Tuesday 13 December 2011

Adobe Lightroom 3.6 details

Lightroom_3_LS11_win_3_6.exe





Lightroom 3.6 now available for download.

3.6
  • Additional camera support for several new camera models including the Canon Powershot S100, Fuji FinePix X10, and Nikon 1 J1.

  • Corrections for issues introduced in previous versions of Lightroom 3.

  • Current version : 3.5 (build 775451)

    Wednesday 23 November 2011

    My first animation - I think it shows (using PhotoScape)

    a very quick gif created using my 500d, a toy snowman, a bit of post-it note, and PhotoScape.

    Click on the image below to view the high res. image.


    Sunday 13 November 2011

    Can you tell what it is yet

    My Sunday afternoon fun.....
    Can you tell what it is yet?


    It's my DIY speedlite grid.

    Cheshire countryside, Runcorn, Daresbury

    Some shots I took whilst on an afternoons walk last week, late autumn, early winter, 2011.
    They were taken on my ordinary HTC DESIRE HD mobile phone, at 3megapixel resolution !

    Hope you like them.



    Lagos, Portugal, Algave, 7th August

    1. Introduction
    2. Friday 5th August 2011
    3. Saturday 6th August 2011
    4. Sunday 7th August 2011
    TAGS: 2011HolidayLagos, algave, PhotographyByFaiPortugal

    Sunday 7th August 2011

    Today was my beautiful wife's birthday.

    Happy Birthday
    Lancers

     To celebrate this special day, we continued to wander around the Old Town, and take in the sights.
    Lagos
    Lagos Old Town Castle Gate
    Lagos Church Bell
    Wall tattoo
    Lagos Old Town
    Lagos Old Town Walls


    We initially tried to dine at "A Forja" (known locally as the Blue Door) but the we arrived quite late in the evening and the queues here were quite long (it's reputation proceeded it) so we wandered around, and stopped off for a quick drink in the "Green Room".

    <trying to find my image of the bar>


    As it turned out, this was a great little place with friendly bar staff, reasonably priced drinks which were suitable stronger than expected, and huge portions of Mexican food.

    Sunday 6 November 2011

    Lagos, Portugal, Algave, 6th August

    1. Introduction
    2. Friday 5th August 2011
    3. Saturday 6th August 2011
    4. Sunday 7th August 2011

    TAGS: 2011HolidayLagos, algave, PhotographyByFaiPortugal

    Saturday 6th August 2011
    One of Lisa's recommendations especially since we were self catering was a visit to the weekly farmers market down opposite the marine, housed in a couple of buildings in the bus stations area.
    On our walk down, we past an interesting opening in the city wall.
    Lagos

    "Can you guess where we are?"
    Lagos City Wall
    Lagos

    I think this is near the main town hall?
    Lagos Town Hall

    This is the little "harbour ferry" that takes tourists across this small stretch of water to the beach on the other side.
    Lagos Ferry

    Local market man selling jars of honey.
    Lagos Market

    Another farmer waiting for customers.
    Lagos Farmer

    After the market, we wandered back across the street, to the harbour for some food.
    Lagos
    Lagos
    Lagos Grotto boat
    Lagos Harbour

    There were lots of sales pitches where you could go for the local boat trips around the local area to visit the grottos.
    Lagos Boat Trip

    After a busy first day, we relaxed back at the apartment.
    Lagos at night

    Lagos, Portugal, Algave, 5th August

    1. Introduction
    2. Friday 5th August 2011
    3. Saturday 6th August 2011
    4. Sunday 7th August 2011

    TAGS: 2011HolidayLagos, algave, PhotographyByFaiPortugal

    Friday 5th August 2011
    Our first full day in Lagos, and we didn't really know where to go.
    What we usually try to do on the first day, is walk around, and pick up a few free local maps to see what is the "touristy" suggestions for places to eat, and see. We had a walk around the old town to familiarise ourselves with the location, and found the marina which is only 5 minutes from the apartments.
    If anyone can comment on who this statue is, that would be great !


    Me on the wall down on the harbour front. (with a "fashion" preset)


    The "Boa Esperanca"



    "Street" shot of "Bar 53" in Lagos


    "Late night menu critique"

    Thursday 3 November 2011

    Moons of Jupiter, photos of Jupiter

    I took my first ever planetary pictures of Jupiter yesterday, 1st November, 2011, using my DSLR (Canon 500d), 18-200 f3.5-5.6 lens, RedSnapper tripod, and a piece of card.

    I set up the camera at 200mm, 2 second delay, f20 or so, and 3.2 second exposure, although the actual sensor exposure was less, and used Live View.

    The reason being was I placed the card in-front of the lens as I took the shot, and only moved it out of the way when there was about a second left of the exposure.
    The reason being was that I wanted any vibrations to die down before exposing the planet, so when I pressed the trigger, any vibrations should have died down after the initial trigger delay and the first few seconds that the sensor started to record information.

    I'd then gently move the card out of the way near the end of the exposure, there by taking a shot of Jupiter with reduced or subsided vibrations.
    I only knew about this technique after watching a BBC program on the night sky hosted by Brian Cox.

    All in all, I only spent 10 minutes trying for the shot, so fairly happy with the result, and the fact that you can see four moons of Jupiter.

    What do you think?



    Saturday 29 October 2011

    Hoya Pro1 UV MC filter

    Ghostbuster !

    Say no to ghosting with a Hoya Pro1 UV MC ultra violet multi coated filter.






    Filter purchased from
    7DayShop.com

    Thursday 27 October 2011

    Lagos, Portugal 2011 Holiday with Photographs

    1. Introduction
    2. Friday 5th August 2011
    3. Saturday 6th August 2011
    4. Sunday 7th August 2011

    TAGS: 2011HolidayLagos, algave, PhotographyByFaiPortugal

    On 4th August 2011, my wife and I took a lovely 14 day break away to Lagos, South Portugal in the Algave.
    We bought the package direct from Thomsons (via topcashback).
    TopCashBack.com

    Over the next few posts, I'll document some of the great restaurant, and places to visit, and some of the sights I managed to photograph.



    Thursday 4th August
    Our destination in Lagos, Portugal, was a lovely self catering apartment "Porta da Vila" over in the west side of the old town in Lagos.


    "Lisa" out rep at the apartments was fantastic. She was very welcoming, and had plenty of suggestions of places to visit, and restaurants to try which I'll cover later.

    Tuesday 25 October 2011

    Tuesday 18 October 2011

    Quick baby photoshoot

    A quick photoshoot over at a friends house on 15th October 2011.

    I'm still finding my feet as to getting the setup right, I think I'll need to get my hands on some studio gear, and some backdrops for high and lowkey shots.

    Confessions of an Aca/Fan: Transmedia Storytelling 101

    Confessions of an Aca/Fan: Transmedia Storytelling 101

    I've just read a Henry Jenkins article, as suggested by PHONAR, discussing Transmedia.
    A very interesting and insightful article, mentioning how the art of story telling and involving the reader in more than one way through different entry points in media.

    It mentions Star Wars and The Matrix as fine examples of transmedia.

    Excellent !!!

    Monday 17 October 2011

    DIY Photography – Beauty Dish, Strobe Hood, and ebay UV filter

    I made myself a cheap DIY flash gun hood, speedlite beauty dish, from a IKEA standing lamp today.

    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    I cut the flash gun hole into the lamp shade, to turn it into a hood, then took a very quick remote shot to see what the results were like.

    I was more than happy with the results, however, it did highlight something that I'd thought about in the back of my mind.

     

    My super cheap ebay UV filter was causing GHOSTING on my shots.

    It has cropped up in the past in my previous shots, but I never really knew why till today, as I'd guessed it might have been a reflection caused by my lens hood !

    With cheap EBAY UV FILTER

    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    Without filter
    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    With cheap EBAY UV FILTER
    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    Without filter
    DIY Photography Strobe Head

    Looks like I'd better get a good multi-coated UV filter from now on !

    Sunday 9 October 2011

    First Autumnal walk of 2011

    The wife and I just took our first Autumnal walk around by the woods near where we live. We collected some things, that we thought might look pretty, and I thought I'd share them with you.

     

    Enjoy !