John Thawley's Photography Blog

2010 Budweiser Shootout at the Swamp

John Thawley — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:59:03 +0000

Click on image to view multi-media presentationThe World Famous Naples Swamp Buggies wrapped up their 2009/2010 season March 5~6 crowning Eddie Chesser as the Budweiser Shootout Champion. Running in front of yet another packed house at the Florida Sports Park, the buggies put on a fantastic display of wheel-to-wheel racing. No one in the stands went home disappointed.

At first glance, Aperture 3

John Thawley — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:35:36 +0000

Tuesday (February 9, 2010), Apple® introduced Aperture™ 3, a major release of its powerful photo editing and management software. Aperture 3 contains over 200 new features including Faces, Places and Brushes. Building on the innovative Faces and Places features introduced in iPhoto® ‘09, Aperture 3 makes it even easier and faster to organize large photo libraries. In addition, there are new tools for refining your photos including Brushes for painting image adjustments onto parts of your photo, and Adjustment Presets for applying professional photo effects with just one click. Also stunning new slideshows tools allow you to share your work by weaving together photos, audio, text and HD video.

I'm often guilty of dismissing a lot of features because they don't suit my day-to-day working needs. But I have to say, Apple does such a compelling job of integrating some of the features that I call "fluff," it's hard not to see where others will have a need for those applications. After all, the needs of a sports photographer aren't always the same as a portrait, wedding, landscape or glamour shooter.

At first glance, Aperture 3 delivers. But what I'd like to do over the next few weeks is blog about my personal experience as I work with the new version. Rather than crash in and give everything a cursory glance, I'd rather see how things unfold and give you feedback about what I like, what seems like overkill or how things perform in real-world use. Let's face it, many of us have a lot committed to our workflow. Programs like Aperture and Lightroom are so all-encompassing of our image management needs, they're like an independent operating system just for photos.

Just to end this entry with three "first looks," I have two likes and one "I don't get that."

2010 Cars On Fifth in Naples, Florida

John Thawley — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:25:36 +0000

Great show and a great venue. Cars On Fifth is an annual event that takes place on 5th Avenue in downtown Naples. The show is a great ecletic mix of Ferraris, exotics, muscle cars and cruisers. It just keeps getting better. Nearly 400 cars line 5th avenue just blocks from the beach and Gulf of Mexico. And the crowd is electric.

Photography, like any show is a challenge. Even showing up early isn't going to help you capture real "art." Being on the street just makes for tight conditions and busy backgrounds. But, there's still a lot of good shooting and it's a great time.

Here's a sample of what I came away with. Great fun!

2010 Cars On Fifth - Naples, Florida - Images by John Thawley

Exposure Expose`

John Thawley — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:35:31 +0000

Correct exposure is the sum total of the ISO setting, your shutter speed setting and the aperture setting on your camera.I continually see Twitter tweets with folks passing on 140 character advice about how to use aperture or shutter settings on a DSLR. Hence, I continually cringe thinking through the scenarios that must result from those suggestions.

For instance; "Always shoot aperture priority and your pictures will be sharp." Well, not if it's in a dark room and your aperture priority selection forces the shutter speed down to 1/4 sec. And I loved this little piece of expert advice; "I know, it's tough to deal with. Lowest aperture, high ISO, & shoot with about -1 stop on exposure, or use manual. 1/40-60th maybe?" Wow… take that and go print up your business cards… you're ready.

Let's set the record straight. For one thing, if photography were simply a matter of saying "do this" then "do that" everyone would be good. Better yet, automatic cameras would get it right every time. You wouldn't even need to bother with "settings." I want to walk you through the basics of each of your camera adjustments and discuss how they effect the exposure. Then I will go a little deeper and discuss how those adjustments can effect your picture and the creative decisions you make.

Extreme Speed Motorsports Tests At Sebring

John Thawley — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:38:22 +0000

Scott Sharp's Patron sponsored Extreme Speed Motorsports team testing two new Ferrari GT cars at Sebring in preparation for the 2010 American Le Mans Series Championship. Drivers: Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo.

Extreme Speed Motorsports Testing - Images by John Thawley

Photo Tips For The Holidays

John Thawley — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:23:36 +0000

I thought I'd make some time this week to share a few basic tips for my "non-photographer" friends.

Canon Powershot SX110IS 9MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) Canon Powershot SX110IS 9MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom - around $250.Nothing beats going back and looking at photographs from holidays, vacations or important times in our lives. And as much as you'll hear pro photographers talk about all the details and subtle nuance that go into making a great photograph, I assure you, everyone of them will tell you "content is king." In other words, the subject always trumps the artistic endeavor. That's not to say we don't want a great photo, but the subject matter is what it's all about.

So with the holidays coming up, I'm going to pass on a few simple secrets that I guarantee will have you shooting better pictures immediately.

First, if you don't have a digital camera, get one. You'll want something comfortable in your hand, (smaller is not always better) and a camera with at least 5-7 megapixel. More is ok... but not necessarily better. Also try to get something with a decent OPTICAL zoom. DO NOT pay attention to digital zoom, and if your camera has it, do not use it. I don't want to waste the space discussing why... just trust me on this one. You are only concerned with OPTICAL zoom.

Merry Christmas 2009

John Thawley — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:52:42 +0000

Click to view a virtual Christmas CardWith yet another year rapidly escaping our grasp, I want to take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt thanks to the people who make everything I do and enjoy possible.

While no one can replace the warmth of my family, these are the people that become my home away from home. And while not every relationship is close or necessarily personal, there is a common bond shared by those of us that travel about the countryside with the circus known as the American Le Mans Series.

And while each and every participant is a champion in their own right, I'd be remiss in not extending an additional thank you to those that chose to go out of their way to make my time away from home fun and rewarding. To Rick Dole, Regis Lefebure, Guy Cosmo, Jon and Clint Field, Brian Alder, John Doonan, Bob Dickinson, and Scott Atherton, I sincerely thank you.

To those whose photo I missed this year, please know it wasn't intentional. Each and every one of you belong in this card and I promise to try harder to include you all in 2010.

And with that… see you all next year.

Happy Holiday,

John Thawley

Creating Custom Meta Data Views In Aperture

John Thawley — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:03:12 +0000

As promised, here's another video tutorial showing another way to get the most out of Aperture. I'm pleased to say the response to my first video tutorial was fantastic. Thanks for all the comment and kind words. In this tutorial, I talk about creating a custom view of your meta data and how set it up so you can add that data the minute you import your memory card and files into Aperture.

It's the perfect window into how you can customize Aperture to fit your workflow. It's this sort of application that makes Aperture a true pro application designed to help you move through your images faster and with efficiency and accuracy. Enjoy! JT

Making Your Photos "Pop" Using Aperture's Adjustment Tools

John Thawley — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:09:24 +0000

Image Adjustments In Aperture from John Thawley on Vimeo.

Now we're in the off-season, I wanted to get back to blogging on a regular basis. I especially want to keep moving forward with fundamental photography tips and offer up advice for those that are using Apples Pro photo application, Aperture.

This week, I'll be discussing how to get the most out of your images using Aperture's adjustment tools. I'm delivering this tutorial via the new Quicktime feature in Apple's new OS, Snow Leopard. The new feature allows you to take a video of your computer screen activity. Of course, it can also be done using a microphone for the voice over.

2009 Year In Review

John Thawley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:03:47 +0000

Click image to watch presentation