Camera RAW Problem

I attended the beginners/technique night on Tuesday and was very impressed by Kevin's demo of Camera Raw, so I thought I'd try it myself.
According to Adobe CR 5.6 is compatible with the Fuji S6500 so I took some pics in raw and JPG and tried processing them.
No matter how I tried the results from Camera Raw were poor, unsharp grainy and noisy and not a patch on the jpegs the camera itself produced, and nowhere near as good as what the free utility S7raw produced.
Has any non-Nikon/Canon user tried Camera Raw and if so what were your findings?

Cheers

Alan

Useful Resources

As the new season is upon us and we have had two evenings already... I thought I would track down some useful information that could be put on the blog that our members could benefit from. These are listed under a new section called "Useful Resources" Already there are three links in there for some quite good tutorials on Photoshop and one for the Lightroom users of the membership.

Whilst for some of the more experienced users some of the tutorials may be quite standard, I hope that this list will be of use to some. Smart Objects in Photoshop for example is very useful and is a tool that I am using more and more.

If you know of any more tutorials that you feel would be worth sharing, drop me a mail at kevin@coral-design.com and I will add them on there.

See you on Wednesday

Kev

Blog Advice

After due consideration and not wishing to appear officious or negative the committee wish to remind members that this facility is intended as a forum to discuss anything pertinent to photography and the means to upload images for discussion or comment. It is not intended to be a free advertising site for whatever items you may wish to dispose of.

However exceptions can and will be made for anything which is relevant to the hobby including photographic and computer equipment. Any advertisment deemed to be outside these parameters may be removed so if in doubt please request permission from the webmaster or a committee member.

Website Update

Hi All

I have just done a mod to the website to make it a bit more swish, I have taken a view from some members too who asked for it to be widened, this has gone up by 200px.

The member gallery has been updated with all the images provided by Chris, this contains all the images he received last season as competition entries.

The programme is now uploaded and is available for download as a pdf, there is a link to adobe.com for those who don't have adobe acrobat reader.

The links page has also been updated.

Thanks

Kev

Charity of Choice

Hi All

At the Open Day we are planning to have a Photoshoot, it was suggested at our last meeting that we charge a fee of £1 for people to have their photograph taken. We thought about donating this to Charity and wanted to try and get a feel for the memberships chosen Charity. Names in the frame so far

Help for Heroes

Macmillan Nurses

Bassetlaw Hospice

Update: Disabled Photographers Society added

Please feel free to suggest more....

I will take a vote at the first meeting and announce the results that night.

Thanks

Kev

RAF Cosford - a great day out

Following my disappointment with Doncaster Air Museum I'm pleased to be able to say that RAF Cosford has redressed the balance. It's free to get in (although you do have to pay for parking), the exhibits are all top quality, and subject to the usual constrictions you really can get some decent photos.
It's near Telford which is also handy for the Ironbridge gorge and all the museums in the locality, including the Victorian village currently appearing on TV in the Victorian Pharmacy series, the Wrekin and Wenlock Edge.

Take a look at http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/

Here's a view of the Cold War Exhibition building which houses among others examples of all 3 V-bombers and a Trabant!


I'll let you use your imagination as to what's happening here:


And this is a Victor which I've always thought was a really evil-looking aeroplane:


And the Vulcan which is just awesome.

Royal International Air Tattoo RAF Fairford 17th July 2010

Hi Everyone

Following on from the Waddington Airshow post, I thought I would share the results from what turned out to be a fantastic few days with mixed weather, thankfully the weather for airshow itself turned out ok , I will post a video later to show how bad it was for arrivals the day before!!!!

A very spirited display by the RAF Typhoon

More Typhoon...

Chris, my Mum and I went to the Airshow this year, unfortunately Stuart was unable to make it. We stayed at the Totterdownhill Campsite in the caravan, the weather was extreme to say the least, high winds, lashing rain everyday except airshow day. We were there Wednesday through Sunday and had a great time. The Campsite offers one of the best views of an airshow I have ever seen, it actually looks down across the airfield and is bang in the centre of the display area for the aircraft.

We saw some aircraft not normally seen in the UK including the latest US aircraft the F22 Raptor, this display was astonishing, nearly every surface on the plane moves as well as the jet nozzles to keep the plane in the air, it can turn in the opposite direction in almost its own length whilst airborne. The latest troop carrier and C130 Hercules replacement was also displayed, the A400M Airbus.

Business end of the RNAF F16

We had an American C17 display who flew so low over the Campsite we actually felt the draft from it, someone on the airfield recently commented on how low it looked from their perspective and thought it was going to crash. Sadly on that note, an American C17 was lost earlier this week in Alaska whilst practicing for a display, all four crew were lost. Going to show that whilst this hobby is entertaining it certainly has its own dangers attached, the crash could quite easily have been at Fairford. My thoughts are with the lost C17 Crew and their colleagues and families, some of whom were watching the practice.

American C17 on extreme low flyby over the campsite

Anyway with that somber thought, it is with pride that I show my results from the weekend. Ray earlier in the year termed our's and other countries pilots / aircrew as the true professionals, a comment that I wholeheartedly agree with.

On with the show.....

The wonderful Red Arrows

The F22 Raptor

The Belgian F16, love this shot, you can see the dials in the cockpit...

Spitfire, part of the Typhoon and Spitfire Synchro Pair

RNAF F16 Display

Belgian F16 again

Royal New Zealand 757

Airbus A400M

RAF Tornado GR4 Ground Attack Aircraft on a run at over 500mph over the campsite

Red Arrows again...

The F22 Raptor accidentally taken into the Sun

The F22 Raptor on a fast turn over the campsite

The F22 Raptor, yes the sky was that grey...

The mighty, yet technically flawed and poorly managed Vulcan

The French Display Team

All these shots were taken using a Canon 450d with the Sigma 50-500mm (non IS) lens and were hand held. There is no doubt that the Sigma is up there with the bigger players in the game, some of the detail that this lens has managed to resolve at the speeds the aircraft are flying at is amazing. The second picture down is testament to this. Feel free to click on the images for a larger view, following a recommendation from Keith, I have copyrighted them for other visitors to our blog, I have no issues with anyone from the society seeing unbroken images if they wish.

Image theft is becoming a real problem lately across the internet, these are all lowered res too.

Thanks for looking, comments and crit always welcomed

Kev

Photographic oblivion

Help! Photographic oblivion stares me in the face!
Following wednesday June 30th when Stuart and I scoured Worksop (nsuccessfully) for suitable pictures for the My Worksop competition I went on holiday to the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - the Gower (well that's what it says in the tourist leaflets) and the weather was c**p so naff all came out of that. Should have gorn to Port Talbot
So my salvation rests with Ray - what have you got organised for this Wednesday?

Wednesday june 23 : more pyrotechnics

My new secretary started work this morning and will be creating my blog entries from now on!

Perhaps we should be looking round Worksop this evening to get some pictures for the competition?

Well actually we walked up what was the old Kiiveton pit tip. From the top we saw this in the far distance:
Which I reckon is this tower next to the A630 going out of Rotherham towards the M1 J35

Anyway, continuing our weekly theme of (no smoke without) fire:

Not as spectacular as last week's but a fire nontheless.

And to finish off, a post-solstice sunset

Wednesday 16th June

Ray said he and Stuart were looking at a row of bodies - could it have been these?

OK, so having grabbed your attention, what's on for tomorrow night? Weather forecast is sunny for Worksop, sunny periods for Sheffield and Doncaster.


And now a word from our sponsor ....

As it turned out someone provided the entertainment by setting fire to a local chemical storage facility. The Bill wouldn't let us get too close but even from a distance it was quite spectacular.

Coningsby Outing

Well the weather held out for us and apart from a slight breeze which kept blowing the stove out, the day remained warm. There was a great turn out and a good time was had by all.

Here are a few of my efforts from the day, not many of them turned out very well, I had quite a few where the image just wasn't sharp, having said that it was my first day out with the new camera and I expect I will need to get used to it as it is so different from my 20D.

On with the show...

The Mighty Hunter, an amazing aircraft, given its age, the rate of climb on this was phenomenal

The Sentinel

The Typhoon

The Dakota

The Blades

Flaming June (Jack Duckworth definition of flaming)

Here we are in flaming June as the sun beats down. Can anyone advise me how to selectively turn the leaves orange in this pic to complete the illusion of mists and mellow fruitfulness?

The weather forecast is for it to brighten up towards the end of the week. I'm not holding my breath, just praying it will be nice on Saturday for Coningsby

Lightroom 3 Released

Software UPDATE

Well if you don’t know already, Abode finally released their long awaited upgrade to Lightroom with Version 3 going live yesterday.  The good news for UK residents is that it’s probably a tad cheaper than most of us were expecting, this time costing £76.88 (£63.54 ex VAT) to upgrade direct from the Adobe web site. The full version is priced at £232.65 (£198.00 ex VAT), but if you qualify for the Student/Teacher edition you can obtain the full version for a mere £64.39. Mind these prices look set to rise as a VAT hike looks imminent for the budget due on the 22nd June so if you’re planning to upgrade or buy do it before then.  Rather surprisingly the beta 2 version will still work till the 30th June. You can download a trial version, upgrade or buy from here.

The (slightly) disappointing news is that there are no big surprises, so pretty much what was available in the Beta 2 release is what you get, albeit in it it’s final polished state. The new features added since version 2 are:

• Accelerated with a new processing engine
• Lens Correction
• Support for DSLR video files
• Flexible publishing to sites like Flickr
• Image Watermarking
• Exportable slideshow with music (to MP4 video files)
• Easier Importing
• Tethered Shooting
• Perspective Control
• Film Grain Simulation
• Flexible Print Packaging

There are some minor changes since the Beta 2 version however, and these are detailed by Tom Hogarty on his Lightroom Journal Blog.

As usual there are several sites already listing the new features in greater detail. Check out the Lightroom Queen Victoria Brampton’s blog for a full listing of all the new features and changes and there’s an excellent summary by Ian Lyons at the Computer-Darkroom. Videos of several of the new features are provided at the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center, courtesy of Matt Kloskowski (of Lightroom Killer Tips) and Scott Kelby of NAPP. There’s also an introduction to what’s new by Julieanne Kost on Adobe TV here. Also look out for the forthcoming Lightroom 3 Video Tutorial by Jeff Schewe and Michael Reichmann which will be soon available from the Luminous Landscape site.  I purchased and downloaded their tutorial on  Lightroom 2 when that was released which was good value and the easiest way to learn all the new features. I can thoroughly recommend any of their videos.

 

Upgrading

I upgraded my Lightroom last night which installed easily and with the new version 3 seeming more responsive than the Beta 2 version. When installing, Version 3 will automatically ask if you want to upgrade your existing catalogue to version 3, which went ahead quite seamlessly but takes a while to complete depending on the size of your catalogue. I left my running overnight. Lightroom 3 will not however, change your existing picture modifications to the use latest LR3 de-mosaic RAW processing engine (now called Process 2010, with the prior version now Process 2003). In the Develop module you may see a little exclamation icon in the lower left of your picture in Loupe mode.

This means that picture is still using the old 2003 Process engine. To upgrade simply click the icon and you are given the choice to upgrade just that photo, all selected photographs or all in the Filmstrip to the new 2010 Process. This can also be achieved through the Settings | Process menu in Develop mode. View the vide by Julieanne Kost here for a demonstration of how this is done.

 

Initial Thoughts

The lens correction and noise removal features of Lightroom 3 alone, certainly make this upgrade a thoroughly worthwhile purchase for me and probably many other photographers. Both perform very well in comparison to the stand-alone packages I use (PT-lens & Noise Ninja Pro). The processing engine (Process 2010) will cause some of your pictures to look quite different so some tweaking may be needed in places, but from what I’ve seen in the Beta 2 version, the end result is much improved. I’ll reserve comment on the accelerated processing until I’ve had more time .

It’s clear that with Lightroom 3.0, Adobe have a mature, very capable and competent product and I would have no hesitation in recommending this upgrade.

 

Lightroom 3 Resources

• Buy / Upgrade LR3 from Adobe Store UK
• Adobe Lightroom 3.0 Features
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center
• What’s New in LR3 Final Release by Victoria Brampton
• Lightroom 3 Review at Computer-Darkroom
• LR3 at Lightroom Journal
• What’s New in LR3 Video by Julieanne Kost

What's this about?

Here's an idea for a photo comp : who can take the best picture not looking through the viewfinder and not even looking at the live-view screen! (every entry would have to be accompanied by a second shot - see above - to prove the photographer hasn't cheated!)

We're all in with an equal chance of winning this one!

Anne's first entry

Hi Guys just found out how to get on to a blog!! What a carry on!!
Will try and find something to write about later.
All the best
Anne

Wednesday 26th May - not quite a wash out

Myself, Stuart Chris and Kevin planned to go out taking yet more masterpieces but of course it rained so we just went to the Trooper at South Anston.

We entered the pub quiz with the usual low expectations but somehow we were on form. For the first time ever, we got a line and won a tenner towards next weeks drinks!

No Stuart next week but the rest of us are planning another PMO starting out from South Anston around 7pm so if you want to come along put a comment on the blog or email me at akirkby57@msn.com.

Any good ideas about where to go/what to photograph locally would also be most welcome. The basic premise is that we need to get there, take some snaps before it gets too dark (unless it's a suitable night photography location), then back to the Trooper or other suitable hostelry to sample the refreshments.


(PMO= photographic masterpiece outing)

For Sale: Epson P3000 Multimedia Storage / Viewer

Hi All

I have decided to sell my Epson P3000 Viewer to put together funds for a second camera body. The device will store 40GB, reads Compact Flash and SD/SDHC cards, it will display RAW and JPEG images and will play most formats of audio and video files. It works with all Canon and Nikon file types and I would expect it to work with all the other manufacturers.

It has a 4" super bright LCD screen with zoom functions, full menu functionality helps rate, protect and delete files on the drive, it will also allow direct access from PC and Mac systems for taking the files off the drive. The overall look and feel of the drive is really intuitive and easy to use, it is very well built and feels up to the job. Given the fact that it will work for CF and SD cards, it is also up to being shared in a family of photographers for example who are out at the same venue / holiday.

The device is perfect for when you are away from home and are taking a lot of images, once your card is full, just pop it in the viewer and it will prompt to start downloading automatically.

It retails from Epson at £349, the cheapest price I can find on the web is £266 but thats out of stock. I am therefore asking for offers on or around £230. This is a real bargain, its use has been limited and it is excellent condition, comes with the charger and branded protective case. Anybody wanting more info or a demo, drop me a line.

Wednesday Evening 19th may , Peace Gardens Sheffield

Here's a time lapse of the fountains, about 1 shot every 5 seconds. All done with a Canon A460 compact and Pictures to EXE.
Try and spot Stuart as he makes a one-frame appearance towards the end. I'm also on there myself to boost the body count

Summer Event One - Bluebells @ Clumber Park

An arty one to get started...

I have just sat down with a beer and transferred my photo's to the computer and so thought that I would create the report for tonights event....

After watching the rain pour down today I was sat feeling sorry for our Programme Secretary, Ray, after organising the get together and enthusing so much about it, it was looking as though it would be cancelled due to the weather. Luckily in the afternoon it started to brighten and the rain stayed off for the rest of the night.

It was good to see some familiar faces, including that of Mr Janaszek who joined us for the night. After a quick chat we all headed, mostly in our own separate ways to make the most of the light and the wonderful subject, Bluebells. Trying our best not to disturb the bluebells there was an extreme amount of weaving, some strange/extreme camera angles to get the shots and the light stayed pretty much ok until everyone had finished.

We then headed down to the lake for some more photo's to finish the night off, although by then the light had pretty much gone. Hopefully there was enough light for James' photo of the rat to come out ok :-)

All in all I think everyone had a good time, shame that the pub visit didn't come to fruition although the tipple of whiskey from Mr Staley certainly went down a treat! - Oh - and thank you to the RAF for the flypasts by the AWACS!

Here's one I took earlier!

Night all...

Kev

RAF Coningsby Trip 12th June

I know that not everyone is as interested in aircraft as me but thought I would post this anyway. RAF Coningsby Friends and Families Day is on Saturday 12th June, we usually attend this as non-paying spectators (ie outside the fence). There is a very varied flying display consisting of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the RAF's newest fighter the Typhoon, Spitfire and Typhoon Pair, RAF Hawk, the Blades and a few others.

Where we stand is positioned at the back of the airbase directly under the display boundary, the photo's from there are the best you can get from this type of event.

We always get good shots from here, BTW, the Lancaster shot of Chris J's over the radar, the Lancaster was taken at this event previously. As were the ones above.....

Anyone wishing to attend please drop me a mail at kevin@coral-design.com

It would be a good place to meet up and have a chat, I am taking a stove too, burgers and sausages, that might get a few more coming along for the day :-)