http://www.fredmiranda.com has a cool pole: If you could have any L- glass? http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/viewtopic.php?TopicID=714901
Gets you idea what others are using.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Canon 200mm 2.8 II vs 70-200 f/4 IS
http://www.fredmiranda.com has a iteresting post titled : 200mm 2.8 II vs 70-200 f/4 IS
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/692940
These are both good lens, and possibly one of my next lens.
This post shows some good examples.
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/692940
These are both good lens, and possibly one of my next lens.
This post shows some good examples.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Gimp "Smart" Sharpening, Redux
http://www.gimpguru.org has a write up "Smart" Sharpening, Redux this is a nice article on sharpening with GIMP.
"
In my older tutorial Smart Sharpening with The GIMP I describe several techniques for selective sharpening of digital images to avoid exacerbating sensor noise and film grain. This technique does two "smart" things to avoid sharpening noise:
1. sharpens only the luminosity data in the image, thus avoiding shifts to the hue and saturation components (which affect color), and
2. targets only the edges in the image, avoiding large smooth areas that may contain noise.
In this tutorial I describe a variation on the technique that uses layers, which confers the following advantages over the original method:
* it does not modify the original image, which remains unsullied on its own layer;
* it is less laborious, with fewer steps;
* it avoids a costly mode change to HSV and back to RGB for unsharpened areas (see older tutorial for an explanation of this);
* it reserves sharpening for the final step, which allows better experimentation with sharpening parameters; and
* it provides an additional level of fine-tuning over the final result (see Tips).
All in all it is a far superior method to the old. Nevertheless, if you haven't read the original tutorial, you may wish to do so now.
"
This is a great read for those of you using GIMP.
"
In my older tutorial Smart Sharpening with The GIMP I describe several techniques for selective sharpening of digital images to avoid exacerbating sensor noise and film grain. This technique does two "smart" things to avoid sharpening noise:
1. sharpens only the luminosity data in the image, thus avoiding shifts to the hue and saturation components (which affect color), and
2. targets only the edges in the image, avoiding large smooth areas that may contain noise.
In this tutorial I describe a variation on the technique that uses layers, which confers the following advantages over the original method:
* it does not modify the original image, which remains unsullied on its own layer;
* it is less laborious, with fewer steps;
* it avoids a costly mode change to HSV and back to RGB for unsharpened areas (see older tutorial for an explanation of this);
* it reserves sharpening for the final step, which allows better experimentation with sharpening parameters; and
* it provides an additional level of fine-tuning over the final result (see Tips).
All in all it is a far superior method to the old. Nevertheless, if you haven't read the original tutorial, you may wish to do so now.
"
This is a great read for those of you using GIMP.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Canon Top five zooms and primes, opinions.
A while ago, ( two years ) I posted a question at http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum asking the following: Top five zooms and primes, opinions.
"
I know there are a lot of you that have used at ton of lens and have been useing them for years, so I would like those of you qualify, pro's or if you happen to have a lot of lens or have used a lot of them, please put your top five primes, and top five zooms both L and non-L. Lets limit this to lens that fit canon's body's without adapters please.
Edit: if you could put your main interest or focus of photography, that would be fantastic!
Non-L Prime
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Non-L Zoom
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
L Prime.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
L Zoom.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If you could give a short - long reason you feel that way, it would be great.
I am posting this for two reasons, to both see what everyone thinks are the best lenses, and so others can read this at a later time.
I hope everyone likes the idea of this post.
Since I am new to SLR's, and I have a short lens supply for now, I will not put down my thoughts.
Thanks
"
Now, even through there have been a few changes in two years, a lot of these lens have not, and if they have they where build changes. I wanted to link this for those of you wanting to see what others are using, and what lens are must have's.
Here is the Link again.
"
I know there are a lot of you that have used at ton of lens and have been useing them for years, so I would like those of you qualify, pro's or if you happen to have a lot of lens or have used a lot of them, please put your top five primes, and top five zooms both L and non-L. Lets limit this to lens that fit canon's body's without adapters please.
Edit: if you could put your main interest or focus of photography, that would be fantastic!
Non-L Prime
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Non-L Zoom
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
L Prime.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
L Zoom.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If you could give a short - long reason you feel that way, it would be great.
I am posting this for two reasons, to both see what everyone thinks are the best lenses, and so others can read this at a later time.
I hope everyone likes the idea of this post.
Since I am new to SLR's, and I have a short lens supply for now, I will not put down my thoughts.
Thanks
"
Now, even through there have been a few changes in two years, a lot of these lens have not, and if they have they where build changes. I wanted to link this for those of you wanting to see what others are using, and what lens are must have's.
Here is the Link again.
GIMP tutorial Really basic photo editing with GIM
Matt McIrvin has a nice GIMP tutorial titled Really basic photo editing with GIM
"
People have been asking me for pointers about how to improve photos from their digital cameras. I don't claim to be an expert at photography or at image editing, but I do know a few basics, so I decided to write a tutorial on the most elementary techniques.
I'll use The GIMP 2 (GNU Image Manipulation Program) as my example program. (Don't complain to me about the name; I didn't invent it.) This is an image editor along the lines of Photoshop, only free. You can do all of the same things I'll talk about here in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, in more or less the same ways, but the tools might be accessed through different menus.
GIMP's own help documentation is extremely spare. The basic photo-editing tutorials that are out there are often pretty good, but tend to be several years old and based on older versions (GIMP 2 largely rearranged the user interface, and "where do I find this tool?" is a question I get a lot, so they won't do). The tutorials on the GIMP Web site tend to be about advanced techniques. So I saw a need for an introduction I could give to friends and family.
I won't talk about anything at all fancy here: nothing about layers or selections. I also won't talk about special effects or how to create original artwork. GIMP has so many controls that it can be confusing, and most of them are of little interest to someone who just wants to make a photo look a little better, or prepare it for Web or e-mail use, without much effort. That's what I'm going to concentrate on.
I'm also going to assume that you already have the program installed, and you know how to launch it and use the Open dialog to open a picture file.
Note also that the program itself is a work in progress, and your dialogs may well look somewhat different from the ones I show here. The same controls should be pres
"
Thanks to Matt for writing this.
"
People have been asking me for pointers about how to improve photos from their digital cameras. I don't claim to be an expert at photography or at image editing, but I do know a few basics, so I decided to write a tutorial on the most elementary techniques.
I'll use The GIMP 2 (GNU Image Manipulation Program) as my example program. (Don't complain to me about the name; I didn't invent it.) This is an image editor along the lines of Photoshop, only free. You can do all of the same things I'll talk about here in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, in more or less the same ways, but the tools might be accessed through different menus.
GIMP's own help documentation is extremely spare. The basic photo-editing tutorials that are out there are often pretty good, but tend to be several years old and based on older versions (GIMP 2 largely rearranged the user interface, and "where do I find this tool?" is a question I get a lot, so they won't do). The tutorials on the GIMP Web site tend to be about advanced techniques. So I saw a need for an introduction I could give to friends and family.
I won't talk about anything at all fancy here: nothing about layers or selections. I also won't talk about special effects or how to create original artwork. GIMP has so many controls that it can be confusing, and most of them are of little interest to someone who just wants to make a photo look a little better, or prepare it for Web or e-mail use, without much effort. That's what I'm going to concentrate on.
I'm also going to assume that you already have the program installed, and you know how to launch it and use the Open dialog to open a picture file.
Note also that the program itself is a work in progress, and your dialogs may well look somewhat different from the ones I show here. The same controls should be pres
"
Thanks to Matt for writing this.
Photoshop Tutorial: Layer Masks
Kevin at Pixel-shooter posted Tutorial: Layer Masks
"
A discussion arose earlier concerning the desire to learn how to use layer masks in Photoshop to help enhance an image. This tutorial will help to demystify layer masks. They really aren't that difficult and once you understand the concept and get the hang of them I bet you'll be using them all the time.
The screenshots that accompany this tutorial are from Photoshop 7, though the steps are identical in CS2 (and CS, I assume). If any of this doesn't make sense, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to clarify or answer any questions you might have.
I want to start with the concept of a layer mask. "Layer Mask" is really made up of 2 things: a layer and a mask. Let's assume you start off with an image in Photoshop. It shows up automatically as "Background". Whether you realize it or not, it's a layer. If you were to duplicate the background (Ctrl+J for a PC), it would create a copy of the background and add it as a layer.
"
Thanks Kevin!
"
A discussion arose earlier concerning the desire to learn how to use layer masks in Photoshop to help enhance an image. This tutorial will help to demystify layer masks. They really aren't that difficult and once you understand the concept and get the hang of them I bet you'll be using them all the time.
The screenshots that accompany this tutorial are from Photoshop 7, though the steps are identical in CS2 (and CS, I assume). If any of this doesn't make sense, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to clarify or answer any questions you might have.
I want to start with the concept of a layer mask. "Layer Mask" is really made up of 2 things: a layer and a mask. Let's assume you start off with an image in Photoshop. It shows up automatically as "Background". Whether you realize it or not, it's a layer. If you were to duplicate the background (Ctrl+J for a PC), it would create a copy of the background and add it as a layer.
"
Thanks Kevin!
Photoshop Tutorial: Creating a drop shadow
Kevin at Pixel-shooter posted this Tutorial: Creating a drop shadow
"
This tutorial explains how to create a drop shadow using PSCS2 or PS7. Though this example is creating a drop shadow on an image, it very well could be on just a selection layer as part of an image. (This technique is used to do Out of Bounds projects.)
"
Kevin put lots of nice pictures and steps so I just quoted the 1st paragraph.
I thought this was worth checking out, Thanks Kevin!
"
This tutorial explains how to create a drop shadow using PSCS2 or PS7. Though this example is creating a drop shadow on an image, it very well could be on just a selection layer as part of an image. (This technique is used to do Out of Bounds projects.)
"
Kevin put lots of nice pictures and steps so I just quoted the 1st paragraph.
I thought this was worth checking out, Thanks Kevin!
Photoshop Sharpening Technique
Harv at Pixel-shooter posted this and I wanted to link it.
Photoshop Sharpening Technique
"
The following technique was originally provided to me by Jeff (BigRed450) while at another forum. I have been asked to share it. In reading the technique you will see that I also created a second version which is a little more subtle. For ease of use, I created an action for each.
Photoshop Sharpening Actions
The following sharpening method was kindly provided to me by Jeff (BigRed450)
This method should be applied after resizing,, levels adjustment, saturation adjustment and contrast adjustment.
The figures in bold are the originals supplied by Jeff and work very well in most situations. The figures in brackets which follow, are the ones I substituted for a more subtle sharpening when I felt the standard action might be too aggressive. I found that if the more subtle pass is not enough, I am often able to run it a second time over the first.
What I did is create an action for each naming one ‘standard sharpening’ and the other ‘lighter sharpening’. It makes it fast, easy and eliminates possible errors or omissions.
Dark and Light Blend Sharpen
1- open original image and make Duplicate copy to protect the original.
2- On the copy adjust your levels, saturation and contrast, as per your regular workflow.
3- Now make duplicate layer and name "Dark Sharpen"
4- Make another duplicate layer and name "Light Sharpen"
5- Select the Dark Sharpen layer and add USM
Amount – 500 (400)
Radius - 0.6 (0.4)
Threshold – 2 (2)
6- In the layers palette set the Blend mode to Darken and set the opacity to 20 % (15 %)
7- Select the Light Sharpen layer and add USM
Amount – 500 (400)
Radius - 0.6 (0.4)
Threshold – 2 (2)
8- In the layers palette set the Blend mode to Lighten and set the opacity to 5 % (5 %)
9- Flatten image
10- Make duplicate layer and name Luminosity Sharpen
11- Select Luminosity Sharpen layer and add USM
Amount – 500 (500)
Radius - 0.2 (0.2)
Threshold- 0 (0)
12- In the layers palette set the Blend mode to Luminosity and set the opacity to 60% ( 50%)
13- Flatten Image
14- Done
"
Thanks for Harv for the post.
Photoshop Sharpening Technique
"
The following technique was originally provided to me by Jeff (BigRed450) while at another forum. I have been asked to share it. In reading the technique you will see that I also created a second version which is a little more subtle. For ease of use, I created an action for each.
Photoshop Sharpening Actions
The following sharpening method was kindly provided to me by Jeff (BigRed450)
This method should be applied after resizing,, levels adjustment, saturation adjustment and contrast adjustment.
The figures in bold are the originals supplied by Jeff and work very well in most situations. The figures in brackets which follow, are the ones I substituted for a more subtle sharpening when I felt the standard action might be too aggressive. I found that if the more subtle pass is not enough, I am often able to run it a second time over the first.
What I did is create an action for each naming one ‘standard sharpening’ and the other ‘lighter sharpening’. It makes it fast, easy and eliminates possible errors or omissions.
Dark and Light Blend Sharpen
1- open original image and make Duplicate copy to protect the original.
2- On the copy adjust your levels, saturation and contrast, as per your regular workflow.
3- Now make duplicate layer and name "Dark Sharpen"
4- Make another duplicate layer and name "Light Sharpen"
5- Select the Dark Sharpen layer and add USM
Amount – 500 (400)
Radius - 0.6 (0.4)
Threshold – 2 (2)
6- In the layers palette set the Blend mode to Darken and set the opacity to 20 % (15 %)
7- Select the Light Sharpen layer and add USM
Amount – 500 (400)
Radius - 0.6 (0.4)
Threshold – 2 (2)
8- In the layers palette set the Blend mode to Lighten and set the opacity to 5 % (5 %)
9- Flatten image
10- Make duplicate layer and name Luminosity Sharpen
11- Select Luminosity Sharpen layer and add USM
Amount – 500 (500)
Radius - 0.2 (0.2)
Threshold- 0 (0)
12- In the layers palette set the Blend mode to Luminosity and set the opacity to 60% ( 50%)
13- Flatten Image
14- Done
"
Thanks for Harv for the post.
Welcome 1st post
1st post!
I wanted to blog this 1st post, and to say that I will get the page up to date with photography related information that I use, and then update it as I find or develop new techniques in photography. Additionally, if you have something for me to add, let me know.
Roger L
I wanted to blog this 1st post, and to say that I will get the page up to date with photography related information that I use, and then update it as I find or develop new techniques in photography. Additionally, if you have something for me to add, let me know.
Roger L
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