[irishlens]

December 5, 2006 at 2:47 pm

Thanks for C&C Ben. You do have a point about depth of field. I was working at fairly close
distances in relatively low light (albeit with flash). I opted for f/6.3 rather than f/5.6 or f/4 or
thereabouts because I was being conservative about getting faces in focus. There are a few
in the gallery where I do have some nice out-of-focus areas.

Antifuse – you are right about paper obstructing the bottom corner of the first one. I could
clone/crop to minimise its distracting effect. Folks were there from a singing group and hence
the sheets of paper which made shooting and composing tricky. People were most animated
while singing or listening to the music so that was around the time in which I snapped a lot
of the shots.

Someone on another forum mentioned to me that I should consider using the tungsten gel/filter
which comes with the SB800 bundle. I must break that out and give it a go to see if it helps
with mixed lighting flash photos.

–Ian

[irishlens]

November 30, 2006 at 7:54 pm

Many thanks Steve & LahinchLass !

I think the original confusion was that the original advice may well have been to avoid Celeron (rather than Centrino processors)
I think a lot of the duo core notebook CPUs out there at the moment are also branded as Centrino and I think they are v fast machines.

I’m with you LahinchLass regarding the new MacBook pro line… very expensive but tempting nonetheless given that you can
now dual boot them (using BootCamp) and get best of both worlds (but at a fairly significant financial price). I’m a big fan
of OSX and I didn’t take out AppleCare on my G4 12″ powerbook (which is a fair bit underspecced for what I need now).
In any case the battery compartment broke irreparably and I hadn’t taken out the (expensive) AppleCare insurance.
I think if I were to purchase a MacBook Pro nowadays I’d definitely need to buy AppleCare along with it (another 400-500Euro
ontop of the hefty base price)

Thanks for all the suggestions, info !

–Ian

[irishlens]

November 28, 2006 at 10:35 am

Melekalikimaka

Thanks for the advice. The 7200RPM (min) drives do seem to be something which are overlooked by many.
How about your advice on the Centrino processors. I’m a bit confused. Maybe I’m wrong but aren’t most if
not all Intel CPUs designed for notebooks nowadays branded as Centrino. Are you perhaps confusing with
the term “Celeron” which was the performance lame version of the P4 which is in some of the lower end
notebooks ?

Correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not as up on the lineage of CPUs that are around these days. Once upon
a time I used to eat “Byte magazine” for breakfast in the days of 486 and early Pentiums and I knew
the whole CPU roadmap of Intel, Motorola and AMD way back then….

–Ian

[irishlens]

November 22, 2006 at 8:58 pm

Not quite sure what you mean , Fintan.
I assume you mean RAW files as opposed to JPG and then being able to carefully control postprocessing
in Nikon capture, some Canon RAW processor and/or Photoshop CS via Adobe camera raw.

If that is what you mean then yes.. that’s part of my standard workflow for everything except
snapshots.

–Ian

[irishlens]

November 17, 2006 at 6:42 pm

I’ve heard very good reports about a piece of software called QImage which is very good at both upsizing
images prior to print and also is smart about the level of sharpening appropriate to apply before printing.

I’ve not used it but I plan to get it. I understand that the author has been very good over the years in updating
it and listens to feedback very keenly and he maintains it very well.

I’ve found that I usually have to sharpen when *downsizing* to web viewing size. With regards to how much
sharpening is needed in print it depends a lot on the original size of the image and the target DPI and
dimensions of the target print. Some labs prefer you don’t sharpen and they handle it within their RIP software.
If you are printing yourself using inkjet,etc then you may have to experiment but I do believe that
Qimage is well worth taking a look at if you are interested in squeezing the best performance in terms
of getting the image optimized to print.

–Ian

[irishlens]

November 14, 2006 at 2:48 pm

Thanks for the useful info, Pete !

In terms of the notebook – I’m going to be away from base a bit over the next while so I feel
I need a mobile solution for work stuff as well as photography.
I’m mulling over a few options at the moment. The MacBook Pros look interesting (but very expensive)
The fact they can run Windows XP and OSX is attractive for sure. I’d say I’d save nearly 1k if
I went for an Intel/AMD notebook. If I was purchasing Apple I’d get the Apple warranty which
is costly for notebooks but essential because of the highly Apple specific hardware incorporated
into those machines.

Anyone else got a notebook model & spec they are happy with for Photoshop use ?

-Ian

[irishlens]

October 31, 2006 at 10:54 am

John Dunne wrote:

Oh i like that. Super focus. what gear are you using

Thanks John.

I must check the EXIF/metadata but it’s either the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX Nikon or a 50mm f/1.8D with my Nikon D70.
Wasn’t taken with a macro lens. I do have a Tamron 90mm macro lens which I really ought to put more through its
paces. It has a good reputation but it really requires tripod and off camera fill flash to shine (or else nice soft lighting
at dawn/dusk).

I had a look at your most recent posting , ie. the 3 deer in Phoenix park .. very nice indeed!
I sent you a PM :)

[irishlens]

October 31, 2006 at 10:47 am

tara1 wrote:

The trouble with this subject is that there is well over a billion images of Kylemore Abbey, as everyone whoever goes to Connemara takes almost the same pic of the place usually from the road by the lake.

Very fair point, Tara. I think it is probably the most predictable landscape/architecture shot I’ve taken :)
Some of my favourite photos I took over the week I spent around the Renvyle/Connemara Circle in August
are of the native flowers. I must post those in the nature section.

Nice to see another budding photographer in this general neck of the woods :wink:

[irishlens]

October 30, 2006 at 7:43 pm

Eddie,

Thanks very much for the kind compliments on the image.
I had a look at your site (and duly bookmarked it). Your fine art B&W film work is really beautiful.
I lived in North Kildare for about 7yrs and I recognized Donadea, Kilcock, etc. Some really evocative
images there.

I look forward to seeing your images for sure!

–Ian

[irishlens]

October 30, 2006 at 6:59 pm

Striking indeed. Looks reminiscent of a mini space launch pad until I looked a bit more carefully.
Where was it taken ?

–Ian

[irishlens]

October 29, 2006 at 9:31 pm

Some layer mask and adjustment layers to bring out some of the suppressed shadow detail in the foreground rocks.
Tricky to bring these up too much. A single RAW image was taken but the dynamic range of digital being as it is makes
it challenging to pull out a lighter tonality in the foreground rocks.

I did some color cast removal (reduced blue cast somewhat) and selectively sharpened and de-misted the background hill detail
using high radius USM.

–Ian

[irishlens]

October 29, 2006 at 1:01 pm

Stephen – 1 and 4 in your original set and the replacement are fantastic shots.
I like the postprocessing effect a few posts back where you added a kind of golden color cast.
I agree with the previous critique about the most recent retouching sample that you possibly
have gone overboard with the saturation and colour tweaking in that one.

Very nice photos. What time of day did you take them at ?

–Ian

[irishlens]

October 28, 2006 at 11:41 pm

A little more sharpening on foreground.. perhaps this may be more pleasing to some.. I’m interested to see comparisons between this and previous
reworking….

–Ian

[irishlens]

October 28, 2006 at 11:36 pm

Redone in BW (PS/CS channel mixer, action …. some contrast/curve adjustment layer, levels adjustments to boost contrast)

–Ian

[irishlens]

October 28, 2006 at 6:23 pm

Nice capture of roadside dahlia display !

Just to tease the Canon versus Nikon silliness here is a Pom Pom dahlia with unusual two colour petals I took in Kiltimagh a few months back

Nikon D70, 17-55mm f/2.8 Nikkor.