February 29, 2008: Just the other day, a listener asked me how to combine two versions of an image in Photoshop. He wanted to adjust one version for the highlights, another for the shadows, and then use the best of both.

I gave him my advice, which I’m sure wasn’t as succinct or helpful as this tutorial, published in PC Photo, written by Photoshop guru and friend of The Digital Photography Show Rick Sammon.  Rick walks you through how to double process your image and combine the two versions into one final masterpiece. 

Rick makes the procedure as simple as possible by suggesting you use the erase tool to let the bottom image on your stack show through on the top image.  If you’re an advanced swimmer, you might want to use a mask instead. 

Masks are more forgiving than the eraser tool because you can always expand or contract your selection by painting in the opposite color. And if that discussion of masking has you confused, (it confuses me, and I wrote it!) Rob Sheppard gives a better explanation of basic masking technique on page three of this article, also from PC Photo.

Thanks, PC Photo!

Scott

February 29, 2008:At PMA, I fell in love with the Sony T300. I talked on air about the super-sleek styling of the camera, that looks like something James Bond would use, only cooler. 

The 3.5 inch touch screen LCD was beautiful and I loved how you could change camera functions – including the focus point – just by touching the screen.  The Sony T300 also has a bunch of extra features like Smile Detection, digital red-eye reduction and a variety of face detection modes.  It even has something I’ve never seen before - a function called, wait for it, Happy Face, that detects a frown in a picture and “turns it upside down” so it appears that the subject was smiling!

Some of these features aren’t necessarily things I’d use everyday (or, um, ever) but I’d love to play with them.

Plus, with it’s small size, highly pocketable design and huge LCD, the T300 would make a great photo viewer. What a terrific way to show your pictures to family and friends. (Of course, that’s the same justification I used for buying my iPhone, so I guess I can’t get away with it again.)

Given all that, imagine my disappointment when I read CNET’s detailed review of the Sony T300.  Reviewer Will Greenwald pretty much agreed with my initial assessment of the T300 (it’s pretty! it’s cool!) but, after using the camera, he found:

Quick performance and dozens of features are great, but in the end cameras have to be judged on the pictures they take. Unfortunately, we found the T300 seriously lacking in that respect. Even at its best, photos generally look soft, with haloing along edges. At its lowest sensitivity, ISO 80, we still see noise in flat colors, like gray. It becomes noticeable across the board at ISO 200, and by ISO 400 starts degrading detail. At ISO 3,200 photos look like they were painted with a worn-out kitchen sponge. {Scott’s note – what a great metaphor!}

Break my heart, Will! 

My search for the perfect point and shoot continues. I really like what I’ve seen of the Canon G9 (two of the attendees of our Las Vegas meet-up had and liked the camera) but it’s a little too big to serve as a a full-time point and shoot.

Scott

The Digital Photography Show #85: Welcome Wacom and The Photography’s Future with FotoNation

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February 27, 2008 : Welcome to the eighty fifth episode of The Digital Photography Show!

First, some housekeeping: We’ve finally chosen the finalists and a winner of our 7th photo contest. Congrats to everyone! Check them out here. Thanks to everyone who entered.

More interviews today from PMA 08.

First up is someone we honestly consider a friend: Doug Little from Wacom tells us about some of their super-sexy products. For those of you who don’t know (first time listeners?) Wacom makes great pen tablets and interactive displays that let you do all your photoediting and other work using a pen instead of mouse. Working with a Wacom tablet or interactive display is feels totally organic, natural and precise.

First up is the powerful yet totally affordable the Bamboo Fun, which makes a great entry-level tablet. Our audience will probably be more interested in the more fully-featured Intuos line of tablets, or, if you’re really bringing your A game, you’ll want to want to spring for a Cintiq, the high-end LCD that allows you to actually work on screen.

The Cintiqs are truly incredible, and at every show Michael and I go to, people are lined up to play with the Cintiqs. Their newest model is the Cintiq 12WX, which has a 12 inch interactive display that is a joy to work with. It’s their smallest and lowest priced Cintiq ($999) but don’t let that low price fool you – this is one powerful beast that can transform the way you work. (On a Window’s Vista computer, you can even use it to mark up documents or to write them by using the handwriting recognition that’s built into Vista. You can even use “pen flicks” to do things like navigate the web – go one page back with a quick swipe of your pen. Very cool. I don’t know if Macs have similar features – if you do, add a comment below.)

Because they love our audience so much, Wacom is giving away a Bamboo Fun Small tablet to a lucky The Digital Photography Show listener. To enter the contest, go to this page and answer this question:

The Intuos works with Adobe Photoshop and over how many other programs?

Send your answer to us at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com by March 15, 2008 to be entered into a random drawing of the correct responses. Please put “I Want a Wacom” in your subject line.

Then, we talk to Eric Zarakov, Vice President of Marketing of FotoNation. Fotonation creates the incredible technolgy they build that powers your camera. They’re the pioneers behind Face Detection, Smile Detection, Blink Detection, Face Tracker and a bunch of other technologies that make taking pictures easier and more accurate. Listen to Eric tell us what these technologies do and what is coming next from this company that’s truly on the cutting-edge of photography. It’s the future of photography, baby.

He also tells us how camera phones can have more functionality than digital cameras, and I share my crackpot theory on what would make a great paradigm for The Next Big Idea – the upgradable camera. (Camera companies: If you steal this idea, please send me money. Thank you.)

Best of all – Eric tells us we’re great and that ours was one the best interviews he did during PMA! Eric, you’re welcome back anytime!

If you want to improve your basic photography or become a Photoshop, Lightroom or HDR guru, check out xTrain, a great web-based learning resource. They have a ton of on-line videos that will teach you how to do pretty much everything with your camera – and your computer – that you might ever want to do. And exclusively for our listeners, they offer a 15% off discount on any xTrain course or membership plan by using the code DPS on the page you’ll find here.

Please remember to sign up for email notifications from our show! Every podcast subscription service out there – and that includes you, our beloved iTunes, has a bad habit of sometimes unsubscribing you from the shows you enjoy. Like this one (we hope!).

If you just click here to Subscribe to TPN :: The Digital Photography Show by Emailyou’ll get the weekly posts announcing each new show in you email. How cool is that? You’ll also be letting us know how many of you care enough to take the time to subscribe, which will put big dumb smiles on our faces. Isn’t that reason enough to sign up?

We’d love to hear what you thought of the show either here on the blog or at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com.

We also appreciate the sponsorship of Wacom, maker of great tablets for interacting with you computer.

Wanna participate in the show?

• Send us an email at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com.
• Leave a comment at www.TheDigitalPhotographyShow.com
• Call in a voice mail to US 301-637-7767
• Join the listener-run (thanks Laurel and Frank!) Flickr group Friends of The Digital Photography Show at http://flickr.com/groups/thedps.

Thanks for joining us. We have the greatest listeners in the world!

Scott

The Digital Photography Show #84: We Make SexyTime with Sony and Amends with A Pentaxain (51Mb, 75mins)

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February 18, 2008 : Welcome to the eighty fourth episode of The Digital Photography Show!

On today’s show, Michael and I talk with Sony’s Mark Weir at PMA 08. If you’re not tied in with another system, their ever-expanding line of DSLRs definitely deserves a second look. Their new 300 series has a lot of compelling features, including some of the best live view features out there.

Plus, Sony’s announcement at PMA that they’re planning to introduce a full frame 25mp DSLR by the end of this year indicates they’re in the DSLR game for the long haul - and you’re always smart to buy into a company that has a full range of products – you never know when you might want to turn pro!

I’ve been in the market for a new point and shoot for a long time now, and Mark and I also talk about their super-sexy T300. It’s slim, it’s beautiful and I think I want it.

Michael and I respond to some voice mails and emails from listeners.

• Jackie wants a recommendation as to whether or not she should buy a dye-sublimination printer for her event photography business.
• Dana chides us for being mean to Pentax users – but we don’t think we are!
• And Juan wants to know if Canon is sponsoring any photo workshops. (We don’t know, but they have a good online photo workshop).

If you’ve gotten a new digital camera for the holidays, or if you’ve received a new software program that you want to know how to use, check out xTrain, a great web-based learning resource. They have a ton of on-line videos that will teach you how to do pretty much everything with your camera – and your computer – that you might ever want to do. And exclusively for our listeners, they offer a 15% off discount on any xTrain course or membership plan by using the code DPS on the page you’ll find here.

Please remember to sign up for email notifications from our show! Every podcast subscription service out there – and that includes you, our beloved iTunes, has a bad habit of sometimes unsubscribing you from the shows you enjoy. Like this one (we hope!).

If you just click here to Subscribe to TPN :: The Digital Photography Show by Emailyou’ll get the weekly posts announcing each new show in you email. How cool is that? You’ll also be letting us know how many of you care enough to take the time to subscribe, which will put big dumb smiles on our faces. Isn’t that reason enough to sign up?

We’d love to hear what you thought of the show either here on the blog or at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com.

We also appreciate the sponsorship of Wacom, maker of great tablets for interacting with you computer.

Wanna participate in the show?

• Send us an email at TheDigitalPhotographyShow@gmail.com.
• Leave a comment at www.TheDigitalPhotographyShow.com
• Call in a voice mail to US 301-637-7767
• Join the listener-run (thanks Laurel and Frank!) Flickr group Friends of The Digital Photography Show at http://flickr.com/groups/thedps.

Thanks for joining us. We have the greatest listeners in the world!

Scott