Category Archives: For Photographers

NEWS: WEBSITE UPDATED

Just finished updating my website with lots of new images and improved design elements. I believe in keeping things simple when showcasing images online and let the images do the talking rather than overload your senses with other webpage gimmicks. Having said this, I think the new design is an overall improvement for the viewer....

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WEDDING: CLAUDIA AND TRAVIS

LAST SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 2009, CLAUDIA AND TRAVIS TIED THE KNOT AT SAN FERNANDO CATHEDRAL with their reception following at Southwest School of Art and Craft. I first met Claudia and Travis back in August 2008, so I know the planning process has been rather drawn out for them as they secured the locations they...

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January 19, 2010 - 1:21 pm

Philip Thomas - Hi Juanita,

Thank you for your comment. As I already replied to you on December 28, you need to contact Claudia or Travis for access. They are the folks who allow friends and family to view them. You may be able to access them via this link:

http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=750569

Hoep this helps.

Warm regards,
Philip

January 19, 2010 - 1:06 pm

Juanita Luensmann - I am ready to buy my pictures but can not get the right web site

San Antonio Weddings Publishes Article About Top 10 Image In Brides Magazine/WPJA Competition

San Antonio Weddings were very kind to write an article about my top 10 Brides Magazine photo. Check the full article out here. Share on Facebook

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Top Ten Image Winner For 2009 Brides Magazine/WPJA Contest

I’m excited and humbled to share news with you that I received a top ten image (actually scored 9th) for the 2009 Brides Magazine competition in the ‘Parents’ Category. This is the third annual wedding photojournalism contest in collaboration with Brides magazine and the WPJA-Wedding Photojournalist Association. The international contest is open to only WPJA...

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October 27, 2009 - 4:43 pm

Philip Thomas - Thank you, Denise. You’re very kind.

October 19, 2009 - 10:51 pm

Miguel Mayo - Congratulations, amazing image!

October 19, 2009 - 1:06 pm

The Wedding Lady in San Antonio - Philip, you truly are a master of the art. Your work is always outstanding. Great shot!

October 16, 2009 - 8:55 pm

Erin McLarty - Congrats, Philip! It’s a beautiful shot. :)

Prime Lenses

I’ve used Nikon gear since ’94. Before that I was using Mamiya and Contax with carl zeiss lenses. Due to the expense and the fact I was, well, dirt poor, I sold that gear and moved onto Nikon. I’ve generally always had tons of lenses, from wide angles to long powerful 300mm lenses. Pretty useful...

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October 12, 2009 - 11:07 am

shaun - I use a 24mm 1.4 and a 50mm 1.4 a LOT for my weddings. Even with the advent of the super high ISO DSLR cameras. For anything in the 35-75 range all you need is to take a step forwards or backwards!

Super wide and super telephoto are a different matter though.

October 8, 2009 - 5:30 am

Neil Smith - Hey Philip, I think we used to go to school together! Barnham, late 80′s…?

You’ve got some amazing shots on here. Puts my efforts to shame. Completely agree with you about prime lenses, I find myself feeling a lot more comfortable when I have to zoom with my feet!

All the best,
Neil

October 5, 2009 - 9:16 am

admin - Hi Stephen,

Thanks so much for your kind feedback and interesting comments.

We’re all a work in progress, right? Have a great week.How’s the weather over there? It’s been a year since I was there last but I’m hoping to get back next summer.

Cheers!
Philip

October 4, 2009 - 6:20 am

Stephen Bunn - Very well put… I have been shooting weddings for just over 12 months now and while new to this and still developing a style I have to say that my lens choice is really shaping that style. Although I own a 24-70 2.8 and a 17-35 zoom, I am finding more and more I just want to leave them in my bag as I get better results with my 35mm F2. Hands down my favorite lens as it pushes me to be more creative and move more freely. That said I do feel a little uncomfortable to use it at first as I feel clients want to see big cameras mounted with flash and telephoto lens as this shouts Professional in their minds… but as we all know, thats not necessarily the case.

Great work. thanks for posting your thoughts.

Steve

October 1, 2009 - 5:59 am

Kevin Mullins - I agree – by far my favourite lenses are the 35 and 85 primes. I still need a zoom of some sort but I think a 50mm is next on my list followed by a 24 and that’s my full range then. Great post Philip. Kevin

My Post Production Workflow

Today, I’m going to share my secrets of getting great color and monochromatic images. OK, maybe not secrets, I just wrote that because I wanted your attention. Clients often tell me how much they love the final prints or albums so I thought I’d share how I get great prints for photographers and well, anyone...

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December 17, 2009 - 11:12 am

Philip Thomas - Just to add about making a droplet in Adobe LightRoom. I though I’d expand and share with you as a photographer was asking.

• First of all. Copy the actions so if you mess up, you can always go back to them.
• To do this, open PhotoShop,  hold the option key (on a a mac) and drag the actions in your action palette, somewhere just below. The new actions will say (subject-copy) in the title.
• Open up one of the actions you’d like to test this on. You’ll have to amend one of the actions. You’ll need to add ‘flatten’ file into each action you want to use.
• To do this, open up any file, run the action, wait for it to finish, and then at the bottom of the action palette , click the red ‘begin recording’  and then click the last order in the open action. Whatever you press now, will be recorded as an action. Go to ‘layer’ in the top PS menu, scroll down to ‘flatten’ image. Then click the red recording button to stop the action. All you’ve done is added an additional step to flatten the image. Close up the action and run a test image again. Close.
• Then, highlighting the action you want to create a droplet. To do this, click file in PS, scroll down to ‘automate’,  ‘droplet’.  Choose where you want to store the droplet. It could be on your desktop for example.
• In the destination, choose a location other than the original folder. I created a folder named ‘Post TIFF files’.  Click suppress color profile warning. Close/Save.
• Now, go to lightroom, click the export in the menu bar. Click ‘add’ and  ‘user presets’, name it the same as the action your running. Choose your file settings, tiff for example. Open ‘post processing’ at the bottom, click in the ‘after export’, then click ‘Go to export action folder now’. 
• Drag the droplet you made earlier to the export action folder. Then back in LR, click on the droplet in the ‘after export’.
• Check the photos in your new export folder. A droplet can be made with any action. To save as a jpeg, you must edit the droplet and use the ‘save as’ command. If saving as a tiff, this is not necessary.

Hope this helps to clarify a few things. If you have comments, please add them below to help others.

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