Aperture 3 Upgrade Observations

My upgrade to Apple's Aperture 3 came over the weekend so I upgraded and started letting it analyze faces using the iPhoto-inspired "Faces and Places" feature.

Here's a few observations from the upgrade process and just a little use of the Faces feature.

• Aperture 3's icons are colorful, compared to its predecessor. I think they still look professional, but they are a little "friendlier" and more iPhoto-like.
• Aperture 3 itself is just under 1GB in size but the sample library is about 7GB.
• To use the new features of Aperture 3, you must upgrade your Aperture 2 library. This can take several hours and did for me on a 50GB library.
• Backup "Vaults" seem to also require a full refresh, probably due to the library upgrade. Vault backups still run in that irritating modal dialog box that pops up and interrupts. Best to freshen Vaults when you don't have to work on anything else, but I still love the ability to have multiple Vaults. Note, Vaults are freshened in serial - it seems to do one, then do the next.
• Both TimeMachine and Spotlight indexing get kicked into overdrive because they detect upgraded files from the Aperture 3 upgrade activities.
• With the new Faces feature, you have to train Aperture 3 to use it. If you pick a folder of photos in your library with people you commonly photograph, and spend the time to tell Aperture who is who, you can then use the "Confirm Faces" feature to drag-select vast swaths of matching faces, or, to toggle a face to be "not Jim" or "not Jane". It works better the more you train it, and it's fun to see who it "thinks" you are. Family resemblances can be telling :-). Faces also links to Address Book entries.
• Aperture 3 is most definitely snappier compared to its previous version, and registers in Activity Monitor as Intel 64-bit. My library uses about 250MB of memory.

I think it's a worthwhile upgrade just for the speed increase.

Color Management in Flock (and Firefox)

If you use anything but IE 7 you are still out of luck, but Safari users have had this functionality for quite a while. I refer to "color management", which is the concept of adjusting the color properties of devices, like displays, monitors, printers or scanners, so that colors mean the same thing across devices, and more importantly look the same. The adjustment can be done in the operating system itself, which is what Mac OS X does (and one reason it is superior to Windows), or via International Color Consortium "ICC" profiles and other software trickery.

Let me keep it very simple for this post, though. If you use Flock, which is at the time of this writing based on Firefox 3, or Firefox 3 itself, color management is disabled by default. However, you can easily enable color management, so that photos on photo sharing sites like Flickr or SmugMug will render with the color profile embedded in the photo, which usually means they will look much better than the default, using no profile. In my opinion, these days you will get far better results by turning color management on, in your Flock or Firefox 3 browser.

How to Enable Color Management in Flock or Firefox 3

The easiest way to enable the settings is by using the Color Management Addon for Firefox which will work in Firefox and should work in Flock. Alternatively, you can enter the secret "about:config" code in your address bar (where you type the URL), and enable color management yourself:

about:config

Be very careful about what you change in here, because you can break your browser easily. That said, scroll down until you find:

gfx.color_management.enabled

gfx.color_management.display_profile

You can double click gfx.color_management.enabled to enable Firefox to use whatever profile is embedded in the photo you are viewing, and, you can specify an ICC profile by entering its path in the gfx.color_management.display_profile parameter. If you are not sure what that means, just enable gfx.color_management.enabled.

Restart Flock or Firefox, and you should get much better colors on sites like Flickr or SmugMug. Finally, please check out Deb Richardson's excellent introductory post on this topic, for a clear depiction of the difference of using profiles or not, and how different applications render color. Don't waste time with color management turned off - turn it on now and enjoy much richer color.

New Canon PowerShot D10, a Waterproof Point-and-Shoot

Yesterday, I purchased the new Canon PowerShot D10 at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to take over for an old Canon IXY 500. The IXY has served us well and works OK still, but the waterproof and shockproof nature of the D10 were attractive because of the proximity to the Shonan beach area near where we live, and how often we've been nervous about taking electronics to the beach! It's going to be nice to drag the camera right into the surf or even underwater.

I compared this D10 with other waterproof and shockproof models from Olympus (the Tough-8000) and Panasonic (the Lumix TS-1 or FS-1), but ultimately chose the Canon. I liked the way it felt in my hands at the store, and there were too many quirks in reviews about the others. At any rate, I thought I would share some first impressions and photos with everyone.

Specifications of the Canon PowerShot D10

Let me summarize some of the specs.

Megapixels - A solid 12.1, combined with the Digic4 processor. I'm not so interested in huge megapixel figures, because I really don't need to print posters.

Lens - it's got a bright f/2.8 3x optical, 4x digital zoom, with lens-shift Image Stabilization. This is a nice lens, and it's in line with the sensor and not "folded", which contributes to its rather bulbous shape.

Focus - face-detection auto-focus.

Media - "Secure Digital" SDHC format.

File Format - JPEG (Fine only, not Super-Fine) for photos and Motion JPEG for movies up to 1 hour and 4GB.

Toughness - it's an outdoor-use camera, waterproof to 10 m and shockproof to 1.2 m.

ISO - 80 to 1600 but pretty noisy at high ISO.

Viewfinder - none, it's an "LCD only" camera.

Battery - Lithium Ion

Unprocessed Samples from the Canon PowerShot D10

Here are some unprocessed sample photos, and a gratuitous motion JPEG video from the Canon PowerShot D10.

Impressions of the Canon PowerShot D10

I've only used the camera just for a few snaps, but I like it. It turns on very quickly, has a whole slew of "scene modes" like aquarium, beach, underwater, foliage and so forth, as well as a program mode for some manual tinkering as usual in the PowerShot range. It has a programmable print button, so you can for example link "video record" to that for an easy way to start recording without fishing through menus.

I don't care too much about the fashionable, replaceable faceplates that you can swap in (it has blue on there in the box but there's also black, orange and camoflage), but I really love the straps that came with the "Canon D10 Outdoor Kit". There's a wrist strap, a neck strap, a caribiner strap that you hook to your belt, and a shoulder strap that lets you sling the D10 over your shoulder, and whip up when you want to take a photo. The design of the camera itself is pretty funky, but each corner has a connector that looks like something you'd see in a submarine. These connectors make the straps really easy to connect. You just slot it in and turn. Easy! And since there's a connector on each corner, it's nice for left- or right-handed people.

As for negatives, despite the nice fast f/2.8 lens, Canon bastardized the JPEG settings so there's no "super fine". I suppose this is to try to prevent you from having to swap SD cards at the beach, but I'd rather make that decision myself. Also, there's no HD video like Canon's introduced into their newest IXY models. Something I noticed in the manual, it says to turn up the volume on any videos you take with the camera because the mic is "not so sensitive due to the waterproof characteristics of the camera." So say we all. Finally, I've owned other PowerShots but this one's manual settings feel a little limited.

In the end, I think I'm going to probably take this camera everywhere because I don't have to fret about damage from water. I like it quite a bit, especially the fact that I can sling it over my shoulder with the useful straps. I'll update when I get some samples underwater.

Ladder by Georgios Karamanis

I love this shot by Georgios Karamanis. Incredible color! Flickr is such an incredible resource for finding great photos.

Double-Duty Lumiquest SoftScreen & IR Filter

I am beginning to read through the outstanding and extensive off-camera lighting tutorials on David Hobby's "Strobist" blog, so that I can take better photos with my Nikon D90. The way I understand it, Strobist is a philosophy of DIY, using found or inexpensive materials over bespoke, and no-brand over brand.

Lighting is a complex subject, and it takes a while to study up on the terminology and terms. For a while, you swim (drown?) in TTL, CLS and Guide Number soup, until it starts to make sense. There are many decisions to be made, including whether to go Strobist (i.e., manual), automated Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) or some combination, whether to trigger your strobes optically or via wire or via transmitter, and so on.

I have a Nikon SB-900 speedlight. It is Nikon's latest, a big mother of a flash, and I want to use it off the camera so that I don't fry the eyes of my subjects (only half joking). You can use the built-in flash of the D90 DSLR as a "commander" for the SB-900 and other modern Nikon flashes (SB-800, SB-600, SB-R200). The SB-900 can also act as the commander in either the fully-automated Nikon CLS scenario, or, in a more Strobist-like SU-4 optical-master / optical-slave scenario.

One problem I read about is that when the built-in flash is acting as the commander, of say an SB-900, it will emit pre-flashes to check exposure and so on, and these sometimes can have a negative effect on your exposure meter-wise, or by causing your model to close his or her eyes, or in the case of critters, spooking them away. So, your alternatives in trying to take care of this problem are:

• Get a Nikon SU-800, which is a dedicated commander module with no flash capability. It is sold separately and as part of a macro photography kit.
• Get the 12 dollar bracket-and-screen set from Nikon called the SG-31R, which blocks the pre-flashes. This is just a bracket you slot into your hotshoe, and a connected black screen that hangs in front of your on-board flash.
• Wire up your SB-900 speedlight using a SC-28 or SC-29 cord and use it as the commander tethered to the camera.
• Put a bit of 35 mm film over your built-in flash since it is supposed to allow IR to pass through but block light. Kodak 120 Ektachrome processed unexposed should do the trick.
• Use "flash value lock" to get an exposure monitor pre-flash first, before taking the shot. Less chance of squinting or blinking.

Or you can do some creative, space-saving DIY, and use an inexpensive IR gel filter to block visible light while allowing IR to pass. I recently bought a Lumiquest SoftScreen, which is a compact diffuser sheet designed to make your on-board flash's light softer. It hooks into your hotshoe, and then you hook the other end of the screen onto the housing for the on-board flash.

The on-board flash's light will shine through the SoftScreen's white screen and get diffused. This seems to give better results than the somewhat harsh light from a direct hit from the built-in. When I heard about the purpose of the Nikon SG-31R screen, though, it occurred to me that I could somehow jury-rig the SoftScreen to hold an IR filter using its case, doing double-duty and saving me from having to carry around yet another contraption.

In the end, I bought a 900 yen (about 8 dollars) Fuji Film #92 IR Gel Filter (actually, it filters the light and lets the IR through), at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on the 3rd floor of the Camera Kan near the large-format equipment. It even has a little paper holder so you don't mess it up with your grimy mitts (perfect for me, what with all that bike grease on my hands!).

The Steps to Pre-Flash Squelch Nirvana

Here's the steps I took to rig up the SoftScreen with the FujiFilm IR Filter:

1. Buy a Fuji Film IR Filter at Yodobashi camera in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was on the 3rd floor, with the large format film cameras.
2. Open the filter, and install it in the little paper holder (two cardboard squares with a circle die-cut out). Secure the edge of the filter with a little Gaffer tape.
3. Make a cut with an Xacto knife in the bottom of Lumiquest SoftScreen's plastic case (the side furthest away from the flap side), long enough to fit over the housing of the built-in flash (not the flash itself but its cover). Cut through both sides of the case, and secure the edges of the cut with some Gaffer tape to make sure it does not rip. Test that the slit fits over the flash cover.
4. Insert the SoftScreen's white screen portion into the case, so that the case flap drops over the black back of the screen, facing the photographer-side of the camera. Align the hole in the screen with the slit in the case.
5. Put the Fuji Filter in the case with the SoftScreen.
6. Mount the half-encased SoftScreen on your on-board flash.
7. Test that the pre-flashes are cut down, but that remote Speedlights still get fired.
8. Try also just propping the filter behind the SoftScreen, without the case. I am not sure which is better and YMMV.

At any rate, I hope you Enjoy it!

Crumpler "Sinking Barge" SLR Camera and 15" Laptop Bag

To protect the Nikon D90 and allow me to maintain my sanity while commuting with my computer equipment as well, I bought a black and grey Crumpler Sinking Barge bag, which holds a 15" laptop like a Macbook Pro (not the 17" version, though), an SLR and medium-sized lens, one extra lens, and has enough room for a flash, cables and so on. Today I am carrying all that plus a change of clothes.

Crumpler has a zany flash-based website that you just have to experience. It is like a big vending machine, complete with some funny off-color product demonstration vids featuring employees. Good stuff.

What I like about it is that it looks smooth, not like your typical camera bag, has excellent zippers and workmanship, and protects my usual equipment quite well. If I have any criticism, it is that some of the pockets are a little tight to insert a hand, there is no place for a monopod to be clipped (you need to get the bigger Crumpler models for that), and the inside flap is overly long. Overall, it's perfect for my needs.

Finding Photos within a Date Range in Aperture

A friend using Apple's powerful Aperture photo management application asked me how to sort photos into date ranges, such as an entire year, a calendar month, or by day. Here's how to do it with Aperture's Smart Album feature.

First, create the Smart Album by ctrl-clicking on the Library folder and choosing "New Smart" then "Album". The same thing is available from the File menu.

A grey-black semi-transparent Heads-Up Display or "HUD" will appear, and from the HUD's plus drop down in its upper right corner, select "date". A Date line is added to the HUD, and you can choose "Image Date" "Is In The Range" and enter your date range in the boxes. Note also the "Calendar" selector, which seems only to do a single day.

Notice a couple more things about the HUD. Each criteria line has a checkbox which serves to enable or disable the criteria. There is a "Include if" line with a dropdown, from which you can choose "Any" or "All" from, and whether to check for matches or no matches. This covers the selection logic, and acts upon all the selected criteria below. You can also choose just to filter if the photo was a stack pick, using the checkbox for that in the lower left of the HUD.

When you are done entering criteria, click the X in the HUD's upper left corner to close it. You can reopen the HUD by clicking on the little magnifying glass to the right of the Smart Album itself, to reopen the HUD. I'm using Aperture 2.1.1 at the time of this writing so your mileage may vary.

New Nikon D90

I got a Nikon D90 and it's a wonderful DSLR. Hope to be able to write some FAQs or Tutorials about it here.

Nikon COOLPIX P6000 Released in Japan - 11 Sept 2008

The Nikon point-and-shoot COOLPIX P6000 was released in Japan today and I checked it out at the Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera. Good solid feel to the camera's construction despite a light weight, but it's the features that are a draw: built-in GPS for Geotagging, and the ability to shoot in RAW are my favorites.

I'll have to find some samples of its RAW output and download them, to see if I can process the files in Aperture. There are a lot of disclaimers about the NRW format RAW files: Windows-only this, in-camera-only that, so we shall see.

I bet we'll see this kind of in-camera GPS become more and more prevelant.