john_markanich

<p>You can get buy just fine with a glossy monitor as long as no peripheral lighting is causing reflections. This will always include light sources directly behind you and may include any overhead light and/or window light to your front bouncing of the walls or even light reflecting off the shirt you're wearing. No need to work only at night in a dark room while wearing a burka however.<br>

My iMac calibrates easily with an eye1display2, once a month or whenever I start a significant project (it only takes about 10minutes). I've cranked down the luminance to 90 candle/whatever but I am a little dismayed that the screen brightness can accidentally be bumped up or down by the simple brush of a finger across the F1 or F2 keys. I make a mental note of where the brightness slider (under Display Preferences) is positioned and visually check it frequently. <br>

I get my prints through mpix and the color is great (not 100% exact but just fine for me). The contrast in my B&W prints seems to get bumped up a little so I've learned to send them an ever-so-slightly flat image. So far so good. <br>

Take pictures NOW. Make your best prints NOW. The files will always be there for you to print again when this whole industry, camera to print, gets a tighter hold on consistency and image quality.</p>

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<p>I'm running an i7 27" iMac with 8GB of RAM, 512mb VRAM and a 1TB internal disc. I open, process, sharpen and close 12mb RAW photo files to and from ACR and CS5 all day long. The 1 to 4 second delay is of no consequence to me. In fact, reading that sentence just took you longer.<br>

In practical terms it's gives me just about enough time to move the mouse pointer up to the close button or reach for the cocktail. <br>

When I upgraded from the standard 4GB of RAM (two 2GB sticks) to 8GB I did it by buying two 4GB sticks. The Apple store bought back the two 2GB sticks. This leaves me with two empty slots allowing me to upgrade to a full 16GB of RAM in the future.</p>

<p>Thanks. Got'em. I must have clicked around earlier. They landed under custom rather than preset.</p>

<p>I've just installed NIK's Silver Efex Pro 2 under CS5 and it's working fine. I revisited NIK's web site and downloaded some extra B&W presets which I now have as separate files in my 'Downloads' folder in Mac's Snow Leopard OS.<br>

How do I install them into the Silver Efex Pro interface (they didn't go there automatically)???<br>

NIK's web site and Mac's help menu only take me so far then leave me without an answer. </p>

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<p>mmmm......yeah, sometimes it will gain you a stop or two, maybe save a shot that you wouldn't have captured without it. You still have to be as still as can be and then.....yeah, sometimes. </p>

<p>Why argue about the hammer, or even about the house, when it's the family within it we're really interested in.</p>

<p>I've thought long and hard about cloud storage. My conclusion for my purposes was NO. Why? I shoot RAW, I shoot a lot, my digital photo folder is therefore large and will continue to get larger. Uploading a days shoot would not be the problem but these cloud sites are, unlike a true insurance company, unregulated. I have heard of a situation where a cloud subscriber was notified that the site would be closing (i.e. going out-of-business). The subscriber had less than three days to download his accumulated files back to his own computer. He didn't have the capacity on hand so he ran out and got a big enough external hard drive. When he began the download it became evident that his multi-gigs of photo's just were not going to meet the deadline of the site's closing whether it was because of band-width somewhere along the line or because hundreds, if not thousands of other subscribers were trying to do the same thing.<br>

For me, it's multiple external hard drives, constantly updated and swapped out to safe locations.</p>

<p>Bruce, are you referring to the setback necessary between the lens and sensor? Stranger seemingly impossible optical dilemmas have been overcome.</p>

<p>Oh yes. No argument here. A full frame in a "tough" S95 sized package would have me glad to see ya.</p>

<p>Yep, Bill, I really meant a "tough" S95. Waterproof, drop & crush proof, freeze proof with RAW output. I ski, swim, stand in the snow and rain and am clumsy. But I would like a pocketable, hammer-proof pic machine that outputs a RAW file. Not too much to ask. They can keep the video, face, smile, pet recognition. M or +/- compensation would be nice too.<br>

Along these lines, if I worked for Canon, I would be pushing for a digital F1. NO layered or buried menus. Just the dials I set that won't get changed when I sneeze (a digital T90 would be over the top for me). AF, AE and P are good enough at this point in history so I'd keep them but too many interrelated choices are confusing and get in the way of what we came to do in the first place. Expose the film......errr, I mean sensor. </p>

<p>What I would really, really like is an S95 "tough".</p>

<p>Am I doing this right? I calibrated my late model iMac with an EyeOne Display 2 in advance mode to 6500k, 2.2 gamma and 80 luminance (using the F1&F2 keys while holding shift/option keys to get close to 80 lum.). My prints are still dark and the color is OK but not perfect. I'm using Unique Photo here in northern NJ to do my printing (they request sRGB files which I provide). I'm pretty sure they're using a Fuji Frontier Printer. Is it an exercise in futility to rely on a calibration device such as the EyeOne when paired with a non-injet printing process.</p>

<p>Quick guess: make sure IS is turned OFF when the camera is mounted on a tripod. I know this sounds counter intuitive but give it a try. There is also an inexpensive gizmo called "Focus Fix" ($59US) available from datacolor.com. It's a calibration target that helps identify front/back focusing problems and help you fix them if your camera has a micro calibration adjustment feature.</p>

<p>Has anyone had any experience or may have heard that applying self-adhesive printable CD labels to a CD (such as Avery #5692) could cause read problems either immediately or at a later time due to any imbalance the paper and/or ink may add to the disc?</p>

<p>No genius here but I think it has to do with subject matter. For example, a large area of one flat color gets recorded as a forward-looking command rather than a pixel-by-pixel record. A more diverse, complicated image would require more changes in the IO sequencing hence the larger file. Shoot me dead but absent cropping or other image manipulation that's the only way I could explain it.</p>

<p>I like author Scott Kelby's approach. Thorough, practical, with a touch of humor.</p>

<p>In CS5's ACR lower the Clarity slider to obtain the hazy effect then fiddle with exposure and curves to lighten & flatten the image. It will give you an even more controlled rendition of your example.</p>

<p>I like Scott Kelby's approach. The critical info with a touch of humor. Simple, not overly complex but more than adequate. <br>

"The Adobe PhotoShop CS5 book for digital photographers"</p>

<p>A question came up in our local photography group regarding the best way to get the most 'life' out of a memory card (SD, CF, whatever). It was brought up by one member of the group that it's best to use the full capacity of the card before downloading the images to a hard drive, then re-formating the card in the camera. This makes best use of the full solid state memory array of the card rather than constantly 'wearing out' the first few gigs of memory when, for example, a days shoot doesn't fill the card. Your thoughts. </p>

<p>I think it was Weston who said "...Making a good photograph is easy. You just look through the viewfinder and open a vein".</p>

<p>Under the "Window" drop-down menu, (up in the task bar where you have File, Edit.....etc.) make sure "Layer" is checked.</p>

<p>Hmmmm.....D.B.. I just did a cross platform upgrade from CS2 (on a PC) to CS5 (on a new iMac) for $199.00. Had to call Adobe, bought from them direct, no prob. I'm sailing along.</p>

<p>I've found that (evaluative) P works remarkably well in the newer Canon's except in those instances of strong backlighting or when a predominately white or black subject that fills the frame. In such cases I just dial in the necessary amount of + or - compensation. Instances of using A or Tv would be when specific effects are desired, i.e. shallow depth of field or stop action. M works too with average subjects but usually just yields what P would accomplish.</p>

<p>Let me add another question to the wood pile: If I process my image through NIK SilverEfex Pro can I still print through Epson's ABW or would this be a double-profiling of sorts?</p>

<p>If you think chemicals are bad, do an inventory of what substances are contained in computers, monitors, printers and cameras (which are really nothing more than computers with a lens hanging off the front). Put them in a landfill, ferment with some rain water so it gets down real deep in the aquifers and get back to us.</p>