Digital Workflow

Small Files to Huge Prints

Jan Wegener confirms what I’ve been professing for many years. You can print really, really huge prints with smaller megapixel cameras as long as you have a sharp, quality image to start with AND you use the right software for processing. Micro Four Thirds are considered small files With my… Read More »

Switching From Windows to Mac

Switching from Windows to Mac happened for me over 20 years ago. I was a diehard Windows user with no interest in moving to the Mac platform. Then Apple developed Aperture, and the hook was officially set. At the time, Lightroom didn’t exist, and I was juggling a hodgepodge of… Read More »

DxO PureRAW & PhotoLab – Amazing

Why not Lightroom I’m often asked why I don’t use Lightroom. The short answer is that DxO software is simply better. The longer answer is my combining of DxO PhotoLab with Mylio Photos gives me the best RAW processing and ultimate DAM solution I’ve ever experienced. DxO PureRAW and PhotoLab… Read More »

Noise Reduction Software Comparison

In the last year or so, we’ve seen some incredible progress in almost all software noise-reduction tools. That being the case, I thought it might be a good time for a noise reduction software comparison. For several years, my favorite RAW converter has been DxO PhotoLab. But most others, including… Read More »

Create A Photo Reel For Instagram and Facebook

World Wildlife Day, March 3, 2023, has come and gone, but it inspired me to create a photo reel for Instagram and Facebook—something I had never done. When I first learned of World Wildlife Day I was on my way to Indonesia. I was sitting in the Seoul airport before… Read More »

Mylio Photos Tip – Back Up Photos With Mylio Photos and Lightroom

In this Mylio Photos Tip I share with viewers how to back up photos with Mylio Photos and Lightroom and the major differences between the two programs. Saving more than one copy of your pictures while you’re traveling is absolutely essential. Relying on either your laptop, iPad or external drives… Read More »

Mylio Photos Tip – Captioning and Keywording

Mylio Photos Tip – Captioning and Keywording is a short video showing you how to caption and keyword your photos using Mylio Photos. When I start captioning my photos, I turn to a little known program called Copy ‘Em. In the video I called it Copy ‘Em and Paste which… Read More »

Mylio Photos Update Is Here

The Mylio Photos update is here with substantial changes to the Import process! As many of you know I’m a big fan of this little program called Mylio. Most serious photographers don’t even know about it let alone use it. I’m constantly amazed at photographers’ tunnel vision and inability to… Read More »

Apple Photos Isn’t The Safety Net People Think

9TO5 Mac writer had iCloud Photos issue One of my favorite blogs is 9TO5 Mac. A gentleman named Zac wrote a piece about how he got burned by Apple’s Photos. His article about how Apple Photos isn’t the safety net people think piqued my interest since my sister had a… Read More »

Micro Four Thirds Cameras Better in Low Light

Busting the full-frame myth Many of my readers know of my enthusiasm for Micro Four Thirds cameras. I love them for the smaller lenses, the system’s lighter weight, and its overall lower costs. But one thing I’ve never argued is Micro Four Thirds cameras are better in low light. I… Read More »

Software Tools of The Trade

Software tools of the trade is a video I recently produced for my program at the 2022 NANPA Summit. In this 20-minute video, I discuss the software I use in my everyday, image processing workflow. Just a heads up, I’m telling you right up front that I don’t use Lightroom… Read More »

Noise Reduction Software Comparison-Updated

Who can benefit? Noise reduction software is essential no matter what camera you’re shooting. It’s especially helpful for those of us who’ve ditched the full-frame monsters of the past and adopted the smaller, lighter, more mobile Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras. Even though smaller sensor cameras benefit most from quality… Read More »

Tools of The Trade – Mylio Slideshow Presentation

Tools of the Trade Tools of The Trade – Mylio Slideshow Presentation is the first in a series of videos. These videos will be highlighting the many different pieces of equipment I use as a natural history photographer. Not just camera equipment but clothing, software, camera accessories, video gear, things… Read More »

Mylio Webinar Announced

Hey photo enthusiasts. My friends at Mylio are holding a webinar for learning about some of the new tools in their amazing photo program. I use Mylio to manage my 1.2 million image library on 10 different devices including my iPhone that has only 256 gigs of storage. Yes, I… Read More »

Mylio for Beginners & Advanced Users on Medium Online

Many of you know I’m a big fan of the photo program Mylio. In these days and early mornings (it’s currently 2:00am) of finding things to do, as we’re locked down here in Montana, I stumbled across an interesting website called Medium. Medium is a subject all on its own.… Read More »

Mylio Power for All, Just $99.00/Year

Mylio power for all is now available for just $99.00/year. The folks over at Mylio have updated their pricing plans and decided on just two. FREE and $99.00 per year. That’s a huge drop. The plan I’m currently using was originally $29.99/month. That’s now down to $8.33/month. It’s going to… Read More »

Adob​​e Price Increase for Lightroom & Photoshop

Ever since Adobe came out with the subscription model for their products there’s been concern about an Adobe price increase some time in the future. And today it seems as those fears may have been well-founded. The website PetaPixel announced today the Adobe price increase that was announced on the… Read More »

Get to Know and Use Your Histogra​​​m

Those of you who’ve traveled with us know I’m a big fan of the histogram. I especially love the fact my Lumix cameras allow me to see the histogram BEFORE I shoot. In the days of shooting film, it was impossible to know exactly what a perfect exposure was. It… Read More »

Major Mylio Update

The new major Mylio update is finally here. I’ve been using Mylio now for at least three years, and it’s currently organizing just short of 1,200,000 images in my library. This program has given me access to my pictures I’ve never had. I can’t praise this software enough. The speaking… Read More »

DXO PhotoLab Finally Supports Lumix G9

DxO PhotoLab, my preferred RAW converter software, has finally added support for my favorite camera, the Lumix G9. Oringally support for the G9 was supposed to be out in February 2018. It’s taken until now to finally get it. I must admit, I’m no fan of DxO taking so long… Read More »

Copyright Your Work and Support Copyright Alliance

For those—artists of any genre—interested in protecting their work, there is no better organization than the Copyright Alliance. All of our work is protected by a general copyright, but the Copyright Alliance has been working hard to make it easier to register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. Back… Read More »

Mylio Releases New Update 3.1

Mylio update 3.1 is just another group of improvements to a program I literally can’t live without. I use Mylio every single day; it gives me and my staff access to photos that have been long buried on hard drives. Support agent extraordinaire, Matt Vollet (in photo above on the… Read More »

Save Your Photos Even Halfway Around the World

Save Your Photos For some, like professional photographers, the ability to save your photos halfway around the world can be a career saver. For others it might be as simple as just wanting to protect a once in a lifetime trip with family or friends. Whatever the reason, I’ve never… Read More »

DxO Rescues Nik Software U-Point Technology

DxO Rescues Nik Software & U-Point Technology I woke this morning to a tremendous bit of news. DxO software is saving Nik software from Google’s trash heap. Just this last week I was lamenting to several of our NE Explorers my frustration with Google purchasing one of the most effective… Read More »

Drobo Celebrating 10 Years

The folks over at Drobo are celebrating their 10-year anniversary this week, and they have some great opportunities to win goodies. Head over to their Facebook page for daily Facebook giveaways! Prizes include a Drobo, Phantom 3 drone, Lowepro bag, and more. Join them for 10 days of daily giveaways, exclusive interviews,… Read More »

Mylio Update Keeps Pushing The Bar Higher

Mylio Update Last night Mylio once again updated their software with several new features, added support for a handful of new cameras, and squashed a bug or two. One of the new features has finally given me the ability to eliminate Photo Mechanic from my workflow, and any reduction in the number… Read More »

Easy-to-use Design Software For Your Photography

Design Software For Your Photography Finding easy-to-use design software for your photography is always a challenge. One of our favorite NE Explorers, An Vo, recently inspired me to start researching more software programs that help add design elements to your pictures. Keep in mind when I say design elements, I’m not… Read More »

Apple’s iWork Software Now FREE

Apple announced today that it’s now offering its iWork productivity software to all Mac users for Free. Prior to the blanket free program, some Mac users were required to pay a nominal fee, but now all Mac users have access to my favorite programs at no cost. I switched over… Read More »

Apple Recommits To High-end Pro Users

Apple Recommits To High-End Pro Users It’s no secret to the high-end graphics, video, and still photography users of Apple products, that Apple has been seriously letting us down the past 3-5 years. It was only yesterday that Apple finally opened their corporate heart and made an important announcement: they’re in… Read More »

Interpolation Software Test for Making Large Prints

Drobo Mylio Combination Impresses Fred Kurtz

Editor’s Note One of the great benefits of traveling with so many enthusiastic photographers is the chance to share information about how each of them stores and processes their images. Anyone who loves photography knows how important it is to have a handle on where your favorite photos are at… Read More »

Mylio Tip: Google Your Wish for Mylio and See What Pops Up Like Facial Recognition

This post was inspired by my good friend JP Duplessis of Mylio. I’m fortunate to have a direct line to JP who is one of Mylio’s lead coders and on a daily basis is adding features to this great new program. I had been perusing the DPRevew Mac Forums when I… Read More »

My Dream of a Near Perfect Photo Backup System Now in Place

It was a bit of a long, arduous journey, but I finally have what I consider my dream setup for protecting my precious images. Let me share some of the details so you too can think about how you might want to make sure your equally important pictures are safe. It… Read More »

Mylio Version 1.8 Crushes Photo Mechanic & Lightroom When Scrolling

I’m always looking for faster and faster tools to process my images and it was the quest for speed that made me look at a new program called Mylio. Mylio is a funny little name, but if you know its origin, it makes a lot of sense. Break Mylio down… Read More »

Drobo & Mylio: The Best Keep Getting Better

Drobo & Mylio: The Best Keep Getting Better I will tell you right up front, this is a bit of a long story but it’s well worth the read if you want a safe, reliable storage solution for your pictures that doesn’t expose them to the seemingly lawless frontier known as… Read More »

Mylio Built by Computer Guys & Gals Who Love Photography

Some of you are wondering why I love Mylio so much. Well today, Sunday, is just one example. I’ve been on the phone with JP Duplessis for over two hours working on problems I created that he was fixing in my Mylio library. Keep in mind I’m kind of what you… Read More »

Mylio Keeps the Improvements Coming

Mylio Keeps Improvements Coming Awhile back I started using Mylio to keep track of my images across all my devices. When I first started using this program, it was mainly due to its speed when handling three quarters of million images. It’s never been as robust as DXO Opics Pro or Lightroom for… Read More »

Google’s Nik Software is Now Completely Free

Google’s Nik Software is Now Completely Free I have always been a fan of Nik software but once Google bought it I kind of forgot about it as I used other programs. I haven’t seen a lot of updates to Nik so I was concerned it was on the way of… Read More »

Mylio Releases Version 1.6 With Updates

Mylio releases version 1.6 with updates. For all you folks looking for another option in the world of photography software you might want to give Mylio a look. I’ve been working with Mylio for almost a year now and it just keeps getting better and better. You can read some… Read More »

Adobe Lightroom Feature Request Add Your Voice

Adobe Lightroom Feature Request Add Your Voice. Since moving over to Lightroom I’ve come to appreciate the power of Adobe’s editing tools. They are, without a doubt, much superior to what I was using in Aperture. That said, there are a few serious drawbacks in Lightroom as well. This post is to… Read More »

Backblaze Updates Hard Drive Failure Rates

Each quarter, Backblaze updates hard drive failure rates with the latest data. Seems the HGST drives are still far and away the best drives out there. I find this report extremely helpful for those of us who want to know which drives fail and which ones don’t. If you want to… Read More »

The Lumix Diaries: Printing Large Photos

Printing Large Photos – A Comparison of the LX100, GH4, and D800 The Lumix Diaries sets out in a test of printing large photos, mainly to see how large we can print from a Lumix GH4. A few weeks ago I received a question from one of our readers. Roberto Facchini wanted to know about… Read More »

Mylio Visit in Seattle

I’ve just returned from my Mylio visit in Seattle. I went there by way of a self invitation, wanting to see for myself what the crew of this new program was all about. I like to know the people I believe in, such as the great support team that includes Matt, Raiza and super coding… Read More »

Mylio Releases Aperture iPhoto to Mylio Migration Tool

Mylio Releases Aperture iPhoto to Mylio Migration Tool. Over the last several weeks I’ve been working with the folks at Mylio to help develop an Aperture to Mylio migration tool. I haven’t had a chance to run this yet since I’m currently in Croatia, but the Mylio team has built… Read More »

Do You Know the Health of Your Hard Drives?

Do You Know the Health of Your Hard Drives? Awhile back I shared some very interesting information regarding a backup service we use called Backblaze. Backblaze is an automated way to back up my many terabytes of external hard drives. The service is worth noting again by itself, but they… Read More »

Mylio CEO David Vaskevitch Guest Post

Mylio CEO David Vaskevitch Guest Post. Many of you know that I’m very excited about a new software program I’m using called Mylio. There has been some confusion about exactly what Mylio is, how it works, and why you might want to use it. It does work with the cloud, but… Read More »

Mylio May Just Be the Next Big DAM Thing

Mylio May Just be the Next Big DAM Thing. A few months ago I introduced the readers of this blog to a new piece of software called Mylio by way of my friend Kevin Gilbert’s guest appearance on TheGrid. When I first heard of Mylio, my gut reaction was hmmm…that’s kind of a… Read More »

Mylio Memory Evangelist Kevin Gilbert on TheGrid

Mylio Memory Evangelist Kevin Gilbert on TheGrid. A few weeks ago I heard from a friend of mine, Kevin Gilbert, about a new project he’s working on called Mylio. What is Mylio and why should you care? Mylio stands for My Life Organized and it’s a new photography program to… Read More »

Hard Drives and Digital Photography Workflow

Hard Drives and Digital Photography Workflow go hand in hand. Over a year ago I became aware of a company called BackBlaze which is a cloud based backup service I’ve been using ever since. The most amazing thing about this company is how inexpensive it is. I’m getting to the Drive… Read More »

Evidence Mounting Apple’s Photos Will be Revolutionary

Evidence Mounting Apple’s Photos Will be Revolutionary. Why? Because of the coming software technology known as Extensions. On July 3rd, I wrote about how I was feeling much more optimistic about Apple’s new program simply called Photos. A week or so earlier I was depressed over the fact Apple had announced… Read More »

Apple’s New PhotoKit Has Huge Potential

Apple’s New PhotoKit Has Huge Potential. It’s now been at least a couple of weeks since Apple announced they would no longer be developing Aperture or even iPhoto. The disappointment was well documented across the web including my own dismay. However, since the announcement I’ve been doing more investigation of… Read More »

Robert Boyer via ApertureExpert Hits the Photos Nail Right on the Head

Robert Boyer via ApertureExpert hits the Photos nail right on the head. He explains his take on the death of Aperture and does it with aplomb. The dust is beginning to settle from last weeks announcement from Apple that they were discontinuing the development of my preferred photo workflow program,… Read More »

Apple’s New Photos May Be Much Better Than I First Thought

Apple’s new Photos may be much better than I first thought. Since killing Aperture and iPhoto last Friday, there has been a tremendous amount of discussion about what the future holds for serious photographers using Apple products. I must admit that I was right there with the naysayers about how… Read More »

Pics.io – An Online Photo Converting, Editing, Sharing, and Storage Service for RAW Files

Pics.io – An Online Photo Converting, Editing, Sharing, and Storage Service for RAW Files There are plenty of inexpensive, even free, photo editing and online sharing outlets available out there, but there aren’t too many that allow you to edit and share photos using your camera’s RAW files – most services/products out there… Read More »

Aperture Adds Support for Lumix GH4

Aperture Adds Support for Lumix GH4, Ok, I’m going out on a limb here to say that as far as I can tell, Aperture is now supporting RAW files from the Panasoinc Lumix GH4. I have heard nothing about Apple bringing out an update to Aperture to support the GH4… Read More »

Aperture 4 May Be Just Around the Corner?

Aperture 4 may be just around the corner and I want to give a big shout out to “Peter” who was kind enough to alert me. I think/hope he may have some good information. Peter left a comment on an older Blog post Aperture 4, Aperture X, Whatever It’s Called, It… Read More »

5 Tips for Printing Your Own Photos

5 tips for printing your own photos are some tips I decided to offer based on popular request from our traveling Explorers. Unfortunately, it’s not a simple answer so I thought I would pick out the five most important things to know and understand to get the best results. If you want… Read More »

Pixelmator 3.1 Marble – A Photoshop Replacement – Optimized for Mac Pro

Pixelmator 3.1 Marble, a Photoshop replacement, has just been updated so you can take full advantage of the power of the new Mac Pro. Serious design work can now be handled at 16 bits per channel. For all of you who are not fans of the new Adobe Creative Cloud… Read More »

Aperture and Lightroom Tip: Reconnecting Referenced Files

One of the tremendous benefits of using a professional grade photo Digital Asset Management (DAM) program is the ability to keep your original photos on external hard drives. Two of the most popular DAM programs are Apple’s Aperture and Adobe’s Lightroom. These two options allow you to keep from filling… Read More »

Aperture Tip: Edit Video Within Aperture

I’m often asked about my preferences for digital photography workflow software. There are numerous options out there but the one I currently use is Aperture. I also know Adobe’s Lightroom quite well but I switched from Microsoft PCs to the Apple’s Mac system in 2004, specifically due to Aperture. Unfortunately… Read More »

Keeping Aperture Running Like a Cheetah

As I wait for the update to Apple’s newest MacPro line I’ve had some wrestling matches with my main Aperture library that contains all my digital files. Keep in mind that my library is over 750GB in size and holds nearly 400,000 Referenced images. So it’s larger than most, however,… Read More »

Apple Updates Camera RAW for Aperture and iPhoto

Last night Apple updated the RAW image capabilities for Aperture and iPhoto by releasing a software update for the following cameras. Canon EOS 70D Fujifilm X-M1 Leica M Leica M Monochrom Nikon Coolpix P330 Pentax 645D Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II To get the updates just go to… Read More »

Apple Priming the Pump for an Aperture Update?

Aperture Expert Joseph Linaschke recently discussed his thoughts about Apple updating the Aperture Software Developers Kit (SDK). This is the software for people who write plugins for Aperture use to make it all work together. Apparently Apple had not updated their Aperture SDK since Aperture 2.1. He declares this is… Read More »

The New Flickr ~ Stripping Your Photo’s Contact Information

Yesterday Yahoo announced they were improving their photo sharing site Flickr, giving every Flickr user one Terabyte of free cloud storage for photographs. “Wow” I thought. “What a deal”. I’ve had a Flickr account for a least a couple of years but I’ve never used it. So off I went… Read More »

Understanding the Issues of Stripping Contact Information From Your Photos

In my ongoing quest to end the stripping of Contact Information/Metadata from the photos we all share across the Internet, I’ve been reaching out to folks who have been working to bring attention to this problem much longer than I have. One of the Metadata/Contact Information heroes is a gentleman… Read More »

Orphan Works & Stripping Metadata/Contact Info From Your Photos Explained

I recently became aware of a podcast that does a great job of explaining the dangers of stripping Metadata/Contact Information from all of our photos posted to the web. Facebook is without a doubt the biggest offender. I’ve written a response to this Podcast that was originally going to be… Read More »

Aperture 4, Aperture X, Whatever It’s Called, It Will Be Superb!

I’ve been reading so many disparaging remarks lately about photographers being disappointed in not seeing a major update to Apple’s Aperture software. Admittedly, I’ve been hoping to see the next version myself but I’ve also tempered my disappointment with the understanding that I would much rather wait and see Apple… Read More »

Open Invitation to Photo Industry Players – Metadata Roundtable at PhotoPlus Expo 2013

I’m currently working with ASMP on a program to highlight the issues of Contact Information, known as Metadata, being stripped from our photographs when uploaded across the web. We’re planning to have a roundtable-like discussion this fall at PhotoPlus Expo 2013 in New York City. I’m interested in contacts representing any… Read More »

iPhoto – Simple, Extremely Easy and Now Customizable

One of the questions I’m often asked is what program I recommend for working with photos. I often respond with a few questions of my own to better understand the person’s comfort level and capabilities with computers. If they are new to digital photography, but computer literate, I often suggest… Read More »

Newsworthy Notes – Dell and Panasonic

Dell recently announced what sounds like a phenomenal series of monitors. They come in 24 and 27 inch models but their biggest claim to fame is they promise 99% coverage of the AdobeRGB color space. If true, that’s a big deal. We’ve been using Dell monitors for the past couple of… Read More »

Photoshop: Friend or Foe. You Decide.

A recent story by the BBC gives all photographers something to think about. They discuss in detail how manipulating an image can change the way the human memory recalls things. A quote from Rose Eveleth states, “Doctored images can affect what we eat, how we vote and even our childhood… Read More »

Apple’s Aperture Gets Another Update to 3.3.4

Apple’s been steadily updating their full fledged photo application, Aperture. Some have been disappointed that we haven’t seen a major update to version 4.0 yet I’m quite happy and enthusiastic about Aperture’s trajectory. While it’s true we haven’t seen the BIG update yet, I’m confident that it’s not far off.… Read More »

Quick, Easy, Free! Video Editing on the Mac With Quicktime

Many people often ask what program I use to edit my movies. Most of the time it’s Apple’s iMovie, and soon I plan to move to Apple’s Final Cut Pro X. Not sure if that will replace iMovie but we shall see. iMovie is so powerful and easy. Its main… Read More »

Apple’s Keynote and Pages – Getting Images Out of These Documents

I’m a huge fan of Apple’s Keynote and Pages programs. Keynote is the Apple equivalent to PowerPoint and Pages is the Apple version of Word. Both are extremely powerful and allow you to actually convert all respective documents to/from either of Microsoft’s versions of the similar program, and it does… Read More »

Pixelmator: Watermark Copyright Protection and Practically Free at $14.99

Creating watermarks for your photographs is something every photographer should be doing. It tells people you are proud of your hard work and at the same time offers a warning to those who wish to pirate your images and use them for their own purposes. All photographs are technically and… Read More »

Aperture’s Third Party Plugins

Aperture itself is an amazingly powerful workflow tool. But improving it’s capabilities is something you can do by adding third party plugins. What plugins do can vary. Some reduce noise, others allow you to combine images for HDR composites, there are lens correction tools and artistic filters, interpolation software as… Read More »

Introducing Joseph Linaschke: THE Aperture Expert

Workflow, the process of managing and working with your digital photos, is one of the most daunting, yet important aspects of being a competent photographer in todays digital world. Even if you don’t sell your images, the ability to put a finger on a particular picture, at a moments notice,… Read More »

Aperture Web Templates: Custom and Pre-Made

Greetings everybody. What a glorious day as I type this post, headphones on and jamming out to Steely Dan. It’s a cool September afternoon and I’m happy to be back in Montana. I love traveling but it’s always great to get home. I was doing a little web surfing this… Read More »

Capturing an Image and Post-Processing

The image below was first run as part of my final post for our Arctic Documentary Project in Svalbard/Spitsbergen, Norway. It’s kind of buried in the main blog so I though I would pull this out for easier reading. The key elements I used to create this image include the… Read More »

Popular (and free) RSS Readers

RSS is a simple way to stay up to date with your favorite blogs and social media sites. Instead of having to visit each site on a regular basis, why not have any new posts delivered right to your RSS inbox? Here are a few popular RSS services and software… Read More »