Comments for Background Exposure http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog The Photography of Brian White Sat, 17 May 2008 01:01:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 Comment on Too Many Hobbies by The Deck at Background Exposure http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/18/too-many-hobbies/#comment-8359 The Deck at Background Exposure Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:00:16 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/18/too-many-hobbies/#comment-8359 [...] I mentioned previously, two of my many hobbies are construction and video editing. I finally found the time to finish the time-lapse video of the [...] […] I mentioned previously, two of my many hobbies are construction and video editing. I finally found the time to finish the time-lapse video of the […]

]]> Comment on Night Moves by ahk http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/12/night-photography-tips/#comment-7424 ahk Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:26:35 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/12/night-photography-tips/#comment-7424 Hi Brian, try Picturenaut for your HDR photos. http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/ I have gotten some very good results out of it, especially for night images. And the best of all, it's free. Hi Brian,
try Picturenaut for your HDR photos.
http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/

I have gotten some very good results out of it, especially for night images. And the best of all, it’s free.

]]> Comment on A Sucker for Punishment by More Punishment at Background Exposure http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/17/night-panorama-hdr/#comment-7204 More Punishment at Background Exposure Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:46:34 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/17/night-panorama-hdr/#comment-7204 [...] has to be at least 50 mega-pixels to be accepted. My original met this requirement but, as you may recall, I’d had to cut the image in 1/2 both horizontally and vertically in order to load it in to [...] […] has to be at least 50 mega-pixels to be accepted. My original met this requirement but, as you may recall, I’d had to cut the image in 1/2 both horizontally and vertically in order to load it in to […]

]]> Comment on Gimp vs Photoshop by Nicolas Lannuzel http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2006/11/15/gimp-vs-photoshop/#comment-6824 Nicolas Lannuzel Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:30:51 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2006/11/15/gimp-vs-photoshop/#comment-6824 Hi, Interesting website, good source of information, and I like your personal point of views too. Regarding dcraw/ufraw, I've been using UFraw since a while, and it give me excellent results. As far as I can see, the colors and brightness is exactly the same as the embedded JPG inside the RAW file. And under 100% zoom there's no moire or funny artifacts as some would fear. Details level is same as output from CaptureNX. The only differences are: - Noise level, but that's because I'm not using the wavelet noise reduction feature in UFraw; while the embedded JPG has already been "denoised" directly in the camera. - Sharpening: UFraw doesn't do any kind of sharpening (yet). It's not a concern for me, since I always scale down and sharpen a bit in Gimp just before saving as JPG but never before editing the picture. In the case of my Nikon D80, the picture from UFraw also contains more pixels. It seems that the camera engine (or Nikon CaptureNX) trim the image a bit, in order to keep a 3:2 aspect ratio I presume. But those pixels are in the raw file, and UFraw will give them to you. The key here is to use the right color profile for your camera. Without it, the picture is flat and dark. I found the profile for my camera on the UFRaw page, there's also a link to a site giving other profiles as well. I like UFraw more than CaptureNX (that I was using before in a virtual machine running XP). It allows me to write custom shell scripts for downloading, resizing and tagging in F-Spot automatically using UFraw, Image magick and Exif Tools. You can check the UFraw page here: http://ufraw.sourceforge.net/ Have fun! Nicolas Hi,

Interesting website, good source of information, and I like your personal point of views too.

Regarding dcraw/ufraw, I’ve been using UFraw since a while, and it give me excellent results. As far as I can see, the colors and brightness is exactly the same as the embedded JPG inside the RAW file. And under 100% zoom there’s no moire or funny artifacts as some would fear. Details level is same as output from CaptureNX.

The only differences are:
- Noise level, but that’s because I’m not using the wavelet noise reduction feature in UFraw; while the embedded JPG has already been “denoised” directly in the camera.
- Sharpening: UFraw doesn’t do any kind of sharpening (yet). It’s not a concern for me, since I always scale down and sharpen a bit in Gimp just before saving as JPG but never before editing the picture.

In the case of my Nikon D80, the picture from UFraw also contains more pixels. It seems that the camera engine (or Nikon CaptureNX) trim the image a bit, in order to keep a 3:2 aspect ratio I presume. But those pixels are in the raw file, and UFraw will give them to you.

The key here is to use the right color profile for your camera. Without it, the picture is flat and dark. I found the profile for my camera on the UFRaw page, there’s also a link to a site giving other profiles as well.

I like UFraw more than CaptureNX (that I was using before in a virtual machine running XP). It allows me to write custom shell scripts for downloading, resizing and tagging in F-Spot automatically using UFraw, Image magick and Exif Tools.

You can check the UFraw page here: http://ufraw.sourceforge.net/

Have fun!

Nicolas

]]> Comment on Color by Larry Eiss http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/07/color-vs-black-and-white/#comment-6748 Larry Eiss Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:47:36 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/07/color-vs-black-and-white/#comment-6748 The subtle colors in nature are amazing to be sure. Lately I have been drawn to vibrant color like a Black Swallowtail butterfly on a huge Lily in my wife's garden. Your perspective on black-and-white (or 90% desaturated color) is interesting. Personally, I didn;t begin to imagine the colors on the boat until I read your suggestions in the post. I wonder if there is something about having known them in advance at work? In any case, I'm anxious to see more of the work you did on your travels. The subtle colors in nature are amazing to be sure. Lately I have been drawn to vibrant color like a Black Swallowtail butterfly on a huge Lily in my wife’s garden.

Your perspective on black-and-white (or 90% desaturated color) is interesting. Personally, I didn;t begin to imagine the colors on the boat until I read your suggestions in the post. I wonder if there is something about having known them in advance at work?

In any case, I’m anxious to see more of the work you did on your travels.

]]> Comment on Too Many Hobbies by Brian White http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/18/too-many-hobbies/#comment-6140 Brian White Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:53:48 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/18/too-many-hobbies/#comment-6140 I built a deck last summer but still haven't processed all the video from that. One of these days... I built a deck last summer but still haven’t processed all the video from that. One of these days…

]]> Comment on Too Many Hobbies by Larry Eiss http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/18/too-many-hobbies/#comment-6138 Larry Eiss Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:33:40 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/18/too-many-hobbies/#comment-6138 I was just thingking the other day that I have too many hobbies and so don't give any of them their due. For me it's photography, woodworking, family, reading, blogging, Bible study. Thanks for sharing! I loved the video. Nice work! I was just thingking the other day that I have too many hobbies and so don’t give any of them their due. For me it’s photography, woodworking, family, reading, blogging, Bible study.

Thanks for sharing! I loved the video. Nice work!

]]> Comment on The Constant Camera by Photocritic’s Christmas Gift Guide ||| Photocritic blog http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2006/11/27/the-constant-camera/#comment-6134 Photocritic’s Christmas Gift Guide ||| Photocritic blog Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:10:29 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2006/11/27/the-constant-camera/#comment-6134 [...] that even advanced photographers should have a small pocket camera - a photographer without a camera isn’t a photographer, just a mug without his tools. Since a [...] […] that even advanced photographers should have a small pocket camera - a photographer without a camera isn’t a photographer, just a mug without his tools. Since a […]

]]> Comment on A Sucker for Punishment by Sheila Armstrong http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/17/night-panorama-hdr/#comment-6015 Sheila Armstrong Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:28:19 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/17/night-panorama-hdr/#comment-6015 Hi Brian, Well here I am looking at your beautiful and am totally envious of you guys. Sheila Hi Brian,
Well here I am looking at your beautiful and am totally envious of you guys.

Sheila

]]> Comment on A Sucker for Punishment by Brian White http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/17/night-panorama-hdr/#comment-4756 Brian White Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:49:06 +0000 http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/17/night-panorama-hdr/#comment-4756 Yes. All the night shots are HDR. Without it, streets lights et al were all blown out and looked terrible. I look forward to seeing your shots. Yes. All the night shots are HDR. Without it, streets lights et al were all blown out and looked terrible.

I look forward to seeing your shots.

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