New show on Beechbrook

[JRR]

Bill loaded my latest show "My Town" on Beechbrook yesterday.

This is one of a series of shows that I have to be shown at senior citizen homes, schools etc etc.

It is large file - 74mb - as it is 1280x960 with typical file sizes of 400kb.

I have already had a few "technical" photo questions about it, so I thought I should post my replies.

All the images were shot on a Canon 10D, most of them were on a tripod (especially the nights shots <grin>) The squirrel was done hand holding so I had a little trouble getting the slides lined up – they are close but not quite bang on.

There was very little PhotoShop work except levels and curves and then sharpening using Nik SharpenerPro.

Some of the night shots were put through Neat Image to remove the noise and pixellation in the whispy clouds reflecting the city lights. They were also saved at quite a high quality jpg to keep them “together”.

Then I cropped each image in the show individually to make sure they transition as effectively as I can.

I quite often put transitioning images into the same file in PhotoShop (via layers) and move one layer around to line up the way I want (reduce the opacity on the top layer so you can see both layers) and then crop saving each layer as a separate jpg.

[centreofengland]

Thanks Jim for sharing a great show.

I loved the night time shots with the projected images on the buildings, whats happening there? Is it some kind of show put on by the town, looks great. Initially I thought it was something you had done in photoshop but I can see people looking at it so I realised it was something that was real. Love to hear whats happening.

I liked the Squirrel sequence, you can get around the lining up problem by using one shot of the bin and then cloning in the animal onto each frame that way the bin would not jump around. May take some time though!

One problem I found was even though I have a 1.6GHz P4 with newish 17" monitor and new video card, 1280x960 is the MAX size I can manage but at that size the refresh rate was only 60Hz so I noticed it flashing. Also 78Mb for a show is on the large side, may be worth doing a web version with reduced resolution images, that way more people may watch it.

How long is the show?, I watched as far as the horses jumping but would like to watch the rest when I get time.

Thanks for sharing

Andy

[Michel]

Jim,

I notice you have a Canon 10D. I found your pictures with very fine "accuracy".

What camera lens do you used ? And JPEG or RAW ? Just to know.

By the way, seven years ago, we went to Ottawa (one day during our trip) and we enjoyed to know that people were going to work with ice skates on the "river". Is it always true ?

[JRR]

Oui Michel, en hiver les gens patinent aux travail (pardon mon français)

Yes in the winter, you can skate to work on a 7km long rink that in the summer is the boating canal. On the weekends it is VERY crowded with people out for a skate during the day.

All those pictures were shot in jpg (I rarely use RAW unless I am unsure of the lighting conditions).

The lens used most of time is a 28-135 Canon lens. For the wider angle shots I use a 17-28 Canon lens. I also use the 100-400 Canon lens too, but I don't think there were many shots in the show taken with it.

[JRR]

Andy:

Thanks for the comments and feedback. Much appreciated.

The lighting designs on the buildings (our Parliament Buildings by the way) is an annual "sound and Light show" that is put on for the tourists. It is quite a feat to see what the producers can do !

Yes I have cloned an object and moved it around on another stationary object before. It does solve the problem of lining up, but it was not possible in this case (ever tried selecting a squirrel's busy tail and have it look real ?

Sorry it did not work flawlessly on your computer. I made it 1280x960 as that size works well on my computer screen and I am getting ready for the next generation of digital projectors that I was assuming would be going to 1280x960 but I see they are going even larger !!!!!! I have too many shows at 800x600 !!

78mb is certainly very large for some people, but I have seen larger. The issue is the number of images and their size (Around 400kb each) Dropping the size to 1024x768, or shortening it, would give a smaller file no question about it. 14 minutes is a little long for most occasions, but it is the right length for my target audience (Senior Citizens in a retirement home)

You were almost at the end when you had to leave

[Michel]

Thanks, Jim. I have another asks and if you want reply:

- a little work with Photoshop: can you say us how ?

- what do you think of Niksharpener ?

- have you resized your pictures, before to 1280x850 (Canon 10D) and after to 1280x960 ?

- and, if yes, why you don't keep the ratio ? For a digital projector 1280x960 or 1280x1024 ?

Sorry for these asks, but I think it would be interesting .

Andy, for the refresh rate, if possible, with a classic screen, the better is to use 85Hz or more. With a LCD monitor, 72hz to prevent flashing.

Now, Jim, I would like say you that I enjoyed your images, with perfect shades and lights (as these of Barry), all is very fine.

The shots/processing are very nice. I enjoyed also the parliament's night and other certain areas that I visited several years ago.

Thanks again and congratulations for all this work.

PS:

- j'ai compris votre français (vont travailler en patinant, c'est mieux - c'est un peu pour moi comme l'anglais, mais l'essentiel est de se comprendre)

- "I rarely use RAW unless I am unsure of the lighting conditions": it's very important; now, I use RAW only and sometimes in a bad or difficult light, by example

[JRR]

Thanks, Jim. I have another asks and if you want reply:

- a little work with Photoshop: can you say us how ?

- what do you think of Niksharpener ?

- have you resized your pictures, before to 1280x850 (Canon 10D) and after to 1280x960 ?

- and, if yes, why you don't keep the ratio ? For a digital projector 1280x960 or 1280x1024 ?

Michel:

The PhotoShop work is minimal:

- levels to bring left and right triangle to where bright and dark end of histogram start. Usually I underexpose slightly (old slide habit) so I just have to bring the right triangle down slightly.

- curves to correct for the slight underexposure

- I do NOT re-size before cropping

- crop (see below) and then sharpen with NikSharpener

Crop:

Out of the camera, the images are 3027x2048, I crop to 1280x960 to fill my screen to the maximum. It also lets me improve my original shot somewhat.

The cropping is done either on each slide individually, or by bringing two or more images into a single image in PhotoShop via layers. I line up each layer with the others to get the proper transition I want. (Lower the opacity on the one you are lining up so you can see the other one)

PhotoShop's UNSHARP MASK did an acceptable job for me (with much playing of the settings), but I find NikSharpener does a better job - but I need to back it off slightly when I have a lot of detail such as grass, leaves etc etc

Hope that helps

PS: Appreciate your advice on RAW

[Michel]

Thanks, Jim, for your useful explanations.

[nickles]

JRR....

Bravo! Bravo! An exceptional show. Long but very nicely paced. Splendid use of many unique transition effects....and the photography is superb. You did your town very well indeed. You evidently ran everyone out of Ottawa for your photographic sessions...as people were nearly absent in most scenes. Your stop action and motion photography was very nice.

I enjoyed your music selections...all blended so well together.

My wife and I both thouroughly enjoyed your wonderful presentation and will probably vew it several times.

Thanks for sharing.....

ken

[JRR]

Ken:

Thanks for comments. Yes it is a little long but given the target audience (senior Citizens) it will work well.

People ? Do you mean that people live in Ottawa ??? Gee I never realized that !!!!!