Five Photography Tips That Do Not Require Any Gear

Today’s post is in the form of an Audio Boo sound cast. I offer five tips that I hope can help your photography. The best thing about these tips is they do not require any kind special gear. I hope you find these tops helpful and you have a great day. Sincerely, Thomas Shue

How To Create A Diffused Look In Photoshop

Effect Applied

Before

Today I want to show you how to create a diffused look in Photoshop. This technique will work with many photos, I use it on still life and portraits. One of the great things about using this method is it’s fast and super easy to control the exact amount of the effect. Diffused looking images are hard to control if you try to create them in camera. The problem is you lose too much contrast of you use a light source to flare the lens, once the information is gone. If you do this in post production, there is little chance of looking detail and again you have exact control. This method isn’t something that I would use all the time, but once in a while it does come in handy.

Thanks for taking time to stop by. I hope you have a great day. Sincerely, Thomas Shue

Shooting Raw VS Jpeg with the Fuji X100s A World Of Difference

This is the Raw Converted File (Color is Rich)

This is the In Camera Jpeg



Hey Folks, Today’s post comes a little late in the day and I want to say sorry for that. I had some technical difficulties but we are all good to go now. OK, let’s get started. Raw vs Jpeg, you might be hearing from photographers, “I shoot Jpegs”, with such and such camera, “because creates amazing Jpegs right out of camera”. I have seen it, some camera do make great Jpegs. For example Olympus is world famous for it’s blues when you shoot Jpegs. The algorithms used to process jpegs from Raw files in camera are highly guarded secrets. FujiFilm just released the X100s and they too are said to produce world class Jpegs. I tend to agree because when you use the film emulsion modes to shoot Velvia the jpegs will remind you of the film days. I love those in camera color curves and they are fun to play with. Keyword, “Play”!

If you are serious about your photography, then you need to shoot Raw, it’s that simple. If you are shooting for money and want to deliver your very best work, then shoot Raw. Shoot Raw because there is Huge difference. Here is the reason, when you shoot Raw, you are making a dense file. A the file gives you as much information possible to work with in post. Remember the client doesn’t care how much effort you put in your images, they just care about the end result. Your end results will speak for themself against other photographers who like it or not, you are competing against for paying jobs (if you are a pro).

Take a look at the video below where I process two files in Lightroom. One is a Jpeg, one is a Raw from them FujiFilm X100s. Note they are the same exact file captured at the same exact time. I am here to tell you, there is a night and day difference in the two images as a final result. I am testing this Fuji camera and I can say without a doubt, I will be shooting Raws 100% of the time with this camera.

Thanks for taking time to visit today. Sincerely, Thomas Shue

Technical Problems In The Field

Todays post is intended to help you avoid technical problems in the field. So here I am miles away from my gear. I packed what I thought would allow me to do my blog posts in the field. The problem is my connection. I need a connection that is open and free to move files as I see fit. The hotel I am staying in does not allow me to move certain files through their connection to un approved websites. My blog is un approved so I cannot even post a photo here. Instead of posting photos on my facebook and sending you a link. I regret to inform you that today’s post is not going to happen because I did not plan well. I am sorry, Sincerely, Thomas Shue

The Fuji X100s Testing Continues
(Computer situation is not allowing me to upload images sorry see images here)

Hey there, thanks for taking time visit today. I have been testing the FujiFilm x100s for three days now and this camera is great but it has a few quirks. First off this thing eats batteries like no other. The good news is the batteries are cheap compared to a standard DSLR battery. I think the problem is the LCD and the EFV (electronic viewfinder) switch back and forth taking turns being on. There are several display modes that you can choose from, but one of the digital displays are always on, and this drains the battery. Also there is a standard and performance mode, in the performance mode this camera drinks power. Lastly the in camera metering system is constantly adjusting the aperture to read light (even in AV mode). The aperture movement in the x100s is known as aperture dancing, not only does it drain power, it can affect the time it takes to make a picture. Remember every camera has quirks and you have to learn to work around them.

Since the X100s was the only camera I brought with me on vacation. Also the fact I received it directly from FujiFilm the day before I left for vacation means I only have the single battery. I got about three hours of use before it was dead. I made 355 Raw+Jpeg images in high performance mode. The session started during our morning trip to the beach then on the San Diego Zoo before the batteries pooped out (about three hours). The batteries can be had from Fuji film for $59.00 or you can get aftermarket for $6-$10 bucks. These batteries do not have an information chip in them so they are way less than my Canon LP-E6′s. I think I am going to buy three extras so I am never run out of power again. I plan to keep one in the camera, two in my card wallet (they are tiny) and one on the charger (advice via David Hobby).

One last thing about the camera/battery issues. The fact that it drinks lots of power isn’t really a problem. What is a problem is when the low battery indicator shows up. You will be shooting and you’ll see a red low batt warning, it will have three bars on it, then all of a sudden the camera goes dead. I think this is something that Fuji should address via firmware.

I am very glad to own this camera. If you do your part, this camera will make some amazingly sharp images. Also the way it renders Depth of Field is wonderful. I find myself shooting manual focus which is amazing. There are manual three focus assist modes. I prefer the split prism, and sometimes the focus peaking. I do believe the focus peaking should not be a white overlay, it should be red. Another thing I love about this camera are the film modes. I have always loved Velvia film and this camera does a wonderful job when in the Velvia film mode.

So far it’s been a lot of fun working with this new tool. I am really loving the files it creates, they are basically noiseless images, and are super sharp. Below are just a few of the images I was able to make. Thanks for taking time to visit today. Sincerely, Thomas Shue