CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-23 15:40:38 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

Dusk in Leicester city centre.

Last night I was doing some work in the city centre and realised what a great clear sky it was. Waiting for the sky to darken enough and the street lights to come on, I took several sets of images.

This one is three vertical shots with a fully shifted 17mm shift lens, stitched together with AutoPano Giga, When stitching shifted images you need to extend the canvas size (in PS) to move the optical centre of the camera/lens back to the centre of the image. using APG allowed me to pick the best projection geometry for the image.

If anyone is curious about the canvas extension technique, then I've covered it in a review of APG I wrote a while ago (about 3/4 way down).
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/software/autopano-giga_2-6.html

#Leicester  

2013-05-22 18:37:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

New patent info from Canon shows work on 3 layer 'foveon style' sensor design.

Includes links to earlier 2011 and 2009 patents in this area. I note that the 2009 patent related to what appeared as the new metering sensor in the 7D

2013-05-21 19:55:45 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

New Canon 70D on its way?

A new suggestion that a 70D is on its way for late July/early August
18MP (again) but Digic 6 powered
#Canon70D  

2013-05-21 18:09:46 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Looking for an expensive monitor?

I've been trying out Eizo's $1400 CX240 monitor for a bit, and it's a very nice bit of kit.  Very smooth gradations, and easy to calibrate.

An interesting test, given that my current monitor is showing its age and I'll be looking for a new one later this year (unfortunately, this one has to go back ;-)

2013-05-19 21:15:57 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

3D 'holographic' plastic printable film.

An interesting print medium I was given to test with our iPF8300 printer.  Not something for normal photo prints, but everyone I've given a print sample to has spent several minutes just looking at it and moving it about.

It's very difficult to show the effect, but I've written up some notes and included several 'cross-eye' stereo images that can (if they work for you) give a bit of the 3D feel.

More info at
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/paper/3d-film.html

2013-05-19 10:46:35 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 26 +1s)

Ely Cathedral - colour contrast pushed about as far as I'd be happy with for web. For a print I much prefer a B&W version ;-)

#sacredsunday  

2013-05-19 10:21:01 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Uploading photos... Some G+ photos questions?

If I start a post (like this one) and then decide to attach a photo, the only option I get is to drop an image in place - the two buttons underneath don't work (safari 519 - latest for OSX 10.6)

OK, I can drop a photo, but get no chance to add a caption like you could before?

Can I turn off G+ attempts to decide to 'enhance' my images for me? It should come as no surprise that as a working photographer, the image I upload is the one I want to show (I don't post pics from phones or similar 'unprocessed' images)

I'm not really interested in albums or the like - I tend to post single images, and rather liked the ease of doing it before?

Any good links to getting the best out of using photos in posts under the 'new look'

2013-05-19 10:05:50 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Bury St Edmunds cathedral, Suffolk.

The altar is behind the pillar lit from windows in the main tower above

Use of a wide (17mm) shift lens has kept verticals true (unlike the extreme perspective in my previous post)

For #sacredsunday   curated by +Charles Lupica +Manfred Berndtgen +Robyn Morrison +Margaret Tompkins +Sherrie von Sternberg 

2013-05-18 15:41:30 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

Tall photos in the stream?

Altar at Bury St Edmunds cathedral, Suffolk - 15mm fisheye, but fully 'corrected' using DxO. Not many images work at this extreme perspective, yet alone displaying or printing them

2013-05-17 08:41:34 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

It seems that the Hasselblad Lunar (aka Hasselbling) is getting the worldwide launch treatment in June.

Good to see the emphasis on its picture taking abilities...

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/mirrorless.html

2013-05-15 23:03:32 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Tall photos?

A test with a shot of Fish Creek Falls, Steamboat Springs, CO

I note that after uploading it, the old edit function has gone? Where to add a caption?

2013-05-15 22:45:17 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

So, I go away for an hour and my G+ layout changes...

After the initial WTF, I think I like the new look :-)

2013-05-14 23:24:30 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 14 +1s)

A third view at dusk, Cannon Beach.

And still it's pouring with rain outside :-(

2013-05-14 21:55:29 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

A bit later on Cannon Beach. Gives a feel for the light and mists that I love, when staying on the Pacific coast (and reminds me that it's been to long since my last visit ;-)

2013-05-14 21:46:47 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

A grey and dismal wet evening outside. Here's a much nicer evening, looking out over the Pacific at Cannon Beach in Oregon

I'm currently testing a rather nice Eizo monitor, with wide gamut and have been looking for images that really show the difference between sRGB and Adobe98 - it's actually far less obvious in real world images than many assume. Even with this one it's difficult to spot differences. That's not to say it doesn't help to have a cracking good monitor, just that the benefits are not as obvious as the sales pitch might suggest

I'd prefer working on one set to sRGB if doing much web work for example. Even with a colour managed browser, many sites look rather garish when you use a wide gamut monitor.

2013-05-14 07:57:26 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

At last, the Canon 200-400 f4L 1.4x lens is announced...
At a mere £12000 or $14000, I'l be sure to carry a spare ;-)

Why 'At last'? well this lens was first announced - sorry 'previewed' in early February 2011.

I've heard that several aspects needed considerable design mods from the early versions, of which a lot were seen at the Olympics last year.

2013-05-09 10:35:11 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

I've currently got a Canon iPF6450 printer (24" wide format) on loan from Canon for review.

This one turned up in parts, so I've written a short article about how you set it all up.

Since I've got it for a while, if anyone has any questions about the printer, please do let me know and I'll see what I can find out.

I also have the giant spectrophotometer unit to try out but I'll leave off fitting that for a bit, until I've tried out more with the basic printer.

2013-05-07 07:29:58 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Canon post a video about the Digic 6 processor.
Meanwhile, we still have no 70D and some suggest that the 7D2 is for 2014...

2013-05-05 16:26:40 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A cold afternoon on the Northumberland coast.

In terms of contrast processing, about as far as I'd usually like to go (converted to BW with silver efex pro 2, used as a layer, blended with colour original in luminosity mode and ~75% opacity)  Like most of these effects, what works on a web sized image (1000 px high) can look dreadful on a large print unless you're careful.

The tonal balance set to remind me of it feeling cold and grey ;-)

2013-05-05 11:58:25 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

A second harvest picture.

Since the majority of my commercial work is supplied digitally, without much editing, it's good to be able to explore image processing with the software I get sent. All the articles I write, are as much about me learning new stuff, as they are meant for others ;-)
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/articles.php

2013-05-05 11:53:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

I've been testing some new (to me) software and it gives me a good excuse to look through the archive for images to try it out on. I prefer to use images that are 'new' to me since it avoids any subconscious tendency to try and recreate what might have worked before.

Just after harvest

2013-05-04 13:37:02 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

New Tilt-shift related patent from Canon.

Difficult to be clear from the translation, but it appears to relate to the in camera display of information from a tilt/shift lens.

Given that the 17mm and 24mm don't have any encoders for tilt, shift, or lens rotation, this would have to appear for replacements of the 45mm and 90mm.

Translated from Japanese (almost)
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2013-05-03

2013-05-01 19:08:14 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

New detailed review - Epson R2000 printer
I've just finished a longish review of the Epson R2000. In terms of print quality, easily up there with much more expensive models.

2013-04-30 07:52:57 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Canon update firmware for 5D mk3

Uncompressed HDMI output is now enabled.
Enables the center AF point to autofocus when the camera is used with Canon EF lens/extender combinations whose combined maximum aperture is f/8.
Improves the speed of the camera’s acquisition of focus when using a Canon Speedlite’s AF-assist beam.
Fixes a phenomenon in which the LCD monitor may freeze and display Err 70 or Err 80 when a still photo is taken during Live View or in movie shooting mode.
Fixes a phenomenon that may occur when the continuous shooting priority setting is enabled for multiple exposures, such that, after the sixth image is taken, there is a slight pause before the remainder of the sequence is completed.
Fixes a phenomenon in which the viewfinder display shows incorrect information during AEB shooting.
Communication with the WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter hasbee... more »

2013-04-28 15:54:52 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

New camera tethering software.
I've been looking at the public beta of Kuuvik Capture (Mac/Canon)
Interesting features including focus peaking on liveview

2013-04-27 16:18:49 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

A sunset at Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast - with small birds dashing about.

I've been testing various new software of late, and it's great to go back through the archives looking for images I never did much with. I always assume I must have taken them for a reason, even if they didn't quite 'work' when I went through them at the time.

2013-04-24 10:58:50 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Special mount for shift lenses  (Canon 24mm and 17mm)
I've just been looking at an adapter that allows you to attach the lens to your tripod, so that the camera shifts, rather than the lens. Gets round potential parallax problems if you are stitching images.

[Sticker shock warning for those without deep pockets...  :-)  ]

2013-04-23 13:30:28 (12 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

Google make a short film about me... :-)

OK, it's about my use of their Adsense service on our web site, but they've managed to get some views of my home city into it as well.

As someone who really isn't comfortable in front of the camera I take my hat off to the guys who made the video.

2013-04-21 18:51:28 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

A 'metallic' finish paper?  I've been testing the new metallic lustre finish paper from PermaJet. An interesting finish that suits some images better than others (and very difficult to show in a photo of a print)

Currently available in the UK, should appear elsewhere in a few months

2013-04-17 08:24:27 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 25 +1s)

Driving along - the best complete rainbow I ever saw - only half a mile from my home :-)

2013-04-15 09:49:58 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Great Photographers With < 10,000 Followers

The photographers here are all in my personal circles.  The choices are mine and mine alone.  No one asked, begged, or pleaded to belong.  No bribes were offered or accepted.  These are the people that I follow because I appreciate their great quality photography and their interaction.  Most I have met as I help curate several of the photography themes.  There are NO requirements to share this circle.  I would appreciate the people in this circle plus the post, leave a comment, and share the circle as public.  

Each profile has been verified by me.  Most have < 10,000 followers (when they were put into thecircle).... more »

2013-04-12 14:03:38 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Printer review - Canon PRO-10

I've just finished quite a long review of Canon's PRO-10 pigment ink A3+ printer. The replacement for the old 9500 mk2.

I've also got another review to start writing up, for the Epson R2000, but that will take a week or two to get out (paying work gets in the way ;-)

2013-04-07 16:42:23 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Another Photographer scam alert

What good news, someone in the USA wants to hire me as a photographer.

It seems that a Ms Doris Clack of Toledo want me to go out and shoot her wedding on the 31st of May. 

Wow, good news indeed - my fame as a pro photographer has spread beyond the UK ;-)  I must reply immediately...

Only a few minor issues... Firstly I'm a commercial photographer who doesn't cover weddings at all.

Secondly, the address looks like this. Hmm, just the sort of place I feel like travelling to in Toledo OH.

1515 W Laskey Rd, Toledo, OH, United States

If I remember rightly, this one goes along the lines of:
1,  'We'll send you a check for all your costs and expenses"
2, Wedding gets cancelled
3, "Keep 10% of the check value, if you can just transfer the rest back to us"... more »

2013-04-07 09:40:21 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

Using HDR at night
One of the reasons I like Nik HDR Efex is that, with care, it can give results that show less of the fashionable 'HDR excesses' that seem all too common (YMMV ;-) )

I took this view of the Guildhall in Leicester (cathedral behind) when I was first testing Nik HDR efex (V1). As a 30"x20" print, the tonality really gives a feel of depth and structure.

It's close to what could have been captured with a single image - the multiple exposures have allowed me to keep detail in what were some very strongly lit parts - B&W conversion with Silver efex

It's from:
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/plugins/nik_hdr.html
there is another local church in the V2 review
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/plugins/hdr-efex-pro2.html

2013-04-05 21:49:55 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Orford village, from the Castle roof.

Several people asked about the castle pic I posted earlier. This is a view from the roof, looking out over the village of Orford in Suffolk.

It is always cold up here - this view shows the view to the harbour and across to the ness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orford,_Suffolk

2013-04-05 10:27:38 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

Orford Castle in Suffolk

+David Leflett - I had a look in the archive, but I've not many more shots, mainly because it's very dark inside and I'd no tripod with me (you can see my feet in the stairs pic)

2013-04-01 16:01:14 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Thanks to everyone who's bought the full set of Nik plugins using the 15% discount link on my web site (all the Nik plugins for ~$126)

The discount link does expire at the end of today though
It's at the top the articles index page, which includes my Nik reviews

2013-04-01 15:07:52 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Cromer pier, from above and below

Both using shift lenses, hand held

2013-04-01 14:05:13 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Seattle art museum and another building...

Taken with a 17mm shift lens, hand held, whilst I was on holiday :-)

When walking round cities, the 17mm and 24mm shift lenses are my preferred 'walk round' lenses.

The first image needed a tiny bit of additional geometry correction, and just for good measure I've removed a couple of overhead wires. It takes practice, using such lenses hand held (particularly if stitching shifted shots) but it's worth it (IMHO) particularly since I don't take tripods on holiday ;-)

In the second image I've left the edge of another building in this version - this was part of what I used for aligning the lens. In a print, I might expand the blue sky by a small amount, just to give a tiny bit more space above the tip of the building. This was at the limit of shift, so I could have tilted the lens up a bit and then... more »

2013-03-31 11:21:08 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

One more reason, as a photographer, I don't have a Facebook account...

Company commercialises your friends pics

Not saying it couldn't happen here, just in not such an egregious way ;-)

2013-03-29 16:02:36 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

I am not...

After being handed a Nikon 'I am' bag at the UK Focus show and being asked if I was 'a Canon man', I decided that I really was not any of the above...

2013-03-29 10:51:26 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

More info surfaces on panasonic's replacement for the colour filter array over pixels - note that it only works well with very small pixels.

I've collected links at 
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/Canon_rumours.html

2013-03-28 10:42:35 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Rumour- Canon 7D Mk2 to be 21MP? 
Some recent specs for a 7D2 we were sent, suggest a bump from 18MP to 21MP for the 7D2

As with all such stuff we're sent, take with usual pinch of salt...

21MP APS C
ISO 100-25600 (L: 50, H1 51200, H2 102400)
10fps
Video 'stills burst' mode 30/60 fps
Full HD video with manual control
Single CF card slot
19 AF Points all cross
On chip phase detect pixels for liveview and AF tracking
100% viewfinder
Viewfinder LCD higher resolution than 7D
3.2" LCD
GPS, WiFi
Alloy body with better weather sealing over 7D

2013-03-27 11:03:43 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Too much money burning a hole in your pocket?  The Hasselbling is the camera for you...

As they say: "Lunar is unique because each model is perfected one by one, yet different as only the hand of an artist can make them. Our collection comprises five models, each with their own form and style.  The functionality and specification of each model is identical - choosing your grip and top plate material lets you reflect your individuality."

Yup, certainly reflects something about you ;-) 

Yes it is a Sony NEX7 under all that 'craftmanship'

2013-03-26 00:01:16 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

I note that there is a special offer of $149 for the full set of Nik plugins.

I've had an extra 15% discount link for the software for some time - I don't know if the link gets an extra 15% but if it does, do let me know (it costs no more, but please do note that it's an ad link on my site) 

2013-03-24 19:59:42 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

High MP Canon DSLR
It's been a while since I've been sent much info about any high MP camera (3D or 1D Xs), but a new suggestion says that we will get one of Canon's 'preview' type announcements later this year - let's just hope it appears a bit sooner than the 200-400 lens was 'previewed' ;-)

2013-03-20 19:34:40 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

The full list of Canon announcements for Friday is said to be:
Canon PowerShot SX280 HS
Canon PowerShot SX270 HS
Canon PowerShot A2500 (already announced in some countries
Canon PowerShot IXUS 255 HS (already announced in Japan)
Canon EF-s 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens
Canon EOS 700D 18 - 55 KIT STM aka Kiss X7i
Canon EOS 700D 18 - 135 KIT STM
Canon EOS 100D 18 - 55 KIT STM aka Kiss X7
Canon EOS 100D

The specs I've seen for the 700D make a used 550D or 600D look pretty good value for photography (video may be better, but I don't do video ;-)

2013-03-18 09:56:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Seems that Best Buy in the US got the nod to leak specs for a new Canon DSLR ;-)

No exact name (EOS-b), but 100D is suggested by many

18MP and appreciably smaller/lighter than the 650D (T4i)

Specs list on 100D page

2013-03-16 20:35:16 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

River Alde at Snape in Suffolk - a cold day last week

[2x 1Ds3 hand held shots taken with TS-E17 shifted up/down]

2013-03-16 20:28:16 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

A different view of the River Alde at Snape in Suffolk