Category Archives: Grand Canyon
Yesterday I had the opportunity to work with JBrad Lewis on a few of the images he captured during my Novembers Southwest workshop. We used Adobe Lightroom developed module to process his image. Lightroom has a fantastic develop module and its cataloging system to organize my workflow is amazing and over the last year it has become my starting point for working on images. Lightroom’s lets you work with a thumbnail of your images instead of the full image storing metadata of the changes and making my workflow lighting fast. When I work with my images in CS6 program the larger files slow me down. Not having to wait for files to open saves me time to go out and do a little more shooting.

Antelope Canyon – Southwest Workshop
The unprocessed image looks good out of the camera but a few Lightroom adjustments makes it a award winning image.

Antelope Canyon Raw unprocessed image
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Labs, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Antelope Canyon, Audubon Swamp, Barns, Battery Park, Boneyard, Botany Bay, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Fire Canyon Arch, Fire Wave, Grand Canyon, Hopi Point, Horseshoe Bend, Michigan Photographic Workshop, Michigan photographic workshops, Natural Arch, Nik software, Petroglyphs, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop Elements 13, Pink Slot Canyon, Pink Slot Canyon, Rialto Bridge, Rome Photgraphic Workshop, Rome photo workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Southwest Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, The Narrows, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Photo Software, Tuscan Photo Workkshop, Upper Antelope Canyon, Valley of Fire, Venice, Venice Italy Photographic Workshop, Virgin River, Zion National Park
Last week was the first time I had the opportunity to work with the new Photoshop Elements 13 and I was impressed by its highlight recovery. Debbie B. captured this wonderful image in Lower Antelope canyon during the Southwest workshop .

Lower Antelope Canyon Processed
If you have worked in any of the Photoshop develop modules you can work in any of the other Photoshop develop modules. They are all laid out similarly. Debbie B. emailed me this great composition that she had captured during the Southwest workshop and I walked her through the steps to process her image. The highlight recovery in Elements 13 is far superior to the highlights I have been able to recover in CS6 and Lightroom 5.7. Adobe keeps surprising me with their software magic!

Lower Antelope unprocessed
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Glow can be used as a stand-alone or a plugin to transform your photos from dull to dazzling. Containing more than 70 unconventional and quirky filters, you can infuse your images with neon, graphic, liquid and other electrifying effects.
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Spring Photo workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Italian Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Adobe CS6, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Fire Canyon Arch, Fire Wave, Grand Canyon, Italian Photographic Workshop, Lower Antelope Canyon, Montepulciano in Tuscany, Natural Arch, Navajo Nation, Nik Software, Page Arizona, Paul Christopher James, Photoshop Elements 13, Piazza Navona, Pink Slot Canyon, Rome Photo Workshop, Slot Canyon Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, Topaz Labs, Tuscan Photo Workshop, Upper Antelope Canyon, Valley of Fire, Venice Italy Photographic Workshop, Zion National Park
The 4th of July is a great day to have fun with family and friends and plan trips to our great National Parks. My images below capture the beauty of Grand Canyon and remind me of the visual treasures the parks hold for us to photograph. I have scheduled two workshops this fall in our National Parks, hope you can join us.
The Great Smoky Mountains Workshop tour October 26-29 2014
Southwest Slot Canyon Workshop tour Nov. 8-14 2014.
Hope you can join me in one of our national parks!

Shadow Lands, South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Both Topaz and Nix software can work magic on your image. Today Ihave spent a little time today working on images of the Grand Canyon that are in my Panoramic Gallery. The Topaz software that I used to finish these images makes a huge improvement over the original processing in Photoshop CS3 used just a few years ago.

Tapestry of Light, South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Raw image with a few adjustments
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Leave a comment | tags: Italian Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity | posted in Antelope Canyon, Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fire Canyon Arch, Fire Wave, Fog Bow, Grand Canyon, Greenbrier, Hopi Point, Little River Road, Natural Arch, Nik software, Ogle Cabin, Owl Canyon, Page Arizona, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains Institute, Southwest Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, The Watchman, Topaz Photo Software, topaz simplify, Tremont, Valley of Fire, Virgin River, White Rainbow, Zion National Park
In 2006 I captured 6 images with my Canon 20D and used autopano pro to stitch them together and process what I thought was an amazing image of Hopi Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. When I look at what I can do with the new software the lyrics of the Bob Dylan song come to mind “Times They Are A-Changin‘”

Dawn of a new day – Hopi Point, South Rim Grand Canyon
This is the image processed in 2006 with all the latest technology available.

Original image processed in 2006
When processing new images with the new software available in Topaz and Lightroom I think of images I need to revisit. In this image I was able to bring back the highlight in the sun’s rays bursting through the storm clouds with the Highlight recovery tool in Lightroom. In the early versions of Adobe I was not able to bring back the highlights. Using the Shadow Recovery tool I was also able to bring out more detail in the shadow area.

Highlight and Shadows recovered in Lightroom
Then to add the finishing touches I used Topaz Clarity to bring back the mood of the stormy October morning that I shared with fellow photographer Darren Plant and my brother Robert.

Dawn of a new day – Hopi Point, South Rim Grand Canyon
The reason I decided to teach workshops is that I have found that these mornings have more meaning to me when shared.
“A journey shared is a journey remembered”
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Leave a comment | posted in Antelope Canyon, Fire Canyon Arch, Fire Wave, Grand Canyon, Hopi Point, Lightroom 4.4, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Photoshop CS6, Slot Canyon Workshops, Southwest Photo Workshop, The Watchman, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Labs, Topaz Photo Software, Valley of Fire, Virgin River, Zion National Park