.

This is the final result of combining five exposures in HDR Expose and going for a “natural” look. The exposures were bracketed one stop apart. No exposure even came close to having the balance of foreground and sky exposure that is present in this final image. ©Stan Sholik

A custom viewfinder mask to save time and money

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

Every now and then you encounter a product that falls into the category of “nice to have,” but for one reason or another, it just doesn’t make your priority list. Initially for me, a custom viewfinder mask was such a product. I could see the reason to own one and the potential value, but higher priorities and price kept me from making the investment of $195. Boy, was I wrong to delay!

Now that I have a custom viewfinder mask from ViewfinderMasks in my camera, I am convinced that it is one of those must-have products that will make your post-production life easier and pay for itself in both time and money.

A custom viewfinder mask helps because a DSLR, or 35mm camera creates a 3:2 ratio image area, which translates to 4x6 or 8x12 image formats, while most professional portrait photographers print 4x5 or 8x10 images using a 4:5 ratio. The composition and cropping problem happens when you fill the frame with your 8x12 subject (Figure 1) and attempt to print the image on 8x10 media.

Figure 1: Composing your image without a viewfinder mask,
you tend to fill the frame with your subject …

Part of the image must be cropped off at one or both ends (Figure 2). It is especially difficult to create a pleasing portrait when some of the head and body has to be cropped and the frame is filled mostly with the subject’s face.

Figure 2: … but when you print, you have to crop one or both ends. Images ©Don Chick

 By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

You might be familiar with SimpleViewer already. The SimpleViewer product family is the brainchild of web developer Felix Turner of Airtight Interactive and offers user-friendly Flash galleries that you can download and use for free (or upgrade to the Pro version for more features). I'm familiar with the free versions, and I wanted to find out if the added Pro Features, or svManager, might be worth it in the long run.

First off, let me do a run through of all the SimpleViewer products. Then I’ll discuss the benefits of the Pro options and dig a little deeper into using svManager.

SimpleViewer, TiltViewer, AutoViewer, and PostcardViewer are all Flash image-viewing galleries (templates of a kind). Each one has a slightly different feel and look, but all are designed with simplicity in mind. svManager is an interface that allows you to easily create galleries with any of the four gallery templates. 

SimpleViewer

By Stan Sholik

An efficient workflow is only a dream for most portrait and wedding photographers. Too little time is spent behind the camera relative to the time spent in front of a computer monitor. Preparing proofs for client review, creating albums, taking and fulfilling print orders and making online web galleries are far more time intensive than the photography itself, yet are not billable hours.

So it wasn’t surprising that, at the PMA trade show this year, the largest category of products I saw were offerings designed to create an efficient workflow for photographers, labs and retail outlets. One of the foremost among these offerings is DigiLabs Pro software.

DigiLabs is a market leader in creating online front-end ordering systems for photo labs. Several of the leading labs are using DigiLabs software, but with the lab’s own branding so that you are unaware of the actual origin of the software.

DigiLabs Pro software is a combination and major upgrade of their previous My Photo Books and My Photo Calendar & Cards software that were licensed to private-label partners and the previous DigiLab application used by professional photographers.

Using DigiLabs Pro software, photographers can create studio-branded web galleries and a wide range of photo products. The web galleries allow studio customers to view and order photo products online from their computer or iPhone. Available photo products include flush mount albums, coffee table books, proof books, calendars, greeting cards, and canvas gallery wraps, as well as photo prints and enlargements.

Digilabs offers a a number of calendar options, including custom design; a range of products including greeting cards, event cards and announcements; and photo books are available in a range of sizes and cover treatments, printed on digital presses on heavy paper stock. Photos courtesy of DigiLabs.

What sets DigiLabs Pro apart from other competing software is how fast and easy it is to use. With a common, clean interface for all available products and wizards included to guide you through the more complicated products such as photo books, it is quick to learn and easy to navigate.

DigiLabs has created an iPhone app that is available at no charge from the Apple iTunes store. This allows your clients to view their web gallery and order prints on their iPhone. Images courtesy of DigiLabs.

By Bob Zimmerlich, CPP

A few days after picking up the new iPad with 3G service at a local Apple store here in Phoenix, I was on my way to New York unexpectedly for a funeral of a close family friend. Since I was packing light, I thought this would be a good test to see if the iPad could replace my heavier MacBook Pro on a short trip since I wasn't planning on any photography related work.

Just after I arrived at JFK my sister asked if I could do a headshot of her for her new startup business. My judgment must have been thrown off by the red-eye flight, because I said, “Sure, absolutely,” without a second thought. Problem was, I didn't have any of my gear, not even a camera. That's OK she said, she had a Canon Elph point-and-shoot. Now I'm thinking, oh, golly, gee whiz, sis—that will be swell (thinking in 1950s terms being the more civil alternative to cussing).

Since I wanted to use natural light, I downloaded an app called PhotoCalc onto the iPad to see when sunset on Long Island would be, then checked the local radar with the WeatherBug app's visible satellite radar loop. Seeing that clouds would be rolling in from the west by 5 p.m., and knowing the limitations of her camera, I knew we would want to finish the shoot inside with window light before then. With some proper positioning, a sheet of white foam board as a reflector and a rigged tripod, the shoot went well considering the situation.

Now for a little post processing, but without my trusty MacBook Pro what could I do? I thought, let's put this iPad to a real test.

By Cheryl Pearson

Photographers today are always looking for products that will provide them with a quicker, more efficient way of streamlining certain tasks. I recently tried out onOne Software’s Genuine Fractals 6 plug-in, which is designed to resize and enlarge images up to 1,000 percent without losing sharpness or detail.

A lot of photographers use Adobe Photoshop’s Bicubic Interpolation method in the Image Size dialogue box to resize images, but there can be a noticeable loss of fine detail or sharpness. Some use an incremental upsizing process that is reported to produce a better result than enlarging with a single step. You can create an action that will enlarge the image in 5-percent increments until the desired size is achieved. Although this approach may work, I’d prefer a tool that does it for me, to any size I need, and produces a great result. Genuine Fractals does that by enlarging and optimizing images for high resolution output, and has a few additional tools that make it worth looking into.

I re-scaled a 5x7 image to 25x35 using Image Size dialogue in Photoshop, set to Bicubic Smoother. I engarged the same 5x7 image using Genuine Fractals. I viewed both at 100 percent and focused in on one aspect of the image. While the difference is more difficult to see in this screenshot, the image on the right was re-scaled in Photoshop and the image on the left was upsized in Genuine Fractals. Photoshop’s Bicubic Interpolation method produced acceptable results, but I felt the image resized in Genuine Fractals was slightly sharper with more crisp detail and less noise. (Click image for large view.)

Genuine Fractals can be accessed in Photoshop in two ways: from Photoshop via File > Automate or from the onOne drop-down, next to Help, in Photoshop’s menu bar. With Photoshop CS5 you can have the onOne plug-ins in a floating menu palette that can be docked in with the other Photoshop palettes.

Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to test out three Tenba camera bags in the field. 

• Messenger Camera Bag
• Shootout Ultralight Photo Backpack
• Messenger Photo Daypack

Each has its own advantages, and best uses.  

Tenba’s Messenger Camera Bag is a typical over-the-shoulder bag with plenty of pockets and lots of organization. I found this bag fit best with my everyday working habits. I was able to pack two camera bodies, three lenses (including telephoto), and three speedlights, with plenty of room to spare for my light meter, keys, and even some other gadgets. I found one of the end pockets to be just the right size to hold my three speedlights (though not padded, this pocket allowed for easy access and stowing).

The top flap has a quick-access zipper, as well as a “silent mode” flap that you can use to cover the Velcro closure. If you ever work in environments where being quiet is a necessity, you’ll really enjoy not having to worry about the invasive sound of Velcro pulling apart when you go into this bag. The bag has a front organizer with six compartments, as well as more organization for memory cards, keys, etc in the zippered pocket on the flap.

Finally, if you need to pick up this bag and don’t want to use the shoulder strap, there is a hand-carry strap as well. I have no complaints about my time spent using the Tenba Messenger Camera Bag – my camera may well have found a new “everyday” home!

The Tenba Messenger Camera Bag (above) retails for $129.95.

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

The time finally came this year for me to replace both hard drives on my PC. No, I didn’t experience a data loss, and there was no catastrophe … It’s just that after five years of wear and tear, I could tell that my hard drives were no longer up to speed with the latest technology. Plus, I was running out of storage room.

So, my Tech Department (a.k.a. my husband) ordered the new parts for my computer, and I began the tedious process of backing up my data onto my external hard drives.

Now, when you’re working with a blank drive, it’s easy to copy all the files from the old location to the new location. But in this case, I already had some of the data backed up onto the external hard drive and needed to make sure that when my copying spree was over, I hadn’t missed anything in the process.

The tedious way of doing this involves manually opening each folder, counting the number of files, and cross-checking creation/modification dates. With 900+ GB of data, I knew there had to be a better, more efficient way.

Enter ExamDiff Pro. A friend had recommended the program to me, so I decided to check it out. And I can tell you, this program was a huge time saver!

In the June issue of Professional Photographer magazine, Ellis Vener reviewed the Einstein 640 monolight from Paul C. Buff. In this test, Ellis pushed the limits of the Einstein’s recycle speed. He captured 145 frames at 10 frames per second with the Einstein set to 18.7 watt-seconds. The Canon EOS-1D Mark IV exposures were set for 1/250 second at f/8, ISO 400, capturing large JPEGS recorded to a Lexar Professional 600X CompactFlash card. Ellis compiled the frame animation using Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended.

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

The impressive Nissin Di866 flash is an economical flash option that deserves serious consideration from pro photographers. I tried it out at our annual NHPPA Conference in April and am excited to say that I was more than pleased with the results. I also found the backlit menu was easy to read in low-light conditions and, as a whole, the flash unit menu was easy to navigate while making any necessary changes on the fly.

©Don Chick

I spoke with photographer Steve Sedman about his experience with the Nissin flash on a recent job. Using fast lenses and the appropriate ISO settings, Steve was able to get several hundred flashes from the unit during the course of his event. He also found the ETTL wireless feature worked very smoothly. Comparing notes from our experiences, Steve and I agreed on many reasons photographers may want to purchase this flash. Our only notable negative comment was about the level of noise the flash makes as you adjust zoom settings.

On top of good performance, the reasonable $299 street price makes the Di866 a great buy. That’s nearly 40 percent less expensive than the street price of a Canon Speedlite 580EX II at $475.

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

I recently had the chance to try out The Polester, created by Longshot Camera Systems. It’s a “camera-on-a-stick” device that allows you to photograph things from a drastically different angle than you could achieve with your own reach (unless, of course, you are Stretch Armstrong).

The rig consists of a camera mount, triggering device with a retractable string (like an extendable dog leash) that extends down to the base of the pole. As you extend the pole, the triggering string remains slightly taut. When I received my review unit, I got a crash course on assembly. In short, you want the vertical portion of the trigger to hug the camera body as closely as possible. The little arm at the top of the trigger is meant to hover over the shutter, and by pulling on the string lightly, you can focus before pulling harder to take the shot.

The camera mount portion of the setup attaches to a double-action locking telescoping pole, which is very nifty. The pole has a handle with a release button, and it allows you to swiftly and easily extend the pole to the height you need.

Components of the Polester assembly. 

Here’s what it looks like when you have everything assembled. I have to say, the trigger mechanism is a very clever invention. ©Betsy Finn

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

Finding the perfect camera strap is no easy feat. A number of elements go into this decision, including comfort, capability, and of course, style. Usually, you can find a strap with one or maybe two of these qualities, but it’s rare to find one that has all three. If you’re tired of sacrificing your fashion sense for comfort, or are ready for a camera strap that is comfortable to wear during long shoots, you may want to give Abie Camera Straps a chance.

Abie Camera Straps are both practical and fashionable. When you first hold one of these straps in your hand, you can feel the difference—I was impressed with the amount of padding in the strap, as well as the suppleness of the material. I fell in love with two designs in particular: subtle brown suede with an embossed motif, and a lighthearted yellow floral woven design.

By Stan Sholik

Since the introduction of the Phase One camera in 2009, the company has promised us leaf shutter lenses so that we can sync our strobes at shutter speeds higher than 1/125 sec. Their follow-up announcement later last year of a strategic alliance with famed optics manufacturer Schneider Kreuznach confirmed that the promised lenses would be soon forthcoming.

The new lenses are now here or on their way and along with them is a new camera body, the Phase One DF. Apparently the Phase One/Mamiya/Schneider group decided that the venerable Mamiya 645 body needed an update to efficiently incorporate the latest technology, and so the Phase One 645DF and its sister camera, the Mamiya 645DF, were born. While the two bodies are identical in nearly every way, the Phase One version is the one to have if you are a Phase One P40+ or P60+ user, as we shall see.

While the Phase One 645DF (DF) offers significant improvements over any previous 645 generation, one major loss is the inability to mount a film back on the camera. It’s always good to have a backup camera around anyway, so that could be any older Mamiya 645 body that would also take a film backs. Unfortunately, you couldn’t use the new leaf shutter lenses with this body.

While compatibility with film backs is lost, compatibility in other areas is improved. Unlike the latest Hasselblad cameras, the Phase One 645DF remains an open platform. This means that should there be a problem with the DF body, you can send it off for service and use your backup body or a rental until it returns. It also means that you can mount any Phase One or Leaf digital back that is compatible with a Mamiya body on the DF. As an aside, because Leaf is now a Phase One company, you can even use Capture One software with the Leaf backs.

At first glance the Phase One 645DF looks identical to the previous Phase One 645 body, but numerous changes have been made, some of them significant for professional photographers. ©Stan Sholik

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

For the past month or so, I’ve been testing out my very own personalized iPhone app. ProPhotoApps is the company that created my app; they specialize in iPhone apps specifically for photographers and photography studios. Once completed and approved for the iTunes store, your studio's app will be available for download at no charge to maximize its distribution to your clients and potential clients.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Sounds cool, but what if I don’t have an iPhone?” No problem. ProPhotoApps has an administrative web interface where you manage all the details; you can customize your app completely without ever having to touch an iPhone.

When the app-creation process begins, you will log into the admin interface, and begin adding your custom data. There are a few fields that you cannot change once you submit your app to iTunes for approval, so make sure to fill out those fields wisely. Most everything else, from images to news blurbs, you will be able to update and change freely over the life of your app (Pics, Social, Contact Us, and Specials).

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

When the topic of white balancing files comes up, there are usually two big questions. The first is “Why should I be concerned about white balance since my camera can automatically do that for me?” Once the value of white balancing is understood, the next question is “Which method is best?” Answering the question of why is simple.

As a portrait photographer, I especially want the flesh tones of my subject to look healthy and alive, therefore correct white balance or color balance in an image is essential to its success. A green color cast from grass or trees on my subject’s skin will not convey that he or she is healthy, nor will it convey that I, the professional, know how to properly present my finished work. A professional is expected to be in control of the entire process, and understanding white balance and incorporating professional tools makes it possible to accomplish the task with a minimum of effort.

When you set your camera to Auto White Balance, the camera tries to guess what the best white balance setting should be.

Using a calibrated white balance device eliminates any guesswork on the part of the camera. Deciding which method to choose takes a bit more consideration. If you capture raw files you can non-destructively make white balance adjustments in-camera or in post processing. If you capture in JPEG mode, it’s best to do an in-camera custom white balance for each lighting situation. I choose to do my white balancing in Adobe Lightroom during post-production. White balance devices take many forms, from the multi-functional X-Rite ColorChecker Passport, to the odd looking but practical SpyderCube from Datacolor, to the prism texture and diffusion discs of the ExpoImaging ExpoDisc. An accurate white balance device needs to be spectrally neutral. By that I mean that it has no inherent color bias. The material the device is composed of must not influence the light in any way.

The ColorRight ($89) or ColorRight Pro ($129) by ColorRight is an excellent device for either in-camera or post-production white balancing. For simplicity it’s tough to beat. During a recent portrait session, I had the opportunity to try a ColorRight Pro (below). The advantage of the Pro version is that the unique shape, according to their website, “gathers light from multiple angles ensuring you are getting the whole color picture.” The unique shape even allows light from a hot shoe mounted flash to strike the device and influence the final white balance. 

By Cheryl Pearson

Professional photographer Jim Garner set out to create a different kind of camera bag, one not just for storage but designed instead for easy access and carrying while you’re actively shooting. I found that the Boda V3 lens bag worked best for its intended purpose as an on-shoot working bag. Hundreds of photographers testing this bag during development, and Boda reconstructed it to correct the biggest flaws uncovered by working professionals. The Boda V3 strives to be the best active-shooting option on the market, so I wanted to test just how well it stands up to that goal.

I tested the bag during a wedding, evaluating how comfortable the bag was to carry for long periods of time and how easy it was to access gear throughout the day. You can carry the Boda V3 in two different ways, as a waist belt or over your shoulder. Since I’m just over 5 feet tall with a petite frame, I find that wearing bags on my waist is rarely an option that provides enough security or comfort when I’m working. I prefer to be as mobile as possible, so I opted to carry the bag on my shoulder.

The bag was easiest for me to carry on one shoulder with the strap draped across my body and the bag resting on the opposite hip. While I was shooting, I could shift the bag slightly toward my back, keeping it comfortably out of the way, or swing it around to the side when I needed to grab a piece of equipment. The adjustable shoulder strap allowed me to choose where the bag fell at my hip. Shoulder straps have not always been comfortable with other bags I’ve tested, but even though this one was a bit stiff and did not bend around my shoulder the way I would have liked, the Boda V3 remained comfortable enough to get through a day of shooting.

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

While already familiar with Photodex Proshow Gold, after getting to review Proshow Producer for Professional Photographer (review scheduled for April issue), I have to admit I felt a little out of my element. Creating slideshows is easy for me, but integrating still images with video? That’s another thing.

Fortunately, I was also able to get my hands on one of Photodex’s training videos: Photo Video Fusion. The DVD contains 1.5 hours of video tutorials (split into 11 chapters). The average video is about 15 minutes long, so you’ll be able to squeeze your learning sessions in when you have a spare moment.

The training sessions begin by explaining the concept of “fusion”—the blending of video and images to create a complete slideshow production. The DVD does a thorough job of explaining concepts, and I’m pretty sure you’ll find it easy to understand.

If you’re someone who learns best by doing, rather than just hearing or watching things, you will love this workshop DVD. Photodex has included video and image files so that you can follow along with the tutorial and actually do the exercises yourself.

After you learn about fusion, the DVD will help you get a good foundation in editing videos with Photodex. You’ll learn how to work with video, how to trim video files and create video clips, and most important—that videos behave pretty much like individual images (so far as layers, masks, and styles go).

Images ©Peter Atherton

By Curtis Joe Walker

The orbis ring flash from Enlight Photo is a modifier for hot shoe flashes that allows them to emulate the functionality of a studio ring flash. Fitting onto the end of a hot shoe flash, it takes the light and bounces it through a highly reflective inner chamber, outputting diffused, characteristic light through its ring.

The high-impact-plastic unit has been expertly designed for maximum efficiency, using the brightest chrome finished plastic available. By adding translucent material to the bottom of the ring and a series of baffles inside, the light output from the ring is evenly distributed and creates flawless specular highlights. Inside, a series of spring hinges ensure a snug fit on the end of your flash. It isn’t designed to permanently marry the two devices, though. In other words, take care to hold the device in a way that protects both units from an unintended free fall.

So, how does it hold up in use? Pretty good, within its limitations. For one thing, it’s limited by the output of the flash that’s going into it, and it loses about 4 stops of light in the translation. That means there’s no way this light is going to light a whole set, but for portraits and very carefully composed full body shots, it’ll work. The instructions suggest bumping the ISO setting to 400, so depending on the camera and lens, it could be possible to get more out of the flash. With the ring flash, portraits show the characteristic wraparound shadow and the highlights are perfect donut shapes. Despite the limited efficiency, it is possible to overpower daylight if you’re able to shoot your subject from a few inches away.

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

If you’re looking for an album design solution that integrates with Photoshop, then you need to give Album DS Design Software a shot. Let’s just say there’s a reason that Professional Photographer's Hot One Award judges picked Album DS (version 6.1.1) as the winner for Album Design/Layout. Before trying out Album DS, I hadn’t found a program that would fit my needs. I tried various programs, but resorted to Photoshop since the programs couldn’t render my envisioned design properly. After giving Album DS a shot, I think I finally found a program with enough flexibility for me.

Image ©Betsy Finn

When you first install Album DS, the installer will ask you which of the templates (700+), masks (200), frames (570+), backgrounds (326) and clipart you want to install. You can install a sampling of the resources, or install everything at once. Despite the large resource library, you’re not limited to the included templates. Album DS lets you convert templates you already have, or even make your own on the fly.

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

Canon’s new EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens (MSRP $1,049) is quite a lens! Even though it has a fixed focal length, the image stabilization, speed (f/2.8) and life-size close-up capabilities without an adapter, (1:1 maximum magnification) make it a very desirable lens to own. Quoting from Canon’s website, “the lens was developed to expand users' photographing range and allow a wider range of users to easily enjoy macro photography.” I recently had the opportunity to evaluate this new lens from  while photographing a wedding as well as creating macro images at my leisure.

Of all the features and capabilities, the feature that impressed me most is the life-size, 1:1 maximum magnification factor. With the 100mm mounted on a Canon EOS 40D, I borrowed the bride’s bouquet as well as the newlyweds’ rings. Using only afternoon window light and the bouquet, I proceeded to capture images to see just what this lens was capable of doing. The first few images were captured from a more “normal” distance (Figure 1).

My initial idea for the image was to incorporate flowers and rings into a “vignette” image. Images like these are important for recording wedding day details for the bride and groom, as well as to increase the variety of images in their final album. After several images at a lower magnification factor, I began to move closer and closer to the rings until I was at the lens’s minimum focusing distance and maximum magnification factor (Figure 2).

I was very impressed with the lens stabilization feature—none of these images were taken with a tripod-mounted camera. It is worth noting, however, that in order to minimize camera shake, I had my elbows propped on the table and held the camera tightly while releasing the shutter. Because I was using the camera’s TTL metering capability when photographing the subject from such a close distance, I didn’t have to make any exposure compensation.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Supplement

By Betsy Finn, Cr.Photog., CPP

In this month’s print edition of Professional Photographer magazine, I discussed my experiences with three web cart systems for photographers: RedCart, Photo Cart, and Lightbox Photo Gallery. While each cart system is different, they do all accomplish the same end goal—that is, to allow you to sell your images and products online.

To help you get an idea of what each cart will (and will not) do, I’ve compiled features into categories: investment, interface, pricing, products, and setup. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at the features these web carts have to offer.

Investment: With a one-time investment upfront for a single domain license, all three carts allow you to benefit from commission-free sales. Depending on which interface you choose, you’ll end up investing anywhere from $329 to $1,099 (see end of article). Photo Cart includes lifetime free upgrades, Lightbox includes free upgrades for one year, and RedCart includes minor upgrades unless you spring for their monthly investment … and then you’ll receive all upgrades.

Interface: All three carts have the capability to display public galleries (or keep them private), e-mail invoices, save client favorites, and even display images in a slideshow. RedCart is the only cart to operate on a Flash-based front end—the other two are HTML-based. Photo Cart and Lightbox both have integrated batch uploading, watermarking, and auto thumbnail generation; the upcoming version of RedCart (soon to be released) relies on a desktop application to accomplish these tasks. Since Lightbox is geared to commercial/stock photography, it has several unique features, including SEO URLs, a multi-photographer manager, and even a keyword search log. Both Photo Cart and Lightbox can display IPTC metadata if that information is present in your image files.

Above: Lightbox Photo Gallery configuration interface and the gallery view for clients. (Click for large view.)

Above: Photo Cart's client gallery. (Click for large view.)

Above: RedCart's client gallery. (Click for large view.)

By Curtis Joe Walker

Zenfolio has been offering easy, affordable, attractive online galleries for photographers for the last four years. Previously, photographers would have to build and host their own website elsewhere, linking externally to Zenfolio galleries to handle sales and client proofing. With their new release, to be launched at Imaging USA (Jan. 10-12), sites can be hosted entirely with Zenfolio. This eliminates the cost of two hosting accounts and greatly improves the visual presentation of the site thanks to comprehensive and customizable theme packages.

We recently had a chance to sit down with Zenfolio CEO Alex Peyzner to walk us through the upcoming features.

With the new release comes a whole new set of options for building pages. Foremost of these is theming. At launch, 10-15 themes will be available, but because the themes are customizable and downloadable, many more will quickly appear once the Zenfolio community gets their feet wet. Themes control the look and feel of the entire site from the main page to the individual galleries.The pages are Flash-free except for gallery slideshows. This move will satisfy mobile users, but at the cost of a completely designer-controlled viewing experience. Also included with Premium accounts is the ability to upload PDF files natively—a handy feature for publishing printable price/service menus.

By Thea Dodds, GreenerPhotography.org

“The Changing Range of Light: Portraits of the Sierra Nevada” combines art and science in a book of landscape photography, employing imagery to inspire action. It features gorgeous landscapes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range by Elizabeth Carmel, and text vignettes outlining the effect of global climate change in the Sierras by Robert Coats, PhD. and Geoffrey Schladow, PhD.

Carmel is an acclaimed landscape photographer based in Trukee, Calif. This volume is a follow-up to her book, “Brilliant Waters,” also featuring photographs from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Contributing author Robert Coats has a B.S. and M.S. in Forestry and a PhD. in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California at Berkeley. Contributing author Geoffrey Schladow holds a B. Eng. and PhD. in civil engineering from the University of Western Australia, and a M. Eng. in hydraulic engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

The release of this 136 page, full color book was well timed with the December convening of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the largest conference of its kind in history. Carmel is courageous for publishing a book that combines grassroots education with contemporary landscape photography. She risks taking the reader away from her art with the addition of scientific commentary that is heavy both in content and technical in its language. It is striking how well the images lead the reader to the text, and the text takes the reader back to the images with additional information and appreciation. The climate change vignettes are interrupted by poetry at well-timed intervals to give the reader a needed breath of lighter content.

By Ellis Vener

What is better color worth to your photography business? That is the $99 question posed by the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport. But the underlying question is whether you can trust your camera, no matter which make or model you use, to automatically deliver its best possible color rendition. “Best” is obviously a subjective term. What most of us really want is what is known as “pleasing color”—blue skies rendered as a natural shade of blue without a magenta cast, grass that meets our perception of what grass should look like, skin tones that match the subjects’ complexion, and red hair that looks like red hair. (Sometimes we don’t want realistic color, but it is the best place to begin customizing from.)

Every camera model from every manufacturer interprets color differently due to differences in sensor technology, camera processor technology and programming. You may have even encountered slight color rendering differences between individual cameras of the same model. With little effort, profiling your cameras eliminates these color rendering differences.

To get there, we have to make all parts of the photographic process work harmoniously. That is the ultimate goal of color management. By now, most professionals and serious amateurs understand that calibrating and profiling our displays is essential, even if we aren’t working on high-end Eizo and NEC monitors. Those involved in making prints understand the necessity of using good profiles for printers, papers, and inks or lab-produced prints. Even if you choose to work only with JPEGs in the small sRGB color space, you are passively engaged in color management.

By Mark Levesque, CPP

The digital age has brought with it the benefits of rapidly improving technology that simultaneously becomes more capable and less costly. As a consequence of more and better megapixels, photographers are generating ever increasing quantities of data. The recent trend in DSLRs to add HD video capability compounds the problem: how to contend with all the data generated on a shoot. The solution has been to take advantage of a similar trend in the flash memory market: more memory for less money. Larger memory cards notwithstanding, photographers often find themselves on location and running out of memory, or simply looking to quickly create the peace of mind that having your data safely backed up can bring.

Enter the Nexto eXtreme ND-2700 from Nexto DI. Touting “on the go” backups, this device is the essence of simplicity. Plug in your card, and press the button. The embedded hard drive springs to life and the copying of your data commences. It’s that easy to create reliable backups. In short order you have a copy of your data, along with status indicating its integrity.

By Kim Larson

When Adobe Lightroom was formally introduced in 2006, it was applauded as a great tool for enhancing photographers’ workflows. Now there’s another tool on the market that can further speed your work in Lightroom: Kubota RPG Speedkeys for Lightroom 2.

Kubota RPG Speedkeys for Lightroom 2 was designed to help you work faster in Lightroom by combining the popular RPG Keys product with Kevin Kubota’s Lightroom workflow. It’s a small wireless keyboard that is pre-programmed to run time-saving adjustments in Lightroom, such as increasing or decreasing exposure, and shortcuts to perform popular  Kubota Lightroom Presets. (The product includes Kubota Lightroom Presets v3.) With just a press of the button, you can adjust things like the exposure and color temperature of an image—a great time savings over manually adjusting the Lightroom sliders with a mouse.

Installation of the Speedkeys goes quickly, but it is very important that you follow the instructions. Install the software before plugging the keyboard’s USB receiver into your computer, and when the software asks you to choose a directory for installation, make sure you choose the correct Adobe directory. It’s also important that you do not restart your computer with the USB Receiver connected, as it does affect how your computer starts if left plugged in.

To use the Speedkeys, you simply plug in the USB Receiver, start the Kubota RPG Speedkeys application, and open Lightroom. If you’re using a Macintosh, take you need to open all the little menus in the Quick Develop area of the Library module for the keys to work. Then you are ready to process away!

By Betsy Finn, CPP

I recently had the opportunity to try out Tenba’s Small Photo/Laptop Roadie. In addition to cramming it chock-full of equipment, I was curious to see if it would really fit under the seat on an airplane.

The Small Roadie has a lot of features and enough compartments to satisfy most pocket fanatics. According to Tenba, the Small Roadie holds 1 or 2 SLRs with 5 to 6 lenses (up to 300mm 2.8). Your mileage may vary, but here’s a list of the equipment I was able to cram (in an organized manner) into this functional studio on wheels (see photo below).

• 15-inch widescreen laptop, power cord, and travel surge protector
• Nikon D3 body with 70-200mm f2.8 VR lens
• Nikon D200 body
• Nikon 55mm f2.8 micro lens
• Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens
• Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 lens
• Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens
• Two Nikon SB-800 Speedlights
• Light meter
• Battery + CF card cases

By Adam Boozer

The latest version of Serif’s video editing tool, MoviePlus X3, is a solid evolution in this software’s almost 10 year history. Easily usable by both the novice video editor as well as the more seasoned professional, this application provides a wide range of tools that can enable almost anyone to deliver a high quality end product.

Full disclosure, I am a Final Cut Pro user and a Mac guy, so I approached the review of this application with the attitude of “how good could this little PC-only app really be?” I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the application incredibly easy to use, I actually found it fun to import my video assets and play with the wide range of tools available to me.

The interface for MoviePlus X3 is well organized and is actually centered around an integrated “How To” system. This instructional system removes the barrier found in more complex video applications by approaching the user with a series of common tasks. I like the idea of asking the user what it is they want to do and then walking them through the necessary steps to accomplish the task. Of course, more sophisticated users can disable this function, or new users can simply wean themselves off of it over time.

The feature that most impressed me was the manner in which MoviePlus X3 handled the native video files from my Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The h.264 compressed files that the 5D Mark II creates are  processor-intensive to play back, and I find that most users transcode the video into other formats to edit. When I imported my clips into MoviePlus X3 to test, I was excited to see that it immediately made lower resolution proxy files for me to edit with. This allowed for very speedy playback within the application and gave me the flexibility to play with effects, titles, etc. without the lag time associated with the original h.264 files. The best part is that this is automatic. When I was ready to export my final project, the application referenced my original high resolution files.

By Don Chick

Every once in a while a product comes along that is easy to use and has tremendous features and potential. EzMats Designer is one such product. The software is Mac/PC compatible and is available to purchase and download off the Web. After watching a brief tutorial and downloading about 40MB with an easy installation, I was off on my own creating custom mats in about an hour.

EzMats Designer is not a plug-in or simply a bunch of templates, but rather a stand-alone program that works within Photoshop (CS3 & CS4) when Photoshop is running. Once the software is installed, you can launch the program via a desktop icon or shortcut (Windows). The tool palette is easy to use and the layout is well thought through with only 11 buttons. Figure 1 (below) shows the palette as well as a double mat created from one of the 149 Ready to Use Templates (Software Driven Digital Mat Layouts) and a texture overlay that comes with the EzMats software.

Kevin Truax, the genius behind EzMats Designer, has created several online videos that take you step-by-step through the very quick learning curve. I found it worth the time investment to watch the video and simultaneously create mats as Kevin talked me through the process. Soon after watching the tutorial videos I was making the more advanced multi-opening mats. My mind was buzzing with ideas for new products that I could offer my clients as well as using these as upgrade options for existing products.

By Andrew Darlow

As digital photography and printer technologies evolve, so the development of new and innovative matte/watercolor papers for inkjet printing moves forward. And there is certainly no shortage of these papers. Over the last 12-18 months, more than 20 new fine-art matte/watercolor inkjet papers have been released. And unlike digital cameras and printers, many matte/watercolor inkjet papers introduced five or even 10 years ago stay on the market, just as useful as the day they were introduced. What makes these papers special is that even though they are coated with an inkjet-receptive layer, they retain an organic look similar to a watercolor painting or fine print made on hand-made Japanese paper. The coating improves the density, sharpness, and in many cases, the longevity of the paper and ink combination.

Many photographers choose inkjet matte/watercolor papers for fine-art gallery prints, client portrait prints, wedding albums, commercial portfolios, cards and promotional pieces. In this article, I give an overview of six companies whose matte/watercolor papers have impressed me, with some specs to help you determine if their offerings might be right for you. At the end of the article is a list of companies that produce and/or distribute matte/watercolor papers under their brand name.

Prices vary considerably from vendor to vendor, so I recommend using search engines to find retailers for specific products (always consider shipping costs, as well as a vendor’s reputation and return policy). Also, virtually all the papers described here are available in sample packs, which can save you money in the long run by allowing you to experiment with several different papers before purchasing larger amounts of one or two favorites. Often, papers are available in both rolls and sheets. My preference for most uses is sheets, primarily because the papers are fragile and sheets generally stay flat and need far less handling or cutting.

Also, the number that follows most paper names stands for its basis weight in grams per square meter (gsm). Most matte/watercolor inkjet papers are between 190-350gsm. Keep this in mind because every printer has a maximum paper thickness that it will accept.

Among the new matte and watercolor papers are Hahnemühle Sugar Cane (far left), Pictorico ART Kenaf Paper UNRYU (68) (top, center), Epson Signature Worthy Cold Press Bright (far right), and Canson Rag Photographique 210 (bottom). Photo ©Andrew Darlow. Click image for larger view.

By Ellis Vener

In the gallery linked below you will find full resolution 1,000 x 1,000-pixel crops shot at the Nikon D3S Big Apple Circus event on October 20, 2009. The gallery shows images at all full-stop ISO settings from ISO 100 to 102,400. The final image is an uncropped view.

Exposure and processing information is included with the images. The camera was set for lossless 14-bit NEF mode and High ISO noise reduction was set to Low.

I viewed the files in Nikon ViewNX and then used Photoshop for cropping, captioning, conversion to the sRGB color space and saved at level 12 (minimal) compression.

There is no sharpening applied in the NEF processing or in post processing. Active D-lighting was turned off in the camera, and D-Lighting was turned off in Nikon ViewNX. Beyond what is described above, no other processing was done. The HTML Web gallery was created in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.5

View Nikon D3S images.

By Zack Davis

Like many photography studios, I get my share of calls and requests each year about restoring an old or damaged family photograph. That’s where Onlinephotofix.com comes in. Offering a range of services geared toward image restoration for consumers and professionals. Professional Photographer magazine sent me to see if this service could be valuable to studios as a cost-effective alternative to keeping the work in house.

I wanted to challenge Onlinephotofix.com in several ways, as they are a restoration service and not a retouching firm. Though for this review I did use images from sessions that had real-world exposure and composition issues to get a better idea of the quality of their work.

With wholesale account discounts of 50% off their retail service, the Onlinephotofix.com restoration service is priced quite reasonably. Taking the cost of time into consideration, this service could open up a new revenue stream for your studio or free up your time for additional appointments.

Since the goal of using a service like this is to lighten your workload, the amount of time it takes to prepare and send the files is important. For this review I had one very important question, “Can I submit an image to them in less than 15 minutes?”

On my first visit to the image submission portion of the site, my total time investment to send in an image for a quote was 9 minutes, and I was pleased. A client could come in with an image, and in less than 15 minutes I could have it scanned, saved and uploaded for a free quote.

There are no strict size requirements. The full-size file goes directly to the server without any need for manipulation on your part. This immediately removes 90 percent of the work you have to do. As far as fee structure goes, it’s simple.

By Andrew Rodney

I am the first to admit I’m paranoid about my data, especially digital captures I shoot on location. I strive to keep at least two copies of all my raw files at any one time. When shooting on location for extended periods, that means having a hefty supply of flash cards and a means of copying them to an external hard drive, and only reformatting the cards when I have two backups. Usually that means taking a laptop, card reader and an external hard drive with me on location. There is another solution that I recently investigated—the HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA photo backup device.

The HyperDrive Colorspace is essentially a self-contained, battery powered storage device that quickly copies contents of my flash cards directly to a huge hard drive, and has a large 3.2-inch external LCD display to view and edit (if I choose) the images. Measuring 5.25 x 2.95 x 1 inches and weighing only 10.5 ounces, this is a lightweight, portable solution that at the very least, allows me to quickly download contents of my flash cards in the field without the need of a laptop. With its fast USB 2.0 connectivity, I can copy the contents of the Colorspace to my laptop’s external drive each evening if I decide it’s worth taking all that extra equipment with me on a shoot. Now I have two copies of my images and can safely reformat the flash cards and continue to shoot. There are a number of advantages to taking such a device on location such as:

Data verification: As data from a flash card is copied to the internal drive inside the Colorspace, it uses what is called CRC copy verification. I’d be very hard pressed to format a flash card on location, at least until I know the one backup I’ve made has been verified. The product provides three differing verification schemes. Real Time Verify is the default and does not affect copy speed. If an error in the camera file is detected when it copies to the hard drive, I’m alerted immediately. Verify HDD and Verify Card use a slower checksum verification scheme that compares each file copied to the data on the card or drive. Knowing that the image data on the Colorspace is readable and has been copied from the flash card with data integrity provides a lot of peace of mind.

By Betsy Finn, CPP

Sanyo’s Eneloop batteries are a new twist on the traditional rechargeable battery; they can retain 85 percent of their capacity over a year’s time. Because of this unique characteristic, Sanyo is able to package Eneloop batteries so they’re ready to use when you need them. The question is: Does this convenience factor come at a cost in performance? Can professional photographers really rely on a battery that is only rated at 2,000 mAH (compared to the more typical 2650 mAh or 2900 mAh)?

I was curious to see how Eneloop batteries compared to standard Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. To compare their performance, I used three Nikon Speedlights with four batteries each, set on manual flash power (one as the on-camera master, the other two as remotes). One of the remote Speedlights would be powered by Eneloop batteries, the other by standard Ni-MH batteries. After doing some research online, I discovered that my Nikon SB-800 Speedlights, at full manual power, should have a recycle time of four seconds when using Ni-MH batteries, and allow for 150 shots to be fired (Source: KenRockwell.com). With that in mind as a guideline, I set out to test the 150-shot theory and see how the Eneloop batteries compared to the standard Ni-MH batteries.

Image ©Betsy Finn

Big leg support with a small footprint

By Michael J. McNamara

A tripod is either a must-have accessory or a necessary evil, depending on what you’re shooting and how far you have to carry one. For travel and location shoots, a sturdy tripod gives you the support needed to maintain low-noise ISO settings, creatively blur motion with slower shutter speeds, or maximize depth-of-field with smaller apertures. If you’re on a tight budget, “sturdy” usually equates to heavy, and the benefits you get from a heavy tripod must be weighed against the hassle of carrying it, the space it takes up and the extra price you may incur for shipping it to various locations. On the other hand, smaller, lightweight tripods made of carbon fiber offer a superior weight-to-support ratio than metal models, but a decent one can cost you an arm and three legs.

A more affordable, compact and sturdy alternative is the Benro Travel Angel. This innovative aluminum model folds down to a mere 14.9-inch length, yet can be extended up to 59.6 inches tall. It’s also rated to hold a typical medium-sized DSLR with a zoom lens up to 8.8 pounds. For a recent overseas assignment, I paired the aluminum version with a Benro B-series Ballhead B-0 (this combo available as kit TRAB169 for  $231, and holds up to 17.6 pounds) as the support system for a new Panasonic DMC-GH1 camera system. Since the GH1 is one of the lightest interchangeable-lens cameras on the market (and one of the best dual-media cameras with full 1080P HD recording), I didn’t need the extra weight capacity of a larger tripod or the carbon fiber version of the Travel Angel (model TRCB169, $440 street, folds to 14.1 inches, extends to 58 inches high, and can support up to 17.6 pounds).

All Images ©Michael J. McNamara 2009

By Kim Larson

PhotoTools 2 is a Photoshop plug-in from onOne Software that allows you to quickly apply a variety of Photoshop effects to your photos and video clips. PhotoTools 2 provides an extensive library featuring multiple effects created by onOne and Photoshop Gurus Kevin Kubota and Jack Davis.

I was concerned that PhotoTools 2 would not compare to my own vast library of Photoshop Actions (My name is Kim, and I am a Photoshop Action-holic). But after using PhotoTools 2 for one month, I realized that the power of PhotoTools is not the effects themselves, but really the way the effects are organized and applied.

Finding the Right Effect

With PhotoTools 2, finding the effect you want to apply to your photo is extremely simple because you can search for it in multiple ways. I am very impressed with how well-organized the effects library is. If you’re looking for an effect that applies specifically to eyes, simply do a search for “eyes” and you’ll see a list of effects meant to enhance eyes. If you’re looking to apply a moody effect to your photo, you can select “moody” from the keywords list. A good description and sample before-after photo is provided with each effect, so it is easy to pick out the one you want!

The PhotoTools 2 Library provides a very organized and keyword-searchable set of effects, making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. (Click image for larger view.)

Stack, Unstack, Modify, Repeat

PhotoTools 2 allows you to apply effects in a stack. You can take up to 16 effects and apply them to your image at once, and you can go back to modify, hide, or remove individual effects at any time. This is a great advantage over using multiple Photoshop actions because typically when you apply multiple actions to an image, you cannot go back and modify the first actions. With PhotoTools 2, you’re free to go back and edit the first effect without destroying the effects you applied after it.

You can modify any layer of the stack without changing the other layers.

When you find a combination of effects you like, you can save them as a preset, and can then apply them to other photos with one click. You can import and export presets from PhotoTools to share them with friends. You can even post them on the onOne Exchange site, where many people have already shared their favorite presets.

PhotoTools 2 also lets you apply the effects to multiple photos in a batch from Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and Apple Aperture.

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

As a passionate portrait photographer, I prefer to use a zoom during a session for the flexibility and range that a zoom lens has to offer. In order to minimize distortion, much of my portrait work is done in the 85mm or greater range. So when given a chance to evaluate the Sigma APO 50-150mm F2.8 EX II DC HSM I jumped at the opportunity. This lens seemed to combine the ideal features that any portrait photographer could ask for, i.e., range, speed and price.

©Don Chick

The 50-150mm has a fast fixed f/2.8 aperture, which comes in handy when you’re working in low-light conditions or looking to capture images with a very shallow depth of field. I believe the look of a shallow depth of field is essential for the professional today as a way to differentiate your work from the plethora of non-professionals. And while I don’t often work wide open at f/2.8 due to the extremely shallow depth-of-field at that aperture, being able to stop the lens down to f/3.5 or f/4.0 is an advantage.

This lens does not have built in image stabilization, which may be a deal breaker for some photographers at this price (current street price, $775). But because this lens doesn’t incorporate image stabilization, it weighs in at only 27.5 ounces, making it a relative lightweight compared to other f/2.8 lenses with image stabilization. The Canon and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses each weigh in at 51.8 ounces, nearly double the weight of the Sigma. The lighter weight makes it easier to hand-hold the lens and is less likely to cause fatigue when you carry it around for long periods of time.

By Stan Sholik

The Quantum Instruments Trio QF8/Pilot QF9/Qflash T5d-R equipment forms a powerful and versatile wireless system that can handle many of the tasks that up until now have required larger, less portable lighting equipment. I found that the system will perform extremely well when it has been set up properly. But I also encountered a fairly steep learning curve in setting the units up to perform the way I wanted.

For others who may be trying to work out settings for some common photographic situations, here is what I have found.

1) How to set up a Trio on the camera hot shoe and a T5d-R as a remote to use the camera’s built-in TTL system to determine the exposure.

The T5d-R remote flash must be set to the same Wireless Group and Channel as the Trio, in this case Wireless Group R1 and Channel 1. The remote flash must ALWAYS be set up before the on-camera Trio is turned on.

On the Trio, you set the mode to QTTL, the first setting in the menu bar at the top of the LCD.

[Editor's Note: Because studio management software serves many purposes and performs dozens of functions, this article provides an overview of StudioPlus Software in advance of a review of its accounting-specific function and integration with QuickBooks, which will appear in a forthcoming issue of Professional Photographer magazine.]

By Betsy Finn, CPP

Managing day-to-day operations can be a complicated task, and finding the right piece of software to manage your studio’s data can be equally challenging. StudioPlus has been around for 11 years and was developed specifically for photographers. The company emphasizes that StudioPlus is more than just a piece of software, it’s a studio management system to help photographers efficiently manage clients from the first phone call, to image capture, and to order pickup. While StudioPlus has too many features to review in a single article, this overview should give you an idea of its capabilities and how it might help your studio.

StudioPlus provides customer support during the setup phase so that you can learn how to use the software most efficiently—and I made sure to take advantage of this offer. After familiarizing myself with the software’s default settings, and changing the preferences to fit my studio’s operation, I began to explore the main areas of StudioPlus. Each section of StudioPlus is optimized for a specific function. For example, the Home Page gives you a snapshot of studio activities, including upcoming appointments/sessions, to dos, phone calls, financial figures, and even the weather.

[Click on interface images for a larger view.]

Animoto productions aren't really slideshows; they're professional looking music videos created with your images.

By Betsy Finn, CPP

SPECIAL OFFER EXTENDED: Purchase a three-month Professional pass using Coupon Code: PPAnov09 and get an extra month free. Offer ends Nov. 30, 2009.

Animoto blends video and music with still images to create a dynamic, interactive video. A relative newcomer to the photographic industry, Animoto has only been around since 2006. If you’re curious to find out why Animoto has been hailed as the “end of slideshows,” keep reading as I examine the movie-making process.

When creating a new video, Animoto prompts you to choose short or full-length video options, if you’re a paid user (a basic account is free, but you’re limited to creating 30-second videos). After you select video type, you tell Animoto where to get your images. You can upload from your computer, or retrieve from sites like Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, etc.

Animoto will then begin uploading your images. While movie length will ultimately depend on the tempo of your music selection, Animoto recommends 12-15 images for a 30 second video. You can rearrange the image order by clicking and dragging on an image (or set of images). The spotlight button lets you choose images you want to feature, and the text button lets you add a slide with two lines of text.

Calibrating your camera’s autofocus system for best performance with individual lenses

By Ellis Vener

Every now and then a specific autofocus lens and body combination just do not work perfectly. You may not even be aware that one or more of your lens/body combinations do not perform as well as it might if it were properly tuned, or maybe you require above average performance and want assurance that is what you are getting for your money. Several manufacturers now include a function for fine-tuning autofocus performance in their newest top-of-the-line bodies. (As of early August 2009 these include: Canon EOS-50D, 5D Mark II, 1D Mark III, and 1Ds Mark III models; Nikon D300, D300s, D700, D3, and D3X; Olympus E-30 and E-620; Pentax K20D; and Sony A900.) If your camera has that option, we now have a good reliable tool from rawworkflow.com for finding out exactly how out of whack a lens /body combo might be and what AF micro-adjustment setting is needed to maximize performance.

The LensAlign PRO kit consists of three pieces: a target to focus on, a steel Depth of Field Display Ruler, and a settings Enumerator to keep track of your settings in the photo. There are two other versions available as well; a Lite version, which is less fully featured, and the PRO PLUS, which features a larger target and a 47-inch long ruler.

Image ©Ellis Vener

Two (or three) bags to get you there

By Curtis Joe Walker

8 Million Dollar Home

Crumpler’s $170 8 Million Dollar Home is a handy, versatile shoulder bag for photographers on the go. With a bevy of inserts included, the bag can handle anything from two pro DSLRs with long lenses, or a DSLR, laptop and accessories. As tested, a DSLR body with lens, two medium-sized lenses, three hotshoe flashes, 15-inch laptop and miscellaneous accessories fit in perfectly.

The interior is all Velcro compatible, so the guts can be customized as desired. As with most Crumpler bags, there will be leftover inserts once the inside is customized. The bright green interior helps make loose items stand out. A mesh pocket in the top flap is great for batteries and small items, while a pair of pockets on the front of the bag provide a total of three slim compartments for organizing gear and paperwork.

On each side of the bag are a pair of loops through which you can slip tripod legs. That can be easier said than done, depending on the size of the legs and the material they’re covered with. Rubberized legs are particularly tough to deal with. In any case, the loops hold securely enough, but require two hands to insert and remove the tripod in most cases.

By Kim Larson

I had been struggling for a while to find unique ways to set me apart from my local competition, so when PPA gave me the opportunity to try out the Canon Selphy ES3 printer at a wedding reception I jumped at the opportunity—could this be exactly what I was looking for?

SETUP

Although I could have just used the Selphy printer to print off a few photos from the day’s wedding ceremony to display at the reception for guests to enjoy, I decided to do something different. With just about everyone owning point-and-shoot digital cameras now, I decided to put the printer on display at the reception so people could print off their own photos. I allowed everyone free access to the printer, with the ability to print photos for the bride and groom, or even themselves if they desired.

To set up the table for the printer, I used a small 24x48-inch folding table and a white floor-length tablecloth. I arranged scrapbook photo corners on white posterboard to display some of the printed photos and left room for simple instructions on how to re-fill the printer should it run out of paper. I also put up a sign in an 8x10 photo frame that announced the bride and groom’s “photobooth,” and a box where people could put the printed photos to give to the bride and groom.

Supplies

Canon Selphy ES3 Printer: $199 (MSRP)
Printer Ink/Paper Refill Cartridges (100 prints): $30
24x48 Folding Table: $49
Tablecloth: $10
Posterboard and Scrapbooking supplies: $15
Box to hold bride and groom’s photos: $5
8x10 frame: $5

Photo table images ©Kim Larson

THE PRINTER

The Canon Selphy ES3 printer is the perfect printer for this kind of work. It is not heavy, so it is easy to transport to the reception with its built-in handle. You do not need a computer to use it, and it will accept most digital camera cards. My favorite feature of this printer is the lack of ink cartridges. Because the ink is actually built into the paper cartridge, you never have to worry about replacing ink. This makes it incredibly easy for guests at the wedding reception to manage the printer themselves. The instructions are simple: When the printer is out of paper, you just open the paper door, slide out the used paper cartridge and slide in a new one!

It’s a photographer’s dream to be able to create art day in and day out. Only problem? As professionals, we have to do more than photograph; the books need balancing, and finances need tracking. Since its inception, my studio management software has been Intuit QuickBooks. QuickBooks is a versatile tool, adaptable to any industry, yet it’s just not made for photographers. 

So, for the past year, I’ve been on the lookout for a good solution to my studio management needs.  StudioPlus Software is designed specifically for the photographic industry and includes a range of features that aim to satisfy the needs of both the small boutique studio and the multi-location megastudio. The best part? I’ve been told it integrates with QuickBooks, so I should be able to enhance my current system, instead of starting over.

If you’re considering switching software, but are worried about getting overwhelmed, the staff at StudioPlus seems to understand it’s a big task to implement their software. Customers typically receive one-on-one support and training during the StudioPlus installation process. These training sessions are completed on a timeframe that allows you to learn at your own pace. I recently completed my first training session, which consisted of installation of the software, an overview of its features, and a step-by-step walk-through of real-life use. I asked a lot of questions, but left the training session feeling very optimistic about integrating StudioPlus into a typical studio workflow.

—Betsy Finn, CPP
Learnwithbetsy.com

Finn will report on her experience in implementing and working with StudioPlus Software an upcoming issue of Professional Photographer magazine and in PPmag.com Web Exclusives.

By Curtis Joe Walker

Roller bags are all about maximum capacity, since there’s no concern about breaking the user’s back. The primary design challenge is making the bag small enough to use as a carry-on, yet large enough to hold everything while maintaining enough padding to keep things secure while traveling. The Lowepro Pro Roller x200 manages to meet every requirment. The new Pro Roller x-Series features x100, x200 and x300 sizes, with the x100 and x200 being small enough to meet carry-on restrictions.

This bag sports a number of innovative features, but the most interesting is the ability to zip out the entire camera organization compartment for use as a backpack. The Reserve Pack is convenient not only for lugging gear on location, but also for making the outer case available to use as a normal piece of luggage. Of course, the backpack is only a backpack in the barest sense of the word. Ergonomics are limited, and the straps are quite thin. It’s not meant to replace a dedicated backpack, but to add some functionality in a pinch or for hiking to a location where a roller bag would be inconvenient or impossible to use. It also allows for a second suitcase to magically appear should souvenirs unexpectedly overwhelm the rest of your luggage.

A TSA-approved Lock & Go System combination cable lock ensures that the contents of the bag won’t be swiped by a quick-fingered zipper maestro, but doesn’t have enough slack to chain the bag to a luggage cart or other suitcase.

On the extending handle grip, there’s a set of hidden threads for the impromptu tripod mount to attach to. Using the handle as a tripod isn’t ideal, but it’s a nice touch that might save the day. It also has potential for use as a light stand.

By Corey Shelton

Before adding the 0.42x Super Wide Angle Angle Conversion Lens to your camera bag, let me first suggest that you purchase a large bib to catch your own drool as you shoot with this new Lensbaby family addition.

When I was first handed the lens, I knew nothing of its specs, so abiding by man-law, I immediately regressed into my “I don’t read manuals” self and began to play, easily screwing the adapter into the 50mm Composer via its 37mm metal thread.

After a quick view of how wide the now 21mm Composer seemed, I was then taken aback by the discovery of the lens’ macro capability, which Lensbaby claims to be up to 2.75 (7cm) inches. So, with the ability to now go wider and closer, along with Lensbaby’s inherent sweet spot and blurring features, it was fairly easy to get the creative juices flowing with thoughts of using the accessory for both product and food photography. Hence, the drool.

One noticeable contrasting element of this lens is its construction. Compared to the Composer, which is made of plastic and aluminum components, the 0.42x Super Wide Angle is a compact metal accessory with a nice weighty feel (nearly two-thirds the weight of the Composer).

A line that complements your best professional attire and even fits a petite body size

By Cheryl Pearson

Tenba has a new Black Label line of premium camera bags that consists of two handcrafted shoulder bags and three photo satchels, all representing Tenba’s innovative design and constructed with the highest quality materials.

I tested the Medium Photo Satchel, the mid-size bag in the collection, intended to fit a medium-size DSLR body and 2-3 lenses with a flash. With an interior that’s 13.5W x 9.5H x 6D inches, the medium satchel was able to perfectly fit my Canon EOS 5D camera body, 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses, as well as flash. Although it was a tighter fit, there was even room for a third small lens. To adequately fit three lenses in the bag comfortably, however, they would need to be small to medium focal length.

The movable padded dividers make custom configuration easier, allowing you to arrange the camera and lenses the way you would prefer. To test if a larger DSLR would fit in the bag, I attached the battery grip to my Canon 5D. After rearranging the equipment I found I could comfortably fit the camera body with grip, flash and either two smaller lenses or one larger focal length lens if needed. While the items fit in the satchel, it is probably best to pack what Tenba recommends for the bag’s design, as it seemed to provide the most optimal fit.

By Curtis Joe Walker

Gitzo's new Traveler Series 2 tripod kit (GK2580TQR) aims to please shooters who weren't satisfied with the stability of the original Traveler series. Though undoubtedly rigid, the original had limited capacity, a modest ball head and relatively skinny legs.

This new model aims to accommodate larger cameras, while remaining exceptionally portable and light. When folded, the 4-pound tripod with head measure just under 17 inches, but opens to 60 inches and is built to support DSLRs with up to 300mm lenses. The sturdiness lends itself well to medium-format cameras as well.

The tripod has four section legs that lock solidly with Gitzo's twisting G-Lock joints. Unlike the previous design, this improved engineering actually makes the legs lock firmer when weight is applied, eliminating the need for a herculean grip to open and close the locks. They require only about 1/4 turn to open and close and are designed to resist the elements. When closed, all three of the locks fall within a one-handed grip and you can unlock them simultaneously with a single motion. The tripod can go from fully closed to fully set up in about 2 seconds with practice. At the end of each leg is a removable rubber foot. These can be replaced with spikes or snowshoes if desired.

By Curtis Joe Walker

As choices for film dwindle, especially in medium format, any new entrant to the market is greeted with open arms. Kodak Professional has introduced a medium-format version of their new Ektar 100 film, and it’s pretty great. Like the 35mm version, this film is exceptionally fine grained and colorful in an attempt to bridge the gap between analog and digital photography. While the priciest DSLRs are now shooting full-frame 35mm photos, full-frame medium-format sensors are still out of reach. The exceptional depth of field of pro cameras is still a film-only feature. Some pros are even using film with toy cameras to give a vintage imperfection to their images.

For this round of testing, I used a Mamiya RB67 with 50mm and 150mm lenses and a Holga 120S with open sunglight, overcast sunlight and studio lghting as the main sources of light. The film was lab scanned.

In the Mamiya, Ektar performed flawlessly and maintained detail in the highlights and shadow areas. It is hard to imagine a film better suited to a sunny day at the car show. This shot was taken at the Viva Las Vegas car show in Las Vegas, Nev.

©Curtis Joe Walker (Click for larger view. The full-frame image scans have been downsized for web viewing.)

Closeup of fender detail from same image. ©Curtis Joe Walker

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

“You get what you pay for” is an adage you’ll often hear amongst any group of photographers. They’ll discuss quality, service and price and how it pertains to either their business or that of a competitor. High quality products and great service don’t typically accompany a low price; you can have two of the three factors but not all three. Creative Light (www.creativelight.com), distributed by the MAC Group in the U.S., has a new line of lighting accessories that are definitely worth taking a second look. They have done a great job providing a quality product at a very fair price.

I recently had the opportunity to review their new 90x120 (3’x4’) soft box in both the flat front (FF) and recessed front (RF) models. I must say that I am impressed. The soft box I got for review is well made. Not only does the fabric have a quality feel to it, but the actual stitching and construction of the soft box do too. Combine a well made product with very competitive pricing and I think you’ll find many satisfied customers. I’ll have more to say in an upcoming review for Professional Photographer magazine.

Image ©Don Chick

In the July issue of Professional Photographer, information in the Phase One P65+ review (p. 48) regarding Sensor+ technology should have read:

"Sensor+ technology was developed under the guidance of Phase One—holder of the proprietary rights to its use—by Dalsa, one of the two companies producing sensors for use in medium-format backs."

For a detailed explanation of Sensor+ technology, download "Phase One Patent Pending Sensor+ Explained."

The incorrect information was inadvertantly introduced in editing and should not be attributed to the reviewer. We regret the error.

By Stan Sholik

I’m sure most professional photographers have some device in their camera bag to white balance their digital captures by now. The majority of these devices, ranging from an ExpoDisc to a coffee filter, provide a white balance by correcting the color temperature of the light before you begin shooting, saving it as a preset for the session.

While this approach yields excellent results for white balance, these devices do nothing to assist us in adjusting midtone brightness, shadow density and contrast to ensure we are taking full advantage of the dynamic range of the capture.

Datacolor, with the introduction of the $59 SpyderCube, takes a different approach to white balance and in doing so provides a device that addresses all of the visual elements we need to extract the maximum tonality from our images. Standing only a little over three inches tall, the SpyderCube is the Mighty Mouse of color balance.

Also included in the SpyderCube box is a cloth carrying bag, not shown.
©Stan Sholik

By Cheryl Pearson

Many photographers spend countless hours learning the latest tricks and techniques for retouching images using Photoshop. Accomplishing the desired effect can be tedious and time consuming. Then we work to perfect the techniques so that retouching won't slow down our workflow.

But what if you didn’t have to work so hard? What if one application did all this retouching for us with just a few simple steps? Anthropics Technology’s Portrait Professional v9.0 software attempts to create what we need, and even goes one step further. Not only does this program retouch the photograph, it slightly restructures the face giving it a more pleasing appearance. While most of us would need an array of tools, filters and adjustments to accomplish all this in Photoshop, Portrait Professional v9.0 can do this extremely complex task with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Portrait Professional v9.0 seems too good to be true, but it’s actually extremely easy to use and streamlines workflow in a way that saves a tremendous amount of time. So how does it work? The software was developed through analysis of hundreds of faces and the creation of a knowledge base of appearance and aspects of attractiveness so that the software could be programmed to essentially  know the changes needed to make a portrait more appealing without altering the facial features too drastically.

Images ©Cheryl Pearson.

By Diane Berkenfeld

Sometimes though, you have to push the ISO capability of the camera or shoot with less light than you’d like. That’s where noise reduction software comes in. Adobe Photoshop has a noise reduction feature, but it's not as robust as the plug-ins and standalone applications whose primary function is to reduce noise. Most raw conversion software also incorporates noise reduction, which works well for raw file shooters.

These comparison examples from Nik Software Dfine 2.0, Imagenomic Noiseware 4.0, and Picture Code Noise Ninja supplement that article from the July issue of Professional Photographer magazine. All images ©Diane Berkenfeld.

This original (left) was captured with an Olympus E-20 at ISO 160. Click for larger view.

Click through for 100% detail image comparisons.

By Betsy Finn

Alien Skin’s Snap Art 2 is a natural artistic plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that allows you to choose from different media and to perform limitless combinations and adjustments.

My college art training regimen included painting, drawing, and art history, so I was excited to see how closely Snap Art 2 could approximate different visual media techniques. Snap Art 2 offers a number of basic starting points: color pencil, comics, impasto, oil paint, pastel, pen + ink, pencil sketch, pointillism, stylize, and watercolor.

The Snap Art 2 interface includes options containing a variety of Abstract (low realism), Landscape (moderate realism), and Portrait (most realism) settings. I selected the “Color Comics – Large Feature Size” and added a focus region to retain detail in the cat’s face. Before applying the filter, I made sure to save my modifications as a new custom setting.

The comparison below shows several of my favorite media selections. I’ve enlarged the comic version so you can see the shading detail. The watercolor media setting, when set to abstract (with a focus region), was one of my favorites in the series (also see detail comparisons).

Earlier this month, Kim Larson wrote about her wedding workflow and how she uses Nik Silver Efex Pro with Adobe Lightroom. Here she provides a screencast to demonstrate how the two applications work together.

The “all you can eat” lens!

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

What kind of genie would you need to call if you wanted a lens that is reasonably priced, has fantastic zoom range, and is super fast? We’ll let you know when we find one, but in the meantime, if you’ll settle for two out of three, Sigma offers the new 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM lens for an MSRP of $800.

On my Canon DSLR (with a 1.6X lens factor) its 13.8X zoom ratio translates to a 29-400mm equivalent! Combine that zoom ratio with optical stabilization, macro capability, an MSRP of $800, and you have a lot of lens for the money.

I must admit that when first asked to do this review I was skeptical about a lens in which the manufacturer was trying to do so much in one package. There have to be compromises to balance zoom range, speed and cost, but Sigma has done a great job combining features in the 18-250mm.

The first thing that I noticed was the weight, which, at around 22 ounces, has a substantial feel and heft of quality to it. Even though the lens has that feel, the overall size is not that big. When set at 18mm, the overall size is 3.1x 4 inches long (excluding lens hood). When zoomed to 250mm, the overall length increases to about 7 inches. The markings are white against a black body, so they stand out and are easy to read. Sigma eliminates an additional expense for the user by including a lens hood designed specifically for this lens.

By Jack Reznicki, Cr.Photog.Hon.M.Photog., API

Don’t you just love it when software does what you want it to do, even goes beyond your expectations, and is relatively inexpensive? The new remote DSLR app by onOne Software for the iPhone and the iPod Touch is just that. A $19.99 app that lets you not only fire and control the settings on your Canon EOS camera (and very soon your Nikon) remotely but is also simple and elegant, with some neat surprises. Like an easy to use intervalometer. 

If you don’t want the extras, you can even get a simple version that fires your camera and reviews the images, for $1.99. Yes folks, no typo, just under 2 bucks.

You do need to have your camera tethered to a WiFi enabled laptop or even a small net top computer via USB cable for it to work. Once that’s done, you are set up on a private network connection directly to your camera. You pay for and download the app from the iTunes App Store, load it to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Then download and install the free DSLR Camera Remote Server software from the onOne website onto your computer, and off you go. Just remember to turn off your camera connection software, Canon Utility in my case, or the app will read “busy” when you go to connect. I was amazed and pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to install and have it running. None of the usual hair pulling.
 

On a recent shoot for the Toys R Us Special Needs Catalog, I set up a Canon EOS 5D Mark II at the ceiling of my studio to capture a bird’s eye view of my shoot. While the camera was tethered, I was not. I could go anywhere and either take a photo and see it come up on my handheld iPod Touch, or I could set it quickly to Live View and get a real time motion view of what the camera saw. I could watch from my office, which assistant was working and which was napping. At any point, I could hit the “fire” button and take a photo. Too dark? Wrong white balance setting? Well, at a touch on my iPod Touch I could change the exposure, the white balance, the shooting mode from manual to automatic, change the EV, the ISO, even the color space. No need to pull out a ladder and contort my head to look at the camera settings. Or worry about how it might look later, as I can see it as it captures. Think of the great possibilities of shooting from remote. Like photographing from a bird blind, self-portraits, interacting with a child on set or shooting from hard to be at places, like behind a basketball backboard.

By Theano Nikitas

Gallery wraps are gaining in popularity with the general public as evidenced by more than a few online sites offering wrap services for consumers. The do-it-yourself photo and canvas versions from Hahnemuhle were introduced last fall and offer a relatively simple and cost-effective method of wrapping photo canvas.

Hahnemuhle offers three options for gallery wraps: Gallerie Photo Wrap, a simple, all-in-one option, as well as Standard and Pro Gallerie Wrap systems. The former is available in two set sizes: 8 ½ x 11 and 13 x 19 inches, with finished sizes of 6 x 8 and 10 x 16, respectively. The latter two offer more versatility since wrap bars are available in boxes of 20 in lengths from 8-24 inches (Standard) and boxes of 8 at 8-60 inches (Pro). Each type requires corner positioners, corner braces, pins and archival glue. Center braces are available for the Pro versions.

As someone who always had problems stretching canvas for art class, I thought I would be the perfect test case to try out the Hahnemuhle Gallerie Wrap. Using the Standard sizes, I opted for an 8 x 12 set-up to wrap a vertical shot of a grey Heron printed on Hahnemuhle’s Monet canvas.

Click any image for larger view. Images ©Theano Nikitas

By Mark Levesque, CPP

Canon’s penchant for refining existing models rather than develop replacements from the ground up goes not only for their cameras, but also for their printers. The Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II is one of the latest examples. This wide-format printer builds on the original Pro9500’s success, with a 10 cartridge LUCIA pigment ink set, and the ability to print borderless 13 x 19 prints on a variety of media. The Mark II utilizes the Canon Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering (FINE) technology along with a sophisticated 7,680-nozzle print-head structure to output extraordinary detail and quality. New with the Mark II are features like the ability to print 16-bit files, and Ambient Light Correction featuring Kyuanos technology, which allows the user to specify the lighting situation a particular print will be subjected to prompting the printer to adjust colors accordingly to compensate.

The Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II is designed to fulfill photographers’ demands and uses a multiplicity of ink colors to achieve wide-gamut color printing as well as smooth tonal gradations on black-and-white printing on both matte and glossy papers. Impressively, there is no need to swap ink tanks as required with some competitive printers aimed at the same market segment. The superiority of this arrangement is obvious, but as a practical matter, it saves both time and ink, especially if you frequently alternate between printing on matte and photo papers.

This is a serious desktop printer, and it requires a significant space commitment (7.5" H 26" W 14" D with trays up; 14" H 26" W 36" D with trays extended). In addition to the size of the printer itself, consideration must be given to the space requirements both in front of and behind the printer to accommodate art papers, which are fed in through the front and pulled through the back of the printer before printing starts. The benefit of feeding the paper through this way is that it does not get bent at all, which preserves the coating, but a 13x19-inch Super B sheet extends significantly out the back of the printer to accomplish this, requiring some careful consideration about printer placement.

By Kim Larson (Images ©Life Is Art Photography)

In April, Nik Software released an update to Silver Efex Pro, making it compatible with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher. The update is available now as a free download to current owners of Silver Efex Pro. We asked photographer Kim Larson to incorporate Silver Efex Pro into her Lightroom workflow and share the details.

My wedding workflow starts the minute I arrive home from a wedding, when I start backing up all of the photographs. Usually backup will take an hour or two, but I cannot sleep peacefully until all the photos are safe! I immediately copy all photos to a drive on my computer that is set to automatically backup to an off-site location every morning at 7:00 a.m. I also burn DVDs of the photos and store them in a file.

As soon as I have all the photos copied, I open Adobe Lightroom 2.0 and begin importing the files. Usually I start this the night of the wedding as well, so the photos will import while I put away my equipment or get ready for bed. I have a default metadata profile set up in Lightroom that applies my copyright information to each imported photo, and I always make sure to apply the proper keywords with the bride and groom’s names and the location of the wedding.

Lightroom is my primary processing application. If I need to fix or enhance a photo, I will edit it in Photoshop while keeping a copy of the edited photo in Lightroom. Likewise, if I apply a black and white tone to the photo with the Nik Silver Efex Pro plug-in, I will keep both copies of the photo in Lightroom. The photos that I show my clients are the finals exported from Lightroom.

When I’m ready to start working on the wedding photos, I open them in Lightroom and first go through all of them with a simple Keep or Trash mentality. I’d love to think I don’t have any “bad” photos to throw away, but it happens. So while making sure my caps lock is on, I quickly go through each photo in Lightroom’s Library module, pressing X to flag the photo as a reject and P to flag as a pick and keep it. Having the caps lock on will make Lightroom automatically advance the photos for you, making this process very quick! When finished I will go to Photo > Delete Rejected Photos and actually delete all my rejected photos. I still have all originals stored with the first backup.

By Stan Sholik

With all of the excitement surrounding Nikon's FX (full-frame) digital cameras and associated lenses, new lenses for Nikon's DX (APS-C size) digital cameras can get lost in the mania. That would be unfortunate, because two newly released DX Nikkors deserve attention, not only for their relative affordability, but also for the quality they deliver at their price.

The lenses are the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G and the AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED. Both are designated AF-S, signifying that they incorporate Nikon's Silent Wave Motor compatible with all Nikon digital cameras including the D40 and D60 series bodies. A focus mode switch is incorporated into both lenses, allowing you to touch up the focus manually using the rubberized ring at the front of the lens. The switch can also be set to 'M' for fully manual focusing.

Both are also G-series lenses, meaning they have no aperture ring and are intended for use on digital cameras where the aperture is controlled by the camera's command dial. They share the same type of nicely finished black plastic exterior and metal mount, both incorporate a rubber 'O' ring around the mount to aid in dust shielding, and both show China as their country of manufacture.

By Betsy Finn

Bokeh is a Photoshop plug-in by Alien Skin Software that allows photographers to manipulate focus and depth of field. The plug-in simulates the feel of specific lenses, and allows photographers to apply a range of creative focus options, post capture. Prior to experimenting with my own images, I was skeptical about Bokeh's ability to realistically alter depth of field and render creamy highlights. Based on my evaluation of Bokeh, I can say, I'm officially impressed.

While the Bokeh interface is very intuitive, Alien Skin has provided a detailed series of tutorials on how to utilize the plug-in to its fullest potential. After exploring the video tutorials and case studies online, I had a good understanding of how to use Bokeh.

One of the nice things about the Bokeh plug-in is that you can preview the effect in the plug-in's interface before performing the final render. As I previewed a number of Bokeh's Factory Settings, I was impressed at the variety of choices. Some presets were special effect oriented (e.g. Hollow Heart, Lens of Love), and others are meant to approximate a specific lens (e.g. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5). In the example below, I chose the Diamond Delight setting, from the series Blur 20% - Bokeh With Highlight Boost.

By Ron Eggers

Innovative commercial light modifiers and huge technological advances have vastly improved on-camera flash. Ranging from simple reflectors to light channeling devices to sophisticated diffusers and mini soft boxes, these modifiers give you considerable control over the quality, temperature, direction and shape of light. Many of them can be used to simulate studio lighting techniques. Some modify light subtly, others dramatically.

Click through to view additional samples of light modification using the products mentioned in the June issue of Professional Photographer magazine: ExpoImaging Honl Photo Speed System, LumiQuest ProMax System, Sto-Fen Omni Bounce, Presslite VerteX, and Gary Fong's Lightsphere Universal.

In-Camera Effects in an Affordable, Compact Package

By Joe Farace

There is no doubt that the wonderfully versatile E-3 is Olympus’ professional standard-bearer, so where does the E-620 fit into their product line-up? The E-620 is a throwback to the glory days of Olympus film SLRs exhibiting the precision and jewel-like design of the legendary OM-series of cameras, wrapped up in a digital package that’s oh-so this millennium. For openers, the E-620 combines a 12.3-megapixel imaging chip with the Art Filters introduced with the semi-pro E-30. Like the Live View feature that was launched with the E-330 and continues with this new camera, I expect in-camera special effects filters to become standard on other manufacturers’ models (and that those mfgs will act as if they invented it).

Fun with Filters

The E-620 offers six in-camera Art Filters that are easily accessed by the nice analog knob on top the camera. When you spin it to ART/SCN, the 2.7-inch swivel-LCD screen displays a list of the filters. Using the other jewel-like analog control knob on top or the camera’s four-way control on the camera’s back, you can scroll down the list that also displays example photos.

Pop Art enhances colors, making them more vivid and deeply saturated and was one of my favorite filters to use when capturing images that needed a little extra impact.

Yes, you can use the Pop Art filter for portraits. I decided to take Mary to the source of all true Pop Art—a comic book store. While the filter can make skin tone look too saturated, I hedged my bets by simultaneously capturing both RAW+JPEG files. This gave me a (RAW) color photograph and a Pop Art image (JPEG) that I layered together in Adobe Photoshop, then used the Eraser tool (at 50% opacity) to lightly brush Mary’s face, allowing half of the normal skin tone to show through, while punching up her hair, clothes, and the comic books. ©2009 Joe Farace

Soft Focus creates the familiar soft focus effect that works with still life or portrait subjects. Since there is no way to control the degree of soft focus, one way to use this filter may be to simultaneously capture RAW+JPEG images and apply the soft focus JPEG file as a layer to the unaltered RAW file so you can control the amount of soft focus by changing that layer’s opacity or the area of soft focus with a mask.

Using the Soft Focus Art Filter has some advantages over softening in post production, mainly that you can see it now and show your subject the results. You have little control over how much soft focus is used, but the traditional methods such as aperture selection and focal length still apply, and I found the filter works great in strong light as with this portrait. Exposure was 1/640 second at f/11, ISO 200, and this is how the unmanipulated file looked directly off the memory card. ©2009 Joe Farace

Pale and Light Color uses muted color tonalities, and photographers who are fans of on-camera filters, who I suspect will be big fans of all of the Art Filters, might liken this to Cokin’s Pastel filter.

This photograph of balloons shows how the Pale and Light Color Art Filter works to create soft, pastel colors. When using Art Filters, you can adjust some aspects of the image’s exposure to enhance the filter effect, such as white balance, exposure compensation, ISO, flash intensity, and wireless flash control, but I found that exposure compensation was the most used control. ©2009 Mary Farace

Light Tone subdues highlights and shadows and both areas are rendered softly (but not soft focus) while maintaining detail. Users of Tiffen’s Contrast filters will like this filter’s ability to control contrast.

The Light Tone Art Filter is also a useful tool in macro photography when you don’t or can’t use flash to control contrast. Here the decidedly non-macro but eminently useful Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 lens was used with an exposure of 1/320 at f/7.1, ISO 200.

Grainy Film recreates the grainy look and high contrast tonality of black and white film and produces images with a decidedly dramatic feel. This is a great effect for studio and fashion photography as well as adding gritty reportage looks to street photography. It could even be used as a bold look for portraiture.

With contrasty subjects, the Grainy Film Art Filter, deliberately overexposed, can take on the look of a photograph made using Kodalith in the traditional darkroom. Exposure was 1/500 second at f/9, ISO 200 with a plus one-stop exposure compensation. Kevin Kubota’s (www.kubotaworkshops.com) sloppy borders effect was added to complete the analog darkroom look. ©2009 Joe Farace

Pin Hole Camera reproduces the color tone and the vignetting of photos made with a toy camera, so it’s more of a digital Holga effect than a true pinhole. The illustration, for example, was made at an aperture of f/9 while my Zero Image (www.zeroimage.com) pinhole camera has an aperture of f/256 or thereabouts.

The Pin Hole Camera Art Filter can add some drama to an otherwise normal-looking scene. Here it was used with an exposure of 1/400 second at f/9, ISO 200, to add some pizzazz to a photo of a sculpture of Chief Little Raven who was the principal chief of the Southern Arapaho tribe. ©2009 Joe Farace

In Live View mode you can see the effect of a filter before capturing an image, making it easy to apply the right Art Filter to the right subject, because only one can be applied to an image, and only at the time it’s captured. The examples you work for the kind of subject matter I photograph. You may find other subjects that will be enhanced with any one of the Art filters and when doing your own explorations, look beyond the obvious.
 

By Cheryl Pearson
PPA Members receive 25% off of Software Cinema titles. See the end of this article for details.

Staying abreast of the latest trends and techniques in photography is imperative, and Software Cinema DVDs provide training for photographers of all skill levels, from novices to well-established photographers looking to boost their skills to the next level. Software Cinemas also has training DVDs on practically any photo-related topic you may be looking for. From “The Best of Dean Collins on Lighting,” a classic that leads you through the basic principles of understanding and controlling light, to Tony Corbell’s “Portrait Lighting on Location” and Clay Blackmore’s “Senior Portraits Made Simple,” which highlight more specific aspects of photography, to Julieanne Kost’s truly comprehensive “Comprehensive Photoshop Training,” there is an instructional guide to address your needs, presented by qualified instructors considered to be the best in their field.

Tony Corbell—Portrait Lighting on Location

Tony Corbell’s “Portrait Lighting on Location” has six well-organized segments, including photographing in the home, controlling the sun, and using ambient light and flash. Each tutorial does a spectacular job of demonstrating ideas for understanding and controlling light as well as working with your subject and background, whether in a home, outside, or in a public venue.

Corbell gives step-by-step instruction with concise and detailed explanations, making this DVD ideal for photographers new to location lighting and those with intermediate experience. Each segment moves along quickly, keeping you engaged while providing simple and efficient techniques for setting up in each location.

Throughout the training, Corbell also provides helpful tips, such as how to utilize your camera’s histogram, using a reflector, and shooting with flash. His presentation method is key in helping viewers understand the full process. He begins by showing examples of the light quality while shooting, then the images after the session, and finally ties it all together with post-capture image enhancement at the end.

Overall, the material on this DVD flowed smoothly and was easy to follow. If you’re looking to enhance your foundation skills in location shooting while gathering invaluable tips for controlling light, this video is ideal.

"Portrait Lighting On Location" by Tony Corbell

By Kim Larson

Professional Photographer magazine asked Kim Larson to try MOO products and report on her customer experience.

Special offer: MOO will give Web Exclusives readers a free acrylic Business Card holder with every order of a 200 Business Cards pack. Offer expires June 19, 2009 (Expiration date extended!). Use promo code MOOPPA.

I had wanted to try out some products from MOO, makers of custom business cards, MiniCards, notecards and such, and this was my first time ordering from them. Their website is simple and easy to follow, and so is the ordering process.

I decided to try both the 28x70mm MiniCards and the 16-pack of Notecards*. Since Moo has a relatively small selection of products, it was easy to find the products I needed to order, and even easier to upload the photos for the cards. Although the site allows you to choose photos from a flickr account, I opted to upload the files from my own computer. The uploading went really fast, especially considering that I uploaded a total of about 70 medium-resolution photos.

What I really like about the Moo products is that you can have a different photo on each one, meaning that when I ordered 100 Mini Cards, I could have selected 100 different photos to print. If you don’t submit 100 photos, it will duplicate photos that you’ve already uploaded. Since I only uploaded 70 photos, it duplicated the first 30 photos I uploaded so I’d have a total of 100 cards. I selected 16 different photos for the 16-pack of Notecards. After uploading, you are given the option to move and crop your photos, and it will give you a warning if your photos are too low-res (format guidelines).

All images ©Kim Larson
 

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP

Does your camera strap simply hold your camera around your neck and advertise for the company that manufactured your camera? There is an alternative to the generic strap, an alternative to looking like everyone else who owns your camera brand, there is a way to make a personal statement with your strap.

I met Aaron Willcox of RileyG Strapworks during my travels back in February. I could tell that he was a photographer so I asked him about what he did for work. We chatted a bit about his photography then he mentioned that he also creates custom-made camera straps. 

Photo ©Don Chick

Willcox, a stay-at-home dad, takes his young son, Riley, out seeking materials to turn into what his website advertises as “eco-friendly and stylish camera straps.” Some of these materials (leather and fabric) while still in excellent condition, are “extra pieces” that would otherwise be headed for the landfill. With a little effort, Aaron and Riley are able to retrieve and reuse these perfectly good materials and create something that is both functional and beautiful. Some of the materials going into the straps are even a bit exotic, like leather from an old Porsche. What a cool idea!

Ellis Vener reviewed the Nikon D3X for the April issue of Professional Photographer magazine. He took this 30-second exposure in San Antonio using the D3X with no tripod, braced by hand against a stair landing, aperture at f/10, ISO 100, camera long exposure noise reduction on, Active D-lighting set to extra-high. NEF to DNG processing in Adobe Lightroom v2.3. Click image to see a 900x600-pixel view.

Click here for complete Nikon D3X features and specifications.

By Stan Sholik

Nikon photographers rejoice! With the release of Capture One 4.6 PRO, we can now shoot NEF raw files directly into Phase One’s software. Currently supported Nikon digital SLRs include the D3, D700, D300, D200, D80, D60, D40x and D40.  Best of all, if you already own Capture One 4 PRO or a v3.x version (even if you have no activations left on Capture One 3), the 4.6 update is free of charge!

While this is a major addition for some of us, it is only one of the new features and updates incorporated into v4.6. The others are primarily concerned with further improving your productivity when using the software.

Tethered shooting has always been the ideal way to work in the studio. It allows you and your clients to see and evaluate the evolution of an image’s creation on a large, color-corrected monitor. Photographers using Phase One digital backs and Canon digital SLRs have long enjoyed this privilege with Phase One PRO software. Now Nikon users can do the same.

Capture One software automates your setting up the tethered capture process. Selecting New Session from the File menu opens a set of folders to hold captures, deleted files, output files and a folder into which you can move your best images rather than rating them, although ratings and color tags are also available. You are given the option of naming these folders to your liking and storing them wherever you want on your local computer or on your network. This is all done in the Library module.

By Curtis Joe Walker

Kodak has reintroduced its Ektar film after an 11-year hiatus. The new film is rated at ISO 100 and sets out to be the finest grained color negative film on the market while complementing their existing Portra line. Film has become a specialty area for professional photographers, causing the arguably untimely demise of many popular emulsions. With this film, Kodak is striving to bridge the gap between analog and digital by creating a film ideal for scanning. In addition to the fine grain, Kodak has engineered the film to be more saturated while maintaining similar contrast and sharpness as their VC films. Kodak developed the film with nature, travel, fashion and product photographers in mind.

Any time a new film comes out, it's a good idea to test it under a variety of lighting conditions. For these tests, the film was run through a Lomo Fisheye and a Nikon F3 with  Lensbaby 3G and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lenses. Scanning was done with a Nikon Super CoolScan 5000ED film scanner with GEM and ROC (grain reduction and color enhancement) disabled to better illustrate the raw grain structure and color characteristics of the film. Some color correction was applied as needed as most of the images recorded slightly blue.

Click images for larger view. All photos ©Curtis Walker

Nikon F3, Lensbaby 3G, f/2
This first image was taken inside an atrium with mixed sunlight and tungsten lighting. The first thing to notice is the vivid color saturation without blocking up in the reds. At 100% zoom, grain is smooth and details are only as soft as they are because of the characteristics of the Lensbaby.

Nikon F3, Lensbaby 3G, f/8
Here we have a photo of Las Vegas's Fremont East district in the afternoon with mixed sunlight and shade. Dynamic range is pleasing and the colors are realistically vibrant, but not over the top. Grain is a bit more evident at 100%, but still incredibly smooth.

Sony joins the major leagues with 24.6-megapixel DSLR

By Ron Eggers

When the Sony (alpha) DSLR-A900 camera hit the market, it had the highest resolution available in a digital SLR. With a 24.6-megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor and maximum image resolution of 6,048x4,032 pixels, it has more than double the resolution of the previous model, the A700, and is the first Sony digital body with a full-frame (35mm-size) sensor. Aside from the A900’s much higher, the two models have similar shooting characteristics, ergonomics and menu structures.

My first experience with the A900 was with a prototype version during a Sony-sponsored shooting excursion in late summer 2008. I wasn't convinced that Sony’s target market, the serious photo enthusiast, really needed such high resolution, particularly if it came at the expense of image quality, color fidelity, shooting speed, and responsiveness. But after that first experience, followed by a couple of weeks working with a production model, any trade-off was obviously minimal. It’s not so much that the camera’s resolution is too high for its target market, it’s more like Sony undershot the target market.

Among the reasons Minolta equipment users cite for switching to Sony is that they can use the lenses and accessories they already have with the new bodies. That’s true, but with the quality of Sony’s latest equipment, it’s time to consider choosing Sony gear on its own merits. To get the most out of the new Sony bodies and the highest quality images, it’s best to pair them with the lenses and lighting units being developed specifically for these models.

Often, boosting a model’s resolution slows down its shooting speed, but not with the A900. It’s fast enough for just about any professional application, with a rated capture rate of 5 JPEG frames per second (fps). In my trials, using a SanDisk 4GB Extreme IV UDMA CompactFlash card, which supports transfer rates up to 45MB per second, the actual performance matched the specs. I could take 49 frames in 10 seconds. With two memory card slots, the camera accepts both CF cards and memory sticks.

Professional Photographer asked Ellis Vener to work with liveBooks to create a fresh redesign of his website and to report on the process and the results. This report covers the process from concept to design and going live. The next report will cover search engine optimization.

By Ellis Vener

Though it was still generating work and lots of inquiries from potential clients, I hadn't updated my website in any meaningful way since it was launched in January 2002. Since then a lot of things have changed: I moved from Houston to Atlanta, and I had lots of new work I wanted to showcase.

One of the hardest parts of designing or redesigning a website is figuring out exactly what you want. I knew what I didn't want in my website this time: a format and structure that required someone versed in website authoring software to make changes. I wanted flexibility and expandability.

Rebuilding a website from scratch is a huge investment in time and usually a significant amount of money as well. LiveBooks is a well established and highly respected company that specializes in designing and building websites for pro photographers with the features we need most, like easy gallery editing, automated metadata upload, visitor tracking and keywording for search engines. LiveBooks packages are priced with non-recurring, one-time fees plus a $90 annual hosting fee. The Basic plan starts at $800, the Select package is $1,700 and the Unlimited package is $3,200. Each package is organized to come with a certain level of design services and features and storage space.

The design services from liveBooks are the most easily demonstrated benefit. Visual acumen in photography does not translate into skill at Web design.

This was the opening page of my old website. Viewed today, it screams "I haven't bothered to update my website since 2002." That's not exactly the message you want to sent to potential clients.

Below is the page that liveBooks helped me design to make a much more positive first impression. 

Image ©Ellis Vener

It's elegant and professional, shows a single image to full advantage, and has easy-to-find links to the most critical  information a client would be interested in: galleries showing additional work, a client list showing other businesses that value my work, and a contact page.

In the February issue of Professional Photographer, in Lindsay Adler's article "Facebook: Network With Seniors," we inadvertently suggested readers create both individual and business profiles, which is a violation of Facebook terms of use. We regret the error.

Instead, a photographer can set up a business account or set up a personal profile and then create a Facebook Page for their business identity. Only the official representative of an artist, business, or brand may create a Facebook Page, though that person can choose to allow others to help administrate it. You may transform a business account into a personal account, but once you have created a personal account, you cannot revert back to a business account or create a business account.

The Facebook Help Center has a section that completely explains Pages and business accounts. 

This is the article republished with corrected text and clarifying information from Facebook's Help Center.

Facebook: network with seniors

Learning to take advantage of the No. 1 Web site among seniors can be a huge sales advantage.

By Lindsay Adler

Quoted text is information that comes directly from Facebook’s Help Center.

What’s the one place nearly every high school senior goes daily? Online, to Facebook.com. This center of mass communication has more than 36 million members. It’s the No. 1 social network for the modern high school student. Facebook users post profiles of themselves containing such information as their age, e-mail address and interests. They post photos and videos of themselves for e-friends the world over to view.

Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers
by Harold Davis
O'Reilly, 2008

By Ron Eggers

Harold Davis’ “Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers” blends the techniques of traditional photography with the tools of digital imaging. As Davis says, “In recent years, the art and craft of photography has changed beyond recognition. Today's photographer is one part digital artist and one part photographer. This book aims to present the best practices of the craft of photography in the context of the digital era.”

While there are numerous books on the market that cover the fundamentals of photography, most of them were written for analog photography. Davis explains what remains constant, and he covers what's changed with digital imaging.

One of his early points is that photographers don't concentrate on the fundamentals of light and exposure as strongly as they should. There's the misconception that, since it’s digital, exposure problems can be fixed in software. It is possible to correct some exposure problems with digital editing, but, he points out, imaging software is best used as a creative tool to improve already good photos rather than to try to save marginal ones.

This book is both helpful and an easy read. You’ll get the most out of it if you start at the beginning and work you way through. It's also educational just to leaf through the pages and read some of the extended captions that go along with full-page illustrations.

Minimalist Lighting, Professional Techniques for Location Photography
by Kirk Tuck
Amherst Media, 2008

Kirk Tuck is a long-time advertising and corporate photographer hailing from Austin, Texas. Around the time digital photography started changing all of our lives, he realized that, among other things, the new cameras meant he no longer needed to schlep hundreds of pounds of lighting and grip gear across town or around the world to get the high-quality photos his clients required. Matching means to ends, he started exploiting the power of small, sometimes intelligent, flash units combined with existing lighting and made his photography evolve in the process.

Mr. Tuck’s makes his philosophy plain early on:

“With each pound of gear I’ve jettisoned, I’ve found that I arrive on locations with more energy and a better ability to focus on creative problem solving. When I go home at the end of the day, I’m not worn out from dragging around a cart filled with hundreds of pounds of heavy equipment. And while I’m shooting, I’m able to do many of the adjustments to my lights from the camera position using a wireless controller. That helps overcome the attitude of ‘good enough’ that seeps into our creative work when we’re physically tired.”

Specific pieces of gear—not all of which need batteries, and many of which are ridiculously inexpensive—are covered as are the strategies and tactics needed to making small Strobist-type solutions work for the busy photographer.

Richly illuminated with location portraits and a few still lifes, and written in a clean down to earth style, what Mr. Tuck really shows in this book is that good photography is not about the gear, and that the most important thing about photographing people well is capturing the evanescent connection between a photographer and the subject as well as the visual representation.

—Ellis Vener

Light—Science and Magic, An introduction to Photographic Lighting
by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua
3rd Edition, Focal Press, 2007

“What we do have to offer you is a set of tools. This book is about technology. Science … Learn about light and the science. The magic will happen.” —Hunter, Biver & Fuqua

This is the indispensable guide to photographic lighting for photographers at all stages of their craft.

My first impression had been, “Just great, exactly what I don’t need, one more lighting cookbook,” and I avoided reading it for years because of what I thought was a hokey title. Well, you know what they say about the fallacy of judging books by their cover.

“Light –Science and Magic” explains not so much where to put lights as how photographic light works the way it does, and how that determines what type of lighting modifier to use and where to put it. That knowledge in turn leads to an understanding of how to quickly and repeatedly create and use, or even just find, great lighting for studio and location work, from products to portraits, from architecture to events.

“All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare wrote, and that is doubly true in photography, a constructed word which made its first appearance in 1839 and has linguistic roots in the Greek words for light and writing, and is handy term to describe a theater of the frozen visual gesture. Your productions need a great lighting designer, and since lighting is a skill you can learn, this book is a fine place to start. Applying the principles in this book will definitely take your game up a couple of notches, no matter where you are in your career, and whatever tools you use to create light.

—Ellis Vener

If you can live with a few limitations, Tamron’s new 10-24mm can fulfill your wide-angle needs, big time.

Sometimes you find yourself in need of an ultra-wide zoom. The Tamron SP AF10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] is a really good, not quite great lens that fits the bill for landscape, corporate and perhaps some architectural photography. Although designed for formats smaller than 24x36mm, from 13.75mm to 24mm, without the included lens hood, it covers the full 24x36mm (Nikon FX)—for a price around $499.

The optical path consists of 12 elements, three of them molded aspheric glass designs, two others hybrid aspheric designs. There are two LD elements, similar to Nikon’s ED elements. Internal flare and reflection are well controlled, even when there are light sources in the frame. I tested this lens with FX-format Nikon D3 and D700 camera bodies and a DX-format D300 body; with the exception of some slight purple fringes, or blooming, around light sources, chromatic aberrations are virtually non-existent.

©Ellis Vener

Size comparison: Left, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED; center, AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED; right, Tamron SP AF10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] lens.

By Don Chick, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, D.C.Ph.

Imagenomic Portraiture 2.0 has arrived, and with the new version comes some exciting improvements. For those who’ve been using v. 1 of  Portraiture, the upgrade will be exciting for at least two reasons. First, registered users of Portraiture 1 will receive a free upgrade to v. 2. Second, new enhancements to the software give the portrait photographer even greater control and creative possibilities. If you’re not a current user, now’s a good time to give the program an honest evaluation. Imagenomic extends a 15-day, fully functional trial use period. The final image will bear a watermark, but that won’t prevent you from seeing the results this software can achieve.

One nice feature of Portraiture 2 is the new history control. Users now have access to an unlimited number of history states, along with resizable thumbnails. Users will also appreciate the capabilities in the Enhancements section. Sharpness, softness, warmth, tint, brightness and contrast all have sliders for independent adjustments. Using theses controls enables you to enhance the look of an image beyond the initial capture.

Image ©Don Chick

In the example above, I have increased contrast and added a few points of brightness. The result is a much higher contrast image than the capture. When there’s a check in the Use Mask box, the enhancements are applied only to those areas selected by the skin tones mask. With this box unselected, the enhancements are applied to the entire image.

By Mark Levesque, CPP

Image sharpening is one of those things that can truly elevate an image, yet it remains a bit of a black art. Photographers who wish to enhance their ability to sharpen in an intuitive, powerful and controllable way should take a look at Nik Sharpener Pro 3.0, a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop or Apple Aperture.

This latest release of Nik Sharpener Pro improves on prior versions with a new interface (very familiar to those who own other current Nik plug-ins), as well as the incorporation of the powerful U Point Technology for selective application of sharpening. The ability to add presets means you get fast, one-click workflow options tailored to your own eye, and batch processing is a snap.

The consensus of those who study sharpening is that a two-step sharpening process with both input sharpening and device-specific output sharpening yields the optimally sharpened image. Digital capture inherently has softness due to the low-pass filter that’s typically used to fight moiré. Reversing this loss of sharpness in the capture process is one of the first tasks to perform in image processing, and Sharpener Pro 3.0 offers a RAW Presharpener to do just that. Note that this is intended for use on RAW images that have not been sharpened in-camera or with a RAW converter. JPEG images already have some sharpening applied, so they do not require this step. This input sharpening process is perfect for actions and/or batch processing, and can be easily incorporated into your workflow without adversely affecting processing time.

Nik's RAW Presharpener is designed to reverse the loss of sharpness at capture due to the low-pass filter that's typically used to fight moiré. (Click for larger view; image ©Mark Levesque)

Overcoming the drawbacks of infrared wireless systems, the new RadioPopper PX can be an extension of your wireless flash, and your creativity. Mike Fulton and the crew at TriCoast Photography provided great information about how they use the RadioPoppers and what a difference they make in our January issue of Professional Photographer magazine. Here are some more examples of behind-the-scenes and the final results.

Behind the scenes:

Cody Clinton is shooting and Cindy Williams acts as the lighting assistant at this "Day After" session on a Florida beach. The sun is coming in from the left to right across the subjects’ face, so the lightstick is being used as a fill light to even out the shadows. In the final result, the very shallow depth of field is thanks to the High Speed Sync settings—something you can only get using this method and part of what makes the TriCoast photographers prefer it to PocketWizards.

Final image ©TriCoast Photography:

By Stan Sholik

As professional photographers, we are justifiably concerned with the amount of time we must spend managing our image files. As the quantity and file size of our digital captures increase, the time spent importing, cataloging, browsing, editing, searching, publishing and archiving them is increasing even faster. This is time taken away from creating images and managing our businesses.

There exist a number of useful programs to handle different parts of the image management workflow from import to archive, but none that handle it as smoothly, completely and affordably as ACDSee Pro Photo Manager 2.5, the latest release from ACDSee Systems International, Inc.

When I last looked at ACDSee, it was Version 6 of Photo Manager several years ago. I thought it was well designed and a capable program for advanced amateurs, but lacking the range of tools and ease of use that professionals require. Working with ACDSee Pro 2.5 is like learning that your friend’s child, who you never thought would amount to much, just graduated from a top-ranked university. ACDSee Pro 2.5 is all grown up and ready to make a name for itself.

To categorize ACDSee Pro 2.5 as a digital asset management program is to ignore many of its strengths. In fact, it is difficult to fit it into any one category because it is capable of doing so much. It may be easiest to think of it as a program that will do virtually anything that a professional photographer would need to do with a large image library, from importing digital captures to exporting final files to the client. It even allows non-destructive pixel-level image editing and RAW file conversion, leaving only complex pixel editing, masking and layering tasks to Photoshop or similar software.

As with other photo management software, and new to this version of ACDSee Pro, you can import images directly from your camera or camera card, adding IPTC and EXIF metadata and keywords, and renaming files. Unlike with some, you can also back up your files to another hard drive while you are importing them and continue using the program while images import in the background.

By Stan Sholik

Digital SLR photographers have never had as many choices for RAW conversion software as they have today. Oddly enough, the best and most popular offerings come not from the camera manufacturers but from third party vendors. For some reason, these vendors seem to have a far better understanding of a professional photographer’s workflow, as important a consideration in choosing RAW conversion software as the overall quality of the file conversion.

An excellent example of this is Phase One’s new Capture One 4 PRO (C1-4 PRO) software. When Phase One released Capture One 4 last year, the interface was entirely different than in previous versions. C1-4 PRO keeps the look of Capture One 4, but adds considerable functionality that many commercial, portrait and wedding photographers will welcome.

The features added to Capture One 4 PRO that are not found in Capture One 4 cover a lot of ground. Most Canon digital SLR and all Phase One digital back photographers can shoot directly into C1-4 PRO. The program supports multiple monitors and the interface can be customized to an even greater extent than the non-PRO version, especially on a Mac.

Commercial photographers will particularly appreciate the ability to import a client’s layout and use it as a capture overlay. This should assure clients and art directors at the shoot that the capture fits the layout. They will also appreciate that C1-4 PRO supports the CMYK color space for color proofing and output.

C1-4 PRO Mac

C1-4 PRO Windows

The user interface of Capture One 4 Pro retains the look of Capture One 4. The default layout of the user-customizable interface is virtually identical on both Mac and Windows computers. The program opens with the Library tool active and the folder you were using when you closed the program active. Images ©Stan Sholik

These additional interface images supplement the December 2008 Web Exclusives review of Phase One Capture One 4 PRO by Stan Sholik.

Clicking the camera icon in the tool palette opens the Capture window. You can shoot directly into Capture One 4 PRO with Phase One digital backs and many Canon digital SLRs. It took a little doing to make a Canon EOS-1D Mark II N interface properly with the program, but once we figured it out, image capture was fast and seamless. Image ©Stan Sholik

The Quick icon opens a window with a basic set of tools for global corrections to the image, such as white balance and exposure. You will also find the Styles options on this screen. If all you need to do to the image is global changes, you can process the image directly from this screen. Image ©Stan Sholik

If you need to make changes to color balance either globally with white balance or to a targeted hue, you can skip the Quick tool and go directly to the Color tool. Image ©Stan Sholik

By Joan T. Sherwood, Senior Editor

The most exciting feature of the Nikon D90 DSLR is the movie capture. With two or three button presses, in D-movie mode, you can begin recording video of up to 1,280x720 pixels (16:9), at 24 frames per second.

The first day I had the D90 in my hands I couldn’t stop coming up with ideas for the clips I wanted to shoot. Setting out the next morning, I took a set of 36 clips at the 640x424 frame (3:2) setting, which I subsequently edited into a 4-minute movie in the iMovie HD program.

It took a little studying of the program at Lynda.com to learn how to do what I wanted, but after that, the editing went pretty quickly. After just a couple minutes of keyword searching at TripleScoopMusic.com, I found the perfect music to accompany the video. The most difficult part was figuring out the settings and format to use to export the video for Web sharing. Automated YouTube.com compression went too far and yielded unattractive results.

The version below as exported from iMovie HD, is optimized for QuickTime, broadband, high quality.

Click here for MP4 file version saved for broadband, high quality. 

Click through to see examples of 1,280x720 pixels (16:9) AVI files with no editing. Though none of these clips is more than 20 seconds, these are large files and will take to load before the play option is available. Right-click on the image and choose "Save link as..." to download to your desktop insted of viewing in your browser.

By Stan Sholik

If the number of products available to pre-capture white balance digital cameras is any indication, professional photographers’ interest in creating a neutral color balance must be very high. There is a good reason for this of course. While professional digital cameras do an excellent job autofocusing and autoexposing, auto white balance is not likely to give accurate, consistent color under many ambient lighting conditions.

White balance isn’t that much of an issue when making RAW captures as it is easy to adjust when processing the files, though it adds work time. When capturing in JPEG, or RAW + JPEG formats, it is important to have as accurate and consistent color as possible to reduce additional processing and saving of the compressed file.

With prices ranging from $8 to over $100, I thought it would be interesting to test a few of these white balance filters under actual ambient lighting conditions to see if they produced an accurate white balance and to examine the advantages or disadvantages to each. One of my photographer friends swears by Mr. Coffee filters for white balancing, and I was curious to see if he was really serious! My store was out of Mr. Coffee brand but had Melitta Junior Basket filters in stock, so I picked up a pack for testing.

Along with the Melitta, I tested five filters designed for professional photographers: the ClearWhite, ExpoDisc Neutral, Lally CAP, Mennon and Phoxle SpectraSnap. Designers of each of these photographic filters took a slightly different approach, and one approach or another might influence your decision as much as the accuracy of the white balance.

Top Row: ClearWhite, ExpoDisc, Lally CAP. Bottom Row: Melitta, Mennon, Phoxle SpectraSnap. Image ©Stan Sholik

Bags we love; One size doesn't fit all

By Curtis Joe Walker

There are many ways to securely and fashionably carry a camera and have fast access to both camera and accessories. Sling bags are arguably the all-round best for this purpose. Backpacks can be cumbersome and sweat inducing, wheelie bags can be bulky and unwieldy, and fanny packs just don't sit well with some folks. Let’s look at five sling bags we particularly like, in various situations and with various amounts of gear.

©Curtis Joe Walker

From left: Tamrac Velocity 8x, Lowepro Slingshot 350 AW, Crumpler Brazillion Dollar Home, Kata 3N1-20, Boda Dry

Essential information for the working photographer

By Ron Eggers

There are more than 100 graphic file formats, but none as important to professional photographers as the RAW format. It's in a class by itself. Unlike the other image file formats, RAW files comprise pure captured digital data that has not been manipulated, optimized, processed or modified. Almost all high-end commercial work is done in RAW format.

“Photoshop CS3 RAW” By Mikkel Aaland explains and simplifies working with the RAW file format. RAW captures are a combination of the camera’s sensor data and the camera settings data needed to decode the sensor data into actual color images. With RAW, most of the settings and adjustments that are essential—such as white balance, color space, contrast and sharpening—are applied after the image is captured.

As Aaland points out, "RAW is often described as a digital negative. The negative in traditional photography is considered the underlying source from which any number of prints (or interpretations) can be produced." All the optimization and modification options available in the darkroom are possible with most image file formats, but the optimization of a digital image for print is limited by the quality and characteristics of the JPEG or TIFF file, just as it would be with a poor quality negative.

More precisely, the RAW file format is comparable to a latent image captured on unprocessed film—the image is there on the film, but until the film is properly processed with chemicals, there's nothing you can do with the image. Likewise, with RAW the captured image is there, but there's not much you can do with it until you apply digital processing to it to bring it out.

“A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases:
An Important Reference Book for Understanding the Legalities of Selling and Using Photographs,”
by Dan Heller (Wiley, $29.99)

By Ron Eggers

Successful professional photographers need to not only be good at photography and have business sense, they also need a basic understanding of the laws involved in using their pictures. Whether shooting editorial, commercial or stock photos, photographers should know the legalities concerning the people in their compositions, as well as recognizable property.

That’s what Dan Heller covers in his book, “A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases: Making the Best Business Decisions with Your Photos of People, Places and Things” (Wiley, $29.99).

As he says, it's important to understand the rationale behind the model release requirements in order to protect yourself from potential litigation. It's also important to understand what you can and can't take pictures of, as well as where you can and can't use those pictures.

Most people think that releases are simply for the photographer’s protection. That's not how Heller sees it. "The main objective of getting a release is not to protect yourself; it's to make the image more marketable to a broader range of clients."

He makes a recommendation regarding your thinking about model releases: “Adjust your way of looking at legal matters. They are not a series of rules, but a series of concepts." And while there are laws dealing with photo usage and release requirements, he says, "The legal realm of when model releases are required is hazy at best, as the principles are based on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which [itself] is the source of many disagreements."

By Joan T. Sherwood, Senior Editor

If you deliver CDs or DVDs as part of your product package, and you send them out the door labeled with a Sharpie or an adhesive paper label, you need to rethink what that’s doing to your professional image. The DYMO DiscPainter is an affordable option for imprinting CDs and DVDs in-house with your own design, even custom designs for individual clients and marketing materials geared to specific groups of prospects.

The DYMO DiscPainter is strictly a printer; it will not burn CDs or DVDs. The printer uses RadialPrint Technology, spinning the disc and moving it laterally under an inkjet print head that moves in one direction along the radius of the disk. It takes around 1 to 3 minutes to print a disc, depending on the complexity of the design.  

It comes with Discus for DYMO software, an extremely versatile and easy-to-use design application. It offers very smart automation features for design elements like arced text and photo windows. Most controls are simple sliders or drag-and-drop functions on the disc layout. You can choose colors from a palette, or opt/alt-click on a color in your photo to select the closest color from the palette.

You can choose to start a disc design from scratch or from a set of readymade designs in the Canvas tab. Add photos, text, symbols, shapes, freehand painting, gradients, patterns. You really have a practically infinite  design options. The software can import logos saved as transparent PNG files to overlay images or other elements. DYMO has excellent video tutorials online that show how easy it is.

Image ©Cheryl Pearson

By Joan T. Sherwood, Senior Editor

The new Epson P-7000 Multimedia Photo Viewer takes the same basic package of the P-5000, puts in a new screen (Epson Photo Fine Premia Technology), adds 80 more gigabytes of storage (160GB total), and includes a travel pack (case, viewing stand, car adapter, dual battery charger, cleaning cloth and a bit of clear film to protect the LCD). A new jog dial under the four-way navigator also adds convenience in menu navigation and browsing through large sets of images.  This review is based on a pre-launch sample unit.

By far the biggest viewer assets are the 4-inch, 720x480-pixel screen, large storage capacity and the ability to backup direct from media cards. The viewer is compatible with UDMA CF cards and Secure Digital/SDHC cards. Epson boasts a 35-percent increase in transfer speed over previous models, but Epson doesn't provide any actual transfer rates based on card types. The new model also offers a wider viewing angle, and display color that covers 94 percent of Adobe RGB.

The colors are, indeed, beautiful on the display, and there’s even an Enhanced Photo Display Mode that is supposed to optimize color based on the image content, but it seems more trouble than it’s worth—I couldn’t really see a difference. It may be more obvious if you’ve got a set of images that aren’t popping the way you’d like.

For pro photographers, the slideshow capability may be the feature that could make the viewer pay for itself in terms of potential on-location marketing. At events, meetings or civic functions—wherever there may be a dull moment—you can take advantage of the opportunity to draw a crowd and show off some images.

To create a quick-pick slideshow, use the star button to rate your favorites, filter to show one star or more, and choose slideshow from the menu.

By Ron Eggers

Photodex ProShow Producer professional presentation software is easy to learn, simple to use, and contains an extensive feature set that's not readily available in other software packages. While Microsoft PowerPoint still leads the pack for creating business presentations, Producer has become a favorite among professional photographers for their needs. That's particularly the case since the company wisely dropped the necessity for a USB dongle to load and run the program.

To help users get the most out of the program, Course Technology just released “The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow.” Written by James Karney, the book aims to help users master the art of making great slide shows using ProShow Gold and ProShow Producer. This review covers both the performance of the software and the effectiveness of the book as a guide for users.

As Karney explains in Chapter 1, "The simple slide show is a thing of the past. Viewers expect sizzle. Movies, television and even our cell phones and MP3 players bring high-quality video and eye-catching special effects into every aspect of our lives." One of the things that makes Producer powerful is that it can produce output for almost every type of presentation and communications device. The book ships with an instructional CD that includes individual sections for each chapter, as well as trial versions of ProShow Gold and Producer, and the Photodex Presenter plug-in.

By Joe Farace

The PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED lens was introduced along with the PC-E Micro Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D, bringing the total number of Nikon’s Perspective Control (PC) lenses up to four, the others being the PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED and the PC Micro Nikko 85mm f/2.8D. Perspective Control lenses correct linear distortion, reproducing images as they are seen by the human eye, straightening a building’s converging lines in architectural photography while giving the you more control over depth-of-field. PC lenses are useful for architecture, both exteriors and interiors, but are also handy for nature, still life, and product photography.

If you're photographing architecture with a conventional lens and you’re close to the subject, you have to tilt the camera to capture the major portion of the building. When that happens, especially with a wide-angle lens, it usually distorts lines that should be straight and parallel to others, and while this kind of distortion may be used to produce a dramatic composition it is not the kind of image beloved by architects and owners looking to sell or lease the property.

A perspective control lens, such as the 45mm PC-E Micro Nikkor PC-E, has shift controls that can correct this type of distortion. The 45mm PC-E Micro Nikkor PC-E’s tilt control also gives additional creative control over depth-of-field and lets you effectively change the camera’s apparent position to avoid unwanted reflections in an image.

A combination of both tilt and shift controls are part of all PC-E Nikkor lenses and let you isolate or emphasize a subject though selective focus. Both of these controls are well know to view camera photographers familiar with the Scheimpflug principle for depth-of-field that states the plane of focus will cover the entire subject from front to back (independent of the aperture) if the subject, lens and image planes intersect at one point. When these conditions are met, the position of the plane of focus corresponds to the object plane and everything appears in focus.

The Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass element minimizes chromatic aberration, and three aspherical lens elements minimize other types of lens aberration. This photograph was made with the 45mm PC-E Micro Nikkor PC-E on a tripod mounted Nikon D3 in Live View mode. Exposure was 1/20 second at f/22, ISO 320, with a plus one and one third stop exposure compensation. Lens shift of 10mm was used. ©2008 Joe Farace

By Ron Eggers

Everybody has probably seen the Nikon commercials by now where Ashton Kutcher is fumbling around with a Nikon D60 taking candid shots at a friend's wedding. That implies that, if he can come up with great shots with the D60, anybody can. Judging by the ad, the D60 is being marketed as a camera that's idiot proof. It's true that it's an entry-level model, but marketing the D60 as a point-and-shoot is selling it a little short. While it is easy to use, it provides many of the controls and capabilities expected in a more sophisticated camera.

For example, it includes Nikon's sophisticated 3D Color Matrix Metering II for highly accurate exposure control, and features an active dust reduction system with airflow control to significantly reduce the problem of sensor spotting. Each time the camera is turned on or off, the sensor is cleared of dust.

It also includes another way of reducing dust imperfections on images. Like with some professional models, it's possible to take a dust reference image, which is then used by the camera to lift the dust spots off of captured images. It has a 10.2-megapixel DX-format CCD sensor with a maximum resolution of 3,872x2,592 pixels. Weighing only slightly more than a pound, it's an extremely compact camera. It is, in fact, the smallest DSLR that Nikon has released. Still, even though it is small, it has a good-sized 2.5" LCD with 170-degree viewability.

The D60 includes Nikon's advanced EXPEED image processing. EXPEED can be a little confusing. Even though both an introductory-level camera and a top-of-the-line camera incorporate EXPEED, image processing and handling are not the same for the two models. Rather than an image-processing engine, EXPEED is an image-processing concept that optimizes image processing for each of the cameras that it's incorporated into. Which means that, even though professional and consumer models incorporate EXPEED, the actual image-processing components can be quite different from one model to the next.

Responsive to action: This shot was taken at 1/1,600 second at f/10, ISO 800. ©Ron Eggers