Today’s macro of Abraham Lincoln was taken from a $5.00 US bill. I used the poor man’s macro technique with my Canon EF-50mm f/1.8 lens. My buddy Rich Legg did a great write up on his blog last week about why everyone should have a 50mm f/1.8 in their bag.

The poor man’s macro is where you take your lens off of your camera and reverse it holding it against your camera’s body. I like using my 50mm because it’s small and light. I’ve been able to get some cool and unusual shots. You can read more about this technique from JPG Magizine: Poor Man’s Macro

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1861 until his assassination on April 15, 1865. To read more on what this man accomplished and what an influence he was click here.

I’m a frequent visitor to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips by Matt Klowskowski. Matt writes a weekly Monday Preset post on his blog where he provides a preset that he has created with an explanation of how to view the sample file and a link to download the preset that can be easily imported into Lightroom.

For today’s post, I used Matt’s Aged Texture presets on a couple of photos I took recently. It’s a quick easy way to give your photos a cool texture look. He did things a little differently this time and incorporated Photoshop into the process. It’s not really a Lightroom preset per se but you can still incorporate what he provides into your Lightroom workflow.
If you use Lightroom, make sure you read Matt’s blog on Monday’s to see what preset he cooked up.

Original file of cowboy here, water tower here.

I spent some time this week organizing and backing up my photos to DVD’s for offsite storage. I also spent some time looking at photos from my photo bank.

My wife has been struggling with keywording her photos and really didn’t catch the vision until over the holidays when she wanted to find some photos of our children that I had taken last year. I took the time to add keywords when they were processed and because of that it took her seconds to find what she wanted. She now understands the importance of keywording and has implemented that into her workflow when she processes her photos.

If you haven’t started keywording you photos, now is a good time to start.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P10 * ISO 160 * 1/40 second * f/2.8

For about a year now I’ve used Photoshop Lightroom and have been impressed with what it has to offer. I’ve had a few occasions where Lightroom wasn’t able to “fix” a photo the way I wanted it so I decided it was time to purchase Photoshop CS3.

The day after I purchased CS3 I stopped by my local bookstore and picked up a copy of Scott Kelby’s book: 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3. I’m a big fan of Scott’s and really enjoy his books and podcasts. I’m only into it a few chapters and have all ready put it to use.

While visiting family in Idaho last weekend, I made a stop at the Mormon temple in Rexburg. After walking around in the freezing weather thinking I got some great shots I was disappointed when I viewed them on my macbook. My delima: the steeple was way to dark and any attempt to fix it in Lightroom was not successful. Bumping up the exposure to lighten the steeple would wash out the main building and any attempt to corrected the exposure for the main building would leave the steeple too dark.

I put one of Scott’s 7 points tips to use: Painting with Light. He says: “Painting with light is the ability to control the light in your image, it fixes exposure problems and brings out the detail in ares that would have been lost… putting light right where you want it, but in a much better way than simply dodging and burning”.

Using Smart Objects Layers and “Painting with Light” I was able to keep the main building exposed correctly and also have the steeple match the rest of the building. This book isn’t the one and only for Photoshop but it gives you a glimpse into what Scott’s workflow is and how he is able to produce some amazing shots.

Canon XTi * Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens * ISO 100 * 4 seconds * f/8.0

I’m constantly trying to find ways in which I can improve my daily routine for keeping up to date on photography. I thought I would share some tools that help me better My photography. I’m not one to give kudos to a particular company but I really like what Google has done with their tools to make my life easier.

There was a time when I would bookmark my daily photography blogs. I was spending way to much time revisiting the blogs only to find they hadn’t been updated so I decided it was time to switch to an RSS reader. I tried many but always came back to Google Reader. The thing that I like about Google Reader is it will update the content continuously so it’s always up to date. I’m constantly adding blogs that are of interest to me and having it up to date saves me time.

For the sites that aren’t in my reader I use the Firefox plugin Google Browser Sync. I use multiple computers for work and at home, having my bookmarks the same on all computers is a lifesaver. Browser Sync will do a push and pull continuously during the day so my bookmarks are always in sync no matter what computer I’m on.

Another Firefox plugin I use religiously is Google Notebook. I use it to keep track of ideas and notes for my blog and just about everything else. Since the Notebook is kept on a central server I always have access to my notes no matter what computer I’m on.

I’ve used IMAP from my email provider for years. Now that Google has added IMAP for their gmail application I’m starting to use it more and more. IMAP is great if you use multiple computers, it allows me to stay organized and not wondering what computer that email is on.

These are just a few of the tools Google offers but for me these are the top four that I use daily. To top it off, I’m able to use one username and password for everything.

Feel free to give input on what works for you. I’m always looking for ways to improve my daily routine.

Vanishing Point, originally uploaded by Scott O. Smith.

van-ish-ing point
noun
the point at which receding parallel lines viewed in perspective appear to converge.

Vertical lines give a strong sense of depth and strength. They can provide structure and a clear definition by pointing the eye directly to the intended point. The image of the stream (bottom right) leads the eye straight to the point where the water disappears to the left.

While the most common/prefered curved line is the “S” curve, parallel lines can be very effective. The image in the hallway(bottom left) leads the eye straight to the door and leaves the viewer wondering what’s on the other side.

Canon XTi, Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens, 1/60 second, f/4.0, ISO 100
Canon XTi, Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens, 1/40 second, f/8.0, ISO 100
Canon XTi, Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens, 1/10 second, f/4.0, ISO 100
Canon XTi, Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens, 1/200 second, f/8.0, ISO 200

Smarties Candy, originally uploaded by Scott O. Smith.

For my first post to this photo blog I wanted to show one of the first photos taken with my DSLR. One of the main reasons for purchasing a DSLR was for the ability to use the Depth of Field technique. This technique allows the photographer to draw the viewer to certain areas of the photograph. In this photo, I wanted to draw attention to the candy in the center (with the “S”).

I set my camera focus point to the center and focused on the candy in the middle making sure to use the largest aperture and longest focal length.

Canon XTi, Canon EF-S18-55 f/3.5 - 5.6 lens, 1/15 second, f/5.6, ISO 200