Day 19: July 2010 Photo-a-Day Thread

**Colin Southern** · 18th July 2010, 08:57 AM

Getting ready for the new week!

**rpcrowe** · 18th July 2010, 10:02 PM

I am very sorry members for not keeping up with the images but, my computer crashed and I have been without the computer or editing capabilities. It almost drove me crazy, it's a wonderment how much I rely on my computer for day to day life. Luckily all my images are on backup external hard drives.

Anyway, I have just setup my new computer work station which includes a Gateway FX 6831 computer with 8 GB of Ram and a 1.5 TB hard drive. The thing really screams. I have set it up with an NEC Multisync EA231WMi monitor (in landscape mode) paired up with my older (but still good) Dell 19" monitor in the portrait configuration. The gateway supports both monitors. This really is a great way to look at images.

I also lost Photoshop when my computer went down and I have no editing capability as of now. I didn't use the disk to remove my Adobe Creative Suite so I could not reinstall it. No big problem, I am now running Windows 7 and can benefit from Photoshop CS5. I just purchased a Photoshop CS5 which was on sale at Adobe for less than I could have upgraded my Creative Suite CS3. Since, I never used any of the other portions of the Creative Suite, Photoshop was all that I needed.

This is the full Photoshop CS5. It is not the extended CS5 which I don't need but, neither is it an upgrade or a student copy. Adobe had it listed at $239.99 with free shipping (66% off) however, I just went back to the Adobe site and Photoshop CS5 is selling for $699... I hate Adobe and the way they do business but, I do like Photoshop. Sure, I could have started with another program but, I am too old to be retrained.

I am waiting for the Photoshop disks to arrive in the mail and I will then be well set up for editing.

Another reason for me to be antsy about my lack of a computer was that I learned from a distant cousin with whom I collaborate in genealogy that she had finally found the missing link, in the form of an old family Bible, which connects me to some very important personages in the history of the British Isles. I am a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce of Scotland and two of the English barons who forced John to sign the Magna Carta were also in my line. I could not verify that connection until my computer was up and running.

This is mycomputer work station with my two monitors set up. I tried to edit this shot with paint.net and find that the program leaves a lot to be desired. I had problems with color balance, cropping and everything else. Rotation was a problem since I could not rotate the image a variable amount as I can in Photoshop.

I just realized that I can download a free trial of Photoshop Extended CS5 and will work with that until my copy of Photoshop CS5 arrives in the mail.

**carregwen** · 18th July 2010, 10:22 PM

Richard

You don't have to post your images of the day on the day, you can do it at a later date. Hope you get your new machine running soon.

**rick55** · 19th July 2010, 03:33 AM

You'll have to let us know how the new setup works for you, Richard. You didn't say, specifically, but I assume (because of the 8GB RAM) that you're running 64-bit?

Cheers,
Rick

**rick55** · 19th July 2010, 03:39 AM

Canon 500D, EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, Full EXIF. PAD slideshow.

The wife and I were out looking for good photo possibilities, when she spotted this deer. I lurched to a stop, and we both clicked away through her open window. Like the previous deer, not crystal clear, but what the heck?

Cheers,
Rick

**carregwen** · 19th July 2010, 04:12 AM

Rick

I'm surprised you got so close. How close were you? Nice animal.

**Klickit** · 19th July 2010, 05:39 AM

Eureka! I dunnit!!

Bad grammar aside, this is my post for the day. Best landscape it ain't, but it is the first time I have managed to tame the masking thicket, so for me it is an historic moment which calls for jubilation. I have been trying to get masking under my belt for an age, but have never quite got there. The oddest procession of images came marching out of the computer in search of this elusive method of combining different element in different images. (You are all permitted to snigger behind your collective hands if you wish) This is actually yesterdays image, but it wasn't going to happen, so you're getting it today.
Crash, crash crash. Must be something to do with being in an auto repair shop, I reckon.

**Peter Ryan** · 19th July 2010, 06:39 AM

Well you better tell us what elements you played around with here so we can rejoice with you?

**Klickit** · 19th July 2010, 08:27 AM

Ah, OK. I had 2 pix, exif thus:

Focal length: 28*mm*(equiv. 42*mm)
Aperture: F16
No 1 Exposure time: 1/250" (+2*EV)
No 2 Exposure time: 1/1000"
ISO speed rating: 400/27°
Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Focus Mode: AF-C

one for the sky and one for the foreground. Erased the sky in one and the foreground in the other, with a slight overlap. Bog simple with no fancy bells and whistles, but it actually worked this time. One boo-boo was having the ISO set too high at 400, but that was a left over from shooting inside the previous day.
The rejoicing is simply that I've been trying to do this for so long. Easy once you know how, eh.

**Colin Southern** · 19th July 2010, 09:52 AM

Note: I've updated the 2nd shot since yesterday (now that I've re-processed it on my "real" monitor).

**mastamak** · 19th July 2010, 10:39 AM

Historical Spot

This was taken a couple of days ago, but, since Colin says we have a bit of leeway I thought I would post it. The spot has great historical interest to anyone interested in the greatest British navigator of all time. Can anyone guess the location, the historic occasion and date? I will give you all a clue Lat -15d 22' 42.53" Long 145d 14' 58.81"E. First prize a jar of Vegemite!

Grant

**carregwen** · 19th July 2010, 11:07 AM

Defiance rules today - no camera shot! This is a magnifying glass moved (with some skill and artistry) across a flat-bed scanner with the lid off. Saved as 16bit TIFF then tidied in Photoshop and Ripple filter applied to make a more interesting distortion.

PAD gallery

Looks better on black

This is the original scan as it came out Original scan

And this is the final version...

**carregwen** · 19th July 2010, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by mastamak

The spot has great historical interest to anyone interested in the greatest British navigator of all time. Can anyone guess the location, the historic occasion and date? I will give you all a clue Lat -15d 22' 42.53" Long 145d 14' 58.81"E. First prize a jar of Vegemite!

Captain Cook. Good job I'm a veggy.

**peterb533** · 19th July 2010, 02:43 PM

Following a short discussion with Rob (Carregwen) on my problem with manual focussing, this shot was taken using live view and manual focus and consists of 5 images at F2.8 stacked using CS4.

**Antonio Correia** · 19th July 2010, 03:36 PM

I was driving through a road when I noticed how many gates abandoned there are.
There was little traffic and I decided to stop from time to time to take shots of the entrances once or rarely used these days.

The light was rather harsh and they didn't came out the way I would like to.

**rick55** · 19th July 2010, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by carregwen

Rick

I'm surprised you got so close. How close were you? Nice animal.

I was about 10m/30ft away. Interestingly, the EXIF says the subject distance was 4294967295 m. I've never seen that before. I checked the raw EXIF of the CR2 in PS, and that's what it says, so it isn't just Flickr. I'll have to investigate: I did a little looking, and I see realistic subject distance with this lens on an image at 5m. Perhaps I didn't have it seated properly.

Cheers,
Rick

**Dave Humphries** · 19th July 2010, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by rick55

I was about 10m/30ft away. Interestingly, the EXIF says the subject distance was 4294967295 m. I've never seen that before. I checked the raw EXIF of the CR2 in PS, and that's what it says, so it isn't just Flickr. I'll have to investigate: I did a little looking, and I see realistic subject distance with this lens on an image at 5m. Perhaps I didn't have it seated properly.

Cheers,
Rick

Hi Rick,

Very coincidentally, that is the exact same distance recordedd in EXIF for Mark/triggerhappy's Odaiba night shot.

I suspect it is the value of infinity

(at least as far as the EXIF standard is concerned)

Cheers,

**rick55** · 19th July 2010, 08:34 PM

Kit, I love the "Eureka" shot. Beautiful image of a lonely bush in a big space. Spring will never come!

Colin, both shots are gorgeous, but I like "conflicting" better: the lines draw you into the horizon.

Grant, isn't the greatest British navigator Sir Richard Branson? It said so in one of the in-flight magazines.

Interesting, Rob: it is pretty pleasing. No arguing about whether this one is abstract.

Cheers,
Rick