Author: Derrick Story

Even if your camera doesn’t have GPS built-in, you can add location data to your photos using Aperture 3.5.

There are three major ways to do this. The first two involve looking up locations in Aperture’s Places, then applying that data to your images. The third technique pulls data from pictures captured with your iPhone. Since iPhone images are automatically geotagged, they can be used to mark photos captured with a regular digital camera.

Here’s how it all works.

Drag and drop using Places

This method is terrific when you’ve captured pictures at a location displayed on a map. For example, I shot a series of photos at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara. If I zoom in on a map of that area, the Wharf is displayed. So all I have to do is drag my pictures on to that location to tag them. Here are the steps.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Much has been written about the Wi-Fi capability of new cameras. But how do you integrate these features into a useful workflow?

In part, the answer depends on the abilities of both the camera and its companion app. I’ve tested a number of cameras for this purpose and have settled on two that I use for my work: the Canon 70D and the Olympus OM-D E-M1. (Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, and others are also doing a great job in this area.)

As a real-world example, here is the workflow that I used to cover the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year. With these tools, I was able to use remote-control capture, transfer pictures to mobile devices, sort images, apply filters, and publish to online sites.

Setup and tools

Using the iPhone 5s and the iPad mini with Retina display, I published photos daily from the Las Vegas Convention Center, while my MacBook Pro was locked in the hotel room safe. Before leaving for my assignment, I downloaded and tested the EOS Remote and the Olympus Image Share iOS apps on both devices.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

We seldom have complete control when shooting portraits, but we are masters of our images when we open them in Aperture for editing. In just five easy steps, you can transform a ho-hum snapshot into framable work of art.

Step 1: Crop to taste

Nearly every portrait benefits from cropping. By zooming in a bit tighter, we can bring out the subject’s personality.

Enable the cropping tool by clicking on its icon at the bottom of the screen, or by pressing the C key. A floating palette appears along with an adjustable grid. Click and drag on any of the eight handles of the grid to frame the image.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The iPhone is a capable device for most of our daily snapshots. And even though it’s not quite as versatile as a dedicated digital camera, you can still capture stunning portraits. Here are some great techniques for top notch people shots using the camera you always have with you.

Reflectors for fill light

The iPhone’s LED flash is decent for indoor photography, but isn’t strong enough to serve as a fill flash in bright daylight conditions. When outdoors, you can add more pop to your pictures by using a reflector.

Photographers often use collapsable disc reflectors for this purpose. Chances are good that you don’t have this accessory in your backpack. But you may have a car windshield shade available.

For self portraits, hold the reflector on the opposite side of the sun and bounce the light into your face. If you have a friend with you, they can hold it instead. Many windshield shades have both a shiny and a white side. In bright conditions, the white surface should work just fine. On partly cloudy days, you may want to use the shiny side to direct more light onto the subject.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here