There must be something in the air this year, because all around me I see friends and colleagues kicking butt left and right. People are going back to school and writing books and exercising and taking stock in their health (both physical and mental) and taking on all sorts of Big And Amazing Projects™. All those “I’d really like to do this but I can’t right now” goals they’d been putting off for so long, they’re finally tackling. For my part, I’d made some minor accomplishments in the areas of eating well and exercising, and I’d started the planning stages on a few photography projects I’m excited for, but it wasn’t until today that I actually did something.

A recent conversation with photographer buddies made me realize that there are a number of photographers out there that don’t work in black & white at all. A number, I’m sure, that’s rapidly growing.

However just because you’re not familiar with (or even like) black & white photography, it still pays to dabble in it every now and then, for a number of reasons. Not only will it be good for your photographs, it’ll be good for your photography.

My dad was a cop. One of New York’s Finest. He served for eleven years before retiring as a Detective Lieutenant (Auto Crime) when we moved to the Philippines in ’82. Whenever someone would ask what my dad did when we lived in New York, there was always a sense of pride in my reply. Every kid thinks his dad is Superman, but how many of them actually threw people in jail? How many had guns and dress blues and medals?

Overnight, Lightroom became king and Photoshop became the tool I brought out once in a while for more involved retouching. I even avoided taking images into Photoshop after developing them in Lightroom (a common process) simply because Lightroom’s simplicity made Photoshop look positively arcane.

At least, it did. I may be rethinking my stance after playing with the PSKiss Toolkits.

It snowed today, the earliest New York has received at least an inch of snow in recorded weather history. I’d write more but honestly, not much else really need be said. Besides, after a night out (like a little bit of snow is gonna stop anyone) I’m in dire need of some thawing out.

While on my two-week sojourn back to The Bay, a friend and ex-coworker reached out to me. I’d shot her son’s first birthday a couple years back and as the family had since increased by one, they were hoping for some family portraits. I was more than happy to oblige.

It’s raining out. Despite the fact that she isn’t even here yet, Irene has officially taken hold of New York City. Stores stripped bare, the streets so empty you’d think the Ascension had happened while you were napping. At home and bored, listening to the rain pelt the streets outside, I decided to hop into a ZipCar and do a little cruising.

I recently got my hands on a copy of the PSKiss Skin & Scenery Color profile and preset pack, and while I’m not much of a preset kinda guy (aside from a few home-cooked ones and a small handful of black & white presets), I was impressed enough with the camera profiles that I figured I’d talk about it some.

While sorting through photos from a recent road trip through the Southwest a couple of weeks ago, I came across a photo that wasn’t good enough to keep but made a perfect candidate for a quick demo of the salvaging power of RAW images. I cooked up a quick before/after shot (not unlike the one above) and shared it on Reddit.

For those not yet familiar with it, 500px is a relatively new photo sharing site that… okay, yes. I know. Another one? But this one is a little different. Whereas Flickr is meant as a sort of “socially-oriented photodump” and SmugMug is meant as a sort of “pro-oriented photodump,” 500px is more of a “pro-oriented online portfolio” than anything else.