special effects Archives

July 1, 2024

SD Card recovery and 5 tips for photographers and to be prepared and all hell breaks loose.

Right now this might not be exciting. But later this post will save your bacon. SD cards are temporary devices. This means at some point your SD card will start to fail.

You will accidentally delete or have a corrupt SD card to recover.

At some point! The problem is that when it happens you panic, and companies waiting to get your money. Here are 5 tips that will save your bacon and a few more in the point below.

Almost every post you find about this will be spam. Save this one.

I made this. In the video for my viewers because I have decades of experience. I mention ReclaimMe and Rstudio as two of the top memory recovery tools.

They are not free. Most that claim to be free and free are spammy products wasting your time. They may or may not work. but skip them and invest in a good product.

Neither of these have any affiliation with me nor do I get anything from them. I bought ReclaimMe with my own money and these are not affiliate links. I learned about these being the best form many years of searching.

Cards don’t usually fail all at once. But they are consumables.

I’ve never had a card fail without any warning. But it can happen. Like I said in the video however the files are usually there.

After a certain number of writes, cards wear out. So if you start to notice a file here that is corrupted mark that card and stop using it for any critical work. If I suspect a card I will trash it or mark it with a sharpie that it is suspect.

Back up and use double card slots.

This I’m preparing from the video tips. It is not 2008 where this was rare. Most higher-level cameras have dual card slots and if I’m doing a wedding or session that paid I’ll always grab my camera that does.

Yes, you can often recover your files. But the truth is I never have. Yes, I have recovered files I deleted accidentally. However, this does not happen on a critical shoot because I never delete in the field and as soon as I return O copy and backup the shoot. No waiting.

I have used SD recovery tools many times and tried many tools you want to avoid. But usually, it’s the old deleted file, helping a friend etc. What I’m saying is be prepared to recover, but avoid situations where you MUST recover.

I hope when your day arrives. You find this helpful.

June 14, 2024

special effects

Improve every session even in ultra low light photography, when you shoot like this!

Today’s tips go beyond simple light and shadow. This is how to think like a photographer. There’s a new update to my Pictorialist 1.1 Actions and I promised a video. But, I decided to showcase the process of this week’s session with my model Mayumi, and go deeper.

Low light portrait photography? Don’t miss today’s tips.

You can Get Pictalost here while it’s on Launch Sale and also check out Filmist and Elegance for those RAW edits. You can also Log-In here for your updates.

As light wanes, shadow deepens.

And if you’ve ever been to one of my Shadow Hacker live workshops you know that shadows make the photo. Low light photography does not mean low quality and in today’s portrait session, we’ll test that.

In last week’s video, we talked about magic glowing hour light. There’s nothing like it. But today we see that you don’t have to stop just because that is gone! If you are thinking about feeling, emotion, and connected with your project. Darkness can be magical too.

This takes practice. But the more you detach from overthinking and start creating while at the same time learning what works and what does not, everything will change.

Don’t get too stuck on the tool.

Today I was using pictorialist actions for the deep edits and it works amazing to quickly bring the drama to the photo you shot in dramatic light. Honestly, it’s amazing for low light photography or dramatic day scenes.

But don’t get so stuck on any tool or plugin that’s doing all the world. Notice how even the dark photos in this session had lots of moodiness in the camera. Feel everything about the scene you are creating, slow down and take fewer photos and you’ll get more.

Detach a bit… Use the Pictorialist mentality

This is a term you may have heard in self-improvement and tips to stop stressing about life. But it also works in your photos.

But it also works in photos. It does not mean not paying attention or not trying to de a great job. But when you stop stressing over every detail and look for the feeling in your photos it is transformative.

We’re in the high-res, super-sharp ultra Ai era. It’s sterile and people are bored because we’ve started leaving behind creativity and emotion. Ultra-low light photography is a great way to understand these concepts better.

But having a good plan, practicing often and just letting loose a bit. You will find photos you never dreamed you could have taken.

Try everything in today’s video and see what I mean.\

Gavin Seim

June 12, 2024

capture one, lightroom, photoshop, special effects

Everyone is pissed at Adobe. Here’s what happened this week and alternatives to Adobe!

Adobe Cloud was a trap from day one, even if it is a great deal compared to the alternatives. But there are issues with having one big dog and this week they got worse. Today we talk about how that affects us as photographers.

I’ve got you covered from my end…

You decide. If you use my presets and decide to switch, all current packs include LR6 and Capture One files. Have Street’ist or Power Workflow for example. Just go access your downloads here and get the latest files.

Preset packs like Filmist and Natural HDR also include LUTS and those can be used in many apps like Affinity, DaVinci Resolve etc. In fact I edit nearly all my videos with FIlmist LUTS.

Also, all my Action packs, even the new Pictorialist work in CC and CS6 as well. So if you want to go subscription you can still get the iconic looks you’ve been getting for years.

Yes, a lot of people are fed up with Adobe.

Lots of people are dancing Adobe. But it’s not like the other options are all roses. Phase One scrwed over long-term perpetual license holders last year and Capture One cost more than LR and PS combined. Luminar is woefully lacking in processing quality and Affinity is not the best workflow system.

You don’t have to switch or cancel just because people are mad. Negativity is now always a good response. But it’s good Adobe is feeling the heat. This makes more room for competition and improvement and they should no that their actions are not OK!

Consumer rights time is all the time.

As I talk about in the video this goes way beyond Adobe. There’s a trend of large companies who have us locked in switching up the rules and taking us to the cleaners. Netflix, Amazon, Adobe, the list is long.

My theory on this is depending on where you are, one service or another may be worth canceling. When companies abuse customers like Adobe is trying to do, then gaslight them, acting like nothing is wrong and they are crazy for being upset it’s right for people to respond.

But it’s not worth stressing about either. Don’t throw your summer wedding season into chaos just because everyone says we need to cancel. You decide!

There are alternatives to Adobe

I go more into the video. Adobe is indeed the most complete suite of tools for creatives.

But as I mentioned above, I work hard to make sure you have options and we are not totally locked in and I’m sure other developers are doing the same.

An established workshop is hard to charge. While Adobe is king, I am always trying to make sure we are not stuck. So for example I could switch to C1 as my main editor and all my tools still work. Even my Elegance Speed masks now work in Capture One.

I long ago switched to Resolve for video editing. There are Capture One, DXO, and others that may be possibilities for you. And for many older versions of Adobe tools works just fine.

June 8, 2024

art study, Lighting, special effects

Get The Glow and get in in the camera. It’s the elusive ambiance for any photo.

The glow is something that happens when you nail a photo. Your lights are set just right and everything is magical. It’s what you look for in every photo and I had in in this week’s session.

You can learn to find the glow in every photo session.

In post, I mostly used Filmist 2, Elegance 4 to balance glowing skies and Pictorialist actions to add dramatic finishes.

But it comes from within your camera.

Yes, the tools I’m editing with help bring out that softness and you can even create a glow-like look as we often do in pictorialist-style edits. I’ve been showing a lot of these lately. But The Glow is not limited to Pictorialism.

But as I mentioned in the video. Your edit is only a measure better than your starting photo. Listen to the tips especially at the end of the video because you will train yourself to see the Glow just like you train yourself to see shadow as we talk about in my Shadow Hackers live workshop.

The Glow is not just for portraits. It’s about how light meets shadow in perfect form. Here we see a great example of the glow in this sunrise landscape in Tamasopo Mexico.

The shadow you get is just fine.

People often think they need to light the face or landscape subject and the brightest part of a photo. In truth you just need to draw attention two and having your subject in shadow can be powerful.

With the glow use Shadow hacking and don’t get stuck in the rut of always lighting the same. The glow comes in various ways and all can have that magical shimmer. Front, back, and rim light enhanced of created by strobes.

The first rule of the Glow is… Location

Now that you know how to look for the glow. The main thing is don’t wait. If it’s the streets, a landscape, a portrait. Whatever you are shooting when you see it take the shot. The glow is a fleeting atmospheric moment in your photos. It creates a feeling and gives you amazing results nearly every time.

Location will matter. Even moving a few inches to the left to make the lens flare just right. The time window is usually short unless you are using strobes to create a glow with your lights. Youb can also mix the two, but you have to be prepared.

Go put what I showed in this week’s video to work. See shadow, see light, and combine the two for THE GLOW! It will take you to the next level with Ai fakery.

Gavin Seim

May 26, 2024

Portrait, PPS Photography Tips, special effects, tips, Wedding Tip Wens, Weddings, workshop

How to charge for photos? The a great question most photographers get wrong at some point.

Yes, it’s a basic question. How to charge for photos? How many should I give, how many outfits, hours, etc. New photographers and sometimes veterans love to colocate their lives because they don’t understand customer service.

So here’s how to charge for photos the right way!

I edited all my broll here with Filmist LUTS, it’s not just for Lightroom and C1. Also make sure you start listeb to Pro Photography podcast for more topics like this.

Most people don’t think they need a photographer.

That’s what you need to understand in this crazy competitive world. The truth is that unless you are experienced, confident and know how to serve. They don’t need you. They might as well use their phone.

I don’t mean this to make you feel bad. Only to be real. We have to have high standards. People don’t need McDonald’s style photographers anymore. And if you don’t make them feel good, they won’t come back.

So in general charging for an image screams amateur. Now selling stock photos, fine art prints, etc is a bit different. But if your client feels like you are holding back, you lose credibility instantly.

Be a purple cow.

Here’s that book I mentioned. You can read it in data but all these years later it’s still a great reminder when you run a photo business, make workshops, or are in charge of a cafe in Mexico.

To be great in a craft business. You have to understand how to be a servant. How to make people feel good. How to give them experience and quality. How many photos in a session and how many you give the client can vary. Your skill and confidence should be a constant, however.

Price matter. But the value you create matters more.

So the topic today is whether you should charge per photo and how to charge for photos. The real answer is that you you charge in a way that is the simple simple and makes the client feel loved regardless of whether you price high or low compared to the market.

That says. The lower your price, the lower the quality of clients you get.

Let me know what you think… Gavin Seim

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