Surfin’ the Web for Lightroom and CS4

Hey guys,

I’ve been pretty wrapped up with work that’s why I haven’t had any posts recently. Watch out though, I have some stuff in store  (and in my drafts)… Just wanted to share with you some of the links that I found interesting during my spare time of surfin’ the web:

Photography and Lightroom links:

• Interested in getting textures and how to put them in  your images to add more impact? Check out Make Light Real. While you’re there, don’t forget to check ‘The Art of Photoshop’ for some post-processing tips.
• Lightroom Presets: The Ultimate Free List! - A page that combines ALL (and I mean ALL) of the Lightroom Presets on the web. I’m not listed there but you can get hold of my 300 presets via the InsideLightroom.com link.
• Preset Heaven: A great site for free presets. Check it out and subscribe to their RSS feed if you haven’t done so. They also have a tutorial on how to put image stamps on your photos from Lightroom.
• Sean McCormack has a video on how to create a Triptych from 1 Photo in Lightroom.
• Flying With Fish has a review of a new photo-backpack called Kiboko (by Gura Gear). It seems like it’s a great bag that can hold a lot of photography gear. I’ll probably consider that when I have enough gear to put in that bag. Right now, I have too little and I’m looking for more of a laptop/photo-backpack, with enough room to carry 2 laptops.
• If you want to see how some corporate offices look like, check out http://www.officesnapshots.com/ … it’s pretty nice to see how professional or cool an office can be depending on the image of the company.

For the CS4 Addicts:

• To all CS4 fans out there, CS4 products are now available for trial at adobe.com. If you’re interested, you may download them there, or purchase one at amazon.com (they have a little bit of discount and no shipping/taxes!).
• I just saw that Scott Kelby has a page called ‘Inside Creative Suite4 with Scott Kelby’over at amazon.com where he writes about the new features that you get in CS4
• And finally, Scott Kelby’s Photoshop CS4 Book is also available for Pre-Order at Amazon.com (to be released in 2009)… Man, Scott is one hard working person! He has a new book out again!

Note: Images courtesy of amazon.com

Friday Photography News

Hey guys,

Here are some links that you might want to check out during the weekend (assuming you have some spare time to surf the internet )

• Scott Kelby’s reminder: KEEP AUG 23 OPEN! It’s still a secret on what will happen during that day, but just keep it open. It’s gonna be worth it!
• Terry White was a guest blogger at Scott Kelby’s site and he has a great article on how to use iPhone or iPod Touch to share your photos
• A recent site visitor (Jim Bridges) shared his comments on how my Lightroom 300 presets are very useful to him…Anyway, my point is – he has a daily photoblog called 365,000 words. Check it out, very good photography there! And, if you like his site, make sure to vote for him in the 2008 Photoblog Awards.
• Digital Photography School came out with an article on EV Compensation – very useful read. The important is, know your camera and its functions so you can take advantage of it while shooting.
• Digital Photography School is also telling you all to Share Your Best Shot! - Post why you think these are your best shots and why… go ahead and post!
• FJ Westcott – check out the new FJ Westcott Community Site that was launched recently. Sign-up there and you might just be their Top 100 Endorsed Pros!
• Very good article on Layers Magazine on how to create ‘stunning black & white images in Lightroom‘

Oh, and before I forget – Scott Kelby just announced his new Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers! If you want to learn LR2 the right way and the quickest way possible, I suggest you get his book. You might ask – “How do you know this? Have you seen his new book?” Well, the answer is — NO! Hahaha! I just know that this is going to be a BIG HIT based on how he wrote ALL of his past books. I have a lot of them! His Lightroom Book was one of the most useful resources on how I learned Lightroom. If you’re excited to buy his new book, you may pre-order them at Amazon.com, or from KelbyTraining.com.

Here’s the cover for his new book… I can’t wait to get my hands on his book. Maybe I can have it autographed if I meet him at Photoshop World in Vegas this September!

That’s it! Enjoy your weekend!

Photography Links Wednesdays

Some interesting links for today:

• I stumbled upon a good article explaining how Sports Illustrated photographers setup their equipment during the Final Four tournament. Read it here. Great story and it’s amazing how technology helps them speed things up especially in putting up the images quickly on their website.
• Matt K of LightroomKillerTips.com had a ‘Suggest a Preset Day’  – go ahead and suggest a preset that he can share with everyone and you might just win a prize!
• David Ziser – an awesome wedding photographer – has an article on how to save $50 on a bounce-flash
• Nikon announced the new D60 and  a bunch of new lenses.

That’s all for now! Thanks, guys!

A Look Back at My Photography for 2007

Since it’s the last day of 2007, I wanted to look back at what happened to me this year and what I have learned from photography.

• January 2007 - Had 2 great shoots: Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival and the World Pyro Olympics. I was fortunate enough to have some great captures and I participated in the Readers Gallery section of the Digital Photographer Philippines (DPP) Magazine.
• February 2007 – I got published for the first time in DPP Magazine! This for me is a big accomplishment because I am just starting out in photography and my photos have been recognized by others. Yehey!
• March 2007 – Fortunate enough to go to Sitti’s concert at the Music Museum. She’s a wonderful Bossa Nova artist. Check her out if you haven’t listened to her music. Photos are found here and here. I was also able to attend the Adobe CS3 launch in Manila. This was a great event because Adobe was able to come out with a suite of products that just integrate well with each other. INTEGRATION is the key for apps now.
• April 2007 – the movie ’300′ came out and I loved the effects/colors they did. I challenged myself to replicate the effect in Lightroom ONLY and not in Photoshop. The photos turned out to be great!
• May 2007 – Was able to complete the Lightroom preset for the ’300 effect’ and shared it at Inside-lightroom.com. Also got myself the Canon Speedlite 580 EX II as my external flash system and of course, Scott Kelby’s Lightroom Book. Ye!!!
• June 2007 – Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to me!!! I got myself the Apple 23″ Cinema Display to complement my Powerbook. This is a MUST-HAVE if you want to view/edit photos or just movies & tv shows from your computer! I was also fortunate enough to go to visit Singapore and Siem Reap. This was another great photo opportunity as I was able to take a photo of Angkor Wat.
• July 2007 – Went to Chicago for work. I still have to post some photos during my trip here. Ugh, I hate it when I think of the backlog I have in editing/publishing my photos.
• August 2007 – Shopping and sight-seeing at Hong Kong! It’s good to be back there after a loooong time. I haven’t published all my photos yet , but here’s a photo of a shark from Ocean Park. I was also able to meet Parc Cruz and Borj Meneses – 2 great Photoshop guys when they did a seminar in Iloilo. I also got the chance to meet Ross Capili (amazing photographer and artist) who introduced me to fine-art printing of my photos.
• September 2007 – had some of my photos printed at Ross Capili’s studio. Gosh, they look great! There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing your actual photo on a frame. I also signed a copy of my Dinagyang photo and gave it to Freska restaurant to complete their “Ilonggo-feel”. If you happen to pass by Freska, don’t forget to order MANAGAT! It’s my favorite fish in the whole world! YUMMY!
• October 2007 – new toy: CANON 40D!!! Plus, another great news – I won 2nd place in Canon’s SMILE 7107 Contest in the Philippines! I was a happy kid when I learned the news. My prize – a Canon Selphy printer. I have some comments about the postcard paper for this printer, so just watch out for it! Hehehe!
• November 2007 – upgraded to Leopard, got Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System book (great great book!), and went on a trip to Palawan! There’s around 12GBs of photos that I have to sift through so just watch out for the stunning images! I also had my first-ever baby shoot which was used as a photo for my god-son’s baptism invite.
• December 2007 – I haven’t had the chance to go through my Palawan photos and in comes several Christmas parties! Highlights are the shots of the famous Side-A band, and being able to shoot the Atrium’s fireworks display in Iloilo! Thanks to John for giving me the special access to be able to shoot at a great location.

Well, I guess that summarizes my 2007. To all of you, thank you for visiting my site and reading my *boring* entries!

Happy New Year to you and your families! May the new year bring you prosperity, peace and fun!

News Day…

Wow, it’s been almost 4 weeks since I posted an entry. I’m still in the process of organizing and fixing my photos from my recent trip to Palawan and a couple of other shoots I did so watch out for that. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some news in photography/post-processing that might interest you.

First up is the newly-launched online training from Kelby Training. Instead of paying for each course, you only have to pay a subscription fee – either monthly or annually! This is a great venue to learn Photoshop and other Adobe products from the best folks. Some trainings that interest me are the Photoshop for Wedding Photographers, CS3 Power Session and Lightroom Stuff. One more thing, there’s even a free trial if you want to see how the tutorials are done.

From my experience, these group of guys (NAPP) really make it simple for you to learn and understand Photoshop (including Lightroom). For photographers, I would recommend you subscribe to the following podcasts because these will truly increase your post-processing and workflow techniques:

• Photoshop User TV
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips
• Adobe Photoshop Killer Tips

Second, there’s a new book for photographers by Joe McNally called “The Moment It Clicks“. I have read a lot of hype about this book on the internet and I’m already adding this to my cart on amazon.com! I think this stuff is great because Joe will be sharing with us some of his secrets when he goes out shooting.

Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System is so easy to read and understand. The photo from the previous post (scroll down to see the shark) was done using his method. I highly recommend it for people who want to take their photos a step further!

Shark

Sharing with you a photo taken at Ocean Park in Hong Kong. I would love to say that it’s an underwater shot, unfortunately, it was taken in an aquarium. I actually have a lot of photos taken from the aquariums in Hong Kong and Singapore, and I might as well start an underwater collection for my photos! Well, watch out for more…

Lightroom ’300 Presets’ ROCKS!

I recently ran across a post from Pixelated Image Blog that posted a photo of the Taj Mahal using my 300 presets from Inside Lightroom.

It’s really a very humbling thought that David duChemin (Pixelated Image) likes the effects I created! If you have downloaded the 300 preset, please feel free to drop me a note.

Also, don’t forget to check out David duChemin’s Photography Portfolio…there’s great photography there!

Image courtesy of Pixelated Image.