Fresh from an all-day class on Capture NX2, I’ve begun my effort to master the program. There’s an incredible amount yet to learn, but I do feel energized and empowered to use the program. What I discovered is that a lot of enhancements are just what I envisioned. Making adjustments with the histogram sliders is pretty eye opening. Learning how to make adjustments through curves will take some work. The color control point and selection control point are tools in Capture NX2 that will make even the slowest convert to full-strength post-processing programs (me) sit up and pay attention. I also appreciate that the program seems to be designed to make refinements to images, not substantially alter them.

I got home last night and made my first attempt at making some adjustments to a photo using Capture NX2. Here’s what I did with the image below. I started with correcting the white balance and setting picture control. I followed that with a slight nudge of the slider on the highlight side of the histogram. I made a slight adjustment to the warmth of the entire image. Then, I put a color control point near the left side of the seat of the kayak. Using the sliders available, I added brightness and a little warmth to reveal the detail that was previously obscured in the shadows. That’s it. Well, that was a lot, but I have to admit that it was pretty cool to look at the original and adjusted image side-by-side.  Having spent some more time with the program (at the time of this post), I would have retained some of the warmth of the kayak. It’s a little blown out in the adjusted image.

Untouched RAW Image

Image Adjusted Using Capture NX2

Image Adjusted Using Google’s Picasa

With Picasa, I hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, added a little warmth, sharpening and slight bump of shadow. 

I can already tell there are a lot of tools in Capture NX2. Google’s free Picasa program does a decent job, but notice the loss of detail in the water breaking against the shore, as well as the non-selective warming (the whole picture goes brown). So, with just one photo I can see the ability to more accurately and precisely handle images with Capture NX2.

I will post more before and after images, along with a description of the steps I took to refine the image. For those who have an “I told you so” primed and ready to launch…I hear ya!

technology

There have been occasions lately when I have questioned whether I was born in the wrong generation. Unlike many of my peers, I am quite comfortable with Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Digg, StumbleOn, Delicious, and many other  social media sites. Now, having time to keep up with it all is another thing. But, what I have found is that I don’t have the inherent distrust or concern about these sites as do some of my 40-something friends, or 60- to 70-something parents.

One thing that has actually made me quite passionate about using Twitter is the community of photographers that I have befriended. The great thing is that many of the photographers are at different stages of their careers. I’ve met beginners, hobbyists, new professionals and seasoned veterans. Each has a different and/or unique perspective of photography.  I’ve come across people who photograph babies, seniors (I keep thinking I’m going to see pictures of AARP members), weddings, food, architecture…you name it.

What’s interesting is that I have only met a couple of the people I’ve “befriended or follow online. Most of my interaction is done online — by way of tweets, @___ replies, direct messages and profile posts. Back in February, Gary Vaynerchuk admonished my wife to “get in the trenches,” as it related to social media and online marketing. Though the advice was not directed to me at the time, it has stuck with me. My goal, at this point, is less about marketing, and more about learning, growing and connecting. Being at the nascent stage of my photography career, I’m humble enough to know that I’ve got a lot to learn.

I admit that I got on a Twitter as a lark. It was really an extension of my Facebook activities. One of the initial perks of Twitter was that I could update my Facebook page with my status updates. Sweet, I thought. I could kill two birds with one stone. Little did I know the power of networking and community lurking right beneath the surface. I am frequently online looking at the work of many photographers. I noticed that an increasing number of photographers had a Twitter icon on their site. Not soon after following two or three photographers, I started to see tweets with links to the works of other photographers, articles on photography, events and exhibits, etc. The beauty of the 140-word updates is that you can quickly scan them, and extract useful information.

Just as with forums, it does take some work to be active on Twitter. If you have more than handful of people you follow, it can take good amount of time to read through updates that trick in throughout the day. In fact, I’m amazed when I see someone following thousands of people. I don’t know how it’s done. At the time of this post, I follow about 160 people. A good number of these people do not update their status with any particular frequency. There are some high-volume tweeters on my list, and I can count on seeing their face easily filling up a page. As the saying goes, you have to separate the wheat from the chafe. Most of the tweets I get are from people sharing incredibly useful information. Many of the people I follow have returned the favor by becoming a follower. It’s like a little gift when I receive a response or direct message with comments, feedback or links to information.

Because of sites like Twitter and Facebook, the paradigm is shifting. Now don’t get me wrong. I am the same person who, several threads back, talked about the reticence to use post-processing software. I also stated that I am not a full-fledged Luddite. It’s selective. I am incredibly excited about the prospect of having my photography career blossom with the assistance of Twitter and Facebook. Clearly, my success or failure will be defined on the quality of my work and the receptivity of people to that work. The networking through Twitter (and other sites) is already paying dividends by expanding my community of friends and colleagues. I’d like to think that I am approaching Twitter with the right spirit. Meet, join and become active in a larger community.  That’s what it’s all about—to me. If I had to guess, those who are on Twitter with rather transparent marketing goals, will wear on people and are really missing the point and power of Twitter and the exponentially-growing community of Twits.

social media, technology

           Please note: the video has a couple of “adult words.” (very briefly @ 3:32 mark)

I love it! There are some great anologies in the video.

OK, forgive me, but I’m still on this topic. PC vs. Mac. Putting aside my seemingly never-ending problem with Windows Explorer not responding, I have turned to doing what I do best — researching the hell out of something before making a decision.  At the most basic level, I have the same reaction to Macs that I suspect most other people do. Ooooooh…ahhhh. It’s hard to look at, or put your hands on, a Mac without having some sense of technological or aesthetic arousal. They are sexy.  However, just as I am with people, I’m not easily sold on appearance alone. I need to know what’s behind the “pretty/handsome face.”  

I think where I am starting to look at the Mac over the PC is not for the aesthetic, or cult-like adherence by photographers, artists, and the like. Instead, I’m looking squarely at the stability of the underlying nuts-and-bolts. Principally, the operating system. This is what I want to understand more fully before making the leap. Is Apple’s OS just that much better than Windows? Or, is it a combination of the operating system and the hardware? (The question about the operating system is a bit rhetorical because not much research is needed to run across articles or reviews that effectively push Vista over a cliff.)

Though some may consider the design, look, and feel of the computer to be shallow; if you’re working on it daily, it is important. Given my penchant for minimalism (example: I subscribe to Dwell magazine), the Apple is perfect. However, I’ve not spent any time actually laying hands on the system. The tactile feel and response of the keyboard is very important to me. I type a lot–even more now that I’m blogging–and I need a comfortable and responsive keyboard. Considering all the bloggers I see banging out content on MacBooks, it suggests that the keyboard is good. I’ve read some reviews suggesting the keyboards on Macs are a little lacking, but I think there’s some subjectivity here because everyone has different typing styles. I’m a touch typist, so I may have a different perspective from someone who is a two-finger, hunt-and-peck typist. Moving to the physical product, I am not completely sold that Apple’s are the prettiest things out there. I’ve seen a number of laptops and desktops by Sony, Samsung and HP that rival, in my honest opinion, Apple’s aesthetic.

Turning the focus to the underlying system; this is an area where I want to be versed on facts not biases or hype. Whereas the look of the computer is rather subjective, the desire for a functioning operating system–free of mysterious alerts, bugs, viruses, etc., should be pretty objective. This is where I do tend to listen more attentively to Mac users, because what I universally hear is the satisfaction with the experience. Ask just about any PC user, and you’ll get a story, if not a tome, about problems. I seldom hear Mac owners saying, “God! This thing is a piece of sh*t!” If you could have been a fly on the wall last weekend, that would would have been the mildest expression uttered. Nevertheless, I don’t want to make a decision to change platforms in a knee jerk fashion; particularly when the switch to a Mac involves a pretty hefty investment. (I think Dave Cullen did a good job capturing the justification for the price differential between Macs and PCs in his video.) I would like to do a little more reading on the differences in operating systems. I would also appreciate, your comments. Whether objective or biased, it’s interesting to hear the perspective of people on both sides of the fence. I am particularly interested in hearing people who’ve tried both and why they made the decision to go with a PC or a Mac.

In fairness to my Toshiba; though there have been a few Vista  hiccups that have given me fits, I’ve had a pretty good experience with the laptop.  The programs that I have on the system work, and I’ve seldom encountered compatibility issues. From talking to friends, it appears that one of the major differences between the platforms is the ease of use for graphical design and layout. According to my fried Chris, iWeb would have cut the time redesigning my website in half, it not more. In fact, he e-mailed me the other day and said that had that been him dealing with all the freezing programs and convoluted graphic design; he would have  been standing at the door at the Apple store the next morning. I shared some of that emotion. I just don’t want to be hasty. Not to mention, I don’t have several thousand dollars to spend on completely new equipment. Hence, I am being rather deliberate about this issue, with the freedom of having a system that works, albeit not optimally.

Again, I’m interested to hear your opinion. If you were a PC user that made a switch to Mac, please share your experience. Would you go back to PC? If not, why? I am also very interested to hear from people who have tried Macs, but decided to stick with PCs.

computers, technology