13 Feb 2017

IRIS Awards Printing for 2017

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The IRIS awards are fast approaching. And some people may be planning to have evoke prepare their images this year. We of course appreciate you trusting us with your award winning images.

Our problem is one of timing. Sean will be attending the annual Tip to Toe road trip, #LeadingTheCharge for the Better NZ trust again this year and the trip is very close to the conference and awards judging.

Practically Sean will be unable to make prints between the 10th of April and the 10th of May. So there is very little time to make prints after the end of the trip in time for the deadline for print submission.

We therefore ask if anyone is wanting to have prints made, could they consider getting them in before April.

 

27 Jun 2015

How can you tell if your browser is color-managed?

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I was preparing some files to upload today and was annoyed that the results did not look correct on the web site.

After re-running the process and getting the same result I looked a bit further and realised that Microsoft Internet Explorer does not correctly colour manage when displaying images. When I say not correctly, I mean it does sort of handle colour managed files but it does not correctly represent your monitor profile.

This issue is really only noticable on high colour gamut displays like the HP DreamColor monitors. These monitors have a very wide colour range and can display colours way outside sRGB and outside AdobeRGB when they are configured in Native Colour Mode.

There are a number of websites that have test images for checking your monitor but this one is a simple check and I can demonstrate the difference between IE and Chrome.

Check Your Display

As the page says if the two images look different your browser is not colour managed. But look at what IE (on the left) and Chrome (on the right) looks like on my display.

Color

I read that the new Microsoft Browser “Edge” is better and I will go check that out. But in the meant time, if you have a high colour monitor try Chrome for viewing images. Especially mine!

You might say “why have the monitor in native mode”. The reason is that Epson printers can print colours outside the AdobeRGB range. So I want to see those on my display.

UPDATE : 26/6

I use Zenfolio for my image gallery and note that the slideshow does not display the colours correctly in either Browser. It appears this is due to the slideshow using Flash, and Flash does not colour manage at all. Zenfolio renders all images to sRGB when they are uploaded on the basis that most displays are calibrated to sRGB (or used to be).

And here is a more detailed page from a different Website.

Check This one!

 

03 Jun 2015

New Phase One XF Camera System

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The long awaited new camera from Phase One has finally been announced. The most information about it I have found is from the Luminous Landscape Site.

Phase One XF System

Update : Some more links

Digital Transitions : The Phase One IQ3 – What you need to know.

Digital Transitions : First Look the New Phase One XF.

A History of Phase One and the XF

 

Phase One XF Camera

 

25 Mar 2015

Phase One Releases Capture One 8.2; Available for Download

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C1-V8

Phase One Releases Capture One 8.2; Available for Download

The RAW converter now enables you to separately tone shadows, highlights and midtones via the improved 3-Way Color Balance tool.

The software’s extensive adjustment tools will benefit from an updated processing engine and the entire workflow is said to be faster and more stable.

Other new features include Dynamic Locations, high-res previews for 4k and 5k monitors and improved graphics.

The 8.2 update is free if you have a Capture One Pro 8 license, and available for a 30-day trial if you don’t.

The new release provides bug fixes, performance enhancements, stability improvements and new camera and lens support, in addition to new features.

As far as new features, Phase One lists the following:

  • New 3-Way Color Balance Tool for color grading
  • Dynamic Locations for optimized workflow
  • High resolution previews for 4k and 5k monitors
  • Resizable Curve and Color Balance tools
  • General under-the-hood improvements for tethering
  • Improved graphics in Library tool
  • New 5-point Curve preset for ease-of-use

File support has been added for the Nikon D5500, Olympus OM-D E-M5 II, Fujifilm X-A2, Panasonic GF7 and Sony NEX-VG900E.

Tether support has been added for the Nikon D750 and D5500, while it has been removed for the Nikon D200.

Improved color for the Canon 7D Mark II is also mentioned.

Bug fixes include stability improvements, several alignments and localization bugs, improved mask drawing (for Mac users) and the application no longer crashes if an external hard drive is disconnected.

Additionally, slideshows’ speed issue has been fixed and so has the integration with Media Pro. The final two fixes address issues where Folder Hierarchy in the Library tool would not show and where Masks would not be saved to EIP files.

The newly supported lenses are mainly Zeiss lenses with a couple of Nikons and a Sigma:

As mentioned, the Capture One 8.2 update or 30-day free trial is already available for download.

If you are new to Capture One you can purchase or upgrade with the code AMBSEAN and receive a 10% discount from the Phase One store.

14 Jan 2015

Now shooting Aerial Photography

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You may have seen that drones were in everyone’s Christmas stocking this year. They are everywhere, but you may also have seen in the news how many have come to a bad end soon after un-boxing.

Just like a camera the drone is a tool that needs to be mastered to get good results, which is why you should hire a professional.

We can take images from different vantages points and process them to highlight the unique features of your property. Or provide a different view point for a wedding or family gathering.

21 Dec 2014

Capture One 8.1 Released

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Ambassador Logo

 

Capture One version 8.1 was released this week.

New features
•   Editing in Photoshop (or open another application)
•   Improved Auto Adjust
•   Quick Cursor Tools
•   Find/replace renaming
•   Additional and improved naming tokens
•   Multiple Guides
•   Incremental Camera Controls
•   Up to 16 Adjustments Layers
•   Additional TIFF processing options

 

Enter the code AMBSEAN when purchasing for a 10% discount. Or give it a spin with the 30 day free trial.

Buy Capture One Pro

 

 

16 Dec 2014

Facebook image quality

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There are plenty of articles about how to adjust images for uploading to Facebook. But I just found one on a forum with a succinct response which appears to come from a Facebook employee. I also remember a previous article that suggest a JPG compression of 6 or less. Something to do with the colour compression. But here an important factor is also the maximum size of 100kb.

“We automatically take care of resizing and formatting your photos for you when you add them to Facebook. If you’d like to use more advanced techniques to make your photos look better, try these tips:

Resize your photo before you post it. These are the sizes (width) we support:
Regular photos 720 px, 960 px, 2048 px
Cover photos 851 px by 315 px
If you use a 2048 px photo, make sure to select the High Quality option when you upload it.

To avoid compression when you upload your cover photo, make sure the file size is less than 100 KB.

Save your image as a JPEG with an sRGB color profile.
Posted about a month ago by Binny Rutherford”

Source : https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=368348509959095

 

09 Dec 2014

Why are there three places to sharpen in Lightroom?

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Here is a simple explanation of the three places you can sharpen in Lightroom written by Scott Kelby.

http://lightroomkillertips.com/three-different-places-sharpen-lightroom/

As he explains the second one is optional and last one not used if you transfer the file to Photoshop. And usually we do the last step for you when you send files for printing.

 

19 Sep 2014

Capture One Version 8 Released – Discount code available

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The latest version of Capture One was released in the last couple of days. I have been using a Beta version for a few months and even these versions have been very stable. The new version is 2-5 times faster and has some new editing features and an improved conversion engine.

This product just keeps getting better and better and I think provides the highest quality RAW conversion available for the largest range of cameras.

Check out the short video from the design team Meet the Team

You can upgrade or purchase Capture one on the Phase One website and get a 10% discount with the code AMBSEAN

More Information

C1-V8

 

07 Aug 2014

HP DreamColor Displays Z24x and Z27x

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You can find many articles explaining the importance of a properly calibrated monitor. And if you are critical about the range of colours you shoot and wish to print, you need a monitor that can display all or most of the AdobeRGB colour space.

The HP DreamColor monitors have been available for a few years now, competing with the high end professional display market. But this year HP released an updated Z24x 24 inch DreamColor at less than a third of the price of the previous model. And a new 27 inch DreamColor, the Z27x.

Both a welcome addition to the business display line up and reviewed by DPHoto in August http://www.prophotographer.co.nz/gear/hp-dreamcolor-z27x

Realising the photographic industry is a specialised group that is not adequately supported by the normal computer channels, HP New Zealand appointed two photographic companies as advocates and resellers to address this.

Evoke is please to be one, and offers 30 years experience in the computer industry as well as 8 in the photographic industry.

We can assist with selecting a display or an HP Workstation configuration that best fits your requirements and budget. The HP DreamColor ZBook 17 is the only high performance portable workstation with a professional colour display. With three drives on board you get performance and space for a truly portable computer.

Check out the list of specially selected HP products at https://www.evokestudio.co.nz/hpHP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation