Our New Food Portfolio Book Is Done!

We’ve spent the past few weeks sorting and pairing images to be printed in our 2016 food & beverage portfolio, the one we show to prospective clients we’re hoping to work with, and it’s pretty amazing. 

Our Brand Manager, Paul Terrell, spent countless hours finding just the right crop, pairing, and printing the 11x14 pages here in the studio, then bound them all into our plexiglass portfolio from Lost Luggage.

We had the opportunity to share this new piece with a potential client yesterday, and the reaction was exactly what we’d hoped for. The client’s senses were clearly stimulated, not only from the mouth watering images, but also by the tactile feel of the Moab Lasal paper on which we chose to print.

As vibrant as the images are on the iPad, there’s still something about seeing those big beautiful images on soft matte paper, that digital portfolios just can’t replace.

Our new portfolio book is complete! Time to show it off. #foodphotography

A photo posted by Tony Roslund (@tonyroslund) on Jan 19, 2016 at 4:42pm PST

A peek at the intro of our latest portfolio. Our Brand Manager @pterrelldesign did an killer job pairing everything up. We’d love to meet with any interested agency, biz, or organization to show it off! #foodphotography

A photo posted by Tony Roslund (@tonyroslund) on Jan 20, 2016 at 10:02am PST

Photoshop Now Has 4 Different Healing Brushes! Here’s How To Get Them

pratiknaik:

Photoshop 2015.1 (released this December), has a surprise and it wasn’t promoted very well. You had to go digging to find it. When I came across it, my eyes lit up. Here is the link on how to activate them:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/enable-non-realtime-healing-brush.html

Here’s a run down on the differences, using the link above to elaborate on.

Keep reading

Precision Automated Focus Stacking With Stack Shot

Ever tried to photograph a subject, only to find out that you don’t have enough depth-of-field to get the whole thing in focus? Typically our first reaction is to stop down (choose a greater aperture) to increase our DOF. Unfortunately that doesn’t always give us the results we expect. The first issue is that even with our lens stopped down to its maximum aperture, we still may not have our subject completely in focus. The second problem is that when we stop down our aperture, we are often trading that increased DOF for decreased sharpness. This is something known as diffraction. Every lens has a sweet spot that gives us the absolute best image quality possible from that lens. But imagine if you could use that sweet spot of your lens (somewhere around f/5.6, f/8, or f/11 on most lenses) and still get the entire image in focus. This is where product, food, jewelry, and even nature photographers (macro shooters) employ a technique called Focus Stacking. The technique is pretty simple; take a series of photos, each focused on a different portion of the subject, and merge them all together in post-production to get one REALLY sharp image. This kind of sharpness is normally not possible with just a single frame. But when we set our aperture to that sweet spot, and shoot several frames, we are able to achieve the impossible (or at least our clients will think so).

Sure there are other factors in getting sharp images, such as camera shake, and shutter slap … but these issues are easily resolved by using the right tools and techniques. More on that later.

In one of my previous videos on Jewelry Photography for Catalogs, I introduced the technique using a Really Right Stuff Macro Focusing Rail. There are other manufacturers, but I like RRS products b/c they’re bulletproof. Basically a focus rail is a rail on which a camera mount slides forward and backward via a threaded shaft that’s turned with a knob. The movements created by turning the knob are very fine adjustments, allowing the photographer to have finite control over how much movement is being used. Basically, you back the rail all the way up, focus on the near portion of your subject, take a shot, turn the knob so the camera moves a little closer to the subject, take another shot … repeat as many times as necessary to move through the entire subject. Sometimes it can be as many as 20–30 images, depending on focal length, aperture, distance, and size of subject. Then we take all those images and dump them into software that detects the portions of each image that are sharpest, and combines them all into one REALLY sharp image. Adobe Photoshop is capable of this, although I’ve found third-party software like Helicon Focus to be more accurate.

Alternatively, if you don’t have a macro focus rail, you could just refocus on the subject, taking photos after each turn of the focus ring. This is not as accurate and can produce some less than optimum results due to the optics changing in the lens as you turn the focus ring, distortion of your subject, large difference in perspective, and a myriad of other problems. But, if you’re just testing the waters, it’s worth a shot!

The problem with a macro focus rail is that it doesn’t do anything to combat the biggest complication in the technique … human error. With a macro focusing rail the photographer has to physically touch the rail (which is connected to the camera) introducing the possibility of camera movement or misalignment. It also relies on the photographer’s estimate of how far to turn the knob between each shot. Using a shutter release cable and mirror lock-up will eliminate the possibility of camera shake, but you have to remember to actually use them. But the biggest problem I have with the technique is repeatability. Often times, I create several versions of a subject, lighting different portions of the subject or making small changes in each image, with the intention of compositing them into one final masterpiece. This technique relies on having absolutely identical images in order for my retoucher to be able to paint/mask the areas we went to incorporate into the final. When we aren’t focus stacking, I simply don’t touch the camera and just introduce a bounce card, additional light, prop, whatever. When focus stacking, I need to do the same thing, but it’s not just a single frame and the camera is not stationary. So, we need each stack to be identical in movement. As a human, it’s just not possible, this is where this video comes in. A colleague of mine introduced me to a motorized focus rail called Stack Shot.

Stack Shot is basically a macro focus rail that has a motor and is controlled remotely. This eliminates much of the human error I talked about earlier. It allows me to get repeated incredibly accurate, repeatable movements, over and over and over again. The video describes it pretty well, but in short, you program your starting point, stopping point and tell the unit how many images you want to capture between those two points. The unit automatically splits up the distance into equal movements, and does all the work for you. This is completely customizable and the device is actually WAY more capable than what I’ve described in my video, but that’s how it works in it’s simplest form. One of the coolest features of the Stack Shot is the ability to connect the brain to your camera and have the unit trigger your shutter after each movement. You can even program a pause between each movement before triggering the shutter so that any vibration from the movement has stopped. Badass.

If you want to know more about my technique for focus stacking, check out my tutorial over at RGG EDU: The Complete Guide to Product Photography, Lighting, & Retouching where I cover the subject in depth and demonstrate how to capture, use Helicon Focus, and composite multiple stacks in post.

Rewrap Podcast

The kind folks over at Resource Magazine invited me to be a guest on the Rewrap podcast this week. Have a listen: 

http://resourcemagonline.com/2015/08/rewrap-podcast-episode-25-when-you-know-its-time-to-get-a-studio-how-to-grow-your-niche/56997/

(Source: resourcemagonline.com)

BTS Video from Our Latest Workshop

Thanks to all who attended, we sincerely enjoyed having you with us for the day! A special thanks to BlackRapid lending us their space, RGG EDU and Capture Integration for sponsoring the event, and Erik Skaar for helping melt minds with our latest product photography workshop in Seattle.

Our RGG EDU Product Photography Tutorial Has Arrived!

The wait is over! RGG EDU launched Tony’s tutorial this morning, and it’s already selling like hot cakes. This week only, RGG EDU is offering $25 off with promo code 25OFF, making this comprehensive and valuable guide an even better deal. If you need further convincing, take a look at the trailers.

And before you start thinking everything is perfection, nothing ever goes wrong, and we’re a serious bunch…

Roslund and HDG: A Savory Combination

Not only is Nudo Ramen House one of our favorite places to eat, the design of the space has achieved international recognition for HDG. Our images of the restaurant have been recently featured in two design magazines, Hospitality Design and House Trends in Portugal, as well as Wonderful Machine’s February 26th Blog. We are honored to be working with such amazing and talented people and are looking forward to every project they send our way. 

As we’ve mentioned before, we’re wading (or plunging) into video production. Here’s a behind the scenes look at how we helped make an already spectacular space magazine ready.

Behind-the-Scenes promo of architectural photography at Nudo Ramen House in Spokane, WA for HDG Architecture & Design.

How to Sync All Your Cloud Storage to a Tiny SSD

The Backstory

When we finish a project and are ready to deliver files to a client, we used to burn CDs, then DVDs, then thumb drives, and eventually moved everything to the cloud. I’ve tried just about every solution out there and we always come back to Dropbox. I like that I can easily copy a folder of images from our server, and drop them in a client’s folder via the Finder on Dropbox. From there I can right-click on the folder and get a link to the folder which I can email to my client. The client simply clicks the link and is greeted with a clean interface for browsing the files and has only one option … download the files (unless they’re Dropbox users as well, in which case they also have the option to add to Dropbox). No passwords, no pages to navigate through, just a big button that says DOWNLOAD. That’s about as easy as it gets! 

A Few New Features

Recently Dropbox added the ability to set time limits which files are accessible, kind of a nice feature (although not something we really use much) if you want to give your client the opportunity to download the files and then clear the space on your Dropbox account.

Another feature they’ve added is the ability for WebDAV access. Why do we care? Let me explain (this is where it gets geeky) …

The Problem

I have a 1TB Dropbox account. When you install the Dropbox app on your computer, the Dropbox folder on your computer syncs with Dropbox in the cloud. This is what makes it so easy to drag/drop client files from the server to Dropbox in the cloud. The problem is, that some of my computers have small-ish SSD drives (128, 256, or 512GB) and I end up filling the entire disk with Dropbox items that I’d rather just keep in the cloud. Fortunately Dropbox gives users the ability to perform Selective Syncing, which basically allows a user to define which specific files/folders they want to sync between their computer and the cloud. I can easily deselect my Client Downloads folder (the place where I drop all finished files for delivery), but then I lose the ability to drag/drop from my server to the cloud, instead having to resort to the Dropbox web interface for uploading client files. That defeats the whole K.I.S.S. process.

What I’m Looking For

What I’ve been looking for since I started using Dropbox years ago, is a way to have instant access via the Finder to my Dropbox files, giving me the freedom to drag/drop files between my server and the cloud, while not taking up any space on my hard drive (SSD). Additionally, I’d like the ability to get a link which I can share with my client without having to use the Dropbox web interface.

The Solution (almost)

Enter DropDav. This $5 monthly service harnesses the newly released ability to access Dropbox via WebDAV protocols. I don’t even have to install proprietary software to make it work. This means I can use a desktop client like Panic’s Transmit which offers the ability to connect to WebDAV services, such as Dropbox. With Transmit, I can automatically mount a WebDAV server to my desktop like any other connected drive, giving me complete access to Dropbox via the Finder, without taking up any room on my internal drive! I even went a step further and created a shortcut to this remote location in my Finder’s sidebar, giving me identical functionality that I had with the native Dropbox app … almost. With the native Dropbox app, Finder gives you the ability to right click on a file and generate a link which can be shared with clients. This functionality is not part of the DropDAV solution, which still requires me to access the Dropbox web interface in order to fetch that shared link.

A Better Solution

I don’t mind paying a small monthly fee for a valuable service, but if at all possible, I’d rather pay for something once and be done. And while DropDav solves my space issues for Dropbox, it does nothing for my other cloud storage services like Google Drive, box, and the many others available. I knew I couldn’t be the only one dealing with this issue in this day of SSDs, so I did some searching and found an app called ExpanDrive. This is the solution I was looking for! You can connect multiple accounts, even the same type of accounts … for example, I have two Google Drive accounts, and I can connect them both! Backspace, Copy, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, SFTP, FTP, and more can all be connected using ExpanDrive. The software will automatically mount each of these connected cloud storage services, making them instantly available like any other connected drive on your computer. Best of all, there’s no monthly fee!

Conclusion

Ultimately, DropDav solves a large part of the problem I’ve been facing since the migration to cloud based file sharing. While I’m not a fan of monthly fees, it works well and is a solid solution for anyone looking to mount Dropbox to their machine and save the space normally eaten up by syncing. I think the better option is ExpanDrive, with no monthly fees and the ability to connect a plethora of services. Unfortunately neither of these options offer the ability to share links directly from the Finder. In order to avoid using the web interface, I found a little (free) app called App for Dropbox that does only one thing … it rides up in the toolbar and allows me to grab the share links for any file/folder in Dropbox. Problem solved!

Still Life with Wonderful Machine

Still life photography presents it’s subject in peaceful repose, whatever it might be. The object is to make that image come alive while remaining perfectly still. Wonderful Machine helps connect potential clients to quality photographers in their region, featured one of Tony’s images in their February 17th blog post, the image in the second row down, on the right. Shooting the chrome fuel parts presented many lighting challenges, and the folks at Wonderful Machine appreciated it’s presentation! Still Life with Gas Caps?

Our Product Photography Tutorial Is Only a Few Weeks Away

Back in the first part of December, 2014, Tony had the opportunity to shoot some epic tutorial videos for RGG EDU (you can get a peek behind the scenes on the RGG EDU blog). Over a period of eight days, the RGG EDU crew shot fifteen videos of Tony imparting his knowledge of commercial product photography for Catalog, Editorial, and Direct Business. The shoot was 3 months in the works, and another two in post production, but is finally ready for it’s launch the first week of March. The tutorial offers an in depth, step by step break down of product photography from set up to post.  RGG EDU and Tony offer a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in commercial product photography, and at $299 it’s a hellova deal! Anyone who signs up for RGG EDU’s online newsletter gets opportunities for early release of the tutorials as well as info on upcoming releases and workshops. So go sign up!