Category: Computing

General computing with a bias towards Unix, OS X, Apple products, for use in Music and Photography

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A big day for Apple

Apple had a press conference today and as well as the expected iPad announcements there were a few extra announcements.

Of most interest to me was the announcement of the latest version of Mac OS X. I’ll have to check with Adobe and a few other software manufactures of software to see if everything is compatible and I may install on a separate hard disk first to test before upgrading my main system.

The big thing from Apple was that all the software updates are free, a great move.

Not announced but also available today is another iOS update. 7.03 was which as well as a bug fix also includes the new iCloud KeyChain.

Updating my iPhone now.

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Reliance on the Internet

Macbook Air -top

 

Well the move is complete, we still have lots of work to do, including the basics like plumbing in the washing machine, but things are slowly coming together.  We have had very little internet access for the last few days, even now its still slow and flakey but its slowly getting better.

Its really surprised me how much we have missed the internet access.  Just about everything now a days is easier to do online.  Even little plumbing and joinery jobs we have been doing, I would usually just check on line and watch a few YouTube videos just to make sure I knew what I was doing.

We really do live on line lives today.

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Compositing and Backgrounds

Alice

 

I always like where possible to get things right in camera.  The above shot was taken outside in the garden, the sun was a light source but I also used a Elinchrom flash head and large softbox on a C Stand, the flash was actually the main source and the daylight as fill, but often its just not possible to do this kind of thing as the location is not suitable.

It is in situations like this where compositing can be the answer.  You take a photo outside to use as a background and take the main photo in the studio.  You then combine the two using photoshop.

Below is a quick fantasy composite that is not intending to be realistic to show what I mean.Composit

The key to making a realistic composite is making the lighting match and shooting with the intention of making a composite.

Composit Candidate

 

The above shot would make a likely composite.  The plain background was due to a seamless infinity curve in the studio, would make it easy to select just the model and place it on a background.

For the backgrounds I have never had a lot of success but then I read some tips on Scott Kellby’s blog about shooting for backgrounds.

Check it out and have a go, I know I will.

http://scottkelby.com/2013/how-to-realistic-shallow-depth-of-field-backgrounds-for-compositing/

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iOS7 24 hours later

iOS 7 Well its now just over 24 hours since I updated to Apple’s latest and greatest iOS.  If you read the internet forums its either the greatest thing ever or the biggest disaster ever and Apple will go bust in days.

So far I like it, lots of improvements to functionality.  I do find it slightly less intuitive but one quickly finds ones way around.  The biggest issue is for me is the icons look a little odd and a bit like cartoon icons.  They may work better with the more colourful iPhone 5c.  Also so I am not sure I like the way folders take on the colours from the background it can look a little odd sometimes.

Overall I like it, and its a much improved OS.  In case you are wondering the photo above that I am currently using on my lock screen was taken last year in the studio.  A strongly lit background with no light on the model.  I had her repeatedly jump up in the air while I photographed her.  It was a fun shoot, quite a laugh for both of us but very tiring.  The pink gradient was added later in photoshop.

 

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iPhone 5S, 5C and iOS 7

iphone 5sWell its going to be a busy week for Apple.  We have the release of the new hardware this week, basically tweaks and improvements to my current iPhone 5.

I am more interested in iOS 7, there are some significant user interface improvements that I am looking forward to, and I will be one of the first to upgrade all of the family Brown Apple devices to it on Wednesday when its released a couple of days before the new phone.

If your after more details about the new Phones and iOS 7 check out Apple’s website and also MacRumours, as well as some interest thoughts from Chris on his Blog; (i)Phone Update Part 1 & (i)Phone Update Part 2.

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Apple System Status

Apple ServicesCloud Computing is the new buzzword. Rent computing power, hosting, email etc all from on line providers. Its not really new but has become a lot bigger.

The last few weeks some of the big players have had major outages, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have all been hit. A self inflicted outage recently occurred at Apple, due to a security issue. Apple closed their developer site for a week while the issue was fixed.

As more and more of us rely on these services repliability and knowing whats happening becomes more important.

If your an Apple user then its likely you use their iCloud services. If you are having issues you can find out the status of Apple’s services here:

http://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/

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Wacom Intuos Pro

Back in the golden years of Hollywood the retouchers tools were a soft B pencil and a scalpel. In the darkroom cardboard masks and little circles of card to stuck to wires to dodge and burn was required.

Charlotte

In the hands of experts, blemishes were removed and complexions made perfect.

Today we use our mouse or touchpad, but often for more detailed work the experts day a pen and tablet is the order of the day.

This week is Photoshop World and many manufactures and software developers are releasing new versions.  One of the offers that did catch my eye was the new Wacom Intuos Pro from Wacom.  I am not sure yet if this is genuinely a new pen and tablet or just a rebrand of the well known Intuos 5, but as I will be having a major office redesign soon I may just have to test one out and see if there is a place for one in my current workflow.

 

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Adobe & Creative Cloud

Creative CloudAdobe came in for a lot of criticism when they release the Creative Cloud.  If you just wanted a single app is was expensive, if you wanted and used a lot of the apps then it was good value.

As a photographer I want Lightroom and occasionally Photoshop.  For users like me the full price is too much.  Well today during Photoshop World Adobe announced a new offer better focused on photographers.  They say its a limited offer which would be a shame as its much more focused on what a photographer needs.

It will be interesting on the take up.

 

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TV Resolution – SD, HD, 3D and now 4K

As with still cameras which have steadily increased in resolution, with have seen TV’s continually step up in recent years.

From CRT TV to Flat screen, then HD; in our consumer society there is always a need to make people upgrade. 3D was the next big thing, but while moderately successful in movie theatres was less so in homes. Now we have the next big thing 4K which has 4 times the resolution of HD.

I suspect we will see still cameras with 4K soon, we have already seen some mobile phones with 4K but I expect thats more marketing over usability.

One interesting aspect of this is going to be what happens with media and to broadcast. While Blue Ray can cope its likely we will need an updated format as we are close to its limits and that leaves no room for extras. Broadcast is even more of an issue, we would loose the majority of our channels as there is insufficient bandwidth to deliver 4K channels in the current numbers.

Interestingly Sony have come up with an interesting answer. Last year there first 4K TV coast $25,000, this year the current model is $5000. For deliver of content they have released a 4K media server at $700. Movies can come on either SD card or by download.

For many physical media is a thing of the past and it seems 4K may mean that for movies as well.