TWiP TheFIX

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Preserving Family Photos After You're Gone

None of us live forever, and this week on TheFIX, we discuss what happens to your treasured digital family photos after you're gone, including some simple workflow steps you can take to ensure that your important family photos can be easily accessed by your family in both digital and print form, even though you are no longer around. To help make sense of this, host Seán Duggan is joined by photographer and writer Erika Thornes who has put a lot of thought into this question after a close friend of hers passed away and she was asked by the family to help sort out her friend's 250,000 image Lightroom catalog and separate the most important family photos so they could be dealt with more easily from a non-photographer perspective (i.e., accessed by people who don't know Lightroom, and have no idea what a raw file is, but just want to be able to see and share the images as simply as possible). In addition to digital solutions, backups, and file format considerations, we also discuss the need to not only make prints of important family photos, but also to create offsite backups of those printed copies, and Erika shares some great ideas for ways to make that happen that doesn't take much effort at all. Erika's tips and suggestions can provide a framework for creating some simple solutions that are easy to implement in your own imaging workflow.

About Our Guest

Erika Thornes is a professional photographer based in San Diego, California who loves to document life and tell the story of people and their families. Her work focuses on life events such as weddings and birthdays, but also on the significant everyday moments between the important events (you can see some of her photos below). In addition to creating memorable images of families and children for her clients, she also loves to create photographs underwater. She posts regular articles at Photofocus.com, and her first Lynda.com course Kids Photography: In Parks at Play was published this week.

Links Related to this Episode

Erika's web site: erikathornes.com    |   Erika's new Lynda.com course: Kids Photography: In Parks at Play

Connect with Erika on....   Facebook    |    Google+    |    Instagram    |     Pinterest

TheFIX Ep 050: Lightroom Export Essentials

Erika's Article on Creating Lightroom Export Presets (link coming soon!)

Click on an image to see a larger version...

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Mirrored Images & Custom Print Templates in Lightroom

Mirrored, or reflected, images are a guilty pleasure that can often lead to surprisingly satisfying and visually effective results. They are very easy to create in Photoshop using basic layering skills, but they can also be created in Lightroom using a combination of Virtual Copies and customizing some of the existing Print Templates that ship with the program. In this episode of TheFIX, host Seán Duggan shows how to create mirrored or reflected images in Lightroom, how to proof them in Photoshop, and how to apply simple retouching when necessary, or modify the custom print templates in Lightroom so that no retouching is required. The first six images below are simple image mirrors. In the final two, only part of the original image mirror was used as an element in a composite.

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where's Seán?

Seán's latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Join Seán and Chris Orwig in Iceland for a Winter Landscapes & Auroras Workshop

March 13 – 19,

Cinemagraphs & Beyond

Cinemagraphs are intriguing images that combine a still photograph with a trace of motion somewhere in the scene. In this project-based episode, host Seán Duggan shows you how to create cinemagraphs in Photoshop CC, and then takes you beyond the basic cinemagraph. In addition to the video editing capabilities, this project uses core Photoshop features such as adjustment layers, layer masks, filters, and smart objects, to modify the image and video clips to create a partially hand-colored look, as well as applying blurring filters to video clips. Finally, the finished file is resized, optimized, and exported as an animated GIF that can be shared on the web. Curious as to what a cinemagraph is? Check out the images below!

Links Relevant to this Episode

TheFIX 039: Video Editing in Photoshop     |     TheFIX 034: Photoshop Smart Objects

Seán Duggan: Creative Video Compositing in Photoshop     |     FOTOfusion 2016,  Jan 19 – 23

 

 

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Join Seán and Chris Orwig in Iceland for a Winter Landscapes & Auroras Workshop

March 13 – 19, 2016

* Connect with Seán on social media:  Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Google+  |  

Texture Layers with Tony Sweet

Adding a texture to an image can often create an entirely new look for a photograph, transforming it into an intriguing hybrid between photography and painting, or adding a worn and weathered feel to the image. In this episode, host Seán Duggan is joined by photographer and workshop leader Tony Sweet for a discussion on photography, magic, texture, and the role that improvisation often plays in many art forms, including photography and post processing. Tony also demonstrates some cool and useful texture layering techniques in Photoshop CC.

About Our Guest

Tony Sweet is a professional photographer, photo educator, author, video co-producer, a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens, and the CEO of Visual Artistry location nature & landscape workshops and Creativity Seminars.  His talents extend beyond making beautiful images and teachings others how to do so with their own photography… for 20 years he was a professional jazz musician, and he has also worked as a professional magician.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Tony Sweet’s Web Site and Workshop Info

Connect with Tony on    Facebook   |    Twitter    |    Google+    |    500px    |    Instagram

Adobe Paper Textures Pro Panel (requires Photoshop CC – CC (2015)

Flypaper Textures

Tony Kuyper Luminosity Actions and Actions Panel

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Join Seán and Chris Orwig in Iceland for a Winter Landscapes & Auroras Workshop

Aurora HDR Pro

If you’re a Mac user, there’s a new kid on the HDR block these days: Aurora HDR Pro from Macphun Software, which was developed in collaboration with photographer Trey Ratcliff, one of the most well known photographers and HDR image makers around. In this episode of TheFIX, host Seán Duggan is joined by Kevin La Rue, the vice president of Macphun, to talk about plug-ins, how stand-alone imaging software has evolved in recent years to provide alternatives to a Photoshop-only workflow, and the back story of how Macphun and Trey Ratcliff decided to get together and do something new in the world of HDR and create Aurora HDR Pro. Kevin also shows off some of the cool features in this new program, which, in addition to it’s HDR capabilities, also offers layers and masking features.

Breaking News

Today (Dec. 15), Macphun announced a special Creative Kit 2016 Holiday Offer – 6 award-winning Macphun imaging apps in one bundle (the Creative Kit does not include Aurora HDR Pro).

About Our Guest

Kevin La Rue is a long-time product & marketing professional in the field of software and Internet technologies, with a passion for family, photography and motorcycles! As VP at Macphun, Kevin leads the U.S. office for the company, driving a wide variety of activities for the company’s consumer & professional photographic software products.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Aurora HDR Pro   |    Macphun Software    |     Trey Ratcliff’s Stuck in Customs

Images by Trey Ratcliff

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Join Seán and Chris Orwig in Iceland for a Winter La...

Kicking the Tires on the Photoshop CC 2015.1 Update

At the beginning of December, Adobe released the Photoshop CC 2015.1 update and in this episode, we engage in some metaphorical tire kicking as we check out some of the new and improved features that are of interest to photographers. The most noticeable change is a new start screen that many long time Photoshop users may not be too happy about. Fortunately, this can be easily turned off in the Preferences so you can get back to the legacy version of Photoshop. We’re not going over every new feature in the update, but you’ll find links below that do go into more detail on the improvements to Artboards, Libraries, new typographical features, and the newly restored and re-coded Ol Paint filter.

Liquify Bug on 16-Bit Files

This episode was recorded shortly after the Photoshop update was released. Since that time a bug has been reported involving the Liquify Filter and 16-bit images. When you click OK after applying your Liquify edits to a 16-bit file, the area you worked on is rendered much too light and blown-out. 8-bit files are not affected. Hopefully we’ll see a fix for this very soon!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

What’s New in Photoshop CC 2015.1: Videos by Julieanne Kost   |  List of JDI Improvements

Camera Raw 9.3 Details    |     Howard Pinsky’s Video on the Oil Paint Filter

Iceland Winter Landscapes & Auroras Workshop with Seán Duggan and Chris Orwig , March 13 – 19, 2016

 

Aurora meets the newly restored and re-coded Oil Paint Filter

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Connect with Seán on social media:  Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Google+  |   Instagram

Tips for New Lightroom Users

If you’re a new Lightroom user and there are still aspects of the program and how it works that are a bit unclear, then this episode is for you. Photoshop and Lightroom author and educator Rob Sylvan joins host Seán Duggan to discuss some essential tips for new Lightroom users, including explaining the Lightroom catalog/database in depth, as well as helpful tips to ensure that you’re always working in the right catalog, when it might make sense to maintain multiple catalogs,  renaming folders, backup tips, and what gets saved into an XMP sidecar file, and whether or not that option is something to consider.

About Our Guest

Rob Sylvan is a photographer, teacher, and author. In addition to being KelbyOne’s Lightroom Help Desk Specialist, he also writes the “Under the Loupe” column for Photoshop User magazine, and blogs about Lightroom at Photofocus.com. He is the author of several photography related books, eBooks,and videos including Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC / Lightroom 6 Learn by Video by Peachpit Press.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Lightroomers.com    |    Digital Photo Workshops    |     Photofocus.com

10 More Things I Would Tell a New Lightroom User – article by Rob Sylvan

Lightroom Hangout: Liberating the Local Adjustments hosted by Rob Sylvan & Levi Sim (with guests Seán Duggan and Vanelli)

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  

The New/Old Import Dialog in Lightroom 2015.3/6.3

An eagerly awaited update to Lightroom CC and Lightroom 6 arrived last week. This update had the usual support for new cameras, new tethered camera support, new lens profile support, as well as several bug fixes (read all the details here)  The reason the 2015.3/6.3 update was so anticipated, however, was not because of any new features or new camera support, but because it restored the previous version of the Import dialog that had been removed in the problematic updates that came out in early October. The “new” Import dialog that was unexpectedly dropped on Lightroom users with the 2015.2/6.2 update was greeted with widespread derision for a variety of reasons and fortunately Adobe listened to its user base and decided to restore the Import dialog to the way it had been before the ill-fated early October updates. In this episode, host Seán Duggan takes a look at the old/new Import dialog with a focus on the Destination panel and on how you can make sure that the images you import are copied where you want them to be, with no unwanted or redundant nested folders.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Video: Take Control of Lightroom’s Import Dialog

TheFIX Episode 35 (Oct 13, 2015): Lightroom 2015.2 Update with Victoria Bampton

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Iceland: Winter Landscapes & Auroras Workshop March 13 – 19, 2016

* Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Google+  |   Instagram

Stock Images for Photoshop Compositing

In this episode Photoshop instructor and author Dave Cross joins host Seán Duggan to talk about his latest venture, CompositingStock.com, a stock photography web site with layered images that are created specifically for use with composites. A unique component of CompositingStock.com is the use of a collapsible plastic cone that is placed in the image as a size and angle reference for images you will add to the shot. The stock images are delivered as layered Photoshop files: in one image layer the cone is present and can be used as a sizing guide, and in the other layer the photo is taken without the cone. Photographers can purchase the collapsible cone to use in their own shots, as well as use it for images that they contribute to web site. Dave provides information about the process and also shows a demo of how it all works in Photoshop, including some very useful composting tips.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

CompositingStock.com

dcross.com

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online courses Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky,  Landscape Photography: Iceland, and iPhone & iPad Photography with iOS 9 were recently published at Lynda.com. Check out his website to learn more about his photography, workshops, and his other Lynda.com courses

* Iceland: Winter Landscapes & Auroras Workshop March 13 – 19, 2016

* Facebook   |   Twitter   |  

Video Editing in Photoshop

In addition to editing still images, you can also edit video in Photoshop and that’s the topic that host Seán Duggan explores in this episode of TheFIX as he takes you through the creation of a short video project that combines video clips with still images. The cool thing about working with video in Photoshop is that you can use all the features and techniques that you already know, such as layers, layer masks, adjustment layers, and blending modes, and apply these to your video projects. Although it does not offer the wide array of professional-level video features that you would find in programs like Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple’s Final Cut, Photoshop offers a lot if you’re just getting into working with video, or don’t need all the horsepower of a professional video editing program.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Seán’s Creative Video Compositing with Photoshop course on Lynda.com

Bear River Title Sequence (edited entirely in Photoshop CC)

Time Spy, Behind the Scenes

View the Final Edit of the Video Project Shown in this Episode

Below is the final (for now) version of the “Irving” project that was shown in this episode (approx. 2 minutes). I took the version of the video that I had at the conclusion of the episode and did some more tweaking to it. This consisted of adding a few more video clips and still photos, replacing the lower portion of the main awning/wall clip with a still image to remove the wobble from the handheld iPhone video, additional masking work (to composite the wind-ruffled awning with the still shot of the wall, as well as with other video clips), and some keyframe animation near the end to create the effect of the striped door moving in sync with the streetcar (keyframe animation was one of the many Photoshop video features that I was unable to get to in this episode). All video editing on this project was done in Photoshop CC. The soundtrack was edited in Adobe Audition CC using ambient sounds from the video clips, as well as a Creative Commons music track from Free Music Archive.

Enjoy the video or audio version of TheFIX

You can enjoy this and every episode of TheFIX in its video or audio version. Click the video at the top of this page to watch the video version or use the audio player on this page to listen to the show. To enjoy the audio version when you’re on the go, subscribe to TheFIX in iTunes or your favorite RSS player.

Where’s Seán?

Seán’s latest online course Photoshop Compositing Project: Replacing a Sky was published this week at Lynda.com. Check out his