Sharpening and Noise Reduction in Lightroom
A methodical approach to optimizing noise reduction and sharpening can go a long way to creating better baseline defaults for use in Lightroom and CameraRAW.
Building a Hyperbolic Resolution Wedge in Illustrator
In another article I described and made available my camera acclimation target. In the process of building that I ended up having to sit down and build from scratch what I’ve frequently seen described as a hyperbolic resolution test wedge. If you’ve ever used an ISO 12233 resolution chart, or looked at the resolution charts […]
DisplayCAL and Argyll CMS: Quick Start Guide
DisplayCal is a free, open source, color management system that’s as capable as high-end commercial offerings. This article covers the basics of getting DisplayCal installed and using it to make your first color profile.
Photoshop Smart Object Stacking for Noise Reduction
Stacking images to improve the single to noise ratio is a tried and true technique in astrophotography. The typical noise reduction most photographers are used to uses sophisticated algorithms to attempt to smooth noise out without smoothing out fine details in a single frame. Stacking exploits the randomness of noise and the consistency of actual […]
DiY Clap Sticks
To quote Vincent Laforet, “50% of any great film is in the sound design, and the first step to great sound design is capturing great audio while on set.” How you get that audio is the big question. Clap sticks, with or without the addition of a slate, is one way of easily synchronizing sound […]
Buying a Used Lens: Inspection and Testing Guide for Photographers
Ensure you’re not getting ripped off on a new used lens purchase by insuring your inspection is thorough and covers the most important areas.
Basics of Building DIY with PVC
Learn some of the basics for working with PVC pipe to make your own light shaping tools like scrims and soft-boxes.
Dealing With Dust: Cleaning Your Gear
We’ve all had to deal with it, dust spots in images. The more stopped down the lens is and uniform the scene is in texture the more of a problem it is. The way I see it, dealing with dust is a three-part process. Cleaning the camera and sensor, minimizing the dust that can get […]
DIY Autofocus Calibration Target
As much as I swore off AF testing and calibrating, I’m back at it again. This time I’ve decided to forgo the sheet paper targets and build a target similar to the Lens Align. Now obviously, if you don’t want to spend the time building a target, a Lens Align is, to my knowledge, the […]