Category Archives: Lightroom
Summer in Provence is a time when the region’s fields are bursting with colour and fragrance, when their perfumed lavender and dazzling sunflowers are in full bloom.
Sunflowers in Provence
The iconic symbol of Provence, violet-coloured lavender and brilliant yellow sunflower fields are usually in flower from the end of June to mid August. The peak time being in early July when we will be there capturing its beauty!
Provence Photographic Workshop Tour
July 2-6, 2017 $950.00/ Limited to 8 Students
Sunflowers in Provence
Both of these images were Focus stacked (also known as focal plane merging focus blending) a digital image processing technique which combines multiple images taken at different focal distances and give the blended image a greater depth of field (DOF) than any of the individual images.
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Leave a comment | tags: Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Provence, Provence Photo Workshop, Sunflowers, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Focus Stack, France, Lightroom, Paul Christopher James, Paul Christopher James, Photoshop, Provence Photo Workshop, Selective focus, Sunflowers, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs
There is still time to for the adventurous photographer to join me on this workshop to Pisa and the Cinque Terre
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Field of Miracles is a walled 8.87-hectare area located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as an important center of European medieval art and one of the finest architectural complexes in the world. The Field of Miracles is considered sacred by the Catholic Church. The square is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistery, the Leaning Tower and the Monumental Cemetery. Partly paved and partly grassed, the Piazza of Miracles is also the site of the New Hospital of the Holy Spirit, which houses the Sinopias Museum and the Cathedral Museum.
Anyone Gelato by the Leaning Tower
The name Piazza dei Miracoli was coined by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d’Annunzio who, in his novel Forse che sì forse che no (1910), described the square as the “prato dei Miracoli,” or “meadow of miracles”. In 1987, the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Leave a comment | tags: Cinque Terre Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Field of Miracles, Italian Photographic Workshop, Leaning Tower, Lightroom, Photoshop, Pisa, Pisa Baptistry, Pisa Cathedral, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs
Tuscan Photographic Workshop Tour June 18 – June 23, 2016
San Gimignano in the Mist
The best photographs are often accompanied by the memories that are attached to the image. Your own personal metadata is what makes your images and traveling so important.
This was a wonderful morning image that I captured in 2013 in Sangimino, Italy and is one of my favorite memories.
What makes it my favorite is the smile it brings to my face when I see it. We had arrived and could see the village in the soft morning light before sunrise. Everyone knew it was going to be a great shot. Once I parked the van, everyone dashed of a few steps ahead of Jan and I. Craig, Charlie, Steve, and Bob headed off into the tall wet grass to try to find a vantage point to shoot from and Jan gave me a look that still makes me laugh every time I see this image. There was a little farm road that went up and off to the left of the wet grass, it took Jan and I to this great (and dry) vantage point. As we watched the light change we captured this wonderful sunrise. The men eventually came out of the wet brush and onto the farm road to capture Sangimino from what I think of as Jan’s vantage point.
A journey shared is a journey remembered.
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Leave a comment | tags: Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Florence, Lightroom, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop CS6, San Gimignano, Siena, Topaz Clarity, Topaz In Focus, Topaz Labs, Topaz labs, Tuscan Photo Workkshop, Tuscan Vineyard, Val d'Orcia, Wheat fields
Sunrise anywhere on the planet is always a great time to start shooting. The rain and mist mixed with this morning’s soft light in Michigan would have made for great location shooting. With a little luck we will have a variety of weather for the Italian and French workshops coming up in 6 weeks.
Awakening – Montepulciano, Italy
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Leave a comment | tags: Italian Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop | posted in Cinque Terre, Cinque Terre photo workshop, Florence, Focus Stack, HDR, lavender fields, Lens Correction, Lightroom, Montepulciano, Perspective, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop, Provence Photo Workshop, San Gimignano, Selective focus, Siena, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs, Tuscan Photo Workkshop, Tuscan Vineyard, Val d'Orcia, Wheat fields
May 14, 2016 $75 Limit 8
Farmhouse Lilacs
Now that spring has arrived in Michigan there are a lot of photographers who want to dust off their cameras and spend a time honing their camera and processing skills, while capturing some great spring images. On May 14, 2016, I will be spending the day shooting and going over image processing in the countryside near my home in Chelsea, Michigan.
We will start the day at 9 a.m. with coffee, while going over camera functions, in Chelsea at the old farm house where I live and work. Then we will head out for some close up work. My neighbors raise horses and they have two Friesian foals that we will spend time with.
After a lunch break, we will go over image processing on the images we have shot, then head out for an afternoon shoot.
In the afternoon we will spend time at the Waterloo Farm Museum, where we will spend some of the afternoon shooting the buildings and some close up images. After a couple of hours at Waterloo, we will go back to work on image processing to wind down the day.
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Leave a comment | tags: Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Adobe CS6, Barns, Focus Stacking, Irises, Lightroom, Lilacs, Michigan Photo Workshop, Michigan photographic workshops, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Poppies
It doesn’t matter how many times I walk the historic streets of the Battery in Charleston, there is always one window or doorway that stands out a little more than the rest. This historic window on Meeting is always beautiful, and this year I was able to capture it with the perfectly blooming wisteria transforming it.
Wisteria Window – Battery Park, Charleston
Using the transform tool I was able to change the perspective of this window. To boost the color and contrast I used Topaz Clarity.
Wisteria Window – Battery Park, Charleston
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Spring Photo workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Lightroom, Perspective, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop, Photoshop CS6, Topaz Clarity, Topaz labs, Transform
Composition is what makes an image great. How everything is placed in an image depends on where you place your camera.
“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”
Ansel Adams
Reclaimed by the Sea – Boneyard Beach on Botany Bay Plantation
The images of the trees reclaimed by the surf that we will capture during next spring’s Charleston workshop at the Boneyard Beach on Botany Bay Plantation will be amazing. There is no shell collecting on the beach which makes this pristine beach one-of-a-kind!
In the darkroom when we needed to bring out shadow areas we would make a variety of wands to dodge the shadow areas. When we needed to bring down the highlights we would expose the sky a second and sometimes a third time while fanning and feathering the edge between the sky and ground with cardboard sheets to give detail to the overexposed areas.
To bring the shadows out and the highlights down I blending 3 HDR files in Lightroom which brought detail into the shadows and highlights. To make the image pop I used Clarity my favorite Topaz software plugin.
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Spring Photo workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Boneyard, Botany Bay, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Edisto Island, Lightroom, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Topaz Clarity, Topaz DeNoise 6, Topaz Labs
In the mid 70’s I was a navigator for the Navy and we still had an old chart that actually had “Here Be Dragons” labeled on it. Even though it was more for fun that someone had left an old chart in the chart drawer, it still sparked the fantasy that there may still be a sleeping dragon somewhere in the world.
Sleeping Dragon – Southwest workshop
When I finally found a sleeping dragon, it reaffirmed that there is still magic in the world. In November I will be revisiting him during the Southwest workshop to see what his fire will do to the sky at sunset.
This is a two shot HDR Panoramic processed in Lightroom. After merging the images I popped the contrast and color using Topaz Clarity.
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2 Comments | tags: Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs | posted in Devil's Fire, HDR, Lightroom, Panoramic, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop CS6, Sleeping Dragon, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs
Yesterday I was going through images to see what might work for the Art Fair jury process and the this early morning image of the Castle of Angels popped out. I had processed the image a while ago and it has been in the back of my mind for some time. I think the B&W version will make a nice jurying image.
The image has a little noise in it and used Topaz DeNoise 6 to eliminate the noise.
Castle of Angels – Rome
Castle of Angels – Rome
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Topaz DeNoise is designed to let you shoot anywhere in any light and still get crisp, clear and noise-free images. Specializing in extremely noisy high ISO images, DeNoise removes distracting image noise while preserving image detail, giving you the image you wanted without the noise you don�t.
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Leave a comment | tags: Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Topaz Labs | posted in Adobe CS6, Castle of Angels, Italy, Lightroom, Rome, Rome photo workshop, Topaz BW effects 2, Topaz Clarity, Topaz DeNoise 6
Everyone has surrealistic experiences and we say “wasn’t that amazing?”. Photographers search for places like Mono Lake where we can have that experience as we enjoy a special sunrise, the light changing over ancient lakes and mountain ranges. After these brisk morning shoots as I am relaxing over breakfast, my thinking is usually like that of an excited little kid; let’s do it again!!
Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour March 13 – March 17, 2016
Mono Lake Sunrise
Shooting into the sun created a lot of noise in the shadow areas which I was able to recover using DeNoise 6.
Topaz DeNoise is designed to let you shoot anywhere in any light and still get crisp, clear and noise-free images. Specializing in extremely noisy high ISO images, DeNoise removes distracting image noise while preserving image detail, giving you the image you wanted without the noise you don�t.
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Leave a comment | posted in HDR, High Sierras, Lightroom, Mono Lake, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz DeNoise 6, Topaz Labs, Valley of Fire
