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Posts Tagged ‘Lightroom2’
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
 Better I just spent the better part of the past week bouncing back and forth between post production and producing a richly diverse amount of new imagery. Multiple subjects, 7 days, in both motion picture and stills. I truly redlined my Canon 5D Mark 2, and utilized every facet of the camera learned from the last six months usage.
Throttling back, yesterday I pondered my Google alerts. I set alerts on Google for new technology. So I get e mails which carry the keywords that I am concerned with. Here is the deal. For the first time ever, tech is working, and doing it pretty much seamlessly. That being said, we are on the brink of even newer tech. So part of my job responsibility is researching what is up and coming, and sorting out a path that will keep me from over investing or actually even send me down a road where potential new tech failure can cause loss of time and waste of effort.
I am cautious in a way that I have never been before. Why? Because things are working at long last. My product output in motion and stills offers the maximum amount of creative freedom, and minimal amount of office time while rendering THE MOST economical and highest quality work I have ever produced. That means great benefit can be imparted with a maximum of return and the highest quality of work ever. I could actually OWE the IRS something some day soon. The last 10 years have seen a perpetual investment in new tech and equipment, just so that creative quality could stay ahead of the global curve.
The other day my Google alert showed two interesting items. One a new tech Mac (right as I was about to push the “buy now” button on a Nehalem Processor machine) and the new Canon 1DS Mark 4. I am now waiting on the new 6 core Mac which should arrive around the first of the 2010 year. I will never own the 1DS Mark 4. It sends me in the wrong direction for the type of work I do. Thankfully I know enough to NOT jump on new and bigger (read that: more expensive) as being better. Though for some, the streamlined work flow the 1DS Mark 4 offers and high FPS firing and unlimited ISO settings will be a boon, those things will not be for me.
The market in editorial, commercial and art is in exactly the same quandry, as they look at the work produced. Inevitably some new person comes along and for awhile cruises to the relative top of the heap. But in short order the market levels that climb and the new guy is often sent off the back of the competitive global imaging pack. The thing is, that my colleagues are remarkably bright, talented and driven. We all moderate each other. It is part of the reason for me doing this blog. We sharpen each other. So that being said, here is a small selection of imagery from this past week. I stored over 1200 finals in edit. I left out the Architectural, American Lifestyle, and Fashion work shot the past seven days, out of concern for theme and not wanting to dumb down the over all beauty that I saw on my local coastline this week. I really want to share THAT,
Right now it is all sort of New. Thanks to the Canon 5DMark 2 it is Bigger. Thanks to Apple and Adobe it is definitely Better.
Seth Godin writes on a related topic here.
Improvements keep coming down the pipe. I appreciated this blog here.
An excellent leading edge computer hardware company, Other World Computing, is right here. Read their blog. Go ahead. As we all seem to say these days: “Embrace your inner nerd.” You really have no choice. Then go create something new!
 
 Gregory Schell  Larry Ugale 
 Hans Rathje  Gregory Schell: Anticipation  Hans: Golden Laugh  Larry Ugale: Progressive  Larry Ugale: Committed  Hi Def Windowpane  Lars Rathje: Zuma Blue  6'1" of Power: Hans Rathje  Lars: Cobblestones Pano  Lars: Nope  Lars: High Contrast-High Def  Hans Rathje: Technically Perfect  Hans: Deeper  Hans: Hang Time  Hans: Curtain Call  Mary Osborne: Home  Shutter Stall  Invitation
Tags: Adobe, Apple, Better, Bigger, California Beach Lifestyle, Canon 1DS Mark4, Canon 5D Mark 2, creative freedom, David Pu'u, david pu'u photography, david puu photography blog, Gulftown, Gulftown chip 6 core Mac, Hans Rathje, Lars Rathje, leading edge imaging technology, Lightroom2, lightroom3, LR2, LR3, Mary Osborne, Mary Osborne surf, New, New technology, Newest MacPro, surf lifestyle, surf photography, surfer, surfing, Ventura Coast, waves
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 12th, 2009
 Hailey as Grace Kelly Everyone must learn to deal with issues involving trust. In our craft, or art, because a certain aspect of photography is subjective and it’s validity may be cheered or denigrated by a viewer, depending on where that viewer hails from morally, spiritually, or sociologically, it is des rigeur to put ourselves out on an emotional limb so to speak, when we share our work.
So there is risk involved. On many levels. Is my subject valid, am I good enough technically, am I going to be accepted by enough of the commercial market to get a return on all my freelance art based imagery? Will people think I suck? Does anyone care? Do people think less of me as a result of me showing my work?
These are all issues that arise with the advent of those very first efforts in Kindergarten with crayons. We all seek acceptance. But does acceptance indicate validity? Possibly not.
I remember the year I decided to wade into the pool of my new career in photography. S0rt of unwittingly, I simply placed my work in front of some of the best editors and art directors I knew. They seemed to respond and began offering advice and publishing me. Jeff Divine and Larry Moore, aka Flame were two surf industry editors who helped, along with a slew of entertainment industry people. It fueled my direction and in a few years my freelance based photography career expanded globally. I was pretty happy about this, especially since I had two young sons to support, having been newly divorced. (There was a lot on the line).
Knowing then what I know now about the business of photography and art interpretation, would I do it over again? Quite a telling question. All of us must embrace and mitigate risk via personal artistic and fiscal vulnerability. It is part of the game we play when we endeavor to establish ourselves as being authentic.
Does a construction worker whose hobby is photography, have any more or less validity in his work than someone who risks all? (The answer is in Art History.)Â We are all in a race of sorts. The moments of our lives tick by, and for an artist, those will be measured in the level of commitment they make in learning to communicate, and the willingness to embrace the discomforts of vulnerability and potential fiscal disaster.
Success is based on commitment. That first step into the void is a doozy. How comfortable are you with yourself and your decision making process? If you are not, you may be better off, (and happier) keeping that day job.
Seth Godin writes on this theme here, in a very appropriate blog.
Thinking I am telling you not to follow your dreams? Watch this.
I am finally at home. A huge pile of post production work is in front of me after the last two months worth of creative content acquisition. In working through two jobs yesterday, I ran across some images that disappeared in a blog crash last year. Curiousity had me dragging the RAW files into Lightroom 2, a program I had not been using at the time the original work was captured.
Here are some of the images. Hailey and Sierra Partridge in Downtown Ventura. Period 1940′s wardrobe. Styling by Donna Von Hoesslin. Jewelry by BettyB. Whew, a total of 7 extra hours on the computer. What had I been thinking when I committed to acquire the wardrobe and shoot this in the middle of the night with no real client in mind?:
” This will be great”.
Is it? Only time will really tell. Tick Tock.
 Hailey and Sierra  Sierra  Sierra  Sierra  Sierra  Hailey  Hailey  Sierra and Hailey  Hailey  Hailey
Tags: 1940's photography, Betty B, Betty Belts, Canon Rebel Xti, David Pu'u, david pu'u photography, Donna Von Hoesslin, Downtown Ventura, hailey and sierra partridge, Hailey Partridge, inherent risk, Lightroom2, Partridge twins, period photography, Risk, San Buenaventura, Seth Godin, Sierra Partridge, surfer models, ventura, Vulnerability
Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Maldivian Blue
I get asked this question a lot. When I have finished answering in the affirmative, the second response which has been repeated with enough frequency that I no longer take offense comes: “Is that Photoshopped?”
The line of query says a lot about our over stimulated, content crammed, media saturated world, as it exists today. If one were to slip into the dusty cobweb strewn dark recesses of what passes for my mind, you would hear the little bitch echo of a voice I spend a lifetime trying to stifle, saying in a soft clear tone: “Um, get out much?” (Bad Dave, bad, down boy)
But instead of that, you get this blog. Some of you are laughing right now and some have left the room with a click of the red button on your browser. I understand both tacts. But here is the deal. My frame of reference is unique and different than that of the person who poses these questions. My job as an artist and communicator is a simple one: I point to the source. Frequently the source is alien to that person.
So in this process I have found myself a cheerleader for real, first hand experiences. Go, breathe, run, swim, surf, ride, jump, fall, sing, dance, love, taste, smell, feel, listen, struggle, lose, win, live. Turn off the computer, put down the I phone, kill your television, go be that experience today. Then come back and tell us about it in your own voice, not the media’s. Do something. A world could use that joy you find.
I just read a great book called “Ignore Everybody and 39 other Keys to Creativity” It is reviewed here on B&H’s site. It has keys that resonated with me and made me laugh, as I realized that the writer and I do exactly the same things. Thanks to Seth Godin for pointing it’s existence out to me. I needed the reminders in this book. You may also.
A quirky blog that really communicates the value of first hand experience is right here by Seth Godin
Being a virtuoso at anything requires authenticity and pureness of intent, but beyond that, a commitment to engage your passion and then to share the results. Jake Shimabukuro demonstrates all of that here as he shares something amazing: his authenticity.
Authenticity. Yep, that photo is real, I know what it tastes, feels and sounds like as well as how it appears when I show up at the right moment with a camera. If you experience any incredulity at all, well then, I am doing my job.
Please click on the images in the gallery to read the back stories. The meat of this subject is in there if you would like a taste.
 Dan Malloy, Red Dawn  Spinner Fantasy  Cotton Candy Floor  Solitude  Ventura Pier  Two Trees Dawn  Definition  Westside Rainbow Bridge  Orange Diaper  Oop
 Rincon Sunset
 Green Dream  Vapor  Tiare, Going  Consequences
The Gallery: Backstories show when clicking on imagery below
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- Maldivian Blue
Have a Mermaid swim with you every day in the Maldives. Hannah Fraser Rastovich, being real.
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- Dan Malloy, Red Dawn
Dan and I made more great images this day in two hours than many will have done in two years. Being there. Getting out and doing something. It is vital if you want to have something to give. Being authentic is a choice. Being a shadow of someone else is as well.
Authenticity is always a good choice where personal growth is concerned.
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- Spinner Fantasy
Jim Birdsoul and Sierra Partridge off Kona Hawaii. Yea, you can do this, and it is real. Fantasy becomes reality only if you do something about it. Turn off your computer. Put down your I phone and go. The world has something to tell you.
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- Cotton Candy Floor
From LaCumbre Peak high above Santa Barbara. I would ride my bike up here a few times a week ostensibly for training. The reality was I sought the other worldliness that a short 8 mile climb could give my life. I did something. The rewards were various and often dramatic like this sunset evening view. Below was all grey marine layer mire.
-
- Solitude
This lone surfer went. I had been the only human out this day. I experience it a lot because I choose to go. So did this person paddling out. You can too. Should you?
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- Ventura Pier
I have had a lot of people copy this image. I actually appreciate that on some levels. Yes it is real. But the actual experience, was far more heady being there. More dramatic. I did not notice at the time that the reflection-light field extended so far up the beach, an element that the people who duplicated this image failed to communicate. We all shoot the same things. Some are just more authentic than others.
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- Two Trees Dawn
2 trees in Ventura, a cherished landmark. There used to be five I believe. Pretty morning with fresh snow on the Sespe made more real by the Canon5DM2 and Lightroom2. I am sort of surprised that no one has snuck up there and planted a new one. Yea, authenticity can have that affect on our world.
-
- Definition
What occurs when one focuses on communicating a thing by moderating the view with artistic intent. But to do so, requires one to ignore everything else.
-
- Westside Rainbow Bridge
My clumsy attempt to communicate something surreal in its reality.
These moments call to me. Pull me up and out of a warm bed. I almost always go. But I an always listening, or try to at least, and then I go. Canon5D M2 and Lightroom 2 helping me make the most of my one dimensional medium. The smell of the rain, the chill of the morning offshore, the taste of the sagebrush, the sound of the surf and freeway below as people scampered into the day. Being there is MUCH better. I am glad that I was.
-
- Orange Diaper
Emma Wood, low tide, fires burning, Santa Ana winter conditions, days end. Locals sarcastically call the place the diaper due it it frequently being shitty, but we love the place anyway and it gives us a lot back.
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- Oops
Nope not Photoshop. This makes me smile because I know how close this guy came to going over the falls in front of me. He went that day and so did I. The memory is better than the image. Smells taste, exercise, communion
-
- Consequences
A true "what were you thinking moment" by this guy who in a quest for camera and media generated glory at Backdoor Pipe thought better of his plan to pull into the heaving barrel. Now he walks the front line of a disaster. But hey, at least he went. Maybe next time his wave selection will be better and his attack more aggressive. I learned the hard way that often the safest place is right in the middle of the chaos. I am there a lot. Makes me smile, when I realize what this implies about me.
-
- Rincon Sunset
The memory of this was captured by an infinite number of my friends and colleagues. We all went this evening and were ready when the show started, waiting poised.
-
- Green Dream
A Santa Ynez Dreamscape. Real for about a month. Always changing, nature amazes me in it's pure and authentic creative potential
-
- Vapor
Tina came with me this day to a site sacred to the Hawaiian people and we saw and experienced this so remarkable I generally never bother to write about them. Most would only utter: "Is that real"
I have too much respect for what happened this day to share it broadly but I have shown the imagery. Some of it anyway.Vapor is what we are. It is also what we become.
-
- Tiare, Going
Rocky Point Evening. This one really does say a lot. But it reminds me of how it felt being there: better.
Tags: Authentic, authenticity, B&H, Canon 5D Mark 2, cultural commentary, Dan Malloy, David Pu'u, david pu'u photography, Hailey Partridge, Hannah Frasier Rastovich, Hobie, Hugh MacLeod, Ignore everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Jake Shimabakuro, Jim Birdsoule, Lightroom2, LR2, Maldives, Mermaids, native culture, nature, ocean, ocean art, Real?, redemption, renewal, restoration, Santa Barbara, Seth Godin, spinner dolphins, the real california, ukelele virtuoso, ventura, Ventura surfers, while my guitar gently weeps
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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| © 2009 David Pu'u. All rights reserved. |
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Is That Real? An Authentic View
Sunday, June 28th, 2009I get asked this question a lot. When I have finished answering in the affirmative, the second response which has been repeated with enough frequency that I no longer take offense comes: “Is that Photoshopped?”
The line of query says a lot about our over stimulated, content crammed, media saturated world, as it exists today. If one were to slip into the dusty cobweb strewn dark recesses of what passes for my mind, you would hear the little bitch echo of a voice I spend a lifetime trying to stifle, saying in a soft clear tone: “Um, get out much?” (Bad Dave, bad, down boy)
But instead of that, you get this blog. Some of you are laughing right now and some have left the room with a click of the red button on your browser. I understand both tacts. But here is the deal. My frame of reference is unique and different than that of the person who poses these questions. My job as an artist and communicator is a simple one: I point to the source. Frequently the source is alien to that person.
So in this process I have found myself a cheerleader for real, first hand experiences. Go, breathe, run, swim, surf, ride, jump, fall, sing, dance, love, taste, smell, feel, listen, struggle, lose, win, live. Turn off the computer, put down the I phone, kill your television, go be that experience today. Then come back and tell us about it in your own voice, not the media’s. Do something. A world could use that joy you find.
I just read a great book called “Ignore Everybody and 39 other Keys to Creativity” It is reviewed here on B&H’s site. It has keys that resonated with me and made me laugh, as I realized that the writer and I do exactly the same things. Thanks to Seth Godin for pointing it’s existence out to me. I needed the reminders in this book. You may also.
A quirky blog that really communicates the value of first hand experience is right here by Seth Godin
Being a virtuoso at anything requires authenticity and pureness of intent, but beyond that, a commitment to engage your passion and then to share the results. Jake Shimabukuro demonstrates all of that here as he shares something amazing: his authenticity.
Authenticity. Yep, that photo is real, I know what it tastes, feels and sounds like as well as how it appears when I show up at the right moment with a camera. If you experience any incredulity at all, well then, I am doing my job.
Please click on the images in the gallery to read the back stories. The meat of this subject is in there if you would like a taste.
Dan Malloy, Red Dawn
Spinner Fantasy
Cotton Candy Floor
Solitude
Ventura Pier
Two Trees Dawn
Definition
Westside Rainbow Bridge
Orange Diaper
Oop
Rincon Sunset
Green Dream
Vapor
Tiare, Going
Consequences
The Gallery: Backstories show when clicking on imagery below
Have a Mermaid swim with you every day in the Maldives. Hannah Fraser Rastovich, being real.
Dan and I made more great images this day in two hours than many will have done in two years. Being there. Getting out and doing something. It is vital if you want to have something to give. Being authentic is a choice. Being a shadow of someone else is as well. Authenticity is always a good choice where personal growth is concerned.
Jim Birdsoul and Sierra Partridge off Kona Hawaii. Yea, you can do this, and it is real. Fantasy becomes reality only if you do something about it. Turn off your computer. Put down your I phone and go. The world has something to tell you.
From LaCumbre Peak high above Santa Barbara. I would ride my bike up here a few times a week ostensibly for training. The reality was I sought the other worldliness that a short 8 mile climb could give my life. I did something. The rewards were various and often dramatic like this sunset evening view. Below was all grey marine layer mire.
This lone surfer went. I had been the only human out this day. I experience it a lot because I choose to go. So did this person paddling out. You can too. Should you?
I have had a lot of people copy this image. I actually appreciate that on some levels. Yes it is real. But the actual experience, was far more heady being there. More dramatic. I did not notice at the time that the reflection-light field extended so far up the beach, an element that the people who duplicated this image failed to communicate. We all shoot the same things. Some are just more authentic than others.
2 trees in Ventura, a cherished landmark. There used to be five I believe. Pretty morning with fresh snow on the Sespe made more real by the Canon5DM2 and Lightroom2. I am sort of surprised that no one has snuck up there and planted a new one. Yea, authenticity can have that affect on our world.
What occurs when one focuses on communicating a thing by moderating the view with artistic intent. But to do so, requires one to ignore everything else.
My clumsy attempt to communicate something surreal in its reality. These moments call to me. Pull me up and out of a warm bed. I almost always go. But I an always listening, or try to at least, and then I go. Canon5D M2 and Lightroom 2 helping me make the most of my one dimensional medium. The smell of the rain, the chill of the morning offshore, the taste of the sagebrush, the sound of the surf and freeway below as people scampered into the day. Being there is MUCH better. I am glad that I was.
Emma Wood, low tide, fires burning, Santa Ana winter conditions, days end. Locals sarcastically call the place the diaper due it it frequently being shitty, but we love the place anyway and it gives us a lot back.
Nope not Photoshop. This makes me smile because I know how close this guy came to going over the falls in front of me. He went that day and so did I. The memory is better than the image. Smells taste, exercise, communion
A true "what were you thinking moment" by this guy who in a quest for camera and media generated glory at Backdoor Pipe thought better of his plan to pull into the heaving barrel. Now he walks the front line of a disaster. But hey, at least he went. Maybe next time his wave selection will be better and his attack more aggressive. I learned the hard way that often the safest place is right in the middle of the chaos. I am there a lot. Makes me smile, when I realize what this implies about me.
The memory of this was captured by an infinite number of my friends and colleagues. We all went this evening and were ready when the show started, waiting poised.
A Santa Ynez Dreamscape. Real for about a month. Always changing, nature amazes me in it's pure and authentic creative potential
Tina came with me this day to a site sacred to the Hawaiian people and we saw and experienced this so remarkable I generally never bother to write about them. Most would only utter: "Is that real" I have too much respect for what happened this day to share it broadly but I have shown the imagery. Some of it anyway.Vapor is what we are. It is also what we become.
Rocky Point Evening. This one really does say a lot. But it reminds me of how it felt being there: better.
Tags: Authentic, authenticity, B&H, Canon 5D Mark 2, cultural commentary, Dan Malloy, David Pu'u, david pu'u photography, Hailey Partridge, Hannah Frasier Rastovich, Hobie, Hugh MacLeod, Ignore everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Jake Shimabakuro, Jim Birdsoule, Lightroom2, LR2, Maldives, Mermaids, native culture, nature, ocean, ocean art, Real?, redemption, renewal, restoration, Santa Barbara, Seth Godin, spinner dolphins, the real california, ukelele virtuoso, ventura, Ventura surfers, while my guitar gently weeps
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »