Not much happening here at the Aerie.
Last evening I went to the Grand Canyon Photography Club meeting where we watched a DVD about former National Geographic photographer Jim, Brandenburg's special 90-day quest that resulted in his book Chased By The Light - A 90-Day Journey. After 25 years traveling around the world for various and sundry National Geographic projects, Brandenburg returned to his Boundary Waters home near Ely, Minnesota to recharge. After shooting hundreds if not thousands of shots a day on assignment, he decided to go minimalist and shoot just one frame a day for 90 days starting the first day of autumn and ending on the first day of winter. The DVD, narrated by and with video by, Jim Brandenburg explained some of the back story to his quest and also of many of the shots he took. The photos are extraordinary as well as inspirational to any photographer.
The second half of the program was spent viewing and critiquing members photos shot with the theme "Windows" in mind. The process of critiquing gives one an idea of how to improve/select composition, color, balance, framing, etc. before and after taking a photo.
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I've been using Picasa 3 (a free program downloaded off the web) to organize and edit/process my photos but many if not all of the photographers in the club (including those who are pro and semi pro) have been using either Photoshop CS4 or Photoshop Elements. (Those who sell their pictures usually use the complete Photoshop CS4 package because they can deduct its gignormous price (something like $700 before you get the upgrades for another $200) on their tax returns. The hobbiests stick with the Elements which generally retail for less than $100.
It got me to thinking about purchasing Photoshop Elements to run on my 32-bit Toshiba running Vista Home Premium. Looking at what's available through Amazon, it appears I have a choice of either Elements 6, 7, or 8. (Earlier versions don't run on Vista.)
I didn't get a chance to talk with the Photoshop Guru except to find out most everyone is still running XP and Elements 4. I'll probably decide on one of these three (E 6, E7, or E8) within a day or so. If anyone out there reading this has had any experience with them please let me know what you think.
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We now return you to your regular weather broadcast. It got sunny and warm today. All the way up to 34 degrees and we may hit 40 on Thursday. It is truly amazing that the sun can warm you up that way. Who would have guessed?
No snow in the forecast for a few days so we may even get to see the gravel in the driveway again before it gets covered up.
2 comments:
I'm glad your weather turned warmer, even if only temporarily. It will be some time - 3 or 4 months - before any warmth from the sun will be felt, here. Clear skies may give us sunlight, but it also lets whatever heat may be trapped radiate right back into the atmosphere. Bright & cold is still just cold.
I'm running Ver. 5 of Elements. Was reading about the upgrades the other day and most said don't waste your money on them if you are running an older version. Can't help you on 6,7, or 8.
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