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  Neil's writeup explaining "correct" White Balance

  Neil did a good show and tell of choosing a White Balance.

  in reference to: which white balance setting should I use? « Neil vN – tangents (view on Google Sidewiki)

  

  2 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Iconic Photos - by the Simpsons

  How many do you recognise?

  in reference to: The Simpsons do iconic photos « Iconic Photos (view on Google Sidewiki)

  

  2 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Hear TED Talk

  14 TED Talks by Photographers over at PetaPixel

  in reference to: 14 Powerful TED Talks by Photographers (view on Google Sidewiki)

  

  2 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Telling A Story

  

  Image by Ananda Sim 88 via Flickr

  It’s been on my mind to write about the aspects that I appreciate in photos – both my own and other peoples’. At first pass, one would think that the Technical Image Quality Aspects of a photo dominate appreciation of photos, but no, not really. There are quite a few photos that I have seen, and maybe you have to, that are iconic, stand out keepers despite of the fact that they may rate poorly in the Image Quality aspects of exposure, sharpness, colour and so on.

  So what is it that we subconsciously search for in a photo when we look at it? It’s that the photo needs to tell us a story. A story about the scene, about the subject, about the object, about the air and feeling, the mood, the time of day, that location on earth. The essence.

  To convey some essence of the subject or scene then, the photographer needs to convey some adjective or adverb about the object or about the environs, about that time of life.

  On the other hand, what makes a photo just discardable floatsam and debris, regardless of the technical superiority? It’s when we don’t connect to it. The photo could be beautifully posed, shot and post processed but if it says nothing to me, it’s a “next please”. Have you heard of the phrase “ill fitting clothes?” That doesn’t mean the clothes are cheap or dowdy – that just means that the clothes don’t fit the person – and when there have been times in the past (and will be times in the future) when we effect a look, just for sheer trying, that doesn’t match the topic that we are trying to convey. So there. In a nutshell.

  del.icio.us Tags: composition,photography,postprocessing,imagequality,storytelling

  

  

  2 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Remove photo backgrounds in Powerpoint 2010

  Interesting blogpost for new easy feature for photos in Powerpoiont 2010

  in reference to: Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering : More About Background Removal in Office 2010 (view on Google Sidewiki)

  

  4 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  A quick summary of DSLR vs Point & Shoot

  At Earthbound Light.

  in reference to: DSLR versus Compact Point-n-Shoot Camera - Ten Reasons to Favor Each - Photo Tips @ Earthbound Light (view on Google Sidewiki)

  

  5 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Making more of the good ol' Olympus C series Ultrazoom I've had my C-750UZ for a long while. The plastic latch on the battery door is half broken. The internal capacitor doesn't hold charge much anymore. It's voracious for energy. Normal alkaline AA batteries (four at a time) don't last very long in it. Lithium one use disposable AAs are a bit expensive. Enerloop type modern NiMh have just enough fresh voltage to last enough and still not cost you an arm and a leg.

  
  

  Despite it all, the colours of the C series JPEGs are happy and presentable - the greens are punchy yet not over the top and so on.

  
  

  Just today, I came across a forum posting that noted that the C series Ultrazooms can produce RAW files - with a lot of help from some Russian hacker forum. I tried it, haven't made up my mind whether it's worthwhile or successful. If you want to give it a go, here's what you have to do:

  
  

  1. Download OlyRAW program - it runs on Microsoft Windows PCs - I tried it on Windows 7 and it still works on that newer Windows. Keep that aside for a while.
  2. Take your C series camera and switch it on.
  3. Open the xD card compartment door. A red alert message will appear on the LCD screen.
  4. Hold down both Ok button and the switch LCD/EVF toggle button together for 3 seconds.
  5. The LCD display should now shows a two panel menu - cursor around the menu so that it reads USB -> CONTROL, press OK
  6. Now close the door, switch off.
  7. You will need a (currently) common USB to mini-USB generic cable (your C-series camera came with one). Attach the cable to the camera and the running computer
  8. Switch on the camera - the computer will acknowledge and the camera will display a 3 choice menu on the LCD. Choose PC on the camera.
  9. Run the OlyRAW program and tick the RAW Enabled checkbox, then click Ok on that dialog .
  10. Switch off the camera and disconnect.
  11. The camera will now create two files with a JPG extension each time you click. One file will be a real JPEG, the other will be an unusual RAW file but it will still have a .JPG file extension.

  Processing the RAW file.

  1. When you want to process the RAW file, copy the file to your computer.
  2. You might want to rename the RAW file's .JPG extension to .BIN so that you do not get confused.
  3. You now need to run RawWork.exe to convert this RAW file to an .NEF file.

  You will need RawWork.exe, Rawnef.odb and optionally a configuration utility rawutil.exe. Get these files - from this raw2nef webpage and the rawwork webpage.

  
  

  Note: The RawWork database does not have an entry for the C-750uz - there are entries for the C-770, C-765

  
  

  Note: NEF, by the way, is the Nikon RAW file format.

  
  

  When you don't want the C-series camera to produce RAW files anymore, you need to run the OlyRAW program and untick the RAW Enabled checkbox you ticked previously.

  
  

  Disclaimer: These are instructions derived from the OlyRAW Russian website - play with your camera at your own risk - no liability is assumed if it becomes a useless brick.

  

  

  5 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Autumn in Melbourne 2010

  I haven’t blogged much since I got back to Melbourne. The pressures of living and life imposed their tax.

  Last week, it was a cold and tempestuous Melbourne, replete with hailstones. The past few days, it’s been the relaxed, autumnal Melbourne, – lazy comfortable shirtsleeves temperatures, bright but not harsh sun, lovely golden light washing over scenes most of the daylight hours.

  I was over at Werribee for some work and chanced by the Werribee Mansion. Disappointingly, I was either too early before work or too late after work, to make a photographic visit. The eucalypts along the way were scenic though – ordinary scenes painted gold by the sun.

  

  There’s something calming about this scene, the P880 with my help of EV-0.7 renders it well. The sky’s blue is unassisted by ND or polariser.

  

  I must confess to warming up this shot and the one below. Auto WB is a relaxed choice but absorbs colour nuances when you want emphasis.

  

  And a tight crop brings the companionship of these two trees better to mind.

  

  5 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  Ken Rockwell on composition

  KR is notorious. Some people worship him as a deity (no, not diet, deity). He does ramble on about Nikon. But he's a presenter. An entertainer. He says as much. Being an entertainer goes help points across and aids storytelling.
  
  His article on composition is thought provoking and I would say a revelation to beginners who come to you and say "is my shot any good".
  
  Just don't make him your sole diet.

  in reference to: http://kenrockwell.com/tech/composition.htm (view on Google Sidewiki)

  

  6 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  I need theatre in the taste, not so much the presentation

  Sis and I were viewing a Master Chef episode. You know, the one where they are down to four and Justine was knocked out with that chocolate mousse. There was good ol’ Mr. Cravat. Matt Preston. I wonder what he would say about my favourite fruits.

  Every time I come to Malaysia, I hope to have a mouthful of Bee Cheiu – that’s a small banana with thin, easily bruised skin. The taste is superb. It doesn’t have the coarse “I am carbohydrate startch"” blandness of Aussie bananas – it’s a very delicate sweetness that leaves a gentle end of taste in your mouth.

  Because it is easily bruised, it may not stand the rigours of transportation to supermarkets and so on. But it is heavenly.

  

  As heavenly as chiku. I mean real Malaysian chiku.

  

  

  7 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do
• 

  The Tropical Greens

  I like the temperature climate of Melbourne and the plants and flowers. But tropical Malaysia with the benefits of constant rain, sun grows anything you like to grow with less effort.

  

  The oleander bonsai style (if this is indeed an oleander) is a current favourite amongst the residents.

  

  Small bright flowers on small ground cover bushes with waxed leaves are flora du jour as well.

  

  This one’s a firm favourite for the small crumpled trumpets. Sis says they smell lovely.

  

  I recognise the shape of these trumpets – our neighbour in Melbourne has the larger variety, red that bursts into a Rosseau like profusion. This one is smaller, yellow.
  

  

  Red Hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia. Now there are so many different varieties.

  

  Ah Hun Ee has this gorgeous green coloured spiky grass shrub.

  

  Ladies Fingers (Okra) is nice to eat as well as decorative.

  

  Daun Kadok has so many lovely green colours and textures. It adds a special taste to our nonya steamed Otak Otak.

  I love my four angled bean, the Kachang Botol. We can get some variety from the Springvale Vietnamese shops but they’re lighter green and the flavour isn’t as intense. I can eat them raw just like one would munch fresh snow peas off the vine. As a child, I used to grow them at every house we stayed in. The nurturing time was mainly over the seedling phase, once they grabbed root, maintenance free of pesticides, fertilisers – just sun, rain, nearly any soil.

  

  I’m unfamiliar with these variegations. They are nice, anyway.

  

  

  7 months on
  Look, See, Reflect, Do