iLifeZone Episode 33
The Photography Edition
Run Time: 46:54

Scott Bourne www.podcastingtricks.com and www.podcastgearguy.com
Derrick Story www.thedigitalstory.com
Chris Breen MacWorld and Playlist Magazine

Okay shutterbugs, assume the position. It's time for our Photography special! Let's not waste any time!

As a beginning photographer, Chris is interested inwhat to look for in a camera (point and shoot or DSLR).

Derrick thinks that megapixels aren't that important if you have a good 5, 6, or 7 megapixel point and shoot camera, you can pretty much do what most people want to do with photos including blow up to 8 x 10, crop and enlarge, etc. The benefit to a lower megapixel count is that you don't have a Mac full of photos. On DSLRs, some get as high as 10 megapixels, but in reality, most people need far less. Scott points out that megapixels are a mostly marketing hype. Scott notes that the pixels in a point and shoot are generally not the same as the pixels in a DSLR and DSLRs use bigger sensors that can pick up more light so a 6 megapixel point and shoot probably won't have the image quality of a 6 megapixel DSLR at the same resolution. DSLRs also tend to produce less noisy images at higher ISOs.

Scott says that one of the benefits of a DSLR is that you can change the lenses and gain additional flexibility. Scott and Derrick agree that most cameras around $400 take pretty good pictures and interface pretty well with iPhoto.

Chris uses a card reader to copy his photos from his flash cards to his camera, rather than hooking up the camera directly. iPhoto will also be smart enough to not copy duplicate images a second time. Scott notes that once you get your images off your card, you should probably erase the card. (Vinny's tip: During the import to iPhoto, you have the option to delete originals if you're feeling brave!). Derrick has only had one card go belly up. Scott hasn't. Scott says you can pretty much use a card for as long as possible without worry. Derrick notes that even though they last forever, you aren't getting a whole lot of images on it. Scott points out that the older cards also have much slower transfer rates.

So what is workflow?

Derrick says it's the series of steps you take from the very beginning from when you take the card out of your camera to organizing to adjusting, to processing, to outputing the image somewhere (web, print, etc.). Scott says there's no "best" workflow; instead, the best workflow is the one that works best for you and your software. There are some standard rules Scott uses. For example, the last step is sharpening. Color correction, etc., comes first, then sharpening. Your mileage may vary. Derrick notes that software like LightRoom and Aperture are geared toward taking you through the process step by step.

Chris likes making black and white photos and hasn't had a lot of luck converting to black and white inside iPhoto. Derrick thinks that iPhoto isn't that great at doing it. According to Derrick, you can use iPhoto just for management and so on, but you can make iPhoto work well with Photoshop Elements and inside it, you can really do some great work converting it to Black and White. When you save it, it saves it back into iPhoto.

Scott says you should never shoot directly in Black and White on the camera because in the end you throw away a lot of data. In the end, you want to bring the full RGB palette into an editor and work from there. Scott's pick for this is Aperture because you have very fine control and there's no data loss. Scott points out that converting to grayscale throws away a large chunk of data in your image when you do it in Photoshop.

Chris also wants to know how to get your image color matching to work between your monitor, your printer, and your camera. Derrick thinks you should start with calibrating your monitor (found in the System Preferences under Displays). You could invest in something like the Spyder Pro if you're really picky, but you should start in System Preferences first. As for printing, that's where you get into ICC profiles which tell your printer what kind of ink it's using, what kind of paper it's printing on, and so on, and this way the Mac's color instructions are translated to the printer properly. Derrick notes that you'll probably get pretty close right away, but the rest of it is a bit of voodoo magic. So you can gauge the difficulty of this, Scott used to teach a 1-week class in color management (YIKES!).

Scott adds that color management promises you consistent results, not necessarily that you'll like it. The second thing to know is that you do need some kind of colorimeter if color is important to you. If you use a colorimeter and an ICC profile, your results will always be consistent, although you may need to compensate. Scott points out that the best way to go is to let the software you're using control color, not the printer.

Chris wonders what to do if you don't have the time to do all this and if just printing photos to a service is a smarter route. Derrick thinks it may be, but in the end, you still have to work out the color settings of your monitor if you want to make sure what you see on the screen was what you saw in the camera. It only eliminates the second half of the equation, the ICC profiles. Scott uses Mpix for small orders. He notes that the only reason to do it yourself is speed and instant gratification. Scott and Derrick both like the 4 x 6 personal photo printers that are out on the market now and recommend them because in most cases, you can hook the camera directly to the printer.

Derrick notes that 4 x 6 online prints are about $0.19 + postage a piece whereas inkjet prints are about $0.29 to $0.39 per print and, as Derrick notes, 4 x 6 prints matte nicely in a 5 x 7 frame.

Scott points out that a lot of things we would want to do don't even need a computer either. His new plasma TV from Panasonic has a built-in card reader. Scott also notes that services like Flickr have become enormously popular for sharing photos. Derrick also likes the video functions on many point and shoot cameras.

Scott notes that an iPhone picture (or what claims to be one) is indeed out there and that the iPhone stands to be a great portable photo album.

Derrick notes that the 3 megapixel sensor in the iPhone won't be quite as good as a 3 megapixel point and shoot, but that they're good for most everyday uses and for sharing moments and that's where the iPhone should excel.

Chris notes that often, the same shot taken by two different people will end up looking different after processing. He wants to know how to punch up his images and wants to know what to do after the shot is taken and where to begin post-processing.

Derrick says that a good image starts at the point of capture and not from fixing it afterward. He recommends using RAW if you have it because it retains more data. Also, getting good exposure is important. Derrick also notes that light is a funny thing and a slight adjustment to something like position can make a huge difference. Even something as simple as moving around your subject or changing the elevation of the camera can make a huge difference.

Scott agrees on exposure and points out that capturing for the back of the camera is not a good idea. It's important to note that with RAW, you can adjust quite a bit of exposure data even after you shoot. With JPG, "second chances" don't exist. In RAW, you can fix quite a bit afterward. Scott also points out that learning exposure is much better than using something like exposure bracketing. The best way to work is to figure out how the camera "sees" an image.

Exposure explained: If you're in a dimly lit room with a few bulbs, and white walls, and you turn to your left and point the camera at the wall on Auto, you'll have a certain exposure. If you point the camera at another wall, you'll have a different exposure. In the end, they'll both be gray because the camera is constantly trying to make the wall gray.

Derrick notes that most cameras now can display a histogram to understand color balance and exposure and that can be more helpful than just eyeballing an image on the LCD. Scott notes that just about every Mac photo editing program will let you adjust the histogram afterward.

Derrick likes the new Photoshop CS3. There are two really cool things in it. The first is a new Black and White option under the Adjustments menu and you have a ton of fine control over the image. They also fixed brightness and contrast so that it really works well. Prior to CS3, you had to use the Levels option, but now all is right in the brightness and contrast world.

Scott and Derrick both expect an upgrade to iPhoto with the upcoming release of Leopard.

This episode was sponsored by Overstock.com and ShieldZone .

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The next show lands on May 20, 2007 and it's gonna be an all audience e-mail episode! For more information email us at info@ilifezone.com.

Thanks also to Vincent Ferrari for the shownotes!

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