One onOne with Mike Wong

I got an email from my buddy Mike Bedford who runs the Plugs 'N Pixels website - a great resource for all kinds of Photoshop Plug-Ins. He's got a nice round up of Photoshop World in Las Vegas as well as some good coverage of some other plug-ins to help you maximize the all you can do in Photoshop - even if you don't have years of experience using it.

Check out the site and also be sure to check out eZine #10 - there's a fun picture of me with Jim DiVitale at the onOne booth at Photoshop World.

Posted by Mike Wong at 9:53 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

One of my favorite airports to fly out of is Seattle. Whatever it is about the location of the airport - and maybe it is just because it is in Northwest where they get a ton of rain - they have some of the most amazing clouds that I've ever seen. You can fly through layers upon layers of clouds when going into or out of SeaTac which is why I always ask for a window seat for the times I'm going through Seattle.

Just last week I missed my 11:00 pm flight from Seattle to Portland and caught one of the many flights down to Portland the next morning. I got my seat on the Western side of the airplane so I wouldn't be looking east directly into the sunrise and this is the picture that I got. This makes flying worth it to me every time.

The frame that I dropped on the photo is one of the new frames from Kevin Kubota that is included in PhotoFrame Professional Edition or as part of the individual pack you get as an add-on for PhotoFrame.

Posted by Mike Wong at 4:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

If I was better organized, I probably would have put the last three posts into one. But alas, here is my third Leopard related post today.

Curious to know if your Adobe Creative Suite 3 products are Leopard compatible? Adobe has a nice PDF that you can download that lists their products and the associated compatibility status with Mac OS X Leopard.

Good news for Photoshop CS3 users, it looks like from the document that all is well and happy between Photoshop CS3 and Leopard.

Posted by Mike Wong at 2:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

For any of you out there using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom who are thinking of upgrading to Mac OS X Leopard, take a second and read this blog post from Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty.

In the blog post, Tom outlines a few (but not necessarily all) of the known compatibility issues with Lightroom 1.2 and Leopard.

Here's a summary of the issues listed in the blog post.

• The Print module may not load
• The Import dialog and other dialogs can "disappear" below Lightroom's main window. The dialog can be retrieved by switching to another application and then returning to Lightroom.
• Lightroom's web module may not provide a visual update after a setting is changed
• The left-side panels in the Develop module may not display properly. Resizing or closing/opening the panels will correct the issue
• The interaction between Leopard's Time Machine and Lightroom's catalog files is unknown at this time. Running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use is not recommended until more information can be obtained

Posted by Mike Wong at 2:16 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you moving to Leopard, please note that we are still testing our plug-ins with the final, shipping version of this new OS from Apple. For more information, you can click here to go to the onOne Software Knowledge Base.

We'll let everybody know when updates are available.

Posted by Mike Wong at 1:55 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Macworld UK has announced its Best of Show awards for London's MacLive Expo 2007.

The Macworld Best Of Show awards are hand-picked by the Macworld editorial team, who spend the day examining every stand for the most interesting, innovative and exciting products premiering at the show.

onOne PhotoTune 2.2: PhotoTune 2.2 is an Adobe Photoshop plug-in that provides professional level colour correction in an easy to use plug-in. It incorporates ColorTune technology (formerly known as 20/20 Color MD) with its patented colour correction process and SkinTune technology, developed after more than two years of in-depth skin color research.

[Read the full story and see the other Best of Show products]

Posted by Mike Wong at 6:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to go shooting with Canon Explorer of Light, Rick Sammon. Rick is a great guy and a lot of fun to hang out with and he really enjoys teaching photography and it shows.

Rick was in Portland for a couple of days working with Pro Photo Supply and Canon and he led a photo shoot in the Japanese Gardens. We had great weather and it was a lot of fun and I even got to try out the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8 L II lens. Wow. I really want that lens now after shooting with it. Here's one of my shots that I took with it.

Later, Rick stopped several of us and reminded everybody to have fun while shooting and to try new things. Here's Rick teaching one of the attendees how to be creative by setting a slightly longer shutter speed, point the camera down at an object, start rotating the camera and then click the shutter.

Here's my attempt.

So if you ever get a chance to go shoot with Rick, make sure to get out there and do it. You won't regret it. If you can't go shoot with Rick, here's the next best thing.

If you can't get to one of Rick's events here's the next best thing. Rick has a new live-action DVD: Rick Sammon's Canon EOS Digital Rebel Personal Training Workshop. The 1.5 hour DVD covers everything you need to know abou the Canon Digital Rebel XTi and digital SLR photography in general. So even if you don't have a Canon camera, the DVD will help turn your snapshots into a great shot. Learn more here.

All images copyright Mike Wong 2007

Posted by Mike Wong at 6:45 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

One of the best new features that came out in Adobe Photoshop CS3 was the addition of Smart Filters. The new Smart Filters feature allows you to have an editable filter. You can apply a Smart Filter and then you can go back later and edit the effect as opposed to having the effect be completely destructive on a layer. What's more, you can change the opacity of the filter, the blend mode and you can edit it with a layer mask that is added automatically.

Not all filters can be Smart Filters though. PhotoTune 2.2 for color correction, one of our latest plug-ins for Photoshop, can be used as a Smart Filter though. Here's how.

Step 1: Open your file and if necessary double click on the background layer to convert it to a non-backgroud layer. Next go to the Filter menu and choose Convert for Smart Filters.

Step 2: Launch PhotoTune and make your adjustments using the six step color correction wizard. Click Apply.

I'm only showing the final step of PhotoTune here in this tutorial.

When you apply the filter, you'll go back to Photoshop and you'll see that your layers palette now has two indented items under the primary layer that we started working on.

The Smart Filters layer has a white layer mask so that all of the filter effect is visible. Remember with layer masks that White reveals and Black conceals. You will also see the ColorTune 2 filter under the layer mask. The white layer mask is revealing all of the ColorTune/PhotoTune filter. You could select a brush, set the color to black and paint on the layer mask to hide portions of the PhotoTune effect.

Step 3: Edit Your Smart Filter (Optional)

This step is optional and may not be needed, but let's do it for the sake of the tutorial. Let's say you're not quite happy with some of the fine-tune settings you added after the PhotoTune six-step color correction wizard. You can easily make an adjustment without having to go through the color correction process again. To do this simplly double-click on the ColorTune 2 layer and you'll be sent back into the PhotoTune ColorTune filter. Under the image on the right, click on the word Current and then selection Last Filter.

This will load up the previous settings so it is identical to what you saw before you double-clicked on the ColorTune 2 layer. Now, make any adjustments you want and click Apply.

That's all there is to it. Give it a try and also be sure to try this with any other Smart Filter compatible filter. I think you'll find it's a great new way to work!

Posted by Mike Wong at 5:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Well, it's 3:11 am here in New York and I'm still up working. I just finished getting a few things ready for PhotoPlus which starts in less than 6 hours. Nothing like getting things done early is there?

Before I call it a night, er...morning, I thought I'd throw a post out there. Here's a picture I took with my new Canon Powershot G9 (which I absolutely love by the way) that I took yesterday morning on the flight out of PDX. And no, the pilot had not said that it was safe to turn on approved electronic devices. :-) I saw the sun hit the bottom of the wing from the other side of the plane and had to get the shot. Nothing happened to the plane, so I'm assuming a point-and-shoot camera is safe. :-) (this isn't the first time I've taken a picture during takeoff before the ":approved elevaction")

Here's the before shot straight out of the camera.

I wanted to pull some of the dirt and grime out of the wing though as well as clean up the white balance and get that correct. So I ran it through our soon-to-be-released Photoshop Plug-In, PhotoTools Professional Edition and got this.

The effects I used were Omaha, which reproduces the look from Saving Private Ryan and then I added Kevin Kubota's The Look action. I really like the end result.

All images copyright Mike Wong 2007.

Posted by Mike Wong at 12:11 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I did it. I overcame my typical buyer's hesitation and went down to the local pro photo shop (Pro Photo Supply) and purchased a brand new Canon Powershot G9 today. My first impression was that it was bigger than I thought and a little heavier than I thought but after taking a few shots in the office today, those are going to be minor issues at best.

The 3 inch LCD on the back is gorgeous. There are even some cool visual effects as you change from P to Tv to Av to Manual mode. However, the really cool thing is that when in one of these manual modes and you dial in the f-stop or shutter speed, the LCD screen updates in real-time to give you a pretty good idea of what the change to the settings are going to do to your photo. If you're new to photography, or at least new to manual settings, this feature is going to help immensely and I can see this being used a great teaching tool.

The weather here in Portland is perfect. Sixty five degrees, a bit of a chill in the air and no rain. That's the weekend forecast anyway and I'm heading out to the pumpkin patch with the family and some friends so I'll get a chance to use the G9 quite a bit. Can't wait. I'll post my pictures and my second impressions later this weekend.

Posted by Mike Wong at 2:36 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I was reading Scott Kelby's blog this morning (I really like the design of his blog, check it out) and he's got some great new posts including a link back to Adobe's site where they have posted a page that discusses which version of Photoshop is right for you.

I get a lot of emails from customers who have purchased our software or are running a trial of our software and they invariably ask me which version of Photoshop they should upgrade to. I think this quick read from Adobe pretty much sums it up best.

Posted by Mike Wong at 9:22 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier today while I was enjoying my morning coffee, I headed over to Matt Kloskowski's Lightroom Killer Tips blog as I often do. Matt has posted a great video on creating a very popular and cool grunge look to your photos. Be sure to head over to Matt's blog to download the video.

Here's a quick before and after example.

Thanks for the tip Matt!

Posted by Mike Wong at 1:07 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I was hoping that I'd be able to say that my latest toy was the new Canon Powershot G9 - and I'm sure I'll be saying that at some point soon - but today I got a new laptop stand for my 15" MacBook Pro.

It's the mStand from Rain Design Inc. and it is, hands down the best accessory I've ever purchased for any laptop I've ever owned. Now, I don't include bags and mice or my Wacom tablet as accessories - those to me are essential, must have items, but for years, I've used an old cigar box that I've had for over a decade as my laptop stand to raise it up a bit and get it close to the same level as my 23" Apple Cinema Display. The cigar box was cool and all, but a laptop stand is not what it was ever meant to do.

This new mStand though is fantastic. It doesn't budge - and I mean, it doesn't budge - on the desk so there's no fear of bumping it. The angle that it places the MacBook Pro is perfect and is much, much, much easier for me to see now. Even the keyboard is up and more accessible for the occasional times I use it's keyboard instead of my external keyboard that I typically use. To top it off, the design, color, etc match the style and color of the MacBook Pro and the aluminum bezel Cinema Display.

I can't say enough good things about this laptop stand. If you have a MacBook Pro or an older PowerBook G4 that you hook up to an external display or with an external keyboard and just want to get the screen at eye level, you need one of these mStands. For me, it's no longer an accessory, but an essential item to own.

Posted by Mike Wong at 11:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This morning I received my monthly newsletter from DoubleExposure.com. In the edition was a tip from John Paul Caponigro entitled "Defocus". Typically, everywhere you turn, there's a headline on a magazine cover about "SHOOTING SHARP LIKE THE PROS" or a topic in a forum about the sharpest lens and how far you should stop it down to get the sharpest point, etc. etc..

So it was refreshing to read John Paul's article this morning (which will take you about 10 seconds) about composing your photo and then intentionally exposing the shot OUT OF FOCUS. I love it. Not only the concept and the tip on composition, but John Paul as given me some inspiration for a self-assignment the next time I'm out shooting in about 10 seconds. There's no extra fluff in the article. He gets right to the point and gets it across. He's also included a photo of his that I haven't seen before and it makes his point perfectly.

You can read the article here.

Posted by Mike Wong at 8:12 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)