shots worth sharing

Thanks for the responses--although I'm afraid much of it went sailing over my head. What I think I understood is: Yes, do editing before saving as TIFF and yes, I should probably upgrade to ps/e6 or Lightroom (next question: which?)

OK, you've convinced me: I really need to be shooting in RAW. But I need help

organizing the post processing.

 

I'm running window xp on a reasonably pretty capable pc and use PS Elements 3.0

(ps/e3)for post processing. To date, I've been shooting in hq JPEG (yes,

"gasp"), copying the folder from the card to my hard drive and reviewing the

shots with the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. I open the keepers and ones I

want to work with in ps/e3 and save them as TIFF before I do anything else.

 

My problem is that neither the Windows viewer nor ps/e3 will render the RAW

files as images so I have to open them with the Pentax lab software and save

them as TIFF(one at a time, as far as I can tell) before opening them with ps/e3

for processing. This seems too cumbersome for the 21st century

 

I know one option is to give up ps/e altogether and just use the Pentax lab

software but I'd rather avoid that because 1) I'm not ready to make that

commitment in my relationship with Pentax (I have an OLY p&s on the side) and 2)

after 3 years, I'm finally starting to make some progress with my ps/e

post-processing competence and don't want to start over with new software.

 

Questions:

1. Are there advantages in doing the post-processing in RAW rather than TIFF?

2. Is there a way to convert files from RAW to TIFF in batches rather than one

at a time?

3. Is it time to upgrade my ps/e &/or is there a plug-in I'm missing?

 

Any advice?

I just got my rebate last week--10 weeks.

You don't go to college to learn how to take photographs. You go to college to learn what photographs to take.

PS About half of the shots in my portfolio were taken with the Tamron 18-250. I've entered that info on all but some of the most recent uploads so feel free to take a look.

Lindy, No aperture ring on the Tamron. If I were making the choice today (other things--like price--being equal), I'd probably go with the Pentax just to avoid cross manufacturer issues. As to warranty considerations, I'm fairly careless and clumsy with things so my experience is that, after the first year, failures are invariably the result of hard use, neglect and bad handling.

 

For me, as a relative newbie, an 18-250 makes a lot of sense--covering a lot of ground while I contemplate (and save for) prime choices. It also allows me to avoid lens-swapping hazards (see "careless and clumsy" above.) As far as IQ is concerned, the capabilities of the lens are much less a limiting factor than my camera-handling and post- processing limitations.

Lindy, maybe I'm missing a fine point in translation but I've been using a Pentax mount Tamron 18-250 on my k100d for three months now and am quite pleased with it.

As I indicated below, I like my k100d a lot but I don't have the really strong

emotional attachment to Pentax that some of you do. Still, the business

analysis discussions have been kind of interesting. Since my p&s is an OLY and

I came to the K100D via a C5060WZ, I wonder how you think Olympus will fare in

the volatile camera business. Just curious.

It's not a matter of deep commitment for me. I was looking for the best entry into the dslr world and decided the k100d was a good choice. Boy, was I right!

Thanks, Andre, I think I'll get it--after I chew on your explanation a bit. I just need to take the time to explore settings and image properties, etc.

 

To date, I haven't paid any attention to this stuff, depending on PS/e to shrink the files (measured in mb) before uploading, but I know I need a better grasp of this--since I'm actually thinking of printing photos (and moving beyond JPEG).

Phew! I am so not getting this! I'm going to have to find some very patient person to sit down and walk me through this.

I feel like one of the seven dwarfs lining up to say goodbye to Cinderella but, yeah, I'll look forward to your return.

Geez, people! It's not like we can take our ratings to the bank or anything. I put stuff up just to see if anyone else likes my photo and ignore anything under five. People who give me anything lower than that obviously fail to recognize my genius and are therefore not worth considering :>)

I love me some color but there'll always be a place for good B&W.

Especially this morning--instead of the sharp, crystalline light of the past

several weeks there was a warm honey tone with almost imperceptible hints of fog

in the lowlands. Too bad I have to work for a living!

Ah-Ha! I learn something new every day here. I was figuring out the connection between file size and the larger option but confirmation is welcome. I tend to use the largest permissible file size but I admit I do get frustrated when I can't see all of a photo without scrolling.

I go out with the 43mm prime on the k100d and the Tamron 18-250 as the fall back. I'll probably add another prime in the future. On fishing trips I take the waterproof OLY Stylus--no way I'm going to try to juggle a flyrod and a dslr.

No.

I should start by saying that pnet has been a really valuable resource for me in the getting started phase. Comments have been sparse sometimes and rarely get into specifics but, when they have gone into detail, they've been helpful and instructive. On the other hand that pretty much mirrors my commenting pattern: I rarely comment, and when I do, it's generally just a short word of enthusiastic praise. It is a treat when I'm inspired to go into some detail (and I admit to some trepidation about addressing flaws & weaknesses.)

 

Reading incisive commentary on other peoples work is also very instructive. All in all, I guess I feel I'm getting just about the right level of feed back: I'd kind of hate it is people were all over my work all the time. I want to have enough space to make my own judgments about my work: what this suite has given is a chance to sharpen my judgment.

I think you meant "aggravating" (as in, "There's nothing more aggravating than someone who ignores the content of a post and only focuses on word choice".)

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It happens. Sometimes I get a response, sometimes not--there's no guarantee. I really don't think the text of the request makes any difference: either the image attracts attention or it doesn't.

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I'm just starting and have the usual qualms. Reading the piece Umut recommended (which is indeed helpful), it occurred to me that part of the answer is to be a tourist, "just trying to capture the spirit of (name that town) for the folks back home."

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