Jeff R.

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I'm Selling My Canon T2i/550D

Jeff R. posted an article on - Feb 9, 2012, 12:01 am
It was a pretty tough decision but with the release of the new D800, I really needed to look at my current stable of cameras and start thinning the herd. It wasn’t that long ago that I got my Nikon D7000 and I followed that up with the Sony SLT-a77. So you can see that something has to go. The Nik...
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If Sharpness Is What You Want, the D800E is What You Need

Jeff R. posted an article on - Feb 7, 2012, 7:40 am
As predicted, Nikon unleashed the D800 on the hungry camera consumers last night and it is everything that the pundits had said it would be. There are some eye-popping specs associated with this ambitious release and it is sure to be the hot camera for the year (unless Canon gets off their butts and...
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Creating Faux HDR in Lightroom – the New and the Old

Jeff R. posted an article on - Feb 6, 2012, 12:03 am
I was working on one of my Lightroom chapters and I got to the section where I described how to do a faux HDR look using the sliders in the Basic panel when it hit me, the sliders I normally use for creating the effect are not there anymore. In LR3 there is a Recovery, Fill Light and Brightness slid...
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February Wallpaper Calendar Now Available

Jeff R. posted an article on - Feb 1, 2012, 5:44 am
I’m trying out something new here on the blog. As a way of saying thankyou to all my readers I am giving away computer desktop wallpapers made from my images – free of charge. I have uploaded the first image that is available in various sizes and all I ask is that you don’t use it for anything...
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How do you Say Exposure in French?

Jeff R. posted an article on - Feb 1, 2012, 12:02 am
I have to admit that I didn’t know until last week. That’s when I got a copy of my book, Exposure – Snapshots to Great Shots in French. The word is Exposition by the way. So the funny thing is that a couple of week ago my wife and I were looking at a sales report for my books and we noticed th...
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Adobe Improves the Already Great Adjustment Brush in Lightroom 4

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 30, 2012, 12:33 am
I have been doing a lot of work with the beta version of Lightroom 4 as I prepare to write my next book and at first glance, you might think that there really isn’t much change between versions 3 and 4. But the more that I use version 4, the more I am noticing that Adobe has really taken the time ...
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Create Cool Logos and Buttons in a Snap

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 27, 2012, 12:02 am
I popped in to my son’s room the other night to see what he was up to and he called me over to his computer to see something cool that one of his friends showed him. Usually when he says this I am expecting to see some Mind Craft or Modern Warefare 3 video that he has seen on YouTube. But this tim...
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Building Hierarchal Keyword Lists for Lightroom

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 24, 2012, 12:10 am
One of the things that I really love about Photoshop Elements is its ability to build heirarchal keyword tags. If you aren’t sure what that is, it’s like having subsets of keywords inside of broader keywords. So, let’s say you like to shoot flowers. You could have an overarching keyword for fl...
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What I Want In a DSLR

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 20, 2012, 12:38 am
I saw a lot of cameras while I was at CES last week. Two of the biggies were the Canon 1Dx and the just announced Nikon D4. Both cameras are excellent and push pixel capturing to the edge. But as great as these cameras are, I’m wondering why they seem to be missing some stuff. Sometimes it’s not...
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Gorillapod Saves the Day

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 17, 2012, 12:46 am
I didn’t want to take a tripod with me to Las Vegas because I didn’t think I would be doing that much shooting. I did however think to bring my Joby Gorillapod. If you aren’t familiar with the Gorillapod, it’s a small camera support with three flexible legs that can wrap and grip around jus...
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Announcing My Next Snapshots to Great Shots Book for Lightroom

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 12, 2012, 12:30 am
You may have heard that Adobe recently released their public beta for the next version of Lightroom. I was extremely glad to hear that because it also means that I am free to announce my next book, Photoshop Lightroom: From Snapshots to Great Shots. Even though this book is timed to coincide with ...
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Checking in From CES

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 10, 2012, 11:33 am
Hey Everyone. I am at the World famous CES convention in Las Vegas this week. I’ll be getting the low-down on all the new gear that is coming our way over the coming months but the real reason I am here is that PMA is now part of CES. The CES convention is a powerhouse and I am hoping that the new...
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Penn Camera To Close Its Doors After 59 Years

Jeff R. posted an article on - Jan 6, 2012, 12:16 am
I received some sad news earlier today. It seems that Penn Camera, the largest camera store in the Washington DC area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to a message on the Penn Camera website dated January 4th, five of the eight stores were closing immediately as of this past Wednesday...
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Reviewing my 2011 Photos

Jeff R. posted an article on - Dec 31, 2011, 12:56 pm
I was looking through some posts on Google Plus and I saw a lot of folks posting their favorite shots from the past year. It got me thinking so I opened up Lightroom and clicked on my 2011 folder to review just what I had done this year. One thing I noticed right away is that I didn’t shoot nearly...
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Seasons Greetings from the Staff at PhotoWalkPro

Jeff R. posted an article on - Dec 23, 2011, 8:41 am
I bet you didn’t know there was a staff here on my blog but there is. They don’t actually contribute any content but they do help me get things done. Of course I am speaking of my wonderful family. They are my constant source of inspiration and support and I am looking forward to spending the ...
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Single Image Tonemapping in Photoshop CS5

Jeff R. posted an article on - Dec 21, 2011, 12:04 am
The other day I was processing some bracketed HDR images that I had recently shot. My typical workflow is to take the images from Lightroom into HDR Pro in Photoshop. I don’t typically tonemap in Photoshop, just create the HDR file and save it as a 32-bit radiance file. Then I open the newly creat...
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Holiday Gifts for that New DSLR Owner

Jeff R. posted an article on - Dec 19, 2011, 12:08 am
Is someone you know getting a new DSLR in their stocking this year? Well here’s a short list of items that will go perfectly with that new camera. These are all items that I have tested and use on a continuing basis. They also range in price so there is something for every budget. The Lowepro Mes...
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Let Elements Get Your Buildings Back In Line

Jeff R. posted an article on - Nov 2, 2011, 12:04 am
I originally wrote this article for Amazon for the launch of Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 a couple of months ago. I thought I would share it with you here on the blog so you could see one of the great features in Elements that you can use on your everyday images to make them look a bit more polished....
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Taming the Mid-Day Sun With Some HDR

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 31, 2011, 12:03 am
There is a lot of talk about when it’s appropriate to shoot HDR. Of course for some, the answer is NEVER but we’ll skip that point of view to cover one of my favorite times, the middle of the day. Sure, it would be great if we could always shoot in the best light possible but that just isn’t ...
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My Take on Google Plus

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 28, 2011, 12:31 am
Chances are that by now, you have heard about Google Plus, the social networking solution from Google. I have been using it for some time now and I have to tell you that it is quickly replacing all of my other social apps like Facebook and Twitter. Don’t get me wrong, I like the other sites and I ...
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Nature Visions Photo Expo Coming to Hylton Center

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 26, 2011, 12:05 am
It used to be known as the Meadowlark  Photo Expo and now it has been reborn as Nature Visions, a Mid-Atlantic Photography Association Expo that is coming to the Hylton Center in Manassas on November 11-13. This is the 10th year for the Expo, which used to be held in the Meadowlark Gardens faciliti...
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Finding a Shot in the Crowd

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 24, 2011, 12:08 am
Going to a place like Machu Picchu is an amazing experience and if you have looked at some of my images, you might think I had the the place all to myself. If that’s so, then I did what I set out to do. The reality is that I had a couple of thousand other folks all wandering around the site with ...
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Images from Cusco

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 21, 2011, 12:05 am
I’m back stateside but I seem to have brought a visitor in the way of bacteria with me. I was actually meaning to get this post up much earlier in the week but as I was coming back from dinner in Puno on Friday, I started to feel a bit of a chill. That chill turned into a raging bacterial infect...
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Checking in From Cusco, Peru

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 12, 2011, 11:10 pm
Since my last post I have done quite a few things. After leaving Ollantaytambo via Peru Rail, I arrived in Machu Picchu Pueblo (formerly known as Aguas Calientes). A porter met me at the train station to take my bag to the hotel and I was off to board a bus for my tour of Machu Picchu. I had a great...
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Greetings From Peru

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 10, 2011, 12:04 am
Ollantaytambo Peru to be exact. I am just a short train ride from Machu Picchu, which I will be taking in the very early morning hours. My wi-fi connectivity has been a little spotty for the two days that I have been here and I am a little handicapped in the computing department. I brought along my ...
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Travel Tip – Don't Forget the Security Cable

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 7, 2011, 12:03 am
As I was packing last night for my trip to Peru, I made sure that I included the one item that could potentially save me thousands of dollars, my security cable. I don’t always travel with it but the story one of my photowalkers told me this past weekend was reminder enough for me to make sure it ...
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Steve Jobs – The Man Who Changed The World

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 6, 2011, 12:03 am
... was one of those people. He is after all the man who helped bring desktop computing to the common man, ... but at the end of the day, he was the man who created the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization and the largest technology company in the world by revenue a...
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My Elements Book Is Available For Pre-Order

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 5, 2011, 12:44 am
I just went over to Amazon and typed in my name and up popped my new book, Photoshop Elements – From Snapshots to Great Shots. It is now officially available for pre-order for a ridiculously low price. The cover image on their site is not the same one that you see above. It’s just a place hold...
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My DC Worldwide Photowalk

Jeff R. posted an article on - Oct 3, 2011, 12:04 am
The weather turned cold with temps in the 50s, the rain came in annoying sprinkling wave, and the winds were blustery but all that couldn’t dampen our spirits as we set off on our photowalk this past Saturday. It certainly wasn’t what I had imagined when I selected my location or walk time. I wa...
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Camera Bags – The Photographer's Holy Grail

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 30, 2011, 12:05 am
I still remember my first camera bag. It was a gray Kiwi with a large center compartments and two smaller pockets on the sides. It served me well for a while but it wouldn’t even come close to satisfying my needs today. Camera bags have evolved from simple compartmented bags into sophisticated ves...
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2011 Worldwide Photowalk Update

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 28, 2011, 12:21 am
Well, we are getting close to it so I thought it would be a good idea to give you a little more info on the photowalk this weekend. First off, please check the official page on Saturday just to make sure there aren’t any last minute announcements. This should be easy to do since the photowalk will...
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MIA – But With a Good Reason

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 26, 2011, 12:03 am
Wow, it seems like forever since my last blog post. I have really wanted to get on and do some updates but my schedule has been seriously packed with a deadline item that took precedent over everything else. So what is it that has kept me so busy? Well, you might have read in a past post about a...
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Semi-lame, semi-no post, Fremont Street Friday

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 16, 2011, 7:24 am
Well, it’s Friday and I am completely tapped out. All I have for today are some images from Fremont St., also known as Old Las Vegas. It’s the home of such legendary casinos as the Horseshoe and Golden Nugget. It’s also kind of a freak show after hours, which makes it pretty fun for taking pho...
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Shooting at the Westcott Booth

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 14, 2011, 12:03 am
I think it was a couple of years ago that Westcott first introduced the idea of creating shooting booths at Photoshop World. The concept is pretty cool, bring in some models, makeup, backdrops, and then let everyone crowd around and start shooting. It’s actually all made possible though the use of...
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Back From Photoshop World

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 12, 2011, 12:04 am
You would think that after spending a week in Las Vegas that I would be worn out and ready for some rest but it’s actually the opposite. Photoshop World is like a jump charge to the battery. After three days of awesome classes from unbelievably talented instructors, I am ready to hit the ground ru...
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Photoshop World – Day 1

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 7, 2011, 2:56 pm
The opening keynote wrapped up a short while ago and the NAPP crew, as always, did a fantastic job. Adobe unveiled a new product called Carousel, which looks interesting and has some potential for accessing your entire library of images from multiple devices. It’s due to be released on Apple produ...
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No Blog Holiday Monday

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 5, 2011, 11:55 am
I hope all of my readers in the States are having a nice Labor Day. I am taking the day off to hang out with my family and get a lot of final prep items done before heading off to Las Vegas tomorrow. Of course I will be going to Photoshop World on Wednesday but I’m going shooting in Valley of Fire...
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Topaz Labs adds Black and White to its Plug-In Resume

Jeff R. posted an article on - Sep 2, 2011, 12:02 am
Topaz Labs, makers of some of my favorite plug-ins like Topaz Adjust 4 and Detail 2, have just released their newest member of the Topaz Suite called Topaz Black and White Effects. This is a black and white conversion plug-in but it’s also more than that. It is jam packed with 150 presets that ran...
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Checking Out the Sony SLT-a55

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 31, 2011, 12:03 am
Last year Popular Photography called the Sony SLT-a55 the Camera of the Year. With praise like that, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Since then, my plate has been pretty full but I still wanted to get my hands on one to see what all the fuss was about. Well I recently got my wish and am now kick...
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The Photoshop World App is Ready For Vegas

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 29, 2011, 12:02 am
Photoshop World is just a little over a week away and the Apple Store has finally released the update to the Photoshop World App. Now, I know that everyone is not going to PSW but for those of you that are that are owners of an iPhone or iPad, you will definitely want to get your hands on this free ...
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Link Love Friday

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 26, 2011, 12:27 pm
♦     This is an optical resolution chart. It can be used for checking resolution of imaging systems but one of the main uses is for checking lens sharpness. There is another way to find out if your lens is sharp and which aperture will get you our best images. Check out this article from my bu...
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Light It Magazine – The Future of Magazine Publishing

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 24, 2011, 1:29 am
I got a call from my buddy Scott Kelby last night telling me that his new magazine was about to go Live! It’s a very exciting new product for Kelby Media, not just because it is a great new magazine with a cool concept behind it, but because of the delivery method. This magazine is an iPad-only pe...
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My Rain-Shortened Rodeo Shoot

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 22, 2011, 12:05 am
Every year when it’s time for the county fair I head to their website to check the schedule of events. There are always a lot of things going on but I am always looking for one thing in particular, the rodeo. It’s not a big rodeo and the arena that is used is quite small for the event but I just...
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My Peachpit Photo Club Presentation is Now Online

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 19, 2011, 12:06 am
It seems like such a long time ago that I was in San Francisco for the Photoshop & You pop-up store event but it was just a short couple of weeks ago. Where does the time go?  You may recall that I gave a presentation at the store that was recorded for the Peachpit Photo Club. We had originally hop...
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Special Thursday Edition of The Grid – Grill the Photoshop Product Manager

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 18, 2011, 6:56 am
I normally take Thursdays off but I wanted to share a special news update with you concerning an event happening this afternoon. As you hopefully know, the popular photography web show, The Grid, is broadcasted live every Wednesday at 4:00pm Eastern. The shows are then available for viewing the foll...
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Are My New Portfolio Pics Safe?

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 17, 2011, 12:31 am
A concerned reader sent me an email yesterday in reference to my new portfolio site. I do have large images posted so it is a little bit of a concern that they could end up somewhere that I didn’t authorize. The truth is that there’s sonly so much you can do absent not posting anything on the In...
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Moving your Lightroom Web Templates

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 15, 2011, 12:21 am
This weekend I took a breather from book writing to do some updating of my online portfolio. I have created the entire thing in Lightroom thanks to The Turning Gate and their very smart web engines. Web engines masquerade as Web Layout Styles in the Web Module but the ones from TTG are more like web...
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Worth a Weekend Read

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 12, 2011, 12:27 am
It’s Friday and with that in mind, here’s a few things to check out this weekend while you are laying around on the couch with your laptop. ♦   Ben Long was taking an extended trip through Turkey and wanted to serve his photo tech needs while still traveling light. His solution included an ...
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Are Cheap Craigslist Weddings Killing the Wedding Photography Business?

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 10, 2011, 12:19 am
Photo by foilman I have a friend who came over to talk to me the other day about his wedding photography business. He is trying to find new ways to get his services in front of new customers so he was investigating different options, like social media. I have been giving him some tips about Facebo...
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Learn to Composite Like a Master with Matt Kloskowski

Jeff R. posted an article on - Aug 8, 2011, 1:03 am
Do you have a hankering to take different elements from your images and combine them into a single masterpiece? Maybe you are in charge of creating some cool looking playing cards for your son’s football team and aren’t really sure where to start. Well have I got a book for you. Last week my bud...
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