Tag: Photo Raw

The Olde West

Living in California meant traveling across country to move. We did this when I was 12, and I did it as an adult in my 30s.

Driving through the vast reaches of this country always amazes me. First, it is just BIG. Open miles of open land, a house or ranch or roadside attraction.. Huge mountains seen across miles. Winding roads where dust behind you flies in a cloud as you bump along, looking for rocks and holes. Freeways, local highways, dusty country lanes – this is what I enjoy when I travel. This fall we plan a trip across northern Nevada and into Utah, when the weather is cooler, and perhaps we will even enjoy colored leaves at the higher altitudes.

Awhile back I loaded up one of my old cameras – a Voigtlander Bessa RF 6×9 with a Heliar lens, ca. 1935 – with Ilford Ortho 80 Plus film. I forgot about it until I opened the back of the camera and slapped it shut as quickly as possible. As the camera only gets 8 pictures per roll, I lost a few – like 3. One image was too dark for use. But, the remaining 4, while not great, were fun to manipulate in post.

The Ilford film had just been released, so I bought a few rolls to test out. In my 35mm film camera, it worked beautifully, but my exposures were marginal in the 6×9 at best. I worked on them a lot to bring in discernible contrast – most were over-exposed. The lens on the camera is a beautiful Heliar, but my guestimates with 80 speed film were too high. As well, I used no filter since I don’t own one to use with the lens. So, above, a test shot to look at contrast – white flowers on dark green foliage. I created a preset in On1 Camera Raw that I liked; it brings out the details but doesn’t create too much contrast.

This photo makes me think of old dirt roads and stagecoaches jouncing along – like you see in 50s movies! The image got a light leak, but the details of the distant mountain – Mount Clef – and cacti are worth a look

Again, more detail and a bit of LR dodge-and -burn. This is the dried landscape nearby. When the winters are wet – which ours was not this year – the grasses and mustard can grow up to 8 feet. Easy to get lost in, but don’t – stick to the paths or ticks and other critters will get you.

Backcountry is beautiful and dangerous. I remember turning back here – a rattler was basking in the sun. That’s another good reason to walk where you can see ahead of you!

So, a bit of my West with my old camera and newer film and technology. The Voigtlander did not let me down, nor did the film. I am looking forward to taking this camera with me up to Morro Bay next week – along with more modern cameras – and out to Nevada and Utah. More Olde West to come!

Waiting for Lovers . . . and some notes on On1 Photo Raw

waiting-for-lovers
Waiting for Lovers

Today is the very, very first day that On1 Photo Raw is available for usage.  I think the original idea was to have a product ready to roll in October 2016, but rather than have a “finished” product full of bugs, they realized they had more on their plate, and held off until today, November 23.  I’m glad they did – and I am glad, too, that they realize that this really is a “work in progress” as it stands.

Personally, I love On1, and have been using them since version 8, which was a while back.  I use it with Lightroom.  What makes On1 great as a company is their support, ongoing consistent development, tutorials, and so on.  On1 products are sophisticated, and while they do not rival Adobe Photoshop for complexity, On1 products are far easier to use.  I prefer their brushes, spot and blemish removal tools, as well as the fact I can create presets which I can store.  At this point, the presets from On1 Photo Suite 10 cannot be used in On1 Photo Raw, but I expect they will have the ability to port them later on.  The one-up that Photoshop has is its “content-aware” fill.

The image above, Waiting for Lovers, was edited using On1 Photo Raw.  It is a film image using Kodak Ektar 100 in a 1930s Welta Weltur rangefinder.  The lens is an uncoated Xenar – probably about 75mm – which has an ethereal quality to it that I really love.  Scanning the image with my rather dirty Epson V600 (I have since cleaned it), I ended up with a blue streak across the entire image.  On1 took it out quite nicely.  Spots and threads were also easy to remove.  I think On1 did something to their processing algorithm (or whatever), as the spot removal works very quickly.

chumash-trail-1

This image is a pano stitched together in LR, and consists of two images taken with the Olympus XA4 and Lomography 100 film.  The only thing I did was perk it up a bit with some detail, in LR and in Photo Raw.  It is nearly identical to the SOOC image.

orchid-in-the-window

Finally, the above image was really pushed in On1 Photo Raw.  Spot removal, brush usage, presets, whatever.  This was an overall high-key, pale image, but I set it up to be contrasty and bright – possibly too much so – but wanted see what I could do.  This was also taken with the XA4 and Lomo 100 film.  Both of these two images were scanned using a Pakon 135 scanner.

There is so much software out there for photographers, that competitors to Photoshop seem to come and go.  My favorite and most consistent programs are Lightroom and On1.  I also use DxO v. 11, and while it is good for some things, it lacks the diversity of On1.  Capture One is good, too, but it makes me crazy as it does not make sense to me at times . . . but I admit, I have not put in time to using it as it has a higher learning curve, and is not, for me, very intuitive.  So, two thumbs up to On1 for its Photo Raw software – I think it will prove to be a real winner as they continue to develop it.