I'm Back!Copyrighted Digital Photograph

I’m Back!!

After nearly a year’s “breather” during which time I have undertaken various photographic adventures, changed my workflow to apply the latest software and started to climb the mountain of cataloguing all my 57,000+ digital images (I have only reached May 2010, so far) – I am committing to renew my weekly, Friday blog, which I hope will entertain and please you.

Travelling Light (No pun intended, but a great title for a photography book when I think about it)

The image was taken by fellow photog. Gary Bridges (http://garybridgesphotography.com) on our recent trek to Bryce Canyon, Utah. As you can see, I like to travel light when photographing on the edge of long drops. I am carrying a Nikon D800 with Nikon 70-200mm zoom attached. A Gitzo tripod, mounted with an Arco Suisse head, is attached to the backpack, which itself contained: Nikon 24mm Perspective Control lens; 24-70mm zoom; a 1.4X tele-converter; spare 64GB CF and SD cards; spare batteries and filters; a hand-held torch and, finally, a small toolbox in case anything got a bit loose. The smallest contribution was my newest gizmo, a little helmet lamp. It is tiny, but produced amazing power and a wide angle of illumination. Thank-you Walmart!

In contrast to the photographic equipment, my vestimentary contribution to the exercise was decidedly old-fashioned: thermal underwear, shirt; inner tweed jacket; scarf; outer leather jacket; thick socks; work trousers; one pair of gloves inserted into another; boots and my favourite, ugly, warm, fur-lined hat, to which I had sewn the helmet torch. I was “toasty” warm, except for when I needed to make camera adjustments. I couldn’t do it gloved, so from time to time I endured some brief pain with uncovered hands.

Workflow changes

I have never been a fan of Photoshop as a post-production, development tool, except for occasional, supplemental technical needs and I confess to being allergic to Adobe’s attempt to take clients prisoner for life with their monthly licencing model, so I felt uncomfortable handcuffing myself to Lightroom. When Nikon ceased to develop and support Nikon Capture NX, I migrated to the Danish Phase One company’s software “Capture One 11”. At the same time, I moved my image management system to their “Media Pro SE” product.

While the developmental capabilities of this software are superb, the transition was not easy, since ease of use is not Phase One’s software-writing strongpoint, in my opinion. It took a steep learning curve for me to work out the best new workflow for me and the best way to integrate a digital asset management (DAM) process. I found myself scrapping one version after another, in order to experiment with an alternative, and I have only now settled down to what I believe will be a robust approach for me for the immediate future. I admit that my hard-headed insistence on being self-sufficient, might have slowed the process, which would have benefitted from engaging earlier and more often with the Help Desk.

So, 1 January 2018 is also the date at which I have committed to uploading/ naming/ culling/ saving and cataloguing my images in a uniform way. From that date, all will be efficient. Unfortunately, I will still be working in parallel to bring the legacy images into the same catalogued environment. The effort invested so far has clearly demonstrated the increased efficiency in manipulating my precious stock and given me a lot of pleasure in reviewing where I have been and what I have captured over the years.

New Year Resolutions

Mine are:

• To complete 2 new photographic books: “Genesis” and “Paris Mon Amour”
• Complete the cataloguing of my work
• To refresh the look and ergonomy of my website www.photeinos.com
• To refresh the choice of images and showcase new work

See You Friday!

So, this blog is a New Year’s Day taster for next Friday. I sincerely hope that the year will be a great one for you, your family and friends and that you will find it a pleasure to make a habit of viewing my blog and, perhaps, engage with me and the rest of my work on the website.

Very Sincerely

Paul

Copyright Paul Grayson 2018 All Rights Reserved