Countdown To 60: After you choose that subject but before before you release the shutter, try taking a full minute to think about your scene and how you’re about to capture it. Really. Don’t just look at it. SEE IT. Sometimes we feel pressured to click. But even with a portrait, learn to take a little time and you’re images WILL improve. With some scenes you can even spend longer. Check out the 111 Project.
Sparks: I stood outside well before the exit. Experimenting, considering the scene, trying to predict the light. The effort paid off with a great candid from a challenging scene.
Cut The Trash: I know, you’ve already taken 60 seconds, you have a plan. But look again. Maybe even take a test frame. Controlling tone, removing clutter and distracting elements is one of the most neglected elements in art making. If something is not adding to the image, it should not be in the frame. Either you move, move it, or it will move the quality of your final image down to LOW.
Get Gavin Seim's complete LR Essentials video workshop for just $10.
Updated 01/30/12. The free promo ended Jan 29, 2012. But you can still get the workshop at a special discount.
With the introduction of my new LR Ninja video training workshops comes LR training for all levels, Ninja training, if you will. One of the best parts is that you can get LR Essentials, the entire first workshop for just $10. Even if you already use LR, you’ll want this first workshop because there’s something for everyone. Here’s how it works….
How it to get a LR Ninja video workshop for ONLY $10…
The best thing for Seim Effects users can do to help out is to spread the word. That’s why we’re rewarding you for it. All you have to do to get the workshop for only $10.00 is share the Seim Effects Facebook or G+ page on your profile, spreading the word so other people can check out Seim Effects for themselves.
Facebook: Just visit the Seim Effects page. On the bottom left, look for the share text. Click it and share the SE page on your personal profile, an active photo related group, or page. If you like, you to can add a few comments to the share, or just post it. As long as it’s on your wall, you’re golden.
Google+: If you prefer to hang on G+, that’s cool too. Just visit the SE page on G+ and click the “Share This Page” button on the upper left. Share the page with your friends on your personal profile, just like you would on FB.
Getting your discount download: You must share one or both of the pages listed above on your wall. Once you’ve shared, just send Gavin an email, effects@seimstudios.com. A screenshot of the share is nice, but we’re pretty easy going, so if you say you shared it and where, we’ll take your word for it. Just let Gavin know which page you shared, and he will follow up personally by sending you a coupon to get the first LR Ninja WORKSHOP. That generally happens within 24hours (usually much faster).
A couple guidelines:
You must share the corresponding Seim Effects page on your Facebook or Google+ personal profile, active photo related group, or page. You do not have to share on all, but if you want to say thanks by sharing in more than one place, we appreciate it. Also, while we appreciate you posting links directly to the website, this is to help spread the word on the social networks. You must share either the SE Facebook page or the SE Goggle+ page.
You cannot post the share and then delete it. This promotion is for the first workshop in the series and is not transferable. Even if you’re already using LR, there’s something in there for you. You cannot exchange the first workshop for one of the others. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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“What happened to the free download?”
If you’re looking for the freebie download, that was a temporary promotion. You can follow the above instruction and get the workshop for only $10… Gav
A fresh new Lightroom® workshop series from workflow expert Gavin Seim. Lightroom® training where you pick your workshop, pick your topics, and pick your time.
Soap Lake, WA, (December 17, 2011) – Seim Effects Photo Tools announces the availability of the new Lightroom Ninja downloadable video workshops for Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® at an introductory discounted price.
Lightroom is a system for creativity, quality, and efficiency. Each Lightroom Ninja video workshop takes users step-by-step through live screen recorded chapters, looking at each level of using Lightroom’s features with Gavin Seim, award winning photographer, writer, and designer of Seim Effects photo tools. Learn Lightroom step-by-step when and where you want.
Each workshop is fully downloadable in 720HD, making review and learning easy for all levels of Lightroom users. Three workshops are currently available: “LR Essentials,” “Everyday LR,” and “The LR Pro.” Three more workshops on advanced topics are planned for release in 2012. Each workshop is divided into topic chapters for a total of approximately 90 minutes. Workshops are being released at an introductory price of just $25.00 each. The first workshop in the series is also available for no cost to users that share about Seim Effects on their Facebook or Google+ pages. Details here.
Awhile back I made a video on installing and managing presets in Lightroom. But I’ve been itching to make a better one because it was outdated, dry and low quality. This new HD video looks at installing and managing all kinds of presets in Lightroom, how to find them, back up and more. Enjoy… Gav
I’m amazed how often the control of light and dark is ignored in today’s photography. Our tools are more powerful than ever, but most images lack the subtle tonal control that made photographers like Ansel so famous. Such control is essential to making an image look as good as it can.
“Tone” may be the least understood and least utilized factor in composing and finishing images.” That’s a quote from master photographer, Ken Whitmire. He’s eighty-two and one of the world’s most renowned pioneers of wall portraiture.
I wrote an article called 5 Essential Keys to Photographic Perfection on Pro Photo Show. One of these keys is arguably the most important, and that is tonal control. Lights and shadows and how they look in the final image are critical. To best achieve them, you should have a “visualization” for your final image and be a master of essential tone control elements.
Morgan's Song, 2011 - This is an environmental scene so we have a lot of "supporting cast" to deal with. By placing the subject at Zones 6-8 in the final process and the supporting cast mostly in Zones 2-4, I was able to keep the subject dominant and show the scene I had envisioned.
An image can look good with just a quick global correction process, but not nearly as good as it could be with proper tonal control. It starts in camera as you see the scene in your mind’s eye . The way you expose and set up your image can control those values. The best way I have found to see this in my mind is by using the Zone Scale (see Fig. 1).
For example, a perfect light is splitting through the clouds and shining on your subject. You expose for the subject’s skin, visualizing it for Zone 6. Perhaps that bumps the foliage and other elements (the supporting cast) of your scene down to Zone 4. That could be perfect because it makes your subject dominant. Perhaps the light is more even, however, and to achieve that visualization, you need to do tonal corrections later to bring that foliage down to Zone 4. It could be done in many other ways, but you get the initial idea. For an in depth look at Zones check out, Why You Need the Zone System for Digital.
Following are three things to watch for when visualizing and mastering an image to control tonal values. If you understand and apply these principles at every step, your images will improve by giant leaps. Follow through on tonal values and your images will sing.
Figure 1: The Zone scale from 1-10. Middle grey is Zone V (5). This shows the darkest dark to the lightest light and is invaluable for simple visualizing and exposing a scene. Each step represents a stop, making it easy to move your exposure up or down and place an element in a given zone.
