Photography tips, tricks & techniques, plus Aperture 3 tutorials @ Power Mac Center Greenbelt 3, Makati

Before I continue with my "Jurassic Park" in Club Paradise Palawan, Philippines Part 2 just a quick announcement on upcoming additional Workshops and Seminars at the Power Mac Center Greenbelt 3 Makati, please see the dates below:

June 25-27 and July 23-25
PHOTOGRAPHY & AFTER THE SHOOT
Experience Aperture 3 basics and integration on the Mac. Plus tips and tricks on Photography, learning how to use the camera.
Amateurs and semi-pro

August 23-25
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR MOM
" How to shoot your kids! "
Basic camera use, techniques in child photography & creating projects on Mac.

Oct 29-Nov 1
PHOTOGRAPHY LESSONS IN PALAWAN: Learn from the Pro.
Four days of fun and learning travel photography..exploring nature's beauty in Palawan
Amateurs and semi-pro (max 8 participants) please book this one early.

We also offer personalized 1on 1 tutorial and consultancy on Aperture 3, please contact the Power Mac Center for details and schedules. Understanding the workflow after the shoot and complete back up solutions for your Photos using Aperture 3.

Contact: http://www.powermaccenter.com/education

2/L Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center Paseo de Roxas Avenue, Makati City, Philippines Beside Music One and First Aid
Tel./ fax no.: (632) 729-7128 Tel. no. for Solutions desk: 729 - 7088 Text line: (+63917) 580-6852
Operating Hours: Mon to Thurs: 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Fri to Sat: 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sun: 11:00 am to 9:00 pm
Power Mac Center Greenbelt 3, right beside our 1 on 1 Tutorial Room Details here.
Tel. no.: (632) 729-7087

For other Workshops in 2010 plus Cambodia and Nepal please go to:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/gdphotoworkshop/page1/calendar.html

When the light is just right...

© Gunther Deichmann - “Pyramids” & Flowers - Jan. 2010

Before leaving for India and Nepal in February I like to share with you some simple but unusual Photos from my last Journey, no other explanation is needed judge for yourself...is it a setup or have they been manipulated later?
For those of you who are interested I am happy to post an explanation on my Blog prior my departure to India.

© Gunther Deichmann - The Palm Leaf - Jan. 2010




© Gunther Deichmann - Strange - Jan. 2010

Check out also the latest GD PhotoWorkshop Calendar updates, only posted yesterday with the latest dates, Workshops/Seminars at the Power Mac Center in Manila & some new international destinations for 2010 & 2011.
GD

© Gunther Deichmann - “liquid colors” on the Tonle Sap,
Siem Reap Cambodia

Q: Could you give a brief description of yourself as a photographer?
A: Pls. check my Bio at http://www.deichmann-photo.com/home.html

Q: What are your motivations/inspirations to become a photographer?
A: Again, the answers you find in my Bio.
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/home.html

Q: In your opinion, what makes a good photograph?
A: Personal style, uniqueness, exposure, composition and originality.
One of my favorite quotes is;
"You can take a thousand images but only a few will set you on fire,"


Q: I can't buy expensive lenses. A Nikon D40 is all I have.
A: The Nikon D40 is fine, you be amazed the images you can create with just one Camera and a standard lens, think before you shoot. Understand your Camera, its limitations and work with what you have got. Remember the Camera is only a tool; the actual image you create is prior pressing the shutter.

Q: What is some of the essential camera equipment one should pack into their camera bag for travel photography workshops?
A: I am recommending a Digital SLR with one or two lenses, no need for high power telephoto lenses and a small tri-pod (equipment also depends on the type of workshop) Of course you should bring along a laptop for up-loading your images, with software installed for editing. CF cards and readers, a small memory stick, and if possible an external hard drive, plus spare Batteries & chargers for your Cameras and Laptops. If you have a small flash (strobe) then bring that along too. Small flash light, a raincoat or small Umbrella, good solid walking shoes & some insect repellant.
If you have a small compact camera bring it along, these can come in very handy at times.

Q: What are some of the items and camera equipment you have in your camera bag?
A: Basically the same what I have described above, but I always carry two cameras bodies and additional lenses, but when we go into the field I only bring one camera with one lens to show the students what can be done with little equipment.

© Gunther Deichmann - Children of Cambodia, Phnom Penh
original color image converted into B&W using the
Monochrome Mixer in Aperture 2

Q: What are your favorite photography subjects during travel?
A: It all depends entirely on the given assignment, but I usually have a Theme/Story or a subject planned out, but then you never know what is around the next corner, you have to be ready all the time and make quick decisions.
Always expect the un-expected!

Q: How does image editing applications like Apple Aperture 2, Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop factor into your photo management and editing?
A: I use the Computer just for up-loading and basic editing, however part of the learning curve is to understand the software and the workflow after the shoot, caption your images, using only minor adjustments for the RAW files.
Try and get your image right in the first place, your exposure and composition. Don’t rely on Photoshop for fixing things later.
Working with Aperture 2 on my Mac is pure pleasure, speed and integration, easy access to my Aperture Library. A great image management system, even when you use older scanned but digitized images, simple import them from any of your hard drives.

Q: You have done work for many prestigious global publications. How is it like to shoot for these renowned publications?
A: Very tough but awesome, e.g. for Stern Magazine, Germany I spend weeks to get the images on the killing of wild Horses in Australia. Another good example was my three-month assignment for Animan Magazine (Switzerland) covering the Mekong River, a tough but also very rewarding trip, the final article was published later over 24 pages.

Q: What is your advise for new and up coming travel photographers?
A: Research, research and more research, and try to make friends on your Journeys, it helps if you return one day.

I guess that is all for today, there are many more questions and answers but they have to wait until next time.
GD

Coffee & High ISO on a rainy day...


© Gunther Deichmann - an interesting effect...
D700 with a f/2.8 180 mm lens ISO 1600

The past few days Manila is blessed again (not sure if that is a blessing) with a lot of Rain, but then we do need water and we are still in the Monsoon season. Tropical Storm "ISANG" is hanging around up north.

About an hour ago...I decided to grab a cup of Coffee and had a look at the back of our Building, that’s when I spotted the Philippines Flag in my neighbors window, ok lets try out the Nikon D700 at high ISO speed and see what I can come up with. (see the shot above)
Then I started to mess around some more with clothing hanging on a washing line in the rain…
hmmm strange, drying clothing in the rain, oh well!
Using the Nikon D700 with a f/2.8 180 mm lens (one of my favorites and perfect for the D700) I set the ISO on 1600 and for some shots on 800 ISO.

D700 with a f/2.8 180 mm lens ISO 800 (cropped image)


D700 with a f/2.8 180 mm lens ISO 1600

The shutter speed varied between a 1/50th and 1/160 of a second my Aperture was wide open at f/2.8, all straight shots and hand held. (too lazy today for putting up a Tripod)

A few minutes later I had imported the RAW files from my CF Card into Aperture 2 and made only these adjustments; Cropping, Auto level, some sharpening (which I do for all digital Images) well, believe it or not, that was it folks… no other twists, turns, pushing and pulling!

Extreme blow up from the original image, more than 200%
D700 with a f/2.8 180 mm lens ISO 1600

It is now an hour later and concluded this rainy day coffee break…the Nikon D700 performed just great at high ISO plus the color was perfect, well for me anyway.
I shoot most of my work on ISO 200 but have no problems using the Nikon D700 at a higher ISO for some serious work. (max. 1600 ISO) As you know I have tested it up to 12000 ISO (you can go to 25000) in the past, but using such a high ISO setting I can only recommend it under extreme circumstances, but it is nice to know you can do it.
GD

Since you never seen this window before…panic strikes… oh my what is wrong?
This happen to me a few times, pushing Aperture to the limit…but don’t worry it is an easy fix.

It’s Ok… Close down Aperture, then hold down the Option and Apple Key while restarting Aperture again, now this little window appears asking you either to Rebuild or run a Consistency Check.
I have run both options and not only if I got the warning but also when I noticed that Aperture was running sluggish or behaving a bit erratic.

This works well if you have a lot of projects and images, however you have to have a bit of patience running the Rebuilding or Consistency Check as this could take some time, it all depends on the size of your Library.
Don’t Panic again if after the Consistency Check some of your Projects and files have disappeared, no worries just repeat the step and this time run Rebuild and you find all your Projects are there.
If you’re not comfortable activating the Rebuild or Consistency Check window then just wait until the window appears one day, but then you have almost no choice but to go through this exercise keeping Aperture 2 running nice smoothly.
But isn’t nice that Aperture 2 is given you a warning sign, just like the oil indicator for your Car engine.

Now a final word of advise, make sure you made a back up of all your Images on an external drive, regardless how good your Mac or how big your drive is and how well Aperture 2 performs, back up is rule number one… disaster can strike anytime.

Note: I work exclusively with reference files and keep all my Projects on external drives as well, backing up everything in the field with two identical hard drives. Back home I then transfer all my files and Projects to my Mac Pro storing everything again on my Raid system for back ups, only then I delete the Images on my portable Hard drives.
GD
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html

Put your Mouse Cursor on the Toolbar hold down the control key (ctr) and click on the Toolbar a small dropdown menu appears, now select Customize Toolbar and a large window appears with all your tools.
Select which Icons you like to be part of your everyday workflow and drag those into the Toolbar customizing everything for your personal preference. You can always go back to the default toolbar later, just drag it back.
You can choose also from; Icons only – Icons with text – text only. I recommend for newcomers to Aperture 2 to select Icons with text, easy to remember in the beginning and once you get up to speed with Aperture 2 you can use the ones only with the Icon or text giving you more space in your Toolbar.
GD
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/

Correcting a washed out & over-exposed image
using the Aperture 2 adjustments...


© Gunther Deichmann - Raw and not corrected image using the Nikon D700
for the Tutorials and how to apply correction on an overexposed Image please
click on the image above or use this LINK.
You might have to refresh your Browser to view the new Tutorial.

It is not easy sometimes as a Pro to make things go wrong on purpose especially when using the new Nikon D700.
A few weeks ago I ask my son Brandon to sit on the Stairs outside our apartment with this beautiful light streaming through the window.
I thought, hey this is a good exercise for bringing back the highlights in Aperture 2, so I shot some correct exposed images but also on purpose overexposed some for today’s session on how to bring back the highlights using Aperture 2.
Highlight Hot & Cold Areas came in very handy in this exercise, (you find this in theView panel ) for the applied adjustment details go to the GD Photo Tutorial Panel upper left hand side or click this LINK. There you can compare the images in large side by side.
After all my corrections I converted the image also into a nice Black and White using the Green Filter this time.
Please remember the images can look different on other screens this is only a guide for the exercise.
Before we go into all the details I like to give some praise to the Nikon D700, excellent performance in any light condition, yes I have done some test shots already at 6400 ISO and that just blew me away, but more on that later.

Original image shot in RAW, see below the order of adjustments in Aperture 2.
Sharpening: 0.92
Edges: 0.82
Exposure: -1.63
Recovery: 1.49
Black Point 0.08
Shadows: 5.9
Changing from Color to B&W using the Monochrome Mixer and added the Green Filter
GD

Tags: Triple "T" tips, tricks and techniques, Tutorials, Aperture 2 Training