Photoshop Optimized Computer: Epilogue

Several weeks back, I wrote a series of three posts about a "Photoshop Optimized Computer". Those posts can be read here, here, and here. Just this last weekend I received a comment from photographer Mike Mundy (see his blog and website....great stuff) who said....

"It is probably time for a follow-up report on the computer . . . what worked, what didn't. And why didn't you get an Apple product, as everyone else seems to be doing? I have a feeling that Photoshop CS5 is going to be too much for my aging low-end PC to handle . . ."

So here is the follow up on what worked and what didn't.

1) Puget Systems Computers - This is the company that I decided to purchase a custom computer from, as I had discussed in Part 1. I couldn't be happier with that decision. When they say technical support responses within 24 hours, they mean it! I had several occasions to contact them and each and every time I got a thoughtful response in less than 24 hours from folks that obviously knew their stuff .

The computer came exceedingly well packaged with supplemental information provided by Puget Systems, including benchmark testing results, as well as all the spare parts and instructions from each of the individual components that were used for the build. In addition, they included the original Windows 7 OS disc as well as a system image/restore disc for the system as it was configured at the time of shipping.

There was absolutely no unasked for bloatware as you get with Dell. They made good on their offer to include certain free downloads and have them pre-installed. The only one that I had chosen was Microsoft Security Essentials, given the reviews stating that it was an excellent piece of software (from Microsoft????)....elegant in its simplicity and not a drag on the system (from Microsoft????). Not only was it installed, but the computer came with all current Windows updates as well as security essentials updates already applied, so the system was totally up to date and ready to go. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Puget Systems!

2) Windows 7 OS - I like it. I like the way things are organized in libraries, I like the Windows system imaging, and I like the Windows search. Coming from Windows XP it took a little getting used to, but I now prefer it. The only part of the OS that I don't like is the portion that controls tablet functions. More on that in a second. I have had no problems finding drivers for my hardware and they all seem to function normally, save one.

That one, unfortunately, is my Wacom Intuos 2 graphics tablet. There is a Windows 7 driver for it...so, given the age of the Intuos 2, kudos to Wacom for that. The tablet initially started functioning normally, but soon started malfunctioning even with a system image restore to a point in time when it had worked. What do I mean by malfunctioning? When you boot up and try to use the pen, the cursor moves about a mm and then freezes. If you go to the tablet software by right clicking on the Wacom icon in the control panel, remove user presets, and then load the presets again it functions normally until you reboot. It has to be done again with each fresh boot. The whole maneuver literally takes about 20 seconds to do and you just have to do it once when you boot, but, nonetheless, I wish it worked correctly.

That said, I'm not quite sure where the fault lies. It could be the OS but could also be the motherboard USB controllers or the driver itself. Searching the internet, I'm not the only one with this problem. The workaround I describe is the result of Googling the problem. I did contact Wacom and they claim it has to do with a motherboard USB problem, but I am not convinced.

As I mentioned, the tablet functions of Windows 7 are also a bit odd. When you use a pen you get a distracting ripple effect as well as a small Windows Tablet interface. You can turn these off (and I did), but you have to do a bit of research to find out how....it isn't intuitively apparent.

Overall, I think that if one is going to venture into a new OS as an 'early adapter' there are always going to be some issues. I think I encountered a number of these issues (including the fact that I can't get Firewire or e-SATA drivers/drives to function correctly and, again, I'm not sure if this is related to the OS or motherboard) but overall I am quite pleased with Windows 7. I have the 64 bit version to prepare for the future!

3) Internal Components - All seems in order. Did I need the RAID 0 system for the scratch disk and files being worked on that I described here? I am not at all convinced that I did. The system seems so fast that even large files approaching 500 to 750 MB load into and save from Photoshop very quickly.......much, much faster than in my old system. In that system I could open the file and walk away for a minute or two. Not so anymore. I honestly don't see a huge difference between opening or saving the files from the standard Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Black hard disk compared to the RAID 0 system. I haven't timed it and there may well be a difference, it just doesn't seem all that significant in 'real life usage'.

A volume of the Raid 0 array is also being used as the primary scratch disk, as described here. I have not compared the speed of the RAID 0 array used as the primary scratch disk to the regular hard drive used as such, but perhaps it is of some benefit. These benefits might be further magnified if the RAID array consisted of more than 2 disks, but that would start to get even more expensive. Overall, however, if I were designing the system again, I might well pass on the RAID 0 array, which would have saved some cash and kept more internal SATA drive bays open.

I outfitted the computer with 12GB of RAM....it is quite fast. Had I not included as much RAM perhaps the effect of the RAID 0 array might be more apparent.

As you can see, I have not tested these issues in a quantitative fashion but am just commenting on my 'real world' usage experience. If anyone has more quantitative experience and wants to chime in on these issues I would be most appreciative!

4) Monitor - I sprung for a 'lower end' wide gamut Eizo monitor . Not at all cheap, but after using it am really amazed at the increased sharpness, saturation, and soft proofing ability that it offers once calibrated. The difference is dramatic and I wasn't using a bad monitor before (it was a LaCie CRT). I think it was a worthwhile investment. An alternative monitor which has gotten excellent reviews, can be obtained for significantly less, and which I considered is the NEC with integrated calibration.

5) Photoshop / Lightroom - I have the 64 bit versions of these running as well as the 32 bit version of Photoshop installed and have not run into any problems even though CS4 is not officially supported on the Windows 7 platform. I do wish that Nik Software would make all their plug-ins available in 64 bit versions. Viveza 2 is available in a 64 bit version, but Color Efex and Silver Efex are not, and it is a bit of a pain to use two versions of Photoshop. My PixelGenius, OnOne, Topaz, and Neat Image plug ins are all available in 64 bit versions and I have not had any difficulty with any of them.

6) Why didn't I purchase an Apple? I strongly considered it. I ended up with a PC because the price for a machine with similar 'power' seemed significantly lower to me and I already had multiple programs that were Windows 7 compatible that I did not want to repurchase in Mac versions. Also, despite the fact that Apples 'just work', I have read on various forums about problems that people are also having with the Snow Leopard OS.

So, that is the update on the new system.

Photography Book Ideas

Like many people who enjoy the art of photography, I also enjoy collecting photography books of all sorts.....fine art photography, photojournalism, essays etc. I don't think there are many photographers who don't also have a photography library. Sometimes, I will just get in the mood to buy a new photo book and start browsing or looking for ideas. I thought I might write about the sources from which I get ideas for book purchases and also ask anyone who might be reading this to contribute other ideas as to where they go to find out about photography books.

There are several sites that I use as information sources. Here are the ones that I use most frequently and enjoy the most:

1) Photo-Eye Bookstore: A great resource! Also, one can sign up for their e-mail newsletter, which comes about once a week. So, with no effort at all, you can have a steady stream of information about the newest quality photography publications.

2) The 5b4 blog...another great resource with book reviews.

3)Podcasts: A good number of photography podcasts, at one point or another, have book recommendations. In fact, I learned about my latest purchase, a book called The Printed Picture, from a recent LensWork podcast. In fact, the last three LensWork podcasts have been related to photography books.

I also look forward to Paul Giguere's Thoughts On Photography podcast. I purchased a real favorite of mine, Secret City, based on Paul's interview with photographer Jason Langer. In addition, every December or January he has an episode about his picks for the best photography books of the year. Granted, it will be eight or nine months until the next book review episode.....but the old ones from years past are still there for the listening. And the podcast is great, so don't just listen to the book review episodes!

4) Finally, I also get ideas from several photography magazines that contain book review sections. The three that immediately spring to my mind are Photo Life, B&W, and Color but, of course, there are others.

Writing this, it occurs to me that I don't typically peruse the websites of the prominent photo book publishers. Nor, and I guess this is a sign of the times, do I generally find photography books by browsing in bookstores. However, that may simply be because your typical brick and mortar bookstore generally has a very limited selection of these types of books.

So, what are your favorite resources for finding out about photography books?

Zone Plate And High Pass Filtration

I don't usually write many blog posts about Photoshop techniques, but have been asked a few times about my "Dreamscape" images made using the Lensbaby zone plate optic. The "Dreamscapes" series can be seen here. At any rate, the question I have been asked pertains to the sharpness of the zone plate images, and, specifically, how the images are made to appear sharper than a typical zone plate shot.

First, for those that may not be familiar with the term, zone plate photography is ,in some ways, similar to pinhole imaging. However, instead of using a pinhole to allow light into the camera, a series of clear concentric circles spaced at mathematically determined distances are used for this purpose. What this effectively does is:

i) markedly decrease the shutter speed compared to pinhole imaging, as the zone plate lets in much more light than a pinhole per unit time

ii) impart a unique glowing appearance to the highlights in the image and

iii) make the focus of the image even softer than the same shot made with a pinhole.

For a little more information about zone plates see here.

I very much enjoy the 'dreamy' look that the zone plate imparts, at least for some types of images. However, I have to admit that the images sometime do appear too soft focused for my taste, but, yet, the same image made with a pinhole doesn't quite yield the same effect. For this reason I have often added a 'high pass sharpen' layer to the image in Photoshop.

Here is an example of what it can do to a zone plate photograph (the smallish imagesin the blog make it a bit difficult to see, but I think you can tell if you look carefully...it is much more apparent on a slightly larger image)

Dreamscapes #1....No High Pass Sharpening
Copyright Howard Grill

Dreamscapes #1...With High Pass Sharpening
Copyright Howard Grill

The method is started by flattening the image. Now the image consists of only a background layer. Duplicate this background layer twice and click the icons to turn these duplicate layers off, making them invisible. Now click back on the background layer to make it active and go to the Photoshop filters and choose High Pass (Filter>Other>High Pass). You get a dialogue box in which you can choose a radius. Choose 75 pixels to start, but this is obviously a ‘jump off’ point for experimentation.

Your image will now look totally disgusting. Don’t worry….just click on the duplicate background layer which is directly above the layer that was just filtered to make it active and then click on the icon to make it visible. The image now returns to the way it looked before starting this whole thing because it is a duplicate of the original at 100% opacity lying on top of the filtered image. Now the fun begins. Change the blending mode of this layer from normal to overlay (or try Soft Light or Hard Light) and the image undergoes an interesting change.

Perhaps the effect is too much? That is why I added the second duplicate layer (which is not visible at this point) on top of the others at the start of the technique. Click on that layer to now make it active and click on the icon to make it visible. The image now appears as it did before starting. But turn down the opacity of this topmost layer to let the filtered look come through and see how you like it.

In this example, I think the technique really 'tightens up' the look and puts the focus squarely on the person without losing that dreamy zone plate look. This works best on simple images with strong graphic lines. But I find that zone plate imaging works best on those types of compositions anyway.

Seeing The Invisible

Part of the mystery, and joy, of photography is its ability to show us what our eyes can't see. Some of the sights that are normally 'invisible' to us that can be revealed with a camera include:

i) Motion over time - This, of course, can be revealed by photographing using a slow shutter speed. Not only can 'natural' motion be revealed in this way, but we can generate abstract images that can only be seen in the completed photograph by generating 'unnatural' motion by purposely moving the camera during exposure.

ii) Color - Our brain can 'neutralize' colors in order to achieve our own 'custom white balance'. For example, people are often amazed at the blue color cast seen in photographs that are taken in the shade or the color cast that results from photographing a white object located right next to a brightly colored one. The colors are there, it's just that our brains remove them for us. Sometimes these color casts are problematic for an image and, at other times, they can be used creatively to great benefit.

iii) Perspective - Changes in perspective that are related to the optics of a lens. OK, so this one really isn't something that is present in reality, but is related to the physics of the optics. Often these perspective changes can be used creatively, such as when making an object appear to be closer than it is by using a wide angle lens. These same lenses can introduce problematic distortions (like pincushion or barrel distortion). However, at times, even these types of distortions can be used creatively.

iv) Illumination- Only when it is truly 'pitch black' is there not enough light to make an image if you leave the shutter open long enough. Our eyes are only able to see non-additive 'real-time' photons while film or a digital sensor can keep capturing and adding photons to an image. More specifically, bright to us is a large number of photons at once while bright to film or a sensor can mean a large number of photons absorbed over a prolonged period of time. Thus, we are surprised when a long exposure taken in near darkness yields an image with far more subtle coloration, brightness, and detail than we could see with our bare eyes.

One of the reasons that I enjoy this photograph taken during a workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts with Nancy Rotenberg, Les Saucier, and Don McGowan is that it contains all four of the above elements presented in a subtle fashion, without any of them overwhelming the other.

Herring Beach
Copyright Howard Grill
30 seconds at f18
Click For Larger Image

More specifically:

i) the smoothing out of the ocean water because of the long 30 second exposure, blending all the waves that occurred over the course of the exposure into a smooth misty appearance.

ii) the cool blue coloration of the water and sand is real and is a result of reflections from the blue night sky. We automatically neutralize this when we are present at the scene, but the photograph shows us what was really there.

iii) the interesting perspective, making the foreground pebbles look closer and the background land look farther away than they 'really were'.

iv) the scene was actually quite dark when I made this photograph, which, as I mentioned, required a 30 second exposure. It was dark enough that when hiking back to the car after making the image I had to make sure that I didn't trip over something and was glad that I was able to walk back with a friend who had a flashlight.

Lots of pretty beaches up there on Cape Cod!

Social Media For Photographers Guide

Lately, I have been trying to get a better understanding of how social media can be used to become part of a photographic community as well as to increase people's awareness of my photography and blog. I'm 52 years old, so the whole idea of on-line social networking does not exactly come naturally to me....however, very few of my non-photography friends seem to really have an on-line presence, so perhaps I am more technologically tuned in than I give myself credit for!

At any rate, wrapping one's arms around the whole social media scene can be a bit difficult and has led me to have sometimes conflicting opinions about it.

In many ways, the 'older versions' of on-line community have opened up opportunities that I never would have otherwise had. The ability to get answers to questions regarding photography and technology is truly amazing, be it from Yahoo groups, company sponsored forums, or message boards/mailing lists. Though we don't typically think of these as 'social media' they certainly, to me, seem to be a form of it. I do know that information is disseminated very rapidly using these media, allowing me to do things and solve problems much earlier than if I had to wait 'for the book to come out'. I would certainly not be able to solve very daunting hardware and software problems without these outlets.

But what about the 'newer' methods of 'Social Media'....Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc? My feelings are a bit more conflicted about these modalities. On the one hand, I feel they are great ways to become involved with a photographic community. On the other hand, sometimes I wonder about the 'you follow/comment/promote/award me and I will do the same for you' mind set. At times it seems to me that quantity may be put above quality.

But I am still very new at this and, as I said, am still trying to 'wrap my arms' around it all. In fact, I am trying out a number of these newer modalities. Hence, you can find both the "Follow Me On Twitter" and the "Follow Me On Facebook" buttons located on the right sidebar of this blog! One 'guide' that I did find useful if you are interested in exploring the new social media as it pertains to photography and photographers, is this free guide put out by PhotoShelter and Adorama entitled "Social Media for Photographers". You can download your free copy here.

Thoughts On Canon 1 Series Pricing

My primary camera is a Canon 5D MKII. At this point in time, I believe that the only significant difference between the 5D MKII and the far more expensive 1Ds MKIII is the robustness and weather sealing of the body as well as the accuracy/speed of the camera's autofocus mechanism. As one who mostly does landscape and macro work, the autofocus is not an issue for me as I tend to focus manually (using Live View with 10x mag) most of the time. Because of this I decided that, for my use, the price differential is simply far too great to merit ever again purchasing a 1 series camera for my use (assuming that the differences remain similar). Of course, I can only speak for myself. These differences may be significant enough to others that are traveling in far harsher conditions than I do or are doing people/action/event photography to merit the extra expense.

What exactly is the price differential? Currently the 5D MKII comes in at $2499 while the 1Ds MKIII costs $6114 (pricing from B&H). While the 5D MKII was a few hundred dollars more expensive earlier in it's life cycle, the 1Ds MKIII had been, as I recall, $7999 early on (and, I believe, at the $6999 level even when the 5D MKII became available).

I have always wondered about this price differential. Back when I was shooting film, I had worked my way up to a Canon 1V, which was their 'flagship film model', and the one on which the digital 1 series is based. A brand new 1V can still be had for $1650 (though I can't imagine that they sell many).

This is where, in my mind, the pricing issue comes in....and I would be glad to have someone more knowledgeable about the diffrences between cameras correct me if I am wrong here. My sense is that if you took the 'innards', which is to say the sensor and processor, of the 5D MKII and put it into the 1V body you would essentially have a 1Ds MKIII. Let's first assume that the sensor and electronics of the 5D MKII cost $2500 and the body has absolutely no value. Put that $2500 worth of electronic equipment into the $1650 body and you have a total of $4150. Since, in fact, the 5d MKII body does have some cost, if we were to get a rebate for not using it the price of a 1Ds MKIII should be significantly less than $4150, even if you add back in some cost for the development of a more advanced autofocus system.

Am I missing something here? Is my logic out of whack? I am quite happy with my 5D MKII, though I still wonder, more out of curiosity than anything else, how Canon justifies the cost of up to $6000 t0 $8000 for its flagship digital 1 series cameras? Obviously, Canon can charge whatever it wants to without worrying about me, and presumably the next 1 series iteration will have features and options not available on the 5D MKII, but still.......

Don't Fight Mother Nature

When out photographing, I have always found working with the prevailing conditions to be a far better idea than stubbornly resisting what is going on around me. Let me be more specific by using an example. If I were to go out with the idea of photographing wildflowers and find that it is a windy day, I am much more likely to return with interesting images if I decide to shoot using long shutter speeds in order to create abstract images than if I decided to 'fight Mother Nature' and insist on trying to get tack sharp images using fast shutter speeds and waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the wind to die down briefly. Sure, I might come back with a sharp image or two after the fight, but I would not have enjoyed myself, would have a feeling of frustration, and would have robbed myself of the opportunity to have tried something new.

Nonetheless, I recently found myself 'fighting Mother Nature' without really knowing that's what I was doing. When I finally realized that I was resisting what nature was giving me I had a much more enjoyable time and came away with a reasonable image or two. Let me explain..... In a park near my house there is a group of three trees. They are special trees, though I don't know what species they are. They are quite short, but have an aged appearance with contorted and twisted limbs. Truth be told, I don't have a very good 'relationship' with these trees. I find them fascinating and intriguing......even a bit mysterious. For a year or two I have intermittently gone to see the trees with my camera but have never taken a single photograph of them! I have never been able to compose an image that I liked despite my feeling that there should be a hundred fascinating images among their twisted and contorted limbs. There has always been a bad background I can't eliminate (the trees are right near a busy street) or the composition doesn't really express what the trees make me feel etc. Sometimes, in situations like this, you are defeated before you even try......having tried so many times you go in with a losing attitude and an adversarial position (yes, I know those trees can't really think....but why won't they let me take their picture???).

Well, on Friday I went back again. There was snow on the ground and I thought that perhaps I could somehow use that as a 'clean' background. Of course, it turned out to be a bright day, something that is a rarity during a Pittsburgh winter (November through March is mostly gray.....if you don't have seasonal affective disorder before you move here you rapidly develop it). Because the sun was shining, there were strong shadows on the snow. I was trying to compose images of the twisted limbs, but every time I thought I was getting something interesting the trees' shadows would clutter the background.

After continuing to circle the trees in order to try to get an interesting composition without a distracting shadow in the background, it occurred to me that I was fighting this way too hard. Why not accept the fact that the sun was there and that unless I came back another time the shadows were simply not going away? Why not work with 'Mama' and use what 'she' was giving me? Why not try to incorporate the shadows into the composition? In fact, why not make the shadow the main subject of the image since, over time, I had been having so much difficulty making an image with the trees themselves as the main subject?

So that is exactly what I did! Once I started accepting the shadows as part of the image instead of trying to eliminate them, compositions became much easier.

Shadow Tree
Copyright Howard Grill

Is this an 'award winning' image?? I think not, but it is the only composition that I felt intrigued enough with to actually make me want to push the shutter button.

After liking the way my prior HDR bare tree image looked, I decided to use the same treatment for this image. The contrast range, given the bright snow and dark tree, lent itself to making an HDR composite of 6 images which was then converted to black and white and toned using SilverEfex Pro.

Just A Few Minutes

One of the intriguing aspects of nature photography is the constant realization of how things change. This is most easily apparent when returning to favorite nearby locations at various times of year. But very frequently, things change much faster than that, and perhaps no time demonstrates that more than sunrise and sunset. The rapid change in light levels, temperature and subsequent wind makes a scene change so rapidly that photos that were taken just minutes apart can look as if they were taken on totally different days.

Such was the case when I was photographing in Oregon a few years ago. I had previously written a post about this image, taken at Haceda Beach:

Sea Stacks I
Copyright Howard Grill

A short while later the sun had dropped lower in the sky, offering this composition, with the orb of the sun placed squarely between the two sea stacks.

Sea Stacks II
Copyright Howard Grill

Finally, only minutes later, the sun had sunk completely below the horizon. The warm yellow/orange coloration of the sky and water was now gone, but the clouds began rolling in and the sky became a deep blue with the clouds painted red/pink by the sun below the horizon.

Sea Stacks III
Copyright Howard Grill

Changes. All in a matter of just a few minutes. Nothing like photographing sunrise and sunset to make you cognizent of the passage of time!

iPhone Photography Revisited

Back in December, I had written a post about photographing with an iPhone (which I don't personally own). That post revolved around an iPhone app for sharing images and a live feed of iPhone images submitted from folks around the world to Chase Jarvis' website called "The Best Camera" (as in the one you have with you).

Now iPhone photography has been taken one step further. I am talking about fine art iPhone photography! Seriously. Turns out you can do some pretty amazing stuff with the iPhone in conjunction with some image editing apps without ever having the photo leave the phone.

Think I'm kidding or exagerating? Check out this area of Dan Burkholder's website. The images are pretty amazing! He even has iPhone photography workshops and has an article about his iPhone photographs in this month's PhotoTechnique.

Tree And Pond In Fall
Copyright Dan Burkholder
iPhone Image With Post-Processing

I had always thought that cell phone photography was for 'the masses' and could not be used for 'serious art'. However, I have to say that with the changes in technology it is quite possible that this is no longer the case (not that I am about to go out and sell off my Canon 5D MK II). Though I have never seen any of Dan's iPhone prints myself, I do have a friend who has seen them and she was quite impressed with their quality (as a separate issue from their 'artistry' which, in my mind and hers, is clearly superb). But then again, what else would one expect from Dan Burkholder?

As an aside, some may have noticed that there has been a lack of images on the blog recently. That is because it has been taking me some time to set up my new computer system, load software, deal with driver bugs etc. But I hope to be back to making images in the very near future. Thanks for joining me here.

Chris Jordan: Running The Numbers

Seattle photographer Chris Jordan's work is so different, so intriguing, so filled with message that it really is important to see for yourself. Rather than try to describe it I will let you read what he has said in his own words:

"Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a collective that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2008 "

He subsequently continued this style of photography with another project entitled "Running The Numbers II"

I think this work is illuminating and worth looking at and thinking about. After all, isn't the best kind of photography the kind that makes you think?

Here is a link to Jordan's website. Because of the way the site is constructed, I can't give a direct link to the project pages.....so once on the home page just click on the Running The Numbers projects and have a look for yourself!

Pre-Visualization.....Once, Twice, Thrice

It occurs to me that as photographer/artists we pre-visualize our work more than once and often as many as three times or more.

Pre-visualization #1. When we are making images out in the field we need to have a reason for stopping to make a photograph.....to take time to think about what attracted us to the subject and to pre-visualize how we want it to look in the final print.

Pre-visualization #2. Assuming that we are shooting digitally, the image is then imported into Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop etc and, in my case, this is usually done in RAW format. When I import images into Lightroom I don't apply any develop presets on import and, thus, am greeted by images that have a generally bland appearance. Therefore, when deciding which images to work on, I not only have to judge composition, but also think about what I can make the image 'into' to 'bring out' the qualities that led me to make the photograph in the first place.

Pre-visualization #3. Finally, in todays digital age, we can frequently combine images to extend dynamic range, increase depth of field, or make panoramas. This, for me, is the most difficult pre-visualization, probably because I have just recently started using these modalities.

Obviously, in the 'pre-digital' days there were also mutiple pre-visualizations to be made when it came to making prints. However, as a 'slide shooter' who didn't often make prints back then, I really only pre-visualized once, and this occured when making the initial photograph. After that you got what you got and that was that.

I am not quite sure why it is that I find it interesting that as photographers we need to imagine and formulate our end result in our mind's eye so many times, but I do find it intriguing.

Quick Quotes: Elliot Erwitt

"Photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them."

Elliot Erwitt

I had planned on a different post today, but, while reading the latest issue of LensWork, came across this quote. It just seemed to complement the prior quote by Morley Baer so perfectly that I simply couldn't resist. Two people with the same idea, both expressing it with an amazing eloquence.

Quick Quotes: Morley Baer

Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photograph. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it.

-Morley Baer

This quote by Morley Baer really sums up to me the essence of photographing. So often we want to go someplace exciting or exotic to get 'great shots'. Those photographers that have most amazed me are those that can take everyday objects or routine settings and transform them into something special and, in the process, allow us to see them in a new way.

Photoshop Optimized Computer III

With the background of Parts I and II of this series behind us, I thought it might be useful to discuss what components I personally picked for my "Photoshop Optimized Computer".

In the 'digital age', all of our processing is done on a computer and, for many, prints are made at home on an inkjet printer. For as much time as we spend out in the field, we likely spend as much time, or more, working on our images in the digital darkroom. For this reason I feel it would be foolish to spend money on cameras and lenses and not put forward the investment in a computer system that makes finishing the job efficient and pleasant. In short, I don't think it is wise to buy expensive equipment and mate that equipment with a computer that is underpowered and which makes the processing portion of image making an unpleasant experience. If you have waited and waited for a file to open in Photoshop or had your system crash while using a memory intensive plug-in, you know exactly what I mean. If one can afford to make the investment, a good computer system will make post-processing a much more pleasant and productive experience.

I don't mean to insinuate that one needs to go on a wild spending spree for a computer. In fact, as we shall see, some high end components are well worth buying but there are others, such as the graphics card, where pouring more money into a higher end card is not going to significantly enhance the Photoshop experience.

So, lets get down to particulars. What components did I choose for my new computer? Again, some of these choices are personal and I don't mean to imply that this is the best or only worthwhile configuration.....I just thought I would share my decisions and why I made them.

RAM: I'm starting here because I knew how much I wanted (12 GB) and the way to get to this amount at a reasonable price was to have 6 memory slots on the motherboard so that I could purchase 6 x 2GB as opposed to 3 x 4GB. RAM comes in several varieties and speed. I bought Kigston ValueRAM (DDR3-1333). While one can pay more for 'faster' RAM etc, I am not convinced it will make much difference for still image editing. It may well make a difference for gaming and video, but I am not planning to use the computer for much of either. Therefore, it seemed to me that this RAM would do the trick. Obviously, once one is over 4GB it makes no sense not to get a 64 bit OS in order to utilize it.

Motherboard: There were some limitations here, as any builder is only going to carry a limited number of makes and models. In order to get a 6 memory slot board I went with the Asus P6TD DDR3 motherboard.

Processor: I was originally planning for an Intel i5 750, which sits at a nice price/performance point. The i5's don't have hyperthreading but, to the best of my knowledge, Photoshop doesn't utilize hyperthreading at this point in time. Nonetheless, because of the motherboard choice, an i5 was not an option and I went for the arguably more powerful (and a bit more expensive) i7 920 (which is actually due to be replaced by the 930 soon) which does have hyperthreading. Perhaps in the future (I expect to use this system for at least 5 years) Photoshop will utilize hyperthreading.

Graphics Card: This is one component where, if one were building a computer for the express purpose of gaming, you could go hog wild and really drop a bundle on a high end video card. However, while one wants a reasonable video card, the best of the best is really a wasted resource if it is to be used for Photoshop alone (as opposed to gaming or video editing). For this reason I went mid-range with a Gigabyte GeForce 9600GT with 512 MB of video RAM.

Sound Card: This machine is for Photoshop and Lightroom primarily....I went with no dedicated sound card, just the motherboard sound processing.

RAID: A discussion of all the varieties of RAID is far beyond the scope of this blog. However, for the scratch disk, I did go with RAID 0 (as I had discussed in Part II of this series) using 7200 RPM disks. One worthwhile issue to touch on is the use of on-board RAID controlled by the motherboard vs a dedicated RAID controller card. Again, this goes beyond the scope of this blog, but suffice it to say that, based on what I was able to learn, having a separate RAID controller card is well worth the investment in order to remove the RAID function from the motherboard. I went with a two disk RAID 0 array and a RAID card. I had the two disk array partitioned into a smaller first volume for the scratch disk. This volume resides on the outer, faster portion of the disk while the remaining volume will be used to store files on which I am still working in order to allow rapid opening and saving of the file. When the processing of these images is completed, they will be moved to storage on a non-RAID hard drive given the increased risk of data loss if either of the disks in the array were to fail.

Hard Drives: As I mentioned, I went with two 7200 RPM disks for the RAID array. I also wanted a fast boot drive so that the computer would boot quickly and applications would also launch very fast. Though this was clearly a 'luxury item', I decided to go with a solid state disk (SSD) for the boot disk to hold the OS and applications. In addition, a Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black hard drive is to be used for storage. The motherboard and case will allow for the addition of 2 more disks, should the need arise.

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Monitor: Discussing this component of the system is really opening a can of worms. A quality monitor can be expensive, but is also a mission critical part of the digital imaging system. It is used to assess the image, process the image, soft proof the image etc. Clearly, a low quality monitor that is poorly calibrated and profiled can make producing high quality images and prints a nightmare. If one's budget allows, a high quality monitor together with a hardware calibration system is optimal. Some names to look into (and I don't mean to imply that these are the only worthwhile monitors) include Eizo, NEC, Apple, and Lacie.

Well, I hope that this series of three posts will be helpful to others that might be interested in putting together their own 'Photoshop Optimized Computer'.

Photoshop Optimized Computer II

For Part I of this series click here.

Let me begin Part II by explaining what I view as a 'Photoshop Optimized Computer'. Obviously that means a computer whose hardware/software is set up in a way which allows Photoshop to run in the most efficient and fastest way possible. But what special hardware or software is needed to allow this efficiency to occur? How is a 'Photoshop Optimized Computer' (I think maybe I should try to trademark that little phrase before someone else does) different from the standard computer you might pick up anywhere?

In order to answer this, we need to know a bit about how Photoshop itself works. More specifically, we need to know about the software's data handling strategy. Now, I need to point out that my 'day job' has nothing to do with computer programing.....so, if I make a mistake in any of these posts I would be more than happy to have someone out there correct me.

When one opens a file using Photoshop, the program puts the data into RAM. If there is not enough RAM to handle the file, or if in the process of editing the file by adding layers etc the file becomes so large that it doesn't fit into the available RAM, then Photoshop writes that data to a physical hard drive that it has set aside for itself known as the 'scratch disk'. The specific drive or drive volume that Photoshop uses for the scratch disk can be chosen in the Photoshop Preferences. It should be recognized that:

1) Not all the RAM in the computer can be devoted to Photoshop use, as some of it is needed for use by the OS (and 32 bit programs limit the amount of usable RAM to 4 GB).

2) Once the data file gets large enough to require Photoshop to write its data to a physical hard drive things move much slower since the speed at which data can be written to a physical drive is much, much slower than the speed at which it can be stored in RAM.

So what conclusions can be drawn from this information? Knowing that things move much faster when Photoshop has enough RAM to write to tells us that the more RAM the better. And then more! And to allow Photoshop to utilize all that RAM, it would be optimal to use a 64 bit OS in order to remove the 4 GB RAM limit that is imposed by a 32 bit OS.

However, no matter how much RAM is in the system, Photoshop still needs to use the scratch disk to some small degree, even if the file itself fits fully into RAM. For this reason the scratch disk should be optimized, even in systems with a good deal of RAM. How does one achieve this optimization? It can be done in two ways.

The first and most important way is to put the scratch disk on a separate physical drive from the OS (the Photoshop application itself can be installed on the OS boot drive...some say it is optimal to install it there, as opposed to on another drive). That way the drive head can read and write to the scratch disk without having to do anything else. If the scratch disk were on the same physical drive as the OS, that disk's read/write heads would be slowed down by having to perform both the scratch disk duty as well as the reading and writing that the OS requires, such as writing to the page file and other required duties (don't move your page file to the scratch disk....if you don't know what that means just forget about it, as it's not there unless you put it there yourself).

The second way to optimize the scratch disk is to not only put it on a separate physical disk from the OS, but also to make this separate disk as fast a disk as possible. Options thus include, going from slowest (worst) to fastest (best): 5400 RPM drive, 7200 RPM drive, fast 7200RPM drive (no, not a separate type but 'better' because of increased cache, number of microprocessors etc), 10,000 RPM Western Digital VelociRaptor (though many would argue that there are some 7200 RPM drives out there that function faster than the 10000 RPM VelociRaptor) and, finally, a RAID 0 array.

A RAID 0 array is simply using two disks that appear to the OS as a single larger disk. Data is written to the array by splitting it and having half of it go to one disk and half to the other. Therefore each physical disk has to write only half as much and they can both do it simultaneously since each disk has its own read/write head. If one of those two disks fail all the data from the file is lost and can't be reconstructed....but since the scratch disk data is used only temporarily while the file is being worked on.....who cares?

Notice I didn't include a solid state drive (SSD) in the list of options. Though an SSD would be superb for data storage, the OS, or use in a RAID array, the current feeling is that as a stand alone disk it is not optimal (in addition to its being very expensive) for use as the scratch disk. The reason for this is that, while SSDs have blazing fast read speeds, the current write speeds (except perhaps for the super premium Intel E series SSDs) are no faster, and possibly slower, than a fast hard drive. The important fact to recognize here is that, for a scratch disk, the write speeds are much more important than the read speeds. This, then, is what makes the SSD, at the current level of technology, perhaps a sub-optimal scratch disk....or at least a scratch disk that is no better than the current breed of hard drives but costing far more.

So, to sum up:

1) OS and Photoshop on the same drive

2) RAM and more RAM

3) 64 bit OS so that RAM constraints are removed

4) Scratch disk on a second physical disk that is separate from the OS boot disk and

5) Make that separate physical scratch disk a fast one, with a RAID 0 array being optimal.

Want to dig a little deeper? Try this article from the Adobe Knowledge Base or this one, which is exceptional, from Lloyd Chambers. Though the second one discusses performance on a Mac, the information it contains, for the most part, can be applied to a PC as well.

I should mention one caveat, and that is that in this discussion I am assuming that large files are going to be worked on. If you are just working with very small files all of this might not be necessary. But if you are starting with large files (I shoot in RAW format with a Canon 5D MKII) that you then edit with many layers, use smart objects etc....then this info is for you.

Photoshop Optimized Computer I

The time has come for a new computer. I built my current computer myself about 6 or more years ago, and it is showing its age. It crashes when I generate Photoshop files with more than one smart object layer and, when I work on large files, it is frequently unable to utilize certain plug-ins that are begging for more memory. Disk space is also quite low. When I built it, if I recall correctly, I was photographing with a Canon 10D. Equipment and file sizes have certainly changed quite a bit.

The process of building that computer was fun and very educational, as it really taught me about how computer systems work and how components interact with each other in terms of compatibility. However, as much as I enjoyed it, I decided that this time I would not build it myself, simply because of free time issues. After learning the things I did during my last build, one thing was quite clear to me: I wasn't going to buy a prefab, 'mass produced' computer from Dell etc. Having seen the importance of individual components, I wanted to be able to choose exactly what goes into the box and not simply get the hard drive du jour!

I thought it might be worthwhile to write a few posts about the process of thinking through the construction of what will be my new system. I believe that this will be quite apropos to this blog since the computer is being designed specifically with the main goal of being optimized for Photoshop, with other uses being secondary.

So lets begin. First, since this time I wasn't going to be doing the building myself, I had to find a custom computer builder. I was looking for an outfit that received outstanding reviews and referrals, had great customer service, and had components that I 'believed in'. Obviously, not every custom build company will carry every component out there and, while some components had to be chosen from what the builder stocked, I wanted to make sure that they stocked what I would have used myself for the most important components.

So, what company did I come up with that filled these criteria? These guys.....Puget Custom Computers. Though I have not yet put the final order in for the computer, I can say the following: they have great reviews and a very helpful website. And when they say they try to answer inquiries within 24 hours they aren't kidding. Once you save a potential configuration you can have it reviewed by someone at Puget and begin talking about it with them. I have been having a daily 'e-mail' conversation with the person helping me out and they couldn't be more helpful or responsive. I am actually going to be giving him a call tonight for some final help in ironing out the particulars.

Like anything else in life though, it helps for you to have some background knowledge before jumping into things. For that reason, before even starting this journey, I had to do some background research on the state of computer components today.....something I have not otherwise been following very carefully. What's cutting edge, what's mainstream, what's around the corner?

Finally, I had to see if anything had changed in regards to optimizing one's computer configuration for Photoshop and Lightroom use. As it turns out, not much really has changed in that regard since I last built my own computer. Nonetheless, I thought it might also be worthwhile to provide that information in one location, as it might be a useful resource for people thinking about this issue.

I think I will close here with probable plans for two or three more posts on this subject to cover, components, Photoshop optimization, and how I put it all together. Along the way, I will provide links to some really excellent websites that provided me with a good deal of my information.

Black And White Vision

I have always enjoyed black and white photography and the way that lines, shapes, and tones play such an important role in the image. Though I had a black and white darkroom when I was a kid, I hadn't done much black and white imaging recently because of the difficulty in making good B&W inkjet prints. Several years back, folks were setting up for black and white inkjet printing using third party inks with dedicated black and white print drivers etc. Many reported excellent results, others, well, not so much. Lately I have been experimenting with black and white printing again, as my Epson 7900 gives really superb black and white output.

One of the photography sites/communities which I enjoy perusing because of the extremely high quality imagery that can be found there is Fotoblur; and there is a good amount of black and white photography on the site.

As I was looking at some of the images by various photographers, I was struck again by how important tonality and simple graphic lines are to a black and white image; even more so, I believe, than for color images. In addition, somehow the 'magic' of black and white seems to be able to transform a scene into 'art' that would otherwise be bland in color. And part of the skill of making black and white images is the ability to visualize this transformation; to see, if you will, in black and white. I saw many beautiful images perusing Fotoblur yesterday, but the one that really drove home to me the ability of black and white to make 'art' out of what we might ordinarily walk by and not even glance at was this photograph by Linda Wride:

"Cubes"
Copyright Linda Wride

Check out the rest of Linda's compelling imagery here. She also has a website that features her botanicals.

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes.....

I recently decided to work on making some prints of images I had taken while on a workshop with Nancy Rotenberg on the Oregon coast. I found that one of the 8x10 proof images I made looked interesting. At first blush I thought it was nice, but only in a very commonplace sunset shot sort of way. However, the more I looked at the image the more I began to notice interesting subtleties that made the photograph more interesting to me. I liked the flare from the sun despite the fact that I am not usually a big fan of flare effects. I liked the dark and light linear lines the waves made and I liked the subtle silhouettes of the birds flying. However, most of all (and, unfortunately, this will not be evident in the small blog image) I enjoyed the subtlety of the fact that there are hundreds of seagull silhouettes on the sea stacks themselves and that they can be seen when one looks at the rocks more carefully. They are like a hidden treat if you take the time to look.

Haceda Beach
Copyright Howard Grill

My 15 year old son likes seeing my photos, though he is far more interested in sports than in art (which, I know, is totally as expected). So I was quite surprised when, as soon as I showed him the image, he said "It's cool.....I like it. You know there is really a lot going on in this picture". I swear that's what he said! Sometimes you get the unexpected. Or maybe I don't expect as much as I should; after all, there is probably a reason I show him my photos. He does seem to have a good feel for what works.

And then to top it all off I asked him if he thought that I should make the wave ripples on the right side of the picture a bit brighter. His reply was simply "Dad, I think sometimes you just over-analyze these pictures". Smart boy.

1.....2......3........

Now hear this. There are Lensworks blogs. And I do mean plural. Not one, not two, but three Lenswork blogs have just been introduced. Given the excellence of each and every LensWork 'product' that I have had the opportunity to read or view, I have no doubts that these will be blogs well worth reading regularly.


#1 Lenswork Technology Blog - In the words of Brooks Jenson, "random collection of thoughts, discoveries, explorations, hard-won experience, and — I fully anticipate — some technological failures and struggles as I wade through this world of technology and its use to create photographic artwork."

#2 "Ask Brooks" Blog - Not simply an ask a question to Brooks blog, as Brooks actively seeks reader partcipation and input to answer the questions.

#3 LensWork Vision Of The Heart Blog - An opportunity to more fully appreciate photographs. In Brooks own words "In this blog we will take a bit of time with an image to look at it more closely, to understand the photographer's point of view in their own words (transcribed from our LensWork Extended interviews), to savor the subtleties and enjoy a photograph to its full, well, or at least "fuller" potential."

I am definitely looking forward to reading and following these.

I'm A Photographer, Not A Terrorist

In the past, I have written a few posts about photographers rights which can be read here and here. I have also posted information about fashionable photographers rights wardrobe here. Who, after all, would want to be without their "I Am A Photographer, Not A Terrorist" tee shirt? Even I have one and I'm not known to be the most stylish guy in the world!

Having been personally and inappropriately asked to stop taking pictures in areas where it was clearly within my legal rights to do so, I am sensitized to this issue and always have my eyes open for similar happenings. Here is a fascinating story, published in The Independent, and entitled "Warning, Do Not Take This Picture" . It tells of repeated inappropriate limitations on public photographing that took place in England.

And finally, also based in England, an entire website devoted to the cause of not impinging on the right to take photographs. And what would the perfect name be for such a website....but of course, "I'm A Photographer Not A Terrorist". Don't miss the self portrait page of the site either. For those of you on Facebook, here is their Facebook page.

Although one might well argue that there are bigger problems in the world today, this issue is not a trivial one as it relates not only to the specific issue of photography but also to the bigger issue of rights in general.