A change of pace Literally
Moment of Take Off
A change of pace Literally
Category: Hobbies
Amsterdam Triptych
I have so many shots of bicycles and bridges from Amsterdam It’s difficult to now which one to share with you. I made this one just for fun using Niks Analog Efex Pro 2
Aperture is Dead.
So the answer is now clear Aperture is a dying product. Apple, have officially said that it will no longer develop it further. This means I’ve waited in vain for the improvements that Lightroom users have. Like lens profiles for one. Aperture is no longer the cool kid on the block.
I felt let down in a big way. When I think that I have paid good money for a professional software and some plug-ins that will no longer be improved. No one knows what the replacement will actually be like. Just my guess ,but knowing Apple it will be a consumer level product not geared to the enthusiast.Thanks Tim!
However I do have Lightroom. It came along with the package when I subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud. I use it too, well not all of it just the printer module, which I find very easy to use since I took a course when I purchased my Epson printer. It’s just the rest of it that I’ve never quite got the hang of. Aperture was so much better at that. You just import and they are stored in some magic Apple way. Some people see this as a weak point. I’m not interested in fiddling around with the pictures I import when they a quite happy sitting in whatever form they do in the picture package. They are there in Aperture waiting for me.
Lightroom is another kettle of fish that I haven’t got my head around its storage methods as yet. However now it seems I’m going to have to start to try and understand, and work at it, (Maybe Adobe will too ;0) if I want a picture editor that is updated on a regular basis. Hopefully someone maybe even Apple will produce a plug-in that will enable a painless transfer form Aperture to Lightroom. I’ll use both,but mainly Lightroom from today even though the storage system is no way as elegant as Apples, and the ability to share is very clunky I’ll get used to it I’m sure.Or maybe Adobe will fix it?
So let the challenge commence … Or I could try this :0)
http://www.lynda.com/articles/one-library-shared-aperture-lightroom
Finally Have any of you readers jumped ship before this ? What were your biggest challenges? Let me know in the comments .
Thanks for stopping by…David.
Buick (gallery test).
Buick2
Buick
Buick3
Buick4
These shots are of the Buick I have posted ealier. I was asked to post some colour shots of it so, I made this little gallery of the shots I have. I thought I’d try out the gallery function on WordPress. to show these shots off. I hope you like them.
Buick
Buick
While walking in the local market not only did I find Toys but the real thing as well. This beautiful Buick for example.
What’s in the Bag?
So I’ve eaten my words and gone back on what I have said before “I thought a digital Leica wasn’t for me. Too expensive and, what’s more digital.
Well this past Friday I ate my words. Let me explain.
One glaring omission from this “My Gear” list is my Nikon D800. You who have followed me for some time will have seen many pictures taken with it. However here’s the thing. I don’t like carrying it around with me. I purchased a big 24-70 F/2.8 and the combo with flash is huge and hurts my shoulder after a day out. So I now mostly shoot it with a 50mm f/1.8 D lens, which I use for my Nikon F4. It works for most jobs. The Nikon D800 is a fantastic tool for many other things where I don’t have to lug it too far. I got to thinking “I’ll sell the whole lot.
However I’ve laid down a good deal of money in my Nikon gear so selling it all would tear at my heartstrings and wallet. So, what to do?
Well I got around to putting the whole lot up for sale. I did sell my 16-35 F/4.0 for an amicable price. But nothing else. I then spotted on my dealers website that they had a Leica M9-P Demo model for sale and a price I could afford and would be able to keep my, now smaller D800 kit.
Originally I wanted to buy the M9-P when it came out as I have three Leica lenses
Summilux 35 mm F/1.4 Ashperical
Summilux 50mm F/1.4 ASHP
Summicron 90mm F/2.0 APO ASPH
and they, to be honest are under-used. All that fantastic glass just lying around.
However the price of a new M9-P went up and I got cold feet and ploughed my cash into Nikon gear instead.
It rather feels that I’ve come full circle and I’m back where I was a couple of years ago. Anyway I have my digital Leica (You remember the one I said I’d never buy) and I get to keep my Nikon D800 which I love also.
You’ll realize that this is in no way a review it’s more my rationale for using my savings.
I hope you’ll enjoy the shots I’ll be sharing with you
In full Reverse.
So you want to get close-up and personal with your subject. However you haven’t the funds to purchase that macro lens. Well there is hope, and a much cheaper solution to get you closer. I’m talking about the humble reversing ring. Cheap and cheerful and it does a good job if used correctly. What is a reversing ring? Well as the name implies it enables you to mount a lens reversed onto your camera housing. You screw the ring onto the filter thread of your lens and there is a bayonet mount to attach the lens to the camera. You have to order the one that
1. Is the same size thread as your lens, and
2. Is the right type for your make of camera.
While on the subject of lenses. I use an old manual focus lens or an old autofocus lens that has an aperture ring If you haven’t got one all is not lost you can use a G type lens you just haven’t got an idea of what aperture you are using. I have found that a 28mm lens is a good place to start. Although I have used a 50mm without problems. It’s all to do with ratios and the like. Anyway as it’s the picture that is important I won’t go into that side of things so just trust me. The choice of lens will however affect your working distance to your chosen subject.
So how do you work the aperture of your lens? The aperture on your lens is spring loaded so that your aperture will in effect be f22 when mounted and when you look through your viewfinder or at your live view screen you will see a darker image than what you are used to. However by locating the aperture control lever on the lens you can open the aperture manually for composing and focusing your shot. This can be tricky to do, you can tape the lever open or Blu-Tac it. I prefer to hold it open and move the camera into focus. I then close the aperture to the desired value and adjust the manual settings on my camera to match the measured light and bracket my exposures. It’s a bit of a fiddle but you are rewarded for your efforts.
So to sum up the humble reversing ring is a cheap and cheerful introduction to the word of close up photography. You can get good results. The title shot and the orchid below are a couple taken with an old manual focus Sigma 28mm lens from the 80’s.
Have fun
Portrait of a Dunker
Balder one of the three dogs a mate has .The Breed is caller Dunker also know as Norwegian Hound.
Curious
Up Close and personal with Ask. Lets not forget that this trip was to exercise the dogs;0)
The Drying Shed III.
My Photographic World 