If there has been one feature that I have loved the most, it has to be the “Graduated Filter” tool in the Develop module. While I was out shooting today I was shooting so that I took take advantage of this new tool and really see if it would make the cut in my workflow.

Wow did it ever impress me. With the combined ability of bringing back details in specific areas, it also allows you to “tone” the filter as well.

Another feature which I have never really taken advantage of in Lightroom is the ability to average out exposures on multiple shots.

“Average out exposures? How do you do that?”, you say! Well it’s easy.

Simply select multiple images in your catalogue, enter the development module and go to the “Settings” menu bar item, and select “Match Multiple Exposures”. As per the image below.

Voila! Your images you’ve selected will now be roughly the same exposure. This works best with images that were shot around the same time frame. It can be a serious time saver when editing lots of images that were shot around the same time.

Enjoy the new attributes to LR 2.0! I am still basking in the new interface improvements. Who doesn’t like it when the company you buy products from actually listens to the customers?!?

Last month I was a few days behind, so I made sure that I was done and ahead of schedule this time. This months calendar features one of Qwanoes’ boat drivers making some clean turns on the slalom. 

Download HERE

Adobe just announced and released LR 2.0. Here is the press release:

SAN JOSE, Calif. — July 29, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 software, the photographer’s essential toolbox for managing, adjusting and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. With new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localized image correction, and streamlined search capabilities, Lightroom 2 is a compelling upgrade that simplifies photography from shoot to finish. As Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel® processors and Microsoft® Windows® Vista® 64bit operating systems, Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images…

Oh how I was reminded about what it’s like to be a Junior High again. From the puppy love, to the crazy antics. Junior High’s are truly apart of the funniest age to watch and be around.

You can check out the newly posted web gallery for JH #2 HERE.

I need to seriously get some sleep…I’m dog tired.

I have posted many a comic strips by whattheduck.net. So here is another to wet your appetite. 

I recently watched this video via TED.com on Jonathan Harris who goes around collecting and creating amazing artistic creations. Further on in the video he talks about an amazing photography project that he did while traveling.

After much anticipation and endless re-workings of the design we have finally launched the Camp Qwanoes Summer Web Galleries. Here we you can check weekly for the photos that I take this summer. Each week at approx 5:30PM PST on Saturday I will post up the past weeks photos. 

As well if you would like to see the slideshow that we put together for the Staff Development day, head over to my MobileMe gallery, HERE. 

Hope you enjoy the content of both. A lot of work and passion goes into pumping out content like this every week, and it starts to take its toll on the ole brain. 

I recently found this interview done by Frederick Van on Adobe’s John Nack. It’s an interesting look into the world that is Adobe and the future of Lightroom and Photoshop.

John Nack - Photoshop Principal Product Manager from Frederick Johnson on Vimeo.

It happens everyday, all around the world. The sunrises on some part of this beautiful world every second. So why the heck do we not look for it more often. For something that happens all the time, it’s amazing the amount of us that don’t take a couple hours out of our sleep schedule to simply watch the sun rise on our day to come. I am seriously guilty of this.

This morning I set my alarm for 5:30AM, and once it had woken me up I looked out my window and there I could see the reds shimmering in the clouds of the nearing sunrise. I quickly grabbed my gear, grabbed a sweater and rushed down to the dock. 

Within forty five minutes the sun had risen. It seemed to give such life to all of my surroundings. The water glimmered like glass, the clouds soothingly slothed along in the sky like marshmallows.

I suddenly realized that it didn’t matter that I had just lost three hours of sleep. An amazing force of nature had just taken place and I was in awe of it. A simple thing like light passing across my humble part of the earth, completely blew my mind.

I dare you, sacrifice some sleep and shoot the sunrise.

Wow, it’s already three weeks into the season. These past few weeks seemed to have flown by faster then anyone could have expected them to. So, how was the Juniors two experience…

In a few words, different, annoying, humbling. At the moment I feel myself in a creative rut that has sucked any inspiration I have. Even my shooting has come down a level in it’s impact. I can feel my body getting more tired, my eyes getting more scratchy from lack of sleep and my mind going fuzzy from all the inputs each day. But through all this, the kids are still amazing to watch. Watching a group of boys play on the beach searching for crabs, remembering back to when I was a young lad doing similar things. Remembering just how care free I was. I sometimes wish I could go back to that state. Just digging in the sand for hours, exploring, doing nothing productive, except expanding the world which I know. 

Innocently Exploring the world around us, being excited to share our new findings with those around us.

It’s the start of Juniors #2, and that means first night Cabin Craze! In layman’s terms that basically means that campers run around some tubes if they are called.

I need sleep…

With the recent update of the infamously out-dated .Mac service to the newly named MobileMe service has brought about a new level of great services. One that I was very curious about trying out was the web galleries. Ever since the implementation of the amazing web galleries with iPhoto and Aperture, I was extremely jealous. But now Apple has offered the ability to create these great web galleries for anyone who has a “MobileMe” account.

Upon logging into the MobileMe service you can navigate to the “gallery” section. Here you will be greeted with simplified interface that makes even the simplest mind jump for joy. From here you can create new albums, edit album names, re-organize old albums, etc.

Creating a new album is as simple as selecting it from the drop down menu, typing in a name, figuring out what type of “share” options you want on or off and clicking “ok”. 

From there you will need to upload your images. And yes, once again a simplified interface has been implimented to make the stupidest simplest minded person happy.

Once you have selected the images you want and clicked the “select” button, you will begin to upload you images. The upload window will show which images were uploaded by marking them with a check-mark and show the progress of the ones uploading with a progress bar.

From there you can view you newly created web gallery in the sleek MobileMe gallery interface! What is even better about this new web gallery app. is now even the mortal PC users can use it to make their own galleries. Yes I can see you all jumping for joy right now!

Pros:

• Simple interface
• Large 20GB storage capacity
• Gallery interface is very sleek and professional

Cons:

• Expensive for just gallery usage.
• MobileMe is a stupid name

Today we bid a fond farewell to some of our youngest campers of the summer. Between ages 8-10 years old, joined us for an amazing week of fun in the sun.

There are a few things that I’ve always loved about Juniors campers. One is their dramatic innocence towards the camera. They don’t care if you point the lens at them, they actually love it. So much so that sometimes you actually have to ask them to stop If there was one thing that brings big joy to my heart, it’s the way in which kids act the same all around the world.

At heart, an eight year old is the same here in Canada and Colombia. From the random hugs, to the constant smiles, in their hearts they feel everyone should be loved. Maybe a lesson we could learn as adults?

Here we are with “shoot yourself” once again. This time from 45′ up in the air. We call this particular ride the “Screamer”. It’s a zip line that is about 400′ long. You never know where you might end up while shooting at Qwanoes.