The Broken Teapot Mystery

"I was set up!"

An interesting catch 22

I was researching some updates to hotmail/outlook/skydrive, which involved logging into messenger. which is also to be retired soon (8th April) and replaced by skype, and I got this invitation on the right to upgrade to hotmail, which I seldom use and just set up originally to access skydrive. Hotmail is being upgraded to outlook.com. OK, sounds simple!What follows is an endless loop of swapping from one message to the other. Even when you select maybe later, you get to see Hotmail for a few seconds then “opportunity to upgrade”" pops up again.

At the moment at least skydrive doesn’t seem to be in the line of change, and the photo folders are still work very nicely. I feel that for the average person it is a very photo friendly solution, particular for those using windows 8. I maintain a small number of albums of photos I want to privately share, or access from whichever computer I’m using. I’ve also found that having a photo scrapbook area, which contains working projects and in-progress photo collections, both in the cloud and at the same time synced across my computers is actually simpler than having to move files around my network myself. Importantly I only have to delete the working copies in one location, and everything gets cleaned up in the background syncing. Unfortunately the new “official” sky drive app for android isn’t compatible with my older wildfire phone, so I haven’t tried that out

Purple Haze, or not so blue moon.

Looking back through some of last month photos, I was puzzled by the purple haze in my photos. i was experimenting with ISO and Aperture in manual mode trying to “just” get crisp detail in the shadows on the moon but leave the sky black. At the time I hadn’t notice the strong colour cast (it was after all dark at the time). My only thought it is a bad decision by the camera on white balance, which I normally leave set to auto (for not particular reason). Luckily there are lots of tools to fix white balance in retrospect and the one-click fix for colour in picasa fine tuning tab did the trick nicely.

Coming to a Screen near you

I actually still have my original slide projector (not quiet 40 years old and still working well) and a portable screen. Once a set up like this and several boxes of slides would frighten the family and see guest making excuses to go home early the “slide night” certainly had a bad reputation. However good colour slides did have a magic charm and luminosity that prints could never match. I suspect the larger size of the projection and dimmed room just enhanced t

In the digital era, the two sides of the image display story have migrated to ink jet printing versus on screen display. The screens are whatever the computer has, perhaps an LCD screen on the back of a compact, or DSLR camera. With the advent of camera phones, such as the iphone and androids phones, more and more photos are being viewed on tiny screens.A very few images found their way onto the web at site likes flickr, then suddenly there where camerphone photos flowing everywhere, especially instagram. The IPad and other tablets have arrived and everyone started raving about the rich lushness of retina screens and portability, being able to instantly share your best work with others. Certainly its richer than an equivalent print of similar size, but they are is still small.
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I have two LCD data projectors. My favorite is a high spec Panasonic, which has become the center of my “home theatre” system. It has a HDMI interface and the quality of image I can project from my computer is great, not only good resolution and the projected image 3m across, but it also has a higher dynamic range of colour saturation compared with most LCD screens. It definitely has that clean but richly saturated colour feel of a good old slide film. The second is a work horse, an older Mitsubishi branded projector, that has older interfaces, the ubiquitous 15-pin VGA connector, S-Video connector or RCA plugs . This is my portable unit that I take everywhere for training and talks. Of late I have found this is just perfect as a second review screen in lightroom. The resolution isn’t as great as my other projector but it is plenty bright enough to project a decent 1.4m image onto my portable screen above within the limited space of my studio. Being able to review any photo your tweaking at that size is truly liberating. I don’t understand why data projectors are  not more common, especially for home theatre use. Perhaps people are scared off by stories of the high cost of the replacing the halogen globes, but I haven’t found that they are all that expensive and being careful with a cool down to extend the globe life is easy enough.
The best screen in your house for enjoying and sharing your creativity at a larger size is probably that new flat screen TV. I have an older desktop PC (still running XP, but contemplting upgrading to Windows 8) with Windows Media Center running and little else other than a few browsers, common net tools and Picasa Sharing photos and video clips with a group of friends sitting comfy on couches is a great joy. However there is the responsibility to only show a few photos at a time, just long enough for then to say wow, and let the conversation flow.

PhotoFriday :: Springtime

Its actually Autumn here in the southern hemisphere, luckily the belladonna lily [Amaryllis] chooses this time of the year to put on its best blooms (and a springtime feel).

For PhotoFriday‘s topic springtime

Red Sky in the Morning...

The fact that it has rained on the grand prix will not surprise those that saw the sunrise.

Pathways

On the pathways less trodden.

PhotoFriday :: Towards a cubist viewpoint

For PhotoFriday‘s topic machines

The forgotten coal carts

Lets the feathers fly

Its the 20th Jazz Festival at Inverloch and the street parade is getting a little bigger but has some of the more the colourful local muscians bringing up the rear with someell loved traditional tunes pumps out with great passion. It may be very hot but the jazz was cool.

Photographing the dawn

Photogrsphing the dawn, originally uploaded by imageo.

As the first rays appear the beach was already full of joggers and dog wakers, and photographers!

Semi-Abstract Collage

Semi abstract patterns of reflections on the water surface whilst looking at my shadow below the pier  Created in Picasa's collage tool

What happened to the Aperture Ring?

My first SLR camera was a Pentax Spotmatic, which was a pretty revolutionary camera at the time, I got mine in 1969, because it had a built in lightmeter. You set the aperture with the lens ring and then you could rotate the shutter speed dial until the arm on the lightmeter visible on the right hand side of the through the lens viewfinder, was centered. If the speeds where too slow or two fast you could adjust the apeture ring. It was very easy to use and worked really well. I love it. A later camera body, also a Pentax,introduced me to aperture priority on a large mode dial. It allowed you to select an aperture and the camera itself choosing the shutter speed. More magic, particularly if you wanted control over depth of field.Over the past decade, or so, the separate appeture ring has disappeared off most lens. I suspect a lot of people haven’t even notice! Before we figure out what can be done without the aperture ring we should first look at -

What is Aperture?

Aperture is a measure of the size of the opening within the lens that controls the amount of light that reaches the film or sensor. It is usually given is a strange sounding unit f-stop

f-stop = focal length * diameter of opening

The strange sequence of numbers it is quoted in f/1.4 (f/2) f2,8 (f/4) f/5.6 (f8) f/11 (f/16) f/22 might make more sense when you realize that all are approximate multiples of √2(the square root of 2) and the amount of light reaching the sensor is proportional to the area of light on the sensor (ie πr²) Thus each f-stop is equivalent to doubling or halving the light. The bracketed numbers in the sequence above are the half stops.The lower F-stops let in more light and give you a faster shutter speed for your best exposure. Its as simple as that.
In most camera the size of the opening is controlled by a bit of clever mechanism, usually called the diaphragm, where a set of thin blades are pivoted, connected around the a ring shape and sprung in such a way that as the ring is rotated the blades expose a larger or smaller gap in the center.  This was the reason why the aperture control was on the lens (just at or behind the convergence point of the lens, Today most DSLR lenses have the same style of blade diaphragm but the control for setting the diaphragm opening is on the camera body, perhaps in a menu, perhaps as a separate wheel or disc. So you should find you are able to control the aperture setting even if your lens doesn’t have a ring to adjust it.
The Aperture setting is also one of the main factors in determining depth of field. the smaller the opening through which the light passes the greater the range of objects in your scene that will be crisply in focus on the sensor. This is why many camerphones with tiny lenses seem to have almost infinite focus. Whereas the larger openings (lower f-stop) will reduce the range of focus to a narrow band. Portrait photographers often use this to blur out distraction backgrounds but have the face just in focus

PhotoFriday :: Mornings

For PhotoFriday‘s topic mornings

PhotoProject :: Photographing your Art Works

I have seen and read a lot about how to photography your art and/or why you shouldn’t. Most of it seems wrong to me, or at least all overly complicated. There is really no reason that your should not be able to get very good results, even with a mobile phone

Keep it Simple but Precise.

It really doesn’t matter weather you will be taking the photo with a very basic point and shoot camera, a smart phone or an expensive DSLR camera. There are a few basics you need to understand to get a clear, well exposed and undistorted image. Firstly you need to make sure that the art work is well lit by even light. inside that means on a wall opposite a decent sized window and out of direct light. If outside it may be better in the shade or waiting for an overcast day. If you want to use artificial lighting make sure you understand the next section. It is important that the artwork is normal (at right angles) to the axis of the camera lens. This gives the photo the best opportunity of everything being sharply in focus and avoids much of the possible distortion. Hanging or taping the work to the wall and setting your camera on a tripod of nearby bench can help you get this right. The camera should be pointing straight at the art work not pointing up or down. I have a nifty little level that plugs into my flash hot-shoe which makes checking the alignments very easy. The autofocus mechanism of most cameras are very reliable these days especially when you are pointing at a single subject in one plane. so I would suggest you go with auto focus, usually that requires half pressing the shutter key. The other important aspect about keeping the image clear is avoiding camera movement as you take the photo. If you have your camera on a tripod or sitting on a form service is is best to use the cameras timer. If you have to hold the camera try using the fastest shutter speed (better than 1/60 seconds). The next step is upload your photos to your computer, but leave the camera and art work set up. Whilst you can preview the photo on the LCD panel on the camera back you will be able to check details better on a larger screen. If something needs to be change everything is still set up.
There is a tendency to get as close as possible to the artwork and use the zoom in to get a wider angle view, However this can distort the edges of your work (they start to look curved) and introduce depth of field issue so that while the centre of the work is in focus the edges are not. Step back a bit use and no zoom or just a little zoom in (rather than out), or better still use the prime (single focal length usually 50mm) lens are this will be the least distorted. If the side of your art work diverge you are probably not alighted with the centre of the artwork and at right angle to it. It the sides diverge out and up you viewing angle is to low. If they diverge out and down you are to high, move the camera down a little Obviously curved edges you will be too close.
Normally it is best to photograph your art without a frame (unlike my example here) and it the art work is framed behind glass you will have to deal with the problem of reflections. The can generally be avoided by angling the light source. If you are using natural light that might mean angle the artwork against the wall, but remember to also tilt the camera so the axis of the lens is at right angle to the art works surface. If you are using artificial light use two but angled at 45degrees to the art work.

Strive for Accurate Colour

Colour is probably the area that most people stumble when photographing art. The auto exposure in cameras is trying to expose everything to an average grey, art work is usually move vivid and vibrant. Colour calibrated screens are not going to help if you have the white balance wrong. White balance is an attempt to make surethat parts of your subject that are white or close to white are also white in the photo. The temperature of light is quiet deep issues, and I will skip the theory here and just comment that different light sources (particularly artificial lights) can introduce significant colour casts into a photo. Most modern cameras do have white balance settings, typically marked sunny, overcast/cloudy, Incandescant, tungsten etc according to the light source some go further and allow you to adjust by the colour temperature (specified in digress Kelvin) of your lights (better brands of flash and strobe lights will give you these temperatures). If you suspect colour matching issues it will be best to do some test shots, such as including a colour wheel in the picture and look at these photos after you have loaded viewed them on your computer screen. Leave your camera set up and if necessary, make an adjustment, take a new photo, upload it and look at it. Once you are happy remove your colour test and take the final Image.
Cameras, computer screen, and projectors and printers are not capable of reproducing the full dynamic range of light our eyes are capable of seeing. Again this a deep topic and I wont cover it here, but adding a tiny amount of contrast and saturation in post processing may help lift the colours, but keep the image looking natural, particularly for smaller thumbnails of the work.
One final bit advice of colours, is for those that want to reproduce their work as a smaller thumbnail on a website for sale. Don’t get to carried away with colour management as it likely to make your photo image look dull when the viewed on typical users screens. When you want to prompt your art on the net have a look at your photo on a variety of screens and devices (for example colour calibrated images can look very dowdy on apples new retina screen which get a lot of their appeal from their rendering of saturated colours). If you are photographing your image to have it reproduced, such as printed on canvas or art paper (or even sold via Red Bubble etc) then of course colour calibration becomes very important.

Do Not Over Post Process

Whilst it is unlikely that you will want to “publish” your photo un-edited it is wise to consider that also keeping the post processing as simple as possible with  also be import. The key steps being crop the image to the edges of your work (that normally means don’t have boarders showing), perhaps some white balance adjustment (its better done in the camera, see above), a light tweaking of contrast (raising the contrast just a little) and possibly a very little lifting of colour saturation. However be retrained, some of the “zany” filters in phone apps and the filters on web album sites can go too far and ruin an otherwise honest photo of your art, moving any of the sliders too far to the right, in photoshop, lightroom, iphoto and picasa can also undo your good work,  If there are blemishes (like dust stops) retouch them out, but do not try and retouch things in the art work. Finally consider the size to export (small thumbnails for a web site or full size, high resolution for a canvas print). You don’t need elaborate software for these steps (for example Picasa, free to download, will do all these steps) or alternatively you can look at on-line apps like Aviary.

“Da Vagues”, pastel sketch on craftboard prepared with gesso and acrylic background paint. 20 by 45cm.

The following video, from YouTube, by does go through most of theses steps is a straightforward easy to follow tutorial by Tyler Stalman, of SatchiOnline.

PhotoFriday :: Familiar Faces

This a very last minute submittal for PhotoFriday‘s topic Familiar Faces



I did envisage this process earlier this week, but seemed never have enough time to create my collage. The image above is actually a very simple multi-exposure overlay (using picassa collage feature) of the 8 some what different photos of me that cover about a 6 years period. they are simply aligned using the eyes. It strikes me the result is eerily like a portrait painting.

So what’s in Creative Cloud?

I had signed up for a web presentation of adobe’s creative cloud, BUT I was late and got lost in the Facebook frontend (probably because I am not a facebook member) AND the twitter feed (#hashtag #createnow) was a bit incomprehensible. HOWEVER I am interested in the ideas of creative cloud, a kind of low-ish fee monthly rental that gives you access to the latest and greatest software, tools, and knowledge of how to use them. If you are a struggling creative type, or student, and can’t (or don’t want to) fork out the very larger sums of cash to access the adobe tools (they are particularly expensive here in Australia) then this service is likely to be of great relevance. In addition to providing all the adobe creative software aa downloadable apps (this give the impression you are running them in “the cloud” but in reality you are downloading the applications and running them on your PC or MAC you don’t have to be on-line to use them) you also get 20GB of cloud storage, and access to a broad range of tutorial. If you can visualise an amazing project you should be able to get it up and working in a fraction of the time it might have taken before and better still you will only have had to pay for a few monthly rentals fees. I think this is pretty brave, but sensible, marketing from adobe.

So far this podcast from TV.Adobe is the best summary for a new potential user of what creative cloud is and how you might use it and getting started.

Another Sand Goddess

Its the seventh day in a row the temperature has been over 30, so It was a perfect day for the beach and low with low tide close to midday was also a perfect day to rake another sand goddess. This one is based on one of the PRB Goddesses by Burne-Jones, with a profile portrait rather than front on view, this makes it quiet a challenge to “see” the image from the right place.


View 18/02/2013 10:50am sand goddess in a larger map

PhotoProject :: Waves Diptych 1

 

PaintProject :: Waves Diptych 2

 
Waves interpreted in acrylic paint