markrupert

<p>don’t know if these will work, but they’re free:</p>

<p>http://www.thelightsright.com/view/PhotoshopElementsActions</p>

<p >I've been creating custom panels for CS5 using Configurator 2. I've had good luck with all the various Configurator elements except triggering actions via the new custom panels. When creating the new panel in Configurator, I specify the name of the action set and the action itself in the appropriate Configurator windows, double check spelling, etc., but after the panels are exported and loaded ino CS5, the action-specific buttons generated by Configurator do nothing. I've had success with custom panels to activate tools, commands, and scripts, but not actions. Puzzled. The bare-bones Configurator documentation offers no help.<br>

I'm running CS5 in 64-bit mode on a Snow Leopard Mac.<br>

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.<br>

thanks,<br>

Mark</p>

<p>I just want to say that I also thought Tony Kuyper's tutorials on this and related topics were very useful.</p>

<p>Glenn Mitchell at The Light's Right has a nifty tone mask panel which can be added easily to CS4:<br>

http://www.thelightsright.com/TLRToneMaskToolkitPanel</p>

 

<p>Jeff says: "What I wrote was not in the least bit "sarcastic".<br>

Really?<br>

from Jeff's prior post:<br>

"Seriously, the old "sharpen at the end" of the process ignores entirely the concept of a sharpening workflow...but hey, that's ok. The fewer people who know and understand the process, the better! Right?. Really, I agree...totally ignore the realities of image detail and pretend that image detail is not a complicated and intricate process that takes conscience thought."<br>

If that's not sarcasm, the term has no meaning. <br>

And yes, of course I admit I have little to contribute myself because like many other people who post questions here in good faith, I'm an amateur and a learner. I just think it's a shame we we had a real live expert who took the time to post to this thread but who declined to help us in any meaningful way and chose to be sarcastic instead.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>In case it might be helpful to anyone looking at this thread in hopes of learning a little more about sharpening, Jeff has a brief sharpening tutorial in PDF format here:<br /> http://www.pixelgenius.com/tips/schewe-sharpening.pdf<br /> and the always helpful Glenn Mitchell has one here:<br /> http://www.thelightsright.com/MultipassSharpening<br /> Glenn's web site (The Light's Right) includes numerous tutorials, photoshop actions and scripts, links to other sites, and lots of other resources for those of us looking to learn some of the finer points of this craft. Highly recommended, as Glenn might say.</p>

<p>The heavy-handed sarcasm is not very helpful, Jeff. You have so much to offer, especially on this topic, so why not share some of your knowledge in a more constructive way.</p>

<p>I think so, but I don't yet have geotagging hardware so I'm relying on memory rather than EXIF data to locate them.<br>

m</p>

<p>BTW, Dave, another iconic shot you might kick yourself for missing is the Empire state building framed by the Manhattan Bridge. It's within easy walking distance of Brooklyn Bridge park (couple of short blocks)<br>

<a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19222482">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19222482</a><br>

Off Topic-<br>

And while you're in that neighborhood, there's a little cafe and bar on the north side of Water street between Washington and Adams which serves Six Points Ale on tap. If you enjoy a good Ale, I'd definitely recommend it.</p>

<p>mark</p>

<p>Hi Dave,</p>

<p>I had good luck shooting at dusk from Brooklyn Bridge park which is between the BB and the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side.<br>

I posted some comments about it here (bottom of thread)<br>

<a href="../travel-photography-forum/00SPwv">http://www.photo.net/travel-photography-forum/00SPwv</a><br>

A photo and map are here<br>

<a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19863040">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19863040</a></p>

<p>Have fun.<br>

mark</p>

<p>Thanks Richard. I did some shooting there too. From late afternoon until closer to sunset, the Fulton Ferry Landing side of the bridge allows you to look back on the bridge sidelit with the lovely glow of the setting sun. The golden light is even better when viewed on the bridge itself, but closer to the Manhattan side so you're looking back toward Brooklyn.<br>

But my main goal was to catch the blue of twilight and the lights coming up in the buildings of lower Manhattan and on the bridge itself, and the best spot for that was Brooklyn Bridge park. As an out-of-towner (upstate) my concern was taking photos in that area after sunset. Of course you are right that it's best to maintain some situational awareness at all times and not to get so wrapped up in your viewfinder that you are unaware of what people are doing around you. And the fact that I wasn't mugged doesn't mean that someone else won't be unfortunate in that area. But it certainly didn't strike me as a danger zone. Your characterization of the neighborhood fits with my recent experience.<br>

Thanks for your input.<br>

mark</p>

<p>For future reference of other photographers, this was my experience.<br>

I was out at twilight last night and the night before without any problem at all. There are two different parks side-by-side in this area between the bridges (Brooklyn Bridge on the left side & Manhattan Bridge on the right as you face across the river from Brooklyn). The area on the Brooklyn Bridge side is a New York State park (Empire- Fulton Ferry State Park), is patrolled by a NYS park ranger, but closes after dusk (the ranger clears the park). On the Manhattan Bridge side it's called Brooklyn Bridge Park, is patrolled by NYPD (one trundled by in a little scooter as I was shooting), and stays open past twilight. Nothing menacing at all on either night. On both nights there were other photographers who stayed later than I did. Of course at this time of year, we're talking about 6:30 - 7 pm, so that's not real late. But I would not hesitate to shoot there again at twilight.</p>

<p>Here's a link to one of my HDR images from that shoot:<br>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourthstooge/3290518233/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourthstooge/3290518233/</a><br>

Thanks to all who answered.<br>

mark</p>

<p>Many photgraphers would call it a cliche, but I loved climbing the towers of Notre Dame to photograph the cityscape with gargoyles in the foreground. Really fun.<br>

Have a great trip.<br>

Mark</p>

<p>I'm thinking of the park (Fulton Landing?) on the Brooklyn side. Not real late, but maybe a half hour after sunset. I'll be by myself. How risky do you think that would be?</p>

<p>I've used Cathy's service a couple of times and gotten great personalized service both times. I have to think if she's not responding it's because she's unable to right now. I wish her well and hope her difficulties are over soon.<br>

Mark</p>

Thanks for your helpful responses.

 

Mark

Convention is San Fran late next month. I'm planning on spending a few evenings

wandering alone on the Marin headlands trying to get the classic evening shots

of the Golden Gate and the city. A car is probably out of the question, so I'm

thinking of an evening bus out to the Sausalito Lateral and then hoofing it

from there, until catching another bus back into the city after dark. I think

I've got this figured out, but my wife is bugging me about safety concerns. Any

reason to worry about safety out there alone on foot at night?

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

Mark

My family and I will be in Paris on Bastille day - probably a once-in-a-

lifetime photo opportunity for me. I want to get some classic (or perhaps, for

the more jaded among us, cliched) images of fireworks around the Eiffel tower.

Where is the best spot to try to set up one's tripod for such shots? Looking at

maps in guide books, I'm guessing maybe the Champs de Mars. I'd be grateful for

suggestions from anyone with some experiemnce shooting Bastille day fireworks.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

Hi Cherry,

 

Dfine is produced by nik multimedia, here:

http://www.nikmultimedia.com/dfine/usa/entry.php

 

You might also want to check out Neat Image, which seems to be pretty well thought of by some heavy hitters (e.g., Michael Reichman at Luminous Landscape). You can check out some reviews and download a demo version here:

http://www.neatimage.com/overview.html

 

I don't have enough experience with these to make a recommendation. Please let us know which path you take and what your evaluation is.

 

good luck,

 

Mark

Here's an alternative work flow which might be worth considering:

 

I shoot NEFs with my D100, then use Phase One Capture One DSLR limited Edition ($99 dowload from http://www.phaseone.com/eshop/; note that there are several independent reviews dowloadable as PDFs at the Phase One web page)to do some basic global adjustments (crop, exposure, white balance) and transform the Raw NEFs into 16-bit TIFFs. Then I use PS to do more selective adjustments to the 16-bit TIFFs before I change them to 8-bit TIFFs for final editing, sharpening, and printing. I can't speak to the Adobe RAW plug-in, since I haven't tried it; but this arrangement works fine for me and I hardly notice that my trial version of Nikon Capture has long since expired.

 

Whichever route you choose, have a great time with your D100.

 

Mark

I have benefitted from the following:

 

Martin Evening, Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers

 

Scott Kelby, The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers

 

The Evening book is especially clear and helpful about color management issues. Have fun,

 

Mark

While gearheads and camera snobs may turn up their noses at the N80 because "it's not considered a professional camera body" and its not sturdy enough to use in a war zone or a hurricane, it is in fact a perfectly good camera for a developing amateur shooter. It can be used in fully manual mode for the "back-to-basics" learning experience some have advocated, but is has quite a number of sophisticated features which -- as your photography skills develop -- you will come to appreciate and use more frequently. In other words, this is a camera which provides plenty of room to grow into. I bought one when they were first released and I've been very pleased with mine.

 

BTW: to get the most from your camera and begin to learn when, why and how to use its more sophisticated features,I strongly recommend that you get Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the N-80 (ebook on CD ROM): www.bythom.com/n80guide.htm.

 

have a great time!

 

Mark

One significant difference: The kirk has a tension setting to prevent the head from flopping while you make fine adjustments to your framing; the acratech does not.

 

Mark

Putting aside for the moment questions of whether Pop photo is under the control of the Illuminati, there are useful and detailed reviews of the D100, including some comparative analysis,

by Phil Askey at digital photography review:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond100/

 

and by Thom Hogan on his web page:

http://www.bythom.com/D100.htm

 

Mark

I've been reading the threads on this in the Nikonians forum. It's been widely discussed and has to do with Nikon's decision to provide a conservative exposure to avoid blown out highlights while leaving recoverable detail in the shadows. Many users are loading their own custom exposure curves into the camera to compensate. See the relevant threads at Nikonians:

http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID71/460.html

http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID71/479.html

 

good luck,

 

Mark