Photography is only one part of the finished product. I photographer with good toning skills can turn an average image into something amazing. I also offer free profressional high frequency retouching on all of my portraits. This technique separates the detail and color layers. Retouching can be simple or involved. It is all up too you. I offer blemish removal, skin color correction, sculpting, eye brightening and modeling, lip retouching, face and body shaping, hair retouching, and fake eyelashes. If there is something I missed let me know and I can most likely do it.
How to create a vignette action in Adobe Photoshop that works with horizontal or verticle images as well as any ratio. If you would like to download my free Action Set I will create a link below. To install the action just double click the .atn file and it should install.
If you would like to see more Photoshop, Lightroom or Photography Videos check out my YouTube Channel.
Free Action Set Download: John Whitehead Images Action Set.atn
Simba is a 2-3 day old Alpaca at Bent Pine Alpaca Farm. I had the chance to take a few photos when my neighbor took my daughter to meet him yesterday. He was silky smooth and very docile. I think they said he was 15lbs. He was walking around and very curious. I love animals and am always willing to take portraits of them. Check out some of my animal portraits here!
You could see the smiles and chuckles from the crowd and even the judges as this overweight mini made his way onto the mini jumping course. He had short legs and his ground clearance was hindered by the belly hanging between his legs. The judge sad go and he trotted off towards the jump. He sprung upwards like NBA dunk champion. He was a cute little horse and completed the course twice earning himself and this young lady a trip to the 4H State Championships. Good Luck!
Memory Cards Are Not Created Equal
“The SD Card”
There are a few types of digital cards that cameras use today but we are only going to talk about the most popular. The SD card is made by many manufactures and comes in a variety of Read/Write Speeds. Box stores and small camera places will sell you the card that makes them the most money. Sandisk is one of the more popular brands that are reliable. However, they sell the same size cards at multiple speeds.
The main Sandisk card you do not want to buy is the blue one. It is not fast enough to shoot video. Cards come in Read/Write speeds. Read/Write refers to how fast they will write to the card and how fast it can be read by another source. You need to look at the Fine Detail. Most cards only show one speed but that does not mean the read/write speeds are the same. The speed on the card refers to the read speed, the write speed is usually much slower. You don’t want to be taking photos and have to wait for your camera to write to the card for 10 seconds and miss important images. Buy the fastest you can afford.
Cards come with different classes stamped on them. Like Class 1, Class 10, U3. You will need Class 10 to shoot and save HD video and U3 to shoot and save 4K video. Note, the blue card is Class 4 and it does not support shooting video.
Where things can become confusing is when you see ‘SDHC’ and ‘SDXC’. The first stands for ‘Secure Digital High Capacity. This was initially introduced to cover SD cards with a capacity above 2GB and below 32GB. The latter stands for ‘Secure Digital eXtra Capacity’, which goes far beyond 32GB in size. Lastly, the Extreme Pro cards come with free downloadable recovery software. If you ever accidentally delete your files the software will most likely recover them.
Lexar was another brand of SD card I really liked and is still for sale, but the company stopped making the cards. The former employees formed a new company called, ProGrade which makes professional cards. Sony has come out with some SD Cards but they have not been out long enough to get a sense of their failure rate.
Updated August 2020
Two other camera memory cards you should be aware of are XQD which are used in some Nikon cameras and the most recent the CF Express Card. My guess is CF Express will be the standard moving on because of its amazing speed.
XQD Memory Cards
XQD memory cards have been out for a while and have been used in some Nikon cameras. The cards are as fast as most basic SSD (solid-state drives) with a read speed of 440MB/S and a write speed of 400 MB/S. Unfortunately, I think the future is the next card I will be talking about the CF Express memory card.
CF Express Memory Cards
The CF Express card is the newest of the group and by far the fastest. As digital cameras become high-end video cameras, there is a need for saving 6K and 8K video. Welcome the CF Express card with a read speed of 1700 MB/S and a write speed of 1200 MB/S. You will be paying a bit more for this card but expect prices to drop as they become more mainstream.
This video is why I use the Rear Focus Button and why you need to learn to move your focus points. If you have never heard of or used rear or back focus you are missing out. Not only is independent focus important but understanding how and when to move your focus points with really help with your focus accuracy.
To see more Adobe Photoshop CC Tutorials check out my Tutorial Pages.
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/advanced-adobe-photoshop-tutorials/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/adobe-lightroom/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/photography-browser-tutorial-videos/
- My YouTube Channel
What you will need to shoot quality video on a DSLR or Mirrorless Camera. I cover audio, monitors and camera stabilization. Note: I am not sponsored by any of these companies.
Zoom: https://www.zoom-na.com/
Sennheiser: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/
Manfrotto: https://www.manfrotto.us/
Ikan: http://ikancorp.com/
To see more Adobe Photoshop CC Tutorials check out my Tutorial Pages.
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/advanced-adobe-photoshop-tutorials/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/adobe-lightroom/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/photography-browser-tutorial-videos/
Why I suggest you never use AutoTone in Adobe Photoshop CC or Adobe Lightroom to correct images. Also why I almost never set or use white point.
To see more Adobe Photoshop CC Tutorials check out my Tutorial Pages.
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/advanced-adobe-photoshop-tutorials/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/adobe-lightroom/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/photography-browser-tutorial-videos/
It is that time of the year. Fall portrait season is almost here. Book early to ensure you have a spot. It rains so make sure you have time to make up any outdoor session.
Fall is by far the most popular portrait season. Here is a link to help you with picking the perfect location, time of day and clothes to wear. If you have any question please feel free to contact myself.
I don’t charge for designing holiday cards with any portrait session. All you pay for is the printing cost.
Video Settings a DSLR
What settings to you need to set to shoot video on a DSLR? I will go over the basic settings and optional Picture Style Settings on my Canon DSLR. Note I shoot most video with low contrast but not always with desaturated color! There is a lot more to shooting video than just the settings but hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction.
Technicolor Picture Profile Download Link: https://www.technicolor.com/cinestyle
To see more Adobe Photoshop CC Tutorials check out my Tutorial Pages.
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/advanced-adobe-photoshop-tutorials/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/adobe-lightroom/
- https://www.jcwphoto.com/photography-browser-tutorial-videos/