Yes, sometimes it IS who you know

I had heard there was an easy way to organize images from multiple cameras but I had poked around trying to find it but I never really figured it out. Of course, the actual answer was far simpler than I had thought and had thus overlooked it several times. I was recently talking to my good friend Rick Miller who is a solution specialist for Adobe, and had mentioned I thought there should be an easier way to accomplish this. Rick, not wanting to be stumped by a Lightroom question helped me look for the answer and sure enough, there it was…sort of.

Metadata is your friend

This is going to be so simple you may wonder how come you didn’t accidentally run across it yourself. When you are in the Library module, make sure you are in Grid mode. At the top of the Grid you should see the Library Filter bar, if you don’t, just hit the \ key. Next, click on Metadata on the Library Filter bar. Right here you will see that the images are group by camera model. If the different cameras you are using are all separate models, then you are set, just select the Camera model to filter all of the images associated with that camera.

If you were using different cameras but they were the same camera model, fear not, we just have to go through one more small step. At the top right of any of the columns you see there is a small icon, click on that and add a new column, now click on the blank column title and select Camera Serial Number. Now you can filter by the individual camera.

Timing is Everything

Now that we know how to sort on the images, we now need to have a reference point so that we can adjust the time on what set of images to match the time on the rest of the images. Now if you haven’t done the shoot yet, the best thing to do is have everyone take a picture of something like their feet. Even if you are shooting alone, just take one shot with the first camera, then swap cameras and take a shot with the second camera, there is no need to try to do them at the same time.

If you are editing an existing shoot, you need to figure out the time difference. With multiple shooters there is almost always a shot from each camera at the beginning, if you didn’t pick up your second camera until the middle of the shoot, this can be a little more tricky. But play along and let’s see how to do it anyway.

Let’s say our sync shot was taken at 1pm, and the second camera is off by 20 minutes. All we have to do is filter by the second camera, go over to the Metadata block and select the edit icon next to Capture Time. At this point a dialog box will come up with several options for time adjustments.

The problem here isn’t that the functionality we want (to adjust by 20 minutes) isn’t here, the problem is the text for the option isn’t very clear. If you read the description at the top of the dialog box it actually tells you that it will adjust the time of the image that is displayed and all of the other images that are selected will be adjusted by the same amount of time. So if we are seeing the first image, and we set the time to 1pm, all of the rest of the images will be adjusted accordingly and all of the images from both cameras will now be in complete time sync.

Video Demo

In the following video, Kerry Garrison shows how to adjust the time of your images to all sync up together.

The “Easy Way”
The easy way to get this shot is to shoot the card laying on its side. Once you have the image, take it into Photoshop and rotate it 90 degrees clockwise so it is then standing up, copy a portion of it, rotate it vertically, then add a gradient to fade to white, and viola, you are done. This would certainly have been less time in shot setup but more time in post production. What I wanted was to actually do as much of the shot in-camera as possible, hence, I didn’t do it “The Easy Way” and then “Fix it in Photoshop”.

The Shot Setup
The first thing I needed to get was the reflection under the product. A reflection actually isn’t very hard to do, I do it quite often. I just shoot the product over a sheet of thick plexiglass that is sitting on top of a sheet of white muslin. The image of the product will be reflected into the plexi and you have yourself a sweet reflection.

Getting the card to “stand up” required a little bit of thought. At first I tried some acrylic blocks but that stood out too much and would require more Photoshop work than I wanted to do. The same thing happened with white blocks. The final solution turned out to be super simple. I used a boom arm and suspended the cards using fishing line. With the strobes going off the fishing line just disappeared making touch-ups for real fast.

The Post Production
To get started, the images were imported into Lightroom and the Clarity and Vibrance were bumped a hair, the shots were cropped, and then the Adjustment Brush was used to completely blow out the background. A Foreground to transparent gradient was used to fade the reflection to white so the image would set nicely on a website.

The Results
The final images are exactly what I set out to accomplish with very little post production because I tried to get as much done in-camera as possible. While I could have used Photoshop I often think that it is better to get the shot as close to the finished product as possible when you capture it. By even taking simple shots like this and figuring out how to get the shot a different way is good exercise for when something more complicated comes up. Being able to improvise and come up with creative solutions to problems is a very valuable skill.

More Images

Video Explanation

Equipment Used

Strobelite Plus w/Barn Door Kit
Strobelite Plus w/24×36 softbox
Canon 50D
Canon 50mm f1/8
Photoflex Boom arm
Westcott light stands
Vanguard Ball head
Calumet tripod
Phottix Cleon II Trigger

Summary

With modern DSLR’s, these cable releases have become electronic triggers with the remotes being able to perform all kinds of additional functions. More often than not, all I need is just a simple push-button remote to fire my camera and so I have used a Phottix Wireless Remote for almost two years now. In fact, the only reason it wasn’t featured in recent photo shoot tutorials is because the battery in the transmitter is dead and I have been too lazy to go buy a replacement.

Fortunately, Phottix has come to the rescue and come out with an all-new wireless remote, saving me the hassle of buying a simple battery.The Cleon I and Cleon II are newer wireless remotes to replace the original one. We need to see if the new systems are better than the original.

Features

The Cleon I and II are very similar with the primary differences (more on this later) being that the Cleon II has a 2 second delay timer built in and the Cleon II uses the same receiver for each camera with interchangeable cables for the specific camera you are using. The Cleon I had the camera cable hardwired to the receiver.

Specifications

Differences between Cleon I and II

As I said there are some other differences between the Cleon I and Cleon II, the following chart will outline all of the differences between the two models.

Setup

The Cleon II should be ready to go right out of the box which mine was. If you need to synchronize the transmitter and receiver you just need to follow these simple steps:

To synchronize the receiver to the transmitter:

• turn receiver on by holding down “set/power” button for ~3 seconds until RHS LED turns on
• press “set/power” button on receiver 5 times until LED on left hand side flashes red
• press shutter button on transmitter
• LED on left hand side of receiver should turn off

Usage

As much as I have liked having a wireless remote for the past two years, more often than not I was using it within a foot of the camera. With the Cleon remotes, the receiver can be used as a wired remote. The nice part about this configuration is that the receiver does not have to be turned on for the wired function to work. For me, I will use it in the wired configuration quite a bit which should significantly improve the battery life.

To use the wireless mode you hold down the set/power button on the receiver for three seconds to turn it on. On the receiver, move the slide switch to the desired position:

• S/B – single exposures or bulb mode (hold transmitter button down for 3 seconds to lock the shutter open in bulb mode)
• 2S – single exposure with about 2 second delay
• multiple exposures – Automatically takes 5 exposures

Once set, push the button 1/2 way to focus and all the way to take the picture. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Results

The Cleon system simply works great. At about $36 its hard to beat the price for a wired and wireless remote system. It doesn’t have some of the features of higher end remote like interval settings, longer delay settings, and time lapse, but that’s not what it is designed for. The only negative thing I have to say at all is that I simply could not get the advertised range out of it. The best I could get was about 120 feet. Now granted, I have never needed to be 120 feet from my camera when taking a picture and if that would have been the advertised range I would have accepted it. However, since the claimed range is around 300 feet, I am going to drop the final score down in the ratings for that. Otherwise the system is flawless and I would highly recommend it.

Score Card

Phottix Website: http://phottix.net

Goodbye Dust Bunnies

There are three things that I keep handy in order to keep my lenses clean. A good microfiber cloth, a Giottos Rocket Blower, and a LensPen. I do not use any cleaning process that uses chemicals since even the best will leave some residue. Preferably I don’t want to touch the glass at all so the first step is going to be to use the Rocket Blower to get as much off the glass as possible. If something isn’t coming off easily I turn to the brush side of the Lenspen. If the issue is something different like fingerprints (my personal biggest issue) then the best way to clean that is with the felt tip of the Lenspen. The carbon dust will clean and polish the lens to perfection.

The following video will walk through my cleaning process that I go through before any shoot.

Equipment Used

• Giottos Rocket Blaster Air Blower
• Microfiber cloth
• LensPEN Lens Cleaning System

Kerry’s Equipment List

• Think Tank Airport International 2.0
• VANGUARD PAMPAS 57 Backpack
• Canon EOS 50D 15.1MP Digital SLR Camera
• Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 IF EX DG HSM AF Standard Zoom Lens
• Tamron AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 SP Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
• Lensbaby The Composer for Canon EF mount Digital SLR Cameras
• PhotoVision 24″ Digital Calibration Target
• Westcott 6 In 1 Reflector Kit 30
• Giottos Rocket Blaster Air Blower
• LensPEN Lens Cleaning System
• SensorKlear Loupe and SensorKlear II Combo
• BLACKRAPID RS-1 Camera Sling Strap
• LumiQuest FX, Five Filter Gel Set with Holder
• Lumiquest Promax System
• WhiBal White Balance Reference Card
• ColorRight Neutral White Balance Filter
• ExpoDisc Digital White Balance Filter, 77mm
• Polaris Digital Flash Meter
• HonlPhoto Speed Strap for Shoe Mount Flashes
• HonlPhoto 8″ Snoot
• Honlphoto Gel Kit 2
• HonlPhoto Speed Gobo Flag / Barndoor / Bounce Card
• HonlPhoto 1/4″ Speed Grid
• Canon CP-E4 Compact Battery Pack
• Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens
• Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rocket
• Wolverine ESP 80 GB
• Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash
• SanDisk 16 GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card
• Lensbaby Macro Kit

During this tutorial Kerry shows how to use a light meter to determine the difference between the background and the subject to achieve a good high-key look as well as using the meter to determine the proper exposure.

With the Canon EOS 50D that I am using now life has become MUCH easier with the Live View mode and the ability to zoom into the image and just nail the focus. In this video, I demonstrate exactly how this process works.

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on closeup

• Related Blogs on Composer
• Gary Barnes | Composer, Photographer and Writer » Blog Archive …
• Lensbaby Composer Lens Review | Your Photo Tips
• Human Trend » Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Celebrate …
• ACE honors Avid's Media Composer | VizWorld.com

• Related Blogs on focus
• Investigators focus on five Jackson doctors – Los Angeles Times …
• Investors' focus shifts to 2Q earnings reports (AP)

• Related Blogs on lensbaby
• Lensbaby Composer Lens Review | Your Photo Tips
• Lensbaby Review & Giveaway – Mommy PR
• Lensbaby: Control Freak | camera-talk.net

• Related Blogs on live view
• Canon Rebel T1i Review
• Live View | Weblog of Edward de Leau
• Be a part of “The View From The Bay's” live studio audience @ ABC …

• Related Blogs on macro

• Related Blogs on Tripod
• Joby Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM Heavy-Duty Tripod – $32 Shipped …
• Free Music

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on closeup

• Related Blogs on Composer
• Gary Barnes | Composer, Photographer and Writer » Blog Archive …
• Lensbaby Composer Lens Review | Your Photo Tips
• Human Trend » Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Celebrate …
• ACE honors Avid's Media Composer | VizWorld.com

• Related Blogs on focus
• Investigators focus on five Jackson doctors – Los Angeles Times …
• Investors' focus shifts to 2Q earnings reports (AP)

• Related Blogs on lensbaby
• Lensbaby Composer Lens Review | Your Photo Tips
• Lensbaby Review & Giveaway – Mommy PR
• Lensbaby: Control Freak | camera-talk.net

• Related Blogs on live view
• Canon Rebel T1i Review
• Live View | Weblog of Edward de Leau
• Be a part of “The View From The Bay's” live studio audience @ ABC …

• Related Blogs on macro

• Related Blogs on Tripod
• Joby Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM Heavy-Duty Tripod – $32 Shipped …

Similar Articles

• Understanding Exposure with the Exposure Triangle
• Photography Basics: Beginners Guide to Aperture
• Photography Basics: Controlling Exposure
• How to Calculate Depth of Field

In this video Kerry demonstrates using a simple light meter in a product shoot.

How to use a light meter from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Related Articles:

• Using a Light Meter for Proper Exposure
• Podcast #53 – Using a Light Meter

One of the things mentioned was to use checklists, if you missed that article from the past, here is a link to it.

Paying Attention To Detail from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Show Hosts

Kerry Garrison (http://kerrygarrison.com)
David Esquire (http://esquirephotography.com)

For a special treat, check out the outtakes.

Please leave comments here and let us know if you would like to see more of these video segments and if you like them like this or would like to also see them in iTunes. Thanks.

Overview

The VerteX is designed to give the ultimate in lighting control from a typical speedlight by allowing almost an infinite amount of adjustment. The VerteX is a mechanical device that can accept one or two panels on it to allow you to send the light in the specific direction(s) that you want.

The VerteX works by having a swinging arm that can have either one or two flaps attached to it that can rotate 360 degrees. Each flap has a mirrored side and a white diffusion side.  By adjusting the swing arm and the flaps you can split the light coming out of your accessory flash and send the light in different directions. Nothing else on the market today gives you this much control over your lighting.

Setup

Normally I would go into a real lengthy section and maybe even some step-by-step pics showing how to assemble a product. Bust seriously, the VerteX takes about 30 seconds to setup, you will spend more time reading this paragraph than you will spend setting the VerteX up. You take the two arms and snap them into place in the holes on the sides of the rubber band, push them together over the cross piece, and push the flaps into place, which are held there with magnets. That’s it. I find it easier to get onto the flash if you attach the rubber band to the flash head right after putting the two arms on and before attaching the cross bean and flaps. In under a minute you are ready to start taking pictures with the VerteX.

Usage

I am going to be really honest here, if you really don’t understand lighting, you may have trouble previsualizing what you can achieve with the VerteX. However, if you are the type of person who can look at a scene and know, for example,  that you want a slight shadow from one direction, a little fill up front, and some top lighting, then you will be able to use the VerteX to it’s full potential. Since you can split the light and send some forward, some up to bounce off the ceiling, some left to bounce off a wall, you can achieve lighting effects that otherwise would have required multiple strobes.

Results

Before getting into wedding photography I did mostly product photography so using multiple lights was second nature, getting into wedding photography felt very limiting as it really isn’t practical on most shoots to lug around multiple light sources, radio remotes, light stands, etc and the current light modifiers on the market work very well in specific situations, but there hasn’t been a product that could really give you the flexibility of multiple light sources from a single strobe head until the VerteX. Here are a few shots from a recent wedding where I used the VerteX to get some really nicely lit indoor shots.

Summary

While the VerteX may look like a homing beacon for an alien spacecraft, it does exactly what it is intended to do. I am thrilled with the control over the light that it gives me and enables lighting that simply wasn’t possible before.  For $49.95, it isn’t any more than other brand-name modifiers but it does give you a level of control that other products do not. I have used the VerteX at several weddings now and it has not come off my flash yet. The only real negative thing I can say is that if you happen to bump something and one of the flaps comes off, they are so light that you stand a good chance of not noticing since you usually wont hear it hit the ground. Most of the time I use it as pictured in the image to the right with only one flap, so if I actually lost one for good, I could get by for a while, so keep an eye on the panels wqhen you are moving your equipment around.

Here is a little video showing more about the VerteX and how I use it.

VerteX Light Modifer from Presslite from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Product Review Scorecard

Product Page: http://www.presslite.com/vertexinfo.php
Company Page: http://www.presslite.com

Author: Kerry Garrison

Have you ever imported some RAW files and when you first open the image in Lightroom the image is vibrant and looks great and then all of a sudden the image switches to something that is less sharp and the colors are all bland? If you have seen this phenomenon, what you are seeing initially is the embedded JPEG image being displayed first and then the on-screen image changes to the RAW sensor data image. The reason why there is a difference is that the JPEG images have had your camera settings applied to them before being saved. With Canon camera, this is usually Standard, Faithful, Landscape , Neutral, and Portrait. Other camera brands have similar types of basic settings. Many people complained that the JPEG image was often very nice and it took a lot of work to get your RAW images to look as good as the JPEG image.

To solve this, Lightroom needed to have a way to understand what the cameras where doing to the images. Initially, you could use the camera calibration controls to dial in some default settings, but this was really inaccurate and rather a pain to use. Shortly after Lightroom 2.0 came out, Adobe came out with the first beta versions of the camera profiles. These profiles were actually based on the characteristics of the different cameras and can be used to very quickly get your image looking better right from the beginning.

Sometimes the effect is more subtle

For some people who still shoot JPEG instead of RAW, one of the complaints about RAW is that it takes longer to process RAW images to get them look good. Lightroom 2.2 with camera profiles solves this problem quite nicely. You can easily create a camera profile preset (or download ours here) and use them as an import preset so that it is applied to every image as you are importing them. Applying the Standard profile during import will get the vast majority of your images looking almost identical to what you would get from saving the image as a JPEG.

Beta Profiles

If you have installed the beta profiles, you can go ahead and remove them using the following instructions specific to your operating system.

Go to the following folder (based on your operation system) and delete anything with the word “Beta” in it’s title. Then restart Lightroom and all should be good in the world again.

Mac: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/CameraProfiles
(note: the Library folder for Macintosh HD, not your user account)

Windows 2000 / XP: C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersApplication DataAdobeCameraRawCameraProfiles

Windows Vista: C:ProgramDataAdobeCameraRawCameraProfiles

Video Demo

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Camera Calibration from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Author: Kerry Garrison

What is selective Focus?

We have talked about selective focus here numerous times using depth of field (here) (here) (here) and lenses such as the Lensbaby 3G. Selective focus simply means that the main subject of the image is in sharp focus while the rest of the image is blurred out, this forces the viewer’s eye to the section of the image that we want them to be looking at. This can have a dramatic effect on the image and give it a much more dramatic feel. The problem with simply using aperture settings to control the selective focus is it doesn’t allow you to control the shape, direction, direction, or opacity of the blur effect. With a Lensbaby lens you have more control over the sweet spot of the focus area but you are limited to a round pattern and you don’t have some of the other controls either, and you can’t do a true tilt-shift effect with a Lensbaby lens. With a tilt-shift lens you have more control in the different directions but you still can’t control some of the effect, a tilt-shift lens will also set you back over $1,000. This is where Focal Point comes in. You can use your high quality auto-focus glass to take a great picture, and then add a variety of selective focus effects to the image in post production.

Lensbaby Image

Comparison to using a specialty lens

Before jumping to conclusions, bear in mind that I am a fan of the Lensbaby lenses and I use them at different times to achieve a look that I know how to get in-camera. I have the new Lensbaby Composer and have a review of it coming as well. I know what that lens will do and I use it to create images like the one you can see here. You get a sweet spot where the lens is pointing and then there is a blurring effect that gets more intense the further away from the sweet spot you get. If you are a huge fan of doing things in-camera, then a Lensbaby is a great lens to use. However, the amount of effects that you can get is limited. If you have the time to swap lenses and get the image dialed in, the effect is very cool. If you don’t have a Lensbaby, or if you find later that you have a great shot that would have been even better with that effect, then you are out of luck without a re-shoot. With Focal Point, we can now add the effect in post production and get very similar results.

What can we get with Focal Point?

The best way to see what Focal Point can do is to take a look at several before and after images for comparison.

Original Shot		Focal Point Effect
Original Shot		Focal Point Effect

Using Focal Point

Focal Point installs as a Photoshop plug-in for Photoshop CS3 or CS4. Once launched you can move the “Focus Bug” around to select your sweet spot, and then grab on the handle to adjust the effect. You also have 3D effects that can control the focal plane by holding down the alt key on Windows or the Option key on the Mac and dragging within the focus bug.

Focal Point Plug-In Interface

On the right side of the interface are sliders for fine tuning the effect as well as adding a vignette effect and film grain into the blurred image. Any of the settings can then be saved as a preset for easy access at a later time.

Key Features of Focal Point

While we have mentioned most of them already, let’s take a quick look at the key features of the Focal Point plug-in:

• Focus Bug
  This unique control gives you very simple control over the effects. Just drag and click to move the sweet spot or to adjust the amount of effect.
• Aperture Shape
  While we have only looked at the round shape so far, you can also use a planer shape that simulates narrow depth of field that is often used with food or macro photography or for simulating the miniature effect that you can get with a tilt-shift lens.
• 3D Tilt
  As mentioned, you can adjust the tilt of the sweet spot to create the effect of a tilt-shift or view camera.
• Blur Types
  You can choose from a standard “defocused” look or add a bit of motion to the blur
• Add Layer Mask
  By default (you can turn this off if you want) a new layer is created in Photoshop containing the image with the effect applied. This allows you to change the opacity of the layer or paint out areas that you don’t want affected.
• Vignettes
  Focal Point allows you to add either a dark or light vignette effect to the image with the ability to adjust the amount of the vignette as well as the midpoint.
• Presets
  If you have created an effect that you like and may want to use again, you can save it as a preset within Focal Point so you can easily apply it to another image later.
• Film Grain
  While you may not think you want to add grain to an image, adding the film grain effect to the blurred image will help to maintain a realistic image as well as prevent posterization during printing.

System Requirements

Macintosh

• Mac OS X 10.4.10, 10.5 or Higher
• 1 GHz or faster G5 or Intel Core Processor(s)
• 1GB RAM (2GB+ recommended)
• 25 MB hard disk space for installation
• OpenGL 1.5 Compatible video card with 128MB VRAM at 1024×768 or higher.
• Adobe Photoshop CS2 (9.0.2) CS3 or Elements 4.0.1 and higher.
• Internet Connection & Flash 9 player
• Adobe Acrobat 6 Reader or higher

Windows

• Windows XP SP2, Vista or Higher
• 1 GHz or faster Pentium 4 processor(s) or equivalent
• 1GB RAM (2GB+ recommended)
• 25MB hard disk space for installation
• OpenGL 1.5 Compatible video card with 128MB VRAM at 1024×768 or higher.
• Adobe Photoshop CS2, CS3 or Elements 5 and higher
• Internet Connection & Flash 9 player
• Adobe Acrobat 6 Reader or higher
• Microsoft dotNET Framework 2.0 or higher

Focal Point Demo

Here is a video of Focal Point in action so you can get a feel for how it works.

Focal Point Demo from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Results

Focal Point retails for $159.95 which puts it into the mid-range of prices for lenses from Lensbaby and is significantly cheaper than a tilt-shift lens.  Given that you have more control with Focal Point than you do with any type of lens, its hard to argue the value of Focal Point. There are certainly people like myself who enjoy using specialty lenses as they force you to slow down and really think about the image you are trying to make. Even for me though, there are times when I look at an image and wish I would have broke out the Lensbaby to take the shot and now I can get the effect that I want in post production. The effect that Focal Point creates may not be for everyone but if you shoot weddings, food, macro, still life, or nature shots, then Focal Point can add a new dimension to your images.

Product Review Scorecard

Product Page: http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=35
Company Page: http://ononesoftware.com

Author: Kerry Garrison

The plugin we will use is Timothy Armes’ LR2/Mogrify which uses ImageMajick to do things such as:

• Graphic watermarking
• Multiple text annotations
• Multiple borders
• Image resizing
• Adjust saturation and brightness
• Export against an ICC profile file

How much does this amazing plug-in cost? Well, it is free if you want to be limited to only exporting 10 images at a time. If you need to do more, than Timothy will accept any donation that you think is fair.

Installation
First off, we need to download LR2/Mogrify from Timothy Armes site at:

http://timothyarmes.com/lr2mogrify.php

Follow the installation instructions there for either Windows or Mac OSX. I won’t cover the installation since it is only a few simple steps.

Usage
Using LR2/Mogrify is as simple as using Lightroom’s existing Export function as the functions are added into the export utility. The easiest way to get things started is to create a new file in Photoshop with an empty (transparent) background and your logo on other layers. If you don’t have Photoshop, anything that can create a PNG or GIF with a transparent background will work.

From the Library module in Lightroom, select an image or images (up to 10 with the free version) and click on the Export button.

In the Post-Process actions enable the features you want like borders, or Graphical Watermark. In our case we will select the Graphic Watermark, select the file that we want to use, select the bottom left hand corner of the image, and resize the image if needed.

After you configure all the settings you want, click on the Export button to start the process. In a few seconds you have created your first watermarked images.

Here are a few images showing some different watermark styles as well as a multi-line border setup.

Who would have thought that doing advanced watermarking would be this easy? Please consider donating to Timothy for his hard work on bringing us a tool that provides the functionality that should have been included in Lightroom.

Below is a video showing exactly how this works:

Advanced watermarking with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Pixel Blender: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/pixelbender/
Pixel Blender Plugin Download: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/pixelbender.html
Pixel Blender Exchange: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/

I have had the hardest time dealing with camera bags over the years, from my first backback that got so heavy I couldn’t lug it around anymore to my uber cool Airport International 2.0 which is great for big jobs but what about when I want to go a little lighter? My old backback is too large, and my Airport International is too big, and my Modulous Speed Belt can’t hold enough nor is appropriate when traveling. So what does that leave? Fortunately, Think Tank Photo’s Mike Sturm has come to the rescue. Mike is the designer responsible for the newest and coolest backpack design from Think Tank Photo, the revolutionary ShapeShifter.

Why is the ShapeShifter so cool?
The problem with most camera bags is that they are designed for particular purpose, either trying to be lightweight and carry minimal equipment or being big enough to carry a large amount of gear. The ShapeShifter is designed for both, in expanded mode it can carry a couple of full size DSLR bodies, a few large pieces of glass, a good amount of accessories, AND a 17″ laptop.

Ok great, you can haul a bunch of stuff with you and your laptop easily, so what, the bigger rollers from Think Tank Photo allow you to do that easily enough. What is different with the ShapeShifter is that oncd your camera gear comes out (possibly moved to your Speed Belt) you can pull a zipper around and compress the backpack down to about three inches thick with your laptop still in it.

Features include:

• It can be compressed to 3 inches in width once your equipment is removed.
• Dedicated neoprene pockets for 2 pro size DSLR’s, 70-200 2.8, 24-70 2.8, wide angle 2.8, and strobes.
• Holds up to a 17” laptop in rear compartment.
• Front pocket organizers for your digital essentials.
• It can carry tripods and monopods.
• The Pro Speed Belt can be attached and quickly released.
• After your gear is removed, you can continue to carry your laptop and accessories, but in a much smaller package.

Who is the ShapeShifter for?
Since neoprene equipment bags inside the ShapeShifter don’t provide a lot of padding, the ShapeShifter is certainly not the best solution for travelers if there is any chance that your bag may have to get checked as luggage. For domestic flights the ShapeShifter is a great solution since domestic flights allow for a carry-on bag and a personal item such as a camera bag or laptop case. Since the ShapeShifter can hold you basic gear as well as your laptop you should always be able to carry it on and stuff it overhead or even under a seat.

Sports photographers who want an easy way to get their gear down onto the field but then want to compress the bag so there is a smaller profile to interfere with other photographers and easier maneuverability.

For photographers that use a modular belt system, you can remove most of your gear and still keep a few accessories and flashes in the backpack and still compress it to save space.

Any photographer that has to carry a laptop around safely as well as a decent selection of gear but doesn’t need a large backpack just to carry the laptop after the gear is taken out.

How well does it work?
I am super impressed with the versatility of the Shapeshifter already and have had it less than a week. I can carry a good selection of equipment comfortably and securely. The first day I got it I packed it up for a wedding with my Airport International Roller keeping the lesser used equipment and spares locked safely away, I could keep a small amount of gear with me at all times. The next day I took off to shoot a protest rally and loaded up with lenses and strapped my tripod onto the back. Out in the sun for a couple of hours all the extra shoulder and back padding made very comfortable to haul around a day pack of gear. A few days later I needed to make a day trip to San Fransisco to give a talk and I wanted a minimul set of gear along with my laptop. Even with a camera body, flash, several lenses, and my laptop I was able to compress the Shapeshifter down to the smaller size making it very easy to walk through the airports, take the BART into downtown, and walk to the convention center. Without the Shapeshifter I would have taken a large laptop case and probably not have taken any camera gear, or I would have taken a small camera bag that could hold a body and one lens. Thanks to the Shapeshifter I was able to take a 30D with battery grip, a 17-40 lens, a 24-70 lens, a 12-24 lens, and a 70-300 lens, and a 580 EX II. I could have taken some larger glass but then I wouldnt have been able to compress the bag down as much. Also in the Shapeshifter is the power supply for the laptop, a Zoom H2 audio recorder, and Jobo DSLR tripod.

The Shapeshifter isn’t going to be for everyone as there are some people who take too much gear everywhere they go and while the Shapeshifter can hold a decent amount of gear, it certainly can’t hold as much as the roller cases from Think Tank Photo. But if you need mobility and a roller is too inconvienent, the Shapeshifter is a great solution.

The bottom line
It didn’t take long for me to be a complete convert to the Shapeshifter for most of the assignments that I do although there are certain situations when I would rather have my larger roller with me. For the typical day assignment, for traveling, vacations, business trips, sports shooting, and many other situations, the Shapeshifter will be loaded up and hanging off my back.

The Think Tank Photo Shapeshifter backpack is scheduled for released in December of 2008 with a price of $249 US. If you have a photographer in the family that needs something like this, the Shapeshifter is an excellent Christmas gift.

Review Points

Setup
There is basically no setup of the Shapeshifter, open the zippers, load your equipment, adjust the straps, and off you go. If you want to use the monopod/tripod straps they are included inside the bag and will need to be attached to the outside before use. I keep the short sider attached at all times and when I am not using the long adjustable side I detach them and put them into a pocket in the bag to keep them out of the way.

Features
The Shapeshifter is like no other bag available today, loaded with more pockets than you would imagine and the ability to hold large equipment and compress down for smaller gear as well as having a padded laptop area that can take a 17″ laptop, the Shapeshifter is the ultimate in photographic mobility. Pockets galore! There are more pockets in this thing than you can count. The quality of the construction is simply incredible, I have full confidence this bag is going to last for many years.

Usage
Your biggest issue with the Shapeshifter is going to be deciding on what pocket of the dozens of available are you going to put your accessories in. Obviously this large number of pockets, holders, built-in bags, etc was built for someone with a better memory than me because there are so many places to put things you may well forget where something is. I am certainly a big fan of the Shapeshifter now and have taken it around to show all my friends.

Results
Sure, you can get a camera backpack on eBay for $30 and you may even be happy with it, but the ones I have bough have fallen apart, had the shoulder straps break, and are big and bulky. At $249 the Shapeshifter is not cheap, but neither is the contruction quality. Camera bags of this caliber are not designed for the budget-minded hobbiest, these are serious tools designed with professional photographers in mind. If you want to spend once on a backpack that will outlast several cheap ebay bags and you want to be sure you are not going to have zippers pop, seams break, and have it wear out prematurely then the Shapeshifter is the right choice.

Product Review Scorecard

Product Page: http://thinktankphoto.com/shapeshifter
Company Page: http://thinktankphoto.com

—-

Think Tank Photo Shapeshifter Camera Bag from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Cloning and Stamping tool Live Preview with Photoshop CS4 from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Photoshop CS4 Fluid Zoom and View Rotation from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Content Aware Scaling in Photoshop CS4 from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.