LuLu Publishing Review

 Lulu offers an economical way to print one offs. I have printed several books, both in B&W and color and have been extremely pleased with the results. Lulu offers many options for printing books. The options I have used so far are as follows:

Book, >500 Pages (so far)
Print Book: US Letter (8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm),
Print Book: Digest (5.5 x 8.5 in / 140 x 216),
Standard Black & White,
Premium Color,
80# White,
60# White,
Paperback,
Glossy Cover - cover created using Lulu's cover designer
Perfect bound

I generate my content with a python program that I wrote. This program produces print ready pdf's with the exception that it does not embed fonts. Fonts must be embedded for pdf's used on Lulu. This is easy to accomplish - simply open the pdf in a pdf viewer, like FoxIt and print to "Microsoft Print to PDF" in Windows or something similar for MAC/Linux. I have also used Affinity Publisher to generate content as well.

The pricing is very reasonable. The quality is high. I used MagCloud at first but switched to Lulu and saved $$. You can easily find coupons/promos as well to save even more. I highly recommend Lulu for publishing the type of books described above.

Book Cover Example

Red River Paper 45lb Zeppelin SemiGloss Double Sided Inkjet Paper Review

The 45lb Zeppelin SemiGloss Double Side paper from Red River is a beautiful paper. The paper has a smooth luxurious feel. It prints very well on my Canon MG6200. I have just received this paper and I think I am going to love it for making photobooks. The paper is rather thin, but I see no bleeding from images on either side to the other. I have used only the 8.5x11 size.The paper is not super white. A very nice paper and highly recommended.

Free Fonts, Layouts, Textures and other Stuff

As I said in my previous post, I like free stuff, especially when it is useful. I have found the fonts and textures which are free on DealJumbo.com are of high quality. I use them in photoshop for composites made from my photos. You can have a look here. DealJumbo also has some incredible deals on paid for items. Give them a look.

Good Website for Regional Lists of Butterflies and Moths and Using DownloadThemAll for getting the Items on the List

I find this site http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org to be excellent for identifying moths and butterflies in my area. I like the way you can specify a region in the US down to the state and county as shown below.

What would be fantastic would be to have a pdf of all the species pages for the region entered. I am working on this. The first thought is to use a tool like DownLoadThemAll for Firefox to select and download all the species pages. The images below show how this can be accomplished.

Unfortunately, with the page downloads, you get a lot of extra stuff that you don't really need as shown below.

You can edit the HTML source to clean up the page resulting in page shown below which is much cleaner. 

It would take quite awhile to edit each file individually. It would be great to find a way to automate this. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Nature Macro Shot Pet Peeve

I love all wonderful nature macro shots on flickr, G+, 500px, and other sites. I just wish more people would take the time to do some research and find out what it is they are photographing and add this as a caption or comment. If you are really interested in nature macro photography - surely the name of the species is important? You can use bug and plant identification sights on the web or get some field guides. I think the value of an image is lessened if the species name is not listed, no matter the wow factor of the image itself. The worst offense is to leave the image untitled. Really? You don't know what is generally? You can't tell it is a butterfly, ant, or grasshopper. A general name is better than nothing.

If you have tried to identify and can't, say so. Ask for help. Give some details about the image - where, how, when, what. Someone out there will know or have an idea about what it is.

Take a chance on the species name. If some one knows better and corrects you, Great! You learned something.

Once again, in my mind, the most spectacular image in the world is degraded if you don't know what it is.

Evernote Revisited

Back in February of 2010 I wrote a post on using Evernote for photography. Since then, I have been collecting “notes” at a pretty good clip. I still find Evernote the best solution for storing information from the web. I now have over 2300 notes in over 30 notebooks. My notebooks are shown in the image below. As you can see, I have many different subjects of interest. I browse these notebooks from time to time just for inspiration and idea generation. Other times I search for specific items. I still can recommend Evernote as a great tool for photographers or any creative.

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Flowers Flowers Flowers Everywhere

It's spring in the southern US and the flowers are blooming. It has been an unusually wet spring and every thing is green and flowers offer great contrast. This post is about where do I find flowers to photograph. Here is my list (in no particular order).


1) Around the house - we have iris's, gerbera daisies, and other flowers around the house. This is certainly the most convenient.
2) Along the roadway - I have photographed many wonderful flowers along the roadway. When I spot something interesting, I pull over where it is convenient and safe and walk back to the spot where the flowers are located. Some of my favorite roadside flowers are bachelors buttons, red and pink clover, thistles, and many others.
3) Home and garden centers, nurseries - most keep there flowers out all the time and they are accessible for photography. I usually go early in the morning on a Sunday when they are not open and take some shots.
4) Entrances to housing developments - Many housing developments have beautified the entrances with flowering plants. Again - I find early morning to be less busy and the best time for photographing in these locations.
5) Businesses - Many business complexes have nice landscaping including flowers. I have found many nice flower opportunities here.
6) Cemeteries - After a deceased person is interred, many times flowers are left on the grave. I have payed my respects to people I don't know and photographed the flowers that were laid on their grave.
7) Public gardens - this one needs no explanation.
8) Private homes - just stop and ask
9) Churches - Some churches have flowers in their landscape scheme.
10) Main Streets - Nowadays, flowers are quite common.

I am in no way suggesting that you trespass on private property to photograph flowers. You have to determine the risks involved at any location. I have successfully photographed flowers in all of the locations above.

Be discreet and don't destroy anyone's property or flowers. Go out and photograph some flowers.

Images using Inkjet Wax Paper Transfer

How to Make Inkjet Image Transfers with Wax Paper

Here's another way to make an image transfer. Use common wax paper. I began by gluing a piece of wax paper to a normal sheet of inkjet 8.5 x 11 paper as follows:

1) Use spray adhesive and spray one side of the inkjet paper.
2) Cut a piece of wax paper that is larger than the inkjet paper by at least 2 inches.
3) Place the wax paper on the glue side of the inkjet paper. Start on one end and roll over to the other end. Try to avoid bubbles and wrinkles. I was able to lift the wax paper and reposition to remove wrinkles.
4) Use you hand to press down and smooth the wax paper/inkjet paper combination.

The purpose of this inkjet paper/wax paper sandwich is to add some strength to the wax paper so it will process correctly in your inkjet printer.

Once dry, you are ready to make an image transfer. You need the following items:

1) inkjet paper/wax paper sandwich
2) paper to receive image (this can be photo paper, watercolor paper, mixed media paper, etc.)
3) Flat surface for receiving paper

To make your transfer follow these steps:

1) Lay the receiving paper down on the flat surface
2) Load the inkjet paper/wax paper sandwich into the printer
3) Print and image (Print settings should be for inkjet paper - not photo paper)
4) Place the inkjet paper/wax paper sandwich ink face down on the receiving paper
5) Hold tightly with one hand and press down with the other
6) Be sure to rub the whole image area
7) Remove the inkjet paper/wax paper sandwich
8) Admire your transferred image

I really like the look of the transferred image. Why not try different papers and surfaces? Why not layer some images? This is an easy way to create some unique images.

5x7 View Camera

I have always wanted to try a large format view camera. I recently received an Eastman No. 33A from a friend. I was thinking that finally I will be able to try LF photography.

Not so. After closer examination the camera has several problems.

1) No ground glass
2) Holes in bellows. Bellows very brittle.
3) No film holder
4) Front standard has been modified to try an give some additional movements.
5) Black paint and gaffers tape have been applied to the lens board and front standard.

OK. It could be an interesting refurbishing project.

1) Ground glass to fit can be found for around $35 at Steve Hopf. Seems reasonable.
2) I think the bellows is beyond repair. A new one can be had for $175 from Turner Bellows.
3) Film holders can be found on Ebay for $15 to $20 each.
4) I would need to make new pieces for the front standard. I have done woodworking and have some cherry wood, so not a big deal.
5) I think I would make a new lens board. Refinish the remaining pieces of the front standard.

So, for approximately $250 + time I could get the camera back in operational shape. Is it worth it? I have read people complain about the lack of movements on the front standard. That's why someone tried to modify it. To give it rotational movement in addition to up and down. Being a beginner, I think the lack of movements would be a benefit.

For twice that much money, I could probably find a 4x5 on Ebay in better shape.

I don't know what I am going to do. So for now, I am still just dreaming about LF photography.

Shuffle images in folder using Faststone Image Viewer

This past weekend, I was creating slideshows from some of my images. I was using Lightroom 4. The slideshow module in LR4 does a pretty decent job, but is limited in transition and pan and zoom effects. So I searched for some other solutions. Of all the solutions I downloaded and tried, on LR4 had the "image shuffle" feature. I think this should be a very common feature but it isn't, at least not in the software I tried.

How to shuffle image files? Use Faststone Image Viewer. I have talked about this versatile program before. Here's how I did it.

1) Export jpg's of my images from LR4 to a folder on the desktop.
2) Right click on the folder and select "Browse with Faststone"
3) In Fastsone Image Viewer, select all images

4) Press "F7" to shuffle images

5) Select all images. Select "Tool" then "Batch Rename All Images" (F4)

6) Select "Rename"

7) Now the folder will have the shuffled images.

Quick Tip: Use Camera Equipment Inventory as Pack Checklist

I have an inventory of all my camera equipment in an Excel spreadsheet. I have models numbers and serial numbers, descriptions, etc. Keeps me from buying the same stuff twice (most of the time). I added two columns to the table, called "Things to Pack For Trip" and "Packed". Now when I am going on a phototrip, I print out the inventory, check the items I want to take in the "Things to Pack For Trip" column and when they are packed I check off the "Packed" column. Keeps me from having to create a checklist specific to each trip.

Storage Cases for Fluorescent Photo Bulbs

How do you store the fluorescent bulbs for photographic lighting? I started by using the boxes they were shipped in, including the Styrofoam protective sleeves. After a while, these wore out so I looked for another solution. I wanted a substantial case - but reasonably priced. I found one at Amazon. It is a  Zeikos ZE-HC36 Medium Hard Case which sells for $40. It has foam inserts with the removable blocks so you can customize the fit. The case was shipped in a fairly thin box with some thin bubble wrap wrapped around it. It has a dent in one place. It doesn't affect the operation so I am not going through the hassle to return it. I was able to make a home for three  85 watt daylight fluorescent bulbs. I haven't field tested this setup yet but I believe it is going to suffice for my needs.

Here is an image of the lights in the case and a closeup of the ding provided by the poorly boxed shipping method.

              

Showing Photos on 7" Android Device

There are numerous sub $100 7" screen Android device out there. Even though I have a Kindle Fire, I wanted  a real Android device so I bought a AGPtek (Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) MID 7" TouchScreen Wi-Fi G-sensor Tablet 4GB Built-In Storage With Expandable Micro SD Card Slot) device which I am quite happy with. I bought it mainly for email, videos, photos, and surfing the web. I wanted an app that would display my images as a slide show and after testing a few I settled on Fish Bowl Photo . You can display the images on your device in a grid fashion. Selecting an image will zoom the image to it max size for the device. They also have a slide show function. What I like about Fish Bowl is that it doesn't rotate the images during the slide show as some other apps do. Therefore you are not rotating the device for portrait or landscape. Sure - you give up some on the size of the displayed image, but it's a lot let arm movement. You can adjust the delay between images. There are no transitional effects, no fluff. Just a simple app that does a good job with your images. 

Update 12 July 2012: There was an app on my 'droid device that I hadn't paid attention to called 2160P which is a photo app which does a good job of displaying photos, slide shows and editing. I think I may like it better than Fish Bowl Photo. However, I could not find it at the Google Play store or on the internet. If you are familiar with it - leave a comment.

Infared Photography with Fuji F505

I tried out holding my Hoya IR72 filter in front of the lens on a Fujifilm f505 today. The results were promising. For the handheld shots, I used the lowest aperture and ISO 3200 in the Aperture Priority Mode. I also took some shots with the camera in manual. I set the delay timer to 2 seconds and set the camera on a table. Lowest aperture setting. I played around with the shutter speed until I got a decent exposure. Here is an image shot handheld.

I like the way this looks.

Film Simulation Mode on Fujifilm F505

The F505 offers 5 film simulation modes. To save and import photos in these modes the camera must be set to save images as Raw+JPEG. If the camera is in the RAW only mode, your images will be previewed as the film simulation type in the camera, but will be normal RAW images when transferred to the computer.

You can always convert a RAW image to sepia in most image processing programs like Lightroom and Photoshop. I found shooting and previewing images in the "Sepia" film simulation mode helped me with my composition. I suggest the same would be true for the B&W mode.

More on the Fujifilm F505

I have had the F505 for a couple of weeks now. Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:

1) Panorama setting is really really cool.
2) The camera can capture 3 continuous shots in one shutter click for HDR shots. The shots are set to under exposure, normal exposure, and over exposure. The amount can be set at 1/3, 2/3, or 1 stop. Way cool.
3) Macro function and the closeup ability of this camera is outstanding.

Cons:

1) Mode button is easily moved by accident
2) Buttons are tiny
3) Barrel distortion on full zoom
4) Slow image storage - you have to wait on the camera after 2 shots
5) Oversaturated colors - particularly the reds
6) Overall image quality
7) High ISO images are quite soft

There are still functions I have not used. I am still finding new ways to use this camera. In spite of the flaws, it is well worth the $150 paid.

My Review of B + W 72mm #110 3.0 (1000x) Neutral Density Glass Filter with Single Coating

Originally submitted at Adorama

B + W 72mm #110 3.0 (1000x) Neutral Density Glass Filter with Single Coating

B + W 72mm #110 3.0 (1000x) Neutral Density Glass Filter with Single Coating

Outstanding ND Filter

By HWPhoto from Greenville, SC on 4/23/2012

5out of 5

Pros: Easy To Use, Firm Mount, Clear Optics
Best Uses: Long Exposure
Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast
Was this a gift?: No

If you need to knock down the light a bit, this is an excellent way to do it. Allows long exposures, even on sunny days. I use it for photography waterfalls.

(legalese)

How I used a glass ball (orb) for macro photos

I used a glass orb with a wire stand to make some interesting macro photos of a snail shell. You can see the images here. Below is a diagram of the setup. I used coat hanger wire to make the stand.

I got my 80mm orb from an Amazon reseller.