August 7, 2009
July 7, 2009
Fourth of July Fireworks
Last year I got pictures of the Maunalua Bay fireworks from ground level. The only drawback for me is the land on either side of the bay is mostly dark with no landmarks to give the fireworks scale and dimension. This year I walked up on top of Koko Head so I could look down on the display. In this picture the flash reflecting off the water showing the boats anchored nearby along with the street lights snaking behind the display provides a sense of height, depth and width.
February 5, 2009
360 POV
This evening was a Sunset Photo Op. I got some nice ones from the Koko Head promontory near my neighborhood.
However a photographer should keep their head on a swivel. You never know what might be going on behind you.
January 31, 2009
Missed it by That Much!
While driving back from Makapuu, after helping my hang gliding friends, I could see a great sunset developing Friday. The clouds over this end of the Ko’olaus reflected the orange/yellow glow of the setting sun. A good sign the sun would set unobstructed by clouds all the way to the horizon. Keeping one eye on the road and one eye on the clouds I headed for the Hawaii Kai lookout. Unfortunately, the glow faded as I pulled into the parking area. This picture only hints to the color of the clouds a moment before.
January 17, 2009
November 11, 2008
November 6, 2008
October 29, 2008
Goin Fishin
There’s a section of Koko Head called China Walls. Some of it is a high bare cliff dropping to a flat shelf. During the summer the south swell makes it a dangerous place to stand. When the swell comes from the north during fall and winter the waters here are smoother and fishing and swimming is safer. It’s also a great place to watch the sunset.
Spear fisherman leaping from the rocks at Koko Kai Park at Maunalua Bay
Why I am grateful for Lightroom
Tags: ACR, Adobe, Bridge, CS, DSLR, kiteboarding, Kitesurfing, Lightroom, Maunalua Bay, Maxxum 7, Maxxum 7D, Photoshop, PSD
In March 2005 I upgraded to the Maxxum 7D from the Maxxum 7. I made the leap to a DSLR. I looked forward to taking as many pictures as I wanted and only printing the ones I wanted. I quickly learned it wasn’t quite that simple.
Photoshop CS and ACR allowed me to process my RAW images. However, ACR was clunky in it’s ability to help me review and pick the best images. It’s one thing to take alot of pictures. It’s another to find the best of them. Then after finding them, I had to go into Photoshop to complete the process. So an 8 meg RAW file turns into a 10 or 20 or more PSD file. It was all so ungainly and not a great encouragement to go out and take alot of pictures so I could learn to make better images.
Then out of the blue Adobe announced the beta program for Lightroom. As soon as I started to use it. I knew this is what I’d been waiting for. Easy to learn and quick to use.
Why do I write about this? For the past several days I’ve been going back thru my pictures from the first year of using my DSLR. Beyond the obvious bad images. I never culled my pictures for the marginal ones. It was too tedious with Bridge-ACR-PS workflow. LR is soo much faster. Plus I can easily work with a marginal image. Play with the WB. Work in B&W or Split Tone. Easily make a creative crop. With the latest version of LR you can do selective adjustments that before required using PS.
Now I go out and take hundreds of pictures knowing I can quickly distill it down to just the ones I want. All keyworded and organized into collections that I can upload to my website.
For the average JPEG Point and Shoot user LR is more than you’d want to pay for a software program to process your images. However, if you’re making the transition to a DSLR add Lightroom to your purchasing plans. You won’t regret it. If you’re a MAC user than you’ve also got Aperture to consider. Either program will allow you to effortlessly examine your images. Learn what worked and improve yourself thereby. Helping you to present your best to the viewing public.
Kitesurfers in Maunalua Bay