DIYPhotography.net

Photoshop used to have a cool feature where you could created contact sheets (or index cards) from a set of files on your computer. I use this feature a lot to create a giveaway card when shooting portraits for large groups of people (or Doras).

You needed to run a script called contact sheet from the automate menu, select some settings and TADA! Photoshop would magically create a contact sheet for you.

If you used this feature on previous versions of Photoshop, you may have discovered that it is missing from Photoshop CS5.

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I know it sounds like an oxymoron, however, this is one of the best examples of hack'n mod beating the cr*p out of store bought solutions.

Canberra Australia based photographer Jamie Carl, rigged together a great system that will wireless your USB setup (can you use wireless as a verb? not sure). This is so trivial that it just shouts, Why didn't I do this before.

Jamie says this setup helped hum nail a difficult car-rigged setup where he did not know how fast the car will be going, and as a result did not know what shutter speed to use for good motion blur on the road, but no camera blur on the car. Using a wireless USB Carl was able to sit shotgun and adjust the settings on the go. Click to continue ›

A while back I was contracted by Francois Auradon, he asked me if there is a frugal photographers SW list somewhere on the site.

That was a good point as software can sometimes be a big expense. Gladly Francois picked the glove up and started the ball rolling list going. This list is only the beginning, with your help it can expand to include more stuff to make photographers lives easier. if you know iof a good piece of photography software, hit us in the comments.

So here goes 32 pieces of software for the frugal photographer:

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When searching for a backup solution I was most fascinated with the option of online storage. My major concern was the huge catalog files that Lightroom creates. I even listed the huge catalog files a deadly sin :)

I got a great tip on the comments explaining how to use XMP files to override the huge files issue. Thanks Jigar. (Unfortunately, the comment got deleted as part of my fight with a spam attack. Please post the comment again so I can provide appropriate credit).

My Lightroom workflow is very similar to the workflow Kerry showed on his Lightroom workflow video. That mean my catalog is always changing/evolving/growing. It also means that my backup software will notice that the file has changed and try to back it up after every session. Kinda heavy with a 60 Megs file. This is where XMP comes in to play. Click to continue ›

About a month ago my computer's Power Supply Unit died on me. While changing that power unit was both cheap and got me banging my head against the computer case technically effortless, it got me thinking that my pictures are not all that secured on my hard drive. Now, I do back up to an external disk, but after hearing some tips from DIYP readers, I realized that I am guilty of seven deadly backup sins. Here is a collection on those sins and matching redemption as suggested by DIYP readers. A lot of the tips were given by more than one reader. 

This is also a great opportunity to mention Brian's excellent series about Photo backup. [Image by Dude Crush]

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words and a movie is worth a thousand pictures. But sometimes you want something in between, something that is as still as an image, yet conveys action like a film. This is an action sequence shot.

Sometimes the best way to achieve an effect is to do it in post. So this post will not involve any gear hacking (although I can think of some elaborate ways to make this with no post at all), but some good old post processing method.

An action sequence shot as a still image that is made from several frames. In the following tutorial Kaan Kiran demonstrates one method of making such action shot.

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When it comes to black and white conversion, there is no definitive method that will get the best results every time. Some use the channel mixer conversion, while others will swear by black and white filter. Other just like the simplicity of the desaturate function. Which one is the best? It depends. This is why I was so happy when Ladislav Soukup from ladasoukup.cz (flickr) sent me this cheat sheet. Read on to find your best suited conversion in an instant.

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A while back I posted two great ways to create lighting diagrams: using Photoshop or using an online flash application.

Now, the online application as great, but it only allowed you to share a URL, there was no way to save or print your lighting diagram.

Reader Brian pointed me to a nice online application called PhotoDiagram that allows you to create a lighting diagram and then save it as jpg. NICE.

I'd love to see more modifiers in the application. If you feel like being nice, Drop Brian a line on what you'd like to see in the next version of PhotoDiagram.

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Nick Wheeler, one of my all times Flickr favorites, just uploaded a new picture to DIYP pool. (And yes, it is the same Nick who brought you The DIY Strip Light and the Floor Lit Table Top Studio).

The posing on this picture is great, but the first eye catcher of this image is the Dave Hill post processing look it has.

If you don't know Dave Hill, please, sit back and treat yourself to an hour of fine photography. Dave is known for two things: You can not forget his portraits ones you've seen them - the visual impact is very strong. And you can not ignore his unique post processing look, what has become to be known as "The Dave Hill Look".

It looks like the web is all over Dave this month, as both the Stobist mail-tiviewed him and Scott Kelby gave a great tip on how to create a Dave Hill look in Lightroom.

I wanted to play a little and gave the Dave Hill look a try with a technique found in the Strobist threads. Thanks Omar for putting the thread together. (Click any of the images for bigger view)

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This article will demonstrate three techniques for increasing contrast in a picture. The tool we are going to use for this is Photoshop.

Ok, so you took a picture and now it look dull and flat, the colors are dead, or it has a milky look to it. You know what it is. The picture lacks contrast. Click to continue ›