fidr01's Blog

Re: Free stuff and goodies

This isn't free - but it is a 25% discount on Nik Software. Use the discount code DZISER. It will not work on software that is on sale but it does work on everything else - even bundles.

Napture NX, Viveza and Silver Efex Pro are some of their software.

The discount is from David Ziser.

Re: Free stuff and goodies

I noticed that several of you were interested in DIY. Here is a great file that contains many possibilites of creating studio items made from PVC pipe. Ever wanted a background holder? How about a light stand? Ever thought of using your garage as a studio and the garage door as the window light?
 
All this is more in the Tinker Tubes.pdf.
 
Enjoy,
Rich

Attachment: Tinker Tubes.pdf (3855.0KB)

Re: Club meeting ideas beyond competition

I have been reviewing the items on the survey. There were several good ideas. Some I especially liked are:
1. Give every participant the same file and have them put their spin on finishing it. As mentioned it can be an average photo and see what happens. This will give people an idea to improve PS skills and see just how creative people can be.
2. How about a monthly SOOC photo. Just in case you don't know, SOOC is 'straight of of camera'. That in my mind would be like taking a slide. The only thing you could do is change it to a jpeg if shot in raw and resize it. Nothing else. What a way for people to learn about white balance, exposure, etc.
3. The Iron Photographer could be a recognition to the person that excelled at the assigned subjects.

Re: Photoshop Elements Goodies

This is a great place if you use Photoshop Elements. It is worth the $50-60 bucks a year just for the tutorials. This site is from the same people that bring you NAPP.

I belonged for several years when I used Elements and I downloaded a ton of tutorials. You would have access if you joined or I can bring a DVD to the meeting and it can be borrowed and copied. Most of my stuff is from older versions of Elements but they still work.

Re: Free stuff and goodies

I have been working at a method to use for renaming my digital files along with a workflow. While Lightroom can import the files and rename them I wanted something that would do that before I downloaded them into Lightroom. And I wanted something cheap.
 
I found it today. It was mentioned on David Ziser's blog sometime ago and the price is right - FREE!
 
It is called rename - here is the link - http://www.1-4a.com/rename/
 
I am working at finalizing my digital import workflow and this should work very well.

Re: Free stuff and goodies

I mentioned an online photo editor. It is called Pixlr and you can go to it from this url:
 
http://www.pixlr.com/
 
 It has some interesting filter effects that you can use.

Re: Equipment - because you can't have enough gadgets, right?!

I got nothing real fancy. I got a Nikon D300 for my birthday last year. I also have a Nikon D50. My lens are the kit 18-55mm and the 55-200 mm zooms. I also have a 50mm f1.8.
That's about it. I would love to have the fast glass but this is a hobby. I do have a SB-800 flash as well.

Software, I use Lightroom and Photoshop CS3. I am a member of NAPP. I have developed some actions based on the videos from all the members.

I am also a Scott Kelby fan. I am working through his 7-Step LR process and I won the Adobe Lightroom 2.0 for Digital Photographers and working through that.
Trying to keep it simple and within my hobby budget.

Re: Displaying Photos

I don't have a big house and my wife won't let me put up just any photograph on the wall. The last one was the winning entry for the photowalk.
I have been doing a memories book each year for the last 3 years. I squeeze in a lot of family photos from the last 12 months. If is a book to see how much the grandkids have changed in the last 12 months. To mark some milestones, family get togethers, etc. Everyone always likes to look at the book to see themselves (at least the kids) and it starts them talking about what they were doing when the photos were taken. It is much nicer than the old photo ablums.
I also have a website on Zenfolio. It costs about $40 a year and if I want to spend more I can set it up so people can buy prints from that website through my online lab - Mpix. I can set my own prices for family and gallery prints. I have a password protected family file.
I guess what it boils down to is most people have a computer so that is a good choice to send people to see photos. The book is like taking out a photo album. You can all look together and talk about the photos. And of course displaying the absolute favorites on the wall it the best - if you have the room.
My wife and I don't always agree what photo is best. I like to experiment and she likes what comes out of the camera.

Re: Inventory of submitted images

I am new and haven't really thought about the process yet. But I do use LR and that will make my life easier. I currently follow something similar to Jeff. I don't open a new catalog for every shoot since I can use collections.
Using what I do now I will download to LR. After I burn a DVD of the originals I then will go through the photos and flag or reject. The rejects get deleted from LR. The flagged ones get another review. I will build an auto collection for OCC labeled photos. So if I see a photo that I want to pursue for camera club I will add OCC as a label and it will automatically go to that colection.
I have decided to keep a new catalog for each year. I shoot around 10,000 images a year (and I wish they were all keepers). The smaller the catalog the faster LR works. My computer is almost 5 years old but it works OK.
I can also add sub-menu's to the collection for the various categories I may want to enter a photo. I have a couple of pretty good b&w presets that keep me out of PS as long as possible. And I really enjoy PS.

Re: Welcome Message to New Members

Lightroom is great. With the new update you can do many things in Lightroom that required Photoshop before.
1. I crop almost all of my photos in LR. Since it doesn't change the .dng or .jpg I don't lose anything. I can always go back to my original any time I want.
2. I can do minor retouching, etc. and there are some fantastic presets to get you started on anything you want to try. Virtual copies let you experiment without starting over all the time.
Lots of other stuff but it is great to download and reject the bad photos. It is a good workflow for a photographer.