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10.10.3, oh how I will miss the Aperture application, Photos for OS X at this point isn’t going to be a good replacement for what Aperture used to do for me. Aperture was innovative and first on the scene with photo organization for professional photographers like myself, I’ve owned it and used it religiously since version 1, which each release the solid features were made better and better.

My heart dropped and hoped all at the same time last summer when I saw “Photos for OS X” demonstrated, I had hopes that it would allow me to use some more powerful features that are now available in Aperture and sync with my iPad, I couldn’t wait for that, hoping that it would be possible to edit photos while on the go.

Having only worked with “Photos for OS X” a short time, like the rest of the world really, some of the short comings are almost immediately obvious.

1. It’s hard to browse the photos and edit them at the same time. Aperture had a HUD that would allow edits to be applied without using the “Edit” button. The “Edit” button seems to be a hold over from iPhoto, separating the photographer from the photographs with an extra, unnecessary step, the photos are kept safe until you can manage all of the extra clicks needed to get access to perform an edit.

2. No HUD, the HUD was an amazingly useful “feature” in Aperture, allowing me to view photos full screen while applying edits. Photos doesn’t come even close to this feature, which requires that the “EDIT” bar available with pressing of the “Edit” button to stay visible the entire time I’m doing edits against the photographs.

3. Star ratings, a missing feature for anyone who wants to quickly sort down their photographs when only a heart isn’t going to do the job and you don’t have time to find the “tags” menu.

4. Ability to apply tag’s quickly is missing, I guess that Apple thinks my entire life should be organized by date and faces, never mind that I’m a landscape photographer as much as I am anything else.

5. Open in and plugins, I own a copy of HDR Efex and would really love to be able to edit my photographs in this tool but can’t until Apple in their wisdom allows plugins and “Open In” again.

6. Ability to copy and paste edits, as a professional photographer this is key, and a feature that I have become so used to using that it’s not one that I will do without on account that so many tools have them. Sure if you’re a sometimes photographer you can get away with applying edits to photographs one at a time, but with smart phones I don’t know a single person that is a “sometimes” photographer any more. Many people have more photographs on their phones than their grandparents and certainly great-grandparents had in their entire slide collection, the old way of showing and organizing photographs.

to be continued…

After our first session in which we took advantage of the country side Ms. W wanted another session more close to home, with photographs much more focused on her face. Below is a a sample of the photographs taken in Downtown Visalia and Mooney’s Grove.

The Barnes family and I had a great time making their family photograph session a memoriable outing, taking the entire fimily to Woodward Park to take family photographs. Woodward Park in Fresno, California is a great place to take portraits, it offers a variety of locations and textures as backdrops for photographs.

The Barnes family and I have already agreed that as spring finds it’s way to the Central San Jouquin Valley here in wonderful Central California that we will find time to get together again and take some additional photographs. Hopefully next time there will be more time to play with their kids on the slides and swings, and the cold evening will be months behind us.

It’s always great when peoples children can become comfortable with you in such a short amount of time, it really allows shots that wouldn’t otherwise be captured. Featured above the Barnes familys’ yougest and only son finds time to give me a full grin smile, though not quite what I may have been looking for it are these moments that people often look back on and remember.

Many thanks to the Barnes Family for the opportunity to photograph both the family and their children. I look forward to working with your family again in the near future.

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Prints can be seen/purchased through my print service at: http://gallery.kjfphoto.com

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A long time friend of mine through Battalion and his wife had a baby, and graciously allowed me to come over with my cameras and bright lights. To take infant photographs their new child. Below are samples of the photographs taken. Baby photography is a new venue for me as wedding and portrait photography up until these photographs had been my main thrust.

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