Happy 4th from Cape Poge
Happy 4th to all. I am spending a few days with a dear friend in Cape
Photographed with the Panasonic Lumix S1R and the Lumix 24-105 f/4 lens. Exposure triad: f/8, 4 sec, ISO 640.
Panasonic GX85 with the Leica 100 - 400mm lens
I received my GX85 a few days ago but yesterday was the first opportunity to try it out. The GX85 with the Leica 100-400 is a superb combination. Both these images are considerable crops. There are two recently fledged Downy Woodpeckers, a male and a female who frequent the back yard. I am most impressed with the detail from the GX85 (no anti-aliassing filter) and excellent image stabilization.
Fireworks
The 4th of July weekend is next. The weather forecast for the Greater Boston area looks good so why not try photographing fireworks. In addition to the annual Boston Pops concert and fireworks, the Boston Harbor Fest will also have a fireworks display on July 2, 2016. Here is an excerpt from the festival site: "Various sailors will decorate their boats and light up the Inner Harbor on Saturday, July 2nd. Live music on Long Wharf will lead up to an incredible fireworks display over Boston’s Inner Harbor."Here is a link to my tips page for photographing fireworks.
A US Navy DC3 Cargo Wreck
On Sólheimasandur a black sand beach in Iceland lies the remains of a Douglas Super DC-3 cargo plane that crashed here in 1973. The cargo aircraft was abandoned and is now a tourist attraction. Though not easy to get to, it is a great photo opportunity. It tail section, wings and engines are all gone and its interior stripped.The wreck is most photographed from the side you first see it when approaching the beach but on this evening on August 14, last year the dramatic clouds made an exceptional backdrop for the opposite side of the plane.I am so looking forward to going back this September for another great workshop.
Lucy Vincent Beach - Martha's Vineyard
Concluded a great photo workshop in Martha's Vineyard yesterday. A great group of photographers, and some great locations on the island. Inclement weather did not prevent us from photographing the opportunities that were presented. This image is one of my favorites where the last rays of the sun just kissed the rock on the shore at Lucy Vincent Beach. We stayed on to do some light painting and astro photography before winding up for the night. (More images to follow)
Day after New Moon
On a whim I set up the Swarovski scope to its lowest magnification at 30X. The camera was the Panasonic Lumix GH4 set at ISO 1600, and 1/60 sec shutter. The image when clicked on is the full frame from the camera 4680 X 3072 pixels. The adjustments made to the raw file are: highlight recovery of -29, white balance adjusted to 5700 Kelvin (to taste), noise reduction using Topaz Denoise version 6. A a touch of contrast and clarity to finish. All this in the hope the weather stays good and I can get a few images of Jupiter this weekend. I did not use a remote shutter release but will for the Jupiter images.
One Day Workshop Schedule
ALL ONE DAY WORKSHOPS ARE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED
Workshop details are available from the Registration Page.
Macro and Close-up Photography
Flash Photography, High Speed flash, creative lighting
Portrait and Lighting Techniques
Digital Photography A-Z. This is a one day three part course that will teach you camera basics, post processing and printing.
The Digital Darkroom - a course that covers image capture, asset management, processing and enhancement, output to print and web media. A one day program for digital image making workflow
Timelapse Photography, post processing and video assembly
If you have any questions or would like more information please call 617-759-0010 or email sv@shivverma.com
Please use this REGISTRATION link to register for these workshops.
Battle of the Barges - Boston Sept 5, 2015
After a very long time the Battle of the Barges returned to Boston. Piers Park would have been the ideal location but the crowds were overwhelming. Alternate East Boston location provided good views of the North End Barge.Please click on the image for a larger version.
Bridging the Gaps
June 12, I got to see the Greenway Project’s latest artwork a little over a month after its installation. Boston’s aerial rope sculpture created by the artist Janet Echelman is an exquisite sight at night. The ropes are over 100 miles long and the sculpture has nearly 550,000 knots. It is anchored to a few buildings and lit using multicolored led lights. A long exposure bridges the gaps between the ropes as I feel this signifies the coming together for all in this great city.
“My sculpture for Boston above the Rose Kennedy Greenway spans the void where an elevated highway once split downtown from its waterfront. Knitting together the urban fabric, it soars 600 feet through the air above street traffic and Pedestrian Park.The sculpture's form echoes the history of its location. The three voids recall the "Tri-Mountain" which was razed in the 18th-Century to create lands from the harbor. The colored banding is a nod to the six traffic lanes that once overwhelmed the neighborhood, before the Big Dig buried them and enable the space to be reclaimed for urban pedestrian life.” An extract from the artist’s statement.
Noiseless Pro
Macphun the makers of Tonality Pro, Intensify Pro, Snapheal Pro and Focus Pro today release a public preview of their latest product Noiseless Pro. It will be released as two versions Noiseless and Noiseless Pro. The pro version includes the ability to work with RAW files and will work as a plug-in for Photoshop and Lightroom.
One you install it and launch it the first thing you will notice is its simplicity. It has a series of presets from Lightest to Extreme. Lightest I'm my initial tests did a great job. Multiple views and side by side comparison windows help you assess the amount of noise management. Zoom tools allow you to see how well it is handling noise and maintaining detail. Included is a wipe tool for previewing the effect. Preview is not instantaneous but the software does render the effect fairly quick.Though the pro version will work with RAW files, my preference would be to allow the raw conversion using Adobe Camera Raw, DxO, or Capture One and then bringing the image into Noiseless either as a pug or as a saved tiff file.This is by no means a full review but a quick note to assess the pre-release and give an initial verdict - the product is simple and very good.I will do another review when the final release is available in the next 8 days or so.Click on the logo to order Macphun products or to preorder Noiseless and Noiseless Pro
No Aurora but the Milky Way
March 28, 2015 - Alaska Geo. Inst. forecasts a Kp index of 5 for the Aurora. Kp 5 means - if the Aurora occurs you should be able to see it low on the horizon in Massachusetts. Sounds awesome so we decide against going for the CamNats (Massachusetts Camera Naturalists) and head to Maine. Acadia is always a great spot so we head to the loop road. WRONG most of the roads are closed. A nice cop gives us direction on how to get to Sand Beach - so it is about midnight and we find our way to the parking lot. Poor visibility forces us out of there and heading further towards Otter Cliffs. The road is closed at the turnoff to Otter Cliff road. We pull over into a small clearing at one of the entrances to a parking lot and wait for the Aurora - nothing. Well the Milky Way rises over the cliffs so we wait. 3:15 and the Milky Way shows its full arc. It is cold, the wind does not help. I mounted the Rokinon 14mm on the Sony A7R to get this image. The foreground trees were light painted during the exposure.Please click on the image for a larger presentation.
A subsequent 7 image pano yielded the arc but the 14mm lend distortion is apparent.
onOne Software Announces Availability of Perfect Photo Suite 8
PRESS RELEASE:New Perfect Eraser for Content-Aware Fill, Enhance and Browse Modules, Perfect Batch Processor, and Re-imagined Effects Module Evolve Popular Plug-In Into a Complete Photo Editing Solution for Every WorkflowPortland, OR – November 26, 2013 – onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of innovative digital photography solutions, today announced the availability of Perfect Photo Suite 8—the Photographer’s Choice for Photo Editing. Perfect Photo Suite 8 is a full-featured, standalone photo editor that also integrates seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and Apple Aperture. It includes all the best tools a photographer needs to create stunning images.Key new features include the Perfect Eraser, with content-aware fill technology; the Perfect Enhance module for essential photo adjustments; a new Browser that streamlines direct access to images wherever they are located; the Perfect Batch engine that applies presets to multiple images with a single click; and a re-engineered Perfect Effects module, with twice as many adjustable filters, customizable presets, and integrated FocalPoint technology. These new tools and capabilities alongside Perfect Photo Suite 8’s eight modules, one-click presets, tools for automated enhancements, and powerful controls allow photographers to enhance, retouch, and stylize images in a layered workflow, replace backgrounds, create high-quality enlargements, and prepare images for output—giving them the ability to express their creativity and transform their photos quickly and easily.“We are extremely excited about Perfect Photo Suite 8,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “This version is the result of what photographers have been asking for, not only from us but from the industry as a whole. We’re grateful for the contributions and feedback the photography community has invested in our effort and we believe that we’ve created an extraordinarily powerful image editing tool that meets their specific needs in return.”After a successful public beta program for Perfect Photo Suite 8, many photographers had a chance to try out the new version and give their feedback. “The attention to your user’s needs is unmatched,” said Rebecca Lyyski, owner of Lyyski’s Designs. “As a graphic designer and photographer with an elevated workload, your product has made editing my professional photography a pleasure instead of a chore,” she adds. Greg Lambert, public beta user and onOne Software photo contest winner shared, “Perfect Photo Suite 8 continues to evolve by refining its existing capability, streamlining the interface and providing some new and exciting tools and presets to enable photographers to produce the images they visualize when they press the shutter button.”The New Perfect Photo Suite 8 Features:• Eight integrated modules – Effects, Enhance, B&W, Portrait, Mask, Layers, Resize, and Browse. Each module is designed to target a specific image-processing task. Together, they help photographers enhance, retouch, and stylize images in a layered workflow, replace backgrounds, create high-quality enlargements, and prepare images for use in various capacities.• New Module! Perfect Enhance provides essential tools for basic enhancements, such as brightness and contrast adjustments; colorcast, dust spot, and power line removal; and the addition of vignettes. It is an ideal module to start with when using Perfect Photo Suite 8 as a standalone application or when quick corrections are needed.• New Module! Browse provides convenient and direct access to image files wherever they are stored—whether they are on a computer, an external drive, a connected network, or on a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Apple’s Photo Stream.• Reimagined! Perfect Effects – As a cornerstone of Perfect Photo Suite 8, the Effects module has been redesigned by adding adjustable filters and customizable presets, making it the most powerful and versatile image stylization tool available on the market today.• Twice as Many Adjustable Filters to create the most sought-after looks, including:• Dynamic Contrast – Adds stunning clarity to images and makes them pop by exaggerating the levels of contrast, without sacrificing highlight and shadow detail, creating halos, or affecting saturation.• Lens Blur – Includes the best parts of FocalPoint technology to create bokeh, tilt-shift, and selective focus effects after the shot.• HDR – Gives images the edgy look of high dynamic range. Settings are adjustable and create effects that range from subtle to surreal.• Vintage – Turns photos into a nostalgic memory with retro-style filters.• Powerful brushes provide the right results for specific editing tasks:• Perfect Eraser removes objects with content-aware fill technology• Retouch Brush uses spot healing to remove small distractions• Clone Brush removes unwanted items by replicating and covering specified areas of an image• Masking Brush reveals underlying layers or selectively applies effects• Perfect Brush delivers precise edge-detection masking• Hundreds of Customizable Presets are available throughout Perfect Photo Suite 8 that make it easy for any photographer to instantly create an image they love. Presets can also be used as starting points for creativity and efficiency. Presets are included in the Enhance, Effects, B&W, Portrait, and Resize modules.• Improved Masking Bug in the Effects and Layers modules make mask creation easier and more intuitive.• Perfect Batch engine simultaneously applies presets from multiple modules and a watermark to a selected group of images.
Availability and PricingThe new Perfect Photo Suite 8 is now available by clicking on the logo below.jpg)
Perfect Photo Suite 8 is available in three editions: Premium, Standard, and for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture.The Premium Edition works with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Apple Aperture, and as a standalone application. It is priced at $179.95. Owners of previous versions of Perfect Photo Suite Premium Edition can upgrade for $99.95. For a limited time, orders of Perfect Photo Suite 8 Premium Edition will include a special collection of Professional Presets and The Essential Video Guide to Perfect Photo Suite 8, which provides a comprehensive collection of getting started training videos for Perfect Photo Suite 8—for free ($80 value). This offer ends on December 3, 2013.Perfect Photo Suite 8 for Adobe Lightroom & Apple Aperture works with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop Elements, and as a standalone application. It is available for $129.95; upgrades are $79.95. The Standard Edition works as a complete standalone photo editor and is available for $79.95. For more information on Perfect Photo Suite 8, please visit http://www.ononesoftware.com. A 30-day Money Back Guarantee backs all onOne Software products.About onOne SoftwareonOne Software, Inc., is a leading developer of innovative software tools and apps for digital photography and offers time-saving software solutions for photographers of all levels, from enthusiasts to professionals. Leveraging its extensive history as successful plug-in developer for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, and continued development of cutting-edge technology, onOne publishes unified solutions that offer both full-featured photo editing capabilities and the flexibility of traditional plug-ins. Founded in 2005, onOne Software is a privately held company located in Portland, Oregon. For additional information, visit www.ononesoftware.com.Press Contact: Amy Chan, onOne Software, achan@ononesoftware.com, 503-968-1468 x 137General Press Inquiries: press@ononesoftware.comOnline Press Center: www.ononesoftware.com/pressonOne Software Blog: www.ononesoftware.com/blogFacebook: www.facebook.com/onOneSoftwareTwitter: www.twitter.com/onOneSoftwareGoogle+: www.ononesoftware.com/plus©2013 onOne Software, Inc. All rights reserved. onOne Software, the onOne Software logo, and Focused on Photography are registered trademarks and Perfect Photo, Perfect Enhance, Perfect Effects, Perfect Eraser, Perfect Batch, and FocalPoint are trademarks in the United States and are the property of onOne Software. Adobe, Photoshop and Lightroom are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. Apple and Aperture are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Topaz labs - Thanksgiving Sale
I want to let you know about a huge promotion Topaz Labs is running for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. For the first time ever the Topaz Complete Photography Collection, which includes all the products will be on sale for $199.99, which is almost 50% off the normal price of $379.99. The sale will run from November 28th through December 2nd 2013.CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW AND -- USE THE PROMO CODE: blackfriday2013
Click to license Topaz Products
Perfect Photo Suite 8 Public Beta Released
The Beta or pre-release version of Perfect Photo Suite 8 is now available. Download it todayThis Public Beta will work alongside your existing onOne Software products, so you can explore the new version without losing the capabilities you already have. Download the Public Beta and get started now.If you wish, you can pre-order the suite now and get a bonus video - click on the image below
Canon 70D announced - A DSLR with full function Video
Canon proudly introduces the EOS 70D – features:a revolutionary autofocus technology that unlocks the potential of Live View: Dual Pixel CMOS AF. This game-changing technology allows the EOS 70D to capture video in Live View with smooth and precise autofocus similar to that of a camcorder. Additionally, Dual Pixel CMOS AF provides fast and accurate autofocus during Live View still image capture, enabling you to fully benefit from the freedom of angle allowed by the Vari-angle Touch Screen 3.0-inch Clear View LCD monitor II.Built-in wireless technology and the EOS Remote app* further enhance shooting versatility, as well as enable easy sharing.Brilliant image quality is provided by the EOS 70D's 20.2 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor, a first for an EOS camera with an APS-C sized sensor.Continuous shooting up to 7.0 frames per second, as well as an extended ISO range of 100–12800 (H: 25600) that allows shooting in a wide variety of lighting conditions.19-point all cross-type AF system with a high precision dual cross f/2.8 center point, and advanced display options available on the Intelligent Viewfinder supply exceptional control.In-camera imaging features like HDR, HDR Backlight Control, Multiple Exposure, Handheld Night Scene, and Creative Filters.
While waiting for the Aurora
Saturday March 16, 2013 - Predictions for a great Aurora Borealis were excellent. The solar activity promised the Aurora to display all the way South in Massachusetts. Being a big fans of this phenomenon my wife and I made reservations at an inn in Caribou, Maine. 7 1/2 hours later we were scouting out for good locations. The skies were clear as can be and the excitement escalating. We had dinner and drove out to the planned location. To cut a long story short, 14 degree temperatures were not going to stop us from photographing the Aurora. 5 hours later it is 3:00 and there is no sign of the event. We packed up and went back to the hotel. BIG MISTAKE - 4:30 the lights turned on and by 5:00 AM some of the most spectacular images were being captured but the lucky photographers while we slept soundly.While waiting I decided to take some short time lapses. Did one with the camera pointed at Polaris. This was a short 20 minute capture resulting in few seconds of video. The individual images were then stacked to create a star-trail.Here is the video:stars1The stack looks great - the glow in the lower half is light pollution from some homes and towers in the distance. Click on the image for a larger view.
Iceland - the Fire and Ice Photo Tour and Workshop
Got back after two glorious weeks in Iceland. The ever changing weather really kept me on my toes. Each day was a surprise - nothing like what was predicted the night before. It is fun to experience bone chilling gale force winds, hail that hits your face like BB pellets, rain that falls sideways, brilliant blue skies when it isn't overcast, the smell of sulphur, hot springs, and whole lot more.A few images of the Aurora Borealis will speak for themselves.The aurora on the first night was small but brilliant.
We chased the lights for quite a while the next evening and got a light level 1 Aurora
We had given up and were returning to the hotel. Just as we entered the outskirts of the city this spectacular display presented itself.
I will post more over the next few days.
Photographing the Aurora Borealis
I have added a new tip on my tips page on "Photographing the Aurora Borealis" Click here for a direct link
Bosque del Apache and White Sands National Monument
Returned late last night after an incredible Photo Tour and Workshop (PTAW) to the Bosque and White Sands. We arrived in New Mexico on Thanksgiving and it was non stop photography from pre dawn to night every day.The PTAW officially started on Friday but early arrivers enjoyed Thanksgiving evening watching the Sandhill Cranes fly in with the golden light of the setting sun. Each morning we picked a location ideal for capturing great images - all based on the direction of the winds in conjunction with the sunrise. Mornings and mid afternoons were spent scouting out for additional opportunities in the corn fields and pools.The reserve has been cleaned up and almost every location is perfect for great image making. Some images from PTAW participants:
The image above is from the first morning and the three images below are from the following evening.
And here is one of mine at sunset.
Could not resist posting a "Fly Off" aka "Blast Off" aka "Explosion" - whatever you want to call it - it is just fabulous to witness.
The current count of Sandhill Cranes is just under 7,000 and the the Snow Goose count is about 53,000 as of November 28, 2012.
December 2012 - One Day Workshops
The One-Day workshops for December 2012 are now available. Please reserve your spot early as these do fill up fast.Click Here to be directed to the One Day Workshop Page and the reservation form. Call 617.759.0010 if you have any questions.