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Photography, as an art form, is continual process of learning and improvement. The digital process only enhances the slope of the learning curve and increases by ten-fold the opportunities for self-improvement and discovery of one’s individual, artistic vision.

This is one of the reasons why I think the majority of pro shooters out there gravitate toward Apple. The company is driven by the input and needs of their customers, not only with hardware but increasingly as it applies to software development.

I love Apple Aperture. Sure I still use Photoshop CS3, but now I use Aperture for about 99% of my editing and post-production work.

And now with the release of 2.1 with plug-in capabilities, Aperture is poised to challenge head-on the great Yamato of the Adobe fleet.

A third-party plug-in for Aperture that was just released today is Nik Software’s Viveza. This is an incredibly powerful and easy to use plug-in that allows the photographer to adjust brightness, contrast and saturation by pin-point color selection, but in a way that is thoroughly smooth and not nearly as clumsy as adjustment layers in PS.

The problem is the plug-in’s price tag of $249.00. Ouch ! Good thing Nik provided a 15-day trial version.

I’ve gone through and applied Viveza (I like the name because it reminds me of ‘velvia’) to some of my favorite portfolio photographs. Another benefit of working in Aperture is that the original, raw image files are automatically protected.

Take a look and let me know what you think -

First image is non-Viveza. Second image is with Viveza.

In the beauty of nature, there is only truth . . .

The two images I’ve included with this post illustrate the variety and rush of experiences I’ve had during the last 10 days of April.

One week I’m in Hocking Hills, Ohio, photographing the early spring landscape and volunteering as a judge in the annual Shoot the Hills photography competition. Then it was back home to close on the sale of our home in Kettering and clear away the last remaining items in a three-day garage sale. Immediately after that, last Monday, was a full-day, architectural photo shoot assignment for Housetrends Magazine, and then on Wednesday morning I was headed to the Big Apple for a slide presentation on my work with the Ohio landscape to the photography committee of NYC chapter of the Sierra Club.

I packed light for my trip to New York, so the only camera I had with me was the one that comes with my iPhone. The pic above was one of the views from my hotel, located near Central Park in Midtown Manhattan.

It was good to go back to New York for that short visit. The city is full of energy with sights, sounds and smells that at times can overwhelm the senses, and not in a bad way.

The last time I was in NYC was on September 11, 2001. I spent the entire day over at the Clarion Hotel next to LaGuardia in Queens. This past Wednesday I flew into that same airport. It was slightly strange, but after six and half years I can safely say yes, despite the horror and tragedy of that event, life does indeed go on.

I truly enjoyed the experience of sharing my photographs of Ohio with the Sierra Club. Lots of positive reactions, insightful commentary and good questions.

My first time in Midtown Manhattan I was impressed that I was able to walk with ease and without getting lost from my hotel to the meeting location. On the way I had the opportunity to walk through a portion of Central Park. It was beautiful. In the future I’d like to return just to spend a day or two photographing this natural sanctuary in the middle of the city that never sleeps.

The only odd experience I had was watching “Cloverfield” in the hotel later that night, which was shot mostly on location in the very area of Midtown where I was staying. Kind of weird watching the movie while inside one of the high-rise hotels destroyed by the movie monster, especially in the unique Blair Witch-style of film making that was used to shoot “Cloverfield.” Needless to say, strange dreams came calling that evening.

I haven’t been posting in a while because I’ve been incredibly busy moving. I had a three-day garage sale that started last Thursday. That can be a tiring process when you try to do it yourself.

On Saturday the mailman delivered a package from the Outdoor Writers of Ohio. For some reason they always use my home address. Anyway the package contained an award plaque for 1st Place, The Karl Maslowski Award: Best Color Nature Photo for 2007.

The image was a vertical, spring-time shot of Blue Hen Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This photograph was published on the cover of the Trail Guide - Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 3rd Edition.

This was award was my second from the OWO since joining back in 2004.