Adobe Photoshop Color Settings

In the last time I noticed lots of misconceptions about the Color Management published on the internet. Some of them were even published at some very visible web sites which should definitely not make such mistakes. And then people that know nothing about it are so happy to get some info saying lots of thanks and it really helped me not knowing that what they read is misleading. But basically it’s all quite simple. So. Today I’m going to write about how to set your Photoshop’s Color Settings properly.

The first thing I’m going to do is to show how the Color Settings should look like so you won’t need to read the whole post just to set your Photoshop right. After then I’ll explain all of the important settings that you should know.

To read more about that please check out my post Adobe Photoshop Color Settings at my new blog.

Photo shoot in a quarry at Krk island, Croatia with Lara

It was around 5:10 AM and I was still searching for a security guy of the quarry with some beer cans in my hands. I searched his hut and there was no one in. I searched the surrounding. Still nothing. We saw his scooter in front of the hut but there was definitely no one there. We simply didn’t have much time because we were really chasing the sunrise so after about five minutes of intensive search we decided to go on our own and enter the quarry area.

I was very cautious because when I was scouting at this very same location the previous year there was a very tough security guy. He was really pissed off just because I didn’t stop my car exactly at the window of his guardhouse before entering the quarry. But later the locals explained to me that the quarry is a public area so I can bring him some beer and everything will go smoothly.

This was definitely my earliest shoot ever. I usually shoot indoors using strobes where I definitely don’t need to take care of the sun light. But this year I decided to try beach photography which involved shootings using reflectors only. For some years I was watching videos from Sports Illustrated shootings and I noticed they usually use reflectors only. That was definitely something new to me and it looked much easier than traveling and setting up strobes, softboxes, light stands and other equipment.

To read more about that please check out my post Photo shoot in a quarry at Krk island, Croatia with Lara at my new blog.

Microsoft Surface Pro for photographers

You probably already heard that Microsoft started selling its Surface Pro tablet on last Saturday. It was a very exciting moment for all of us who were waiting for this device for months. Unfortunately the tablet was sold out within only seven hours after the sale stared. You can now only purchase the 64 GB SSD model.

During this time some reviews were published already. Some were good some were not. What I can see is that some of the reviewers clearly see why this device is good for. But on the other side I have a feeling that some reviewers are lost in their reviews because they simply don’t get the direction from Steve Jobs.

So let me explain where I see the Microsoft Surface Pro in photography

By definition Microsoft Surface Pro is a device with a power of an ultrabook and portability of tablets. Speed tests show none of the ARM processor based tablets (Apple iPad of any generation or any Android tablet) can come close to Surface Pro. It is why I compare it to the latest generation of Apple MacBook Air in this post.

To read more about that please check out my post Microsoft Surface Pro for photographers at my new blog.

Best monitors for photographers

In my previous post I explained the monitor features that I take care of when deciding to purchase a new monitor. Unfortunately all of those good featured can’t be found in a single monitor. Some monitors are better for games, some are cheaper, but some are better for graphics.

But let’s talk about which features best monitors for photographers should have. From the list of the post there are some features that are more important than others to me as a photographer. These are: Black levels, Color gamut and Viewing angle.

To read more about that please check out my post Best monitors for photographers at my new blog.

Seeing the Light

I often get private messages or comments about the light setup that I use during my photo shoots. In one of these comments Stephen asked me about the lighting of this particular photo that I took about two years and half ago. In my response I explained the importance of learning seeing the light in a photo. This is what I actually do all the time.

To read more about that please check out my post Seeing the Light at my new blog.

My first experiment using several strobes at once

Masa 01, a photo by Peter Kremzar on Flickr.

Second photo from the set of an from my Christmas experimental shooting with using several strobes at once.

Read more at http://www.e-fotoportal.com/first-experiment-using-several-strobes/

Three good reasons why the Microsoft Surface is the ultimate tablet for professional photographers

Last Monday Microsoft introduced its first two tablets – Microsoft Surface. They are really awesome devices with many new features not available by its competition. But in this post I’ll focus to the Intel based Surface with Windows 8 Pro and why do I think this is currently the only tablet useful for the photographers.

1. Windows 8 Pro is a true OS (operating system).
   It is not derived from a phone OS like iOS or Android. As such it runs several applications that we already use on our notebooks or desktop machines like Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop and others. You can’t run these on an iPad or an Android tablet. Well you have iPhoto on iPad but I’m focused to professional photography in this post.
2. Stylus.
   We all know that you can’t do any serious photo retouch with your fingers. Many retouchers only use Wacom tablets for that purpose. Well. You can buy a stylus for iPad but it’s use is very awkward. You can’t touch the tablet surface with your hand or fingers while drawing. On the other hand Microsoft Surface has a stylus with the proximity sensor integrated.

   The proximity sensor that the Surface has switches off the Touch functionality as soon as it detects the pen is close to the tablet surface. From that moment the Surface behaves just like a Wacom tablet. And this way you get a cheap Wacom Cintiq tablet worth at least US$1200 but at the same time it offers you much more than just being a tablet.

3. Color management
   It is essential for the photographers to have the correct colors through all the process. Currently Windows 8 is the only widely used tablet OS with the color management integrated. I know that DataColor Spyder 4 Elite offers you some kind calibration when your iPad is attached to your Mac. But again this type of calibration really looks awkward to me and the results are quite questionable. And are you willing to buy another calibrator for your iPad just because you already had X-Rite calibrator before?

These are just three essential features where Microsoft Surface really pops out. But sure there are many more we could discuss about.