The Lockdown Posts
- At July 22, 2020
- By John
- In Book, News, Photography
0
Monday, March 23rd, 2020, the day all our lives as we had known changed. The Covid-19 pandemic had taken a foothold in the United Kingdom and the Government announced that Lockdown measures are to be put in place, forcing us to stay in our homes, bar essential trips to the shops for food and some daily exercise. Our daily lives suddenly changed beyond comprehension.
The mantra became
“Stay Home, Stay Safe, Protect the NHS”
Most people, like me, suddenly found themselves with more time on their hands. A lot more time. A time perhaps, to finally start some of the projects you’d been putting off for years. Social media suddenly became much more important in our lives, to help us stay in touch, communicate, inform, entertain and ease the boredom. For myself, it was a time to finally begin sorting out my large library of photos, update my software, improve my photo processing skills and make some photo books. I posted one or two pictures to Facebook, as I occasionally did anyway, but at the behest of my sister, it soon became an almost daily ritual. These would become my Lockdown Posts.
A snapshot of the Lockdown posts on Facebook
My first official Lockdown post occurred on the 1st of April, and I continued posting almost daily until the 5th July, 2020, although as Lockdown began to ease, so did I, so I didn’t quite conform to posting one image every day. The end date was originally going to be the 4th of July, but I extended this to the 5th which was the 75th Anniversary of the NHS; it just seemed more appropriate.
At first, the images were pretty much selected at random, but at some stage (around late May perhaps?) it just seemed perfectly logical to make them a subject of a book. From then onwards, some of the images were paired up and chosen with the book layout in mind. Many of the images are re-discoveries or previously unprocessed and long-forgotten images, but the whole process proved quite a voyage of rediscovery and quite a cathartic one at that. It’s resulted in a bit of a Hodge-potch of 90 images, but one that provides an interesting snapshot into my photographic body of work. They are all now posted on my Lockdown Gallery, and you can see them all together here.
Google Nik Efex Now Free
- At March 27, 2016
- By John
- In Software, Uncategorized
- 0
The Powerful Nik Efex Suite is now free
As from March 24th 2016 Google has made the latest version of Nik efex plug-ins for free to download for all users. The Nik Collection is comprises seven desktop plug-ins set of image enhancement tools and photographic filter plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom , Elements and Aperture and other photo-manipulation and RAW conversion software. The collection includes:
- Analog Efex Pro: which allows you create the look and feel of classic cameras, films, and lenses.
- Color Efex Pro: A powerful set of filters for color correction, retouching, and creative effects.
- Silver Efex Pro: to create the best black-and-white photography with darkroom-inspired controls.
- Viveza: to selectively adjust the color and tonality of your images without complicated masks or selections.
- HDR Efex Pro: “From natural to artistic, explore the full potential of HDR photography.
- Sharpener Pro: to bring out hidden details consistently with the professional’s choice for image sharpening.
- Dfine: a powerful sharpening and noise reduction tool to improve your images.
For a while Google offered version 1.007 of the Nik Collection for free back in 2013 after it had acquired Nik Software, but not long after the plug-in collection was selling for $149. Google say users who have purchased the Nik Collection in 2016 will be offered a full refund. Too bad for those who got it for Christmas. Worse for me as I paid £199 for the Nik Collectin back in 2012.
Nobody seems to know why Google are doing this and they say on the website:
Google: We’re excited to bring the powerful photo editing tools once only used by professionals to even more people now.
The general consensus on the web seems to be that they are no longer willing to continue development of the plug-ins in their current form, which would be a real shame. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, grab a bargain from here.
New Zoom Lens from Canon
- At November 14, 2014
- By John
- In Canon, Lens
- 0
Mark II of the Popular 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 L Lens Announced
Click for larger view
Of particular interest to myself, the much rumoured replacement from the 16 year old, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, push-pull, zoom lens has finally been announced from Canon.
Read More»Fun With Video
I’ve not posted for quite a while, but that’s because I’ve been quite busy with other projects, one of which was to prepare a lecture for my local photography club, Worksop Photographic Society. My lecture was entitled “Ice Alert” at the suggestion of one of the members, but was really about my trips to Iceland and Antarctica. The title was fun though.
I first went to Iceland in 1975 believe it or not, where I spent almost 5 weeks as part of a School Geology and Geography Field Trip. It was amazing experience for an 18 year old. I did take a camera .. my mum’s Kodak Instamatic,
Read More»Cashback On A Great Lens
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L Deal
As part of their 2014 Summer Cashback scheme Canon UK are offering various rebates on several cameras, printer and lenses. Normally I don’t pay that much attention to what’s on offer as it’s rarely something I want. However, this time around one I notice that of the lenses is the fabulous EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens.
Read More»Thoresby Gallery Exhibition
- At July 04, 2014
- By John
- In Exhibition, Photography
- 0
Worksop Photographic Society “Foto – Image” Exhibition
Worksop Photographic Society are staging an exhibition of photographs entitled “Foto – Image” at the Thoresby Gallery from the 5th to 27th of July. The gallery is part of the Thorseby estate, situated near Budby, a few miles north of Ollerton, Nottinghamshire. Rather uniquely, this is the first time the gallery has staged an exhibition of photographs, normally being reserved for the display of paintings.
Read More»Travel Photography Supplement
- At June 28, 2014
- By John
- In Magazine, Publication, Published Picture, Travel, Uncategorized
- 1
Pictures published in DSLR Photography Magazine
It’s good to see some of your own pictures in print. If you’ve bought a copy of the July 2014 issue of Digital DSLR photography magazine here in the UK, you’ll see some of mine. There’s a special travel supplement included with this issue and a few of my pictures were chosen to accompany the articles inside. You’ll even find a few words from yours truly, abeit a tad brief. It’s a great supplement with some great advice if travel photography is your bag. The cover has a simply stunning portait of a youg girl by Brett Harkness.
The pictures published are show below.
[slideshow_deploy id=’3441′]
Appalling Service from Adobe
- At May 30, 2014
- By John
- In Software
- 2
Story of the Old Acrobat
This post is not specifically photography related, but as I use Adobe products in photography I think it’s relevant, and it sure has soured my impression of Adobe. Like many I use Adobe Acrobat; the free Acrobat reader to view PDF files but I also own a copy of Acrobat Standard for creating my own PDF documents. It’s quite an old version I must admit, Version 8.0 in fact, which harks back to 2007. I’ve this version used it quite successfully on my desktop PC since 2008. The PC originally came with Vista, but soon afterwards upgraded to Windows 7, and used Acrobat 8 without any major issues.
Old Software, New PC
Internet Connection Not Detected – error code 159:41
I’ve just replaced my PC , which came with (at my choosing) the same Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OS. I’d planned to install my Adobe Acrobat 8.0. It worked fine on the old PC, so I had no reason to think it wouldn’t work on my new PC with the same OS. Well, just how wrong could I be and several hours were wasted trying to get the dam thing working without any success; no thanks to Adobe!
Lack of Activity
Activation of Adobe products by phone is no longer supported
The software requires an activation code, typically accomplished via the internet. However, I should have realised something was up when I got the message “Internet Connection Not Detected, Error code 159:41“. Of course I spent ages messing around to see if there were any problems with my internet connection, but everything else connected worked just fine. I tried all the usual stuff, turning off the firewall and anti-virus, but still got the same response.
I checked and see that this is a technical issue, you will have to contact our technical support team to resolve this issue
There’s is an option however, to Activate by phone, so I thought I try that, only to be given the recorded message “activation of Adobe products by phone is no longer supported, please visit www.adobe.com/go/activation for further assistance“. I tried, but that page is utterly useless and you just find yourself going around in circles getting nowhere. I eventually found a link to a Chat window with a support agent, but after repeatedly been told to click the “Try Again” box in the install procedure, I received the following reply: “I checked and see that this is a technical issue, you will have to contact our technical support team to resolve this issue“. What .. I thought I was talking to technical support!
Another Useless Web Page
Unfortunately, I was then directed to another useless web page (www.adobe.com/uk/company/contact) where I was told I could contact technical support. It contains plenty of telephone numbers, but no mention of one for technical support! Luckily I viewed the page whilst still on the chat window, so I demanded the number for UK technical support before my support agent vanished into cyberspace. Call 0207 365 0735 for UK technical support. I tried it, it’s for everything. Several automated submenus later I finally got to talk to a heavily accented agent who eventually said ” Your product is no longer supported by Adobe” and simply refused to go any further. I actually own this product but Adobe now REFUSE to let me activate it. And advice offered from Adobe .. buy the latest version; apologies .. none.
Your product is no longer supported by Adobe
Opinion
Adobe make some terrific products, but with this sort of attitude it’s no wonder their software is some of the most bootlegged around. Whilst I can understand (but do not agree with) them not wanting to support legacy products, preventing us from using them is simply wrong. Will I be buying Adobe Acrobat XI .. not a cat in hells chance I’m afraid. Shame on you Adobe!
Postscript: I’m currently using Nuance (Scansoft) PDF Create Version 8 which is OK, but not ideal. If anyone can suggest a better alternative please do.
A New PC, but it’s not Apple
Out with the Old, In with the New
My ageing Windows desktop PC has finally reached a point where I need to replace it. The processor now struggles with the modern day demands of my rather large Lightroom Catalog and Preview files which just take too long to render. I no longer have the patience to sit and wait. No, the time has come to get something new, shiny, sleek and a dam sight faster.
Read More»Antarctica Video
- At April 11, 2014
- By John
- In Antarctica, Travel, Uncategorized
- 0
Courtesy of Chris Sanderson, there is now an 18 minute video of my trip with Luminous Landscape to Antarctica earlier this year. It is really a taster (advertisement) for future LuLa trips there, but contains some stunning Antarctic scenery and wildlife, and for me a great reminder of such good times. I had hoped to embed the video below but unfortunately their privacy setting’s won’t allow that, so you just have to click on the screen grab below linked to the video. It’s well worth a watch. and there’s even the odd glimpse of yours truly.
Read More»