Welcome to Access Digital Photography, a site for digital photographers hosted by award-winning photographers, and best-selling authors Ken Milburn and Doug Sahlin. Collectively we have more than 80 years of photography experience. That’s right, we’ve shot film. But we embrace the digital technology and our digital darkrooms. We’ve written books and articles on digital photography, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and other applications we use to edit our work.

About Our Site
As we write our magazine articles and books, we learn more information about digital photography, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and Adobe Photoshop and the other applications we use to edit our work. We share the information with you on this site. We also feature software reviews, and reviews about digital cameras and lenses. To see a categorized list of posts we’ve already created, click the Sitemap link. You can also find specific information by entering a word or phrase in the Search box, which appears with each post, and on the Blog page. You can also view posts made in a specific category by clicking a link in the Categories section of the sidebar. We also have a photoblog where we post our most recent work. To learn more information about your hosts, click the About Us link. Our most recent posts about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop CS3, digital cameras, lens, product reviews, equipment reviews, articles about digital photography and so on are listed below this post. You can view previous posts by clicking a link in the Archives section of Click a link to visit the site.

Our Podcast
We also have a podcast called Pixelicious. The podcast features audio and video episodes about our favorite subjects: Lightroom, Photoshop, and digital photography. We’ll have a new episode for your listening, and viewing pleasure. Our goal is to become your authoritative resource for Lightroom, Photoshop, and digital photography. To view the latest episodes of our podcast, click the Pixelicious logo.

Thank You
Thanks for visiting our site. Feel free to leave comments on any post. Please note the all comments are moderated. Comments containing SPAM, links to porn sites, or any offensive language will not be posted on our site.

Categories: Breaking News, Digital Photography News
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If you ever want to create an abstract light painting take some photos of lights at night. Switch your camera to time exposure mode, which is B on most cameras. If your camera doesn’t have this mode, switch to your lowest ISO setting, and your smallest aperture. Point the camera at some colorful lights, press the shutter button, and move the camera. The following images were created using this technique.

Tags: digital photography,Light Painting
Categories: Photography Tips
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Painter has been around for a long time. I’m been using it since version 4. But I never could come to grips with the application and create images that looked like paintings. That all changed with Corel Painter X. In Painter X you open the Underpainting palette and choose a style. You can also add an edge effect. The next step is to make a Quick Clone of the image. In the Auto Painting palette, enable Smart Stroke Painting, choose a Smart Brush from the Brushes palette and click the Play button. Corel Painter X adjusts the strokes of the Smart Brush to match the angles and curves of the shape you’re cloning. Here are two examples of images that were modified using Auto Painting in Corel X.

Categories: Digital Photography News
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I surf the Net for inspiration and new techniques. I found one technique that changed a nice photo into something abstract. To view a video tutorial showing how to use the technique and convert the steps into an action, click the following link:
Pixelicious Podcast: Episode 32.

Categories: Photoshop Tips and Tricks
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The latest technology taunts photographers with more megapixels, anti-dust technology, live-view, and so on. Pentax, Nikon, and Sony have been upping the ante for about a year. Now Canon’s joined the fray with an updated EOS 5D. The new Canon EOS 5D MKll features integrated sensor cleaning, 21-megapixel captures, live-view, a 3-inch monitor, and much more. I own the first iteration of the 5D. Do I want its big brother? You betcha. I’m sure a lot of other photographers who own the EOS 5D feel the same way. So what do you do when you’re on a budget and can’t afford or don’t want to keep your trusty two-year old EOS 5D, or for that matter, any piece of old gear that you’ve replaced? Can you say eBay?

When my trusty Minolta 35mm camera died, I grudgingly made the switch to digital. After researching what was on the market, I decided to purchase a Canon EOS 10D and bought a couple of EF lenses. I was very happy with the camera except for the amount of time it took the camera to power on. Then along came the EOS 20D. When I read the spec sheet and noticed the start up time had been reduced, I wanted one. So I shopped for the best deal I could find and bought one. But I couldn’t afford and didn’t need two digital SLR bodies. I put the 10D up for auction on eBay. A week later, the camera sold for seventy percent of what I paid for it. Not bad considering I’d used the camera for a year.

I grew to love the 20D. It was a great camera, took sharp pictures, and the camera powered up almost instantly. But I shoot landscapes. Therefore I use a wide angle focal lengths a lot. The Focal Length Multiplier for the 20D is 1.6, which means a 20mm wide angle lens acts like a 32mm lens on the 20D. Almost a year after I purchased the 20D, Canon introduced the 5D, which has a full-frame sensor; no focal length multiplier. I wanted one in the worst way, but balked at spending that much money. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted one. Finally I succumbed to my desire, found the best deal from a reputable online camera store and bought one. I put my 20D up for auction the Saturday after my 5D was delivered. Again I recouped almost seventy percent of my investment after using the camera for a year. It was amazing to watch interested bidders battle each other, driving the selling price of the camera higher and higher. eBay’s is the busiest online auction site; a great place to sell photo gear you’re no longer using.

Now I’m in a quandary. I want the new 5D MKll and I also want to keep my trusty 5D as a backup camera when I shoot weddings. It would also be useful to shoot events with two cameras with different lenses mounted. Even though the list price of the 5D MKll is about $700 less than the original 5D, the economy and sky-rocketing gas prices is causing most Americans — including me — to become very frugal. But the new 5D won’t be available until November. That gives me two and a half months to come up with the money. You can bet I’ll be putting the gear I don’t use frequently up for auction on eBay. My goal is to sell enough to pay cash for the new 5D MKll when it’s available.  In fact, I’m putting one lens up for auction on Sunday.

Tags: Canon EOS 5D MKll,eBay,EOS 5D,selling old camera gear
Categories: Digital Photography News, Photography Tips
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Hurricane Ike sapped most of the moisture out of Florida. In spite of that, there were still enough clouds for a colorful sunset. In Lightroom, I used the Graduated Filter tool to decrease the exposure of the sky by about 1 stop, and pump up the blue color. My grandfather used to call a sunset like this, Sky Blue Pink.

Categories: Lightroom Tips and Tricks
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This evening I saw this vine on a barbed wire fence. Fortunately, I had my camera, Original Lensbaby and the close up kit. I focused on the leaf and knew the rest of the image would be a pleasant out-of-focus blur. In Lightroom, I used the Direct Positive preset and split toning to make the colors pop. I also added a slight vignette to draw attention to the center of the image.

Categories: Lightroom Tips and Tricks
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When I originally photographed this scene, I was attracted to the stark nature of the landscape. However, when I brought the image into Lightroom 1, I was disappointed. The sky was overexposed. I saved the image knowing I could use it in Photoshop.

Enter Lightroom 2. As mentioned in a previous post, I’m reviewing my older images. My first step with this image was to use the Direct Positive develop preset. That added gobs of contrast to the image and I started seeing some cloud shapes at the top of the image. I used the Graduated Filter tool to drop the exposure of the sky by 1 stop to get the result you see here. To see some Lightroom 2 video podcasts, visit our sister site: Pixelicious.

Categories: Lightroom Tips and Tricks
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Unless an image is horribly out of focus, grossly overexposed or underexposed, I keep it. You never know when you can use part of the image in a montage or collage. Or better yet, revisit the photo when you learn a new skill or get a new piece of software. When I upgraded to Lightroom 2, I revisited some of my old photos to see if I could make them better, or rescue marginal photos.I always liked the image in this post. But it was getting late and the light was fading fast when I took the shot. To properly expose the building, I ended up with a sky that was brighter than I remembered it. I used the new Graduated Filter in Lightroom 2 to darken the sky and tint it blue. The result was a better image. As time goes by, I’m going to revisit lots of my older shots and see what I can do to make them better in Lightroom 2. To view some video tutorials on Lightroom 2, visit our sister web site, Pixelicious.

Categories: Digital Photography News
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Machinery that’s stood that test of time and exposed to the relentless forces of Mother Nature, ages gracefully. This gear and chain are part of an old piece of farm machinery. The rusted metal develops a wonderful patina and texture. When I photograph an object like this, I believe less is more. If I had moved back to frame the entire piece of machinery, the texure of the rust would be lost.

Another thing to keep in mind when photographing old machinery is your choice of lens and exposure settings. To isolate the gear and chain from the rest of the machine, I photographed the image with an 85 mm lens at f/1.8. The large aperture limited the depth of field to the parts of the machine I wanted to which I wanted to attract the viewer’s attention.

In Lightroom, I used the Direct Positive preset as my starting point. I increased Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation to make the image pop. I then applied Split Toning. To see some video podcasts on Lightroom 2, visit our sister web site Pixelicious.

Categories: Lightroom Tips and Tricks, Photography Tips
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