It has been an incredibly busy time for me lately with various photography projects (more details later), art shows, and finishing the construction of my new 450 sq ft. studio/workshop. I’ll have some photos soon, as well as info on the setup including the addition of a new Canon 44″ large format printer. Once I get through the long hours of the final finishing details, I hope to return to a more regular schedule here, and even increase the frequency of articles.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working on a new series of articles around the theme of “finding a landscape photograph” with the goal of providing some insights and tips for photographers and those curious about the process involved. With any luck (and lots of coffee), the first should be ready in a few days.

In the meantime, I thought I would share my opinion on a few recent noteworthy announcements in the industry which are quite intriguing.

Adobe has announced the release in October of Creative Suite CS4, which includes an all new version of Photoshop CS4. You can read the specific details on John Nack’s blog (John is the principle product manager for Photoshop). While the biggest feature in CS3 was support for the new Intel Macs, Adobe has really packed new and useful features into CS4, many of which I will start to take advantage of right away. Among the new features I’m looking forward to are major interface enhancements, adjustment panels and presets, and improved printing capabilities (including 16-bit output at last). All in all, a serious consideration for anyone who uses Photoshop on a professional or regular basis. While my current workflow is spent primarily in Lightroom 2, it’s nice to have access to the improvements in processing that CS4 provides.

The other news was that both Nikon and Canon have announced DSLR’s that can also record full HD ()high-definition) 1920×1080 resolution video. There has been lots of talk lately about the convergence of photography and video since both use similar technologies, and it was only a matter of time before a manufacturer combined the two.. While it will not replace a dedicated video camera in terms of quality and features, it certainly provides the photo journalist or wedding photographer some great opportunities in a convenient and familiar package. For any one who is interested, here is a full featured video made with the new Canon EOS 5D MK II by photographer Vincent Laforet.

As the old saying goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” and in my opinion, never more so than in photography. While the technology continues to evolve and provide new and creative possibilities, emotion and feeling remain the goal for me, and these are just more tools to achieve those goals.

The Beekman Street Banners were unveiled this weekend in my home of Beacon, NY, and I’m honored to have been chosen as one of 34 artists to be included in this innovative and unique project. The official description from a new website dedicated to all things cool in Beacon reads:

“17 banners leading up from the Beacon Train Station to Main Street shops, eats and art, celebrating 34 local artists who place Beacon on the larger map of all things cool”.

After finally seeing the banners in person, they are very cool!

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The website has undergone a substantial upgrade, though it looks mostly the same at first, there is lots going on under the hood. It was mostly driven by the need to have a better e-commerce system, making it easier for visitors to get information about the prints and workshops, and place orders with confidence and ease. I contracted Jack Brauer from WideRange Galleries, who in addition to being a great programmer, is also a fantastic photographer specializing in mountain landscapes from Colorado and other areas - well worth a visit. Thanks to Jack, I now have a fully automated gallery system for handling all of the images, and an integrated shopping cart which provides more info for each item, and gives visitors better feedback for questions and information on all of the items in the store.

Hopefully this will allow me to better serve returning and potential customers better and more efficiently, and expand the offerings in the future, which will include more workshops and other resources for photographers. More on this very soon!

I’ll be the guest speaker at the next DRPP meeting tomorrow night, and the topic will be digital workflow. This is one of the biggest problem areas of digital photography, and one that I am regularly asked about from veteran and beginning photographers alike. Though digital photography has allowed us to shoot images at will without concern for developing and other traditional costs, managing and processing all of these images, particularly when shooting RAW, can become a daunting and seemingly endless task for many, including myself.

Based on my own experiences using Photoshop and more recently Lightroom, I’ll demonstrate how I tackle this problem, and make it a necessary but enjoyable part of digital photography. I’ve tried many different approaches and software titles over the years, including Capture One, iView Media Pro, Aperture, and Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, but now my entire RAW workflow is handled by Lightroom and Photoshop. I spend less time at my computer, and more time on the trails…the way it should be!

I had a great time at my first Dutchess Regional Professional Photographers (DRPP) meeting last weekend where I was invited to give a 2 hour seminar to their 50+ members on the basics of Adobe Lighrtroom. Held at the Holiday Inn in Fishkill NY, I was quite surprised and impressed with how well run it was and that there was not only a cocktail hour, but a full course meal with very nice seating as well. This certainly helped me feel more comfortable, and I had good conversation about what else - photography, with 5 other members at my table which I met for the first time.

We then proceeded to a conference room where I already had set up my Epson projector and MacBook Pro, and a very nice 8ft screen. I used Apple’s Keynote to give a short introduction to the basic concepts of Lightroom, how it differs from Photoshop and Bridge, best ways to use them all together in a productive workflow, as well as advantages of RAW files and how Lightroom stores and manages your images.

The second part was basically demonstrating the Lighrtroom UI (user interface), and giving everyone some insight into how I use Lightroom to manage my photographic workflow. I displayed many of my landscape images from my recent trip to Maine, where the recovery slider was put to good use with all of the snow in the scenes. Before I knew it, I was 2 1/2 hours into the seminar, and the fun was over. I received many great questions and positive compliments, and hope to be back again soon. (UPDATE: I’ve been asked to return for another seminar, so I’m considering different topics, but so far “Digital Workflow from Camera to Print” is the likely candidate).

Of course, this seminar only really scratched the surface of Lightroom and post processing in general, but my one-day workshops cover all of the features and their practical use, as well as allowing for more interaction with students and their own photography.

The February print of the month is “Winter at Ship Harbor”, which I photographed on my recent winter photo trip to Mount Desert Island in Maine.

I have photographed many different natural areas in and around New England, and many of my favorites are right here in my own “backyard” - The Hudson Valley. Yet there is something about the ocean, and especially the Maine coast that I am attracted to, and I never tire of not only photographing it, but spending time absorbing its visual rhythms, sounds, and beauty. I think this is a vital part of expressive landscape photography and one I strive to capture somehow with a medium that is so simple in relation.

As so often is the case, which is both frustrating and exciting, I arrived at the Ship Harbor Trail late in the day without a clue as to what I wanted to capture, or what exactly to look for. Many times I have a definite idea of an image, but in this instance I was “improvising”, a very familiar mindset from my jazz days at the Berklee College of Music. In these situations, I try to make sure I have as many “ingredients” as possible available that can contribute to a good landscape photograph, namely, dramatic light, interesting subject/location, and an open mind to new possibilities.

After some time wandering, I walked onto this rocky shore, and immediately noticed that with low tide, there was this great line of rocks leading into the distance, lending great perspective and depth. The freshly fallen snow stopped where the water level had been, so there was good contrast of tones extending into the scene. I also loved the texture of the frozen ice that covered the foreground rocks, changing their color. Improvising, I tried several compositions, and eventually found one that really felt right, and managed to get a few good exposures before the soft, warm light disappeared and became dull and flat. I spent another 2 hours in the area hoping for good light to reappear, but it never did.

I developed this image in Lightroom, working to bring out the strongest elements of the scene that made their impression on me as I remembered. Then I exported it to Photoshop for selective sharpening (using my favorite plugin, Pixel Genius Sharpener), and minor dodging and burning to open up some of the darker areas. What many think is a simple click of the shutter, is actually a long and elaborate process that begins in the mind and heart, and ends in the final print to achieve what I hope is something worthwhile.

I’m pleased to announce the first workshop of 2008 - “Digital Photography with Adobe Lightroom” and it will be held March 29th at the Beacon Studios, Beacon NY. Aimed at serious amateur to professional photographers, it will cover all of the basics of getting up to speed with Lightroom, with an emphasis on digital workflow including processing and printing. I have been using Lightroom for close to two years now, and in my opinion it is the best all in one solution for digital photography on the market today. It combines a powerful library and management module, arguably the best RAW processor, and by far the best printing environment I have used to date. With the latest version 1.3, the need to export your images to Photoshop for further editing has been greatly reduced, and future upgrades promise more power and flexibility. The complete itinerary as well as registration info can be found here.