CAMERA PHONE GIRLS

GIMP 2.6 for Photographers: Image Editing with Open Source Software

Image editing has become a crucial element in the photographic workflow. Image editing tools, most notably Photoshop, are usually sophisticated and deep applications, and are fairly expensive. The only open source tool in this market is the GIMP, which has developed into a powerful, multiplatform system running on Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows.

GIMP 2.6 for Photographers is a beginner's guide to the only open source image editing tool that provides a low-cost alternative to expensive programs such as Photoshop. Topics include the basics of image editing and simple adjustments, as well as advanced techniques using layers and masks, stitching panoramic images, and preparing high-quality black and white images. The most important editing functions are presented in individual, easy-to-follow workshops.

GIMP 2.6 for Photographers has evolved from classroom materials that the author developed and taught in courses and workshops on image editing with the GIMP.

[Sony A200 + Tamron 18-250 ISO100 -1eV > dcraw H0Ww > Gimp]

...well, we can't go shooting around Lake Artemesia forever ;)

Time to start to look at some of my older subframe shots using some new post-processing techniques, especially now that some of hte cameras & lenses that I used to take them can truly be had for, well, "a few bags of peanuts" on eBay. It is not hard to see why they, "subframes" that is, are so popular despite their technical flaws. What is wrong with an A200 if you're going to take most if not all of your shots ISO100-200? At those ISOs they undoubtedly produce cleaner, more-detailed raw shots than a point & shoot of comparable resolution even if the p&s is shot at ISO80. The one trick is keeping them at ISO100-200 while shooting at F8 handheld, which is the dirty little secret of subframes (and fullframes) relative to point & shoots. With a G12 I could take this at F2.8, at most F4, and it would probably look just as sharp across the frame. And no need to underexpose it by a stop, either. So in good light, where the G9 had adequate focal-length range, it was just as good if not better than the A200 It was only when it got dark (at 28mm effective, ISO800 F4) or I had to take a long shot (200-375mm effective) that the A200/Tamron 18-250 combo really had an advantage over the G9. But those advantages were not nearly as great as the disadvantage in price, size & weight. And the ability to just keep the G9 in my pocket.

Still they were there, and they were real, and I definitely got some shots in Kiev with the A200/Tamron 18-250 that I could not have gotten with the G9, or even with a G11/G12. I would hate to compare it against a G11/G12 though.

I know one thing, I would love to have taken my shots in Istanbul with either camera shot raw vs a 400D & Sigma 18-200DC OS shot jpeg. even if I had just run them through Bibble 4.0 they would have come out better than the garbage that I got out of that camera & lens shooting jpeg. That is probably the one great mistake of my photographic life that I truly regret, going over there not once but twice and shooting jpegs from that utter piece of crap 400D at ISO400+, and saving the jpegs in medium-size "HQ" on top of that. I had no idea how much I was screwing-up in doing that.

Of course it's not like I've actually gone over there a third time with an a200 & Tamron 18-250 shooting raw and gotten significantly-better shots, but still. It would be nice to *have* raw shots from Istanbul. If you're going to screw up taking shots on a trip, at least screw up in raw :)

The problem is that you're still talking at least $200 for the body (like an A200) and another $200 for a compatible superzoom (like the Tamron 18-250). And those would be great eBay prices. This is why if we're going to talk about "flawed gear", a crappy p&s that has a similar 28-300mm effective focal-length range, is also 12MP and that also is going to be shot only at ISO80...well, that can't really be ignored for B does not mean that B > A. The existence of B does not mean that A had to exist before it. What I want is to get close to B without the complexities and cost of A. I don't want to have to spend $1500 and shoot at F8+ to get a shot like this. I don't think that anyone does.

And I would like to say that about any shot in my stream.

Furthermore I don't even want to have to spend ***$500*** to get a shot like this. Or have to shoot it at F8. It's nice to be able to shoot at F8 and still get good shots, but to *need* to do that to get sharp shots across the frame is a problem.

However

An A200 & Sony 18-70 is maybe $350 at most on eBay now.
A 450D & a 18-55 EF-S IS has to be in the same ballpark, a D5000 & 18-105VR likewise. But they still have to be shot at F8 for good sharpness across the frame and now you're talking about a $100 lens that's only 150mm effective at the long end. And this is the problem with subframes and especially fullframes: you end up with a camera that's just too much gear, and for most of them, just too good, for most of the shots that you want to take in good light but still not really good enough for most of the shots that you want to take in *bad* light especially with the average superzoom shooting handheld. They are either too hot or too cold. And without a doubt it's big, heavy, bulky and expensive, at least compared to a point & shoot. Even the D3100 is not all that much smaller than my N80 or 500si and that thing is freaking *tiny* for a DSLR. It still will not fit in your pocket with a decent IS zoom mounted on it, ergo it needs a strap or a bag, period. So it's either too hot or too cold and yet it requires constant attention, like a clingy girlfriend. I say that if it's going to be clingy, then it has to be smoking-hot even if that means it's expensive; but if it's neither expensive nor clingy then that's not all that bad as long

Used gear; Olympus E-500, Zuiko 50mm f2.0 Macro.
Did not have a clear mission on what i wanted to achieve with this. I was playing around with GIMP to see what my options were.
The picture is shot in RAW. That gives me a wider choice of options than if shot in jpg. Top shot is the original and straight out of the camera. The bottom one I fine-tuned the white balance by turning down red and green in the background. I simply opened up both pictures as layers on a new sheet. Moved both pictures into place and then gave it a 15% black Gaussian blur frame.

Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition is an update to the most successful GIMP book to date. This revision covers the latest release of The GIMP, with several major additions to the software. The reputation of the first edition, combined with increasing popularity of the software, adds up to a recipe for success on this new edition.
With four-color screenshots throughout, this book is aimed at those that need to utilize a full featured image manipulation program but don’t have hundreds of dollars to pay for Photoshop. The GIMP is also the preferred image manipulation application for open source advocates, and is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.