2651 replies to this topic

[Tony Matthews]

I think they are supposed to be contrasty

I agree.

Edited to say Ooops, just seen remus' post. I like them, but it's a tightrope, half a 'grade' more would be too much, I think.

Edited by Tony Matthews, 11 November 2011 - 23:00.

[picblanc]

Great shots Remus, superb!

[remus]

Thanks for all the feedback. Aware I must not hog this thread, but this is one of my all time favourite shots:


Take care my darling by christopha 200, on Flickr

[philhitchings]

Please hog this thread as much as you like

[remus]

...so long as you're sure!

last few for a while from this year's Revival:


Hans Herrmann, W196 in paddock by christopha 200, on Flickr


Silver Arrow #1 by christopha 200, on Flickr


Where else in the world? by christopha 200, on Flickr


Prototype Spitfire (replica) by christopha 200, on Flickr


Breadvan #1 by christopha 200, on Flickr


and finally, for something a bit different...



Paddock Lady #3 by christopha 200, on Flickr


Goodwood Bunnies #2 by christopha 200, on Flickr


Goodwood Bunnies #5 by christopha 200, on Flickr

[bradbury west]

Wonderful old US archive site which I found via comments on this this;
http://www.dailymail...rld-War-II.html
I love the railway terminal shot and the family on the horse and cart.
Check this out
http://www.shorpy.com/
If you google shorpy it gives other categories under the main google results heading. Check under racing cars in the enquiry box, but there is a mass of tremendous old photos under various categories. They appear to be in a good resolution.
Roger Lund

[alansart]

Check this out
http://www.shorpy.com/
If you google shorpy it gives other categories under the main google results heading. Check under racing cars in the enquiry box, but there is a mass of tremendous old photos under various categories. They appear to be in a good resolution.
Roger Lund

That's quite a find. I quite like this one of US board racing. For the crowd as well as the cars.

http://www.shorpy.co...?size=_original

[jj2728]

Excellent photos and links from everyone. Many thanks!

[Frank S]

Clinging to a shred of thread drift: portraits, music makers, some high-contrast.

[bradbury west]

Excellent link, Frank, with superb portraits and archives. Many thanks
Roger Lund

[elansprint72]

Clinging to a shred of thread drift: portraits, music makers, some high-contrast.

Great photos on the link.. That colour-photography will never catch on!

[Frank S]

Great photos on the link.. That colour-photography will never catch on!

I think you're right about the color stuff: it does seem a bit wimpy after all that real photography.

I'm feeling a bit guilty about very selfishly enjoying the plethora of probably-stolen images on those pages. Nyet ochen' horrorshow, sort of.

[smarjoram]

I've long been a fan of shorpy - it's great to set it up as a home page and get welcomed with another astounding image every day. I'm pretty sure they're all in the public domain too - many may well come from the US Library of Congress...

http://www.flickr.co...ry_of_congress/

[Tony Matthews]

I think you're right about the color stuff: it does seem a bit wimpy after all that real photography.

Anyone who has access to the Sunday Times Magazine, the Spectrum section, can see B&W photographs taken a century ago of people and events in Peru, and recent colour photographs of the same. I like colour, but the B&W pictures in this article are so much more impressive - how much is down to the medium, and how much to the photographer, I would not like to say.

[mikeC]

Whilst we are talking about colour, I had no idea it was available this early:

http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com

Apologies if this has already appeared in the thread - I couldn't find it.

[elansprint72]

Whilst we are talking about colour, I had no idea it was available this early:

http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com

Apologies if this has already appeared in the thread - I couldn't find it.

I have a copy of :

The wonderful world of Albert Kahn

which contains superb true-colour photos from 1907 onwards. Kahn sent teams of photographers all over the globe to capture not only still images but motion-pictures too, of different cultures; of course his initiative was just in time for WW1, unfortunately.

Available from Amazon UK for about 21GBP and well worth it.

[elansprint72]

Post-processing digital colour into B&W.

I have just purchased a copy of Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 software to convert colour digital images to B&W; I'm having a load of trouble getting it to talk to Photoshop. I've been on to both "Helpdesks" they, as you might expect, are blaming each other. As my PC is about 5 years old (I've stuck in various gizmos to upgrade just about everything, the slots are pretty-much full up) I'm wondering if I should have bought a 2nd hand earlier version from e-bay?

Are there any REALLY SAVVY techno-folks on this forum who could suggest something I could do (for no further outlay) in terms of updating drivers, etc?

[Option1]

Pete, I was wondering if you're running a 64 bit version of PS and Nik is only 32 bit, or vice versa. I've had that issue before with plug-ins, but while researching this issue for you, clicking on the System Requirements link here seems to suggest that Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 is 64 bit compatible.

Umm, so in the end I don't have an answer, although I did see some others having what seems to be similar issues.

Neil

[wewantourdarbyback]

I've just sorted out a workflow with my new (much loved so far) iMac... I seem to be drawn towards the human side of things this year, so here's a few portraits from this year's Festival of Speed.

Dario #1 - with smiling lady photographer by christopha 200, on Flickr

Love that shot of Dario.

[elansprint72]

Pete, I was wondering if you're running a 64 bit version of PS and Nik is only 32 bit, or vice versa. I've had that issue before with plug-ins, but while researching this issue for you, clicking on the System Requirements link here seems to suggest that Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 is 64 bit compatible.

Umm, so in the end I don't have an answer, although I did see some others having what seems to be similar issues.

Neil

Neil,
Way over my head with the 32/64 bit thing, how would I check what I have? Nik helpdesk suggested updating my graphics driver, I have tried that (not entirely convinced it did anything) and it's still crashing. When I get a minute I'll trawl the web for other folks with similar issues.

Thanks.

[southcoast]

I've been experimenting with this sort of thing recently. It's a bit hit and miss. Does anyone have any tips ?

[southcoast]

Hope this helps, feel free to ask more if you like.

Yes that definitely helps. Thanks very much indeed for the comprehensive reply

[elansprint72]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

[Tony Matthews]

Better when they are worth a thousand pounds...

[Option1]

Neil,
Way over my head with the 32/64 bit thing, how would I check what I have? Nik helpdesk suggested updating my graphics driver, I have tried that (not entirely convinced it did anything) and it's still crashing. When I get a minute I'll trawl the web for other folks with similar issues.

Thanks.

Looking at the Nik requirements, it shouldn't really matter if the OS is 32 bit or 64 bit as the Nik software is supposedly compatible with both. However should you still wish to check if your OS is 32 or 64 bit then these should help: http://windows.micro...asked-questions and/or http://www.stata.com.../win/64bit.html

Let us know how you get on.

Neil

Edited by Option1, 24 November 2011 - 18:06.

[elansprint72]

Looking at the Nik requirements, it shouldn't really matter if the OS is 32 bit or 64 bit as the Nik software is supposedly compatible with both. However should you still wish to check if your OS is 32 or 64 bit then these should help: http://windows.micro...asked-questions and/or http://www.stata.com.../win/64bit.html

Let us know how you get on.

Neil

Thanks Neil. This has the makings of a real saga, not helped by all the turkey-eating in the US.

[David Beard]

My local photographic club has a Triptych competition coming up.
Not actually found the best way to put them together, but here's an attempt...



Italian from Babelfish. Does it make sense, anyone?

Edited by David Beard, 26 November 2011 - 11:33.

[Tony Matthews]

Does it make sense, anyone?

Makes sense to me. The balance of the black is just right, I think.

[smarjoram]

My local photographic club has a Triptych competition coming up.
Not actually found the best way to put them together, but here's an attempt...



Italian from Babelfish. Does it make sense, anyone?

Really nice David - they work really well together. Might I suggest making the text a little more subtle. Perhaps a tad darker, caps but with a thinner typeface and wider spacing, placed centrally.

[philhitchings]

beautiful images. I really like the colour balance in each frame. I wonder have you tried place the images in a diferent order?

[David Beard]

Thanks for the nice comments on the Triptych attempt, folks. Have put it into the local competition with some mods to the script. Might try some more. To me it can put some extra value into shots that don't stand alone very well.

[lyntonh]

Before..............


After...............


Still pretty rough really, but only my first attempt at digitally recovering the shot,
which has frustrated me since I put my wet finger on the film as it went into the tank, way back in 1971.

Problem was, I was attempting to process all 5 rolls on the Saturday night after practice, you know what it's like.

I love digital photography!!

The photo was taken in the Warwick Farm esses, by the way.

[kayemod]

Wonder if any of you lot can help me?

I want to buy a new computer monitor to replace an excellent Samsung SyncMaster 226BW I've had several years, and it's proving difficult. Relying on enthusiastic magazine reviews and Amazon feedback, I bought a BenQ VW2420H, and it's as awful as the Samsung was great, at least if you're after accurate photo reproduction. The BenQ colours are Disneyland bright, with no subtelty at all, if I reduce contrast and brilliance, or try different viewing modes, all I get is flat and dull but still wildly over-contrasty pics, and flesh tones? Forget it! Maybe good for 'gamers' and watching 'movies', which appear to be the target market for all these things, but for accurate graphics work, not much use at all. Without wanting to sound flash, cost isn't very important here, I just want a monitor that gives similar accurate and possibly slightly under-stated results to my Samsung, I never realised quite how good that one was. The BenQ is going back, and I'm Googling NEC and Viewsonic 27" monitors, and possibly another Samsung, but has anyone with graphics experience got any recommendations? Soon as possible please, I need to order another one in the next few days. If you'll excuse the technicalities, I'd prefer IPS or VA to TN screen types.

[alansart]

Wonder if any of you lot can help me?

I want to buy a new computer monitor to replace an excellent Samsung SyncMaster 226BW I've had several years, and it's proving difficult. Relying on enthusiastic magazine reviews and Amazon feedback, I bought a BenQ VW2420H, and it's as awful as the Samsung was great, at least if you're after accurate photo reproduction. The BenQ colours are Disneyland bright, with no subtelty at all, if I reduce contrast and brilliance, or try different viewing modes, all I get is flat and dull but still wildly over-contrasty pics, and flesh tones? Forget it! Maybe good for 'gamers' and watching 'movies', which appear to be the target market for all these things, but for accurate graphics work, not much use at all. Without wanting to sound flash, cost isn't very important here, I just want a monitor that gives similar accurate and possibly slightly under-stated results to my Samsung, I never realised quite how good that one was. The BenQ is going back, and I'm Googling NEC and Viewsonic 27" monitors, and possibly another Samsung, but has anyone with graphics experience got any recommendations? Soon as possible please, I need to order another one in the next few days. If you'll excuse the technicalities, I'd prefer IPS or VA to TN screen types.

That's interesting as as was looking for something myself over the weekend. I work on Apple Macs doing graphics and illustrating for a living but I've noticed one or two differences in colour when I get back printed copy. The contrast on the screen also changes depending on the angle. I'm looking at attaching a 2nd monitor that perhaps will give a more accurate view. Like you I've played around with settings, but I just can't get it how I want it.

I've not found anything yet, but this debate looked interesting. http://www.retouchpr...ing-2010-a.html

[Tony Matthews]

Very interesting, E1. As a matter of interest - you may have revealed this in an earlier post - what make of film acanner do you use? I have mainly 35mm archives, with some 6x7, and Nikon seem to have stopped manufacture of their scanners, about which I have read some scare stories anyway. My cutaway trannies are 5x4 and 10x8, and seem to scan well on my HP Scanjet G4050, so are out of the equation. Basically, I need a 35mm scanner...

[smarjoram]

Wonder if any of you lot can help me?

I want to buy a new computer monitor to replace an excellent Samsung SyncMaster 226BW I've had several years, and it's proving difficult. Relying on enthusiastic magazine reviews and Amazon feedback, I bought a BenQ VW2420H, and it's as awful as the Samsung was great, at least if you're after accurate photo reproduction. The BenQ colours are Disneyland bright, with no subtelty at all, if I reduce contrast and brilliance, or try different viewing modes, all I get is flat and dull but still wildly over-contrasty pics, and flesh tones? Forget it! Maybe good for 'gamers' and watching 'movies', which appear to be the target market for all these things, but for accurate graphics work, not much use at all. Without wanting to sound flash, cost isn't very important here, I just want a monitor that gives similar accurate and possibly slightly under-stated results to my Samsung, I never realised quite how good that one was. The BenQ is going back, and I'm Googling NEC and Viewsonic 27" monitors, and possibly another Samsung, but has anyone with graphics experience got any recommendations? Soon as possible please, I need to order another one in the next few days. If you'll excuse the technicalities, I'd prefer IPS or VA to TN screen types.

Definitely have a look at the NEC's - I bought mine a while back now after finding out that it had the same screen as the Eizos but for a fraction of the price (top of the range professional monitors). The model I got was a multisync 1990sxi and I'm really happy with it. Properly set up it gives very naturalistic colours - none of this glaring over-bright, over-saturated nonsense. See if you can find out if any of today's NEC's share a panel with current Eizos.

[kayemod]

Definitely have a look at the NEC's - I bought mine a while back now after finding out that it had the same screen as the Eizos but for a fraction of the price (top of the range professional monitors). The model I got was a multisync 1990sxi and I'm really happy with it. Properly set up it gives very naturalistic colours - none of this glaring over-bright, over-saturated nonsense. See if you can find out if any of today's NEC's share a panel with current Eizos.

They do seem generally agreed to be the best for graphics work. I'm being steered towards an NEC MultiSync EA232WMi, anyone here got one ?

[smarjoram]

They do seem generally agreed to be the best for graphics work. I'm being steered towards an NEC MultiSync EA232WMi, anyone here got one ?

I notice NEC do high-end graphics monitors now too but the thing is that mine was a standard office model - but with the same panel as the fancy ones and at half the cost.

[kayemod]

...and Nikon seem to have stopped manufacture of their scanners, about which I have read some scare stories anyway.

Care to elaborate?

I've got a Nikon Coolscan V-ED, it works perfectly and always has done, an excellent piece of equipment in every way, but it only does 35mm of course. These things seem to be much sought after, in the last months, I've seen used ones go on eBay for far more than I paid for mine new about 5 years ago.

Nikon seem to have abandoned this area, they no longer make scanners, and won't update software so the existing ones can be used in Windows 7, or at least the 64 bit version. I don't think it's all that easy, but my IT expert managed to get my Coolscan running with US VueScan Professional software, which is if anything, even better than the NikonScan stuff that originally came with the scanner. I've made some impact on my 30+ year collection of slides, but still have many hundreds still to go.

[Option1]

Wonder if any of you lot can help me?

I want to buy a new computer monitor to replace an excellent Samsung SyncMaster 226BW I've had several years, and it's proving difficult. Relying on enthusiastic magazine reviews and Amazon feedback, I bought a BenQ VW2420H, and it's as awful as the Samsung was great, at least if you're after accurate photo reproduction. The BenQ colours are Disneyland bright, with no subtelty at all, if I reduce contrast and brilliance, or try different viewing modes, all I get is flat and dull but still wildly over-contrasty pics, and flesh tones? Forget it! Maybe good for 'gamers' and watching 'movies', which appear to be the target market for all these things, but for accurate graphics work, not much use at all. Without wanting to sound flash, cost isn't very important here, I just want a monitor that gives similar accurate and possibly slightly under-stated results to my Samsung, I never realised quite how good that one was. The BenQ is going back, and I'm Googling NEC and Viewsonic 27" monitors, and possibly another Samsung, but has anyone with graphics experience got any recommendations? Soon as possible please, I need to order another one in the next few days. If you'll excuse the technicalities, I'd prefer IPS or VA to TN screen types.

I think BenQ only make TN mode monitors which are definitely NOT what you want for photo editing.

This site is a good resource: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm Lots of reviews as well.

I went through this process less than a year ago and after reading various reviews and tossing up between NEC and Dell, I ended up going with a Dell UltraSharp U2410 I've been very happy with it to date.

Neil

[kayemod]

I think BenQ only make TN mode monitors which are definitely NOT what you want for photo editing.

No, the BenQ VW2420H is VA mode (Vertical Alignment), theoretically far better than TN, but not as good as the IPS that some NEC, Viewtronic and Eizos monitors use, it was the specification that misled me into thinking it might be OK. It got several rave reviews, and seems to be in short supply, but my disappointment began as soon as I plugged it in. It's a huge let-down, although not TN, quite useless for photo editing, and suffering badly from the problem that smarjoran describes so well, "...this glaring over-bright, over-saturated nonsense."

I'm still having trouble deciding, and could go for another Samsung. Many have advised me to go for NEC, but the choice is made harder by the fact that some fairly sensible magazines like Pc Pro rate various NEC models very differently. According to them, some are very good, while others, not necessarily any cheaper, they don't rate all that highly.

So, the search continues.

[elansprint72]

See, I said that this colour photography would not catch on..........

My Philips 405-line, 12" TV is still working fine....

Edited by elansprint72, 15 December 2011 - 08:55.

[philhitchings]

See, I said that this colour photography would not catch on..........

My Philips 405-line, 12" TV is still working fine....

Thanks E1 very informative

[bradbury west]

I have a copy of :

The wonderful world of Albert Kahn

which contains superb true-colour photos from 1907 onwards. Kahn sent teams of photographers all over the globe to capture not only still images but motion-pictures too, of different cultures; of course his initiative was just in time for WW1, unfortunately.

Available from Amazon UK for about 21GBP and well worth it.

Having seen the BBC films on Kahn I am always keen to bring his works to the attention of as many folk as possible. Enjoy this link, also click on the " see more about Albert Kahn" link at the end of the article.
http://www.dailymail...ent-change.html

Roger Lund

[kayemod]

A few weeks ago, I posted a query asking for advice on choosing a new monitor that would be suitable for graphics work. Not much useful feedback, which leaves me wondering what the rest of you are peering into, but two very helpful links from Alansart and Option 1, very helpful indeed.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

http://www.retouchpr...ing-2010-a.html


I'm sure you've all been waiting anxiously for news of what I've replaced the horrible BenQ with, and it's a Dell Ultrasharp U2412M, a highly specified IPS panel and not cheap, but simply superb in every respect, I'm hugely impressed with it. The lesson here of course, is that as with most things in life, you get more or less what you pay for. After a lifetime of owning photographic equipment of far higher quality and specification than my modest photographic talents could ever really justify, I now have a monitor to match. It makes my feeble efforts look better on-screen than they ever did before, so for anyone else looking for a top quality replacement, this Dell is very highly recommended.

[D_M_J]

A few weeks ago, I posted a query asking for advice on choosing a new monitor that would be suitable for graphics work. Not much useful feedback, which leaves me wondering what the rest of you are peering into, but two very helpful links from Alansart and Option 1, very helpful indeed.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

http://www.retouchpr...ing-2010-a.html


I'm sure you've all been waiting anxiously for news of what I've replaced the horrible BenQ with, and it's a Dell Ultrasharp U2412M, a highly specified IPS panel and not cheap, but simply superb in every respect, I'm hugely impressed with it. The lesson here of course, is that as with most things in life, you get more or less what you pay for. After a lifetime of owning photographic equipment of far higher quality and specification than my modest photographic talents could ever really justify, I now have a monitor to match. It makes my feeble efforts look better on-screen than they ever did before, so for anyone else looking for a top quality replacement, this Dell is very highly recommended.

I didn't spot your original post at the time, but would have suggested the dell ultrasharp if I had. We use them at work in the studio and I have a couple for home too, found them to be excellent, really do make a big difference. A bit late to offer advice now, but you sound pleased with it anyway

Cheers,

[alansart]

A few weeks ago, I posted a query asking for advice on choosing a new monitor that would be suitable for graphics work. Not much useful feedback, which leaves me wondering what the rest of you are peering into, but two very helpful links from Alansart and Option 1, very helpful indeed.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

http://www.retouchpr...ing-2010-a.html


I'm sure you've all been waiting anxiously for news of what I've replaced the horrible BenQ with, and it's a Dell Ultrasharp U2412M, a highly specified IPS panel and not cheap, but simply superb in every respect, I'm hugely impressed with it. The lesson here of course, is that as with most things in life, you get more or less what you pay for. After a lifetime of owning photographic equipment of far higher quality and specification than my modest photographic talents could ever really justify, I now have a monitor to match. It makes my feeble efforts look better on-screen than they ever did before, so for anyone else looking for a top quality replacement, this Dell is very highly recommended.

Glad you found what you wanted. I'm looking at borrowing one and connecting it to the Apple Mac to see the difference.

As you say, not the cheapest monitor on offer but one of the best.

[cyrilmac]

Glad you found what you wanted. I'm looking at borrowing one and connecting it to the Apple Mac to see the difference.

As you say, not the cheapest monitor on offer but one of the best.

Be interested to hear how you get on Alan. Am using an aging Formac 17inch at the moment and am looking for more screen space.

[David Beard]

Anyone else tried the Topaz Adjust Photoshop plug-in?



I haven't got the hang of all the sliders, but it has a lucky dip button. This took about 20 goes (the rest were horrific)

[WDH74]

I've read about it but not tried it out yet. I have a technique that I sometimes use to give an HDR-ish look to photos-so far the Topaz program just seems to do the same thing. I may try the free trial to see what it does-I'm interested in how you get on with it!

I'm not a huge HDR fan, partially because of the "XTREME HDR!" look that's become a bit of a fad, and partially because it sometimes seems to really mess with the colors. Your Aston shot is just about right, though-the colors seem accurate and there's good detail without being distracting.

-WDH