Blogs

Check out Jennifer Wu's podcast. She's one of Canon's Explorers of Light. Her work is exceptional and I highly recommend a listen. Her podcast this week is regarding night photography. Much of her work has been featured in magazines and workshops. She also discusses the camera equipment and software she uses to refine her images. I've been lucky enough to attend her workshops and I can say first-hand that applying her techniques will result in spectacular imagery!

I'd love to do some night shooting in the area without local night pollution. If anyone is interested, please feel free to contact me and perhaps we can plan an outing. I'm sure some of the other members would like to do some as well!

The Digital Photography School is a terriffic online resource for learning how to use your digital camera. At the DPS site you will find photography tips and toutorials, camera and equipment reviews, and easy and usefull post production tips and toutorials. It's so good you won't believe it's FREE, and you can stay up to date with DPS by signing up for a  free weekly email newsletter.

Enroll at the Digital Photography School by going to:

  http://digital-photography-school.com. 

OK, this software is not for everyone but gets a 5 star rating. Inkscape is an Open Source (freeware) vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Fireworks, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. It has many vector graphics editing tools enabling you to create web graphics, technical diagrams, icons, creative art posters, logos, maps, and illustrations. Inkscape supports layers, charts & graphs, shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and object grouping. Tutorials and sample galleries are available from the project website.

I came across a web site with free utilities you may like (eg, screen capture, picture resizer, etc) at http://bluefive.pair.com/free_computer_software.htm .

There's also free software from Belarc Advisor. It runs a PC audit on your computer and stores it on your hard disk as an .html file. It can be opened in any browser. So, why do this? If your machine ever fails that audit file provides essential information to getting it running again. This software is widely used by some large organizations, for instance NASA. Find it at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html .

Video and PDF tutorials give you an overview of how to use PS Elements at  www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshopelements/articles/tutorial_index.html. If you're new to Elements, watch the series of "Getting Started" videos. Whether you're a new or experienced Elements user, check out the tutorials in the Learn More section. Also find explanations of basic terms and tasks at  www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshopelements/articles/concept_index.html .

Corel is offering a sizable discount on Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultimate until the end of July. See http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/ca/en/Product/1184951547051#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab0 .

Estate Sale of Vintage cameras, framed and unframed photographs,
frames, slides, projectors, furniture, piano, kitchenware, crystal,
collectibles- everything from the 1920's til now...
Presale Thursday July 30, 2009-  2-7pm, Friday July 31 and Sat Aug 1 9-5pm.
5540 SW 98th Terr- Haile Plantation Gainesville Fl.
call 352-591-1508 for more information

 

Visit http://gainesvillephotoclub.com/photos/album/187 to see sample photos for the Pan It theme for July '09.

We have from time to time suggested software that you may find useful. In many cases, it seems our recommended software is available for PCs and there is no Mac version. Perhaps our Mac owners are unaware that Mac has provided a utility that allows you to run Windows software on a Mac. It is an application called "Boot Camp" and is found in the utilities section of the applications menu. you can learn more about this utility (and your Mac) at http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/compatibility.html . If you own a Mac I strongly suggest you visit this web page and visit it's many links. You will learn a lot about your computer.

This is my last post today on photo editors. I now bring you a free open-source photo editing program called GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). This program has most of the same features as Photoshop. However, it has a rather steep learning curve if you have little or no experience with photo editors. It is absolutely FREE as are all upgrades and is available at http://www.gimp.org/ . Check out the web site and see if you like it. It costs you nothing but a little time to try it. If you are looking for compact, fast, high performance free software, this is for you.