Man, is it hot outside! Nothing to do but make quadtones all day.

I'm Just RAW
I have been busy playing with the new Adobe Bridge and the Camera Raw 4.1 update......and it totally ROCKS!!! So here is a little something for my #1 fan. Time to upgrade that slowww puter Mickey so you can play with the big boys.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. I am off on a week long fishing trip starting tomorrow so there won't be any new additions for a bit. That being said, I did have some time to play with some pictures this weekend so I thought I would post one or two. Enjoy.

Lost in the Pile

I found this while I was going through some old pictures from last year's county fair. I guess I just past right by when looking for the good pictures. Looking back now, it was probably one of my better shots from that day. It's like a good wine, it just got better with age.

St. Louis

I was in St. Louis all last week for a conference but I did manage to get a little walking around time. I was hopeful that I would find some great scenery to shoot but all I could muster was a couple of shots of the arch and the Eads bridge. It's a nice city but a little short on photo opportunities as can be attested to by my van mates. They serve a great steak at Morton's though so it wasn't a total bust of an evening (shout out to Mike, Don, Vinnie, and Scott who will never let me lead a photo expedition again).

Lens Babies and Blossoms
It was such a beautiful weekend that I pulled out the lensbaby and went out back to take a few shots of my apple tree in full blossom. The deer have started their official countdown waiting for the apples at the end of the summer. I have yet to get to eat one but maybe the tree will be tall enough one day to keep a few out of their reach.

This is what comes of sitting around the house on a cold and rainy Saturday. I saw someone do something similar to this in Boston so I thought I would play with the basic technique. This is what I came up with. I'm still undecided on whether or not I like it yet. You tell me.

I spent last week at the Photoshop World Conference in Boston. As always, it was an extraordinary few days of learning from some of the best and brightest in the industry. My friend Scott Kelby and his associates put on a fabulous curriculum and I highly recommend it for anyone that uses Photoshop or Lightroom. The pic below was processed in Lightroom and I picked up the titling from two of Scott's sessions. I even used some Smart Object tips that I got from attending one of Dave Cross' classes. By the way, if you are even thinking of investing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for your workflow, I highly recommend Scott's newest book, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers. It is the definitive soup to nuts book on how to work with this great new program. You can find out more info here at Amazon.

I am out in sunny Las Vegas (yes, once again) for the annual PMA trade show. I'll be walking down the rows and rows of photo goodies looking for some new and exciting technology. It has been interesting over the years to see how the show moved from traditional to digital and how fast that transition has taken place. Today you would be hard pressed to say that there are even 10% of the companies there that are showcasing traditional film technology. It's also sad in some ways to have seen the companies that floundered in the tsunami that was digital imaging to the point where they just had to fold up shop and leave. Even the big boys like Kodak and Ilford and Polaroid have all had to reinvent themselves to maintain viability in the marketplace. So once again I will walk down the rows and rows and see what remains of the old and what the future holds for the industry. If I see anything that is just earthshaking I'll post it here.

I never really did get a chance to shoot while I was in Las Vegas. Something about walking around the CES show floor for 8 hours a day that left me less than inspired. I did manage to go out for a little bit this last week while in Northern California. I made a short run over to San Francisco with some friends and cruised over to Alcatraz where I managed to take a few uninspired shots. It was an extremely hazy day but fun none the less.

I'm off to Las Vegas and the Consumer Electronics Show! I am hoping to get out to Red Rocks, the Valley of Fire, or maybe do a little late night shooting on the strip while I am there. If I get anything decent I will post it here.

This isn't exactly a Christmas related picture but I did come across it in my files whilst looking for a picture to use in a Christmas present. That counts, doesn't it? Anyway, for those that care, I converted this picture of an old fire engine in the new Adobe Camera Raw which comes bundled with the CS3 Beta. I love this new B&W conversion tool which is something first introduced in Lightroom. The Sepia was added later in PS3 using the Photo Filters. Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday season!!

So are you sick of Cambodia yet? Too bad because I have a lot more to come. I Hope you enjoy these non-temple shots I took around the town of Siem Reap. I especially like the gold and red contrasts in the Spirit House image. You just never know what you'll see when you look down an alley.

These are all from my first day of wandering around the temples. Lot's of B&W conversions using various methods. Some in Photoshop and some using the new tools in Lightroom. I am really enjoying the new Lightroom Beta, too bad they are probably going to start charging for it next year.

They're baaaack. That's right, I am putting up more shots from Cambodia. I only have about a thousand more to go. I should hopefully be putting a few more on here this afternoon.

This was on my first day. I was trying to get a shot of the long corridor when this guy just sort of popped in. I was irritated at first but now I kind of like it.

OK Mike,
I finally bought a car so I can get back to my neglected photo blog. Sorry to keep my fan waiting. Here is a little something to start things off. A nice view of the Wright Brother's memorial down in Kitty Hawk, NC last month.

I was organizing some of my pictures in Adobe Lightroom and I happened across this image. I had completely forgotten about it since taking it on my last day of temple exploring. I didn't have much opportunity to grab the shot before he got up and moved on so I was happy top get this one frame. It turned out better than I had remembered. At this rate I should have all of my pictures posted before I retire.


As a little aside, I picked up my buddy Scott Kelby's new book today, The Digital Photography Book. Scott says that it's not for professionals but it's a damn good book and everyone needs a little inspiration now and then. I give it two thumbs up, nice job Scott (even if you did steal my Ferrari scooter shot).

I saw this nice framed picture effect on someones NAPP gallery and thought I would give it a try to see how it looks. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

While I still have hundreds of pictures of Cambodia to go through I decided to take a break from those and post a couple of pictures from the county fair. I didn't get a lot of time to shoot but who has time for that when there are funnel cakes to be eaten!