RRD Photo - Cincinnati Photography and Digital ImaRRD Photo - Cincinnati Photography and Digital ImaRyan Dlugosz is a freelance photographer and tech guru in the Cincinnati, OH area. His blog explores photography from a technological perspective and the less tangible aspects of the creative process. 
Articles
Renowned Bird Photographer Bill Leaman: April 24, 2008
2008-04-12 17:47:00 The Camera Club of Cincinnati is hosting a seminar with Bird Photographer Bill Leaman on Thursday, April 24 at 8PM. The session is free and open to the public.Bill Leaman is a nationally published photographer whose images appear regularly in magazines such as Birds & Blooms and Wildbird. His bird images often can be seen on the covers of calendars across the United States.Bill is represented by several stock photo agencies worldwide. Although birds are his primary focus, he has an image library of over 20,000 images which include landscapes, mammals, plants and outdoor recreation. Bill is also a Park Ranger Sergeant with the Hamilton County Park District near Cincinnati, Ohio.April 24, 2008 8:00 PMThe Camera Club of Cincinnati7045 Vine StreetCarthage, Ohio 45216A PDF Flier is available if you would like to help spread the word!
Handicapped Parking
2008-04-05 20:19:00 Handicapped Parking , originally uploaded by rrdphoto. A "Golden Champion" motorized scooter sits in a parking garage, secured by a heavy steel chain and brass padlock. A handicapped parking sign is on the wall above the scooter.Too bad it wasn't a Rascal!I snapped this in a downtown Cincinnati garage while packing up my car after a shoot. I really like the way the chain adds to the story of the shot... it speaks to the limitations of being handicapped or at least the perception of limitation.
Overview of Lightroom 2.0 Beta
2008-04-03 17:20:00 Adobe has released a public beta version of Lightroom 2.0, which sports several new features including:Localized corrections such as Dodging & Burning (sweet!!)Ability to open in Photoshop CS3 as a Smart Object (double sweet!!)Post-crop vignetting (uber!)Improved print sharpening (based on Photokit Sharpener - finally!)Very cool stuff indeed, but note that it's a beta and comes with some very important caveats.For a nice walkthrough of some of the new features, check out the Computer-Darkroom site run by Ian Lyons. I'm not jumping on this one just yet as I've got some work to get done first, but sooner or later I'll take it for a spin and let you know what I think. The localized D&B sounds totally awesome though - I *hate* having to blow out a full TIFF just to do a little dodge & burn or a vignette (on a cropped photo)... this will save me a ton of time & a lot of hard drive space. More About: Beta , Overview
Photo deals for April 2008
2008-04-03 02:46:00 Calumet Photo discount: $15 off $100 plus Free Shipping$15 off $100 at Calumet Photographic Plus Free Shipping over $75! - extended through April Important Notes on this deal:The $15 discount will not show up in the shopping cart when the product is purchased, but it will show up in the confirmation email with all of the order details.No code is necessary to receive this discount, but you must enter the site via the link aboveCalumet is quickly becoming one of my favorite online photo retailers. They ship same day if you order before 5PM CST and if you're any where near Chicago (including Cincinnati) the package typically arrives the next day! (And that's with just the basic shipping.)Great place to stock up on lenses, studio backdrops, lighting, etc... I just picked up some Super Clamps!Mozy Online Backup: April Coupon CodesMozy Unlimited Backup - $4.95/Month!10% off Annual Subscriptions: APRIL10% off Biannual Subscriptions: APRIL2Just follow the link above and enter the code i... More About: 2008
Exposing For Snow
2008-03-28 22:33:00 Baseball in Snow , March 20081/320sec @f/8, ISO200 | 24-70mm f/2.8L on Canon 30DI was going to hold off a bit on the "snow exposure" commentary since things in Cincinnati had warmed up into the 60's within about a week of the 2008 Winter Storm. However, since Chicago got slammed with snow this week and because the winter temperatures have returned to the 'nati I may as well talk snow!Bump Exposure Compensation UpThe typical advice when it comes to shooting snowscapes is to operate your camera as usual, but to set the Exposure Compensation to a value of +1EV or so. This works and you'll get nice white snow, but why is it necessary?Middle Gray MeteringThe meter inside your camera is a reflective meter, meaning that it is reading the light bouncing off of the surface you are focused on and determines how to expose the scene. The camera is setup to give an exposure which will render the metered subject as middle gray (18% gray).Of course, there are a lot of complex algorithms invol...
How to Use Curves... when you suck at Photoshop
2008-03-25 14:47:00 Donnie Hoyle has been treating us to hilarious Photoshop how-to's for a while now and he just put out Volume #9 of You Suck At Photoshop: Curves .The whole series is great & if you are new to this you may want to start back at episode #1...
Mysterious Symbols...
2008-03-23 16:42:00 Electric Guitar, originally uploaded by rrdphoto. A Flickr user left a comment on the photo above that explains what the various symbols on the guitar mean. Very cool, since I had wondered ever since I took the photo. I'm glad she happened past and answered the call - the Internet is pretty cool (sometimes).User joychristine says:from the top down- very loose translation:a. matter (existence)... (also taken as perfection or an elemental grounding)...b. passive intellect, similarity- in my opinion, basic human relation.c. isolation. protection.d. (very strictly) crossbreeding. variety. combination... as the beatles put it, "come together."Anyway, these guys (Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers) will be back in town this Tuesday night at the Southgate House! Highly recommended if you're into great live music... I probably won't shoot the show; I've shot these guys several times & think I'm just going for the tunes this time around.You can see other RCPM photos here. More About: Mysterious , Symbols
PicLens: My new favorite tool for browsing web galleries
2008-03-22 12:42:00 I'm of the opinion that most web-based photo galleries suck when it comes to usability & actually viewing photos.After all, isn't seeing the photographs the most important part?Seriously - the photo is about (well, supposed to be about) the image; not the EXIF, tags, groups, etc! When I'm trying to look at a gallery of photographs I want to see the images and have the interface get out of the way.Enter PicLens. This is a piece of software that you install onto your computer that integrates with your favorite web browser (Firefox, Safari, and even MSIE). Now, any time you visit a photo gallery-style web site you can click the Play button that appears when you hover over an image and be launched into the PicLens full screen image browser!It works with any site that provides a standard Media RSS feed, including: Flickr, SmugMug, Facebook, Lightroom Galleries and more. In full screen mode, you can drag the "image wall" in 3D space to view *all* thumbnails (no more pages of ju... More About: Tool , Browsing , Favorite
Notes from the Digital Photo Basics talk...
2008-03-21 14:05:00 What follows are some notes from the "Digital Photo graphy Basics " session I led last night for the Camera Club of Cincinnati.Using the Histogram:* Shadows on the left, Highlights on the right.* For most scenes avoid exposures where the histogram is slammed into either the left or right edge, which means blocked shadows or blown highlights, respectively.* http://tinyurl.com/8qpd - Great article from The Luminous Landscape on the topic.Proper Exposure:* For the most part, treat digital exposure like slide film.* Around 5 stops of dynamic range, though newer technologies/RAW processing can allow for 7 or more.* "Expose to the Right" - a digital exposure technique that is technically the most optimal, however in most practical cases not anything to worry about.* The above is true because brightest stops of exposure (the right of the histogram) have the most bits of data allocated to them.* http://tinyurl.com/2hebo - Article from LL that explains the situation.* AGAIN, this is good to un... More About: Notes , Talk
Photoshop Disasters: A blog featuring the worst in retouching
2008-03-11 06:10:00 A friend sent me a link to this site via email today & I got such a kick out of it that I had to pass it along to you all...http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot. com/Their mission is to point out retouches-gone-wrong and reveal that what you see is not to be believed! ...Ever!Enjoy. More About: Photoshop , Disasters , Blog , Featuring
Digging Out: Scenes from the Winter Storm of 2008
2008-03-10 11:59:00 Off to Work - Covington, KYFlickr Gallery / Prints & Large ImagesThis morning Ohio and the surrounding states are recovering from the aftermath of a record-setting winter storm that blew through the Midwest on Friday and Saturday. A friend of mine and I went out Saturday afternoon to look for some unique photographs - we don't get winter weather like this too often in Cincinnati!We started in Covington, KY (which is where I captured the scene above) and then worked our way across the Roebling Bridge. It was brutal crossing over the Ohio River - the blizzard conditions were especially bad since you're totally exposed... No buildings around to block the winds!Next we worked out way over to Great American Ball Park, where we found the statues playing ball as usual - blissfully unaware that it's a bit cold for baseball! We were really happy that we ended up here, as someone before us had built a Snowman Umpire and put a Snowball in Joe Nuxhall's hand.After making our way back... More About: Winter , Storm , Scenes , 2008
Photography Deals for March
2008-03-04 02:20:00 Pretty busy lately, but I've gotten a couple of emails in the last week or so that may interest folks in the market for some new photo gear. Happy shopping...Calumet Photo discount: $15 off $100 plus Free Shipping$15 off $100 at Calumet Photographic Plus Free Shipping over $75! - expires 3/31Important Notes on this deal:The $15 discount will not show up in the shopping cart when the product is purchased, but it will show up in the confirmation email with all of the order details.No code is necessary to receive this discount, but you must enter the site via the link aboveCalumet is quickly becoming one of my favorite online photo retailers. They ship same day if you order before 5PM CST and if you're any where near Chicago (including Cincinnati) the package typically arrives the next day! (And that's with just the basic shipping.)Great place to stock up on lenses, studio backdrops, lighting, etc.Mozy Online Backup: March Coupon CodesMozy Unlimited Backup - $4.95/Month!10% off ... More About: Photography
Cincy Strobist Meet-up a Huge Success!
2008-03-03 05:10:00 This Saturday we hosted the first Cincinnati-region "Strobist Fan" meet-up at the Camera Club of Cincinnati studios. The event was a great success - we had about 30 photographers and 3 models - folks made the journey from Louisville, Indianapolis, Dayton, Columbus... You can see most of us in the group shot above, though we took it at the very end of the day and a few folks had to take off a bit early.I didn't end up shooting very much, since I was keeping myself busy running around to the various set ups and making sure everyone had what they needed. That was fine by me - we all had a great time (though I'll have to make sure I shoot a bit more next time!).You can check out a few of my selects here and be sure to check out all of the other photos that people have posted by browsing the Flickr tag: cincystrobistmeet0308.THANKS!!A huge thanks goes to Lon (of FlashZebra fame) for coming up with the idea of hosting a Strobist Meet at the CCofC. Also, thanks to Ethan, Fred, Frank,... More About: Success , Huge
Use Thumbnails in place of Windows Image Icons for JPEG, GIF
2008-02-24 16:15:00 While reading a photo forum this morning I came across a person looking for a way to "see thumbnail images on my desktop instead of the generic JPG icon that Windows provides". A few of the responses on the thread were offering some workarounds like "put them in a folder on the desktop, then open it to see the thumbs". That doesn't really answer the call & forces you to use the (awful) XP Thumbnail view!I typically like to have my Explorer views set to "Detail" mode, which means you see the file names, size, and date information & just a tiny square icon. If I'm really browsing through images then I'm going to be inside Lightroom - in an Explorer view most often it is to do an upload, burn a CD, or web development activity where file detail is most relevant but a peek at what the image looks like would certainly be useful.I did a bit of searching and found this freeware utility called Xentient Thumbs from Xentient Software. It's a small, quick download & does exac... More About: Icons , Image , Place , Jpeg
Winter strikes back in Cincinnati!
2008-02-22 01:20:00 Well, today we finally saw a good amount of snow here in the 'nati. While we've had a few rounds of the white stuff this year, none have done too much in the way of coverage. This evening we're being hit pretty hard - forcing most evening activities (including my "Perspective Correction" tutorial over at the Camera Club of Cincinnati ) to be canceled.The snow will be turning to ice later tonight and should make for a huge mess during tomorrow morning rush hour... Ice *can* look pretty cool on the trees though, so I may have to run out around lunchtime to see if I can get some photos!Here's a photograph of an iced-over tree taken after last year's winter storm. Hopefully I'm lucky enough to see a similar scene tomorrow... More About: Winter , Back
Lindsay Lohan as Marilyn Monroe in "The Last Sitting"
2008-02-19 06:00:00 Photography legend Bert Stern is featured in New York Magazine this month with a racy shoot involving a nude Lindsay Lohan .Bert is recreating his famous Last Sitting of Marilyn Monroe portfolio using Lindsay as a stand-in. Bert's original Last Sitting shoot was the last series of photographs taken of the actress before she died of an overdose in 1962.NSFW: Yes, you do see naked pictures of Lindsay Lohan in this web portfolio. While they are excellent and indeed carry a lot of artistic merit the fact that it's art may not fly with your boss!Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, go here to view the portfolio.Is Stern the Reaper?Given the troubled times that Lindsay Lohan has been going through lately - rehab, car accidents, various rumors in the gossip rags - it is almost a bit unnerving that she would play the role of Marilyn. Granted, she is quite a bit younger than Marilyn was when she died but perhaps things move a bit faster in this day and age.Lindsay certainly does a ...
Free look into the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photo Shoot!
2008-02-16 18:53:00 Now through February 25 you can watch the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Video for free on Amazon Unbox. While this video isn't primarily geared toward photographers... well, OK, let's say it for what it is - this is a video that will appeal to a whole lot of dudes, but at the same time it's (at least based on the preview) a look into what's doin' at the photo shoots for the magazine! From looking at the photographs on the SI site, I must say that in addition to the models looking great there is some *awesome* photography going on here! Any glimpse into how these guys execute a shoot like this is worthwhile... and I suppose the other content won't exactly bore you either. :)I haven't tuned in yet, but have checked out the preview that you can watch right here (if this widget works! if not, check it out on Amazon): More About: Photo , Sports Illustrated , Free
February Print Night winners at CCofC
2008-02-12 23:49:00 Here are the results from the February edition of our monthly "Print Night " contest at the Camera Club of Cincinnati.ColorFirst place - Dave's Beer by Ryan Dlugosz (woo!)Second Place - Ballet Shoes by Nelson CharetteMonochromeFirst Place - Hummingbird Candlestick Holder by Ethan ParkerNote - there was no second place in the Monochrome category this month. For some reason everyone happened to have brought in color this time around! That, of course, does not take anything away from Ethan's great work here - his photograph would have likely placed even if the field were larger.My plan is to post the winning photographs each month as long as I get a JPEG from the photographers. Something to look forward to as the winners are typically great photographs! More About: Winners
Fine Art Photoblog launched
2008-02-12 18:07:00 Photographer Brian Auer has officially announced the launch of his new venture: Fine Art Photoblog . Looks like a great concept and there are some wonderful photographers involved with the project.The main idea is to sell prints of the photographs, but it's also a good blog to subscribe to in order to see a great photo on a daily basis. More About: Launched
Blogger Tour of the Gateway Quarter
2008-02-10 21:33:00 Yesterday afternoon I joined several other Cincinnati Blogger s for a private tour of the Gateway Quarter developments in the Over The Rhine section of Downtown Cincinnati. We all met up at the Q Information Center to get an overview of the project and then we went out to check out the progress.It was great to meet a lot of the local bloggers - many of whom I've emailed with quite a bit but haven't actually met in person! Nice to put a face to the name. Hopefully someone will pull together a list of all of the participants that I can link to... UPDATE: Indeed, someone has! Check out Lisa's great writeup of this event right here.Also impressive is how quickly this development has progressed. There's a lot of debate in the city as to whether or not this is a good thing - my opinion is that it most certainly is. Many of the buildings being renovated are completely abandoned and nearly entirely worthless (FWIW, there are a lot of buildings in that area that can be bought for *ve... More About: Tour
One Image - 17 Amazing Interpretations
2008-02-06 12:39:00 A while back I discussed my process for retouching the photograph at the left and turning it into the (IMHO) gorgeous scene below.Since then, 16 other photographers and/or Photoshop gurus have taken a shot at editing the photo. Now it's time to vote for your favorite! (Go number 1!)Grand Cayman Fuel DepotFollow this link to head over to check out the other images and vote for your favorite. One Image - 17 Amazing Interpretations Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and recommend Mozy for automatic online backups.2GB free or $4.95/month for unlimited, encrypted storage.
Dave's Beer
2008-02-05 01:54:00 Dave's Beer , originally uploaded by rrdphoto. A (relatively) quick shoot of my friend's bro's home-brewed beer. You can check out the details of the lighting set up on the photo's Flickr page (and, for what it's worth, this is my first blog post made using the Flickr "Blog This" capability... kind of curious to see how it works!).I'm more or less happy with the results. Shooting food & especially beverages requires a lot of set up and careful lighting design. For example, there is a piece of white card cut to the shape of the glass behind the glass that bounces light through the beer from an overhead strobe. The reflection is real - it comes from a black floor tile that it is sitting on... I need a larger version of that material though; 12" square is a little too small for anything but the smallest products. Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and recommend Mozy for automatic online backups.2GB free or $4.95/month for unlimited, encrypted storage.
Time Stops at Grand Central Station
2008-02-02 17:04:00 One of the coolest "live art" performances I've seen in a while. Check it out:Update: Check out the Improve Everywhere site for more of these vids! -RRD Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and recommend Mozy for automatic online backups.2GB free or $4.95/month for unlimited, encrypted storage. More About: Time , Station , Stops , Central , Central Station
The Green Monster: Sigma's new 200-500mm f/2.8
2008-01-31 12:33:00 Since they've already got a lens nicknamed "Bigma" we'll need to come up with a fitting nickname for Sigma's recently-announced 200-500mm f/2.8 zoom.I'd suggest they call it The Green Mons ter .Though it looks like some kind of weapon out of Quake II, this looks to be a pretty slick lens. Being a high-end Sigma, it's possible that the optical quality will be there and this will be the first 500mm f/2.8 zoom. Comes complete with a 2x teleconverter that they call an "attachment" (why?) and a battery built in to power the autofocus!Not exactly portable, but it looks totally sweet! Green Monster it is unless someone can suggest a better nickname!You can read more about the lens and its proposed specs over at DPReview. Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and recommend Mozy for automatic online backups.2GB free or $4.95/month for unlimited, encrypted storage.
Canon Repair Estimates: What to expect
2008-01-31 00:43:00 photo by blmurchIs your Canon DSLR in need of repair? Wondering how much this is going to cost you?Having just been through the process with my Canon 20D, I thought I'd share some insight that might help others with the repair estimate. While your experience may vary greatly depending on the type of problem you're having, the basics will remain the same - as will the "Minimum Labor Charge" that we'll get into later.My Canon 20D Problem:The particular situation I was faced with was a camera that would take a couple of photographs and then lock up with the dreaded "Err 99" on the display. If you switched it off & back on, you could take a couple of photos and then you'd get the Error 99 once again! I tried all combinations of batteries, lenses, cards, cleaning, etc. - no dice (and everything works just fine on my other body). Uh oh!I'm guessing that the problem had something to do with the shutter mechanism. The ##D line of cameras don't have highly durable shutters (lik... More About: Expect , Repair , Estimates , Anon
Plymouth ICE Spectacular
2008-01-29 01:50:00 Though I was quite ill (and still am, though it's getting better), I make it out to visit my friend Spencer in Michigan this weekend. We stopped by Plymouth to check out the annual Ice Carving Festival - it was packed with spectators!Had I not felt sick I may have petitioned to return in the evening so that we could take advantage of the colored lights that would be lit. With gray overcast skies, it was very difficult to get any separation or detail in the sculptures - you're essentially photographing something that is a translucent milky gray color against a backdrop of white snow and nearly white sky... Yea - color would help big time!Attempting to overcome the gray factor, I chose to shoot primarily with my 100mm lens and fill the frame with detail - either just the ice or of a specific activity. Then, in Lightroom I used a healthy amount of Clarity and Vibrance to make the detail ice come through. Here are a few of my favorites; you can view the full gallery here: Plymouth... More About: Spectacular
John Harrington's "What We Use" - awesome video series
2008-01-25 20:24:00 I've been watching the new series of videos that DC Photographer and author John Harrington has just put online. The series is titled What We Use and is a set of 32 videos taking you on a tour of all of the various lights, stands, cameras, computers, bags, ...even fog machines that he uses on his shoots.I've only just started watching but wanted to blog about it immediately - this is a great series that John has put a ton of work into! Each video is a separate post; you should start with the Introduction Video and go from there. The dialog in each clip is transcribed below it - a smart move from a SEO point of view and also great because he links to all of the products he's discussing (plus, they're affiliate links so John is likely to make a mint off this series! This guy knows business.)My first impression: dang, those Rololights are freakin' cool! Click the screen capture below to go check out this great video series. Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and rec... More About: Series , Awesome
Results from last night's Print of the Year exhibition
2008-01-25 19:51:00 As previously mentioned, the annual Print of the Year exhibition was held at the Camera Club of Cincinnati yesterday evening. Our guest judge Diana Klau who has had years of experience working for Corbis, one of the largest stock-photo agencies in the country, chose the winners and offered insightful comments afterwards.Here are the results, with the winning images to the right of each category (which you can click for a larger view).ColorFirst Prize - Anti-Malaria Frank KammererSecond Prize - Twin Bubbles Alan Lloyd Third Prize - Zebras Frank KammererMonochromeFirst Prize - Folded Bob IhrigSecond Prize - Alamo Phantoms Tom RielageThird Prize - Christine (on motorcycle) MickeyRymaszewskiCongrats to the winners and all of the participants! There were over 40 great photographs being shown last night - an event not to miss. If you'd like to see some photos from the night, you can see a gallery here. Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and... More About: Results , Exhibition
Print of the Year Event THURSDAY Night, 8PM
2008-01-23 12:25:00 Join us for an evening of great local photography from 2007! Tomorrow night at 8PM will be the annual Print of the Year contest at the Camera Club of Cincinnati studios located at 7045 Vine Street.On display will be the 1st and 2nd place photographs from our monthly Print Night contests, plus the finalists from the Themed Print Night contests held on months with a "5th Thursday " (like this month).There will be a few dozen of the best photographs from 2007 on display. This event is FREE and open to the public.Please spread the word, and I hope to see you Thursday night![By the way, if the other Cincinnati Bloggers wouldn't mind posting this it'd be greatly appreciated! -RRD] Do you back up your docs & photos? I use and recommend Mozy for automatic online backups.2GB free or $4.95/month for unlimited, encrypted storage. More About: Event
RRD Photo Blog is now One Year-Old!
More articles from this author:2008-01-22 12:40:00 In what hasn't seemed like a whole year, this humble little blog is now quite a ways from its first post back on 22 January, 2007!Most Popular Articles of the First Year Here is a list of the four most popular articles of the first year of this blog.How to: Add a Sync Port to a Canon 580EX FlashThanks in part to the Strobist Revolution, my post on modding a Canon 580 EX flash was a huge hit! A big thanks goes to Lon from FlashZebra who provided the insight and part required for the project; it's been a big year for him as well - he has grown a pretty active business with FlashZebra that is full of happy customers. Canon has since released a 580EX II that provides a sync port, but given how expensive it is there are a lot of folks interested in modding their rev-1 580's.Split Toning in Lightroom and Camera RAWWith the explosively popular Lightroom being on nearly everyone's mind, it's no surprise that this is one of the most popular articles. I really enjoy the split toning ca... More About: Photo , Blog 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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