NOCCC Beginner's Digital Photography SIG

May 2012 Meeting Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG

QandA

Keep bringing in your questions. It really is the fun part of being a SIG Leader – answering question.

A Simple Image Editor

I’m always looking for an inexpensive, small, and easy to use image editor. I spotted a review of a program called SnapSeed and thought this may be something beginning digital photographers could use. SnapSeed is the product of Nik software. Nik make filters and other products for Adobe Photoshop and they have a good reputation for quality products.

SnapSeed is only $20 and can be download for 15 day trail period before you must pay.

My review is as follows: It doesn’t work as a Windows application. Review over. I have a longer explanation on the SIGs blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/snapseed-a-review-almost/

I have no idea why it doesn’t work but at a list price of $20 I have no incentive to find an answer.

SnapSeed: http://www.snapseed.com/home/

GPS And Your Photos

After the April meeting I started searching for an inexpensive device that would track my travel and then use that data with Adobe LightRoom to embed GPS data into the images.

After searching the Internet I came upon the product: GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Mini DPL900. It’s a small device that’s only tracks your travel. It has no LCD screen for reading your location. The tracking data is then downloaded to you computer using it’s own application. Can you read a review of my problems installing the application and getting the proper tracking file that can be used by Adobe Lightroom.

My problems with PhotoTrackr

Loses it’s signal and has to re-sync. Many times PhotoTrackr would never re-sync and I had to turn off the device and then on again. Even walking round outside it would lose its way and had to re-sync. Sometimes it would re-sync on it’s own and sometimes I had to turn it off then back on.

The PhotoTrackr’s inability to reliably acquire a signal after losing one is a real problem for me because I usually keep the device in my pocket and don’t pay attention to it.

I demonstrated to the members the process of downloading data from the device to the software application. Once this was done I could create a GPX file that’s used by Adobe Lightroom.

In Adobe Lightroom I demonstrated using the GPX file to locate images on a map.

For my review of the PhotoTrackr software go to the SIG blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/review-gisteq-phototrackr-mini-dpl900/

I’ll have more to say about PhotoTrackr DPL900 in the near future.

GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Mini DPL900: http://www.gisteq.com/PhotoTrackr/PhotoTrackrDPL900.php

Member Photos

One of our members brought in a CD full of his photos from a trip to New England during the Fall Colors. He had a lot of really good photos. Hopefully more members will be encouraged to bring in the travel photos.

iPhone Volunteer Needed

Anyone with an iPhone willing to give our SIG a short demonstration on using the camera in your phone?

Also – I’m Still Hoping That An Android Pad User Will Volunteer

I would like to demonstrate Adobe’s new Photoshop Touch App (http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-touch-apps/what-is-adobe-photoshop-touch/) I will pay you to install the software App on your Android ($10.00). Any one interested?

Standard Stuff That Is Always In This Report

This report should be up on the SIG’s blog. I may go into greater detail and I will include screen shots as well.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

Check out the SIG Blog for other information and maybe info on what we will discuss at the next meeting.

As always we will answer any and all questions.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

We had 9 members at our SIG meeting.

See you at the next meeting.

Note: I am using a new Web location for the photos I take at the meeting. I now upload the photos I take to Microsoft SkyDrive. A link will be put here every month to the folder with that months photos.

SkyDrive Photos for the May 2012 Club Meeting: http://tinyurl.com/6loagbe

PS: If you saw the actual link to the photos you would think it never ended. It’s the longest link I’ve ever had to deal with. Solution is the TinyURL web site. Give it a really long link and they give you a nice short one. That’s the link you see above.

SIG Blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/

Email: noccc.bgphotosig@gmail.com

Photograph was taken by a NOCCC member while driving through New England during the peak of Fall colors. Well done.

April 2012 Meeting Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG
SIG Leader: John Krill #3160

NEW Room Science 131A: We have moved our meeting location from Science 127 to Science 131A. To repeat we will be meeting in Science 131A from now on. Science 131A is next door to Science 127.

QandA

Keep bringing in your questions. It really is the fun part of being a SIG Leader – answering question.

GPS And Your Photos

There are three ways you can acquire GPS information: A. Your camera has GPS and will insert GPS to your photos; B. Using a portable GPS tracker and later imbed GPS information into your photos; C. Using an application to enable you to manually imbed GPS into your photos.

My cameras do not have GPS and so I either have to imbed GPS manually using programs like Picasa that has mapping abilities or get a device that will record my trip and then allow me to use that data to embed GPS data into my photos.

I showed how easy it was to use Picasa to drag and drop images onto a map and thereby imbed the GPS data into the picture.

Having the GPS data in an image allows you to search for images using the mapping feature of Picasa.

For the May 2012 meeting I will demonstrate a little device called the PhotoTrackr. I will not take to much time with the dog and pony show and I will reveal my reason at the meeting.

Recording All Your Valuables With Your Digital Camera

I will be researching what we need to do in order to record all our personal or business valuables. This may include the proper way to photograph items, what detailed information is needed, and how and where to store this information.

So far I have not been able to get any information or tips on documenting your valuables with your camera. If any of you know of a web site that gives tips on documenting your valuables visually then let me know. Thanks.

iPhone Volunteer Needed

Anyone with an iPhone willing to give our SIG a short demonstration on using the camera in your phone?

Also – I’m Still Hoping That An Android Pad User Will Volunteer

I would like to demonstrate Adobe’s new Photoshop Touch App (http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-touch-apps/what-is-adobe-photoshop-touch/) I will pay you to install the software App on your Android ($10.00). Any one interested?

Standard Stuff That Is Always In This Report

This report should be up on the SIG’s blog. I may go into greater detail and I will include screen shots as well.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

Check out the SIG Blog for other information and maybe info on what we will discuss at the next meeting.

As always we will answer any and all questions.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

We had 9 members at our SIG meeting.

See you at the next meeting.

Note: I am using a new Web location for the photos I take at the meeting. I now upload the photos I take to Microsoft SkyDrive. A link will be put here every month to the folder with that months photos.

SkyDrive Photos for the April 2012 Club Meeting: http://tinyurl.com/7luyfwx

PS: If you saw the actual link to the photos you would think it never ended. It’s the longest link I’ve ever had to deal with. Solution is the TinyURL web site. Give it a really long link and they give you a nice short one. That’s the link you see above.

SIG Blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/

Email: noccc.bgphotosig@gmail.com

Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG
SIG Leader: John Krill #3160

NEW Room Science 131A: We have moved our meeting location from Science 127 to Science 131A. To repeat we will be meeting in Science 131A from now on. Science 131A is next door to Science 127. Clear?

Slide Shows

Showed some of my own photos from Saturday, March 3, 2012 Patriot’s Day Parade in Laguna Beach as well as photos I took in Laguna Canyon while a passenger on a city tram bus. I was able to get motion blur of the wire fence in the foreground while maintaining sharpness of the background. I just used a shutter speed of 250 of a second and focused on the background. It’s all hit or miss. You never know until you get back to the computer if you were successful. Of 6 or 7 photos I took this way only one was satisfactory to me.

This led to going over the Sea Gull photos I’m always taking down at the beach. For these photos I set the camera focusing method to continuous. Once you lock the focus on a subject the camera will automatically track the subject and keep it in focus. It takes practice and however much you try probably only 5% will ever be worth while. But that’s the beauty of digital. Take all the photos you want. It’s free. If they don’t work then just delete them.

Sending large image files via the Internet

I generally use SendNow.Acrobat.com to send photos over the Internet. Most e-mail applications will not let you send large files so apps like SendNow help save the day. I already reviewed some of the Internet Web sites that provide this type of service. You can read my review of these sites via the NOCCC Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG BLOG here: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/delivering-large-files-over-the-internet.

Recording All Your Valuables With Your Digital Camera

I will be researching what we need to do in order to record all our personal or business valuables. This may include the proper way to photograph items, what detailed information is needed, and how and where to store this information.

This will be the primary subject for the next meeting.

Picasa?

I was going to cover the latest version of Picasa in the March meeting. This is still on the To Do list. I still think Picasa is one of the better applications for keeping track of all your digital photos. And it’s FREE.

Embedding Date/Time or GPS Information Onto Your Photos

This has been an ongoing question that still hasn’t got an answer. I will try over the next month to get everyone an answer to this riddle. The data is in the photo’s Metadata, the problem is using it. Wish me luck.

Will the Cellphone Replace the Point-and-Shoot Camera?

The cameras inside that latest iPhones have gotten much better. But that’s not why they may replace Point-and-Shoot cameras. The reason the iPhone is everything you can do with the photo AFTER you take the picture. What to send the baby picture to grandma? No problem. Want to put the baby picture online at Flickr or Facebook? No problem. Want to add it to a blog posting. No problem.

Now try doing any of the with you Point-and-Shoot camera. The only place it can go is the computer. You carry your computer everywhere you go? And once it’s in the computer how many steps are required to get that photo to grandma or up to Facebook?

iPhone Volunteer Needed

Anyone with an iPhone willing to give our SIG a short demonstration on using the camera in your phone?

Also - I’m Still Hoping That An Android Pad User Will Volunteer

I would like to demonstrate Adobe’s new Photoshop Touch App (http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-touch-apps/what-is-adobe-photoshop-touch/) I will pay you to install the software App on your Android ($10.00). Any one interested?

Standard Stuff That Is Always In This Report

This report should be up on the SIG’s blog. I may go into greater detail and I will include screen shots as well.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

Check out the SIG Blog for other information and maybe info on what we will discuss at the next meeting.

As always we will answer any and all questions.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

We had 9 members at our SIG meeting.

See you at the next meeting.

Note: I am using a new Web location for the photos I take at the meeting. I now upload the photos I take to Microsoft SkyDrive. A link will be put here every month to the folder with that months photos.

SkyDrive Photos for the March 2012 Club Meeting: http://tinyurl.com/7u2l2dn

PS: If you saw the actual link to the photos you would think it never ended. It’s the longest link I’ve ever had to deal with. Solution is the TinyURL web site. Give it a really long link and they give you a nice short one. That’s the link you see above.

SIG Blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/

Email: noccc.bgphotosig@gmail.com

Photo by Howard Phillips with his Nikon 1 V1

February 2012 Meeting Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG
SIG Leader: John Krill #3160

NEW Room Science 131A: We have moved our meeting location from Science 127 to Science 131A. To repeat we will be meeting in Science 131A from now on. Science 131A is next door to Science 127. Clear?

Slide Shows

Howard Phillips brought in his new Nikon 1 V1 and he also provided us with a set of pictures taken with the Nikon 1 that we all looked at using Picasa’s slide show capability. The current version of Picasa is 3.9. Can’t wait for 4.0. It just keeps getting better and better. And it’s free.

You Need A Gmail account to get Picasa. Like all free products on the Web you need to give something before the free stuff comes your way. So it is with Picasa. Google requires you have a GMail account. It’s easy to get and that added benefit is GMail is one of the better e-mail apps around.

What’s In A Name.

The difficult part in signing up for a GMail account is what name will you use. Because GMail has several million users getting the name you desire is next to impossible. So be patient and a name will be yours.

Picasa Is The Center Of Google+

Google just may have big plans for Picasa. It’s central to Google+ the social network. Of course Google+ was my wall. Up until Twitter, Facebook, and now Google+ I could get the hang of it fairly quickly but now I’ve hit a wall of understanding. It took me several trips to Twitter before I fully understood the site. I then cancelled my subscription. Next it was Facebook. Now I understand the concept but trying to do anything is beyond me. I’m constantly calling my niece and asking here how to get anything done on Facebook. The only reason I stay on Facebook is to see what all the youngins’ are up to.

Now comes Google+. I’m completely lost with this thing. The problem is I really like Picasa and Google is integrating Picasa into Google+. So much so that I’m getting lost whenever I put photos online using Picasa. In the past you went directly to Picasa Online. No more. Now it’s Google+.

Why do I keep hitting my head against the WALL?

Why All This Complaining?

Picasa, the off-line application, is a terrific tool for keeping track of all your photos. It’s easy to use and getting better. But I fear that all the effort to make Google+ a winner Picasa users will be the losers. The latest version of Picasa is all about integrating with Google+. Is this the beginning of the end for a terrific little program?

In the past I’ve always recommended Picasa for beginning digital photographers. I don’t know haw much longer I can do that.

More about Picasa at the next meeting.

Will the Cellphone Replace the Point-and-Shoot Camera?

The cameras inside that latest iPhones have gotten much better. But that’s not why they may replace Point-and-Shoot cameras. The reason the iPhone is everything you can do with the photo AFTER you take the picture. What to send the baby picture to grandma? No problem. Want to put the baby picture online at Flickr or Facebook? No problem. Want to add it to a blog posting. No problem.

Now try doing any of the with you Point-and-Shoot camera. The only place it can go is the computer. You carry your computer everywhere you go? And once it’s in the computer how many steps are required to get that photo to grandma or up to Facebook?

iPhone Volunteer Needed

Anyone with an iPhone willing to give our SIG a short demonstration on using the camera in your phone?

Also – I’m Still Hoping That An Android Pad User Will Volunteer

I would like to demonstrate Adobe’s new Photoshop Touch App (http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-touch-apps/what-is-adobe-photoshop-touch/) I will pay you to install the software App on your Android ($10.00). Any one interested?

Standard Stuff That Is Always In This Report

This report should be up on the SIG’s blog. I may go into greater detail and I will include screen shots as well.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

Check out the SIG Blog for other information and maybe info on what we will discuss at the next meeting.

As always we will answer any and all questions.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

We had 15 members at our SIG meeting.

See you at the next meeting.

Note: I am using a new Web location for the photos I take at the meeting. I now upload the photos I take to Microsoft SkyDrive. A link will be put here every month to the folder with that months photos.

SkyDrive Photos for the December 2011 Club Meeting: http://tinyurl.com/6rl9sa7

PS: If you saw the actual link to the photos you would think it never ended. It’s the longest link I’ve ever had to deal with. Solution is the TinyURL web site. Give it a really long link and they give you a nice short one. That’s the link you see above.

SIG Blog: http://nocccbgphotosig.wordpress.com/

Email: noccc.bgphotosig@gmail.com

A photomerged image using 8 JPEGs shoot at 27mm.

NOCCC Beginner’s Digital Photography SIG

September 2011 Meeting

by John Krill #3160

NEW Room Science 131A: We have moved our meeting location from Science 127 to Science 131A. To repeat we will be meeting in Science 131A from now on. Science 131A is next door to Science 127. Clear?

Editing Your Photos With Adobe Photoshop Elements.

I have been absent in talking about editing your photos and today we started talking about using Adobe Photoshop Elements. We didn’t get far. Ended up taking about merging photos and doing a demostration of Photomerge. The resulting merged photo is shown above. For details read on.

Elements can’t read my RAW files.

I attempted to open a RAW file from my camera, a Nikon D5100, and Elements wouldn’t open the file. The reason for this is the RAW editor provided with Elements doesn’t have data on my camera’s RAW file format. I will have to go to Adobe Support and download the latest Raw editor data for Elements.

Can you combine files into one large image?

Yes you can. This is called Photomerge and Photoshop and Elements will do this easily. As an example I stepped outside and took a group of photos and merged them into one picture.

Problem one was Elements not having the latest information for the RAW files that my camera uses. To overcome this problem I converted the RAW files to JPEG. I needed to cheat because I used Adobe Lightroom to do this.

I the used the created JPEG files to create the photomerge image.

The process is easy as File New Photomerge Panorama. You input the photos for the merge and select the type of Photomerge you want to do. I suggest you use Auto. It works.

A few suggestions for taking the photos for your Photomerge. Shoot vertical. Have each preceeding photo overlap the previous by half. Keep the camera parallel to the subject. Use a telephoto focal length or try to keep you focal length as narrow as possible.

The photo was made from 8 JPEG images. I also didn’t follow my own rules. I used 27mm focal length (35mm camera) and the wide angle focal length resulted in the distortion you see. You can view the photo at our SIG Blog. The URL address is listed at the end of the report.

The resulting Photomerge file will be in TIFF format and probably large. You can convert this file to JPEG and then Save it. You will need to flatten the Image Layer Flatten Image. Then you can save it as JPEG.

If I have a large image how can I send it via e-mail?

If you need to keep the original size of the image then you should use one of the WEB based apps like Adobe’s SendNow to transfer the file. I reviewed these apps in an earlier post.

If you just need to send an image that is of small size the easiest way to do this in Windows Explorer. In Windows Explorer right-click the image or images you want to e-mail and select Send To. Under the Send To menu select Mail Recipient. Your e-mail program with then take over and all you need to do is to input the recipients e-mail address.

Standard Stuff  That Is Always In This Report

This report should be up on the SIG’s blog. I may go into greater detail and I will include screen shots as well.

I’ve been lax in posting to the blog. I hope to correct this. Because our meetings are once a month and last for only one and a half hours there is much more I can cover with the blog.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

Check out the SIG Blog for other information and maybe info on what we will discuss at the next meeting.

As always we will answer any and all questions.

If you have a special request for information regarding digital photography let me know. E-mail me using the address listed below.

We had 7 members at our SIG meeting.

See you at the next meeting.

Note: I am using a new Web location for the photos I take at the meeting. I now upload the photos I take to Microsoft SkyDrive. A link will be put here every month to the folder with that months photos.

SkyDrive Photos

PS: I know it’s a LONG link and if you go to the NOCCC web site you can find the link at the Beginners Digital Photography SIG report.

Picasa Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/noccc.bgphotosig

Email: noccc.bgphotosig@gmail.com