Bizarre - Mysterious - Colorful & so amazing...
Kathmandu Nepal.



© Gunther Deichmann - Buddhist Eyes...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

I made it... my first post since I left Manila... I am not going into many details today, I rather let the images speak, only a few today a lot more when my connection is good, lets see and wait. The worst scenario... I have to do it when I get back home after the 16th of March.
Arrived in New Delhi this afternoon after 4 days in Kathmandu Nepal...a little sad that I had to leave but I am going to be back there in about two weeks after my PhotoWorkshop in India.

Contrast!

© Gunther Deichmann - Oh no...I did not set this one up... I was getting ready to take a shot of this unknown Guy with a Nikon taken notes when out of nowhere this Sadhu appeared and stood right next to him. Interesting, it seems that our fellow had to Yawn and our Sadhu had his eyes closed...like trying to put him to sleep. Well, that is sort off my interpretation. Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

Internet connection is Ok now, and I am using the spare time to write this long overdue post before all my students arrive later tonight, tomorrow we're busy exploring the old part of Delhi, the first part of our Indian Journey.
Nepal was very cool (literally it was freezing in the evenings and early morning). A lot more later on some bizarre Animal sacrifice and Cremations along the River... from the colorful living to the colorful dead.

© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

A lot more soon from this amazing place in the Himalayas called Nepal, with old tradition of Hindu & Buddhism, as a matter of fact I be visiting the Birth place of Buddha in about 10 days which is just across the border from India in Nepal..."
The Journey Through Color & Time" continuos.

© Gunther Deichmann - Eyes through red...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

© Gunther Deichmann - The Wall...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

© Gunther Deichmann - Bizarre... the Old & New.
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

Now a little about Aperture 3 from the road and straight out of the Box pushing it in the past few days, no complains... I can truly say Aperture 3 performed super and I encountered no major problems after some 3000 images in 4 days. A lot more on Aperture 3 on the road later...now I have to concentrate on my students and show them around Incredible India.

© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhus blessing...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010




© Gunther Deichmann - Sadhu & blue...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010



© Gunther Deichmann - Coca Cola and Blue...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

Just one more...



© Gunther Deichmann - The Spoon...
Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 2010

Once I am back in Manila, I upload a new Photo Gallery with some of the latest images from Nepal & India...please have patience as this could take some time, I have a few more weeks to shoot yet.
Enjoy the first taste from Kathmandu, please stay tuned for a lot more...
GD

A new Journey begins....


© Gunther Deichmann - Incredible India

In a few hours another Journey begins...leaving first for Thailand and Nepal then to India for the start of my GD PhotoWorkshop. Meeting everybody in New Delhi before leaving for Rajasthan to celebrate the Holi Festival. After the Workshop back to Delhi, I then continue my Journey to Varanasi one of the holiest places in India and travel over land back to Nepal.
I try to update my Blogs as much as possible but that depends on the internet connection and if I am not to tired in the evenings.
I am all packed now, Aperture 3 is prepared and ready for the Road show, I am really looking forward to see my students in Delhi very soon for an exciting Photo Workshop in Incredible India.

© Gunther Deichmann - the colors of India...

I guess that is it for the time being, I try to report along the way, but that depends on the connection.
Thanks to the staff from Shroff International Travel for making all the arrangements, specially Arjun & Sheena who have been fantastic.
GD

BTW...did you know that when you start up Aperture 3 it is in 64 Bit? You might noticed the difference if you have 4 or more Gig of Ram installed. However there are some issues when you work with previous installed Plug-ins, but nothing to worry Aperture 3 makes it easy.
Most of the plug-in if not all at the moment work only in 32 Bit and if you like to use them you have to restart Aperture 3, click on the image you like to edit (in my case I use the Noise Ninja Plug-in) click on the right mouse button, a small drop down menu appears and you see edit with Plug-in (32 bit) this will restart you Aperture 3 in 32 bit mode and stays like that until you close Aperture 3. Once you open Aperture 3 again you're back to your 64bit.

In a few days I am leaving for my main trip this year, plus my GD Photo Workshop in India where my lucky students have the opportunity to study and work with Aperture 3 in the field. I try to report from our locations whenever possible, of course like always depending on the Internet connection, speed and availability.
Check out also my Calendar Dates on the GD Photo Workshop site; "Introduction Aperture 3" at Power Mac Centers Manila Philippines, starting March 26.
GD

Another very new cool addition is the Zoom option (Z key) if you press this now say on full screen you have a new small thumbnail window, but now you can zoom in more, not just 100% very cool and so handy. Say you have zoomed in to 150% and like to go back to your 100% just hit the z key and you're back to your starting point of 100%. Personally, I find both of these new addition extremely useful for my particular workflow and I have to praise the engineers for an excellent job by in incorporating it into Aperture 3. Great Job Guys!
GD

My Love affair with Aperture 3 deepened.

Another very cool new feature in Aperture 3 is Presets found when you open the Adjustment panel, not only easy accessible but with a nice preview. Now you can see immediately the effect you might like to apply. Great for quick adjustments, just click on Presets and a menu appears, the only thing left to do move your cursor over the various adjustments options, and every time you move your cursor over a different effect/adjustment a nice size thumbnail appears along side of it, showing you the changes. There is plenty to choose from; all your Black &White and color adjustments are at your fingertips now.
A superb new addition and something I am going to use a lot from now on.
Try it out and I am sure you’re going to be impressed just like me.
GD

Recent visited places from Mindoro Isl., Puerto Galera, City
of Batangas, Makati and Manila shown as Satellite Map

If you're not using a Digital Camera with a GPS function that is Ok. just use your iPhone and whenever you stop or from the Car window take a quick shot. Later import the photos from your iPhone into Aperture 3 activate Places and the rest is easy. I be writing a lot more about this cool addition from the road. Click on the Places icon at the upper right hand side at the toolbar to get you started.

Recent visited places in Makati and Manila shown as Road Map

10 days ago I went to the Island of Mindoro/Puerto Galera and I took some happy snaps with the iPhone, then on the way back I also stopped in Batangas and then back to Manila. Of course there have been some gaps where I didn't stop to get some images but all the rest had been recorded, very accurate I might add, see the attached screenshots. Map options are Satellite - Road or Terrain.
Ok the only "drawback" is that my wife from now on always knows where I am or I have been, ha, ha. but that is fine with me too, nothing to hide.

Recent visited places in Makati and Manila shown as Terrain Map

To activate your Places before they work you have to go first to the Aperture 3 Preferences settings and activate it, then click on the Advanced setting a small drop down menu appears and you see Look up Places, the default setting is on Never just click on the Automatically and you're done.
Again an excellent new addition to Aperture 3 and as you can see I am getting fine tuned for my big trip starting next week.
GD

Tags: Places, , GPS logging, Nepal, ASIA, Google Maps, , Kathmandu, Philippines

© Gunther Deichmann - Pushkar, India 2009

So here we are back into Photography, Aperture 3 is certainly going to make our workflow more easy and more fun, GPS and Places, the new Curves, put back from the Trash, Chromatic Aberrations the list goes on and on.
We have also color coding which some of us find very useful for on the road editing, however I have a slight grin on my face and you might ask why. Very simple, some of our Underwater Photographer recently complained and nagged non stop about updates being to slow from Apple.

Some even went as far and switched to Lightroom, again my magic word is patience...are they going back to Aperture 3 now, it looks that way.
My advise as an Aperture user from day one and as a Certified Trainer, get to know one software real well and stick with it, in due time and it is happening right now changes will happen, remember “Rome was also not build in one day” have patience, good things take time. And The Time is NOW.
Thanks to the Apple Aperture Team for a Job well done!

As for my travel photography, I am more then excited, but then again I need to get those images first. You all know I am leaving very soon and if all goes well I have Aperture 3 running and give it a real good and realistic Road test for some 4 weeks in the field trying to post images with the new Facebook function , Locations via Places, the new video function and for sure I am going to work with the new Curves.

Please stay tuned and I try my very best connection permitting to file real reports from the field, or you might say Aperture 3 straight out of the Box.

The web is totally saturated at the moment, the talk of the Town is Aperture 3, but now I am looking forward to some cool Photography and only then I write more in details about all those new features which certainly sound all very exciting.
For the latest info on Aperture 3 and all the new features pls. go to: http://www.apple.com/aperture/whats-new.html
GD

© Gunther Deichmann - Rajasthan India 2009

Places
Now you can use GPS location data to explore your photos by the places they were taken. Better still, find them on an interactive map.
Organize your library by location, location, location.
If you’re shooting with a GPS-enabled camera, Aperture 3 uses reverse geocoding to convert location coordinates into familiar location names, then displays those locations on the Places map. If you’re using a separate GPS tracking device, the path of your photo journey appears on the map when you import a track log. You can even extract locations from iPhone tracker apps or your iPhone photos. Which means you can instantly find all your Yellowstone photos, for example, without typing the word “Yellowstone.” Photos can be organized by country, state, city, or a point of interest such as Old Faithful or the park visitor center.
Put your photos on the map.
If a photo doesn’t include GPS metadata, simply drag the photo to the spot on the map where you shot it. A pin appears. Then, when you’re searching for photos, use the map’s navigation menu to quickly find the location. When you click the pin, Aperture displays all the photos taken there.
Easy course corrections.
If you need to change the location of your shot, drag the pin on the map across the street or across the country. The GPS data associated with the photo updates automatically, so you know where your photos are at all times.More info @ http://www.apple.com/aperture/whats-new.html

Moving from iPhoto to Aperture 3

You’ve done some great things with iPhoto, and now you’re ready to do more. Aperture 3 is designed to make the move from iPhoto easy and seamless. See how easy it is...http://www.apple.com/aperture/iphoto-to-aperture/

© Gunther Deichmann - Aperture 3 embraces
you with open “arms”...

BTW...now our Underwater Photographer going to love the new Curves Tool and Chromatic Aberration Filters, (and not only our Underwater Photographers) I just hope they had the patience and waited for the all NEW Aperture 3 and if not they might have to switch back to Aperture now. For all New features go to http://www.apple.com/aperture/whats-new.html
GD

Just a few more...
New Auto Buttons
Quickly make exposure adjustments by using the Auto buttons now available in the Exposure, Levels, and Curves adjustment bricks.
Chromatic Aberration Filter
Remove the color fringing that can occur along edges due to optical issues by using the new Chromatic Aberration filter. The adjustments can be brushed in or brushed away as needed to achieve desired results.
Powerful New Curves Tool
Use the new Curves tool to adjust exposure and tweak color. Curve adjustments can be applied to luminance, RGB, or individual color channels. You can set the black, white, and midtone points, as well as place custom points along the curve using a target tool. All Curves adjustments can be brushed in or brushed away as needed to achieve desired results.
Linear or Gamma-Corrected Mode
The Curves tool can operate in two different modes — Linear and Gamma-Corrected — depending on which best suits the image. Linear mode is best when dealing with extended range data and highlights, while Gamma-Corrected mode can be especially helpful when working with shadows.

Range Support in Curves Tool
Because the Curves tool supports the “extended range” data sometimes available in RAW images, you can set the Range control in Curves to Extended in order to see the “out of range” highlight data that you may be able to recover. You can then use controls in the Curves tool to pull blown highlights back in and improve detail in highlight areas. Alternatively, you can set the range to Shadows and focus on the lower-left quadrant of the tone curve to make extremely precise Shadow adjustments.
Quick Brushes
Use the new Quick Brushes pop-up menu in the Adjustments toolbar to gain immediate access to 15 ready-to-use brushes for the most common enhancement tasks. Quick Brushes include Skin Smoothing, Polarize, Intensify Contrast, Tint, and others.

Screenshot from the new and updated Apple Aperture Site.

Only one out of 200 new features:
Advanced Slideshows
Create spectacular multimedia shows with photos, HD video clips, titles, layered soundtracks, and professionally designed themes.



Use familiar iPhoto ’09 slideshow themes. And more.
If you’re moving from iPhoto ’09, the slideshows you created with themes such as Snapshot and Shatter are preserved in all their brilliance. Aperture 3 includes all iPhoto themes and two new themes: Watercolor Panels and Photo Edges. Each theme gives you a professionally designed layout, title treatment, and transitions to create a distinctive backdrop for your photos. Choose a theme, drop in some photos and HD video clips, and produce amazing slideshows in seconds.
Combine photos, audio, and video clips in one show.
If your camera records video, you can import it into your library along with your stills and include it in your slideshow. Just drag a video clip into the slideshow as easily as you add a photo.
Create and edit layered soundtracks.
To personalize your slideshow, just add music from your iTunes library (DRM-free only). Then drop in audio clips stored in your Aperture library — voiceovers, narration, or other sounds recorded on location — for a multilayered soundtrack. If you’re including video in your slideshow, you can add the audio from the video, too.
Tap out the time of your fades and cuts.
Talk about fingertip control. With Aperture 3, you control the pace of your slideshow with the tap of a finger. As you watch the slideshow, press the Return key to determine when each slide begins and ends. As you tap out each slide change, Aperture 3 records your custom timings.
Add titles, borders, and colors.

When using the Classic and Ken Burns themes, you can add titles anywhere in the slideshow in your choice of font, size, and style. Choose borders and background colors. Scale photos. Even control fades and adjust transition times.

Just announced by Apple
Aperture 3

It is finally here Aperture 3, Apple has just announced today Aperture 3, now I am going to be in for some serious test driving shortly, stay tuned for more info as they become available. This is great and very exciting NEWS. Thank You Apple!
But there is so much more...just incredible and if you’re a Mac user then this is it...if you’re not, then you might think about switching now.

Wow…Wow…now that is what I call a super slick Update, just amazing and believe me well worth the wait. So for those of you who made the switch to Lightroom you might have to reconsider. As I have said many time before, all good things take time and when Apple comes up with something they do it real well…like in Photography patience!
In the next few weeks I am going to be busy running around in India and Kathmandu but at the same time I have to do some real test driving with Aperture 3.
Please stay tuned for some real reporting on Aperture 3 in the field and from exotic locations.
GD

Excerpts from MacWorld
The update ($99 for existing Aperture users), which Apple said offers "over 200 new features," includes advanced versions of the Faces and Places features previously seen in iPhoto '09. There's a new image-refinement tool called Brushes, which allows users to paint adjustments directly on to images. And a new Projects feature adds flexibility and I am sure a lot more...


Now just a few Excerpts from the Aperture User Network:

Support for Videos and Audio [Not in Lightroom]
Audio Files [Not in Lightroom]
Chromatic Aberration
Slideshows [Vastly Better than Lightroom]
Flickr and Facebook Albums [Better than Lightroom]
Quick Brushes
Curves and Chromatic Aberration
Adjustment Brushes [Not in Lightroom]
Labels and Flags
Import Features [Some Not In Lightroom/Some Better Than Lightroom]
ILibrary Switching, Syncing and Sharing [Better Than Lightroom]
Import Speed
Lumix users who have been clamoring for RAW file support, today is your day.
The same goes for you, Canon sRAW shooters. You’re supported now.
More and more photographers are working with video these days, and so Aperture now has full support for importing video files. This is a huge change and the support for videos in Aperture 3 is unparalleled in the photographic workspace. Videos can be imported, edited (using trimming features like found on the iPhone) and exported, and they can be used in the newly updated Slideshow tool (which we’ll talk about below). You can grab still images from your video, use them in slideshows and albums, export them in a Library and more.
After many requests from users, Aperture now has full-bore labeling (eight colors to choose from, with customizable titles for the colors) and flagging. Files exported from Aperture maintain their labels in the Finder. And files labeled as flagged/locked int he camera come into Aperture flagged. (That finally gives me something to do with my cameras’s flag button.) more @
http://aperture.maccreate.com/2010/02/09/aperture-3-overview/

iPhoto Slideshow & Aperture at
Power Mac Center TriNoma.


Power Mac Center TriNoma

Please join me at Power Mac Center TriNoma on February 15, 2010 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm
“Tell Your Story through Photos” - iPhoto Slideshow & Aperture plus a lot more...basic photo management and photo slideshow tools on your Mac.
Power Mac Center TriNoma
REGISTER NOW AND DISCOVER THE MACINTOSH ADVANTAGE!
Contact training@ powermaccenter.com • tutorial@powermaccenter.com • 0918-2680603 • 0922 8481577

Power Mac Center TriNoma

Please check out also the latest updates on the
GD PhotoWorkshops Calendar
@ http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/

IMAGES WITHOUT BORDERS LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE NON-PROFIT,

100% of profits from sale of works by world class photographers go directly to Doctors Without Borders
 www.imageswithoutborders.org

New Orleans, Louisiana - (February 2, 2010)

One hundred and twenty five professional photographers from seven countries have sent their finest images for sale to Images Without Borders, including Peter Carey, Tomas Van Houtryve, Martin Vargas, Jeffrey Lynch, Scott Wood, Julie Dermansky, George Long, Kit Wohl, Gunther Deichmann, and Ian Talbot. Images Without Borders currently offers over 400 fine art prints for sale, and many pieces have sold. An initial donation by PhotoShelter (www.photoshelter.com) of a host website made this project possible.

“When a disaster strikes, artists often have very little money to donate to charitable causes; what they have instead is their artwork,” said co-founder, Stacy Ericson. “While Images Without Borders was born from the recent earthquake in Haiti, it offers a new and channel for artists and art lovers to make contributions over the long term.”

Many of the prints are not ordinarily available to the public, or are sold by galleries at far higher prices. Images Without Borders now hosts over 400 art prints for sale. The project will continue on as a nonprofit to provide ongoing assistance to Doctors Without Borders, the well-regarded relief agency that responds to disasters around the globe.

About Images Without Borders
Images Without Borders sells gallery-quality prints from images donated by world-class photographers, with all sales proceeds (minus the printing costs) going directly to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in support of their work. Each image is offered by Images Without Borders as a limited edition of ten prints. Gallery Image prints are offered at $50 and $100. iPhotography Image prints are offered at $36. When ten prints have been sold, the image will be retired from this special edition. Images Without Borders is in the process of filing for 501(c)3 non-profit status, and is endorsed by Doctors Without Borders.

About Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. www.doctorswithoutborders.net

© Gunther Deichmann - Wild Horses Northern Territory Australia
Available through Images without Borders, plus many others.

Don’t under estimate your Monochrome Mixer

for cool Black & White Photos.

© Gunther Deichmann - ferns.

I shoot color, seldom B&W with the odd exception or when it is requested by a client, I am also not a friend of any type of manipulation but for commercial and advertising work I sometimes have to follow the clients need.

If you really understand Aperture then you be amazed what you can do without using another software.
Not so much altering the image but creating nice B&W Photos or removing some color in certain areas, read on below;


Making simple adjustments using the Monochrome Mixer in Aperture 2, but this time we take it a step further; I just love the Monochrome Mixer in Aperture 2 creating on the fly some nice Black and White images and reducing the color in others using the color slider.

Screenshot showing the open Adjustments Panel
including the open Monochrome Mixer & color sliders.

Switch to the Adjustments interface in Aperture

Small red square; this is where you find your Monochrome Mixer just click on the small arrow and a drop down menu opens, scroll down and you see the Monochrome Mixer. Click on it and your color image is getting converted to B&W.

Large red square; here you find all your adjustments you need for creating nice B&W images, you can make some basic adjustments with another drop down menu that gives you a good selection of traditional B&W filters.
In most cases this works just fine or you can make your adjustments manually like I have done. However I recommend that you play around a bit and find your own personal settings, different images... different taste.
Experiment with the color sliders and the color squares when in the Monochrome mode and you find that the Monochrome Mixer can do a lot more than you thought.

There is actually no need for additional plug-ins or Photoshop you can use the Monochrome Mixer in Aperture in most cases, of course there are limitations.
Since this was a commercial shoot and the client requested some B&W’s I edited them all in Aperture 2 and tweaked them a little more then I normally would do.
You can get a lot out the Monochrome Mixer, including some good looking Infrared images. (that is for one of my next post’s, Infrared images using the Monochrome Mixer in Aperture.)

© Gunther Deichmann - lemon with a twist...

Removing saturation: The image with the glass and lemon I did not convert using the Monochrome Mixer, I used the Color slider in the Adjustment panel and moved all of them to the left (minus -) in the saturation, except for the yellow one, this one I increased to approx. 50 (plus +) in the saturation.
Then I adjusted the contrast a little and tweaked my exposure. This one was easy, since almost all the color in the image had been blue, see the original image from my previous post: “Blues Night” 27-01-2010 | 22:08 Filed in: Photography | Aperture 2 | ASIA
GD

Just one more...



© Gunther Deichmann - Buri Resort & Spa
The Pier at sunset in Puerto Galera