Schonhose

Over the past year I’ve been compiling a list with several entries about things that either were unclear or annoyed me to death about my photoblog layout. Fixing bugs or adding features took some time but yesterday I finally uploaded the beta version of the layout.

In general it is still the same, it only has evolved into an even better template (thanks for that comment Jay). So what is new?

• Lights out feature: turns all elements to dark except the photo. Can be found in the section Photo details in the Sidebar when looking at a photo
• Tooltips all around. People were having trouble locating things. I hope tooltips popping up will help with this.
• In case the tooltips cannot be found, have a look at the help page (right upper left in the menu). It will explain everything.
• The ratingstuff has moved to a more prominent place. It is more visible now and I hope people will start to rate more this way.
• The archive page now displays navigational elements in the thumbnailview.
• Find out the other stuff…

Once in a while I’ll get some mail asking me where the download of the template is located. I’m truly sorry, but you cannot download the template. It is part of my identity and I put in so much hours that giving it away for free or for a small amount of money just doesn’t feel right.

Thanks for all the kind words through those emails, those are really appreciated.

The big buzz today is the release of Adobe Lightroom 2.0. I’m not going into details about the software, there are better blogs out there (*cough*Scott Kelby*cough*) so I leave it up to them.

I do want to say I feel again ripped off. An upgrade in the US will cost $99 dollar (VAT might apply, depending on location). An upgrade from the Netherlands will costs 118 euro (incl. VAT). Without VAT it would be 99 euro.

Somehow I figure Adobe as the wrong conversion rate for dollars to euros. The last time I checked (1 minute before writing this post) it wasn’t 1:1 but more like 1 dollar equals about 0.65 euro. What can I say? It sucks, but I’ll be upgrading anyway.

For those of you wondering what HDR really is, here is a quick introduction, courtesy of Wikipedia. Basically the best program for this has been Photomatix. It has been around for some time and we all thought the world of it.

Luckily for us, Imaging Luminary, LCC thought a bit different and started to create their own software for producing HDR images and apply tonemapping to the result. The beta versions of the program created quite a buzz at Flickr, allowing me to jump on the bandwagon. We’re allowed to test the software provided we gave detailed feedback about what we liked, disliked and issues we came across.

With each beta version the program got better, supported more files, more export possibilities and a superior algorithm for creating HDR and applying tonemapping. After some months (and some late night debugging sessions) I got an email announcing the release of the final version. So here it comes: a shameless plug: If you’re into HDR, try the community version for free. If you dig it, buy the program. .

It is faster and superior to Photomatix, but don’t take my word for it. See for yourself.

In case you’re wondering: yeah, I own a copy.

After months of debating and saving money I finally got Adobe Photoshop CS3. As mentioned in the post below I also bought Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3, which was kind of weird because I didn’t have CS3 at the time. But now I do! Big thanks goes out to Jay Williams over at D3 Designs for really pushing me and helping to find stuff on the web (among other things): so, thanks mate!

Today I want to leave you with two nice links (courtesy of PhotoshopUser TV).

• Photoshop Disasters: a blog about showing what happens if you use to much Photoshop
• DIYPhotography: a site devoted to help other photographers to make cheap affordable photography equipment

Well, I gotta go back experimenting with Photoshop again.

Today I found a little surprise in my mailbox: Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3. I’m pretty anxious to work with this as I haven’t set up a proper Photoshop workflow just yet.

That reminds me, I still haven’t setup a steady Lightroom workflow as well. I have to admit I normally do stuff in a certain order but I’m not sure if that could be considered a workflow or not. Anyway, judging by the description this book will come in quite handy:

Imagine being able to open any image in Photoshop CS3, and know exactly what to do first, what to do second, and how to take it all the way from “Flat to Fabulous” just like a pro.

That’s the groundbreaking premise behind this book, from Photoshop User magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Scott Kelby (the world’s #1 bestselling Adobe Photoshop author), who rewrites the rules for teaching Photoshop by whittling the photo correction process down to just the seven most important, most essential techniques.

You got to admit that sounds real good. Well, I gotta go. I have some reading to do.