Updated 18/12/2008

Kia ora tatou:

A number of you may remember a post where I drew attention to the fact that I had been challenged to pick up my film camera again.

The results were exciting and opened me to old/new possibilities in picture-making. I will restate that: it opened me to revisiting old school technologies and incorporating them into a new way of working. Can I try that again: it offered the opportunity to take old-school technologies and use old methodologies to make…O, forget it.

When I walked away from film some 3 years ago, I never thought I would return, and all that knowledge gathered over a 15-year stretch with fil would become redundant. For  some reason, I held on to my EOS 1vHS. Back then I could have got a reasonable amount for the camera. Today a camera (hardly-used) which cost me $4.5k to buy is worth, at best, $300 to trade. All that time it has sat there, forlorn and forgotten, in my gear safe. In the last few weeks, however, it has had more work than my 1DS Mk III.

And I am loving it (are you reading this, Doc? Stop sniggering). (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Adobe announced yesterday the final release of Lightroom 2.1. I have been using the Beta version for the last couple of months, without anything untoward happening. If you open the application, it should prompt you to up grade. Do so. Besides supporting the latest camera models, you should find a marked performance increase. I know I did.

I have learned that it is often a good idea to have a look through the readme file that comes with an application. Sometimes they tell you nothing of significance; at other times they can give you real insight. Included here are the “known Issues” from 2.1.

Known Issues
Burning exported images to disc is not available for the Lightroom 64-bit Windows application.
Upgrading a Lightroom 1 catalog during a catalog import can create multiple temporary copies of the catalog while upgrading

Lightroom performance can be impacted when the Window’s Recycle Bin contains thousands of files. Hmmm.. that may explain why it sometimes runs really slowly!
Lightroom may not automatically launch an import dialog when a memory card is attached to a Windows Vista computer. Please select the Import button in the Library and select the attached card reader to begin the import.Yep, that one I am aware of. Thanks for confirming that it isn’t me!
Catalogs with hundreds of root (top level) folders can cause very slow launch times. We are currently testing a fix for this but need more time to evaluate it. As a workaround, try right-clicking a root folder and choosing “Add Parent Folder” until the number of folders at the left-most level of the Folders hierarchy is significantly reduced.
We are still working on additional methods to improve the performance of the new Localized Correction features. Good to hear it!

I have also included the fixes published by Adobe, to save you having to hunt them out. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Not my usual post.

Yesterday this email found its way to me:

Good morning

Can you please advise :

I have about 5000 35mm slides (transparencies), which have been in storage for nearly 6 years

Recently I viewed most of them.  General condition is good, but dust & fungus appears on some, a few have become discoloured (mauve/purple) and with some of the oldest, the emulsion is totally destroyed.

I want to copy to digital format and endeavour to restore where possible, using PhotoShop.

I have looked at several scanners - 2 Nikon Coolscan models are way too expensive, 2 Epson Perfection models (V700 & V500) are pricey, and 2 Canon’s (CS8800F and CS5600F) are affordable.  Would there be any reason not to get one of the Canon scanners? Are there other scanners which I should look at?

Ordinarily I would just deal direct, but this was the second question of its type in a fortnight, and it got me to thinking about the slides I had lying in storage…somewhere, and about all the slides that must be mouldering in cupboards throughout the land. I am sure many of us have good intentions about turning all those memories into digital format… at some point.

I know I did. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Over the last few weeks, I have been getting to know Lightroom 2.0. As  I do so, I become more and more impressed. For those of you sitting on the fence, here are 10 reasons (in no particular order) to make the jump.

1. The graduated filter Let’s face it, adding a gradient to simulate a grad filter in CS3 is a chore and one which takes time. In LR it is a breeze. What is more, you can add multiple gradient masks to selectively grad the image. All non-destructive, of course.
2. The adjustment brush. You choose the size, specify the feathering and go to work. Dodge and burn? no problem. O, and did I mention you can adjust saturation, sharpening, contrast and a few other things as well, using this tool? (more…)
   

As many of you who have attended my workshops know, especially those who have asked me which raw converter I use, I use a variety. I suppose it is a hangover from my darkroom days, when I used to use a range of different film developers. Each one had its own strengths (and weaknesses) and the ability to impart a different ‘look’ to the finished negative. I just had to know the look I wanted before I developed the film. So, depending on the film stock, the scene contrast and the printing paper I would be using, I might select Rodinal or D-76 or Tetenal Ultrafin or even HC-110. By experimenting and exploring, I came to be able to predict the finished result and hence give myself choices.

I suppose I stood at one end of a spectrum. From time to time I would meet photographers from the other end, people who would tell me that they only used Ilford film, processed in Ilford chemistry and printed on Ilford paper, dev’d in Ilford developers. Why use anything else? they would say, and accuse me of wasting unnecessary time, of ‘playing around’. It always seemed to me that this approach was akin to supporting only one TV channel, of saying’ I only watch Channel X news. Being an inveterate channel surfer (you know, one of those irritating people who sit there, remote in hand, watching four channels at the same time) I couldn’t help myself. I needed to know what I could expect when I combined film A with developer B. I remain unapologetic. It meant I became multilingual in the darkroom and my armoury held a variety of weapons.

Enter digital photography. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

For those of you brave souls trying out LightRoom 2.0 Beta, be aware that being a beta, it is unsupported and fairly bug-ridden. As people spot issues and report them, the development team will be working to fix them. When you realise how many million lines of code there are in a relatively simple application and that the simple misplacement of a semi-colon can have huge downstream effects, then it is probably undersatanable….

Andrew Spencer, are you reading this?

For your edification, I have published the Release Notes, which contain a list of the known bugs ( known, that is…there will be others): (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Time for a rant.

In a recent post, I let you know that Adobe had pulled the 1.4 update, claiming that it would do no damage to files whatsoever.

Andrew wrote:

I’m just starting to have some faith in Lightroom as a dependable piece of my workflow and it decides it’s going to slice and dice my RAW files as I work. After much hair pulling, checking and rechecking software and hardware I stumbled on this major Adobe glitch. Unbelievable, these guys tell us they aren’t messing with our RAW files then they decide that maybe;
‘Any ensuing metadata update will attempt to incorrectly modify the EXIF time stamp in the original raw file itself. This is the only metadata field that Lightroom will write to an original proprietary raw file. This error will not impact the integrity of your image data.’
Yeah right, come and have a look at about 30 of my mashed files.

I got away with it. Just.

A nick of time thing….

But wait. there’s more.. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:
I promised to lift this post from deep down in the archives, dust it off and repost it.

Think of it a more as a consciousness-raising exercise than a 20 000 word treatise on the subject. There are plenty of how-to links on the Net. Look here and here. Oh, and here.

I do want to talk a little about the whole issue however and offer some guidelines.

It’s less about the tools and more about the philosophy. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Some of you love MacOS, some of you love XP, some of you even love fixing your own car (I refer to Linux distros).

I am a Vista fan. XP now feels to me like driving a 1960’s British car….

They all have their good points (and bad). She’s a hard road, finding the perfect OS.

I came across this article comparing the merits and demerits of the major operating systems, and ever being one to enjoy throwing petrol on the flames, I include it here.

Enjoy.

Over the year I get to try a lot of software in the digital imaging and related computer area. Some is good and some unashamedly awful.
I felt like having a small ceremony to give an award of no value whatsoever as a way of celebrating the best and worst in a few simple categories.
So here as follows:
The Most Useful Piece of RAW Processing Software
And the winner is…. (more…)

DNG vs RAW vs Jpeg-the mission continues…

Kia ora:

in a post not long ago, I pointed out that sooner or later, I would respond to Mary Jo’s request for some sort of statement on the question of the DNG format and why you might want to use it instead of Raw or JPEG format. Well, I thought the answer would be relatively straightforward.

It isn’t.

I guess the best way to think of it is to imagine going out. late one night for a swim in a clear blue mountain stream sparkling in the moonlight, but finding instead that you have jumped into a muddy, swollen torrent. The more I have attempted to swim, the more I’ve found that I am trying to cross the Mississippi!

Nonetheless, I have kept on going, realising that the answer (if any) is as important for me as it probably is for you.

With that in mind, here is a summary of what I’ve learned to date. It is not an easy read, far from it, and at the end of this you may well be as confused as you were at the beginning, but I have done my best to try and unpack the whole vexed process.

I would strongly suggest that you do not try reading this after a full meal and a few wines. This is the sort of read you should only attempt after a light salad and half a dozen Red Bulls. (more…)

Long-term CD/DVD storage

From a blog I haunt…

We’re all making loads and loads of CDs and DVDs nowadays - music compilations, backups and storage for digital photos and video. But what’s the best way to protect these discs from damage?

Here are my top tips for CD and DVD storage.

* Keep fingers off both sides of the disc, not just the “data” side but also the label side. The grease and acids on the skin can damage discs. Pick discs up by putting a finger tip through the hole and resting a thumb on the edge.
* Store discs in a jewel cases. Soft-sleeve cases don’t protect the discs from scratching and deformation. There is also a danger that the plasticizers from some plastic sleeves could cause damage to the discs in the long term.
* Don’t drop or bend discs.
* Don’t stick adhesive labels to the surface (unless they are designed for CDs or DVDs).
* Store discs in a cool and moderately dry environment. Slight temperature and humidity changes won’t harm them but fast changes between very warm and wet conditions to cooler and very dry conditions can sometimes result in warping and distortion.
* Store discs away from bright light as this can damage the dyes used in recordable CDs and DVDs. Keep them away from direct sunlight too (sunlight contains high levels of UV which can damage discs).
* Remove dirt, fingerprints, smudges, and liquid splashes by wiping with a clean cotton fabric in a straight line from the center of the disc toward the outer edge. Never clean in a circular direction around the disc. Use isopropyl alcohol or methanol to remove stubborn dirt.
* For maximum lifespan, don’t store discs horizontally for extended periods. Store them vertically in a jewel case.

A temperature of 18°C and 40% relative humidity is considered suitable for long-term storage.

A CD or DVD can get quite hot when being read (55°C) so it’s a good idea not to keep an important disc in the drive for extended periods.

Kia ora tatou:

I receive an E-letter from PcWorld, which helps me to keep up with developments in IT.

The other day, I received this rant from Oliver Rist, who writes for them…

Mac bigafficionadoes will NOT want to read this….

The headline reads:

Leopard Is the New Vista, and It Pisses Me Off
Microsoft Vista’s been taking its lumps for months now, but it could be Apple’s turn for a sucker punch. Networking and Business Analyst Oliver Rist unloads a Leopard screed that, to be honest, is not for the faint of heart. In a nutshell, Rist was so frustrated with Apple’s new operating system that he rolled back to the previous version. This is quite a tale. Buckle in and get ready for one wild ride.

There is an opposite point-of-view available….

Ka kite ano

Kia ora tatou:

A few years ago, I was teaching a workshop in RAW at Canterbury University. In the class was a quiet Taiwanese whose pictures blew me away. There was an elegance and simplicity to them, a sense of balance and restraint that was utterly divine. We got to talking.

Since then the friendship has grown. We have travelled together, photographed together and talked about the art of photography a lot. I don’t see Ray that much or as much as I would like. He is a dentist by trade, and spends term-time up in Taipei, working the sort of hours that a Kiwi dentist would never countenance, to support his family back here in Christchurch. His wife is a wonderful painter, whose work has the same glorious balnce as his photography. Every school holidays he returns to be with them for a few short weeks. Not a life I would like, but a measure of his dedication to them, and his quiet integrity. I hold him in the highest regard as a person and photographer. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:
After having used 1.1 for a week or so, I have so far been really impressed. It is a substantial upgrade from 1.o, which was a major improvement on Beta 4.

Here are some impressions:

1. In an older post I knocked the Sharpening function in LR1.0 as being crude, akin to doing brain surgery with a chainsaw. Well they have sorted it and it is now a more subtle tool, still not in the same class as Photokit Sharpener, but good for 90% of what you will need.
2. The catalog now enables you to share between multiple computers, or to run several of them. Nice.
3. The Library now has more sophisticated filtering and something called the Painter. It looks very cool ( when I have the time to figure out what it does)
4. Keywords can be organised into sets.
5. The Develop module now has a greater range of presets,including sharpening presets. Sweet. The photo of Cassie in the next post was processed using the Selenium preset.
6. Clarity has been added to the Vibrance/Saturation submenu. This improves microcontrast and microsaturation and is very good for slightly flat images
7. Sharpening now has 4 sliders instead of just the one. You get Amount, Radius, Detail and Masking (aka Threshold).
8. Preferences ( always a first port of call when customising an Adobe product to the way you work) offers more options.
9. No change that I can see in the Slideshow module, and you still can’t export a pdf with sound. Thank goodness for ProShow.
10. The Print module has more presets, but otherwise the song remains the same. Why fix a thing when it ain’t broke?

I am not 100% sure of this, but it seems to run quicker on my PC ( Intel 6600 dual core, 2Gb Corsair 800 RAM). I don’t know whether it was me, but 1.0 was flaky at times and ran slowly. 1.1 has (so far) been faster and more stable. I would be interested to hear if any of you have similar issues…

All good reasons to make the upgrade.

Ka kite ano