Growing Pains

My tried, true and trusted PC finally gave up the ghost after about 15 years of great service.Yes, there were upgrades along the way, but the basic machine lasted well over a decade. (Drop me a line if you are in the Los Angeles area and need a computer. I’ll hook you up with my buddy who built me a MONSTER of a machine) It was decision time: get another PC or go with a MAC. I went with the Mac and it has not been an easy transition. I tried to run both platforms by using a virtual machine program for a long time, but that did not work as well as I hoped. I eventually wound up with Adobe Photoshop CS4 for PC and MAC and was (am) amazed at how differently the two versions work. First it seems to me that colors are different in each version--and I use a numbers based method to color correct my images. My color correction technique is a combination of techniques taught by Dave Cross, Martin Evening and Eddie Tapp. I’ve published my step-by-step method in several places, but you can see it here for easy reference: http://dantzigphotography.com/?page_id=121. I wrote an action to make the process of identifying the gray point automatic. Imagine my chagrin and angst when the action--which worked for years in my PC versions of PS--didn’t work! I went through the process manually to no avail. I was flustered to say the least. I went back to www.photoshopuser.com and found Dave’s original video and found a difference in how we were doing this procedure. When you look at my article you’ll see that I was making a duplicate layer of my background layer and filling it with 50% Gray before changing the blending mode to “Difference.” Dave added a “New Layer” from the icons at the bottom of the layers palette (which adds a new blank layer above your background layer) and then continues by filling this new layer with 50% gray and changing the blending mode to Difference to find the most neutral gray spot. I tried it. It works and I wrote a new action so I am back in business. SO...REPLACE “Duplicate Layer” with “Add New Layer” when you follow my color correction technique.

Wearing a Duck Hat for United Cerebral Palsy of Hawaii!

Aloha everyone!

Yup…that’s me…wearing a duck hat! My partners are Donna Fouts, executive Director of UCPA Hawaii, and one of our best young volunteers. I wore that hat for 7 hours this weekend around the Great Aloha Run Expo. Why? It’s “Duckie Time” again! Many mahalos (thanks) for your support last year. We had the best race ever and raised over $53,000.00! My friends and family (that’s you!) were responsible for just over $2,000.00! I know that times are tougher this year, but I’d like to ask for your support once again as United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii celebrates 50 years of providing assistance to children and adults in Hawaii with Cerebral Palsy. This year’s event is the:

UCPA Hawaii – 22nd Annual Great Hawaiian Rubber Duckie Race!

The Great Hawaiian Rubber Duckie Race is one of our most successful events for UCPA. Here’s how it works: You “adopt” a duck—or as many ducks as you want—to race along the Ala Wai Canal. The first 50 ducks to cross the finish line win prizes for there adoptive parents—some of the prizes are even good for those of you on the Mainland! Everyone wins though because all proceeds will assist us in providing needed services to children with disabilities here in Hawaii. Individual duck adoptions are as low as $5.00 per duck! To celebrate this milestone, the organization is planning some very exciting events and we are hoping for your support.

This year’s adoption choices are:

$5 ADOPTION:
• One (1) Duck in the Race

$25 QUACK PACK:
• Four (4) Ducks in the Race
• Event T-Shirt

$100 22ND BIRTHDAY SPECIAL:
• Twenty-Two (22) Ducks in the Race
• Event T-Shirt

$250 UCP 50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (VID - Very Important Duck):
• Fifty (50) Ducks in the Race
• Event T-Shirt
• 50th Anniversary Ball Cap

Race day activities, events and festivities will be at the McCully Shopping Center prior to the race.

Don’t miss it, the 22nd Annual Great Hawaiian Rubber Duckie Race will be held on Oahu March 21, 2009, with the race start time at 1:22 p.m.

As you can see, this is going to be a special day for UCPA and the little duckies. I would very much appreciate your support in the above activities. Attached you’ll find the adoption flyer, and of course, I’m encouraging you all to become a Very Important Duck! Please help me make this a special year for UCPA!

You can print, complete and return the attached form directly to the UCPA Hawaii Office at the address on the form!

Many Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you and have a Duckie Day!

Adopt Your Duckie Now!

Name: _______________________________
Last First M.I.

Address: _____________________________

City: ___________ State: ______ Zip: ______

Home Ph: ____________ Cell: ____________

Email: _______________________________

I wish to adopt:

____ Single Duck

____ Multiple Ducks (# of Ducks: ______)

____ Quack Pack – Circle shirt size:
Youth S YM YL Adult S AM AL AXL

____ 22nd Birthday Special – Circle shirt size:
Youth S YM YL Adult S AM AL AXL

____ 50th Anniversary Special – Circle shirt size:
Youth S YM YL Adult S AM AL AXL

*T-shirt(s) pick up at the UCPA office or on race day, or add $5.00 per shirt for postage & handling.

BOARD MEMBER: Steve Dantzig


Check or money order payable to: UCPA of Hawaii

Or charge to my: ____VISA ____Mastercard

# ______________________________ Exp. ______

__________________________________________
Print Card Holder’s Name

__________________________________________
Card Holder’s Signature

Total Charge Amount: ___________

Mail form & payment to: UCPA of Hawaii
414 Kuwili St., Suite 105
Honolulu, HI 96817

Adoption certificate(s) will be mailed to you. Mailback entry deadline is March 18, 2009. Online adoption at www.ucpahi.org. For more info, call UCPA at 532-6744.

* $20.00 assessed for returned checks.

Adopt Your Duckie!
(Choose what works for you)

$5 ADOPTION:

• One (1) Duck in the Race

$25 QUACK PACK:

• Four (4) Ducks in the Race
• Event T-Shirt

$100 22ND BIRTHDAY SPECIAL:

• Twenty-Two (22) Ducks in the Race
• Event T-Shirt

$250 UCP 50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (VID - Very Important Duck):

• Fifty (50) Ducks in the Race
• Event T-Shirt
• 50th Anniversary Ball Cap


Multiple entries accepted. Winners need not be present to win. Employees of UCPA not eligible to win. Winners will be notified of how to pick up prizes. No purchase necessary. Limited to the first 20,000 entries. Prizes will be awarded to the first 50 finishers

Behind the Scenes--White backdrop

Here are some “behind the scenes” shots of my shoot with Joanne Guillermo that show what I was talking about in the white backdrop entry. I aim the spotlights into large silver cards to create an even spread of light across the white backdrop. Black flags are used to block the light from spilling too much onto the set. The little light that does spill adds a nice accent to Joanne’s hair and body. Thanks to my buddy Jon Yoshimuro for the images!

The Orphan Works disaster and one way to hopefully keep your images from becoming orphans

The Orphan Works legislation is something that every creative person needs to be concerned about. The bills that have been presented to Congress and the Senate are of particular concern to photographers. In a nutshell the Orphan Works legislation will make a mockery of your constitutional right to own, maintain and profit from your creation. It’s called “Copyright.” You, as the “author” of your photographs, have the sole and exclusive right to lease and distribute your images as you see fit. The proponents of the Orphan Works Bill(s) state that there are thousands of images available where the author is unidentifiable and therefore unable to approve (either for a fee or not) or disapprove the use of these images. Proponents feel that they should be entitled to use the images when they cannot find the rightful owner after a “reasonable” search. The Bill(s) also severely limit the damages that you can claim in the event of unauthorized use. The limitations would essentially void any benefit to registering your images with the copyright office. The intent of the Bills is admittedly different, but the result will open a free for all with people stealing your images and claiming that a “reasonable search” was conducted. I still see a problem even if the image was used in “good faith.” ANY use of my image without my express permission is a violation of my right to NOT have my image distributed.
The passage of some version of the Orphan Works Bill is inevitable. The question now becomes: How can we protect our images—especially when posting them online? The first task is to make sure that they cannot easily become orphans. Save your information as metadata in your image. You do this by adding file information to the image in post production. Find this setting in the “file” dropdown menu in Photoshop.
Adding metadata is not enough because many of the online “social networks” strip this data when your images are posted. I embed my name and logo into every image that goes online. I wrote a simple action to open my logo file, select the logo, copy the logo, deselect the logo, close the file, paste the logo into my main file, flatten the image, resize it, change the color profile to sRGB, and add file information. While no image is 100% safe online, at least I have taken some basic precautions.