Lightroom Seminar on Web Site Development

Based on the questions I received from a presentation I did last night for the Charlotte Photography Meetup Group in North Carolina, I have decided to put together a few seminars that build on the concepts that I showed were possible with Lightroom.

My thoughts right now are to do a basic seminar that uses the Lightroom Web Galleries that came with the product and maybe a few other third party plug ins that are relatively simple. I might include some information on various web hosting services that work well with lightroom and how to set that up as well. I thought we might then do a second, more advanced seminar on setting up an E-Commerce site to sell photography. My intention would be the basic seminar would be for 'newbies' to using the web module and the advanced would build on those concepts.

I will put together a summary of the topics we could cover and then get that over to the guys at the Charlotte Photography Meetup Group to see if there is enough interest.

My thinking now is that we could plan this for the late summer to give me enough time to prepare material and a workbook that provides both reference and exercises to make sure we learn the material.

Comment here if you are interested in having me do this! ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

Charlotte, NC Photography Meetup Group

I was honored to be asked to speak to a great group of people at the Charlotte Photography Meetup Group last night for their June meeting. Let me tell you that this group, 900+ strong, has a fantastic network for budding photographers and semi-pros alike. Let me tell you a little about them.

The group was founded on the principle of sharing photography and technique. Today the group has a growing library that members have access to, photo trips, opportunities for learning seminars, monthly photo contests centered around a theme and just plain fun. Dues are more than reasonable and help pay for meeting space, etc. See more about them here.

I would strongly recommend that you check this group out and consider joining even if you don't live in Charlotte. You can still be active with some of the out of town events and the calendar on the web site is well formatted and easy to use.

Great group of great people! ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

LRG Complete 4.1

Anyone that is visiting here and has not seen the terrific work that Joe is doing over at Lightroom Galleries is missing out! At the beginning of this month, Joe released version 4.1 of LRG Complete which fixes some of the bugs in this new, heavily updated version of the best Lightroom Galleries Gallery around. If you need a web site creator that allows you to sell photography using Googlecheckout, PayPal and / or Email, then this is for you.

Joe's template allows custom fonts, unlimited galleries and additional pages, custom menuing, contact pages and so many choices to customize the look and feel, we had to write 2 books - one for a manual and one for advanced work!

See LRG Complete at Lightroom Galleries and download this free addon to Lightroom. ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

A Cat's Best Friend

Bailey was MY cat ... I guess you could really say, I was Bailey's human. Bailey was patient with me. He always waited for me to sit down and get comfortable. Then he'd look and take a moment to survey my seat. Finally, he would hop on up and nestle himself down beside me with his paws on my leg. If I was in the way, he would wiggle back and forth until I moved over. That was his polite way of saying, "this is my seat, but I'll share it with you."

Bailey was known as the purrr-meister. His voice box could rival the loudest Harley on a Sunday afternoon. Bailey would begin to purr at the sight of me - or at least that's what I'm sure he wanted me to think. Bailey might have been purring at the sight of the cat food can I had in my hand. I may never know, but I know I felt him purring from the next room.

Bailey had me trained well. He would herd me over to the kitchen cabinets beside the sink and then tell me what he wanted. "Mow ... Mow ... Mow, Mow" I finally decided it was morse code for "Treat Now ... Treat Now" He would get more intense and the pauses between meows would diminish as I took the bag of treats off their shelf and opened the ziplock bag. As I placed my hand inside to grab a few, I would be met with his paws at the top cabinet drawer. He seemed to tell me, "Good human, now hand them over, quick, I'm starving." I would throw a few on the floor, or at least I think they made it to the floor. Bailey would sweep them up like a vacuum and then ask for more. "Sucker," I would mutter to myself as I took out another handful.

Everyone loved Bailey. That includes our four other cats. They all loved Bailey even if they occasionally fought among themselves. As I was Bailey's human, the other cats were his children - even if just figuratively. Jack, Lizzy, Sandi or Henri would all seek out Bailey's approval when coming inside the house. They would rub their scent all up and down Bailey and wait while he sniffed his approval. Only then could they continue to the food bowl for a snack.

At night, Bailey would allow one of his children to curl up next to him. Especially in the winter when it is colder, Bailey wanted warmth. Sometimes everyone would fight for the right to sleep next to Bailey. Sometimes Bailey gave in and two or three would curl up with him. Everyone loved Bailey.

Bailey had no need to go outside. Bailey had four other cats to go do his bidding out of doors. All Bailey needed was the door to be opened so he could sniff the air. Bailey could tell another cat coming from two doors down or smell a squirrel before the squirrel even decided to make a trek into our yard. Bailey had a keen sense of smell. He just didn't want to go outside. So he didn't. But, Bailey would sit in the doorway sniffing for half a day if you would let him.

As I sit back tonight and reflect on the joy and the happiness that Bailey has brought to my life and my family's life for the last 13+ years, there is no doubt in my mind that I was Bailey's human. I am grateful he picked me and I will miss him.

Bailey, 1/1996 to 3/25/2009.
Leica M8, 1/90, f/2 50mm ISO 320
... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

SUSE Linux: Dell GX520 SATA Drive Install

Using SUSE Linux is wonderful for secure and stable web platforms. Recently I was installing SUSE Linux on a Dell Optiplex GX520 and I kept getting a really odd error:

isolinux: Disk Error 01, AX=0201, Drive 80

As it turns out, this is due to the SATA drive which is the primary drive in a Dell GX520. Here is the workaround to let the installation continue.

First, enter the bios or setup when the computer boots. On a GX520, this means pressing the F2 key when the boot screen appears. Go down to the Drives section of the bios and select the SATA drive. Then set this drive to the compatibility mode. Exit while saving the changes and that's all there is! This allows the SUSE installation to find the SATA drive and allow the installation to continue.

Next you probably will want to see the article I wrote on the Installation of SUSE Linux on a GX520 with a USB Keyboard as your troubles are not yet over. Luckily that article gives you a solution! ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

SUSE Linux: Install on Dell GX520 with USB Keyboard

Installing Linux can take longer than windows, no doubt, but once finished, linux provides a very sound platform for web servers. I use linux for some of my work and I also use Dell computers. Recently I was installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2 and I ran into a problem. On a Dell Optiplex GX520 using bios version A11 the USB keyboard does not work on the install. This causes obvious problems! Here is the solution.

Very simply, the booting install is a graphical version which will not recognize the USB connections for the keybaord. This is not a universal problem, but is specific to the Dell Optiplex GX520 running bios version A11. If your machine is different, but exhibiting the same problem, you can try this solution to see if it helps.

After the Dell bios booting screen appears, press the F12 key to enter the boot selection mode. Here is where you choose to boot from the CD Rom. Immediately after choosing the CD Rom and pressing the ENTER key, press and hold the two SHIFT keys on the keyboard. This will cause the linux setup to enter the text mode. Fortunately, this mode recognizes the USB Keyboard and you can continue.

Don't worry, the text version will begin to use the mouse after a few questions. The text version of the install isn't bad at all and it works! ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

Old Buildings In Fresh Snow

Where we live, getting snow in March that actually causes school to be cancelled is a rare occurrence. More interesting is the high temperature five days later will be 70 degrees farenheit. Weather!

Here is an image of a location I have been watching during my daily commute that past 14 years waiting for the right moment. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter grey - nothing brought me to a halt to say 'that needs to be on film.' Well, this winter storm came and I decided to seek out this spot.



What I liked most about this picture is the old white siding now weathered grey really stands out in the snow. The Earnheart's sign is the center draw to my eye and the subtle green on the pine mixed with the rust beside the broken window add just enough color. This snow scene almost lends itself to black and white but the splash of color.

The time was as the sun had just come up, about 7:30 am. This gives the snow the bluish tint. I used a 35mm at f4 and 1/125 of a second. As always, I used the M8's slowest ISO at 160.

I metered using and incident meter, but having a little sun backlighting the scene, I decided I wouldn't trust it. The weathered grey came out to 1/125 of a second using the spot meter, so I went with it.

One of the most satisfying photos for me is having a result that takes little to no manipulation after exposure. This scene has had sharpening applied, but no modification of any other kind. That is rare for me, but I am happy.

Enjoy! ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

Lightroom 2.3 Update

Adobe has released update version 2.3 for Lightroom. You can download the versions using the links on the sidebar. It appears the majority of the fixes for this update are related to memory leaks and other items within Windows.

Of real importance is the fix for the artifacts that appeared in version 2.2 when using a Cannon EOS 5D Mk II sRAW file. This should make many of those users happy. Since I use strictly Leica equipment I cannot test this update for the EOS, but leave a comment if you use this model. ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.

Poor Economy and Free Time

Ok, so this doesn't sound like something from a photography blog. I can guarantee that it is relevant, though. The poor economy took my day job in September so I have been working hard to establish a form of income. This means that my free time for photography had to be reallocated to starting up a business. See, Poor Economy = Less Free Time.

Now for some good news on the Lightroom front. I have been reviewing a pre-beta version of LRG Complete (dubbed version 4) and I can tell you - it really rocks! My favorite new feature is the addition of a group of new fonts available to choose from. Now each site can have a whole new look and the LRGC weg sites will no longer take on the form of the old row houses.

Not only can you continue to customize your look and feel with colors and different background images and identity plates. Now you can also use a variety of fonts to give viewers a sense of who you are and what you are about.

As always, Joe has fixed a few things that were broken and taken many suggestions to hear adding them into this next major rewrite. For example, Joe has done some more work to the back stage part of the contact page and it now operates more like a standard page instead of the red-headed step child. Also, Joe fixed the site title text to appear on the top of the identity plate if you use an image. Prior to this version it was behind the image.

Since I illuded to a new career at the top of this post, I might as well tell you that I started a CPA firm. You can guess what I used to create my web site. Correct! While it will always be a work in progress, Financial Resources and Consulting Group has taken a great photography tool and turned it into a simple business web site.

If you visit, you'll see how I used a logo for the photography and included mounds of text about the various services I offer. I have plans to put some CPA type photography on the pages as well, but that takes time. My current focus is finding clients!

Thank you to everyone who continues to support our development efforts. As this new version gets ready for release, we will be working on updates to the basic and advanced user's guides.

I will continue to post here, but the frequency will slow somewhat. Thanks for staying with me and keep watching for the newest version in this one-of-a-kind photography plug in for Adobe Lightroom! ... Read More!

Don't forget to visit my photography web site where we sell museum quality black and white prints framed to last up to 175 years - Outdoor Images Fine Art.