In Florida our g0ven0r, while not on medications, introduced a bill making it against the law to photograph any farming area in any way from any distance,,, a tree from the roadway with a 500mm lens is a,, REALLY INSANITY, DO YOU GUYS AGREE?? NASA may be exempt? It passed!

We will no longer do hard time and lose our lives because "the crime has been changed from felony to misdemeanor,"
http://www.dvafoto.com/2011/03/update-to-florida-farm-photography-bill/

A FELONY FOR PHOTOGRAPHING A BARN!!!!

We must all remember the as the Republicans candidates and the Supreme Cort say, Corporations are people.... the only exception being, they get more than one vote!!!

Is it really a crime for me to photograph an orange, or an old barn,,,, perhaps the barn has to be 18 y/o or older.

Do other states have such laws????
Do you think it is a good law????

Old saying Shanna, more than one way to skin a cat. No offense meant, I like cats. The last treats by PhotoArtsLA on printing was very informative. Shanna, I have a lot to learn, we all do, and this and other forums have been very useful. We are all here to help and we all learn One-Pixel-at-a-Time.

Counter intuitive is that to print a billboard you may use something like 10 dpi !!!

What is Fur Fur Any Way (Hairless Phynix cat)

Irony is the increase of mpix. Yes, I print for the Camera Club entries and good mpix counts for printing, but now that cameras have hi mpix 12,14, 16 etc most of my semi-professional stuff for candid wedding is on a DVD and looks great on a HD 52" TV!!! Lower mpix would do nicely. Also the algorithms for increasing pix has become very precise. There are plugins such as those sold by Topaz which sharpen and refocus for reasonable price.

I also have the older QImage which is a great print program. A professional review: http://churchillphotographer.blogspot.com/2008/03/comparing-image-printing-through.html

Topaz has a new plugin for B/W conversion. Go to their website/resources/signup for a webinar and get it at an intro price til 9-18. I think am going to get a copy, I have the 30 day trial now. They have a lot of educational stuff on their website.

If you need to convert, Faststone Resize Freeware will do batch convert easily. IF is the key word...probably you do not, and if it is required, the company you are dealing with has old ideas.

Canon SLR at 72dpi and Nikon at 300,,, so what,,,, If dpi were really important, no one would by Canon or Canon would change to 300. Please see the ref
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1010&message=15952708&changemode=1

The dpi number religion is based on a MYTH along with dragons and vampires along with the need for 500 horse power to drive 25 miles per hour. (and the virtues very high mpix resolution without increasing sensor size) and such see:
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/mythdpi.html

Clean signal is important and the smaller the pix cuts on the sensor the more noise. SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO MAXIMIZED BY PROPER EXPOSURE.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml
As for the High Mpix see:
http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=3930
I have an old Kodak 3 mpix 4800 still a good and versatile camera and will make a good 8x10 as long as I do not crop much.

GOOD READING GUYS.

WMRalls said: maybe I am just a bit too old fashioned but I do really like having a person in front of me I trust and can just talk to or BS with.

Oh no,not at all, your way is ideal! When I lived near Orlando FL I would go to the Orlando Camera and Hobbies store. The guys behind the camera section were like the ol' hardware store guys. They could instruct you, open the 3rd drawer down in the 8th column from the left and pull out that exact rare flash cord adapter you needed!! AMAZING!!

Those days are passing all too rapidly. In the good-ol'-days there would have been an independent, a Wolf's, and a Ritz store in a major town. Now, Ritz Camera has shut down all but a few locations in Tampa and they carry very few things and are staffed by 20-30 year old cash register people who ring up sales. Like "Peaches" record stores that were staffed by guys who knew all genera and recommended the "best" string group recording of .... well, gone are the days. Your lucky to have a R/W resource in K city.

Sorry to say, we are on our own, reading, forums, comparison of specifications, reputable review test sites and $$ in our checking accounts must be our guides. We live in a "Elanor Rigby" world and will lose our ears and vocal cords and grow extra fingers for typing. Good 1-2-1 interaction is difficult to find. Spans of attention are short. Personal knowledge base borrr-ring to most. And critical analysis a huh, whatsit? Who cares. I try to share photography with my neighbors and get a blank stare and a "gee, that's nice".

Look at the Printer and Ink forum in Ugly Hedgehog. One of the people gave a great web page source of info regarding archive and other research info info.

There is a free program by FASTSTONE called Resize.
http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDownload.htm
Within this program in the "advance" area is a tab for adjustment of dpi. With this program you can enlarge or lower the file size with effective algorithms. dpi is a subject of great debate and you can read a lot on this subject. 300 dpi is often requested for printing, but actually hi pixels are considered by many to be the main requirement for a great print.

I Googled "when to sharpen" and there is a lot of educational stuff there. Check the net for webinars regarding work flow, experts spend a lot of time doing these and doing write-ups - thankfully.

I gather you are talking negatives about the "$5 Canon SLR sold today" bidding site ads. I agree, if too good to be true, it probably is. HOWEVER;;;;

EBay paid by Pay Pal has bee a great and safe source of many items for me. I admit that I generally go for the "Buy-Now" items,rather than bidding. Almost all of my Filters have been purchased from EBay via China sources... great price and good filters. Delivery quick! Amazing that the last two, Gradient,grey, and blue, were about $5 each and shipping free.

It is key to read the item and shipping descriptions accurately. Someone in the TBCC, camera club, complained to me that the batteries they ordered from an ebay source were not as good as OE batteries. Well, perhaps, but I am satisfied and for the price if only 3/4 the charge life, so what; it is better to pay $10 rather than $30-40.

Ebay and Amazon are also a source for last years software eg. PSE 8 after 9 is issued. Beware of some of the SLR used that people go crazy on when bidding when they could buy the same new for a few dollars more (or less). Also amazing are the SLRs that are "for parts only" they sell for a lot!!! Why? Human nature,or a great tech who knows how to repair.

Go thru and put a number of the SLRs on your "watch list" and you will develop an idea of what they are selling for. Remember, there will always be another listed soon. You can ask for details, one had a shutter count of 25,000, what! that is a lot. So that is one detail you can ask also details about lens etc. I bought a Canon G-2 for $100 three years ago for converting to IR. Works great. I bought a Olympus 4 megpix, with under-water case for low price, great for seldom used. Low cost tel-lens attachment, ugh! BUT generally EBay and Amazon have been a great source of equipment.

PayPal has a dispute resolution arbitration that is strong and fair.

Regarding open source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds
There are those who improve things for the joy of doing and solving problems. There are those who enjoy playing music for those who will listen and enjoy.

Yes, in the ol' days freeware and share ware sucked, but then again Windows and other costly commercial ware also sucked. You paid for improvements upgrading yearly. Times have changed and you can use MSW 2003 while 2010 is the newest. Word 2003 is fine for me as is XP, tho I have W-7 installed on one disk.

Regarding XP vs 7, unfortunately, many of my older programs are XP based programs. (and I know how to use it quickly) If I use XP for the rest of my life fine; it does the job. Does it do the job is the Key question for all tools and software? (please no diversion regarding power saw vs hand saw)

If freeware works, fine. you suggested that freeware was possibly a copy of the commercial, but the order may well be reversed, commercial may be based on freeware.

If I have to print with expensive ink and expensive paper, then I won't print,,, I have basic necessities to pay for. In this economy we are lucky to live modestly. As for the movies, I will watch them later for all I can eat subscription at $8 /month. Your comments are well expressed and I appreciate your view.

As as a reward, I present you with a well preserved XXX rated image: one side of a stereo pair.

A French Lady

PhotoCat: your humor is a bit far, if you think for a moment that i am leaving my home provided by Bill Gates caring for
millions of the greatest images of the 20th century stashed under a mountain in Pennsylvania, then you are wrong!

The Wilhelm-research page is quite a hoard of scientific photography information. I will use it as my home page rather than Sciencedaily.com I see that the Epson ink was rated at 92 years, an amazing thing. Sad to see how badly the 3rd party inks did.
www.wilhelm-research.com/pdf/PCWorld_Cheap_Inks_2003_10.pdf
Mr. Cat, You will make a well educated man of me yet, Thank you d/p

The national debt crisis is solved. Mid-East sends us oil and we send $ equivalent of Ink.
I have mentioned CIS to people and they give me an odd look of the why would you do that when the cart is only $10 or $30.

I still have 1/2 the ink that came with my CIS and print without concern, always 8x10. I purchased my CIS perhaps in September of 2010. I have 3.5 oz bottles of each color held in reserve for next year I guess.

I mounted and painted an 4'x 8' sheet of Urethane insulation to the wall and use it as a display for my prints and minimizes holes in wall.

I am going to put half of one of my prints in the sun and check it in a Florida UV week. unfortunately, I do not have a control from commercial printer.

Refill ink for my CIS, 4 bottles 3.5 oz each, = 14oz and cost was $15. Escentually, $1/oz or $128/gallon. Or 2.7% of the cost running carts. So a CIS is a very good investment, depending on UV stability. UV is somewhat moot if the photo is in the home and not exposed to UV or behind UV glass.

Excellent work Steve, thank you for sharing the photos and opinions (which I agree with). The reason I use PSP is because $30 is just about free and I used it for a long time, so know the shit pattern.

I run PC with XP, because like old shoes, the fit is familiar. Yes, there are many freeware programs that are excellent. It is important to at some point make a disk of these so that if the computer zaps with a lightening strike or such that you can be back in business quickly. I keep a duplicate HD in antistat in my underwear drawer, safe and sound. Gotta have my coffee now, but let me mention, Faststone as great freeware. At the camera club we had a great debate regarding dpi and printing. I learned that much of photography has hung onto old tech terms as it has evolved.

I use Topaz Lab's Adjust because I like the effects and it is fast. Check it out with a 30 day free. And yes, the same can be accomplished with PS, but also one could move a pile of dirt with a shovel, but a front loader is fast. Personally, for my work, if Adjust does it why do I need to learn all the tricks of PS, PSP, Gimp etc.

This particular forum has proven to be a sounding board for a lot of great advice. Check on giveawayoftheday.com some good $$ programs for free during a 24 hour window. Next day, different program. Costs nothing to join and each program is evaluated by people and rated.

I see that you are living in Moo U town as it was called when I did my grad work. I grew up in Flint, now a ghost town, worked my first job in Detroit, now being turned into farm land!! Thank you for your straight, practical advice. d/p

Thank you for your well reasoned, clear informative reply. Between this and the topic on PSP vs PS my time spent writing and reading is a good investment. Indeed at your professional level, history, yours, will live on beyond you. Also SELF and ethic and pride enter in to the mix with one who sell their prints. Mine, as is said in the death of the last Android,,, my memory shall fade like tear drops in the rain. I am reminded of a painting I did in 1962, good oils, good base, on linen fabric life 100++ that will out last me, unless it ends up in the dumpster or over painted if I become senile and some one says , you think that is a cow? !!!

Yes, printing is not always easy, I have to kick up the brightness before I print. Different programs, different paper, different ink and if judged by a photo club,,,, different light and color and intensity than at my home mounted on the wall !!! By the way PhotoCat, is there a "standard" judging set up for photos?? Bulb standard, watts, distance and all those specifications??? I have looked on the net and not found one. There should be a universal one.

The comments on fading/archival inks tickles the process/product development chemist in me. I was one for many years before going int env consulting. There are many UV blocks used in paints and varnishes,,, humm is there one or a overcoat that can be formulated,,, humm

The loss of HP's interest in home photo-printers may be based on commercial - drug-store printers for photos as suggested by Photocat above. Perhaps because the mystique of Epson and the Office Depot prevalence of HP I like Epson; purely or impurely subjective.

When you consider how very good a "good" printer is, regardless of brand name, further refinement may well not be a good investment for HP or others. Considering what a fine job my "all in one" NX-305 does and what a low cost printers sell for, it is not profitable to do much more development. ALSO the profit is in INK !

I have an Epson 825 that I have never used. At this time in life $ are tight so that is why I am using the 4 color CIS rather than the 6 color 825 for which Ink is costly. At my age 75, any ink is archival and will last a life time : >)

I tend to print, stick on the wall, live with it and digest flaws, modify, and strive for just-so photo for submission to the TBCC, Tampabay Camera Club.

I started the forum subject as a heads-up for those who need to go econo. Along those econo lines, print paper by HP is often sold at 1/2 price by Office Depot and others retailers.

For those who print now and then there is a small autoprint program to keep their printer heads clean. see: http://www.inksupply.com under support/downloads. They sell CIS also
http://inksupply.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=view