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Photo editing, from raw to web jpg.
April 30th 2010
A couple day ago I talked about editing photos from a DSLR to finish. I will attempt to go step by step on what I do to 90% of my photos before you guys see them on Saltyshores. I shoot raw as the most of the magazines want them that way so their staff can do their own editing. I’ve been told that if you edit photos a bunch Raw is the best format with the most information from the camera itself.
One of the problem with shooting raw is that “every” single photos needs to be edited because there is no saturation, contrast, zero camera manipulation before it becomes the final jpg(in camera compression). All cameras has software built in that turns the raw files by adding colors, contrast, sharpness and turning them into jpg. In raw you have to do this manually. So sometimes when you see a photo that is off, because I’m editing on my laptop(most, laptop screens are never as good as desktop screens) on the road this is why.
I know many photographers that takes hours, days, even weeks to edit a shoot. Sometimes they would spend almost an hour on a single image. Honestly, I do not have the time or the patience to do that. Besides, if I can’t edit a photo in less than 2 minutes(on a proper screen as all screens are little different), then I did something wrong as a photographer. Unless it’s awesome photo that needs to be saved it goes into the trash bin.Yes this is still happens all the time, thank god for digital. 
I edit using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. You can use the new latest greatest photoshop that sells for $700 but 99% of what I do can be done with the cheaper under $100 photoshop elements.
This is the raw image straight from the camera: no edit at all, I tend to shoot a little under expose especially if the fish is silver and tend to over expose.
I then crop it a little and straighten the horizon.
tip: Try to shoot as full frame as possible, you will get more detail out of photos.
I then brighten the image.
finally I adjust the contrast and put my stamp on it.
tip: you can use the curves function or the contrast slider tool for this. I like the curves as it gives me a little more control.
There you have it, from start to finish. Yes I realize I could have done a little more. I could have selective edit by dodging and burner perhaps the fish to get more detail out of it. I could have used the sharpen tool as well to make the photo appear sharper. I could have used the highlights and shadow function , add some fake vignetting .. blah.. blah blah.. I could go on forever.
Most of my photos I shoot outdoors of fishing, I want to look as real as possible so I tend to stay away from the heavy editing. When I shoot models, glamor, weddings people want that heavy edited, dreamy, everyone looks perfect look. Everyone wants to see how great they look right? Time is spent taking out pimples, bags under eyes, wrinkles, and so on. There are plenty filters and skin smoothing affects you can use as well. They even have filter packages so it makes your editing life as a bit easier if you shoot lots of weddings and glamor.
I guess I could use wedding filters for fishing photos.. it would look pretty strange though, a smooth no blemish skin fisherman. lol
I’m not Photoshop expert and I’m sure there’s a lot more I could have done. Sometimes if I do feel like messing around I do those things, but for the most part that’s pretty much it. Besides, I have Saltyshores to update and if I take a week to edit photos SS will never get updated!
Kodak Play Sport, waterproof, HD video video and still Camera now 30% off, another deal
April 30th 2010
Ok this is annoying now.(I bought mine way too early) A friend of mine “Serge” just sent me a coupon for the Kodak Play Sport. It takes 30% off the retail if you buy it from Kodak.com. That brings the camera down to almost $100.00. Now I really really feel like a dummy.. thanks Serge! lol
30% off Promo Code: sJCsVaJvPD
Put this in as you check out. I tested it and it works just fine.
Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge first stop
4.29.2010
The Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge will be in Punta Gorda this weekend. The prize is 10k so it should be pretty competitive. It’s a catch an release tournament so no shark will be harvested they tell me. The focus is on conservation as they will be working with Mote Marine.
I will be down there shooting some stills and videos. I hope to get on a boat that gets crazy lucky and hooks into a big Mako that jumps a bunch. One could only dream right?
Stolen Caimen has been found
April 29th 2010
As the title said, the stolen Caimen has been found. I got a call from the owner yesterday. He tells me the police has found the boat. That’s the good news, the bad news is everything has been stripped. They did not just take the motor, trailer and major parts, they took everything. I mean they even took the shark eye navigation lights. He told me just about the only thing that wasn’t gone was the Castaway Custom Saltyshores Sea Dek that was on the boat.
Anyways I wanted to put this up in case you guys were still looking out for it. The ending was as expected but at least there is an ending.
It’s on
Fishing is turned on big time. I went out this afternoon to catch the outgoing tide in search of some reds and snook. My buddy Kevin and I headed out in his gheenoe to Matlacha for the show down. Right off the bat Kevin hooked into a monster red that just peeled drag with no signs of stopping and eventually threw the hook. Kev was pretty upset and kinda comical to watch. We also hooked into to some monster snook on top waters but couldn’t get em’ boat side. The one snook I hooked into was just a massive fish and acted like a tarpon freshly hooked, he was tail walken like crazy and tossed my hook like he new the gig was up. It was pretty fun to watch happen in two feet of water. We did however end up with few reds. Also, I went out last week for an afternoon shot at grouper and did great. Gags were chasing up other grouper to the surface that were hooked. I’ve personally never seen that, however I am new to the offshore game. Speaking of offshore, I just installed downriggers on my boat so I will be trying some trolling this summer. Here are a few pics from recent…..
Photo editing, what I usually do to a photo from start to finish.
April 28th 2010
I know many that are expert guru photographers, I’m not one them.
However I do know a little about taking photos and how I used the camera to get what I want image wise.(with some luck that is)
I did three hour photography class last night down in Sarasota Florida. I taught people how to fix common issues when taking photos and what do’s and don’t. We also spoke about equipment that is good to have and how to use many of them effectively. I even had a power point presentation on my laptop to show some examples. Yes getting fancy over here.
One of the main question was about photo editing. How much editing I do and what I do to the photos etc. 90% of my photos all I do is crop, straighten the horizon, and adjust the contrast(I like contrast). Sometimes I use the shadows and highlights tools in photoshop to bring out some shadow area. 90% of my photos take about 2 minutes to edit. If it takes more than that, I consider I screwed up as a photographer. Unless I think it’s a really awesome photo worth saving through heavy editing, I usually just delete them and move on(calling myself a dummy in the process).
Since everyone seems to be interested in this I will be posting some photos from scratch (raw format, no colors, no contrast, not much of anything) to the finish webready photo you get to see here on Saltyshores.
Here is something I went back an re edit. This is the finished product. I will show you how it started. Then one phase at a time. Crop, contrast, etc etc.
This might not be the best example so I’ll do one above the water as well so everyone can relate.(man I didn’t even think about that til just now.. “mumbling dummy”)
The Fever is Back!
Every year, on the great holiday that is my birthday, I try to go out on a trip with a local Captain from the South Shore area. Even though today was not my birthday, I took the day off and went out a day early. I was invited to go out and scout with Sean Rice and Sean Hagen from Shamrock Charters, a local operation that fishes the South Shore from Apollo Beach to the Skyway, and pretty much the entire area. The vessel was a twenty two foot Ranger. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, especially since it was so close to my birthday, and hey, who can pass up the chance to learn new areas, tips and techniques, along with the normal joking around and camaraderie.
So off we went, myself, a good friend Tom from Tech Branch, Sean Rice and Sean Hagen from Shamrock Charters. Honestly, my expectations were not very high. The forecast called for 20 knot winds out of the west and a small craft advisory. I figured these guys would cancel and I would be sitting at home doing yard work. Also, churning in my head was the fact that with the conditions, it would be tough to get bait, and the main objective…fish. I was pleasantly surprised that the trip was still on, and plans were made to meet up at Cockroach Bay boat ramp at seven. Ok, no problem on my end. These guys must be hardcore to be going out in that mess, but we all fish when we can, right?
Captain Sean got the boat on plane and headed south out of the CRB channel. Far south. I wondered what the plan was, but never asked. So we pass the Port of Manatee, Joe’s Island, Bishops Harbor and end up at the Skyway bridge. The bay really was not too bad on the way out there. Sure, we got a little wet but overall it was an ordinary ride for me. Rough conditions seem to be the norm for weekend anglers and every day taken off of work seems to be the same.
Figuring we would be looking for whitebait, I waited for Captain Sean to start chumming up for the prized possessions. To my surprise the plan was tossing the net for threadfins. Ok, what for was my question. What was told to me was a shocker. Tarpon. Well, everyone already knows how the silver king has affected me, so I was game, but figured grouper would be the only catch. Reports have been out that the silver kings were showing themselves, but mainly further south, not actually in Tampa Bay.
After a quick throw of the net we had a few wells of threads and headed to our destination. After free lining threadfins for a few minutes we proceeded to catch grouper. Some big, and some little. All of us were having a good time fishing and the weather was pretty nice. Both Sean’s, me and Tom were all pulling up grouper; no monsters today, but at least a few for the dinner table. Then it happened.
Sean Hagen getting our bait for the day.
One for dinner and another that has some growing up to do.
Drag starts peeling off Sean’s spool, and I see the braided line rise. I called it out, “watch for the jump!” Up came the tarpon. The king of the bay, the reason many of us dedicate all summer long to chase was seen, and in my opinion, a little early. Finally, there was that adrenaline rush I have been waiting for all winter. There it was, the chaos of throwing the anchor over, clearing the deck of the boat and trying to motor the vessel out of the pilings of the bridge before a break off. Running to the bow and going to battle, hoping the fish would stay buttoned up, and remembering to “bow to the king”. It finally happened.
A quick boatside jump...
Hangin' loose
After I did my share of help to get Sean in position to do battle, my spot was on the tower. Some good photos of the king with my new Nikon were on my agenda, and that is what I got. After about a 20 minute battle with the normal tarpon fishing dramatics, an eighty pound class tarpon was boat side; I got some great pictures, and Sean Rice got his first tarpon.
It's official!
Sean Rice and Sean Hagen with a nice poon, the first I have seen in Tampa this year.
After we got settled again and calmed down, the boat was positioned back in place for more battles with these massive beasts, but we only came up with grouper and it was getting tough to keep bait down with the mackerel being thick. Time to head north.
Next stop, the South Shore flats. Still, I sat there puzzled. A good bit of our threads had died and we had no whitebait. Why were we leaving the bridge without bait? I figured I had better just trust the good captain and go on with the plan. The bait of choice would be cut threadfin for snook and reds. Cut bait is something I rarely use but if you’ve read my previous reports, live shrimp with the tails cut off had been catching me redfish, so I figured it may work. Heck, I had been chumming up fish the previous weekend, and knew there were fish in those areas but had gotten no reaction, not even a pop on the water; cut bait couldn’t be any worse.
A deep trough surrounded by mangrove lines was where the power pole was laid down next. Snook were the target. They were there, running up and down the groves, which was a great sight, as I had not seen a snook in months. After about an hour of using said cut bait and a few lost snook, the crew kept on rolling to the next spot, while at the same time, scouting other areas. Getting a snook to the boat was just not going to happen with the timeframe we had.
Our final destination was very skinny water loaded with oyster bars. This was an area I had luck with before, and today the mullet were present. Again using the cut bait we staked out the area and went to work. The reason I am not a big fan of using cut bait, is that patience is the key, and there was not enough beer to keep me very patient. Persistence paid off though, and reds were landed by us all, some of decent size. The wind picked up pretty hard and after the frustration of numerous wind knots and tangles we decided to call it a day. Everyone was beat up, but content.
Cut threadfin did the trick, I guess I need to be more open minded...
I had a great time with the guys from Shamrock Charters, and with three out of the four of us being of Irish descent, including myself, we may have had a little luck on our side, and, of course skill. A big thanks goes out to Tom from Tech Branch and Shamrock charters.
Now if I could only get all these threadfin scales off of me…
Kodak Playsport Waterproof Camera, deal found
April 27th 2010
I did a review on the new Playsport Waterproof camera last week and it was a big hit.
Just from the people that has told me they were buying one, a good dozen probably sold through best buy etc.
Everyone that has bought it seem to be very happy with it’s performance so far. For $150, you get a 5mp camera, that shoots 1080p video and it’s waterproof. Tough to beat for the price.
One of the guys that bought one found a nice deal on Amazon.com a couple day ago.
The camera normally retails for $149.00.
This sale is pretty nice. You get the camera with Free shipping and a 8 gig card for $129.00. That’s probably a savings of about $50.00.
Now I wish I would’ve waited a couple weeks. Oh well that’s the price of a gadget guy wanting the latest, greatest all the darn time.
Here’s the Amazon Playsport Link
Stolen 2008 Caimen
I sold my Caimen to a gentlemen out of Miami a couple weeks ago. He’s been very happy with the boat. Today I got a phone call from him telling me that his boat had been stolen. The poor guy has only had the boat for 2 weeks. He’s pretty upset as you can imagine. If you have seen this boat any where please contact the authorities down in Miami or contact me and I”ll relay the message.
2008 Caimen with a deep blue hull, gray deck, with gray sea dek with Saltyshores on it. The motor is a 50 Honda EFI. Black Ramblin Trailer.
It’s a long shot, but I figured I try to help the guy out.
2nd Annual Jay “JayB” Brewington Paddle-In by Bill Howard
2nd Annual Jay “JayB” Brewington Paddle-In
On Saturday April 24th, Paddle-Fishing.com held the 2nd annual JayB Paddle-In at Fort Desoto Park. Kayak anglers from all over came together to honor our friend who lost his battle with cancer two years ago. Along with his friend John Callahan, they started the hugely successful website where kayak anglers can share their passion for the sport. The site has grown immensely since its humble beginnings and is the host for the longest running kayak tournament series in the state.
But today we came to honor our dear departed friend, Jay Brewington.
Enjoy the pictures from today.
Barb Foster, Jay was her first boyfriend.
Just a sampling of the great food we had.
Barb Foster brought a single yellow rose and asked if someone would toss it upon the waters in memory of Jay. Tom Coffee paddled out to honor his long time friend.
As the day came to a close, we all raised a “Proper” glass to toast our good friend Jay Brewington.
The rest of these pictures are just random images.
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