LDSantos Photography Blog - Photography by Luis D. Santos

Adobe® Illustrator® CS5 HTML5 Pack

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Wow, who said Adobe isn't committed to HTML5? If you're an Illustrator buff, this is for you. Press release after the break.

Announcing Adobe® Illustrator® CS5 HTML5 Pack: Easily design device and web content

This This pack provides initial support for HTML5 and CSS3 and extends SVG capability in Adobe Illustrator CS5, and helps you easily design web and device content. In combination with the Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 HTML5 Pack, these new tools allow web designers to take advantage of the latest advancements in HTML5.

While HTML5 and CSS3 will not be finalized for some time, and SVG support in browsers will continue to evolve, the extension provides support for a set of currently implemented features.

Benefits of the Illustrator CS5 HTML5 Pack extension

• Efficiently design for web and devices by exporting Illustrator Artboards for unique screen sizes using SVG and CSS3 media queries.

• Create web widgets with Illustrator by generating dynamic vector art for data driven web work-flows.

• Take advantage of the latest enhancements to SVG and Canvas to generate interactive web content.

• Map artwork appearance attributes from designer to developer tools– export from the Illustrator Appearance Panel to CSS3 for streamlined styling of web pages.

Lens Correction in ACR 6.1 and Lightroom 3

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Hey, I have to say I'm a happy man!!! Did I win a million bucks? Nah. But ACR 6.1 and Lightroom 3 will have Lens Correction. How cool is that! One of the most requested features is finally going to be a reality. Now, if only we had Soft proofing and Book creations ;-) .

In the meantime, here's Tom Hogarty with the new features!

InDesign CS5 and the iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:32:00 +0000

So everybody knows that CS5 got announced, and I have to tell you, It's the best release ever! Especially InDesign. More than a Print Layout application, it's a Document Layout application. What do I mean?

Reading Michael Ninness thoughts about what constitutes a document is very interesting (Ninness was senior product manager on Adobe InDesign CS5, now is Vice President of Lynda.com). Basically a document in today's terms is not for print only, but for various outlets. Including the iPad.

Enter ePub
One of the bif features of the iPad is its ability to display books usig the open standard ePub format. And, what do you know, InDesign has native support for exporting to ePub (well, it had it since InDesign CS3, but believe me, It's waaaaay better in CS5). Imagine: you can create a document for Print, Web, Interactive Flash or PDFs and ePubs. How cool is that!

Sooooo, is it that easy?
Well, yes and no. Creating an ePub format book has some nuances one must bare before exporting it. One thing to note about ePubs: Although great for novels and the like, it's not so good with more graphically designed layout publications. That's where PDFs (especially Interactive PDFs comes in to play).

ePub + iPad = Cool books!
So, how do you create your ePub books using InDesign CS5? Most certainly, Adobe has published some notes on this here (Note: Information is based on CS4, hopefully they'll update it soon).

But Terry White, of Adobe and Tech Industry fame, just created a video tutorial on creating an ePub book for the iPad in InDesign CS5! Check out the video and also, visit the link here to download the free book! And read more about the creation of the book here!

It's Here: CS5!

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:48:00 +0000

Yes, it's finally here: Adobe Creative Suite 5! And I have to say. it's the best release EVER! If you missed the launch event, you can see it here.

And for my latin IDUG users (spanish will be spoken now):

Ya fueron testigos de la mejor versión jamás visto de Adobe, el Creative Suite 5. Pero si eres desean ver en persona esta nueva versión (y vives en Puerto Rico) le invito a que me acompañes a nuestra próxima reunión del InDesign User Group el 1 de mayo de 2010. Puedes ver mas aquí.

Adobe to launch CS5!!

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Adobe just announced that they are going to announce the Creative Suite 5! (Weird, I know) Anyhoo, on April 12, 2010 we'll get the whole scoop on what's new in the Creative Suite of applications like InDesign and Photoshop. Something tells me this will be the best release ever!

Sign up here!

Lightroom 3 beta 2 Now Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 03:44:00 +0000

Yup, it's here!

New things include:

• Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images

• Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras

• Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta for outstanding overall high ISO quality

• Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control

• Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback

• Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback

(Via Lightroom 3 beta 2 Now Available - Lightroom Journal.)

Flash and Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:26:00 +0000

For a blog about photography, I do write a lot about Adobe ;-) . Anyway, found this interesting interview made by Mashable.

Also, check the Nexus One running Flash!

Flash and Apple, can't we all get along?

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:27:00 +0000

Oh Apple and Adobe, how times has changed.

Anyway, some say Adobe is lazy and that Flash in the iPhone equals a world of hurt. Well, guess what: Flash is on the iPhone! Not as you think, of course. Adobe just released Adobe Connect Pro for the iPhone. So? It was built on Flash and exported as a iPhone app.

FEATURES:

Attend Connect Pro Meetings with integrated conference call or Voice over IP audio. Let the meeting call you, and avoid entering cumbersome dialing codes.

See who has joined the meeting, and their role (host, presenter, or attendee)

View presentations, PDF documents, videos, and screen sharing provided by the meeting organizer. Rotate, pan, and zoom to choose your personal 'best view' of shared content

View webcamera broadcasts from unlimited live camera feeds provided in the meeting

Participate in Chat conversations throughout the meeting.

Join meetings attended by users on virtually any computer system: Mac, Windows, Linux, and Solaris. Plus other mobile attendees on iPhone and iPod touch.

So, you still think Adobe is lazy? By the way, read this interesting article about Flash vs. HTML5. (In Defense of Adobe Flash - Reviews by PC Magazine). Now, don't get me wrong... I think what HTML5 can offer is outstanding! But someone saying one will eliminate the other is someone not seing the whole picture.

My 2 cents!

The Future of Publishing

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:36:00 +0000

There has been a lot of talk of Flash (or lack thereof) on Apple devices. Now, you can argue all you want about it, but Adobe is not letting Apple's decision get on there way of revolutionizing what's possible with Flash, mainly thanks to AIR. They recently announced that, along with Flash Player 10.1, they would be making available AIR on many devices, even on Apple devices (in some way or form).

Think about this, develop one app and deploy it to multiple OSes: Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, WebOS, Blackberry, etc. That's pretty cool if you ask me! But what about the iPhone, iPod Touch and, mainly, the iPad? Through AIR, you can create apps specifically for these devices.

Now, talking' about the iPad, I think this device will be a revolution in publishing. I will go further in saying, it is the true beginning of the end of Print Publishing as we know it. Now, if we go back to the beginning of desktop publishing, who were the players? Apple with the Macintosh and Adobe with Pagemaker (well, Aldus). Now in this day in age, it just makes sense that both Apple and Adobe be the main players in the future of publishing. Want proof? Check out this video!

Apple's Big Announcment! (No, not the iPad) Aperture 3!

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:28:00 +0000

Apple released Aperture 3, it's photo management and RAW workflow software. And I gotta say, it looks sweet! Apart from the normal stuff (speed improvements, blah, blah), it has two very interesting features: Adjustment Presets and Nondestructive Brushes.

Sound familiar? If you're a Lightroom user, it should. Apple has just released two features which was unique to Lightroom (unique no more). And if you check out all the Image Adjustments features, you will see Apple means business.

Another super feature: Video and Audio. Now you can edit stills AND HD VIDEO!!! What can you expect from the makers of Final Cut Pro? Exactly! What a perfect excuse to get a DSLR with video! (If only the wife could understand...)

Now, I'll be upfront, I'm a Lightroom evangelist, I just love it and praise it every time I have the chance. But I have to admit that with this latest release, Apple has me wanting to download the trial and give it a try. Will I change from being a Lightroom user to a Aperture user? Probably not, Lightroom has so many advantages for me over other RAW Workflow Software Packages (particularly it's tight integration with Photoshop), but i'll be the first to admit that Aperture has a lot to offer and some key advantages, mainly better organizing features and a better price tag.

Now, the real question is: what will be Adobe's answer to Aperture 3? Lightroom 3 is out as a beta, but if we learn something from the Lightroom 2 beta was that new features can come in the final release. What will it be? Only time will tell.

Adobe Community Professionals 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:04:00 +0000

As the name of the blog implies, my main passion these days is photography. Truly love it! And creating my site/blog was my way of keeping me up to date with my photography (although, i admit, i must update my blog more often). But my day job is all about Print Production and Graphic Arts. Over 10 years of page layouts, fonts, pre-flights, paper, ink, etc.

Back then, my main tools for the job involved Photoshop, Freehand (how i miss you!) and QuarkXpress (how i don't miss you!). Then came a program named InDesign. First version was... ok. Version 2 was great! Ever since, I was hooked; I knew then Quark's days on the top was numbered.

A couple of years ago, my buddy José Ramos became Chapter Representative of the InDesign User Group in Puerto Rico (the first of the Caribbean, if not the first in Latin America) and invited me to help him out. Ever since I have been involved with the group. Last year, I was invited to become Co-Chapter Rep with José, which I gladly (and humbly) accepted.

Now comes a biggie... this year I was invited to be part of the Adobe Community Professionals (formerly known as the Adobe Community Experts). I am totally psyched and honored to be in such a community. What is Adobe Community Professional? From Liz Frederick (Adobe Community Manager):

This community-based program is made up of users who share their product expertise with the worldwide Adobe community. The mission is to provide high caliber peer-to-peer communication educating and improving the product skills of Adobe customers worldwide.

As you can imagine, I am very excited about this program. My thanks to Adobe for creating such excellent tools and for truly engaging with the end user. And, for the complete list of inductees, go here!

P.S.
Yup, my buddy José is in the group, thanks José!

My first wedding shoot!

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Last october I had the opportunity to shoot my first wedding. At first I didn't know what to expect, but as the night went by, I was sure of one thing: I love it!

Now, I got to give props to couple, trusting they're most important day to a newb (in wedding photography, that is) requires a lot of faith. I am forever thankful!

For more picks, check out the gallery!

Adobe Lightroom 3 Public Beta

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:48:00 +0000

Can you believe it?

A bunch of cool features, but I think its best to check out NAPP’s Learning Center, for all the info (let the experts explain it better than me!).

By the way, here's the link for the download!

365 Project Day 14 - Happy Feet

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Memphis: Whatcha doin' there, boy?

Baby Mumble: [tap dancing] I'm happy, Pa!

Memphis: Whatcha doin' with your feet?

Baby Mumble: [looks down] They're happy, too!

Had a rough day, but when you see your lovely wife and hear good music (hearing My Sharona from The Knack as I write this), you just get happy!

*quote from the movie Happy Feet.

Image: Relaxing, took a self portrait with my feet! This image reminded me a lot Lee Friedlander (see below). Converted to black & white in Lightroom with some minor dodging with the Adjustment Brush. By the way, if you haven't used the new Wacom Intuos 4, I got one word for you: WOW!!

Manual: Page 41 (Nikon D40 manual) Shutter Speed and Camera Shake. To prevent blur caused by camera shake, the shutter speed should be faster than the inverse of the focal length of the lens, in seconds (for example, when using a lens with a focal length of 300mm, choose a shutter speed faster than 1/300s). This really useful, never thought of this!

Inspiration: Lee Friedlander. An accomplished commercial photographer, made his name for his social images. I am awestruck with his style of photography. If I were to aspire to a style or genre, observing Lee's images would be a good way to start. I can't say enough great things about him!!

365 Project Day 13 - Rough Times

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:19:00 +0000

As the title implies, we are living through rough times. Getting a job is tough, not to mention keeping a job. As I embark on this project, my desire to make it in the photography world grows more and more. But, at the same time, these days are getting rougher. What to do? Go for your passion or go for the paycheck? I know I'm not the only one thinking about these issues.

Image: Asked a buddy of mine to do a quick pose. Of all the images, I liked this the most. Tried to maintain the focus on him using Gradient Filters in Lightroom. FREE texture from NinianLif.

Manual: Page 52 (Nikon D40 manual) Highlights are the brightest portions of the image. Details may be lost (“washed out”) in areas of highlights that are overexposed. As Scott Kelby would call them, "keep an eye on those blinkies".

Inspiration: Martin Prihoda. Heard about this amazing photographer from the Lightsource podcast. Love his creative use of lighting. Go check his Yoga gallery!!

365 Project Day 12 - Cargo Zone

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:49:00 +0000

Today was hunting day... hunting for an image, that is!

Image: When I left work, I was intrigued by the sign. Snapped a shot. When I reviewed the image, I wasn't that excited. Wish I has a wider lense so I could capture the whole sign, but after working the image in Lightroom, decided to upload it. This 365 project has got me working on what to look, although I admit I have to work on my composition. Got a year for this!

Manual: Page 48 (Nikon D40 manual) Flash compensation. Used to alter flash output by from –3EV to +1EV in increments of 1/3EV, changing the rightness of the main subject relative to the background. Flash output can be increased to make the main subject appear brighter, or reduced to prevent unwanted highlights or reflections. Used it a couple of times, although I really want an external flash. An SB-900?

Inspiration: Ben Shahn. Another photog from the FSA, but this one is very interesting. He was actually a very accomplished artist (he assisted Diego Rivera). He was recommended to the FSA by friend and former roommate Walker Evans. Although his career as a photographer didn't last long, his vision was certainly unique, as cited from the book Documentary Photography: his painter's conception made many of his photographs persuasive works of art.

365 Project Day 11 - Up in the clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Yesterday I went for the dumpster, today I went for the sky... how poetic!

Image: Caught some interesting clouds, nothing fancy. But did some fun processing in Lightroom and Photoshop. It's cool what you can capture if you look up!

Manual: Page 38 (Nikon D40 manual) Two-Button Reset. Now I know what to do if my camera acts wonky.

Inspiration: Todoy i'll give it to Chase Jarvis. Not only are his images amazing, but just today he announced a new book that makes the saying "The best camera is the one that's with you" a whole new meaning. See his post here!

365 Project Day 10 - Rusted Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:50:00 +0000

Went to the garbage dump! Well, not exactly, but close.

Image: The rusted hole caught my eye, but when processed trough Lightroom, I got this interesting result thanks to a preset by Preset Heaven, great site (highly recommended!)

Manual: Page 23 (Nikon D40 manual) AF-Assist illuminator. If the subject is poorly lit, the AF-assist illuminator will light automatically to assist the autofocus operation when the shutter-release button is pressed halfway. Very useful, unless you have a lens that doesn't have a built-in motor (like my 50mm f/1.8). Oh well!

Inspiration: Edward Weston.I am amazed by the sheer quality of his images, its like a college course on imagery. Here's the link to his site.

No photo day

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:59:00 +0000

Looks like sundays will be no photo day. Will post tomorrow!

365 Project Day 9 - Fence

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:48:00 +0000

It's late as I write this, so i'll make it short and sweet. Went to visit my wife's parents. Had a great time. Took my camera, of course!

Image: Played with depth of field here. Didn't want to go wide open at f/1.8, so I tried f/2.8. Sharp and defocused. Converted to black & white to increase contrast and eliminate some nasty distractions. Processed with Lightroom and sharpened in Photoshop.

Manual: Page 45 (Nikon D40 manual) Matrix metering. Camera meters a wide area of the frame and instantly sets exposure according to distribution of brightness, color, distance, and composition for natural results. This is what I use most of the time, pretty much gets it right.

Inspiration: Walker Evans. A superb documentarian and journalist. Some say he captured the face of the Great Depression. His images are simply amazing!

365 Project Day 8 - Exhausted

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Today was basketball night, a great excuse to take the camera. Took my 50mm f/1.8 to catch some images. The action shots wasn't all that great (well, actually they stinked). So I focused my attention on other details, like the exhausted players. It was fun, but tiresome. Playing a couple of games and then trying to catch some shots can be really exhausting for sure.

Image: Took this shot of a good friend of mine who played tonight. What I like about this image is the water bottle, it gives some context. Also, there is a fading line that draws your eye from the player and back to him. Processed with Lightroom and Photoshop.

Manual: Page 32 (Nikon D40 manual) Continuous shooting mode. Taking more than 1 frame per second. Didn't tried this, should have... D'OH!!

Inspiration: Going with a local, but an extremely great photographer. He's a mentor and a friend, Samuel Collazo. Please check his black & white and color galleries on Flickr. He's a true inspiration!

365 Project Day 7 - Deteriorate

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:33:00 +0000

de•te•ri•o•rate | diˈti(ə)rēəˌrāt |

verb
become progressively worse

Don't you ever wonder why things deteriorate? Everything eventually deteriorates. Be it objects, nature, even life. One can pass by the things that is deteriorated and not notice. But if you stop and observe, ask yourself: how was it before? What made it what it is today? Is there hope it can "come back to life"? There is beauty in things deteriorated. Is it because of the fact it is deteriorated? Or is it something else? Oh well, so much for my ramblings. ;-)

Image: Driving away from my work, I see this and was intrigued. The combination of color, shape and a little bit of deterioration just caught my interest. A little bit of Lightroom and a tablespoon of Photoshop, and done. Hope you like it!

Manual: Page 76 (Nikon D40 manual) Auto ISO. ISO sensitivity will automatically be adjusted if optimal exposure can not be achieved at the selected value. What a great feature. Can you imagine using this feature on a Nikon D700 or D3? Wow!

Inspiration: Jacob Riis. Like Lewis Hine, he dedicated his photographic life for a cause, in his case exposing the life of New York City's Slums. Superb images!

365 Project Day 6 - Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:04:00 +0000

in•spi•ra•tion | ˌinspəˈrā sh ən |
noun
1 the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative

Inspiration. That was lacking today for a while. With so little time to take pictures, every shot counts. But it wasn't there, until... I see my lovely wife. What a way to bring back that spark. I gotta tell you, I am a very fortunate guy. Having a beautiful, smart, inspirational and supportive wife has to be one of the biggest highlights of my life. And she's a heck of a photographer too!!

Image: Took a series of shots of my lovely wife, and this one just won. The look of her eyes are just beautiful. Worked some post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Manual: Page 40 (Nikon D40 manual) Flexible Program. In this mode, one can adjust the combination of shutter speed and aperture by rotating the command dial. Most people are keen on avoiding Program Mode, but i believe it can have its place. Heck, I know excellent photographers who shoot in Program Mode. What do you use? I mainly use Aperture Priority, but would use Program Mode if its needed. No shame in that!

Inspiration: Recently bought the latest Outdoor Photographer a read about Fine Arte photographer Richard Garrod. His images are stunning and his black & whites are exquisite. Truly inspirational!

365 Project Day 5 - Focused Lines

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, the best images can be the simple ones. Lines, circles, simple stuff that, when looked closely, can bring out beauty! Now, I learned that the simple stuff are harder to find. Why is that? Are we so obsessed with going big with our images that we forget everything else around us? A great photog friend once told me "train your eye, look for the things everybody sees, but can't see". Hmmm, he's on to something!

Image: I went simple today. Didn't want to look big, but work hard at looking at the simple, like these warehouse gates (or doors, I don't know what you call them). Just enjoyed how the lines converged and with a little Lightroom work, looks kind of cool!

Manual: Page 24 (Nikon D40 manual) Single
area focus. User selects focus area using multi selector; camera focuses on subject in selected focus area only. Use with stationary subjects.

Inspiration: Another FSA photographer: Jack Delano. This one is special because he documented Puerto Rico like no one else did. I remember as a kid always enjoying his images from the book Puerto Rico Mio, but not knowing why. Now I know!

365 Project Day 4 - Waiting for Time

noreply@blogger.com (Luis D. Santos) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:17:00 +0000

After a no photo day, I was concerned today could be a repeat. But I took my camera, hoping to capture a moment. Sometimes one can find an image, and sometimes an image can find you. The key is to look, even if doesn't make sense. Look and wait. Or, just press the shutter...

Image: This was not intentional. Going down the stairs, a co-worker is smoking and, not "looking" for an image, I clicked the shutter. To my surprise, the image found me! FREE texture from NinianLif.

Manual: Page 47 (Nikon D40 manual) As a rule of thumb, positive compensation may be needed when the main subject is darker than the background, negative values when the main subject is brighter than the background.

Inspiration: Dorothea Lange. Famous for her Migrant Mother image. She captured images that marked a time not many are proud of, but at the same time, can show us were we could be headed.