April 18, 2008

Personally as a photographer I get pretty into creative post processing. I make lightroom presets, actions etc to super speed that workflow a lot, and I still find myself in front of the computer even though I don’t really need to be. Do you deal with this?

What’s on my mind today is how much playing with post can take away from our creative photography if we allow it to. I literally have so many images that I could spend months behind the computer trying to make art out of them.

I can get to a point where I’m in the studio just playing with the web, emails, photo’s etc. I can browse endlessly thru tech and photo blogs, and get all the great tips in the world but if I don’t go out and shoot I become only an observer.

This sounds crazy since I love photography, but sometimes I get in a mode where I tend not to pick up the camera unless it’s a paid job! I have to force myself to go out shooting somewhere. It can be a country drive, or just a walk down the street. Great images are everywhere , so if I am not finding a shot, I figure I need to spend more time learning to see the see the beauty in the things around me.

We don’t have to be on a roadtrip, or a brand new place to find great stuff to shoot. I know I get in this rut at times and maybe you do to. Though all this online content is great, there’s nothing like picking up a camera and getting out hands dirty. Getting a speedy workflow is always something I’m looking for, and it works great. I just need to remember to use that extra time to get creative behind the lens.

NOW STOP READING THIS AND GO SHOOTING!

Gavin Seim

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April 5, 2008

I just wanted to post up to tell you about the Seim Effects affiliate program. I like to reward people for spreading the word on Seim Effects, and if you want to get involved at the next level you can join the affiliate program.Basically you link to Seim Effects from your site or photo blog, and when people click thru from your site and buy a product you make money. We pay a nice affiliate percentage that’s more than most program out there.

It’s really easy. Just sign up for the program, and add links or affiliate image to your site. We’ll even help you set up if you need it.

Check out the Seim Effects Affiliate Page

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April 2, 2008

Lightroom 2

Just about to retire for the night until I read Terry White’s latest post over at Terry White’s Tech Blog. Adobe has released Lightroom 2.0 as a Public Beta and is now available to download. Check out Terry’s Lr 2.0 Beta post for a great explanation on how Lightroom 1.3 and the 2.0 Beta will coexist. Download it here at Adobe Labs Here are some of the new features in this Beta version:

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March 30, 2008

I wanted to post a free video from my up and coming Seim Effect video series.

Burn and dodge is one of those overlooked gems that can give you control over where viewer attention is drawn to in an image. Some people avoid vignettes, burns and dodges because they don’t realize how effective they can be.

I see images nearly every day that could be twice as good with a little B&D Love. This is just as important with HDR images ass well ad they tend to be a bit flat in their natural state. Here’s a Seim Effects video on the topic. It’s slightly cheesy, but a good look at how I leverage B&D. Click the link to get the free High Res version.

~Download High Quality Version For Free~



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March 17, 2008

It seems that Adobe released their version 1.4 a bit prematurely. They have pulled 1.4 from their site, and recommend that you you delete it, and reinstall the previous 1.31 version.

It seems there are some big in the release that cause some metadata information to get messed up, as well as some other things that are not too good!

Rather than write it all out here you can read the details on LR news.

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