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Sept 17 2024 Moon Rise Meetup

Posted on August 28, 2024August 29, 2024 by jrwilkinson

September 17th will be a full supermoon rising right after sunset. Weather-permitting, hopefully we’ll have a clear view of Univ of San Diego’s Immaculata Church Dome & Steeple . A photo taken by Stephen Bay posted on Instagram is our inspiration.

We are hoping to capture similar images from Ski Beach or Fiesta Island on Mission Bay. According to the Photographer’s Ephemeris, Ski Beach on Mission Bay San Diego should be the right angle to photograph the moon rising over USD. Moonrise is 6:51pm; sunset is 6:51pm so the light conditions could be optimal.
Mission Bay Park on Fiesta Island could be a better location depending on weather and lens focal range.
I will arrive early, if possible, to scout the view and can update participants on which spot is more favorable. There should be plenty of space for everyone to setup their tripods. I hope to see you on Sept 17th.

21 Aug 2024 Theme: Beach & Summer

Posted on August 21, 2024August 23, 2024 by jrwilkinson

Appropriate themes for an August Photography Interest Group meeting, Beach and Summer photos were shared. Living in Southern California, it’s not difficult to find subjects that fit the theme. BUT with everyone’s busy summer schedules, it can be hard to schedule time to take photos. An “EDC” (every day carry) camera is often suggested by avid photographers so I try to bring a small camera everywhere I go. Everyone has a cell phone camera so the need for an EDC camera is lessened. But I still prefer a small zoom lens camera that I can take ‘grab shots’ when something catches my attention. Cathy and I did a beach ‘walk-about’ and looked for interesting moments. Barbara always carries her Olympus camera when she walks. The beach can be a really fascinating place to people watch. Here are the photos shared, most fit the theme or are close enough.

Barbara – shared an awesome surfer photo and pelicans at La Jolla Cove from early in the year.

Cathy – shared photos from a beach walk-about and summer fireworks from Sea World

Gary – shared some photos of his boat in Mission Bay and photos converted to watercolor-style paintings using the Waterlogue iPhone app. He also talked about astrophotography using the Seestar astrophotography camera. Images from that camera are copyrighted so I did not post them here.

Jerry – shared some great shots from Sunset Cliffs during a recent beautiful summer sunset.

Jim – shared photos taken during a recent beach visit with his grandson. Always a great place to catch photos that capture the summer theme and people watch.

17 July 2024 Theme: Food & Color

Posted on July 17, 2024July 18, 2024 by jrwilkinson

July’s themes were Food and Color (or colorful food). Participants shared a wide variety of subjects because a color theme can be virtually any color subject. We chose a broad theme this month because the last few months have been pretty specific, appealing to members who enjoy post-processing.

Barbara

Cathy

Gary

Heather

Jim

John

Sharon

Lightroom Consultant

Posted on July 1, 2024July 1, 2024 by jrwilkinson

John had problems with his Lightroom photo library and recommends this contact if you need similar help.

Formerly, the president and board member of the local Serra Club Photo Group AND just gave a presentation on Lightroom at the San Diego Fair. He’s a great reference for Lightroom help – technical and conceptual.

Alexander S. Kunz

17474 Montero Rd

San Diego, CA 92128 United States

mail@alex-kunz.com

858-722-1321

Photography Processing Software

Posted on July 1, 2024July 2, 2024 by jrwilkinson

Many photographers use Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop to process their photos. But since they changed to a subscription model, many of us would prefer software you buy once & own. Adobe’s $9.99/month Photography subscription is what I currently use. But with their recent change in ‘terms of service‘, I’m considering alternatives. I already own some other programs that I often use for specific tasks, like film simulations or black & white processing. But Lightroom & Photoshop are what I am most familiar with.

A list of all Adobe alternatives was compiled & posted on X (Twitter) here by xdaniel. I’ve outlined links below for some Photoshop & Lightroom alternatives I am familiar with.
Some can do most, if not all, of what the Adobe programs do. Some of the free versions look and act a lot like the Adobe programs with similar tools. Others may have a bit of a learning curve because they use different terminology and controls. Fortunately, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials to teach you how to edit photos using these alternatives. Plus if you haven’t used Photoshop or Lightroom, than learning the different tools aren’t an issue.
The listed Adobe alternatives are not limited to Windows PCs. There are universal versions that will work on Windows, Mac, iPad. Most buy-once MacOS apps are available through the App store. Here are the lists of Adobe alternatives, some free, some buy-once:

Photoshop alternatives

Free
- Photopea – free online Photoshop alternative which can connect to Google Drive, OneDrive, & others
- Gimp – GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free, open-source cross-platform image editor available for Linux, macOS, Windows. It’s a long-running Photoshop alternative with similar capabilities but ‘clunky’ interface.
- Krita or Inkscape – open-source painting programs that can work on photos and create Photoshop PSD files with layers.
- Paint.net – (Windows only) once mainly a free Windows Paint alternative, it now has some good photo editing tools.
- PhotoscapeX – free or $40 Pro Version with extra features. Free version does most basic edits.
- Apple Photos or Windows Photos – both these free OS programs have some great tools to improve photos.
Buy once
- Affinity Photo – currently $35 for Mac or Windows, $9.29 for iPad or $82 for all three platforms. Really popular Mac/iPad photo processing app and there’s a Windows version.
- Topaz PhotoAI – Topazlabs merged their separate programs: Topaz DenoiseAI, Topaz SharpenAI, & Topaz GigapixelAI into one program – Topaz PhotoAI. PhotoAI is simpler to use but I miss the flexibility of the individual apps. Edit your photos with single-click simplicity or user-controlled slider bars.
- Pixelmator Pro – for MacOS only, $50, 7-day free trial

Refer to this icon key to identify the cost of the alternatives >>>
Like Adobe, many have started offering subscriptions for their premium features. But some offer Lifetime subscriptions for a higher one-time price, something Adobe doesn’t.

In my opinion, Affinity Photo is probably the best low cost Photoshop alternative for Windows, MacOS, or iPad, currently 50% off $35 (June 30 2024) for Windows, MacOS; $9.29 for iPad.
But the free & trial options are always worth checking out.

Lightroom Alternatives

Free
- Darktable – powerful, full-feature free alternative to Lightroom but with a learning curve
- RawTherapee – another cross-platform (Windows, Mac) powerful, full-feature free alternative but with a learning curve
- DigiKam – strong photo organizer features, similar to Adobe Bridge, with photo editing features & social media tools
- Lightzone – free Lightroom alternative, now hosted on GitHub after lightzoneproject.org website was retired.
Buy once
- Capture One – a fully capable Lightroom alternative favored by many photographers. A bit expensive ($300 lifetime) unless on Black Friday sale. They also have various subscriptions.
- ON1 – another popular Lightroom alternative with buy-once and subscription options. On sale today for $50 (June 30 2024 buy-once or wait till Black Friday).
- DXO Photolab – my favorite Lightroom alternative with excellent Lens correction database, currently on sale 20% off (I bought mine last Black Friday).
- Luminar Neo – easy to use with single click improvements, but also with user controls if you want to make your own adjustments. It has both subscription or buy-once options.

YouTube video describing all Adobe alternatives based on xdaniels X post

There are a tons of iPhone/Android phone and tablet apps that both take & edit photos.
Some favorites are:

Snapseed – a long-time iPhone/iPad/Android app that’s free and edits photos with east to use tools.
Adobe Photoshop Express – Adobe offers this for free but you do need a free Adobe account. This is a universal app available for all platforms. Some premium features are behind a pay-wall.
Google Photos (Google Drive) – free Google universal app that has the ‘magic eraser’ & other photo editing tools. Download/upload, organize, share, edit your photos. Of course, it requires a Google (ie gmail) account.
Too many others to list – many social media apps also will edit images before posting. Also cell phone video apps.
VLC Media Player to grab still frames from videos.

Don’t ignore free software from your camera manufacturer. They are optimized specifically for your camera’s raw photographs and features. Some are very useable offering photo importing, organizing & basic editing. Some are primarily designed just to transfer images from your camera to computer. All except Nikon, require your camera’s serial number to download their software or firmware.

Nikon offers NX Studio free for Windows or MacOS, which imports images from Nikon cameras to your computer and has basic photo editing features.
Canon offers Digital Photo Professional 4.18.10 for Windows, a free image importing and processing program. They also offer a MacOS version
Sony offers Imaging Edge Desktop and PlayMemories Home for Sony cameras. Imaging Edge Desktop can be used for editing raw images; PhotoMemories is mainly for importing and organizing your Sony camera photos. Sadly, Sony used to offer Capture One Express. Their free version of Capture One for only Sony cameras. Capture One is a full featured Lightroom replacement.
Fujifilm offers their free FUJIFILM X RAW STUDIO which imports their raw image from Fujifilm cameras. It has very basic editing and export capabilities.
Olympus/OM Systems offers OM Workspace for Windows or MacOS
Panasonic offers a basic photo import & editing program PHOTOfunSTUDIO for Windows or MacOS

19 June 2024 Architecture Theme

Posted on June 19, 2024June 21, 2024 by jrwilkinson

A second theme for June’s Photography Interest Group meeting was Architecture. Since some of the participants do not dabble in post-processing very much. An architecture theme was proposed because a Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge meet-up was proposed. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but here are the images that were shared:

Cathy

Gary got some great shots while re-landscaping his backyard.

Heather shared images from a recent trip to Idaho State Penitentiary museum.

Jerry focused on the “how I’d edit theme”, not architecture:

Jim was inspired by recent tutorials on converting architectural images into high contrast black & white.

BTW – Thufa’s ‘outhouse’, on the grass mound, is a fish-drying shack.

19 June 2024 “How I’d Edit Your Photo” Theme

Posted on June 19, 2024June 21, 2024 by jrwilkinson

Inspired by May’s meeting of “Before and After” where participants shared their straight-out-of-camera photos then their final processed images. This month’s “How I’d Edit Your Photo” participants edited other peoples images ‘their’ way. There were four images uploaded so here’s how the final edits from different members turned out:

Here’s a photo Cathy took recently with snow on the mountains overlooking San Diego. Photo was taken from Point Loma Bayside Trail March 2023 after a recent snow storm in the local mountains.

Gary submitted a photo from his friend Sarah. It’s a poignant story – this is the only photo she has of her and her father before he disappeared. The original photo was scanned and shows its age. We used many of the Photoshop/Lightroom tools to improve the photo.

Jim had two images from Yosemite – a Milky Way image over Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall from the Merced riverbank. The Milky Way shot was a single exposure so not ideal for best post-processing – stacking multiple images is usually preferred.

Milky Way Over Half Dome

Bridalveil Fall From Merced River

Jerry’s Grand Teton Fall Colors

Tutorial: Processing Starry Images

Posted on May 24, 2024May 24, 2024 by jrwilkinson

I recently learned of some tools that aide in the processing of astrophotography images. An Adobe Photoshop or PixInsight plugin called StarXterminator (by RC-Astro; $60 w/ 30day free trial) or the free command-line executable Starnet++. Either of these programs allow you to eliminate the stars from your photograph.
Why would that be useful? Because you end up with a starless Milky Way/Nebula layer and stars layer that you can process separately. This allows you to apply photo enhancements to the Milky Way (or Nebula) without affecting the stars and vice-versa. You can tone down the stars so they are less distracting to the Milky Way’s galactic core. You can also apply anti-coma or astigmatism corrections to the corner of your frame to improve star resolution.

Walk-through using StarXterminator plugin in Photoshop

1). Open your Milky Way image in Photoshop then duplicate the layer. This will be the working copy of the original. Label it “With Stars”.

2). optional: Run the NoiseXterminator or Topaz DeNoise plugin if you want to remove noise. Or if you start in Lightroom, use its denoise tool before importing into Photoshop. You label this layer “With Star DN”.

3). Duplicate the ‘With Stars DN’ layer and label it “Starless”. Apply the Filter/StarXterminator plugin. You will end up with a Milky Way layer void of stars.
Note: Do this after you’ve downloaded and installed the Photoshop plugin. You will find it under Photoshop’s Filter menu, under ‘RC-Astro’ at the bottom. You can download a 30 day trial version of this and their other plugins.

4). Create a duplicate layer of both the ‘With Stars’ layer and ‘Starless’ layer. Be sure the ‘Starless copy’ layer is above the ‘With Stars copy’ layer. With the ‘Starless copy’ layer selected, select the ‘Subtract’ blend mode (box to the left of Opacity). Select both ‘Starless copy’ & ‘With Stars copy’ layers and merge. Relabel this layer as ‘Stars’.

5). Using Filter/Camera Raw Filter or other Photoshop tools, process both the Starless layer and Stars layers to your liking.

6). Once you are happy with the results, merge the layers.
If you want to be able to come back and reedit them. Duplicate both processed layers once more, select ‘screen’ as your overlay, then merge the two layer. Label this layer ‘Final Merged Image’ then export this layer as your final jpg.

June 2024 Photos-To-Edit

Posted on May 18, 2024May 23, 2024 by jrwilkinson

Photos to edit will be added here when received. Please note that these jpgs are linked to the Google Drive high-resolution raw files (as dng). Click the raw image to download – note these may be ~55mb.

From Gary

15 May 2024 Before/After Theme

Posted on May 15, 2024May 17, 2024 by jrwilkinson

When sharing photographs during our Zoom meeting, much of the discussion involves image processing. Some critiques and suggestions involve the different perspectives of some participants visual aesthetic. This difference is what make sharing photographs an interesting pursuit and can be educational. With this in mind, this month’s theme was Before/After. Participants could share their straight-out-of-camera – before – and their final image – after. It’s interesting and educational to hear the photographer’s thought and image process, resulting in their end product.
Some participants did not show photos this week so here are the Before/After sets shared at the meeting:

Cathy

Jerry

Gary – Gary shared primarily final edits except the Half Dome Before/After

Jim