Because I Can

February 11th, 2010 § 0

Martha's Beach, Washington, Taken with iPhone © Jay Goodrich

I am going to try this only because I can. I now have the latest version of the Wordpress application for my iPhone, which I have discovered can do just about everything that my desktop version can do. This will be my first post to my blog from my iPhone using only an iPhone image. The image was taken at my local beach one evening while I was on a trail run with my wife Heather. Hopefully it looks ok. And yes I did write this while sitting at the breakfast table…in my boxers. There truly isn’t anything that you can not do in this world.

Aperture 3 – a Quick Personal Comparison to Lightroom

February 10th, 2010 § 5

For starters, I feel that I need to qualify this review with a little bit of my history with Apple Computers and Aperture software. I bought my first Mac over 20 years ago and have been using them exclusively as my publishing platform since. My standard saying is, “You can have my Mac when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.” I purchased Aperture 1 on the day that it was available and haven’t used it since Adobe released Lightroom, I found that Lightroom was better integrated with Photoshop for the way that I worked on my images. I know that the issues I had with the first version of Aperture have since been resolved from reading other people’s reviews; so with the release of Aperture 3, I felt a strong urge to give my “until death do us part” hardware company another shot with their software. I have spent a total of about 8 hours working in Aperture 3 prior to creating this review. I loaded it into a 2 year old Mac Pro, with OS 10.5.8, 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors, and 8 GBs of ram.

I also want you to have a brief overview of my current workflow. All of my initial editing, renaming, cataloging, and keywording is currently accomplished using Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits, Inc. I can tell you that this will never change. Photo Mechanic is super fast, super responsive, and super easy to get those images organized to a point where I can work on them further. Once I am finished in Photo Mechanic the images are imported into Lightroom. This is where I apply global and some local adjustments prior to finishing the images in Photoshop. All of the Photoshop images are stacked with the original raws and assigned a rating, color code and flag per the way my wacked out brain works. At this point, they are ready to send out for usages, added to the web, or uploaded to my Photoshelter account.

I had a bunch of tasks in mind once I downloaded my trial version of Aperture 3, yesterday. I have a set workflow in place, so my main concern is how easy it would be to integrate Aperture into that workflow. Next, I wanted to review all of the new features and adjustment tools. Then, I wanted to see what I could produce with some of my current images and how fast I could do it.

I opened Aperture for the first time in a bunch of years last night after dinner. I watched all of the videos that pop up as you start the software for the first time and then was off to the races. I decided to only import two folders from my terabyte of images that reside on my computer. I figured if I couldn’t get a good idea as to how this software would work with creating only two projects on the platform, I could stop right there and continue on with my current workflow. I chose two folders of images that I captured in Yellowstone this past summer, both of which contained untouched raws, HDR merges, and final Photoshop selects. With this first stage, I discovered my first problem. Aperture does not read any of my Lightroom ratings, color coding or stacks. It does organize the files so I can see them in the order in which they reside in Lightroom, but all of that important info attached to the photos falls by the waste-side. There might be a way to do this and have it work, I just don’t know it yet. Also, I discovered that Aperture drops all of my IPTC contact info from my Photoshop finals. And yes, this info is present when viewing the images in Photoshop and Lightroom. Everything else appears to be correct – filenames, keywords, and IPTC data on the original raws.

Next up were the features. I have to say that I am pretty amazed here. The browser is super fast even while you are uploading, something that Lightroom lacks. I managed to find my first bug fairly quickly. I went right into the adjustments tab once the import was complete, selected an image, chose the retouch adjustment, and proceeded to clone dust out of an image. I have to say that I usually do this in Photoshop, because even Lightroom is way too slow with its version of this tool. Aperture proceeded to crash 5 times in a row. So it looks like I will either need to slow down on the way I clone and become more patient, or continue to work this process in Photoshop.

preprocessed raw image in aperture photoshop comparison by jay goodrich

Preprocessed Raw, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone NP, © Jay Goodrich

Now I wanted to master an image and see if I could get similar results here in Aperture to what is available to me in Lightroom. This is where Apple left me drooling. I have to say that they are crushing Lightroom in their ability to apply local adjustments to an image. You can see what I was able to get out of my raw in just a couple of minutes using only Aperture 3. The adjustments tab contains over 20 adjustments, and 30 presets, and this is the kicker – they can all be applied locally, with a custom brush that you create. In addition, you can create presets for both individual adjustments or a series of them. The adjustments do apply super fast, although there was some glitchyness as the hardware applied it to the raw. Sometimes it only displayed part of the image during it’s redraw process, this was fixed by just clicking on the image again. Not a big problem, but it definitely contributes to frustration. I also tried clicking one of my existing .psd files to see if I could go back into Photoshop and make additional adjustments to a final select. This was not a problem, however, Aperture needed to create an additional psd of the existing psd to do so. Meaning it was treating my final Photoshop file as a raw. All of the adjustment layers were present and workable. My main wish here is that it would read my psd as the psd and open it directly, and then re-save it as the original.

processed raw image in aperture photoshop comparison by jay goodrich

Processed with Aperture only, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone NP, © Jay Goodrich

With the discovery of how amazing the adjustments tab is I decided to see if I could match an image in Aperture with one that has been processed through my current Photoshop workflow. And to my amazement it actually exceeded the current Photoshop image, by holding more detail in the highlights, and giving me a very close rendition (as seen below) without using anything but Aperture. This could make it a more powerful editing tool for me, bringing images into Photoshop only for merges and panoramic creation.

image comparison of aperture 3 and photoshop

Aperture Version, © Jay Goodrich

image comparison between photoshop and aperture

Photoshop Version, © Jay Goodrich

So what else do I like? The GEO tagging feature is a really cool option. I do not GEO tag my photos in the field, but with a quick click of the “places” tool in the upper right hand corner of Aperture, I was able to tag all of my Yellowstone photo locations in a couple of minutes by dropping pins on the map exactly where I know I stood. Then I was able to easily attach the specific photos to those locations. Way cool. The slideshow feature is really impressive too. It gives you the power to pretty much create a movie with your images, add music, add video that you have with your D-SLR, sync those images to the music, and then export the whole show directly to youTube, Quicktime, or even as full resolution HD. Having the ability to upload directly to Flickr and Facebook is a welcome plus for me also.

I know that I haven’t even touched the surface of this software and upon more review could find even more likes and dislikes with it. My main objective here was to see if it will do a better job for me personally. Anything that speeds up my editing processes, contributes to my bottom line and that is an ever growing necessity in this industry.

Am I going to make the switch back? Well that’s not an easy question to answer. Losing my ratings, stacks, and color coding would make my life a little harder. I will have to decide how important it is for me to keep those settings, and if the answer is yes, then making the commitment to update all of the folders and images accordingly. However, the adjustment tools are calling me like the Sirens of the Odyssey. I think before I jump off of the boat half cocked, I am going to do a little more research and see what Adobe steps up to the plate with in Lightroom 3. Never-the-less, if I was a current Aperture user, I would already have the upgrade. And as it stands right now, I really want to make the leap.

Pros:

-great image adjustments – especially on the local adjustment level

-slide show and places

-uploading to Facebook, MobileMe, and Flickr – it would be even cooler if they added posting to Twitter and personal blog galleries similar to what Photoshelter offers.

-speed when browsing and adjusting

Cons:

-doesn’t read Lightroom’s ratings, color coding, and stacks

-duplicates current .psd files as if they were raws

-crashes and glitchy redraws with certain tools in certain situations

-loses IPTC contact info with existing .psd files


OZ – the experience

February 9th, 2010 § 2

The Oz Couloir, Chugach, AK

As the blades of the heli chopped hard at the air to move the machine off the ground, the wash churned up crystals of ice that scoured every inch of my exposed face. I had to watch. I was excited to watch. This machine defied all the laws. I looked to my friend Chris, he was staring as I was. I caught a wink from him out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t believe that I was here, for the eighth time in my life. That was the fastest it ever took me to get into these massive peaks. We hung on to a rocky outcrop that was as fine as a razor’s edge. HUGE drops to either side, eminent death.

I was quivering with excitement and fear. I knew what was ahead and was not totally sure if this dream was one I wanted to live down. Would reality kick me in the face like the rotor wash and send me cowering home? I clicked into my skis and stared down into the steepest line I have ever seen in my life. 3500 vertical feet of sustained 60 degrees in what looked like a band-aid strip of snow between monstrous cliffs to either side. I was off of my rocker. So were all of my friends. We even asked for this shit. Feared absolutely nothing last night while pumping the alcohol through our veins. Are you kidding? My stupid right leg began to shake. In the climbing world they call it “sewing machine leg” because you are so scared that something, some part of your body, has to release a bit of the tension, and it is usually your leg bouncing like a sewing machine.

The snow was the coldest I have ever seen. Three feet of untouched. If the beast didn’t let go and bury me under the “Alaskan Slough”. The Alaskan Slough is the equivalent of an avalanche anywhere else in the world. My eyes dilated. My heart was racing. I could hear my pulse. So could my friends. Our guide called out. “Jay, your first.” I looked up with blank stare. I was shaking my head on the inside in disbelief. I guess I asked for a little taste of OZ. Although, those monkeys were a little frightening. “It’s okay, ski that way until something gets in your way, then turn.” Stupid French girl, in that stupid 80’s movie. “5….4….3”, Al-Z shouts, “Stay out of the gutter.” Great, the avalanche rides the gutter. 60 degrees, 60 degrees, 60 degrees. Oh my god, is this truly what I wanted out of life. Hands shaking, both legs going, no way. I can’t do this. “2”. The radio blasts, “Al-Z are you sure you want them dropping into that? That thing is a slough monster”. Stay out of the gutter.” Pupils are so dilated they are going to burst. “1”. “Jay, DROP!”.

Fear pumped adrenaline, adrenaline brought excitement, a super deep breath, and all at once a calm came over me, I felt like I was home again.…“DROPPING”.

February 2010 Photo of the Month

February 5th, 2010 § 2

Martha's Beach, Washington

I have had a really good week. Colleague John O’Conner inspired me with a few super simple image compositions that he posted to his facebook page. I drew more inspiration from a video of urban trials rider Danny MacAskill. And, was able to witness an amazing light display at my own private beach that allowed me to utilize everything I learned – hint go to my facebook page. I was going to post the beach image that I had on facebook earlier this week as the photo of the month, but I figured it was out in the world already, so why not something new. This month’s photo was taken from the same location. For what ever reason, the sun always seems to come out right around sunset, it doesn’t matter if it is howling, pouring, or foggy and overcast. This is really good for me because I love to take the kids and the dog down there to explore – with my camera of course. The evening pictured here was standard operating proceedure –  it rained all day and then bam, magic. That is the beauty of nature, it is ever changing. This image was captured with a Canon 1D Mark III, 16-35mm lens, Gitzo tripod, Kirk BH-1 ballhead, Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer, Singh-Ray 3-stop Daryl Benson reverse grad filter.

All of these positive events have generated a new idea – the experience. A new category on this blog beginning Tuesday. You will have to wait until then to find out more.

One more – I just realized that Singh-Ray has posted an article by me on their blog. Let me know what you think. They used this image as their lead-in.

Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

February 4th, 2010 § 9

As I conjured up the words for this post in my head, I was convinced that I was going to discuss what has inspired me, what currently does inspire me, and what I think will inspire in the future. Lately, I haven’t been looking to photography for inspiration, I have been looking elsewhere. I have been reading about architecture, painting, and music, and I figured that would encompass what I would write about here. I think that has all changed now though, due to a beer, some in-depth thought, and a long, hot shower.

The video you see here is of Danny MacAskill, an amazing urban trials rider. I would be hard pressed to believe that anyone out there hasn’t seen this video yet, as it has been viewed over 14 million times on youTube. I myself first saw it in May of last year, then again when Heather’s father sent it to me in August, and then again last week when my own father forwarded it on to me. Yes Danny does inspire, if not put you right into a state of disbelief, he defies gravity. And no, I can not ride like him, nor would I really ever want to, I think, maybe I would, never-mind.

The answer came to me as I was toweling off from my shower. The past few weeks, I have watched my 4 year old daughter Jade become obsessed with reading. She wants to be able to read War and Peace so badly that she will try reading to the point that her head collapses on the kitchen table in exhaustion. She falls asleep trying. That was my answer, my moment, my epiphany when this whole piece came together. It’s not that Danny MacAskill can do those amazing things with his bike that inspires me. It’s the fact that he has tried so hard, probably to the point of falling asleep on that machine, which has allowed him to do all of those tricks on his bike that inspires me. The pursuit of something you want so badly that you are willing to fall, injure, fail, repeat, redo, ect., that drive, that stamina, will show you success never before imagined. Danny is proof of that, Jade, will be proof of that. My only hope is that I can continue to fall asleep everyday with my camera in my hand in pure and utter exhaustion from trying so hard. And if not, I know that some of the inspiration is currently sleeping a few doors down.

So tell me, what inspires you?

100th Post! and What is adam | 12? Updated

January 29th, 2010 § 3

Walking in the Weeds with iPhone

In a dark corner of a seedy bar, much like the one in the original Star Wars movie where viewers first met Han Solo, I sat with some very close friends sipping on some really good tequila. The events that were about to transpire would change the course of my photo and writing career for ever. My brother-in-law showed me a camera app that he had downloaded into his iPhone. I immediately logged into the Apple App Store and downloaded it to my phone. And the rest is, at the risk of sounding cliche, is history.

Now, using the iPhone as a creative tool has become a daily occurrence for me. I live by those blasted words of Chase Jarvis, “The Best Camera Is the One that is With You.” I apply that same sentiment to his Best Camera application as well. I try to upload an image to my Facebook, Twitter, Best Camera, and Flickr accounts on a daily basis. Why? Because it makes me feel like I am connecting with my friends, family, and followers. And, because I like it.

Since this is my 100th blog post, which is something of a special landmark for me, I am announcing a personal project that is going to happen on February 20th, 2010. If you are a black and white landscape photographer you will probably know that this is photographer Ansel Adams’ birth date. Adams always pushed the limits of creation, and were he here today, I firmly believe he would be all-for utilizing the digital darkroom, and even an iPhone, for creating on the spur of the moment.

The thought here is to celebrate one of photography’s legacies right along with one of the newest technologies out there and see what happens. My mission is to photograph for 12 hours straight, traveling all over the state of Washington, from 8 am to 8 pm, using only my iPhone. As I shoot, I am going to edit in-camera/phone, and then immediately post to my Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Best Camera accounts using, you guessed it, Chase Jarvis’ Best Camera app.

I would love for everyone who follows to get involved and help direct the journey. As the images come across the web on February 20th, tell us where to go next by sending us a simple e-mail. Your favorite town, meadow, forest, waterfall, bar, street, sandwich, drink, etc. could get captured and posted right after you told us about it. And if you know where we are in your area and would like to be part of the convoy, that would be great too. The only catch is that the only camera/video equipment you can carry with you is your iPhone. And if you don’t have an iPhone, you can bring your Blackberry or any other phone for that matter, just not your Nikon D3, Canon 1D, or super HD video camera. The objective here is to discover a new side to creativity with as little burden as possible. “Free the mind and the soul will follow.”

This project, which is inspired by two extremely talented photographers, both of whom have changed the way photographers photograph, and who inspire me on a daily basis to push the limits of my work, will commence on February 20th at 8 am.

UPDATE -After having a long phone conversation with friend and fellow photographer Younes Bounhar this past weekend, I would also like to add this idea to my project. On February 20th, whether you are in New Jersey, Canada, Tokyo, or France, grab your iPhone, take some images, and upload those images to a gallery of your own entitled “iphone adam 12″ on your website, blog, etc. Then send me the link to your gallery and on the last day of February I will add all of those links to a posting of my own highlighting what can be done photographically with just an iPhone.

Optimism is Contagious

January 20th, 2010 § 2

Our Daughter at 1 © Jay Goodrich

My wife Heather sent me a text message a little earlier today stating that she was sad. To which I replied asking, “why?”. I then received a laundry list of items that were on her mind. This list contained the typical things that bother almost any person on this planet regardless of career, lifestyle, or monetary worth – money, job status, family members, etc. This of course led to me immediately calling her.

I am not always the positive cheerleader, I have many a dark artist day as well. However, I tend to be very positive when others are completely down. Searching deep into a very untapped well, not really, but tapped only in time of need. I told Heather that some of the things on her list were completely uncontrollable. If they did indeed happen, there was nothing to do but ride the coaster and see where it took us. Some of the things could be controlled, with some really good drugs and alcohol. And, the remainder, had other people’s pain involved, pain that we have been through, so it wouldn’t be hard to guide them to a positive ending.

This whole conversation got me thinking about the rest of the United States. If my wife, who is one of the most positive humans on this earth can become sad right now, how bad are the countless others? Or all of the people in Haiti? Is 2012 really going to happen? This all led me to thinking about those super remote tribes in the Amazon. Have they changed because the U.S. is in a recession? Probably not. They may have been changed by the ever increasing climate issue that the whole planet is contributing to though. This then lead me to the realization that maybe we are all truly connected by six degrees of separation. And if we are in fact connected, does that mean by some miracle a good deed generated by me could help some person 20,000 miles away, who I have not met or may never meet?

As I was driving home from the gym and our phone conversation ended, I passed my sign. I looked to the side of the highway and there was this simple, giant, white billboard with only the words “Optimism is Contagious” written on it. If that was not a sign, I don’t know what would be.

So that is my message to everyone who has read anything that I have ever written. OPTIMISM IS CONTAGIOUS. Act and think optimistically, because you never know, that person 20,000 miles from you, whom you have never met and may never meet, could get a huge dose of optimism from you.

The Best of 2009 – from Jim Goldstein

January 13th, 2010 § 0

My friend and colleague Jim Goldstein has posted a Best Photos of 2009 from 124 photographers that read his blog. Have a look, there is some really great work. In addition, I couldn’t create a post and not add a new image. I took this while testing a Canon 5D Mark II. What an amazing camera!

Parking Garage, Vail, Colorado © Jay Goodrich

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