Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Fergus >>I manage our Seattle and San Jose compatibility labs<< I'm glad someones a forward thinker. I understand they'll be suburbs of one another after the next Big One! A hearty welcome aboard from Portland; which will of course end up somewhere when the aforementioned take place. Dave - -----Original Message----- From: Fergus Hammond [mailto:fhammond@adobe.com] Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 12:37 PM To: Lug (leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us) Subject: [Leica] De-lurking I've been digest lurking the last few days but it's time to say hi. I've known about this list for a while but I had assumed it would be dominated by the obscure and the arcane and well over my head. Not true at all - or, if it is, I now find the obscure and arcane interesting! I saw the tail-end of a thread about location, so that's a good place to start. I've lived in Seattle for 6.5 years, working for Adobe Systems, where I manage our Seattle and San Jose compatibility labs. I'm originally from Brisbane, Australia. I started into photography at the digital end, with a Nikon Coolpix, then a D1, then a Leica (I was curious about that funny looking camera at the store and asked if I could take a look...you know the rest). Just recently, I sold the D1, intending to replace it with the D1x but now I don't think I'll bother. I've just realized that after owning an M6 for almost a year, using anything else seems odd (particularly trying to use anything else in a manual mode). I've also noticed, much to my surprise, that even the small, 60 pixel thumbnails on my site look better when they're from scanned film, rather than the D1. There's something flat about images from a digital camera. As my family is back in Australia, most of my output is, I'm embarrassed to say, via the web 'though I also use an Epson 2000P. However, I did recently get a 20 x 30 print of a photo I took on holiday in Australia and it turned out wonderfully (getting it framed right now, as a matter of fact). Very exciting. My photographs are nothing fancy, just personal documentary type. My mother sent me a huge collection of old family Kodachromes, shot over 30 years or so. It's reinforced my idea of having something to show kids and grandkids in the future. I've realized that processed film and digital images are now by far the most valuable thing I own. A couple of comments on things I've seen on the list so far: * I recently acquired a Noctilux. My neighborhood in Seattle (Pike St., close to downtown) is *very* interesting at night and I've had a lot of fun with this lens. I also have some interesting pre-dawn rowing photos at: http://www.dingoboy.com/0104/rowing/mastersB8.html. * I haven't used it (too familiar with Photoshop) but I believe Adobe Elements includes a stitching feature. I've used Powerstitch before (made this with it: http://www.dingoboy.com/special/condo/images/012500inside_big.jpg) but, unfortunately, I think it's been discontinued. I just found this site about panoramas: http://www.panoguide.com/. Lastly, if you're in Seattle, you *must* go to see the Shackleton exhibit at the Burke Museum. "Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail for Antarctica in 1914, hoping to seize for England the last prize of polar exploration: crossing the Antarctic continent on foot. But he and his 28 crewmen disappeared into the icy void....". Interesting enough but with Shackleton was Frank Hurley, an Australia photographer, who took some of the most amazing photographs I've seen. Here's a sample: http://www.orst.edu/instruct/hsts421/doel/shipnite.jpg. Regards, Fergus http://www.dingoboy.com