Linux and Photography - a rare combo...

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After years of using Windows and subsequently being many times on the verge of losing my photos due to viruses, system crashes, overburdening the system with Windows' power hungry resources, I have been contemplating moving to Linux. I have a little experience with Linux, I was impressed, but most of the applications I needed were not (or so I thought) for Linux. But I could live with incompatibilities as long as my photographic collections were safe and intact. Linux based systems have stronger security features and fewer viruses (this may be aided by the fact that there aren't many viruses written for Linux), very rarely crash and when something goes wrong it is more likely than not, that it was due to user error. It also uses way much less memory than Windows for thee same or three other tasks at the same time. The operating system and its applications are open source and free. To the unexperienced user, the notion of free full software may seem dubious and full of compromises, but this is certainly not the case.

So, I decided for a gradual move into Linux and for that, I decided to try Linux with it's own version of Photoshop...GIMP with UFRAW plugin.
I have to say I was pleasantly impressed. GIMP may not be as polished interface wise as Photoshop, but all the tools you need are there, one just needs to get used to the interface while the UFRAW plugin for camera RAW files offers all the control a photographer will ever really need. The only minus is that it seems that it does not perform denoising on the RAWs (perhaps it is a plus as it really shows as your camera performs), I still have the feeling that UFRAW outputs somewhat noisier files. Having said that, I have converted Sigma X3F files with UFRAW with very good results. Here are some examples:

.X3F, UFRAW converted with no exposure correction

.X3F, UFRAW converted with 1.69(approx) exposure correction

Despite the second example showing some noise which resulted from the exposure correction, the results are perfectly usable at full resolution.
For me this is a big thumbs up and a step closer that transition from Windows to Linux ( which will allow me to do more with much less usage of system memory and CPU).



Until next time,


Luis

C41 at home with Tetenal.

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I was once more impressed with the simplified Tetenal kits. This time the C41 kit (which is the process of standard negative colour film). A hassle free kit,that produces satisfactory to excellent home results. Here's one from a Fujifilm Pro 160S put through Tetenal.



Until next time,



Luis

Another great addition to the kit...

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The Konica Minolta Dimage A1. I have wanted one of these beauties for ages, but since the demise of Konica Minolta the only place to find them is Ebay and even there they are scarce. I was lucky enough to win the auction for what I believe is one of the best if not the best prosumer digital camera ever. I have had it for a while now, but only yesterday I had the chance to really spend some time with it. And as such, here is todays pick:

BUS_Flickr, originally uploaded by Luis Rubim.



Until next time,



Luis

My sales site...

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Just a quick reminder that the sales site is under construction. It is undergoing a major makeover and is going to be easier to navigate and include a bigger selection of work.
I thank you all for your visit and custom and the site should be up and running again soon.

Random from file:

No Photoshop here!
Fujifilm S20 pro, reversed 28mm lens,Centon FG30 flash bounced

Until next time,


Luis

Woody was around...

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Spotted this Green Woodpecker flying around Hyde Park. I believe that London is perhaps the only city in Europe with such varied wildlife and where people can experience it so easily up close.

But this fella was difficult to shoot, he liked to keep his distance, as such the pic below is only a resized crop. Taken with my Minolta 7D and Sigma 70-300mm APO DG.

Until next time,


Luis

The Sony A700: Finally, a real upgrade to the Minolta 7D

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I gotta hand it to Sony. As a Konica Minolta 7D owner, the A700 is really good news.
Back is Minolta like design,build and layout, Minolta’s Anti-Shake system reincarnated again as SuperSteadyShot and what seems to be some 12 very clean megapixels (using CMOS rather than CCD as on the 7D). The Sony adds in this package for A-mount users its DRO technology, offering extended dynamic range as in camera option and environmental sealing. Performance has vastly improved, with 5fps in consecutive mode so you don’t miss those crucial moments. In short, the A700 seems like a vastly improved tool over the already excellent Konica Minolta 7D. I had the chance to handle one and see the results and the camera feels quite familiar, apart from the menus, but still no big deal, its something you can get used to very easily.

It finally feels as if Sony can be taken seriously as a camera maker, the A700 means business and it has Minolta DNA all over it.
I think I know where my money is going next.

Random photo from file...

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Until next time,


Luis

Thank you Tetenal!

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For an amazing E6 kit! I fsweatted,I stressed, I messed up chemicals, redid them, I messed up temperatures and I changed the times by instinct alone, spilled the final chemistry bit (stabiliser) and yet...I got some awesome results from this kit. Light years ahead of the Jessops muck that ruined so many films (and subsequent hours of work). This chemistry gives some sharp, clean images. A fortune in Tetenal chemistry ensues... :D

Here's one from the aftermath:




Until next time,



Luis

The SD10 makes a comeback to The Viewfinder

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After months of waiting, I have a Sigma SD10 to work with. I missed those tack sharp photos, so off I went with it to the streets. One of things I love about this camera as well is the ability to produce very good results even with average lenses (such as the Sigma 24-70HF used for this shot).

IMG00486, originally uploaded by Luis Rubim.

So, The Viewfinder's Foveon Factor section is once again open.

Until next time,



Luis

New addition to the ever expanding film camera arsenal...

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...The Kiev 6C. As much loved as it is hated, the undeniable truth is that some nice Neopan 400 and the sharp old Pentacon 6 fit Russian lenses produce the goods....I took it out for a test the other day and was lucky enough to bump into this nice, approachable chap who let take his portait....

(Chris Eubank, former boxer and world champion)

Until next time,



Luis

From the film file...

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Fishing Nets (2003)- Kodak Gold ISO100

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Sun Dried Fish (2003)- Kodak Gold ISO100
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Big Bad Wolf (2006) - Fujifilm Sensia 100
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A Blue Tit searching for a nest in late winter (2002) - Fujifilm Sensia 200
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Until next time,


Luis

Going back to basics II ....

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Hi all,


Once again, I have been having the film bug. Can't help it, I just like the look of it, developing it, scanning it, printing it,...regardless of what digital offers there are qualities in film that digital simply hasn't quite cut yet, even with the ever increasing megapixel counts in sensors. Dynamic range is one of them, colour depth...your eye just has so much more to appreciate in a film photo even with the grainiest of films. As such, I have been leaving my digital cameras at home and leaving the house with a film camera loaded with monochrome film, or slide film (which I mostly send for process but that will change, thank you Tetenal more on that below :) ) and occasionally with some negative film (which I send for processing, C41 chemistry is expensive and very tricky). The greatest of joys for me this week were when I came across the Tetenal site, selling all the developing kits that an over enthusiastic film user like myself could want. The chemistry for slide in particular is hard to find and the last time I found it, the kit revealed disappointing as the chemistry was very likely off (only found out after I developed the slide). Anyway, enough reading for now, lets do some looking. Here is the material for the day, all film photos of course.

Brian Haw - Kodak Portra 160VC
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South African Carnival Dancers - Kodak Portra 160VC
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Bikers - Fujfilm Sensia 200

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Until next time,


Luis

This month's rescue...

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Yup, once again, this time by my dear sister's hands another furry (and in this case, spiky) little lost critter. This little fellow was found wondering the street away from his natural habitat and visibly hungry. Concerned with what may happen to such a peaceful little critter in a back street where rats are as big as rabbits, she craddled him with her coat and brought him/her (can't tell, as we tried and we ended up with a spike ball in our hands)home. Feeding hasn't been a problem, they eat everything from dog and cat food to grapes and other fruit and he/she was no different, in fact, can't see any food in front, gone in 60 seconds. As for other care, a hot water bottle and a soft corner to sleep seems to do wonders (sleeps for hours on end). Anyway, here's Bernardino ( as we called him/her):

Until next time,


Luis

A trip to Richmond Park...

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Hi all,

I was astonished to find Richmond Park literally covered in dark green ferns, chest high. They love water and I guess the reason for Richmond being thick with them was because of all the rainfall we had. Anyway, I was expecting to find Richmond dry and I actually wanted to see some deer. In 9 hours there, there wasn't one to see for miles which was quite surprising but I guess the deer didn't like to be covered up by ferns.

As I and my friend were about to leave Richmond in the car, half the way out, I see out of the corner of my eye a little fluffy tail sticking out of the denseness. I asked my friend (a bit risky) to back up a little and I see this fluffy tail sticking out, still undisturbed. Funny enough it only raised it's head when I changed lenses on my camera (yup the car didn't disturb her and I guess the sound of a lens change is a bit similar to the cocking of a hunting gun) and I had a split second to take this shot. Lucky enough, I had the camera accidentally set to the right ISO setting and shutter speed for the length of the lens and the results speak for themselves :)


Until next time,



Luis

Deer_Blog_size_c, originally uploaded by Luis Rubim.

S3 pro goes to a concert...

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Hello again,

Last Sunday the 15th the "Rise London United Against Racism" concert took place at Finsbury Park, London. There was also a mass demonstration happening at the same time in central London, as it was the day that war broke out in Cyprus in 1974, as Turkish forces invaded the northern territory.

So I had to choose between the two events. I chose the concert, because I never done a concert with my camera. I must say I was expecting the mass demonstration to have some coverage as there were some Parliament speakers there and it is an ongoing 30 year old issue in the country, not to mention the massive Cypriot community in the country. The coverage was near to none.

So, off I go with my Fujifilm S3pro DSLR and two lenses, Fujifilm S20pro compact, 2 flashes and 4 cards. I have to say, I ended up regretting carrying all this gear as it turned out it wasn't that necessary and I did not manage to get as close as I wanted (yeah, still haven't got that press pass yet). Anyway, I was happy with what I manage to get and not only that, the S3pro delivered a stunning performance at ISO1600 (yes at this point things get very grainy), delivering a set of images which were very clean for the ISO rating. A quick curves adjustment in Photoshop and voila, some usable images. I must admit, when I first looked at the images I was a bit disappointed and then I realised (as I only really started to use this camera to a greater extent now, so some things I still miss), this camera records 400% Dynamic Range in it's WIDE2 mode which I always have on, unlike any other( except its successor the S5pro), so the images were apparently lacking in contrast and looked very noisy. The ammount of colour information that this camera records is astonishing and also results in a rather large 25MB RAW file that translates into a 65-120MB TIFF. The camera does this so you have enough latitude for adjustment and you don't lose the detail in highlights. This is particularly useful if you are using high ISO values (ISO1600) with this camera. The grain for that ISO rating is very low in comparison to other cameras. Anyway lets look at some pics.

Here are some shots from the day, hope you enjoy:

The Noisettes stormed the place

Jamelia strut her stuff

Kelis dropped her bombastic tunes

Long lenses attract attention

This time I wanted attention ....

The kind of shot that only my compact could do: up close and personal

Until next time,


Luis

The Fujinon 55mm f2.2 - A gem from the past...

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I have had this lens modified for some time but never really came to use it as most of my work is centered around other areas of photography. But for fun, I pulled it out of the bag the other day and start playing with it. Here's a small backgrounder on the lens:

The lens was bought with a Fujica ST605 camera, which as then replaced for another as it developed a problem. These cameras come most of the times, if and when you find them with their standard lens, which is the Fujinon 55mm f2.2. So I ended up with two of them. I decided to try one on my Minolta DSLR with an adapter and at first I was none too happy as it really gives you a very short range and I could only really focus close , at about 4.5-7in away. I guessed it was something to do with the way the adapter was made/machined. Then one day I was playing around with it still with the idea that it doesn't quite work as I wanted it and I was cleaning it while looking through the viewfinder and it was a revelation...it had great macro ability with that same adapter. This lens was not intended for macro at all and it's manual. Not only that, I also found that the sweet spot (which is the area where the lens performs optimally and will be very sharp) is great.
But as with all lenses, it would be nice to be able to fully close down the lens to its minimum aperture so images become even sharper(with the adapter in this lens you can't as this lens has a pin which does it, but it's controlled by the camera). So, I crossed my fingers removed the T-adapter, pushed the pin all the way through, put a small screw in the hole where the pin is as to lock it, put the adapter back on and voila, aperture controlled by the ring on the lens.

Now the reason for this post really is that I only now had a real play with the lens and put it through it's paces. Even though this lens can do macro after the modification, the real shock came to me on the amount of detail it can resolve. It can do macro to some extent, but not frame filling insect macros...so that's exactly what I was headed for, insect macros by cropping the image. That would be the test.It's performance is outstanding for a lens this old! The difference with this lens and others is that this lens is 30 years old and only costed me around a fiver! It's performance, if used correctly is the same if not superior to several current lenses that surpass it's price by the hundreds of pounds.

I am posting a crop along side the full resolution image, so you can see the amount of detail that this lens can resolve. No sharpening applied to this image.

Hell, why should I spend £300-£500 if a lens costing a fiver gives me the results?!

Please note that Blogger may resize and reduce quality of the higher resolution picture to fit it's parameters. The original image stands at 3008x2000.


6MP JPEG from 6MP RAW (click image):

Crop from RAW and then converted to JPEG(click image):




Until next time,


Luis

That's right folks...

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DSCF0725_m_m, originally uploaded by Luis Rubim.

The UK has gone smoke free...in public premises. Is it a good thing? Yes, but maybe not for everybody...I don't see how smokers can enjoy their drink outside with all the "extra sauce" that the weather has brought lately. But then again, imagine the savings smokers will do in the winter...leaving more for drink!... Maybe it's not so good as it looks then....


Until next time,


Luis

Obi-wan Canadian...

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DSCF0711_1jpg, originally uploaded by Luis Rubim.

Yes, it is here for another year, London's Canada Day, finishing tomorrow. Despite the rain and the three bomb threats, Londoners and Canadians were undeterred o enjoy a weekend of cultural contact with Canadian tradition, art, music, sport and more. I nipped down to Trafalgar Square during my lunch break for this grab shot and a few others, with my always lovely and so portable, Fujfilm S20pro and a flashgun. Enjoy!

Until next time,


Luis

Among other things....(an update)

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...the blog can now go fully mobile and live! In fact this update was done on the move...thanks to the great Opera browser.
On another note, to those who were wondering about little Gizmo, he/she found a home with space to run about and sh!t about too. :D I believe he/she is doing well, but I intend to stay away, believe me there was a bond growing between me and the little fella/lass and the last thing you want is a bond with a duck (you won't even be able to go to the toilet alone).
Then, I opened a Flickr account.There's a photostream going but I can't remember the address.I will be posting some photos from there soon enough.
I also had an exhibition together with colleagues at University which I think it went very well. I also leave here my greatest thanks to Elaine Gilbert, my tutor and also Hung Hoang and Lisa Islam for their help putting my stuff together as I barely could make it to the prep.
Finally and in a positive note with a slight negative twist, I presenced the step down of a Prime Minister and took some shots.I was very satisfied with my work, in fact I had some seriously editorial stuff until I realised that precisely that material was corrupted in the camera card.Nevertheless, I still have some good stuff I think(will post some). But I can't supress the feeling that I presenced a bit of history and this is one reason I love photography: a piece of history framed forever.


Until next time,

Luis

Rain....

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Rain...it felt good today. It was very therapeutical. I had left the house wearing shorts, a jumper and my photo vest as I thought that since I would be walking a long way, I might as well use the extra cooling. I wasn't expecting the rain but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise...it just felt great to be under the rain, I experienced a total emptyness in my mind...it was almost like a spiritually cleansing experience...maybe that's why these two were out:


Until next time,


Luis