Some of my "Toys" for Rudra & Others.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by andy153

But as with all things I suppose it is horses for courses - I wonder now what others are thinking.

I guess it depends on your style Andy. I was never into cross processing in the wet darkroom days nor did I get into the Cokin filter system as it was just not my style. In the film days I was primarily into Technical Pan ( b&w ) and colour was primarily transparency Kodachrome 25 & 64 and Fujichrome 50. That all suggests fine grain and high resolution were my drivers.

Along came WPF before which I had spent most of my time in the previous few years Model Engineering so took very few pics.
WPF fired the enthusiasm again and I quickly found the limitations for me in the D100. Primarily I could not use any of my old lenses so was limited to 28-105 zoom. For my flash stuff the dark viewfinder and manual focussing were just a pain. ( Manual focus used to get focus at a precise point while still filling the frame as much as possible to maximise the available pixels A/F points always in the wrong place. )

I then took a concious decision to throw all the available budget into the finest grain - read - sensor resolution body with a decent viewfinder available within that budget and recognise I would be using my old M/F lenses, even to the point of making adaptors to allow the use of old enlarging lenses for macro. This probably marks me out as the WPF oddball.

Next problem with digital was processing. Before Foxy visited and through reading the various threads in the forum I was pretty clueless. After a bit of experimentation I discovered the difference between RAW and Jpeg and decided I had to always shoot in RAW. On the D100 the differences are quite marked even on a straight raw conversion. With a lot of help from Foxy I was on the way using Nikon Capture 4. Photoshop is a complex program ........ easy for those who know how but not for initial use. Along came NX and I was happy as it is so easy to pick up. Quality of posted images improved.

A few images posted in the gallery such as Rudras -
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...user=3028&sl=r
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...user=3028&sl=r
then fired the desire to get a bit of a better handle on CS. Not that I don't think NX could make a fair job, but possibly I could get better B&W conversion in CS. Now Rudra has been kind enough to post his composites and some of the original images that made them up I am even more fired up. No cash to spend, so no Wacom tablet or other processing progs so it will all have to be done with what I currently have. But then thats the challenge.

Don

[andy153]

Thanks for that Don - I agree it depends on our styles - also the wider the appreciation of those various styles - the better it is for all of us. I'm so glad I started this thread because the way Rudra has picked it up and run with it is something I hope all of WPF can appreciate. He is truly inspirational and his explanations are clear and to the point. I too am pretty clueless with a lot of PS - it is such a complex program. On the Dovedale meet - Clive (Gidders) had a laptop with him and was using PS during lunch - he was very informative as well. Derek and I both got fired up by him. We are all going to have our own styles and foibles and for me WPF is the best place I've found - bar none for us to share and help each other develop - ( I'm also on Nikonians, Nikon Cafe, pBase, Birdforum and some others ) but none comes close with the helpfulness I find in WPF nor with the number of members who are prepared to pitch in on a problem. It does the team behind WPF great credit, which perhaps we do not appreciate at times.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by andy153

.... I've just been looking at the Nik website again and I've refreshed my memory with Capture NX - I think that they have developed this for Nikon. The upoint control in NX is identical and I'll try it out some more - It does make these adjustments so easy to use and almost intuitive - I'll get back later. Thanks.

Andy,

Nik did develop NX in conjunction with Nikon to replace NC4.4.
If you want a quick refresh then there is a thread on NX.
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1341

Don

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by andy153

your equipment and more is a must for anyone who wishes to follow your path and also for those like me who just wish to take photo's to enjoy.

Andy, are you talking about my equipments?

But I have to admit I will continue to have fun with them.

You must and for two reasons. One, to know those products better and two, to teach us more about them.

So now for a lot more practice with the Wacom, I saw your point about fine tuning the pen and am working on that.

Yes, it’s a fantastic tool for almost every single image application. Be vector or raster.

Thank you again for what I consider a Master Class in photography and for opening my eyes to more possibilities. Andy

. What I do in my professional life is fight a cutthroat game. Most of the professional photographers here have very little idea about offset printing. They try to do their own image correction before handing over those images to their clients. Problem starts from that point. We get absolutely hard contrast images in 8 bits. It becomes a mammoth task to bring them back in some shape. It’s not always the case but most of the time. What looks nice on a monitor may look totally different after processing and proofing. What looks correct in my monitor may look disastrous on pre-press setup. An acceptable balance has to be there. Through applying one filter one may get a better tonal value from a burnt face. And it may look perfectly ok on monitors, especially in small size. But what gives us that confidence that it’s perfectly ok for a huge blow-up? There’s no change in tonal value from face to other exposed part of the skin?
These are all my assumption. May be that particular software has taken care of all these issues. Only time will tell. And of course your playing with them.

Originally Posted by Don Hoey

In the film days I was primarily into Technical Pan ( b&w ) and colour was primarily transparency Kodachrome 25 & 64 and Fujichrome 50. That all suggests fine grain and high resolution were my drivers.

And in India it was problem galore. Kodachrome use to come out like OROWCHROME from the labs. I remember sending Kodachrome to Germany for right processing. We used to wait for weeks like expectant father for the results. Fujichrome 50 and Velvias of the world were easy in comparison. E6 and Tetanol were the saving grace.

Along came WPF before which I had spent most of my time in the previous few years Model Engineering so took very few pics.

even to the point of making adaptors to allow the use of old enlarging lenses for macro. This probably marks me out as the WPF oddball.

And how! How many of us can think of making an adaptor for practical usage?

After a bit of experimentation I discovered the difference between RAW and Jpeg and decided I had to always shoot in RAW.

One of the most practical discovery if I can say so. Joint Photographers Expert Group format was created for small image discussion via internet.

Along came NX and I was happy as it is so easy to pick up. Quality of posted images improved.

I believe most of the camera makers software are good. Only we don’t explore them properly. Though no great shake…I still use my Canon Digital Photo Professional only for raw/tiff thingy.

No cash to spend, so no Wacom tablet or other processing progs so it will all have to be done with what I currently have. But then thats the challenge.

Do not spend a farthing Don for now. I don’t have Wacom in my office machine. Purely to keep in touch with mighty mouse…

Andy, I come back to the same as I said before. Keep this thread alive. Requesting every member to pitch in. Guys, all your views are important.

[andy153]

Thanks Don, I contributed to that but had forgotten about it - I notice that Viveza is being prepared for the New Aperture 2 which now takes plugins. So far all that seems to be available in that line are plugins to transfer photographs to various sites such as pBase - however Viveza is an editing tool, and as such, Mac /Aperture users may be about to get some of the CS3 capability - an interesting contest perhaps?? I will certainly be watching to see what is developed. So far - Aperture 2 is my main storage and sorting software and I transfer copies of my originals from there to a Photoshop Folder on a separate hard drive that I use for Photoshop work.

[andy153]

Thanks Rudra, I think our postings crossed. I agree with you about monitors and printers - I think they are probably the most frustrating part of a photographers world - get it right in the camera - the monitor shows something different - synchronize them - the printer produces nothing like what is on the screen - change ink cartridges from the same manufacturer and they produce a different result again!!. Surely Printer, Monitor, Ink and Camera manufacturers are capable of following or agreeing a standard after all these years?

Back to Viveza for a moment - you can correct your "face" colour and you can duplicate the control point as many times as you wish - so you can copy the setting to the hands individually, if necessary. I think you can also save these settings and name them for future use. I'll check that.

I have to say however that when I play a lot with a particular photo - say 30 - 40 filter effects - I sometimes got a slowing down on the machine - so I've increased my RAM from 4.5Gb to 8.5Gb - now its lightening!!

I also agree about trying to get as many people as possible to look at this and contribute - I don't know how we'll do it - I may pm a moderator for advice

[yelvertoft]

I'm generally in agreement with Adey on this. For the likes of Rudra, the ability to (massively) manipulate images is important, it's his job to come up with the goods his clients demand. For me as an enthusiast, It doesn't really float my boat. As Adey says, there's many filters and effects that you have a play with for a bit of fun just the once, and then never use again.

There are some highly creative members here apart from Rudra who create some pretty stunning artwork with highly manipulated images. Brian's "Andy Warhol Mini" composite that has recently been dug up and commented on springs to mind. I enjoy looking at this kind of image, and certainly admire the work that's gone into them, but I can't say I have any real enthusiasm for trying to go down that path myself.

Each to their own, but I'm certainly learning much by reading others ideas and opinions.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by yelvertoft

For the likes of Rudra, the ability to (massively) manipulate images is important, it's his job to come up with the goods his clients demand.

Duncan, it's such a pain in the back.....!! Most of the time!!

Could you kindly format a note for everybody to contribute in this thread? All of us use comp and what have we to post our images. It may get even more informative.

What say Andy?

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by andy153

I have to say however that when I play a lot with a particular photo - say 30 - 40 filter effects - I sometimes got a slowing down on the machine - so I've increased my RAM from 4.5Gb to 8.5Gb - now its lightening!!

I also agree about trying to get as many people as possible to look at this and contribute - I don't know how we'll do it - I may pm a moderator for advice

Are we talking about special effects or unusual processing techniques here.

30 - 40 filter effects on a single image ........... cannot even get my head round that unless you post a pic and some sort of explanation.

Don

[andy153]

Hi Duncan

I'm generally in agreement with Adey on this. For the likes of Rudra, the ability to (massively) manipulate images is important, it's his job to come up with the goods his clients demand. For me as an enthusiast, It doesn't really float my boat. As Adey says, there's many filters and effects that you have a play with for a bit of fun just the once, and then never use again.

There are some highly creative members here apart from Rudra who create some pretty stunning artwork with highly manipulated images. Brian's "Andy Warhol Mini" composite that has recently been dug up and commented on springs to mind. I enjoy looking at this kind of image, and certainly admire the work that's gone into them, but I can't say I have any real enthusiasm for trying to go down that path myself.

Let me start by saying I admire your work a lot but I am unaware of what sort of post processing you do. Do you not think that in these new software tools there may be something that helps you shorten the time on the computer - allowing you to spend more time with your first love? I mean Debbi of course - I know the photography comes second but joking apart - you know what I mean. This sort of thread I feel can help a lot of us - I'm certainly learning - and in spite of his advanced position I think Rudra is as well. We learn from each other - I don't know how many of us had tried any Nik software before - but as it is from the same stable as Nikon Capture NX I assume there are many who would like to know and try some of it. As it is going to be integrated into Aperture 2 in May that will also help its popularity.

I started this thread in order to share with others what I thought was a very interesting development that could make post processing simpler and more accurate. These "filters" - Dfine; Viveza; and Sharpener Pro do what I think 99% of us do almost every time. They reduce noise, correct colour and sharpen - simply and non destructively.
The only real "toy" is the Colorefex Pro 3 which is a straight, multiple effect filter set.

I look forward to your thoughts and those of others.