We started the morning in Georgetown, arriving early as usual, and snapping a few shots as we waited for the rest of the group to meet at the rally point.  There were about 35 walkers in our group. We even had Kathy, our buddy from the Reinventing a Boomer blog, join us while she was visiting her son; he came along, too.

We took a group photo and began our walk along the old Chesapeake and Ohio canal.  President John Quincy Adams ceremoniously began digging on 4 July 1828, and it was finally completed in 1850.  In Georgetown, you can take a short ride on the canal boat, still. 

We walked up M Street, with cameras snapping away in countless directions, making the tourists and locals wonder what was up.  You can see the group’s photostream here.  There are almost 200 photos there now, and photographers can add more until this weekend. 

After cooling off in a local establishment with some lovely stout, I went home for a cold shower, so I could be ready for the Warrenton evening walk.  The town of Warrenton is the county seat of Fauquier County and a town full of history from its 1810 incorporation.  We had a smaller group of about 20 folks, but had just as much fun.  For this walk, Mark and I limited ourselves to only one lens, the 105mm.  Besides constraining our views, it also meant we didn’t carry any heavy bags.  There was still plenty of heat and humidity to drain my reserves, but I managed to get a few more shots.  The walk ended at the ice cream stand (it was packed with overheated folks).  You can look at the Warrenton photostream here.

It was a long hot day, but I’d do it again next year.  Mark and I have participated in all three of the Worldwide Photowalks, and my only complaint is that Scott Kelby needs to move the date to a month that isn’t so hot.  Or, maybe, I need to join a walk in Alaska next year.  Anyone up for a roadtrip?

When the weather is less than ideal and you’re on a tight schedule, you have to shoot it like it is.  I guess you can just ignore the photo opportunity altogether, but what kind of photographer would do that?   So, I wrapped my camera in a RainSleeve; pulled my hat around to prevent litter in the bay; and stepped out of the boat cabin.  Captured here by my daughter-in-law.

The falling rain and accompanying mist can create some problems, but they can also lead to interesting photos that most people don’t even try to take.  The rain and mist can simplify backgrounds and create moody images.  The reason is that the light is flat and can really reduce the contrast we are used to seeing in our photographs.  The solution is to think in monochrome, relying on composition, and not color, for interesting photographs.

As we boarded the Portage ferry, Ptarmigan, the captain standing in the rain, next to the bright life ring, in his weathered yellow hat made a nice shot.

There are some advantages to shooting in the overcast conditions.  The clouds greatly reduced the reflections on the water.  This came in handy when pointing my camera directly at the bay to capture this sea otter enjoying a lazy morning swim.  The clouds kept my camera’s meter from going crazy trying to pick this gray whale out of a flashy background.

And, remember, the rain will eventually end.  There are lots of opportunities when the sun shines through holes in the clouds for really nice images.  (The sun came through as we were almost back to Anchorage, of course.)

Make sure you take care of your camera and lenses when you venture out in the weather.  I prefer the RainSleeves for my gear.  You can get a pair of them for about $5, and they’ll last a long time if you don’t rip them.  Many people use other methods like umbrellas or baggies with rubber bands.  A little moisture will probably not disable your camera, but don’t expose it to unnecessary exposure.  Wipe down your gear with a soft, absorbent cloth and let it dry completely.  Obviously, you should never change lens in these conditions.  Doing so will expose your sensor to damage.

Take care, but go out in the rain with your camera.  You’ll get some interesting photos, and it may be the only way to get them.

Cape Henry, Va Beach, Va

Over the weekend, I was reviewing some old photos and came across a double lighthouse picture that was flat and lifeless.  It was a cloudy morning in Virginia Beach, and the sky was a mush of gray.  I remembered what I saw that morning, but I hadn’t captured it very well.  This happens to photographers every now and then.  When it does, you can delete it or put it into post-processing.  I took it into Photoshop.

I cropped it, and got rid of the telephone pole on the left side.  That still left another pole and the lines across the sky.  I’ve used the Clone Tool and Healing Brush to successfully get rid of similar obstructions in the past – it isn’t a hard fix.  However, it can be a tedious job with constant adjustments to the “fix” to get it right.  This time when I used the Healing Brush, I made sure the Content Aware box was checked and had it knocked out in less than two minutes.  When you’re working on images all the time, that kind of time savings is huge.  I made one or two minor tweaks, and that was it.  I’ll do a blog on this feature later; today, we’re concentrating on HDR Toning.

With everything cleaned up, I jumped into HDR Toning to put a little more life into the shot and put more definition into the clouds. In a “normal” HDR image, you’ll use 3-5 (sometimes more) photos, merged to achieve the wider dynamic range.  In CS5, you do that with a new tool, called HDR Pro.  If you just have one image and you want to get a similar look and feel, you use HDR Toning.  The menu location is: Image, Adjustments, HDR Toning.

The first time you enter this tool, you’ll notice that the default settings give you a highly saturated and highly vibrant image.  Too much for me; I backed them down.  I increased the Detail setting and made some minor adjustments to the Highlights and Shadows.  You should be careful with these sliders because a small movement can have a big effect.  I try to stay away from the over-the-top look of some HDR images, but this is obviously closer to that side.  Everyone won’t like it, but it is better than the original.  You can find some video tutorials on HDR Toning all over the web.  Here are two links to give you a sample: Adobe and Tip Squirrel.

You can do this with portraits, too.  People and their skin do not react nicely to some of the HDR Toning  processes.  So, unless you are looking for those kinds of changes, proceed carefully.  I’m just beginning to get my settings down for that.  As I figure it out, I’ll create custom presets to make things move even more quickly.  Here is a sample.  (And, yes, Content Aware Fill was used to delete the other kids – in under a minute!)  You can used the supplied presets, in addition to your own, to make your work more consistent.  This new version of Photoshop is loads of fun! 

Photowalks have been happening for years, but they got more organized in the last few years as advances in the digital camera made photography much easier for everyone.  One of those who helped popularize the movement is Jeff Revell, one of us Northern Virginia boys.  Mark and I have had the pleasure of attending many walks organized by Jeff.  You can find out more about him and read his blog here.  Scott Kelby went along with Jeff, a few years back, and started up this Worldwide Photowalk thing, and it has grown larger every year.  Of course, as with everything Scott, there is the NAPP connection.  And, to add a touch of charity, t-shirt sales (optional) help support the Springs of Hope Orphanage, in Kenya. You need to be in on this one.

Photowalks are free and open to anyone, with any camera.  Beginners and seasoned pros will be there.  I’ve seen 1950s press cameras, 35mm film SLRs, point-and-shoots, camera phones, and modern digital SLRs.  You’ll spend a couple of hours and 1-2 miles of walking with other photographers (each walk is limited to 50).  Everyone shoots whatever they find interesting.  Usually, the ending point is a restaurant where we all meet and look at photos that our walk group took.  

As we’ve discussed in previous discussions of our personal photowalks, the goal is to get out and shoot things that you might not otherwise go after.  This is an excellent time to photograph things that challenge you.  If you need some help, you’ll have 50 friends there for advice.  You can shoot great shots that everyone likes, or be happy with your vision of something different.

So, sign up today, and mark your calendar.  You’ll have a great time; make some new photo connections;  and create some new photographs.  How can you go wrong?

Facebook. In case you haven’t found it, we also have a page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/EfCubed.  You can see some other photos there; drop us a line; or make a suggestion for a blog topic you’d like to see.  If you’re a Facebook user, do us a favor and “Like” our site there.  Thanks.  You can also drop us a line here using the “Contact” menu on the line above this entry.  Or you can leave them in the “Comments” after any blog entry.

Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 5 is selling now; it ships by mid-May.  We’ve both already ordered our upgrades.  I was a beta-tester for the new CS5, and this is a major upgrade.  There are improvements in mask building. cloning, high dynamic range (HDR), and many more.  You can see many of these features illustrated on Adobe TV.   As NAPP members (link above on “Blogroll”), we also recommend you go there for information.  They have a CS5 page with videos and information here.  We’ll show some of the new features in the future.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is out in a public beta.  This program should be released this summer, but no date has been set, yet.  You can download a copy to try at Adobe Labs.  There are lots of improvements in the RAW converter, noise reduction, and you can now catalog video clips.  Remember, beta versions still have some rough edges and all the features are not finalized before the public release of the commercial product, so you should only use it for testing with copies of your images.  Usually, Adobe also puts in some features in the final product that aren’t inside the beta.

If you’re an Apple Aperture user, they have released Aperture 3.  It has new presets; new organization capabilities using faces and places; helps create photobooks that can be printed; and also has basic video handling.  They advertise more than 200 new features.  I don’t use this Lightroom competitor, but many like it as much as I like Lightroom.  You can get a free trial version of it here.

Travel.  We’re both headed off on photo expeditions in the coming months that should yield a few interesting photos: Mark is going to Greece; and Roger, Alaska.  We’ll post some of the photos here and on Facebook.

I’ll close with an old photo from my film days.  This was one of my first sales – important to a young soldier, trying to earn extra money to feed the family.  Monique was a classmate at the Defense Language School.  She and her boyfriend liked this one.

Portrait in direct sunlight