Today we’re going in depth on digital quality and the Six Keys to Image Quality. Gavin discusses what he’s learned about getting down and getting the best image quality possible from digital files.
Gav with the new printer. The image links to the post about it.
by Gavin Seim: Memory cards. Their just a tool. They just need to be fast, reliable and preferably cheap. Well I just ran across this video on Scott Kelby’s blog and had to share. I was mesmerized by the complexity of steps and sheer awesomeness of the machines used to make these chips. I only wish they gave a little more detail on what they were doing to the wafers (super secret maybe). In any case, I now have a bit more respect for “the card”. Take a peek and be glad you’re not having to make these at home… Gav
by Gavin Seim (updated 07/11): HDR simply means High Dynamic Range. But lets face it. A lot of this HDR looks a lot like clippings from a spoof horror movie. It’s the Flickr HDR. I think this happens because many don’t really grasp what HDR is all about and how to use it well. This includes many HDR software developers. They fall for the fad instead of thinking of it as a serious photographic tool. It’s can be so powerful if used with balance.
Back in the day there was film. Then came digital. Then came HDR. First we merged light and dark images in special ways to get a wider range of light. HDR merging was not perfect and was often overdone, but it could produce beautiful results. Often results that looked edgy and bold. Young guys like me thought we were so cool. Capturing detail that was never seen before.
Then I started looking closer. Studying what the film forefathers had been making for years. Looking at the dynamic range and detail. I realized that HDR was really not so new. Film photography had high dynamic range also and I saw images that astounded me. Images, that had I not been told they were on traditional film, I would have assumed were digital HDR. It helped me realize something.
HDR is not a trend of over-processed, super amped, ultra edgy photos. I think many architectural photographers got this memo, but most others didn’t. I’ve talked about balance in HDR processing for some time, but what I’ve come to further realize and started teaching in Lights & Shadows Workshop is that HDR is about controlling tone. It’s about understand and managing light. Digital in itself does not yet have the dynamic range that film did, so we compensate. Just as a film photographer might have used filters, various film types and chemical process to get dynamic range in their images, we use digital manipulation. HDR photography is little more than the new film.
The folks Nik Software always give PPS readers a discount, but 12/20/10 thru 1/03/11, their having a bonus Christmas special on nearly all their products. Just use promo code: PPS and get the discounts listed below. If you’re finding this post after the sale ends, you can still use the PPS code for the regular 15% discount. Enjoy… Gav
This year on the Christmas episode we talk A LOT about the industry business and pricing ideas, what we see for 2011 and even some great tools and gadgets to pick up for Christmas. Note that this is a long show. If it’s a bit much break halfway using the time index below and listen to it as two episodes.
