Snowdrops

[Detail Man]

Yes, i did. I like the first one most - it's really impressing!
Gerd

I have not yet figured out what location name it is oriented in (from visiting the HST gallery web-site linked above).

PS: As a usability person, I would say than an "Edit" menu should be standard in every application. But I agree that a lot very useful applications do not conform to usability standards, whatever the reasons may be. Some subject matter experts do not seem to be educated in software usability standards - or do not care for them...

I agree about having a friendly "Undo" option (of at least one level)- It could become a drive space issue on the older, significantly smaller logical (data, external,etc.) drives - but it would be nice for us users to be able to make and implement the setting of the numerical limit of undo-steps from the user interface.

One level of "undo" is not too hard to (manually) orchestrate (by "Copying" and "Pasting" from right within the selection window of the "Open" choice, and operating on the "copy of" version_. By always operating on the latest copied name, the order that they were created in is easy to determine (the least recent level has the shorter length file-name), a modification of a particular level will be able to be copied over the (previousl) identically named file ... though a change performed on an earlier version must then propagate through the later versions (which is a headache) ... and I then just trash the intermediate versions that I do not want.

Propagating the changes (from the earlier version to all of the later version in succession) is the biggest pain about it. I have to do just that when juggling between "raw" processing, then XnView to re-sample using "Lanczos-3", and on to PSP9 in order to perform USM and to generate a high quality (no chroma-sub-sampling) JPG conversion :geek:

PS - Few "flames" in my corner. I'm a lover , not a fighter. Much more a gabby mystic and techno-hack ... the details just seem to expand like fractal thought-projections.

The key (and my hope) is to say something meaningful (and perhaps useful in some way) about some sort of accurate information. It's amazing what one can find on the internet in the realms of very well done (and non-malicious) freeware (from private and academic sources). Such open efforts help to restore my faith in the globally perceived value on the part of others of the open sharing of educational information and works! A genuine wonder that (anything) is free (and functional, and mal-ware free) these days - but such good things are (thankfully) still out there.

 

[waloszek]

Detailman, no flames in my corner either! But as I am a usability professional, the lack of an edit menu and an undo function simply popped into my eyes -- I could not avoid it As you write, users find their ways around the shortcomings of software applications. Nevertheless these can sometimes be very cumbersome. Your post demonstrates this well...
I am also aware of the fact that implementing an undo feature is not easy (I once tried this for a graphical programming environment that I wrote for my thesis). And as you write, a lot of disk space is needed for storing the intermediate steps.

I have to admit that I take only JPEG images and do just rudimentary post processing in selected cases. We take far too many photos for having the time for extensive post processing...
Best regards, Gerd

 

[Detail Man]

Gerd,

I (too) have predominantly taken JPGs with my Panasonic cameras over the brief four years of my experience as a hack photographer ...

Only got into this "raw' business because I felt that I needed to (not out of an intentional masochism) because neither my DMC-FZ50 or my DMC-LX3 record JPGs that meet up with my (probably overly ambitious) expectations.

Have taken tens of thousands of JPGs (and post-processed a few thousand) at a pace much quicker than wading through the mire of "raw" ...
Actually taking (and polishing) occasional "little gems" is a lot more fun than futzing with the hardware, software, etc.,
and have had just as much (if not more) fun with my first little DMC-LZ5 6 Mpixel camera.

Life, indeed, is too short to spend wrestling with mere machines ...

 

[waloszek]

@thelps: Finally, I found "real" tracking dobs (Skywatcher): http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swti ... class2=106
Best regards, Gerd

 

[waloszek]

>> Have taken tens of thousands of JPGs (and post-processed a few thousand) at a pace much quicker than wading through the mire of "raw" ... Actually taking (and polishing) occasional "little gems" is a lot more fun than futzing with the hardware, software, etc., and have had just as much (if not more) fun with my first little DMC-LZ5 6 Mpixel camera.

That sounds familiar to me! I processed every image with my first cameras (Kodak DC50, 120, Nikon 900, 950, 990), but gave up after I had stopped taking slides on our vacations (around 2003..., then having Minolta Dimage 7ff). Mostly I did just auto-contrast or auto-levels plus a bit of levels, all done in "high-speed mode". Now, I process only selected photos. And I agree, that polishing a few gems is more satisfying and fun than doing "mass processing". But real gems are rare in our stock...

 

[waloszek]

Snowdrops on their way!

Despite all the snow, our snowdrops are pushing their way out. Just a few more photos by my wife from today!
Best regards, Gerd






And finally a flower that we call "Nieswurz":

 

[Detail Man]

Very nice shots! You have to hand it to Nature and its little wonders for their tenacity ... Here in Seattle the warm January has "faked-out" the Crocuses (and even the Cherry Blossoms), but old man Winter may have some more precipitation and chills to level before Spring. I hope that they make it through these turbulent seasons of late - and that your little wonders find the sunshine through the snowbanks!