Nikon 100-500mm Rumor?

Nikon AF-S 100-500mm f/4-5.6 IF-ED VR

That would be nice... Really nice.

Where Did the Guy Go?

We went to Doel, Belgium last Saturday with the local camera club. Even though I've already been there before it still manages to capture my attention and imagination. You see completely different things each time.

I did make less photos this time, but not much less :)

All my photos from Doel can be viewed on my flickr page.

Adobe Lightroom Quirks

The reason for using Adobe Lightroom is mainly because of the tight integration with other Adobe products, and a little legacy from my Microsoft days. So I had no real reason to look at the competition (Apple Aperture).... Until now (I guess).

The biggest drawback is that you can't open multiple catalogs at the same time. Something like having multiple personal folders within Microsoft Outlook. You can open them, access the content and if you want you can detach it again to save resources.
So opening a catalog means that you can't access photo's in other catalogs.... Therefor I use one (large) catalog. Mainly because I can't be bothered with the whole exporting and importing scenario to move (or copy) images between catalogs.
By the way, I suggested such functionality to Adobe (along with some other improvements regarding the syncing of catalogs). Now let's hope that they will implement this in version 3.0

This feature is something Apple Aperture since version 1.0 (if I recall correctly), and I get the feeling that I'm near the how far I can push Adobe Lightroom.

For the last couple of days I get the strangest behaviour from Lightroom. Importing photo's normally means you can add tags, and select a way of storing them on the hard disk. Lately it seems that Lightroom is having a mind of its own. Photo's end up all over the place. Tags are getting lost.

These problems are most likely cause by two factors in my opinion;

1. A relatively large catalog which I browse a lot
2. A lot of processing power going to other applications while browsing/editing photo's

I can accept that Lightroom is getting slower with thousands of photo's, but it shouldn't get a mind of its own when my iMac is busy doing all sorts of things.

Scotland Holiday 2009

Two and a half weeks driving around in Scotland. The weather was extremely good, which we didn't anticipate, so we didn't have enough t-shirts etc. Who would have thought that over two weeks of sunshine was possible in Scotland?

Saw lots of ruins, castles, sheep, churches, sun, beer, whisky, ruins, castles and stuff. No need to get bored when you're over there. Only downside to the extremely good weather was that I wasn't able to shoot many of those typical cloudy/rainy Scotland photo's.

The trip started with the ferry IJmuiden-New Castle. After that it was Dumfries, Oban, Spean Bridge, Struan (Isle of Sky), Ullapool, Thurso, Ballater, Glenrothes, and back to New Castle. Basically a trip covering the best parts of Scotland (we did miss the Orkneys though).



Also available on my flickr page or here.

Photofocus Question - Tilted Horizon

Oh yeah... One of my questions was 'answered' in the Photofocus podcast #09 by Scott Bourne and Rick Sammon (last question of the episode).

My problem' is that when I shoot in portrait mode that the horizon is always a couple of degrees off. The right side of the image is significantly lower than the left side. No matter how hard I try. Even though the problem is easily corrected in post-processing, it's annoying as hell.

Scott suggested a using the virtual horizon (which isn't present on the D300.... hmmm which gives me an excuse to upgrade ;-)), or using a hot shoe bubble (which is a whole lot cheaper). Rick mentioned possible lens related distortion. It's not the lens, because the problem exists in the range of 10mm wide-angle to a 200mm telephoto. So I'll be trying a hot shoe bubble for a while. Let's see if that helps.

5 Years of Photography

I started out with a Nikon D100, and grew to a Nikon D300 in those 5 years. The Nikon D200 was in my possession only about 6 months or so. Man, the noise on that body was humongous.

The Lightroom library shows me that I started (semi-serious) with photography about 5 years ago. 2005 was a bit of a slow year though.

It seems that the number of photo's I make grows exponentially.

At this rate, my Drobo wil run out of space in about a month or so :)

Nik Color Efex Pro versus Topaz Adjust

For those who follow the photo's on my flickr account may notice that I do like HDR(like) post-processing on my images. I use Photomatix's Tonemapping functionality to create the basic HDR. After that I add (a lot of) drama to the picture by using Nik Color Efex Pro.

Nik Color Efex Pro has a plugin called Tonal Contrast. This plugin adds the detail/drama in the picture. Last weekend I ran into Topaz Adjust from Topaz Labs. This plugin is able to create the exact same drama in the picture. The difference is that Topaz costs only $49,99, while Color Efex Pro (with the Tonal Contrast filter option) costs $299,95 (but you also get a lot more filters for that price).

The following pictures are the result of either Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast filter or Topaz adjust. The differences are minimal if you ask me.

Nik Color Efex Pro Tonal Contrast Post HDR Processing Topaz Adjust Post HDR ProcessingSo if your looking for HDR-like drama in your photo's you might wanna consider Topaz Adjust. It's relatively cheap compared to Color Efex Pro, but you get 52 filters for that price (instead of one filter with several presets).

Discovering Doel, Belgium

Last Sunday we went (a couple of guys from the camera club) to the (almost) abandoned town of Doel in Belgium. The town is located near a nuclear power plant, and due to planned harbor expansions, the government started buying (or bought) houses in the small town.

The people who left, left a lot of stuff behind in their houses. Stuff that nobody bothered to clean up. This makes it an excellent environment for a little urban-exploration.

Smelly FridgeMy photo's from Doel can be viewed on my flickr page.

Lighting Gear

Been experimenting the last couple of days with off-camera flash. Not entirely to my satisfaction, but learning every second more and more about (studio) flashing.

At the moment I have a Nikon SB-600 which is nice, but two (or more) would be a lot nicer (Photography Acquisition Syndrome, anyone???). Also some stands, claps etc. would be nice. Getting a flash off the floor (or cases) and into the air requires a lot of ingenuity.

This way, the gear-wish-list keeps growing and growing. Oh man, that Nikon 200-400mm f/4 lens is not getting closer this way....

Off Camera Flashing

Ordered a Phottix remote trigger set Tetra 1 x triger 2 x reciever kit last night for a couple of bucks (due tomorrow from Arend Handelsonderneming). About time that I started to get more familiar with creative off-camera flashing..... Did I say 'creative' and 'I'?

A good time to start with some self portraits to get used to the lighting..... So expect som creepy pictures here and on my flickr page. :)