Earthbound Light :: ginareyes photography

Shopping for Camera Gear: Is It Safe to Buy Online?
The Internet is all the rage these days. Everything is online it seems. Heck, you're reading this online, now aren't you? So if you're in the market for buying a new camera, lens or something else, the question is: is it safe to buy it online?....
A Use for Old Slide Mounts
Back in the age of film photography, 35mm slides were everywhere. Whether they were in stacked in yellow Kodak boxes or something else, most photographers had lots of slides. Slides are a lot scarcer now that digital has taken over though. But if you have an old slide mount lying around still, go dig it out. You can use it to help you improve your photographic vision....
When Perceptual Rendering Intent isn't Really Perceptual
In the world of color management, not all profiles are created equal. Simply put, some of them are smarter than others. When it comes to understanding rendering intent, not all of them know what you mean if you select Perceptual intent....
Transform Your World (Or Warp It, If You Prefer)
I mentioned last week that I wasn't a fan of software that claims to correct the distortions caused by shooting with a fisheye lens. It just seems that it defeats the entire point. But sometimes even a well composed "pure" fisheye shot can benefit from a judicious tweak via software. Not to remove any evidence of what kind of lens was used or anything, but just to transform it slightly to stop some trees from falling over perhaps. Or, as Adobe Photoshop calls it, "warp" it a tad....
Looking at the World through Fish Eyes
Professional photographers often spend a premium to get lenses free of distortion in order to get the best images possible. The unique curved perspective created by fisheye lenses is a notable exception. That curved perspective can also be a lot of fun to play with and is the subject of this week's PhotoTip....
Finding Your Way around Photoshop with the Navigator
Image files are getting bigger and bigger with the release of every new generation of digital cameras. Thankfully, the capacity of available compact flash cards and hard drives also continues to rise as does the processing speed of new computers. It can be challenging though to have a sense of perspective when zoomed in on a large image in Photoshop. Thankfully, Adobe provided the answer in the form of the Navigator....
Color Management: Calibrating versus Profiling
Do you calibrate your monitor, or do you profile it? In discussions on color management, the terms "calibrating" and "profiling" are often used somewhat interchangeably. In point of fact though, they refer to quite distinct processes....
Get Ready For SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ... and a New Version of FireWire Too
If you think that USB 2.0 is fast compared to earlier USB 1.1 standards, you're right. At 480 megabits per second, the current 2.0 version of USB operates at speeds up to 14 times faster than the older version. But by next year that will be, well... last year's news. Or something like that. This week Intel released the controller specifications for "SuperSpeed" USB 3.0 that will run up to 10 times faster still up to 4.8 gigabits per second. And for fans of FireWire, last month the IEEE approved specs for the upcoming IEEE 1394-2008 that will run at up to 3.2 gigabits per second....
Nikon COOLPIX P6000: Finally a New Pro-Quality COOLPIX?
Nikon this week announced the COOLPIX P6000, the new flagship model in the COOLPIX line of compact digital cameras. I've long wanted a good small camera that can shoot RAW and allows full metering control. It's been a long time since the days of the COOLPIX 5700, 8800 and others that supported RAW. But is the P6000 a worthy successor?....
Right to Left, or Left to Right: The Choice is Now Yours (Finally)
I wrote recently that Nikon exposure meters generally read right to left while Canon meters read left to right. True enough. But if you have one of the newer Nikon bodies such as the D3 or D300 you can change reverse the orientation if you want....