Blueprint

The Photographers Trinity.

Blueprint — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0000

This is one of the corner stones of a great image. In photography we have three immutable laws that we must abide by to get a good exposure. How we weigh the trinity is a blend of artistic decision, what you’re photographing and environmental constraints. It’s a careful balancing act and negotiating with physics to [More...] No related posts.

ACR Tutorial - Toolbar

Blueprint — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0000

In ACR the toolbar is always visible throughout the panels, sometimes they will interact with each other or allow you to access sub-panels. I will cover what each tool does and how to use it. I will cover the sub-panels and other features in later articles. Zoom Tool (keyboard shortcut Z): The first tool you [More...] Related posts:

ACR – Introduction

ACR – Introduction

Blueprint — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0000

This posting is going to be a multi-part overview of Adobe’s Camera RAW convertor also known as ACR. It’s the engine that powers Adobe Bridge and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. The first part of these tutorials will cover what RAW is and give a general overview of why and when you should use it. Following postings [More...] No related posts.

Quadra test session

Blueprint — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0000

This session was shot recently with Burcu. It’s one of the test sessions I’ve been undertaking with the new Quadra pack to get a handle on how best to use it and also I was also testing another new piece of gear a Lastolite Skylite. The article thumbnail is a pull back from the session [More...] Related posts:

C'est l'amour

Blueprint — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:00:15 +0000

I’ve just got time for a new lighting diagram for this update. I’ve quickly put up this glamour shot of Cat taken a few months back. We wanted to created a retro glamour look reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood in the 30s and 40s. It’s not a straight replica but more of a [More...] Related posts:

Bad Girl

The Elinchrom Ranger Quadra

Blueprint — Mon, 31 May 2010 23:00:34 +0000

As previously posted I got the new Quadra RX unit and quickly put it though it’s paces. The pack performed well for the test session and the new multi-purpose diffuser is an excellent addition to the head and works well. In addition I tested two of the new deflectors from Elinchrom. However not everything went [More...] Related posts:

Elinchrom Quadra has arrived.

Blueprint — Fri, 14 May 2010 23:00:38 +0000

I ordered a Elinchrom Quadra unit end of April however due to being out of stock I had to wait for new units to arrive. I received system this week and compared to the hire model there is some subtle and not so subtle changes to the new Quadra RX units. Elnchrom also have updated [More...] No related posts.

Retouching a portrait – Monochrome conversion.

Blueprint — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0000

This is the final instalment of this series. So far I’ve laid down the foundations for all portrait retouching and, to a degree, other genres. If you break your dark room processes down into steps then you will be able to edit and produce outstanding work rather than trying to do everything at once. In [More...] No related posts.

Quick Tip: Canon numbering

Blueprint — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0000

I like to keep my numbering sequential for my RAW files for each camera. Since one camera is older than the other it makes for easy sorting of images, well until you put the wrong card into the camera! Restoring the numbering for the camera is easy; if sometimes time consuming as it doesn’t always [More...] No related posts.

Retouching a portrait – Skin retouching.

Blueprint — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:00:12 +0000

This post is all about skin retouching, what it is and common mistakes that people make. I will make it clear up front I will not be using any blur methods in this tutorial. The reasons for this come down to what these methods do. They destroy the fabric of your image. We have to [More...] No related posts.