Digital Photo

A new start in 2010 新的开始

2010-01-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

It has been over a year from my last post here. The 2009 has been a worst time for me because I suffered from several health problem. See my other blog and you will know.

From the day I took up the toy camera, I have comitted my life to photography and so I will continue to work on this topic until my last date.

Photography has been misunderstood and digital imaging failed to dominate the modern minds. This may become a kind of game only.

My health is not yet back to normal, at least, I cannot go to take photo now. But, I have to prepare and I am certain that within the first quarter of 2010, I shall have more posting here.

上次在这里注销已超过一年了。2009年是我最差的一年因为我受到几个健康的问题困扰。可看我另一个博客就清楚了。

由我第一次拿起玩具式的相机的那一天，我已把生命与摄影连在一起直至我离开这世界为止。

摄影被误解了。而数码影像又不能主导现代人的思维。这就会变成了一种游戏了。

我的身体仍未完全康复，至少现在我仍未可以去拍照。但我一定要进行预备的工作，可以确定在2010年的第一季，我将会有更多的说话在这里刊登。

Any challenge, digital panoramic camera

2008-11-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

May be I like challenge, which is why I always have the change to try new things.

This time, it is the digital panoramic camera developed by efilming in Shanghai. Yes, Shanghai.

Most may not aware of efilming. In fact, efilming is the brand for LDD digital negative carrier that changes the traditional projection printer to digital printer. This is a great relief for D&P since most could not afford to pay million (HK dollars) for a digital printer. This again will be ended because those traditional printers would be extinct too.

If you have interest about panoramic camera, you can visit www.panoshot360.com.

Many will aware that panoramic camera is for huge group and grand scenic photos. Digital technology will guarante the sucess of such photo works and may lead to other applications.

To design such camera is not an easy task. To take good panoramic shot is not an easy job too. There are many limitations including focusing, exposure setting, color temperature etc.

Challenge is the driving force for anything to develop. The digital cameras today is so effective that most will find no challenge at all. With this digital panoramic camera, it may become a popular hobby for serious photographers other than professionals.

When we can have i-cam?

2008-06-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

We have ibook, ipod, iphone etc. No matter we like them or not, they are born with something new.

The application of digital imaging technique for photography has been with us for tens of years. It is certain that besides a few people who still taking photo with films, most of us have digital cameras.

Has digital technology offered anything to photography? Besides a great way to keep our images without fading and release us from the burden for film processing and photo printing in darkrooms, it does not have any improvement for photography. I use to say that only the finishing process has been improved only.

Putting images online is not photography. We can see a lot of personal photos. Personal photos are personal and they should not be criticized or taken as photo works.

We may need something new. Will Steve Jobs create something new as i-cam? I really hope so. Even the idea may be too strange for our old guys; it is at least good to separate us from those new comers. They would be i-cam users and we remain camera users. They take i-photos and we take photographs.

With this distinguished areas, we shall feel more comfort. Then anyone shows me an i-photo, I can just say that I do not know i-photo and I need not spend time to think about what to say. Yes, I am not able to advise them because they are not taking photos, just clicking shutters.

Well, Steve Jobs, I hope you will do that.

The last part of digital photography

2008-06-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Most would know that Ilford has come up with a new Galerie Gold Fibre Silk inkjet paper.

I am fortunate to try it a few months ago. Now it will be supplied in Hong Kong and Macau next month.

High quality paper is a vital part of the finishing process. With Ilford and Harman, we can choose the output that can give our images the best presentation.

The last part is to develop a way so that when we select an image, printed with our A4 or A3 printer, we need a wide format printing that can give us the same or at least similar photo mural with affordable price.

Same as before, we need to have stable and high standard of photo finishing so that we know how to master the photo taking with pre-visualization.

For me, this is the beginning of a difficult task. Yet, with digital and computer, it is much better than the old days when I had to spend hours working with chemicals and kept in the darkroom.

The best way to complete our digital photos

2007-11-13T01:32:00.000-08:00

With a few months working with the inkjet paper, I am sure that this is the best way to complete our digital photos.

For general public and those who would waster their precious time with the computer, drop and print is the simple and effective method. Of course, that does not mean one need to do nothing but press the button. A few years ago, we might need to take care of exposure and white balance. Now, with the advancement of camera, e.g. the Evaluative Metering of Canon, exposure error is almost disappeared for most cases. White balance accuracy is not easy to master. The natural light or even artificial light of any situation may require a little bit of work. Solution is easy; just use Topimage Gray Card with custom white balance, it is certain to get the best color photo. Then use Ilford inkjet paper and base on the printer settings.

For those with high demand, professional or amateur artists, the white balance setting must be followed. The choice of Ilford or Harman is based on individual requirement. If one chooses Harman, then after selecting image, an adjustment must be made in order to get the best from the Harman inkjet paper. Check www.harmaninkjet.com.hk for information.

No matter what way one chooses, the best inkjet photo will be printed within minutes. That is what digital imaging, fast, accurate and consistent. We can print any time for the same result.

Of course, some may ask how about murals or bigger prints for exhibition etc. Well, I am working on this now and I shall announce here and the relevant websites as soon as possible.

The future photo, inkjet or thermal

2007-07-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

It is certain that all printing methods have great improvement for the past years.

Some months ago, I have bought a Xerox color laser printer, primarily for business. I have printed a few digital images and found that the quality were acceptable. Of course, if I would adjust the image before printing, the result might be even better. But for catalogue and other non-photographic applications, it is OK; especially the cost is so low.

Recently, I have to check the inkjet printing because I have involved with marketing for Ilford inkjet paper.

If we compare the quality between inkjet paper and photographic paper, the result will be the same. Inkjet prints are lack of the gradation and smoothness that we had enjoyed with photos.

One thing we have to know is that chemical processing will be obsolete very soon because of environmental protection. The only choice for us will be either inkjet or thermal prints.

For some years, we have big size inkjet prints and most thermal printers are small size, say 4x6. This means that thermal prints for reasonable size, A4 and A3 may not be available in the coming future. If thermal printing can avoid the wastage of toner, the cost may be able to compete with inkjet. If that happened, thermal prints should be almost identical with traditional photo.

Back to the inkjet printing, I believe that from now on, most photographers will prefer the drop and print. That means no enhancement or adjustment will be applied after exposure.

The reason is simple. Digital cameras, even the amateur design, have so many functions that it is easy to control the exposed image. If there is any problem, it is the neglecting of manual and the intention to learn only.

Nowadays, we have so many things to do and sparing time to adjust our images is almost impossible. Therefore, it is a must to master the digital camera except one would accept any inferior result.

When I started to work with inkjet printer many years ago when the true 720 dpi was available, it is so hard to get good result. This time with higher quality inkjet printer and photo quality paper, especially Ilford has the advice about printer setting, there is no test required, and just the final prints would do. That is why I suggested to my company to build a Chinese website, www.ilfordinkjet.com.hk, so that users in Hong Kong and Macau can refer to the printer settings.

As for the images, it is the work of users to get them right.

How much pixels we really need?

2007-05-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

The pixel counting has been something to attract users. That was true sometimes ago when resolution of digital camera could be enlarged to size under 8x10.

In fact, many digital camera users may not print anything at all. Just have the images showing on screens of computers, websites or online albums etc.

Just from the news, "Sony to market 12.1-megapixel compact digital camera", it seems the pixel war is reaching another height. That means users of compact digital camera can have their images enlarged to 30 inches or more.

I do not want to say impossible, as it is not easy to forecast what future generation of photographers would prefer. But for larger prints, it is not only the pixel or dynamic range or any technological advancement that matter. It is the image itself. I believe that no matter what change ahead, the visual sense would remain.

Of course, I am using compact digital camera to take a lot of photos, some for demonstration and some for personal enjoyment. A few has been selected to enlarge to 20x30 prints. Yet, these were for showing the digital technique, not as master pieces.

We may have to see what this lead up to in the future. Perhaps, compact digital cameras will replace DSLR. That will be great. It is much easier to carry and cost much less too.

Until such type of camera can offer what I need to take serious work, it will not be my choice.

Once I have used a compact digital camera to take photos of an event, one gentleman asked someone else with a DSLR to take photo instead. He just had not confidence with the compact digital camera. So, size of camera does matter.

Is photography dead?

2007-02-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

Since the birth of Mac, I had started to follow every thing about digital imaging. Of course, at that period, I was still taking and teaching traditional photography.

I have said that since the true 720 dpi inkjet printer, I began to work with digital cameras.

Everyone aware that digital photography has become popular just a few years ago.

Will digital photography become the new heir to photography? Not at all.

It is possible that taking photos is not photography, at least, the one that we have loved and devoted for tens of years.

I am never a conservative and readily to accept anything new. But, we must not mess anything without checking the truth. Digital photos may not be photos. Why? It is not created visually. Most of them are created technically instead.

This is not a sin, at least, not the digital imaging technology. In fact, such deviation started when cameras became fully automatic.

With higher pixels and great output technology, making poster size prints is easy and anyone can manage. The photo-taking technique becomes the technique of choosing the best camera with all the functions. We can check the essay "Breaking the Myth of Megapixels" about this.

So, what is wrong? The problem is the concept of imaging. I have reviewed this for a number of years. Not matter what the media has become, not matter how the new generations have different taste or style, and one thing would remain unchanged: our vision remains the same. Unless the DNA will evolve into something we do not know, human will keep the same kind of visual sensation. In simple words, our definition of ugly and beauty is unchanged.

There are trends, from fat to skinny, from harmonic to contrast colors, from equilibrium to impact etc.

Just check how many photo takers would review their works, how long will they look at their own photos. It becomes a trend to take photo with digital cameras, camphone or PDA. From the first to the thousandth shots, one can hardly find any improvement. Fortunately, there is no harmful chemical created since most of these images may never be printed at all.

Yes, I can see more digital camera users. But, I cannot see any one learning photography in digital way. Pressing the shutter, manipulating images with Photoshop may look like the modern photographic process. Yet, the final image is nothing photographically, just recorded images only.

Understanding resolution in digital image

2006-11-27T06:51:00.000-08:00

Recently, there is a question about the useless of higher resolution. That is, photos printed with higher and lower resolutions cannot be distinguished.

It is the distinction of digital imaging. Yet, this is also the easy misconception about it too.

I have mentioned that years ago, when discussing with some specialists about inkjet printing in the true 720 dpi period, they insisted that A4 print required 24 megabytes. I had printed a photo A4 size with just 18 megabytes and many people including them and some famous photographers found it satisfactory.

At that time, I had found that there should not be any exact resolution for output. It all depended on the type of image.

The same truth is applied today. Of course, the major reason is the printing technology. I do not have time to search whether all digital photo printers are employing the same method. I mean that output may use vector technique. Reading the image file and converting the colors to vector format, then the printing can give a much better quality even if the original resolution is lower than what had been expected before.

Do not take this as something strange. This is the good thing for digital imaging and this is something that we need to master.

Who need to take 10 meg photo with mobile phone?

2006-10-13T02:07:00.000-07:00

Just read "World's First 10 Megapixel Camera Phone" and we can realize the competition is too much nowadays.

Camera phone is just for fun or simple visual records. I believe that no one would take serious photo with the camera phone (or camphone in short). The photo-taking function is just a kind of gimmick and the overall design of mobile phone cannot be performed well photographically.

However, the bigger the better is something needed for promotion and not necessarily required. Perhaps we may choose something bigger if the price is comparable.

Bigger size of image requires bigger storage and longer time to transmit. That is not wihtou cost. No only the bandwidth will count, our own time would be another cost.

As I have said, it is not easy to control the subject and composition by using camphone. Any bigger size will make our mistakes more pronouncing and that is why photos taken with camphone may not be printed at all. So why bother to buy a higher resolution when we just view the image on mobile phone or the PC monitor?

One thing I may miss is the mentality of young ones. May be a bit bigger with something would make one more important or modern. In that way, price is not a factor at all. Photos are not important too. It is better to keep the function as a function in hand.

Is it just the tip of the iceberg?

2006-08-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

Digital image is for manipulation. That has been the accusation ever since the beginning.

The recent case "Bloggers Drive Inquiry on How Altered Images Saw Print" may start more of such discovery.

It is certain that the digital imaging offers us the most efficient way to fine-tune our images. For personal use, there should not be any rules at all. When the image would affect the response on the events, it would be a serious problem. May be we can feel relief because most newsagents have their own standards and ethics against manipulated news photos.

Yet, there are many photojournalists and there is great competition for freelance jobs. Taking tricks to get an extra dollar is not limited to photojournalists; we have many frauds today.

That photojournalist may have to quit the career because no newsagent would employ him anymore. The price may be too high in compare with what could be earned.

This type of trick is common in the photographic fields. Although the purpose was to win the competitions for fame and price, yet it is still a poisonous act for photography. Of course, such bad practice had begun long time ago and evolved into so-called creative technique.

Therefore, it is not the digital imaging that allowed this trick. The digital imaging has given us an easy way to cheat. Gun is not responsible for the users to kill.

From the case just mentioned, it is easy to know that the photo had been manipulated. I do not think that we need senior editors to find it out. Anyone with experience in digital imaging should know immediately because the retouching was too rough.

Whether it is overlook or disregard would not be easy to prove. We just hope that there would not be more cases happened again.

Will future digital camera take photo by its own?

2006-07-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it is a bit difficult to understand that the challenge of taking a successful photo had been the major interest for photographers some years ago.

Certainly, the automatic functions are factors for the photographic industry since many newcomers would have no difficulties to take photos.

Automatic focusing, automatic exposure and automatic functions are developed long ago. Now, blur free photos with optical image stabilizer is moving up. It is good if someone who does not want to know how to hold a camera properly and just want to have good photo.

As I have said, old guys should not define what will be good for the new generation. Newcomers are the targets of all manufacturers and what they want decide the future of any supplier.

However, it is not the photo that we treasure our expedition. It is the process that we keep talking and enjoying years after.

It will be better to put the photos in two categories. A 'dead' photo is taken without any concern or any effort. A 'lively' photo contains not only the image of something, but the photographer's hard work to get it done.

If all photos taken are belonged to the 'dead' category, then there is no more joy of taking photos. Yes, for those who never have a camera might like to try for a few moments. Yet, it is certain that they would not have the interest to continue. Any other interesting or challenging like a computer game would move them away from the camera.

I have mentioned that the clever guy, Mr. Bill Gates, was wrong to assume that people just need photos and not like to take photos for his photo library project some years ago. No matter how good a photo would be, if it is not taken by oneself, there is no fun at all.

So how about getting a digital camera that can take good photo without our effort. May be in the coming future, digital camera can decide when and how to take photos and we just sit without even looking around at all. The camera does it all. Then what is the difference between owning a photo and taking a photo? We can download; we can copy; we can buy any good photo and announce that this is my photo. Perhaps that is no reason for us to buy any camera at that time since we never take photo anymore.

Digital camera does not need photographic knowledge?

2006-06-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

The question always come up is "with digital camera, there is no need to learn photography".

Yes, I have stopped the conventional photo classes some years ago because at that time it was certain that film would extinct but digital imaging was unable to replace yet. I did not want to teach something that would disappear in a few years.

Yes, there are a lot of beginners misguided by advertisement and irresponsible articles that taking digital photos is easy without any technique at all besides using software to manipulate.

Recently, some people asked me why high quality lens (for film camera) did not perform as supposed to be and sometimes even worse than ancient lens. That is a simple answer. High quality lens for film had to deal with three sensitive layers and that is not the case now with CCD/CMOS. Of course, the judgment might not be correct because most of them would base on the LCD display or LCD monitor that are not standard at all.

The simple fact is there is no universal standard at all for digital color images. It will take a long time to solve this problem, hopefullly not tens of years like the conventional color photography.

As I always say, there is no way to define what new generation would prefer in color image or even what is true image to them. We can find from games they played, songs they liked etc. and may have no clue of what quality they are looking for.

I am not giving up the search of a better way to manage digital color. Without a top-level leader like Kodak years ago, it is almost hopeless to have anything close to standard. Until now, I am still disappointed that the leader of Kodak failed to take the lead for digital imaging.

So for the time being, do not trust any suggestion. You will waste time and money for nothing. Just take what you have and try to find a better way to manage your images. If you base on display or printed photos, go ahead and adjust your images until the result is satisfactory. Mark down your adjustment that is unique for your situation.

Just as I put it in the beginning, it is always be safe to get proof before investing on high quality lens for your digital camera.

Microsoft's new image format

2006-05-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

For some years, JPEG remains the only widely accepted format. I do disappointed that the PNG failed to get the expected status although it has a better color effect.

Now, Microsoft comes up with the WMP (Windows Media Photo). If you like to have the information, you can visit: Windows Media Photo Specification. You must agree to the terms before downloading the specification (Word format).

It may take some days if not months for us to check if it has something great. Of course, I believe that Microsoft would not come up if there were nothing better than JPEG.

This one may have a better development because we all know that Microsoft's Windows remains the platform of most PC.

For years, the digital photography has no improvement for the basic structure. I do hope that more of such development will be coming.

Digital photo misunderstanding

2006-04-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

It has been a number of years that most digital camera users had assumed that a click on the camera and a few clicks with software could produce a good photo. So, they do not want to learn and do not want anything more.

Digital camera is just the same camera as we have for years. Digital is just the replacement of film by CMOS/CCD. Because of the instant review, most may suppose that it is easy to get a 'good' image. In fact, if we know about exposure, even without review, we are confident that the film would product a successful recorded image. Yet, we know that a good image requires more than exposure. Exposure is just the method to have a good image be produced in a substantial form only. Of course, it is always easy to teach anyone to take a photo, but it is very difficult to teach anyone to take a good photo. That is what I have done in the past tens of years.

Software is a great tool for digital photos. I always reject the idea that software can turn a not so good photo into a good one. The digital functions can adjust the digital images. This is the same as film processing and enlarging techniques in the old days. Just like make-up, we can have the image be presented in its best form. Yet, if the image is not good looking, no make-up can turn it into a masterpiece.

As I always mention, the problem that new digital camera users have been misguided by those advertisement and copycat style articles written by someone without photographic knowledge. In other words, they are victims.

The joy of taking photo is the abilities to produce good images. Taking good images require much more than buying a digital camera. I do not believe that most would lack of the visual concept of good images. The problem is than most are too lazy to learn and not willing to spend a few days evaluating what should be done to get better photos.

However, it may happen soon that a certain percentage of newcomers would understand this problem and look for ways to improve. For them, I am ready to assist.

Self portrait fallacy?

2006-02-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

It is said that many new digital camera users are fond of taking self-portrait. Of course, we have found self-portrait in the early days of photography. Some may not take this as a new application.

The problem is the analysis stated that no one could understand better than one about what is the best look should be. Well, for me, it is a fallacy.

If that is true, then all make up should not be done by any specialist, all dresses should not be designed by any designer, not to say stylist. Is 'no one knows better than oneself about how to express oneself and how to dress oneself' be true?

Certainly there is no rule about self-portrait and any one should be free to express any way one prefers. It is personal.

If people would be guided in such a way, digital photography is not only taken over photography; it terminates photography instead.

Will Huey bring satisfaction?

2006-01-19T05:38:00.000-08:00

As mentioned earlier, I am working on a book about printing photo with Kodak's Picture Maker. Publication has been postponed because Kodak has announced the G4 to replace the PM.

I need to wait for the G4 to know if there is any difference other than the speed.

Recently, Pantone has come up with the Huey, refer "In Photo Prints, Perfect Color In Means Perfect Color Out ". It is said that this is to calibrate the monitor so that we can have similar colors between the printed photos and the display on the screen.

From my work on this topic, different monitors are never be able to calibrate with similar result. Certainly, I am working from a photographer's point of view. It would be interesting to wait and see what Huey can do to solve this problem.

For the time being, I still believe that the color difference between the printed photos and the display would not be solved by a single method.

Should I continue to work on this topic? Will digital camera users give up the photos and enjoy the images on display? It may be too early to confirm, yet I think that photos will remain the choice for some if not all camera users.

From Corbis to Memories, will Bill Gate get it right this time?

2006-01-11T04:56:00.000-08:00

Corbis is the online image library, a project of Bill Gate in 1989.

At that time, it was said that Bill Gate supposed that we would not take photos anymore. If we wanted images, his Corbis was the source.

Certainly, it may be good to have more online image sources for some publications or media. Yet, it is something that he might not understand. For most of us, the enjoyment is the photo taking process or some images that we can say 'my photos', even these photos may not be good in compare with those taken by others.

One thing we have to remember is the price of digital camera at that time was quite high and not affordable even by professionals. Many may not know about it because digital cameras we have today range from a few hundreds to thousands. Also, the camera phone is so advanced that some may prefer it instead of digital camera.

Perhaps, that is why Microsoft never offers us anything about photos for the past seventeen years. I do not know whether this is due to Bill Gate's concept about photos.

Recently, there is news about "Gates Pitches CES Crowd on Vista's Content Handling". The coming Windows Vista is said to have "photo editing and search features are combined in what Microsoft calls Memories". A term seems to borrow from Kodak that declared the photographic business was about memories some years ago.

There is a number of imaging software product. However, there are only two that I prefer to use, Photoshop and Irfanview. There are several versions of Photoshop, but I recommend to the participants of my online courses to choose the Photoshop CS only. Irfanview is free for personal use and my recommendation is not based on free. Irfanview has a few functions that we need.

As an add-on feature, we may not have full editing functions like Photoshop. This may be something like Kodak's Perfect Touch that let users to choose some preset enhancement. Of course, this is for general users who would not have the intention to learn about digital imaging and just need some easy steps to fine-tune their images.

What Memories will be remains to be seen and I hope that it would not lead users towards virtual reality and further away from the humanly photography. With digital camera, a lot of newcomers have failed to find their way to enjoy photography because they suppose that taking photo is just a click.

The next new thing for digital imaging

2005-12-21T01:44:00.000-08:00

We have higher resolution and wireless function for digital cameras this year. For many users, there is more than requirement for all applications. So any improvement with these features would not be excited any more.

What will be the next new thing for us? A digital camera that can take photo by itself, no, we would not prefer to be the slave instead of master. A digital camera that can take photo without light, no, we cannot know what will be taken. A digital camera that can listen to our command, yes, it will be great so that we do not need to use our fingers. A digital camera with a 4R size display, yes, so that we do not need to print anymore.

Some users may find the video function of digital camera a nice function. How about a video style that can capture high resolution photos? It seems great to some who might have failed to capture the best moment. Sometimes ago, I had rejected the motor drive that allowed us to take a number shots because we might never be able to develop our own 'photo eye'. Now, I find that the new comers do not care about photography and would like to have their own way of imaging.

Can video taking offer great resolution? With faster processing power and greater volume of storage, this is possible in the foreseeable future. We must know that the image quality of video remains unchanged for some years. HDTV may finally take stage soon.

May be the 'still image' will be taken over by 'moving image'.

Digital photo is not a hobby

2005-12-06T02:37:00.000-08:00

Amateur photography is a hobby for many years. The difference between amateur and professional is that amateurs take photos with personal choice while professionals take photo according to order. With this definition, Ansel Adams was the most famous amateur.

Amateurs take photography as a hobby and that is the major factor for the development.

Although I always point out, digital imaging is a natural choice to replace the film. But there is one aspect that most of us would not like to see. Newcomers are not taking it as a hobby. They are not wrong because digital camera is same as a gadget like the cell phone or ipod. It is certain that they took pictures because many others were doing so. Taking photos are great for everyone with any reasons and any requirement.

The most annoying thing is some of them dreamed about taking good digital photos without working hard to learn. Of course, as said, anyone can have individual choice. If they like to take everything with such manner, they would never achieve anything at all, including the joy of taking photos.

I had said that with advancement of cameras, there would be more acceptable photos and less great ones. Now with digital cameras, the influence is much greater.

One point we must remember, if some crafts are simple to master, no one would like to participate because there is no challenge.

Perhaps there are more things to blame, including the behavior of many photographers.

What will be the future of photography? It may become a general practice without any significance to the human culture, something even inferior to graphics.

Image application

2005-11-26T06:42:00.000-08:00

Photography is my hobby and I remain the same enthusiastic whenever taking photos for tens of years. Certainly, I do not have much time as before.

For images on film, they cannot last for long. Thanks to digital imaging, I can preserve some of them in digital form. Now, every shot will be with the digital camera.

Recently I realize that it would be great to share these images with others. Portfolio is not the choice. It is expensive to print and requiring high price because the sale volume would not be high. Then I found the CafePress allowing members to have graphic or image for their products and I can earn a dollar or so for each item sold.

So I select a few images and open the http://www.cafepress.com/Goodlook.

Two digital photo lessons for one dollar

2005-11-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes ago, I decided that the best way to promote is to offer a very low price.

In fact, I have considered free. But free is something that lead to failure because participants might not care about what they should do.

I always say that the major concern is not about money, it is the time that matters most. If someone spends time to learn something but fails to improve, it may not be easy for he/she to get another similar course. In other words, that person would waste the time and the chance to learn that topic.

With the digital imaging technology, it is possible to operate digital photo courses online. It is easy to know that any such course requires viewing the photos for comment and advice. In film photography, this must be done face to face.

The LearnMyWay course that is promoted now is because I believe that this free choice of topic may be the best for this time. With film, it is certain that beginners need to learn everything. With digital camera and the new way of application, most may not need to go through everything because the functions of the camera have simplified many techniques.

Certainly, we can say that there are knowledge and technique other than camera operation to take good photos. That is true before and may not be accepted totally today.

What I can do and what participants can get with two lessons course? There are many topics that can be learned with two lessons. If one satisfies with his/her digital photos, there is no need to learn anything. If one wants better photos, he/she will know what is the problem like exposure, composition, subject expression etc. Then each of these would be a topic for improvement. Others include subject like portrait, child, scenic etc.

Of course, it depends on what is expected. If one looks for mastery instead of improvement, then it may take much more lessons instead of two. Although I have experience to train students from beginners to professional in three months with less then twenty lessons, yet it required full dedication and intense pressure to reach the goal. For the time being, I do not think such kind of training can be performed online.

It is a challenge for me to meet different requests, especially to design the course with two lessons only. But if this works fine for those who have interest to improve their digital photo technique, I shall share the same happiness.

Perfect exposure for Digital Photo

2005-11-10T02:21:00.000-08:00

Ever since cameras became automatic, there is lots of different systems for metering and exposure.

It is good to have better metering systems in digital camera, especially there are choices for us to select.

In the old days, I had preferred to use handheld meter and used the gray card too. Thought this way is more accurate in general, yet no longer applicable for digital cameras because only films will have standard ISO and not for CCD/CMOS.

With metering or automatic exposure in digital camera, we can take digital photos much faster and the only problem is whether the choice of metering is suitable.

However, what we find great with one digital camera may not be so with another one. That is why some people would say certain models are better than the others. Of course, each camera may be good or bad in compare with each other.

I do not recommend to change camera unless someone needs a more versatile model to upgrade the technique. It is always better to know our camera and to get the best it can give instead of wasting our time and money because there is no perfect camera before and in the future.

If a model can be perfect, it would force all other models to be obsoleted and there would be one model of camera in the market. Throughout the history of photography, this has never happened.

Online photo courses

2005-11-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

I teach photography for about thirty years.

In traditional photography, there were a lot of courses giving me different challenge.

A few years ago, when I felt that digital photography would take over film, I have stopped all traditional photo courses.

That was a transitional period of a few years, as digital photo was lack of good and affordable output. Finally when the manufacturers realized the mistake of working for digital output that was costly and incomparable to traditional photo papers, turned to build digital head for projection prints that could enjoy the quality and low cost of photographic papers.

It seemed that I could consider running digital photo courses again. However, there are many things that would not be solved easily. Furthermore, it seems that in the Internet age, it would be better to find a new way.

Therefore I started the planning for online courses.

How to know the progress of participants is the first and most important thing for me to consider. Therefore, I arrange the course by lesson and exercise.

Each participant will have a password to read a lesson. Each lesson comes with an exercise. Participant has to send the work to me for comment before having the next password for the next lesson. This way will allow me to know the progress and to be sure that participant has understood the topic or not.

The good thing is that participants can arrange their own time to read and work for the exercise. In these days, many of us may have to go for business trips etc. and any fixed schedule may not be suitable.

If they have problem, they can send questions by email. In compare with traditional courses, not all participants could ask questions clearly due to the limit of time. With online and in written form, participants have lots of time to write what they really need.

The bad thing is some participants may be bothered by other works or trips and will be difficult to continue with the lesson and exercise. Of course, time is in their hands.

In my experience, the problem is mostly due to personal. If one is keen to learn, one will be able to catch up even after a long delay.

However, I am still looking for a way so to help them about this problem.

Image file name problem

2005-10-09T01:43:00.000-07:00

The most common problem with digital camera is the filename. With certain period, we shall have duplicated image filenames.

I use the date as folder to keep those image-files taken. This will be easier to manage with another file (Word or Excel) to keep the daily record of photo event.Yet, when I select among these images for presentation or output, there is a chance that two or more image files would have the same name. Therefore, I add a file header to each image file, say, the date in format of yyyymmdd.

Renaming a file is easy, but with some tens or even hundred is tedious and easy to make mistake.To solve the problem, I have prepared a program to handle.

The same problem will be faced by many others, so I decided to supply the program in my One Dollar Software House (www.uscforesight.com) and made a trial version (Image Filename Management System) listed in Download.com.

If you have the same problem and do not want to waste your time to build a program, you can download for trial. If it is useful for you, then you can get it from my site.

Exposure control for digital camera

2005-10-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

As some of my releases have mentioned, I have invented the Mytcard Method for taking digital photos.

It is used to judge whether the exposure with digital camera is correct for highlight and shadow details.

The rule of thumb "expose for shadow, develop for highlight" is still useful for digital photo.

It is easy to have over-exposure that forced the highlight details into pure white or to have under-exposure that forced the shadow details to maximum black. If that happened, there is no way to get them back.

We must be aware at that very moment so that we can adjust the exposure to keep them in good form. That is the good thing that digital camera offers, we should be able to aware of mistakes and take a second shot to have the best digital photo.

Although this Mytcard Method was originally invented for the readers of my book, "DigiPhoto Guide for Beginners", yet I decided to release free to all because many would not need to see my book.

Besides free download from my site http://www.mytcard.com, I have listed in http://www.download.com so that it is easier for any one to get it.