Surface Pro installations Checklist

Photoshop and Bridge.. Check.
DxO Photolab.. Check.
Google NIK Collection... Check
My old tried and true LViewPro image viewer.. Check.
Mailwasher.. Check.
Google Chrome.. Check.
Trillian.. Check
yLaunch.. Check.
VLC.. Check
That pretty much does the whole installation and set up.  Now, it's the tweaking that needs o be done. The loathsome nannyware that refuses to let me save txt files in certain areas, or the whining about not being the Administrator when I am.  Got the bluetooth pen and mouse set up, too. Wing  Told me that On1PhotoRaw 2018 works on his surface pro, so installed it on mine, also. Had to reset the activations as we wanted to make sure we didn't exceed the number of seats activated. You can have 5 running at one time, but if you need more, you deactivate on one computer, and activate on the other. Easy peasy!

I Tech, therefore I am.

During our Albany trip, Wing  saw first hand the issues I had been having with my Sony laptop. It works great once it's in Windows, but not joking, (and no, not asking for tech advice (been there, done that, it is what it is)  can take up to 15 minutes before I can do anything with the computer.  But once in there, it works great..most of the time. But not only that, when traveling by plane, weight matters. That laptop is heavy, taking up 3.4kgs, and I need that for the tripod.

He took us to Hardly Normal, and after some comparing different makes and models,  for trips, I will be using an i7 Surface Pro.  Spent a few hours setting it up last night. 

One of the issues I have with the surface pro is the itty bitty menus. Because it has such a high DPI, programs are scaled to fit.  My choices were to use the magnifier, which annoyingly follows my mouse cursor around, or to find another way.

NERDZ ROOL! I did a bit of internet searching and found how, with a registry edit, and a simple manifest file, I can have all the programs scaled to an actual readable size.  I also tweaked the registry to get rid of those 'short cut arrows'. Never liked them from way back.

The Canon Collective Australia South West Road Trip

Last week, Wing and I headed out on a photography trip. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would be up for it, as there was some hiking involved.

We got to the Bunker Bay Resort, and that place was just a beautiful as I remember from years ago. When the concierge was informed of my knee issue, coupled with the fact we were about as far from the reception/parking area as we could be (we had the bungalow near the lake), we had golfcart transport to and from our bungalow.

Moving on.

Thursday. First stop was Sugar Loaf Rock, one of the most photographed rock formations in Western Australia.  I looked at the ‘overlook’ area and was started the slow climb up. Yay! Made it!

Everyone takes a photo of the formation with the water and waves all around it durning sunrises or sunsets, and they’re lovely, but I wanted to do something a bit different.

Sunset at Sugar Loaf Rock.

 

Also had a Nankeen Kestrel keeping watch over our activities.

 

Friday: Next stop was the Albany Wind Farm. Due to some misinformation, I was told the person I was looking for to return a lens was at the very top of the trail.  I managed to go almost to the very top, only to find out the person I was looking for was at the bottom  

Also revisited the Canal Rocks, and first time visit to The Reflecting Pool.

 

 

Saturday: We went back to the Albany Wind Farm at Dark O’Clock to get some shots of the Milkyway over the wind farm. Then we headed to “The Gap and Natural Bridge” later in the day for some sunshet shots. And also got a great shot of the “Albany Brig” with almost perfectly still water reflecting.

 

Sunday: We got up again, at O’Dark O’Clock to get some Astrophotography at The Gap and Natural Bridge.

 

After sunrise, we got some photos of the harbor, the shipping port and other local points of interest.

 

And then it was time to head home.  Took a while to get all the photos culled and processed.  

 

It was a great road trip.   Here’s hoping the next one is just as much fun.

Yeah, it's getting better

Today, I washed, hung out, dried, folded three large loads of laundry.  I also not only cooked dinner tonight, I cleaned up afterward.

Seeing as these simple tasks might not seem a big deal, but after total knee replacement, and then the following accident, these simple tasks are actually damned good thing.

My knee is a bit sore after all I've done today, but sore.. not painful.  

Tired now.

Interesting results

Yesterday, I went out to get some stormy skies photography, and brought the 7DmkII paired with Canon 400mm f/5.6 prime lens.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good lens, but without stabilization, I found most my photos had some variation of motion blur, as it was low light, focusing on a distant subject, hand held. Not the best lighting for a non IS lens.

Today, I took the 400mm, mounted it on the Kipon EF to MFT adapter, and put it on an Olympus OMD EM1.  I swear this lens and body were made for each other.  Even though the lens is an f/5.6 on a full frame, the equivalent on the EM1 is an F/2.8.  Couple that with the in body stabilization, the lens being Non IS is no longer an issue.

You have to remember this when using this combination, because if you don't your images will probably be a bit dark, and when shooting at ISO 800 or above, that can lead to excess noise.  You will see 5.6 flashing in your viewfinder. You have to ignore that. I know, goes against everything you’ve learned.

I shot this at f/6.3 +0.7, ISO 800, 1/120 exp. 

The image is sharp, colors are great, and even the bokeh is sweet.

DxO has Released a 'New' version of NIK

I got an email from DxO about how they've re-released a "New and Improved" version of NIK software.  Well, I downloaded the demo and tried it out.

If you already have the free version that Google put out, or even the older paid version before Google appropriated it,  and it's working, don't bother paying for this one.  I installed it to Adobe products, and even installed in in Corel PaintShop Pro.  I saw NO difference between this new one (which says it's $49 USD but when you add it to your 'cart', it goes to $69 USD) . 

Now I have read that certain Mac systems, after an OS update, NIK no longer functioned, and this new version has rectified that, but if you're running a Windows PC, this isn't an issue.

Unless they make all the NIK tools work in other than just Adobe, if yours is working, you can skip this one.

6 Month Post Op (plus 4 months post accident) check up

Had an appointment with Mr S, the osteo surgeon that did my total right knee replacement.  I still have some residual bruising and pain on both tibia from the car accident, but he was thrilled when I said my left knee is hurting me more than my right knee does now.

I do still have a few issues. If I stand too long without moving, or even when laying down sleeping, and shift my right leg, I get a quick stab of pain on the inside top of the right tibia. Mr S that is more from the car accident, and will go away, not as a gradual fade, but more like a switch off. One day, I will get up, and it just won't hurt.  Looking forward to those good times.

Oddly enough, we also got our Subaru back. 

It looks showroom new, and after seeing the list of repairs and new parts, I still am wondering if it would have been less expensive to have replaced the car! 

Oh well

Skylum Luminar 2018 is a great photo editing software and also great to use as a plugin with Adobe. There is slight boo hiss on this.

I've tried to use Luminar as a plugin with Corel PaintShop Pro X9 and 2018. No joy. Luminar starts but doesn't load up anything. Won't open the image, filter windows are blank/black with nothing in them.

The good news is, Luminar does work with Affinity for Windows.  Yeah yeah, Affinity doesn't have "Digital Asset Managing", but go old school, and make your own folders, with names and dates or what the subject is about. Ta da! Manual Digital Asset Managing.

I do wish that other photo editing software makers, especially those who make plugins for editors, would get it through their heads there is MORE than just Adobe products out there. 

I remember exchanging emails with NIK before they sold out to Google (I still have the emails to prove it) about developing their plugins to be 100% compatible with Corel (and other) products, that I would be glad to be a tester. They kept saying Oh Sure! Great idea! Then sold it to Google, who gave me same song and dance.  And we know how that ended, don't we? Given away for free, no further development.