Lensbaby Spark; First Impressions
What follows are some initial thoughts about the Lensbaby Spark lens released a little over a week ago. I have been using the lens for about three days now on a Nikon D40X (I did say they were initial thoughts). I was a Lensbaby virgin having never tried any of the growing range of lenses [...]
iPhone Type Editing Without the iPhone
introduction The desire to make an image look worn or imperfectly exposed can be traced back to the grunge aesthetic of the late eighties and early nineties, if not before. It really left the design world and became commonplace with the introduction of the iPhone and apps such as Hipstamatic and Instagram. This post is [...]
Point and Shoot Urban Macro
Mention macro to most photographers and I suspect that images of bugs, flower parts or other living nature type subject matter comes to mind. There, however, is a whole world to explore that is man made and things not regarded as beautiful can reveal hidden depths. Personally I like working close up with the stuff [...]
3D for the Photographer; Part 1
Introduction This is the first of what will hopefully be a short series of posts looking at 3D computer graphics and how the technology can serve the photographer. I will be using Bryce 3D software which is considered a 3D landscape program. The principle behind Bryce and most 3D programs is a simple one – [...]
Removing dust from a Lumix ZS8 Sensor
“Out Damned Spot” Something bad happened a week or so ago. My brand new toy, a Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS8 point and shoot became all but unusable. A black spot had taken up residence in the inner parts of the camera and dominated every shot. Normally I am not one to worry about little imperfections [...]
c’t Digital Photography; A Genuinely Useful Photography Magazine
Within the covers of c’t Digital Photography lies an intelligent, well thought out magazine that treats the reader with respect and not just as fodder for the industry advertisers. If you think about your own photography in a more sophisticated way than simply as a race to afford the latest and most expensive equipment then [...]
High ISO Numbers and Compact Cameras
With advances in post production noise reduction technology it may be time to revisit the idea that high ISO settings and small sensors are completely incompatible. I possess three point and shoot cameras, a newish Lumix ZS8, a Canon Powershot A3100 IS, and a much older Powershot, the A550. Up until yesterday I hadn’t used [...]
Antenna and Ball
A bit of an explanation is probably required with this one. It is a ball stuck on a car radio antenna against a road that has been repaired with that rubber (asphalt?) substance. The processing is split toning using LR 3 but leaving the original coloring in rather than reducing to Monochrome first. This allowed [...]
Mobile Version Glitches
I am currently trying to iron out one or two problems with the mobile version of this site. The main problem is with images not showing up, especially in the case of older posts. One thing that can be done with this site is that the user, i.e. you, can decide which version of the [...]
Traffic Cones
Shot with the Lumix ZS8 using the burst scene setting. Photos are only 3mb in size but the quality is certainly serviceable. This setting is also excellent for low light photography, ironically better than any of the ones specifically for low light. This is the best truly point and shoot setting on the camera as [...]
The Minimalist Photographer
The Minimalist Woman
My wife's excellent blog.