Canon G5, 350d versus nikon Coolpix 5400?

Camera test and reports coming soon.

I am testing a Canon G5 this weekend ready for a class next week. Recently I used a Canon 350d for a series of tests, and I own a Nikon Coolpix 5400, so I'm planning on a write up on all 3 cameras from a users perspective. Stay tuned.

Recently found some online news regarding the new breed of Epson Printers on the market. I also recently attended an intense weekend workshop on colour management, that indicates to me the end of the wet darkroom is nigh, what are the ramifications and what does this mean for Photography educators? Stay tuned for this article also.

Insignificant Microbe?

Finally. Finally, spent some time tweaking my blog template to get it more the way I want it to look, only taken 12 months, a solid dose of insomnia helps too? Both of my readers will notice only the smallest of changes and then only if they scroll down the page on the right and look? There is aslo a new addition to the other links there. My TTLB Ecosystem addition. According to their home page, you can have their database scan your blog and see where you fit in the scheme of things, i.e. the blogosphere. No surprises here, (as I write), I'm not much at all, just an insignificant microbe, ah well, maybe that's a good thing?

Perhaps if I could write as well and as frequently as Vitriolica, or Jess, then maybe I'd end up a “ Higher Being” like, Instapundit. And if indeed I could write this well and often what would my photography be like? Would I still be able to teach workshops in Photoshop? One things for sure, I'll never be a Despot in Training!

[A small edit and after thought, if I may, the truthlaidbear seems to list primarily neo-conservative and conservative sites as the top ranking sites. Surely this is not the case. There must be some other left leaning blogs out there getting the traffic, or a more even representation of them. Or are we seeing a cultural backlash to left leaning thinking, and the blogo-sphere is a reflection of that?]

Ages ago I got a little recognition for one of my shots on Flickr by Flickrzen a site that highlights the cream of the crop from flickr itself. A quote from Susan Sontag, prompted by my visit to Flickrzen.

"Naive or commercial or merely utilitarian photography is no different in kind from photography as practiced by the most gifted professionals: there are pictures taken by anonymous amateurs which are just as interesting, as complex formally, as representative of photography's characteristic powers as a Stieglitz or a Walker Evans."

Transport!

Friday night at Transport Bar, Fed Square, colour colour every where.

The colours here are simply as the camera recorded them. My camera was set on daylight colour balance at the time, some levels adjustment and burning in using photoshop have occurred after converting the file to a better colour model using Lobster, the colour management plug-in for Photoshop

Digital RAW files?

Recently went out and about testing a new camera purchased by one of my more regular employers.After shooting away frantically, and enjoying the whole process, I got home and much to my surprise, the raw files I had shot could not be opened by my copy of Adobe Photoshop CS™.
"What the hell" I said
Is this another upgrade scam from software giant Adobe™? A dig around the Adode™ site seemed to indicate the only way to open these files was to use the latest version of their RAW of converter. Not to worry I knew of a demo piece of software, made by Phase One that opens many files and does a much better job than Adobe Photoshop CS™ anyway. As it was a 30 day demo version, I thought I'll include this in the next years computer budget, (assuming I'm still working there). A bit more digging around on the web and I discover that low and behold, Adobe™ has released a FREE tool that is designed to open any and all RAW format presented to it. Indeed it works and works more than adequately for most people's needs. So if you can not afford to purchase the Phase one Software or justify it's price then you can use the new DNG software made by Adobe™

Here's an image made with the Canon 350d and opened using the DNG RAW file converter, then tweaked slightly in Photoshop to enhance sharpness and contrast

Here's some more info on RAW files, as part my regular research for my Part time photography teaching work at PIC photographic imaging college.

Waiting

Winter has some advantages, this sunset occurred last night as I was waiting for my wife to pick me up from work. It was pretty spectacular to watch, sadly both my camera batteries died before I could get much more than a handful of shots off, this is the most dramatic, I cropped out the city skyline in a couple of the other shots but I liked the impact of this one the most.

Photograph, manipulated using Photoshop and the excellent Photoshop colour correction tool Lobster

Podcasts?

It seems it's not enough to blog away madly or even photo-blog, but now podcasts are all the go? Hmm personally I'm not an Aural person? So podcasts aren't on the horizen yet, we'll see, I might give podcasting a go, seeing as my felow flickrite macaddict has given podcasts a go. Time oh time where is it going?

Oil Peak?

It's the end of the world as we know it.

Luxury

Had the luxury recently of spending an afternoon out and about shooting. The light while not consistent, was sporadically beautiful, this shot I hope shows what I mean

I have another version of it in my flickr stream, composed differently, with a different intention in mind

As always, tweaked in Photoshop, and this time using Lobster too.

A Quote

A quote from Dianne Arbus:-

"There's a quality of legend about freaks. Like a person in a fairytale who stops you and demands that you answer a riddle. Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats."

Taken from The Age and used here without permission

Concrete as Canvas

Two shots today!

Both taken minutes apart, of the same piece of concrete, who'd have thought that concrete could be made to look so beautiful, as always tweaked using photoshop, and the colour tool for photoshop Lobster. Taken using my little Nikon Coolpix 5400, shot in raw mode, these could well end up as prints in an upcoming show I'm planning on having.

<

Our 2004 Holiday Snaps

Both of my readers, if they haven't already fallen asleep, should remember that this time last year Nik and I went for a quick 6 week jaunt around the world. Well, at last I've managed to get all the good holiday snaps on line. They can be seen at flickr.com, as part of my photo-stream.

Choose from either,

• Basic
• Slideshow

I also took some time out to make images yesterday using my own Nikon Coolpix 5400 and the School's Canon 350d. If I can get my act together I'll write a comparison article between the two cameras. they have some features and tools that make the difference between the two interesting. Ultimately, neither is superior to the other, I just some ease of use and practicality type beefs about them both. Cream of the crop will get posted over at flickr, over the coming days.

Willaim Street

Photoshop Workshops Winter 2004

Finished my last photoshop workshop for the winter, here's an image made some time ago and tweaked using Lobster and Photoshop

iPod Flea?

iPod spoof, this may require registration but it's worth it

Daylesford's Winter Light

Over the weekend spent some time in Daylesford, a small country town, west of Melbourne, with a real ‘feel’ that I enjoy every time I visit. Testing the new Canon 350d camera my work has recently purchased, and will publish my review of it compared to my Nikon Coolpix later, here's a shot from Saturday Lunch at Cliffy's. One of the reasons we went up was so I could undertake a colour management course run by Les Walkling, through the Daylesford fotobiennale, also some thoughts coming on all that as well.

The weather was superb, if a little cold, but when the sun came out it was truly gorgeous, ah to do nothing but spend my time shooting and exhibiting?

To buy or not to buy?

I am a big fan of Robert Adams' writing and photography, a book has been recently published that I may consider buying about hope, reflections and journeys.

Obey

On a recent winter's day I retrurned to a point west of the CBD, on the western highway, to make an image of this well known grafitti. At work we have spent a couple of days reveiwing mid year folios. And as always I come away from these exeperiences refreshed and with my mind ticking over about all the possibilites of what photography is and what it offers. Intuition and surrealism is what's ticking over in my head these days. What has this to do wit the image below? Very little but my photostream at flickr has much potential for the expansion of the these ideas, as does the whole ide and approach to making images with a camera.

We will be heading back to Daylesford this weekend for the Daylesford Photobiennale and a seminar on Colour Management. So hopefully there'll be lots more images floating around here and on flickr than there has been in the last couple of months?

Image replaced due to bandwidth theft, by this person.

Stripes

Weekend reflections, here's a shot from a couple of weekends ago, been a bit quiet here this weekend may get out and grab some shots later today.

As usual, I've tweaked it using photoshop and Lobster

Green spots?

Do you have perfect colour vision? Here's a link to a page that will have you blinking in disbelief?

Awesome birthday present!

My belated birthday present saw us in a helicopter flying over Melbourne for 20 minutes. Almost immediately after taking off my battery ran out! Luckily I had a spare and continued to snap away for the remaining 15 minutes or so. The light was awesome and I managed to keep the camera shake to a minimum. I of course have loaded an edited down set on flickr, some of which required a slight levels or curves tweak and some sharpening in Photoshop as do all camera files.

The experience left me speechless for most of the flight, I was either too busy snapping or just soaking up the view! We flew from Southbank, East out toward East Melbourne, skimmed past the MCG, then down towards Brighton. From here we turned around and headed up towards the City via St.Kilda then out to the inner Western Suburbs, where we did a loop over Williamstown, then back along the river in to Southbank. Awesome is the only way I can describe it.

Here's Nik and I just about to take off, seconds later the battery went flat in my camera so I missed grabbing shots of the Eastern end of the CBD and the MCG, etc. None the less Nik, god bless her, managed to fish out my spare battery from my bag in the back and back in business we were.

My secret obsession

The Saturday after my birthday saw me plane spotting, almost until the sun went down.Tweaked in Photoshop of course!