And in keeping with the nature theme... a backroad shot from somewhere south-west of Sharbot Lake, earlier today:

Interesting shot, Max, me likes. The water looks like it's in a state of metamorphosis between liquid and ice. Good conversion too.

Thanks, K. Back to the old Nikon and the wide lens. Slow as hell to shoot Raw but since it's a landscape in the frigid throes of winter not much is moving and you just have to be patient.

Working from Raw is great but my old Mac is showing its age in this regard.

What are you using for a raw converter?

I have no issues with this old puppy:

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac11,2
Processor Name: PowerPC G5 (1.0)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 2.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.7f1

Using Lightroom2 or Capture NX

Hey, I'll play:

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,3
Processor Name: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 4.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1.15 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.4f1

Similar vintage, eh Karlito.

For the software side, I'm just using Photoshop CS3. Young sales guy at Carbon we like to deal with raves about Capture NX, though.

Same day, same wintry zone.

Your G5 should outperform mine, the slowness you experience might be due to leaving your converted images in 16bit mode. I usually change it to 8bit in CS3.

Capture NX is good, but I find it slower and very clunky compared to LR2. Lightroom rocks even in 16bit.

Nice wintery scene, lot of flooding out that way the other day.

It's not that I find the computer all that slow - at least, not in RAW.. sure, it takes time to launch and save stuff. I really need a new machine to be able to run some contemporary software like Logic, which in version 9.1 is 64 bit. The appreciable speed bump will be nice, too.

It's my old camera that's slow as hell. Good thing I'm not shooting portraits, let alone sports!

All that aside, if I shift down to 8 bit, am I not tossing out some perfectly good information?

And post a pic.

Won't be noticeable, besides, ever try to get a 16bit photoshop file printed at Blacks, Costco or WallyWorld. lol

I look at it this way: I still have the original raw as a digital negative, the PS file usually gets converted to JPEG for printing anyway. The 16 bit comes into play when doing heavy retouching --that's when you want to have all those pixels to push around, but otherwise 8bit works fine for me. I don't do my own printing on paper.

A custom lab which can handle PS files, will usually tell you what they need based on size, media and equipment they use.

The stump picture is great, looks like you spent some time there.

Naww.... I just kept stopping the truck and throwing it on the side of the road whenever I saw a nice vista. No one passed me, no one else on the road. Perfect! Just a great little back road somewhere east of... Tamworth, if memory serves. What I have been doing more is, once converted, dodging and burning, playing with the tonal dynamics a bit more than I ever did in the past.

I never print my stuff at all... I mean, I did at work a lot but because it was meant for TV and played for an insta-second... it was rarely all that important that every speck of detail be razor-sharp, or the blacks be ultra-black, etc. Most of the time my stuff plays as slide shows on the Mac, and then it's filed away for future reference... or not.

If I seriously wanted to print stuff in hopes of framing and selling it, I'd be talking to Garyola, who's got it down to a sweet science. His take's always been that the real proof of skill is how well you print the image. I'm inclined to agree. Stuff often looks great on-screen... it's how you convert it to pigment and paper.

Good to know about the 8 vs 16 bit options, thanks. I guess it's no matter once you've done the conversion and exported to jpeg or tiff or png or what have you.

^^Yeah that!^^

But then you delve into proper hardware/software calibration, custom profiles and still a lot of trial and error. Not to mention expense.

You keeping that Ranger? You'd look good in it. Da Max Mobile.

I understand.... yeah, printing profiles, printer upkeep, ink and paper expenses... yeah, it's daunting. You better be confident you can sell this stuff! Because it's one serious investment in your time and money.

I keep thinking of buying the Ranger from my brother's estate but it'd be a luxury item fersure fersure. And insurance in this town kills. So I think that, while I definitely enjoy it, I'll be passing it on to someone else... once I've sold my brother's house.

Oh I hear you on the insurance and I do believe they're going to stick it to us even more.

Haven't done much lately wrt photography, but I'm thinking perhaps doing some table top stuff like Soy over at the other place. Will see what the weekend brings.

'kay. Post it when ya snaps it.

Thinking of moving out of town, in which case insurance on a second vehicle wouldn't be nearly so harsh.

But in the meantime, though my heart says yes, me noggin says "get a grip, doltboy."

We've been down this road before. I'd split in a second if I could.

LOL

So we have. The same issues remain. The same temptations and enticements do, too.

Harumph - just noticed that the new forum software automatically limits image width.

do you recall what it used to be?
can change I think

Not sure - probably between 700 and 800 wide. My last image above is 800. If you right-click and "open in new window" you get the full size pic. Thanks...

Updated to 800...

I would suggest that any users with time and energy invested in putting up photos over at ehMac perhaps move them here if it matters to you...

There might be a way to snag them all for each user...just a thought...

Aah, much better, thanks. I don't always post the same images on the other site & Magic, however they're usually linked from my iWeb site.

Someone post a picture or somethin' eh!

This is not exactly on topic but I wanted a spot to access it easily...
One of the attractions of South Africa is its dramatic landscapes...
The combinations of geography, geology, weather and plant life make it a photographer's delight.
and of course the whales at your feet in Hermanus and the animal life in the North East are added bonuses....
http://www.hermanus.co.za/

South Africa is the sole domain of the fynbos family of plants which come in a variety that is hard to comprehend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_floral_kingdom

6200 species of a single plant kingdom that are unique to South Africa alone.

This photo artist captures that diversity and dramatic landscape better than any I've seen.

http://www.lieselkershoff.com/gallery_165694.html

This one is coming home with me - high tech printing on canvas in A1 format....


For all you photographers S Africa is an hourly delight, the Little Karoo in particular along route 62 - the Garden Route ( also the world's longest wine route ) is spectacular. And booze is sooooooo cheap.

http://blog.sa-venues.com/provinces/western-cape/route-62/

After two trips one two months this one 3 months I've settled on South Africa as my winter nesting grounds. ( we're called swallows here and there are many ).
One couple was on their 11th and one extremely well travelled Brit lady who I had a long talk with about where to spend winter cost effectively and safely has been back 4 times to Montagu...which given her travel experience says much.

The coast near Cape Town - one of th emost dramatic drives in the world.
http://www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za/
Click through the photos on the site

my little town -
http://www.montagu.org.za/

http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/montagu.php

semi - desert - huge agriculture and tourist industry - think Northern California staying here

http://www.longacres.net/

My workspace


Play area ( and workspace most of the day as well - I've learned to love working on the camp lounge with the MacBook )


and view out the window and beyond the pool area



Long post I know and a bit off topic....I can certainly move it to a travels thread which I would like to see.

I'm also interested in who takes the effort to do high ends prints on archive paper or canvas as Leisel provides ( she was very helpful to me in this )

Come visit next year....
My long lost gfriend of 40+ years ago who I finally located thanks to her usual name invited me for coffee 3 years ago and I said sure....
Glad I did....you would be as well
$18 a day - you know why I'm coming back for 3 months next year.