Better Masking and Selections Coming to Adobe Lightroom and ACR

Ant Pruitt September 28, 2021

Adobe Lightroom Classic is part of my photography workflow for post-processing as well as organizing and cataloging my files. The tools in post-processing have become second nature for me these days. Now Adobe is adding more capability to Lightroom Classic, Lightroom (Cloud) and Camera Raw apps with it’s precise masking tool.

The tool is going to offer more flexibility when using the adjustment brush to do selective adjustments in your image. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, some selective adjustments can be quite tedious in Lightroom. Which is why I usually switch to Photoshop for that part of my post-processing. But it’s nice to see that this may save me a few minutes of work by keeping me in Lightroom.

More details about the update can be found here on the Adobe blog. Check out this quick video showing off forth-coming tool.

Pre-Order The Canon EOS R3 Mirrorless Camera NOW

Ant Pruitt September 14, 2021

Canon has been on a tear with its mirrorless camera offerings the last year or so. Then we saw a new pro-grade, full-frame body was coming available. The EOS R3. This is the mirrorless option that Canon states will stand between the EOS R5 and the flagship 1DX II, although the 1DX model isn’t mirrorless.

From a tech spec standpoint, expect:

30 frames per second high speed shooting
rugged build with excellent weather sealing
4K video recording with Canon Log (c-log) 3
6K RAW video capability
Dual pixel autofocus for animals, bird and human eye detection
rumored 24 megapixel stacked image sensor

Pretty beefy specs, as expected. Especially considering that at least one photographer was lucky enough to shoot the 2021 Summer Olympics with a pre-production R3. Says a lot about the potential capabilities of this camera.

The shipping date is November 30, 2021. I also know that you can get your pre-order in with the squad at Adorama on this page*. Do you plan on getting one? I can’t say that I plan on it, but it would be nice to play with one. Stay tuned.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Shout Out to Light and Motion

Ant Pruitt September 3, 2021

Yo. I just wanted to give a shout out to the squad at Light and Motion. Recently on my show, Hands-On Photography, I had Tosha Gaines as a guest speaker to share a photography tip as well as inspire my audience. It was great to meet her. She's an ambassador for Light and Motion. Certainly deserving of recognition. Anyhow, Light and Motion offered to affiliate with me and send me some kit. Besides sharing L&M information, I also wanted to say thanks to them and share affiliate information.

About Light and Motion

This company specializes in lighting options for a various situations. Not just photography. The product line is professional quality and definitely lives up to that labeling. I’ve had the pleasure of trying out the lights for several weeks now and I’ve been blown away. The Stella Pro CLX10 is an absolute beast of a light with regards to durability and power of light. It’s ridiculous how bright this dadgum LED light is. Not to mention, it’s wireless, so there’s no power cord required. And you can definitely feel the pro-grade build quality in this light.

So yeah, I appreciate Light and Motion setting me up as an affiliate. What does it mean for you? Because I’m an affiliate, I have a 20% off discount code. Just go to this link and apply the code to your order. You’ll get a discount, and I’ll get a small commission of your sale. So go check ‘em out and go Create and DOMINATE, y’all. Be sure to follow the Stella Pro page on Instagram, too.

Photography Today and the Future of Photography

Ant Pruitt August 26, 2021

I had the honor and pleasure of being on Tom Merritt’s DTNS “Experiment Week” which for my episode, was hosted by Anthony “Amos” Lemos. With this being “Experiment Week,” the DTNS had me on to talk a bit about photography. The state of photography today as well as my thoughts on the future of photography when it comes to consumers and pro-sumers. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for giving it a listen.

Vegas Creative Software Gets Updated

Ant Pruitt August 19, 2021

Am I an Adobe Creative Cloud user? Yup. Unapologetically. Am I someone that looks into other software tools that can help me with my content creation? Yup. So yeah, there are some other apps in the video creation world beyond Adobe Premiere Pro, One of those options being Vegas, which has been recently been updated.

All about the color grade

Last year, Vegas Creative had a big push in using AI in the creative workflow. In the latest release, version 19, the push is more about tweaking the user experience in addition to harnessing the power of AI and the cloud. More on the cloud in a moment.

Vegas 19 has added a more intuitive design of its app with a new color grading interface designed to make the color grading experience more efficient. The new color wheels are range-limited with precision control so you can target certain hues and tones to make your grade pop on the screen. Vegas Creative has also included 40 professionally developed LUTs based on different cameras and trendy looks seen in films today.

Unlike what I mentioned regarding Premiere Pro’s recent update, Vegas Pro video editor touts a text TO speech engine. Not the other way around. This tool generates natural-sounding voices from any text source fed into it. I’ve not tried this, but it sounds pretty badass. It’s only available in the Pro and Post package, by the way. Also, if you’re a Blackmagic Design shooter like me, Vegas Creative has announced beta support for the BRAW codec. THAT’s awesome. Raw video is so much better in post-processing when it comes to color grading and dynamic range.

So what’s the price of this stuff?

Pricing for Vegas Creative software varies upon each product SKU. You’re not locked to a subscription model, but you can choose to be a subscriber if you’d like. Each package includes cloud storage depending upon which package you choose. Vegas Edit is $12.99 per month or $249 for a perpetual license. Vegas Pro is $19.99 per month or $399 for a perpetual license. Vegas Post is $29.99 per month or $599 for a perpetual license. You can see a comparison between the packages here. All the other specs and goodies are listed there. It’s pretty extensive.

New Photoshop Updates for Desktop and iPad Announced

Ant Pruitt August 17, 2021

Adobe has announced new updates to its popular photo editing and manipulation software, Photoshop. The popular app continues grow as more and more tools and options are integrated with each update. Today’s update is great for photographers shooting landscape images or outside in general as the Adobe Sensei AI continues to get better. Here are some of the updates of note for both Photoshop on the desktop computer as well as the iPad.

Sky replacement AI updated

We’ve all been there. We’ve snapped a photo outside and the sky just looks. . .blah. Sky replacement AI has gotten more and more popular for this reason. With the latest update to Photoshop's sky replacement feature, you can now choose from more skies in your replacement, import up to 5,000 skies, and control how the newly replaced sky is applied.

AI is the big key to the Neural Filters of Photoshop, too. Adobe has included some improvements and updates for this feature set which includes:

Preset images now included for Style Transfer to provide a starting point
Use any custom and apply the style of that image to your document
Superzoom now operates on the entire layer instead fo only a cropped area of the image.

In addition to the sky replacement updates, Adobe announced more control over its Transform Warp tool. this is useful for allowing graphic designers the ability to create complex shapes within their project with the implementation of Bezier handles. For those of you interested in providing feedback for future Photoshop features or suggestions, you can be a part of Photoshop Beta. Just install the beta app via your Creative Cloud app running on your computer.

Photoshop on iPad updated

The iPad version of Photoshop has two nice updates that’s currently found in the desktop version. The Healing Brush and Magic Wand. Healing is great for retouching, small spot removal and so forth in photo manipulation. I use it regularly in portraits. The Magic Wand is great for quick selections of objects in your photo.

These are nice features to be added to Photoshop on iPad. I still think there’s a little ways to go before I can make it my mobile photo manipulation app, but it’s nice to see the improvement happening for the project.

You can find out more about the latest Photoshop updates (and MORE) via the Adobe blog post right here. And if you’re interested in getting Photoshop and Lightroom for yourself, click here and get it for $9.99 per month. A great value, in my opinion.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

New Macro Flash from GODOX and Flashpoint

Ant Pruitt August 10, 2021

Godox is a pretty popular brand in the photography space. In particularly, for beginners, hobbyist or flat out budget-minded photographers. Yep, I use quite a few Godox kit in my content creation endeavors. Godox has now announced a new flash designed for macro photography. But wait, there’s more. . . .

Not your typical macro flash

Like a typical speed lite or off camera flash you can mount the MF 12 to the top of your camera or on a stand quite easily. But where this differs from any speed lite is not in its size, but in its ability to be mounted to your camera’s lens. With the help of an adapter, of course.

The adapter is quite similar to a step-up ring you’d use for larger ND filters, but instead of attaching a filter, you attach the MF 12. If you have more than one MF 12, you can attach them all around the circumference of your lens.

Having the MF 12 in this position is ideal for macro photography considering how much closer a macro lens can be towards the image subject, but this can also be used as a nifty ring light for portraits. Ring lights are great for high key images or images where you really want flat light with minimal contrast showing on your subject. Granted, the catch light created in the model’s from a ring light is not something I care for. I prefer a round soft box catch light in the eyes versus the rings show in the image below.

You can preorder the MF 12 from Adorama via the Flashpoint branding. It’s still a Godox, just the branding exclusive to Adorama. I think the pricing is quite fair based on the portability and capability. Can get a bit pricey if you order more than two, in my opinion. Let me know what you think. Dig it? Gonna get one? Check out the video preview below.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

New Sony ZV-E10 Camera Announced for Video Creators and Vloggers

Ant Pruitt July 30, 2021

I’m still catching up on my emails, press releases and what not, but I didn’t want to go another day without acknowledging the latest offering from Sony. Sony has announced the new ZV-E10 camera. This is a bit of a step up from the ZV-1 that I reviewed last year. Here’s the tech info on it.

Interchangeable lens and “new” image sensor

So the ZV-1 was a point and shoot with capabilities to be a vlogging camera. This is not a point and shoot as it now has the option to swap out lenses. You’re also getting a larger sensor via the APS-C standard at 24 megapixels.

You’ll also get improved autofocus, UHD without pixel binning, 100Mpbs when recording UHD, 120 frames per second for slow motion in HD, time lapse mode and multiple picture profiles such as S-Log3 for optimal color grading of video.

It comes in two colors: black and white. Pricing and availability is “approximately $800,” per Sony and shipping at the end of August 2021. You can go ahead and get your pre-order in with my friends at Adorama right here.*

I’ve already gotten my request in for a demo unit, so stay tuned for that. I’m not the biggest fan of small cameras, but they do have their place. I get that. Stay tuned.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Adobe Announces July 2021 Update For Video Creators and More

Ant Pruitt July 20, 2021

Adobe announced it’s forth-coming updates to many of its Creative Cloud software that’s bound to make the workflow of a content creator even better, but also, better for the consumers of the content being created. There’s quite a bit coming in the world of video and animation, but also the graphics world. I’ll share a few details of those updates. Let’s start with Premiere Pro and captions.

Captions and Transcriptions in Premiere Pro

Adobe previously implemented some AI tech to help get transcription in video products, but this is now updated and ready to go with the July 2021. I watched a demo from Mr. Patrick Palmer showing off the new features of seamlessly creating captions and subtitles with Adobe Sensei AI. Subtitles in particular are becoming more and more popular today because many people struggle with impaired hearing concerns.

A faster experience in After Effects (beta)

I’ve used After Effects here and there for simple motion graphics and noise reduction in video. And I gotta tell ya, After Effects is SLOW when it comes to pre-rendering your footage during your edit. Some things are faster than others, but it can still be a bit of a bear unless you have quality hardware running the app. Yes, Adobe announced a performance boost, as usual, but this is a bit different as After Effects will now do speculative rendering in the background. This is useful if you’re in the middle of dialing in your effects controls and parameters. No more adjusting a parameter, hitting enter to render, seeing that the parameter didn’t quite work, changing the parameter, hitting enter to render and hoping you got it right. This is a beta preview, but coming soon.

More for your iPad with Adobe Fresco

The beautiful painting/digital art app Fresco has been updated providing more tools for the creative artist. Similar to Photoshop on iPad, Fresco allows the artist to work in layers. The ability to move objects and change blend modes are key to getting the art to really come together. Adobe has enhanced this with better functionality in moving and rotating items as well as adding grid tools. More on this app found on the Adobe blog post, here.

Adobe has its full rundown of updates across it suite of apps via separate blog posts. Check out more on the Premiere Pro updates here, After Effects here, Fresco here, and Character Animator here. No, I didn’t get into the improved support for Apple M1 chips because that’s to be expected. But I DO want to give kudos to Adobe for becoming part of the Blender Development fund. Blender is an amazing 3D modeling app that’s FREE. It’s nice seeing proprietary companies giving back to the open source community.

As usual, if you’re interested in signing up for the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can do so for as little as $10 per month using my affiliate link.

Back to the Studio

Ant Pruitt July 19, 2021

So this past week we officially started going back to the TWiT studio. Granted, now we have to be cautious yet again because of certain counties in California are shutting down yet again. Anyway, yeah, we went back to the studio to start recording from there again instead of our homes.

This was nice to see the staff in person again. I’ve been seeing the engineers in person for several months now as I’ve been technical director for two shows, so going “back to the studio” wasn’t much of a thing for me. But seeing the other staff was nice. Anyway, I had to pleasure of doing the tech news show that week. I even wore a tie for the occasion. Picture below is non-related, but click on it go check out the show.