You have probably noticed that I go to the mountains in Shenandoah park quite often. And it's not only because it's a beautiful place and take pictures there, but mostly because that place recharges me, it clears my mind and soul. Sometimes over there I feel like reborn. Today I was sitting on top of the Little Stony Man mountain and the wind washed the dissipating fog around me. It was as though the world stopped, only the light whisper of the wind disturbed the silence and everything was floating in a thick warm fog. There are very few moments like that, and we have to treasure them and the places we receive them at.

It's either I am out of ideas where to go next or something pushed me to revisit places I haven't been at for some time. One of them was Alexandria, VA. Unfortunately, I miscalculated time that required me to get there and I got only a few pictures.

Recently I had an interesting conversation with my friend who is a software developer. It started with a problem. His old camera works sporadically and gives an error about missing memory stick (it's a Sony camera). And as you can imagine he came to me with a question about his next camera. Because I know him and his level of interest in photography I suggested something simple, or may be even too simple in somebody's view - small consumer digital camera (around $400). He immediately confronted me with complains about the capabilities and quality of the images such cameras produce.

My point was he just didn't dig into the photography, didn't study it as he does various technologies and programming languages. But his conviction was that he doesn't have the talent and the artistic nature is more mysterious and intangible. In response I said that I don't believe in talent (all people are capable of learning and excelling in almost anything) and that photography is not that different from programing (what a scary thought!). And that's where the conversation turned on the interesting path.

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In a few week I will go to Russia - lake Baikal, which is in Siberia. I have to pack a lightweight, small and sturdy tripod, but the one I own at this moment (Gitzo 2227 Explorer)is bulky to carry it to other side of the world. That's why I was challenged with a tripod selection. Earlier I posted an introduction of "Gorillapod - Tripod that climbs?". At that time this was a nice solution for lightweight cameras only, but after looking once more at their website I see that the company (Joby) has provided us with a professional version of the tripod - Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM that should be able to hold a 6 pound weight of the professional camera and lens. Well, I am going to try it (the tripod is ordered) and tell you later my impressions of it working in the field.

That was a long trip through fields and towns of Pennsylvania. Most of the morning though I'd spent in the town of Gettysburg. And this trip brought me a lot of good pictures that I share here with you.

What an interesting article and even more amazing result - "DIY - Create your own Bokeh". Take a look and maybe you fill find another way to tweak your pictures and create beautiful effects.

Guys at Mashable have put together a great collection of photo tools that you can find online - "90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources". This collection includes everything from blog to online photo editors and sharing tools.

When you watch the video on the new technology called Photosynth, you may be glimpsing into the future. This new software allows to manipulate enormous amount of visual data with incredible speed, also the guys created another piece of it that can combine images from different sources (such as Flickr) to create a detailed model of an object. Very interesting!

After reading the post about Aperture Bracketing I started thinking. First of all The aperture bracketing is definitely useful in macro photography, where the depth of field (DOF) is sometimes so shallow that you get almost nothing in focus. But then my thoughts drifted along the "focus lines" - if we apply aperture bracketing in normal situations, like landscape or street photography, it wouldn't matter that much, because the DOF is much deeper.

However what if we want a really great sharpness across all planes in the photograph? We can take several shots of the same scene with aperture around 5.6-11 (usually the best spot of the lens) and focus on different planes. Then we can try to merge those photographs in Photoshop. Though I envision a major pain in doing so - too much details should be properly merged.

On the other note, we can create a freaky effect - take two or three shots of the same scene with very shallow DOF but focusing on different things (the main subjects of the photograph), leaving everything else in blur (or as much as possible). And when we combine it in Photoshop keep the sharpness only to our subjects.

It reminds me somewhat about the tilt-and-shift lens often used in architecture (to preserve the perspective and straightness of the lines) when such lens are used in portraiture or other non-architectural photography. The focus plane is "skewed" - not parallel to the sensor plane and creates interesting effects. Well, at least it worth to try sometimes. Thanks to the post that generated this idea

For your enjoyment I provide you with a link to photographs created by Micha Boland. There are some very interesting pictures that stir your interest and inspire.

New media formats (HD DVD and Blue Ray) are invading the market and it becomes harder to decide which format is right for you and your business - storing thousands of the photographs. Also some issues accompany each of the choices and the whole approach overall. The article "Burn (But Don’t Get Burned)" at RangeFinder.com cast some light and helps us to make an educated decision.

The mystery of the zoom lens design has puzzled me for some time. Not that much so I would try to investigate it, but still. And now thanks to a simple and insightful article "How It Works - Zoom Lenses" at TrustedReviews.com we can close this topic and move on

You and I know that people in this country are very cautious about the law. There are many hidden pitfalls and "twilight-zone-like" areas. And it's good to know those underwater riffs to ensure a peaceful travel for our business. To help us out a blog of Carolyn E. Wright comes - PhotoAttorney. In her blog you will find some educational content (not quite legal advise) about various photography related topics. For example, the recent story about Brady Quinn appearing in wedding gallery is explained from the legal perspective, which tells us that the wedding photographer hasn't done anything wrong. Good to know!

Being a photojournalist is not an easy job, so much required of him. And to help us out Christopher Scholl has shared a few great tips on how to tell a story with a single picture and where to look for the story itself. I may not agree on his first tip, but it is reasonable, though I would rely more on my own senses. Anyway it is you who will decide and use (if at all).

Not often you find something interesting in unrelated fields. But this time is when reading the post "9 Lessons Richard Feynman Taught Us About Creativity" will definitely help. It may not help you literally, but at least it will make you think and reconsider your approach to photography, because photography is about Creativity, or yes, there are a lot of other things. However we all in it because of the joy that creativity bring to us. Go on, read it.

Christopher Scholl shared a nice technique to achieve Muted Color in Lightroom via changing settings in Fill Light, Blacks, Vibrance and Saturation. Check it out and file into you tool set

Five years ago I've been there and took similar pictures, but my perception changed as well as the river changed itself. What am I talking about? The park Turkey Run, which is on the bank of Potomac river. But this time I wasn't walking in the forest, I waded the swift waters of powerful river - waist deep sometimes. It was tricky, most of the time you don't see where you step. And holding a very expensive camera in your hands, being afraid to drop it into the water, kind of adds the thrill not every one would want to experience. Well, anyway, I did it and here are the photographs from the trip to Turkey Run.

Another topic inspired by the search keyword. Actually the idea to delve into how the tonal values and sizes affect the composition was on my mind for a long time now. In my understanding I would compare the tone of an object (or even a pixel) with some weight. The brighter the pixel the lighter it ( it could even become airborne ) and on opposite side the darker it is the heavier. The general rule here is to sustain the balance of the image with the tones. However certain effects can convey and emphasize the mood. The first example that come to mind are High Key and Low Key portraits.

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The thoughts on this topic were triggered by a search keyword that was used to locate my website - "explain how an exposure relates to a picture". If you stop for a second and give another thought to this keyword, you will see that the answer is not obvious, and the question definitely is not stupid or trivial. That's why it spurred my interest and I decided to try to answer it.

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I was coming back from one of my photo trips, when I was stuck in a traffic jam caused by preparation to a race. Two lanes of a road were closed to traffic, where these brave and strong people ran to a good cause. Hopefully, I've captured their strength, stamina and determination in my pictures, as well some funny moments and characters. Enjoy.

The Pen Tool in Photoshop is a very powerful mean to perform various things: from selection (creating curved selection and contouring objects) to working with text and creating your own logo or illustrations. In the article "Learning The Pen Tool" you can learn about the principals and basic steps to start working with this tool.
But I want to give you a few other tips to improve your results and ease up on the tool:

1. You can convert the text into a path and then change the shape of the letters or create your own - right click on the layer with the text and select "Create Work Path". The path will appear in the Path tab.


2. Use the Pen Tool (P) with key modifiers:
   
   • Ctrl - to select a segment(s) or drag its directional points around the anchor;
   • Alt - to drag only one (out of two) directional points of the anchor;
   • Ctrl-Alt - to drag the two directional points together around the anchor (even if they all are not on the same line);
   • Shift - Stick to the lines: horizontal, vertical and 45 degree in between


3. Try to stroke the path (i.e. text path) with a brush and check the "Simulate Pressure"

Nowadays the professional cameras have not just one but two flash card slots, at least the Canon 1D Mark has two slots. And so far, I am aware of two options how the photographer can distribute the photographs among these two cards when shooting. They are: one-by-one, when the cameras fills the first card completely then switches to the second one; and all-the-same, when both cards are filled with the same photographs. Though with the second option the format of the images could be different: RAW and JPEG.

When I am shooting weddings, I could easily make more than 2,000 (two thousand!) photographs. And every one of them is precious, and you won't be able to repeat it or reenact the event. So, it makes a perfect sense to be very cautious about how you store it and when possible keep a duplicate (backup). But with such quantity of the images taken during the wedding, it's not always easy to make a backup. Even when the cards are getting cheaper, I wouldn't advise to put all you eggs into one basket (the more you put, the you may loose, if something happens to the card).

Considering that you have two cards in the camera and use the first option, when you loose or damage the first card, half of your images are gone. More like a whole part of the wedding will never be seen again, by no one. Ouch! I hope it never happens to any of us. Let's consider the second option, which is a good choice for a careful photographer. You loose one card and nothing serious happens. However you loose half the space when you use the second option, which still is valuable.

And, now, here is my wishful thinking. What if I would be able to write photographs one-by-one, so the even numbers would be written to the first card, the odd ones to the second card. Why would I want to do so? In my opinion, such approach is a trade off between those two options described above. I save the space, and if I loose one card there are photographs that still cover those events. And in addition to that I can shoot a series of two shots (or more) most of the time (or during especially important situations, i.e. first kiss, ring exchange, etc) and it means that I will have those important moments written to both of the cards, but not duplicates!

Well, it is my wishful thinking, and I am not sure that I will be heard by Canon or Nikon. But if this idea spreads, we may see it implemented in one of the next camera models or even in firmware updates. Only the software should be changed, not the hardware.

If you are looking for a new flash for you Canon DSLR, then this review of Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash will help you to see the good points of this professional (and highly desirable) flash. For example, it features a more-rugged build quality and weather-resistant sealing protection, PC terminal for Pocket Wizard RF remote and recycles approximately 20% faster than the previous 580EX model.
All of this features as well as some of the drawbacks or, I would say, differences from previous model are covered in this review, which serves as a very good insight into the capabilities of this flash.
Well, read more yourself in the review.

In the previous post I shared a new approach to quickly change skin color without making anything permanent (a lot of settings to tweak). Now I want to reveal a nice technique that will allow you to quickly improve the subject's skin. Such skin improvement removes major blemishes and wrinkles, smoothen the skin and makes the person look younger. In the image above you can see three stages of it (from left to right): original, 50% opacity, 100% opacity. This technique may not be perfect, but instead of doing "blemish by blemish removal" you can swipe them altogether. Anyway, I would recommend to correct those major ones first.
So, how to do it? Read on.

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Have you ever wondered how those models in the magazines have such a beautiful skin color? Me too, till this point in time I was using a separate layer in Color mode. However the colors improved, the results weren't that straight forward and clear as I wanted them to be.
And just yesterday I've found a way to do it much much better. The skin color is exactly I want it to be, and I have a lot of settings to adjust it to the point. And all of it in one layer, no mess, no fuss. All changes are reversible, i.e. non destructive! The image above shows an example of adding a tan to the person's face.

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