Ben Horton: Photos from the Edge
Understanding one application often helps users understand the conventions of another, Horton observes. “What I like about Apple software, including the pro apps, is that they all work pretty much the same way. In fact, if you know a program like Apple’s iPhoto, you can figure out how to use Aperture 2.”
Horton considers Aperture a major improvement over Adobe Bridge, his previous photo-organizing tool. “With Aperture, there are many more options available as I go through the images,” he says. “It’s easy to mark and filter out bad photographs. I can quickly maneuver from one folder to another and jump around. It takes just one click to find the shots that I want.”
In the Studio with Aperture
After Horton has downloaded his shots, he imports them as a project into Aperture. As he chooses the images for the project, he also has the opportunity to rename them and add metadata such as captions, keywords, copyright notices, credits, and other information.
After quickly rating his images—from reject to five-star—Horton reviews them again, re-rates any that don't meet his exacting standards, and applies a filter so that Aperture displays only the five-star images.
Next, Horton works on perfecting each image. He adjusts white balance, using the eyedropper tool to pick up the white point, then makes minor exposure and black point adjustments. He works on a saturation point that approximates the way he saw the shot when he recorded it. Though Aperture includes powerful tools for cloning and cropping, Horton relies on these only when needed to remove a dust speck, or to zoom into a shot if the most appropriate focal length lens was not available in the field.
Once he finishes editing his shots, Horton exports a master folder of his processed files, as well as another folder of smaller, 650 x 650 JPEG images. He also preserves all RAW files in case a client wants the shot to look different than Horton’s initial interpretation.
Picture-Perfect Presentations
But creating good work is only part of a photographer’s job. To make a mark, an artist needs to garner the interest of the public and his patrons. Professional-looking presentations have become de rigueur. Fortunately, Aperture includes built-in tools to simplify this process.
Once Horton has selected and processed his shots for a project, he uses Aperture’s book creation feature to organize, edit, and order bound copies of his portfolio. He can select from a range of nine book layouts, then choose, position, and crop the images and add accompanying text. The layout of the book, including covers and side flaps, is quickly configured onscreen.
Horton typically orders ten books online, which he passes out to his expedition sponsors as a “work in progress.” He also creates albums highlighting his work and posts them on his MobileMe website.
Horton’s photos—and his ability to present them in a compelling manner—have earned him his latest National Geographic Society grant to travel back to Cocos Island to track the effect of poachers on hammerhead sharks in the area. He hopes his work will help convince the Costa Rican government to expand its national park marine reserve to include this area, 340 miles off the country’s Pacific coast.
In addition to his digital camera gear, Horton will, of course, be taking his MacBook Pro and a copy of Aperture with him. “In the far reaches of our world, it’s not always easy to manage a thousand images,” he notes. “Often I’m dealing with weather conditions, rough terrain, and temperatures that are difficult for electronics.”
But Horton knows his Mac is up for the challenge. “One of my most memorable experiences managing photographs in a tough environment was while rafting the Grand Canyon for two weeks,” he says. “Every day our workstation had to be packed up and moved down the river in waterproof cases. Sand was constantly finding its way into the work tent, and water destroyed one entire hard drive—but through it all, our two MacBooks functioned perfectly and allowed us to continue the shoot.”
