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Copy Color Grading from Paintings with Photoshop!

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The digital home of Terrible Photographer. Explore the book, podcast, and Pub Notes newsletter by Patrick Fore, created for photographers who want honesty, courage, and creativity beyond gear talk.

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Milanote - the tool for organizing creative projects

Milanote

https://milanote.com

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LIGHTROOM MASKING TRICKS AND HACKS that took me forever to learn.

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No More MASK EDGES with THIS Lightroom TRICK!

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Use this template to easily calculate your mat cuts. You will need to make a copy of this so you can edit it with your dimensions.

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Instantly Make More Money In Photography !!!

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By any measure, photographer Nolan Streitberger has built a practice that bridges art, history, and the profoundly personal. His work, particularly his acclaimed project Oregon's Trail of Tears, transforms beautiful photography into both historical document and dialogue, a means of reclaiming memory and giving voice to stories long overlooked. But Streitberger's photographic journey began almost by accident.

"I first learned photography in my junior year in high school. I was accepted into Oregon State University's JumpstART program, a pre-college art program for high school students. My first choice was painting, my second was illustration, and my last choice was photography. When I found out I'd been assigned photography, I was pretty upset, I didn't even own a camera," Streitberger recalls.

Unpredictable Creative Discovery

It's a story that speaks to the unpredictable nature of creative discovery. What began as a reluctant class assignment soon became a lifelong pursuit. Armed with his father's old Vivitar 35mm SLR, Streitberger entered the darkroom for the first time, unaware of the significance that moment would hold.

"As soon as I walked into that class taught by Harrison Branch, I knew I was going to love it. We rolled our own film, learned how to develop it, and make prints in the darkroom. I was hooked," he says.

That spark ignited a curiosity that would shape his artistic identity. Years later, after working as a graphic designer, Streitberger found himself at another crossroads when a layoff at Hewlett-Packard coincided with his wife's return to the workforce. It was a difficult time, but also a pivotal one.

"I picked up the camera again and I haven't put it down since," he says.

That return to photography marked not just a creative revival, but the beginning of a deeper exploration of meaning and method in his work.

An Artist Working in the Medium of Photography

For Streitberger, photography is not merely about capturing what the eye sees; instead, it's about translating emotion and experience through the visual language of light, shadow, and texture. His projects vary widely, yet each is guided by a desire to connect image to idea.

"I consider myself an artist who works in the medium of photography. I like my work to create dialogue and make people think. Sometimes I achieve this with subtle undertones of metaphor, but lately it's bold and in your face," he explains.

His most ambitious project, Oregon's Trail of Tears, exemplifies that philosophy. Created using the historic wet plate collodion process, the series documents the route taken during the forced removal of Southern Oregon's Indigenous tribes in the 1850s. The project blends research, fieldwork, and artistry to reveal how landscapes can bear witness to trauma and survival.

"My wife and daughter are registered tribal members. The Native American culture is a large part of our household as we are very involved with the tribe. I knew I wanted to blend Oregon history with my photography, not only history, but the impacts of Euro-American settlement and how it still resonates today," Streitberger explains.

"While reading microfilm reals in the National Archives database, I discovered the journal kept by the Indian Agent in charge of the removal of Southern Oregon tribes. This journal was remarkably detailed and recorded daily, it compelled me to narrow my focus down to documenting this specific journey."

Reconstructing a Forgotten Path

Transforming that idea into a tangible visual narrative required years of research, patience, and technical ingenuity. Streitberger's process for Oregon's Trail of Tears began not with a camera, but with archives, maps, and microfilm reels.

"I spent a couple years using the Bureau of Land Management's digital archives and downloading original survey maps from the 1850s. I overlaid modern GIS maps over the antique survey maps in Photoshop and retraced the old road onto the modern map. This gave me the information I needed to then transfer that data into Google Maps. I did this for every mile of the Rogue River Trail of Tears," he says.

"From there I could easily measure the daily distances traveled and recorded in George H. Ambrose's Journal, the Indian Agent in charge of the forced removal. These distances aligned perfectly with the descriptions mentioned in his journal entries which allowed me to locate the camp locations. Once my research was completed, I could start photographing these sites."

That research laid the groundwork for a photographic journey that was as much about discovery as creation. Each photograph required meticulous preparation, often in remote or inhospitable locations, guided by GPS coordinates drawn from his reconstructed route.

The technical demands were equally daunting. Streitberger works with a portable darkroom, literally an Eskimo pop-up ice fishing tent, where he develops his plates on-site using nineteenth-century chemistry.

"I have to bring my whole darkroom and all my supplies with me. I prepare and develop the plates inside the tent, adjusting the chemistry as the temperature changes. My collodion is stored in a cooler, and all my dry supplies in a tote bag. These supplies are always packed up and ready to go," he says.

Even the act of setting up often became part of the experience.

"When people see me set up a tent, they often get upset or curious," he admits. "Once they see the camera and some of my images, they normally calm down and find it interesting."

Each session became a balance of art, science, and diplomacy, an echo of the challenges faced by early photographers who also worked under unpredictable circumstances.

Seeing Landscapes as Portraits

Although much of Streitberger's work focuses on places, it is, at its core, about people. His approach to photographing landscapes is guided by empathy and a sense of reverence for the human stories embedded within them.

"Most of my work revolves around people, human life and our emotions. Even with these landscapes, I approach these sites like I'm taking a portrait of them. It's about how humans and this land interact and affect each other," he says.

This philosophy informs both his creative process and his technical decisions. Whether using his Nikon D800 or his antique Eastman No. 33A large-format camera from 1935, Streitberger is guided less by convenience and more by the tactile connection between artist and image.

"I started shooting large format, experimenting with ortho-litho films and paper negatives. Now, if I'm not shooting digital, I'm using antique brass barrel lenses from the 1800s. My shutter is my hand," he says.

There's something deeply symbolic in that act, a human touch governing the moment when light meets film, as if each exposure becomes a handshake between the past and present.

A Moment of Validation

The creation of Oregon's Trail of Tears was filled with challenges, but also moments of profound affirmation. Among all the photographs in the series, one stands out to Streitberger as a turning point: Day 26: Mr. Smith's Farm.

"When I was taking that photograph, I had my darkroom set up on the side of the highway and noticed a sign that read 'Historical Marker Ahead,'" he recalls.

"The plaque marked the Daniel Smith Donation Land Claim home site from 1852. The journal entry for that day stated, 'We drove today a distance of twelve miles. Camped on an oak grove near the claim of Mr. Smith.'"

It was a moment when years of research, patience, and care aligned with extraordinary precision. Standing there with his camera, Streitberger realized that his reconstructed route, mapped entirely from home, had led him within fifty feet of the exact site described nearly two centuries earlier.

"That moment brought validation to the whole project," he says.

Looking Ahead

For Streitberger, the project is far from over, each completed image serves as both closure and invitation, inspiring him to continue exploring Oregon's complex and often painful history through photography.

"I want to continue this project. There were several instances of forced removal here in Oregon. There was another trail of tears along the coast line, and of course Chief Joseph's Flight of the Nez Perce. But all of that takes a lot of time and money. As an artist, I have the time, but the money is the hardest part. Oregon's Trail of Tears was funded by grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, The Oregon Arts Commission, and The Kinsman Foundation," he says.

For now, he hopes to publish a photo book of Oregon's Trail of Tears and to further explore historical and alternative photographic processes that deepen his engagement with the medium's roots.

"I like learning old techniques and figuring out how to make them my own," Streitberger says.

At its heart, Nolan Streitberger's work is about reflection, the pause between recognition and understanding. His practice reminds viewers that photography is not only about documenting what is visible, but about revealing what endures.

"When I open up a photograph and it stops me in my tracks," he says, "I know I did it right."
Image credits: Photographs by Nolan Streitberger

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Photographer Retraces Oregon's Brutal Trail of Tears With Wet-Plate Camera

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Photographer Nolan Streitberger explores history, memory, and emotion in his moving Oregon's Trail of Tears series.

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The Photograph Begins Before the Shutter

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Discover how a photographer’s passion for mountains led to a career creating stunning, surreal landscapes.

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THE IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CHANGED DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

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Photography Branding Starts With the Way You Talk

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our photos are probably great. Your gear is probably better than mine. But if you’re wondering why bookings feel slow, or why inquiries ghost after the first email, it’s probably not your aperture. It’s your voice. The one you use online. The one that’s supposed to make people trust you enough to spend thousands of dollars but instead sounds like it was written by someone speedrunning a personality quiz. Let’s be clear: in today’s industry, a strong brand voice for photographers is no longer optional.

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Portable scanner for textures and images 

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Portable scanner for textures and images 

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As seen on TikTok- there’s probably better options.

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Portable Scanner, Photo Scanner for A4 Documents, Handheld Scanner for Business, Photo, Picture, Receipts, Books, JPG/PDF Format Selection, UP to 900 DPI, with 16G SD Car

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Amazon.com: Hczrc Portable Scanner, Photo Scanner for A4 Documents, Handheld Scanner for Business, Photo, Picture, Receipts, Books, JPG/PDF Format Selection, UP to 900 DPI, with 16G SD Car : Office Products

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Photographers - Look At This Terrifying Data

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Photography is a marathon, not a sprint, and each person's journey is unique. Although your path may evolve, photographers' stages can be similar.

What does a photographer's stage mean? Every photographer experiences stages at some point. I recently joked that last year, I was in my emo phase. All my photos seemed deep and dark. Throughout my journey, I have gone through various stages, and here is some advice and challenges related to those stages!

The Curious Beginner
Characteristics:
We all remember this stage! You picked up your first camera and felt ready to conquer the world, believing you could become the next National Geographic photographer. It's an exciting and one of the best times to be a photographer. While it may not be the ultimate stage, it can set the tone for your journey as a photographer. You see the world differently, and everything ignites your creativity. You don't know what you don't know, which is the best part of this stage. With no prior knowledge, you're not clouded in any way.

Challenges: The challenges that you face in this stage are tremendous! There is technical jargon, the feeling of being overwhelmed, and the sense of where I want to start. There are so many things to learn, and when you have figured out one thing, you find that there are about ten other things you need to learn first. Every button on the camera is foreign, and you need to know it all in a short amount of time!

Advice: Take it slow; learn what you need to when you need to! I mentioned in the beginning photography is a marathon, not a sprint. We want to initially treat things as a sprint, consuming information from a fire hose. We want to learn it all because that is how we will become successful photographers. They say knowledge is power, and it is, but street smarts sometimes get you a lot farther than book smarts. Slowly, learn as much as you can. If you're interested in night photography, consume that information first. See, all too often, many photographers want to read every article, watch every YouTube video, and take advice from only one photographer. They start to learn what they don't need to at that time. They're focusing on skills that will not support their journey. Suppose you remember this one thing. The information will be there tomorrow like it was today; you don't need to learn it all today!

Start to focus on the fundamentals of photography: Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, and light. Learn these four things, and you have the key to photography. These things are the basis for all the information you will soon learn! Practice with intent by learning one skill at a time, like the rule of thirds, or learning all the exposure modes on your camera.

The Gear Enthusiast
Characteristics:

Gear makes you a better photographer

The more gear, the better

Obsession

Ah! The stage that some photographers never leave; they carry it with them forever! This was my first stage. The more gear and the better camera would make me a better photographer! What a naive thought I had. Most days, the less gear, the better! Knowing I have a billion pieces of gear is almost overwhelming. Back then, you had to open a catalog and flip the pages, marking everything you thought you needed. Now, you head to a website, add it to your cart, enter your credit card, and it's on your doorstep in less than five days. You even get the suggestion that people who ordered this also ordered these items. Now you think you need the other recommended things, because it told us, so we need it. Right? Most likely, no.

Challenges: At this point, photographers focus solely on learning the gear. They believe the most expensive lens or camera will give them the desired result. They must focus on the techniques and education to learn how to use that fancy gear they purchased! I am unsure where this thought ever came from and, over time, most likely, the marketing of camera and lens companies. Without upgrades, they lose money. Gear doesn't equal better photographs. When working at a camera store, I told a young lady that lenses are investments, but bodies are not. Lenses are less likely to be upgraded regularly, but bodies are almost always replaced every few years. She wanted to buy some lenses widely known to be soft and more budget-friendly than quality-driven. Why? The less she spent on lenses, the more she could spend on the camera, getting the flagship model. She saved money buying the model below the flagship, and that camera was better for what she wanted to do than the flagship camera! Now, she has purchased the lenses she wanted!

Advice: Gear is beneficial! But often, they are purchased with the thought that more and more expensive gear translates to being a better photographer. Consider these things if you need new gear before sliding that credit card! First, will this piece of gear solve the current problem I am experiencing? Secondly, How often will I use this purchase? These two questions will help you save money and not have to brush off the gear because it just sits around. Give it thought and do it over time.

The Technical Perfectionist
Characteristics:

Perfectionist

Over thinks

Dives Deep

Thinks film is superior to digital (just kidding)

Can forego creativeness due to perfectionism

It is the most challenging stage by far. This is due to wanting always to have a technically flawless image. Which in turn leads to the loss of creative photographs. Can you balance these two? Absolutely! This is where breaking the rules comes into place. You can still achieve technically flawless images while still being creative. Make sure you are not risking creativity over being a perfectionist. Don't take that being a perfectionist in the image-making process is a bad thing. We all need to do this better and stop relying on Lightroom or Photoshop to make things exceptional when a few more seconds in the camera would do the same thing! Diving deep into a technique or subject will only make you a better photographer in the long run. Learn how to balance out creativity and perfectionism. One will always surpass the other; it can't always be 50/50.

Advice: Think; take the time to think in two ways. First, have a creative mindset; what makes this image different from others I have seen? What am I trying to show in this image? How can I make this image unique? Secondly, think about how you will now create this image technically. What exposure settings do I need? What lens choice is going to help tell the story? What are the colors in the photograph trying to say? Break down your thinking process into two categories: creative and technical. Use KISS, not the band. How can they help? I am not sure they can. I mean to use the method, Keep It Simple Stupid, don't overthink, and break each element and thought process into simple thoughts. The more you overthink, the deeper into the rabbit hole you go and the harder it is to get out, and the odds of failure are tenfold just by giving up!

The Artist
Characteristics:

Artsy

Deeper and more meaningful images

Developing a personal style

Finds inspiration almost everywhere

Challenges: The technical perfectionist focuses on perfection and can overlook creativity, whereas the artist forgets about being a perfectionist and concentrates solely on creativity-the complete opposite of the perfectionist. You still need to be a technical photographer, which can never be overlooked. When you can try being a perfectionist and an artist and mesh these two things together, you open a door of unlimited possibilities! The artist can find inspiration in the tiny details of their environment and create images; this is the most significant part of this stage! One will eventually cross paths with self-doubt. Self-doubt is the biggest downfall of any creative individual; it will eat at you and eventually wear you out mentally. I believe this stems from the overconsumption of social media and other photographers' images. One can learn from these two things: too much hinders the creative process. You can start to question your originality and value.

Advice: Embrace your identity as an artist! Take the time to experiment, create images, or try techniques you've only thought about but never acted on! Accept the failures arising from the process and learn from them; this will only improve your photography skills! Over a short period, you will start to see things differently and may change the direction of your work. I have enjoyed experimenting with ideas and techniques; it changes your thinking, and many great things will come from it. Remember, let it all be there; become vulnerable. Lastly, you'll find aspects of yourself and work you didn't know were there!

The Visionary
Characteristics:

Creates cohesive images, projects, or series

Pushes boundaries

Thinks freely

Bold

Challenges: You create the most detailed images you have ever made here. You will start to sit down and reflect more deeply on the subject matter, the story, and the voice behind the images you're creating. Ideas become bolder and more prominent, leading you to think about projects specific to a particular subject or theme. During this time, you can begin to push the boundaries of image-making; the images become striking, driven by your thought process and voice. You start noticing patterns in your work, and subjects you are passionate about emerge and become more apparent to you! Challenges loom on the horizon. If you are a working photographer, the power struggle, needing to create work for clients to pay the bills, and personal work are where the passion lies. You'll need to find a way to balance these things out. If you do not, creative burnout becomes a real thing. Finding the passion every day becomes harder and harder. Self-doubt from the artist phase starts returning, growing larger and larger by the day.

Advice: Embrace the process that helps you create cohesive projects and subject matter. The thoughts behind those bold images and projects will only help you in the long run. Implement that process in your daily life. Especially if you are a full-time photographer, take it and start using it in client work. A clearer mind creates more explicit images! You'll begin to tell your story, seen throughout your images. You must also remember that taking breaks is healthy and a must; if not, things will turn south. Take this time to share your images and collaborate with others.

The Mentor
Characteristics:

Shares knowledge

Is not afraid to help others

Enjoys the process of helping others

Challenges: It is by far the most rewarding stage. Being a mentor to a new photographer benefits both them and you! I have found repeatedly that when I help others with their photography, I also learn. I might be teaching something when I'm asked a question, and it sparks a thought that provides me new insight into something I have done a thousand times. I find enjoyment in sharing knowledge. You will start to see that, at this stage, you have matured in your craft. You know your work stands on it, and sharing your knowledge is no longer a fear that you think the person who has asked for your help will become better than you. I find many photographers refuse to share their knowledge because of one fear: someone might be better than them. This is the most ridiculous reason for not sharing knowledge. If you want to say you're a mentor and this is your fear, you shouldn't call yourself a monitor; you're not ready! Another challenge is that you still need to keep learning and not think you know it all; somebody will eventually serve you a few slices of humble pie.

Advice: Take it and run with it! Someone looks up to you enough to ask for your help, and they might have been afraid, too. Now, I am not saying you have to help them if they ask, you may not feel ready. Thats ok. At a minimum, get together occasionally, and you will start supporting them when you think you are not. In a much more informal setting! Continue to evolve in your work, new techniques, technology, and perspectives, and become a lifelong learner. I don't think you have ever learned it all. This will only come back to bite you in the but, and remember to keep that ego in check!

In the End

The journey of a photographer is never linear. You may hit some, all, or very few of these stages. You'll find that you return to these stages repeatedly or never on a few. This will be because you have matured in your image-making process and evolved. You'll find challenges and joys in all these stages and learn from failures along the way. What joys and/or challenges have you had across your journey? Leave a comment or two with several paragraphs, as some of you do, which is excellent!

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The 7 Stages of a Photographer: Which One Are You In?

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Photography is a marathon, not a sprint, and each person's journey is unique. Although your path may evolve, photographers' stages can be similar. What does a photographer's stage mean? Every photographer experiences stages at some point. I recently joked that last year, I was in my emo phase.

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What Is The Artist’s Responsibility In Times Of Struggle?

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As my hometown of Los Angeles continues to combat historic fires, my thoughts have once again been drawn to the age-old question posed by artists throughout time: What is the role of artists in times of strife? First things first, I should state that I am incredibly fortunate. At the time of this writing, my own home is not positioned in any of the evacuation zones. I’ve opened my home to friends who have lost their own, and I’ve had to postpone projects.

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How To Turn Any Collection Into A Favorite - Lightroom Killer Tips

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Quick head up first: today is pre-conference workshop day at the Photoshop World Conference 2022. Tons and tons of Lightroom and Photoshop classes over the next four days, and it’s an incredible value (especially since the entire conference is archived for an entire year, so you can stream on-demand any classes you missed or want to re-watch). Three full days, three training tracks, and an incredible roster of brilliant instructors, and it’s not too late to sign up – go to PhotoshopWorld.com right now and join the Photoshop, Lightroom, and Photography online training event of the year. Onto today’s quick tip This is one of those little-known but oh-so handy features in Lightroom Classic that once you use it, you’ll wonder how you lived without. Give this one a try, and you’ll super dig it. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing a whole bunch of you at the conference. It’s going to be (wait for it…wait for it…) epic! Have a great Monday, everybody! -Scott

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Jumping from Lightroom to Photoshop: Which is better - TIFF or PSD? - Lightroom Killer Tips

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This is a question I get asked a lot at my seminars, so I thought I’d tackle it here today. Where to make this choice In Lightroom’s Preferences; just click the External Editing tab and you’ll see a pop-up File Format menu near the top right. So, which do you choose? TIFF or PSD? For me, this is an easy choice: Both TIFF files and PSD files (Photoshop’s native file format) are “Lossless” — so whichever you choose there is no loss of quality due to file compression (like you’d get with JPEG files), so the quality factor is the same. However, TIFFs are MUCH larger in file size than PSD files, without giving Photographers any advantage whatsoever. In fact, the only reason I would ever use a TIFF file is if I am sharing my image with a graphic designer who is using a graphics program that doesn’t accept PSD files. This means that they’re not using any Adobe product since all Adobe apps accept PSD files, so they are using some weird, probably outdated application because nearly all graphics programs accept PSDs. In short, it would be really rare to find a designer these days who can’t take PSDs. If I ran into that rare instance, I’d just open the image in Photoshop and save it as a TIFF file. Boom, done. So, for me, this is an easy choice. I would choose (and recommend) sending your images over to Photoshop as PSDs. You get much, much smaller file sizes with no real downside. 🙂 Hope you found that helpful. -Scott P.S. There are just a few spots left in both my Paris and China travel photography hands-on workshops, but once they’re gone — they’re gone. All the info’s over on my blog today (here’s the link)

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Lightroom Tip Tuesday: The Easy Way To Make Relative Edits - Lightroom Killer Tips

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What’s a “relative edit?” Well, watch this quick video, and it will make sense (and you’ll wind up using this technique anytime this situation arises). Pretty handy, right? This probably isn’t one you’ll use every day, but when you need it, it’s sure nice to have it. 🙂 Thanks to everybody who attended my sessions yesterday at Fotoclave out in San Ramon, California. They were super nice people, and I had a really wonderful time. Thanks to Same at SlickPic and all the Fotoclave folks for their gracious hospitality. 🙂 Have a great Lightroom Tip Tuesday, everybody! 🙂 -Scott P.S. Tomorrow on “The Grid,” we’ve got John Dukes as our in-studio guest, so all bets are off. LOL!

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Jumping from Lightroom to Photoshop: Which is better - TIFF or PSD? - Lightroom Killer Tips

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This is a question I get asked a lot at my seminars, so I thought I’d tackle it here today. Where to make this choice In Lightroom’s Preferences; just click the External Editing tab and you’ll see a pop-up File Format menu near the top right. So, which do you choose? TIFF or PSD? For me, this is an easy choice: Both TIFF files and PSD files (Photoshop’s native file format) are “Lossless” — so whichever you choose there is no loss of quality due to file compression (like you’d get with JPEG files), so the quality factor is the same. However, TIFFs are MUCH larger in file size than PSD files, without giving Photographers any advantage whatsoever. In fact, the only reason I would ever use a TIFF file is if I am sharing my image with a graphic designer who is using a graphics program that doesn’t accept PSD files. This means that they’re not using any Adobe product since all Adobe apps accept PSD files, so they are using some weird, probably outdated application because nearly all graphics programs accept PSDs. In short, it would be really rare to find a designer these days who can’t take PSDs. If I ran into that rare instance, I’d just open the image in Photoshop and save it as a TIFF file. Boom, done. So, for me, this is an easy choice. I would choose (and recommend) sending your images over to Photoshop as PSDs. You get much, much smaller file sizes with no real downside. 🙂 Hope you found that helpful. -Scott P.S. There are just a few spots left in both my Paris and China travel photography hands-on workshops, but once they’re gone — they’re gone. All the info’s over on my blog today (here’s the link)

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In Pictures: Sporting photos of the week

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A selection of some of the most striking sports photographs taken around the world over the past seven days.

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The experience of awe may be fleeting, but its impact on brain function has lasting psychological ... [+]
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Imagine standing at the edge of a vast canyon, gazing at the endless expanse of stars in the night sky or hearing a piece of music that moves you to tears. In these moments, something remarkable happens-you feel humbled and uplifted. This powerful emotion, known as "awe" has the ability to shift your perspective and awaken a sense of wonder about life itself.

Fortunately, awe is not only reserved for life's grand events. It can be found in the mundane, like in the kindness of a stranger or the laughter of a loved one.

As Dacher Keltner suggests in his book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, this emotion offers far more than a pleasant, fleeting experience-it holds the potential to profoundly shape our mental and physical well-being.

What you might not realize is that awe also brings significant cognitive benefits that can positively impact your brain function and how you interact with the world. From enhancing creativity to improving decision-making, awe has the unique ability to sharpen our minds and transform the way we think.

Here are three reasons why the feeling of awe has powerful psychological benefits, according to research.

1. Awe Changes Your Time Perception

Many people feel "time-starved," or like they don't have enough time in their busy lives, and this feeling can affect their health and well-being.

Research published in Psychological Science found that awe makes people feel less rushed or impatient, and more likely to spend time helping others. It also enhances life satisfaction and makes people want to seek out experiences (like trips or activities) rather than material possessions (like gadgets or clothes.)

Researchers suggest that awe's ability to expand our sense of time could help us savor enjoyable moments more fully, like appreciating a beautiful sunset or a fun conversation. It appears that awe has the potential to not only make us feel like we have more time, but also to improve how we spend it.

This shift in perception can have profound benefits for both your mental and emotional well-being. A sense of abundance can reduce stress and decrease your cognitive load, making it easier to focus on the things that matter to you.

2. Awe Encourages Curiosity And Learning

Awe has a profound impact on how you engage with and learn about the world around you. One of its most remarkable effects is the ability to enhance your interest in a subject and stimulate a deeper connection to the learning process.

When we experience awe, we become more receptive to new information. A heightened state of engagement leads to increased curiosity, which makes you more likely to seek out additional knowledge.

A 2024 study published in Cognition and Emotion explored how awe, induced by watching films in a planetarium, impacted emotions and interest in the content being viewed. Researchers found that awe increased personal interest in the topics presented in the films.

The immersive nature of planetarium films, with their rich visuals and dynamic soundtracks, helped trigger awe in participants, encouraging them to pay closer attention and develop an interest in the subject matter.

While awe did not necessarily improve the accuracy of memory for specific details, it did foster a greater desire to learn, which highlights how awe can drive curiosity and learning in a way that is not purely reliant on memory retention.

By exposing yourself to awe-inducing experiences on a regular basis-such as immersing yourself in exploring art or engaging with thought-provoking content-you can nurture a continuous desire to learn. These awe-inspiring moments cultivate an openness to new ideas, which fuels intellectual growth and personal development.

3. Awe Enhances Creativity

When we experience awe, we often encounter something vast, unexpected or extraordinary that challenges our understanding of the world. This sense of wonder opens our minds, enabling us to think more expansively and explore novel ideas.

A 2023 study published in Emotion Review found that awe seems to improve our ability to think creatively and reflect on things more deeply. This is linked to how we process sensory information and ideas in our minds.

When something awe-inspiring catches your attention, it stimulates a mental process that helps you connect different pieces of information together. This helps our brain hold and process information better, which is important for creativity, reflective thinking and even scientific reasoning.

When you experience awe, you tend to reflect more deeply on your thoughts and experiences. This reflective processing enhances your ability to evaluate situations from multiple perspectives and weigh arguments more carefully. It also allows you to step back from immediate reactions and think more systematically, which is crucial in both everyday decision-making and complex problem-solving.

How To Cultivate Awe In Your Daily Life

A sense of wonder can be seamlessly woven into daily routines and be cultivated in the ordinary. Being "awestruck" might be one of the simplest ways to find calm in your otherwise busy life.

Here are some ways to find moments of awe in your daily life.

Mindful walks. Regularly take a walk in a natural setting while focusing on the beauty and details around you, such as the pattern of tree bark, the colors of the sky or the sound of birds.

Daily awe journaling. Each day, write about a moment-big or small-that inspired awe, such as noticing a breathtaking sunset or reading about a scientific breakthrough.

Art immersion. Dedicate time to experiencing awe through art-watch live performances, visit museums or explore local art installations.

Micro-awe practices. Practice slowing down to notice the "mundane miracles" of everyday life, such as the taste of a perfectly ripe fruit.

While awe can arise spontaneously, practicing mindfulness and setting aside time for awe-inspiring activities can increase its presence in your life. In doing so, you not only experience awe more frequently, but also cultivate a deeper sense of connection, gratitude and perspective.
Are you interested in knowing how open you are to new experiences? Take this science-backed test to find out: Openness To Experience Scale

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3 Ways Seeking 'Awe' Is The Secret To A Sharper Mind-By A Psychologist

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The experience of awe may be fleeting, but its impact on brain function has lasting psychological benefits. Here's how to start cultivating it in your daily life.

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This is not ‘flyover country’: A journey down America’s spine – in pictures

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Photographer Richard Sharum visited the central states – condescendingly dismissed for years – to see if he could find any unifying aspects of national spirit

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No camera is perfect, but for me, the Sony a9 III is pretty close. Unfortunately, there is one problem that’s holding this camera back. It’s been over a year since the Sony a9 III made its groundbreaking debut as the first full frame global shutter camera. This innovative technology created waves in the photography world, offering capabilities that many professionals had only dreamed of. I’ve been using the a9 III since the day it was announced, and it has certainly lived up to the hype. In fact, I think this camera will be a definitive marker in camera technology history.

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‘Let Amazonians speak for themselves’: trouble in paradise for Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia

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Salgado is one of the world’s best-known documentary photographers but a growing wave of Indigenous critics are angry about the exoticised way in which they believe non-native photographers portray their communities

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This is a podcast for creative humans who are ready to dive deep, dream big, and do life and business on their own terms every step of the way. Brought to you by creative coaches Sara Tasker and Jen Carrington, every Monday we share a brand new episode answering a letter from a hopeful creative just like you.

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From Tony Hawk to Kobe Bryant: How Atiba Jefferson Pioneered Sport Photography

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The marketing battle between the big camera manufacturers is irrelevant. A far older and more important disagreement that has raged since the dawn of our art is as relevant today as ever. Where do you stand?

Let's face it, they all make good cameras. Yes, some duff models come out occasionally, but at least a design flaw that causes a camera to overheat or fall apart is probably not life-threatening; it's just a camera, not a plane or a self-driving car. Although you might feel you have a good reason not to feel safe in X brand of car or flying in Y's planes, shooting with Z camera will be okay despite those widely reported problems. (I landed on the wrong letter. Sorry, Nikon, I didn't mean you.)

Whatever the camera you choose, you should be able to learn to take good photos. However, there is a disagreement in photography that, as time passes, swings from one extreme to the other. It's an argument that doesn't seem to be able to find a middle ground. However, that compromise is something I think we should seek.

I am talking about the photographic styles that stem from the battle between the science and the art of photography.

In the earliest days of photography, science played the most crucial role. Indeed, it was viewed mainly as a scientific process. The earliest pioneers, Nicéphore Niépce and William Henry Fox Talbot, were both scientists. Later, the invention of the Daguerreotype and the other early photographic processes that followed it concentrated on physics and chemistry. Consequently, the artistic merits of photography took second place. However, photography's creative potential soon became apparent, and it transformed from a simple method of recording a moment in time to something that could be manipulated to tell a story.

Pictorialism established photography as a legitimate art form and was crucial in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Challenging the notion that photography was purely mechanical, the movement promoted it as a medium capable of artistic expression. Subsequently, Pictorialism's emphasis on technique and personal vision influenced later photography-based movements.

Pictorialism is named after Henry Peach Robinson's 1869 book Pictorial Effect in Photography. It was a style promoted by a group of loosely linked camera clubs and societies that mounted international exhibitions and published portfolios and journals.

That movement took hold as a serious part of the arts when, during the 1880s, a British photographer called Peter Henry Emerson used photographs to depict beauty and personal expression in his surroundings. He was a photographer who changed his opinions. At first, he was inspired by naturalistic French painting, arguing for "naturalistic" photography. Consequently, he took photographs in sharp focus and recorded country life. Well-known where I grew up, his first album of 40 platinum prints entitled Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads was published in 1886. However, he soon became discontented with the work he was producing. He argued that the human eye did not render everything in sharp focus. Therefore, emphasizing all objects in a photograph with equal sharpness was wrong.

Inspired partly by Impressionism, he moved on and experimented with soft focus, endeavoring to match a photograph to what his eye saw. But, like many artists, he remained discontented with what he could achieve. Nevertheless, his approach created a big rift between him and the photographic establishment of the time.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pictorialism was still influential, but Modernism, which became dominant with the advent of the First World War, made photography a means of precisely recording the world once again, and the Pictorial aesthetic took second place. Modernism laid the groundwork for many subsequent photographic styles and movements, including street, documentary, wildlife, and photojournalism.

Key figures in the Modernist movement included the West Coast photographers Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, who were part of the f/64 group. Meanwhile, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa, two of the founders of Magnum Photos, also took a realist approach to photography. They concentrated on sharp focus with clear detail, and their works highlighted the inherent beauty of the subject matter itself. That is opposed to the Pictorial approach of showing the photograph's beauty; it's possible to have a beautiful picture of an unbeautiful subject.

Nevertheless, Pictorialism remained prominent and became more popular again between the wars. Alvin Langdon Coburn was known for his innovative techniques and abstract photography, and Imogen Cunningham engaged with Pictorialism with work including botanical photography and industrial landscapes. Meanwhile, Adolf de Meyer was celebrated for his elegant and stylized fashion photographs, and Gertrude Käsebier created portraits and images depicting motherhood. Also, Robert Demachy is remembered for his gum bichromate prints and influential writings on Pictorialism.

The start of the New Vision Movement of the 1950s and '60s saw an exploration of meditative abstract imagery that was seen as a means of self-discovery. Then, in the late 20th century, Post-modernism rejected the Modernist approach, concentrating on a photo's selective and constructive nature. Post-modernist photographers included Sherrie Levine, Anne Zahalka, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and Robyn Stacey.

The Big Swing in the Digital Age

Thus, photography continues swinging back and forth between the precision of science and the expression of art. On one hand, some try to create as accurate a record as possible. Meanwhile, others prefer to emphasize the art and creativity of the picture.

With the advent of digital photography, the swing was very much toward the technical, a move advocated by the big camera companies and their marketing departments. For example, they sold the idea that customers should want more and more pixels. Consequently, the uneducated novice photographers bought into the myth that having more pixels is always better. Similarly, some sold the idea that the badly named "full frame" camera was the only type a serious photographer could use; another myth that has been debunked.

The Rebels Fighting the Trend

A couple of companies, namely Fujifilm and OM System (formerly Olympus), take a different course. Besides having excellent technical attributes in their cameras and lenses, they provide a far wider range of creative functions suited to the creative photographer. Fujifilm has excellent film simulations, and OM System has the widest range of all computational photography options. Moreover, their art filters give unusual results that enable photographers to express themselves in unique and original ways. Like all contemporary cameras, they are also capable of producing pin-sharp images.

Likewise, editing software gives easier access to creative effects. These can be adopted and adapted by the photographer. Using them is intuitive, and they don't require the technical skills needed with the early, complex digital editing programs like Photoshop. I am especially thinking about ON1 Photo Raw, where novice photographers who want a gentler learning curve can quickly get to grips with developing and editing images. Similarly, DxO Photolab produces excellent technically precise results, but it also has an enormous range of film emulations and effects.

Despite being easy to grasp, both programs have the potential for in-depth, advanced image processing. That democratization of photography must be a good thing because the increased accessibility breaks away from the elitism that pervades all art.

Where Next?

Is the pendulum swinging from technically precise photographs that record an event to more expressive and artistic images? I suspect that is the case. I see many more creative photos among the technically precise shots that still dominate than I did a decade ago. There will always be a call for sharp, clean images, especially for advertising or creating catalog images. Furthermore, great satisfaction comes from pressing the shutter and knowing you have a near-perfect shot better than the last. However, there is also room for people to become more inventive and experiment with creative styles. Therefore, perhaps the biggest challenge is finding how to make those two meet in the middle and sit side by side.

Which is most important to you? Are you more driven to achieve precise results? Does every photo have to be pin-sharp in all the right places? Or are you more inclined to experiment and push the boundaries of photography? It would be great to hear your opinions in the comments.

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Canon v Nikon v Sony. Forget That and Choose Your Side in This More Important Argument Instead.

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The marketing battle between the big camera manufacturers is irrelevant. A far older and more important disagreement that has raged since the dawn of our art is as relevant today as ever. Where do you stand? Let's face it, they all make good cameras.

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Cinematic Reality: NYC | New York Street Photography

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How to Scan and Organize 35mm Film Negatives (Snippet 16)

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SCANNING AND METADATA FOR FILM PHOTOGRAPHY

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how i scan 35mm and 120 film at home (scanning with film borders, and getting better colors)

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8x10 At St. Peter's One Autumn Afternoon...