Capturing The Essence

The great RAW debate

You may be aware from my earlier posting that I've been on somewhat of a RAW crusade in regards to my workflow. An adamant Aperture user for many years I started realise all wasn't well, the time had come to start examining other options.

So what's wrong with Aperture then?

Between it's sluggish speed and inflexible plug-in architecture (that causes me to open Photoshop far more often then I'd like) it's just not cutting the mustard.

An afternoon with Jeff Ascough

As many of my Twitter followers will be aware I've spent the last couple of days with Jeff Ascough learning about his particular style of digital workflow.

I'm not going to divulge the tips and tricks bestowed upon us (for this you I recommend you attend his seminar) but give you some personal reaction and thoughts, especially given my last entry "It's a question of workflow".

Learning the basics

I confess that upon Jeff's opening statement that he was going to cover "the basics" (and make no apologies for doing so) my heart sank a little. I needn't have worried, unlike other seminars and training events I've attended, this was both refreshing and re-affirming.

Explaining his own hardware and software setup (along with the obligatory poke at PC/Windows users I've come to know and love) we soon moved onto working environments and in particular 'colour calibration'. Although an area I suspect many of us already felt confident in, we still came away with nuggets of information to help us ensure lab results match those crafted on-screen.

It's a question of workflow

From a relative confident position about my workflow I'm now feeling quite confused as to what is now the best solution for me.

I've been a avid fan of Apple Aperture now since it's release (I must have placed one of the first orders) as after it's announcement I knew it was the solution for me. It's all-in-one workflow and management was simply brilliant, and being so impressive it was no surprise that Adobe released a public beta of LightRoom some months later. 

Until that point I'd been using Capture One Pro 3 in conjunction with Photoshop 7, and although I loved the quality and control the PhaseOne RAW converter gave me, the interface was quite frankly shocking. Added to this the fact I just didn't get along with Photoshop Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge didn't exist, my options felt limited.

Don't worry, I'm not dead!

A rather dramatic title to this blog post I know, but now nearing 50 days since my last entry you'd be forgiven in thinking I'd be trounced by an eighty-two bus. Rest assured this is not the case, I've just been busy!

Hello Photographer?

Whoever tells you that being a photographer is a life behind the lens on sunny hillsides caressed by a light breeze is talking rubbish.

Like any burgeoning business initial efforts are spent working on budgets, accounting, marketing strategies, and all that boring stuff. In fact with the exception of some photography courses and small portrait sessions I've spent the majority of my time behind a computer screen.

Planting the seeds of growth

In a world consumed by both wanna-be and professional photographers it is surely one of the most difficult professions to make a living in, especially when you're determined to be selective and apply your own artistic style.