FastStone Image Viewer - Powerful and Intuitive Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter

For the longest time I have been using ACDSee 3.1 as my JPG viewer. I first started using it sometime in ‘97 as my quick viewer of choice. However, over time it caught the Swiss Army Knife Syndrome which is apparently very common in the software industry. ACDSee was great at one thing and one thing only…It was one of the fastest lightweight image viewers I’ve seen (back in the day). It rendered JPGs fast. I mean real fast. And then it happened…They added on extra junk that people didn’t really need. The end result ( tried out version 8 ) was that it’s become typical bloatware. It can do lots of things, but it can’t do them well at all. For image editing there’s Photoshop CS. For organization there’s Adobe Gallery and for RAW stuff there’s Phase One and Pixmantec’s offerings which are superb, Photoshop does RAW as well. So, I Googled for an image viewer and FastStone Image Viewer came up. I figured, hey…Great, it’s even free! That’s always a plus. From what I saw in the first few minutes of using it, it’s very cool. Has a lot of nice features and isn’t terribly slow like Adobe Bridge is. Highly recommended…

Categories: Photography, Software
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Damn you UPS! DAAAAAMN YOU TO HELL!

My aggitation with UPS stems from the fact that they are a lousy shipping service along with DHL (Airborne Express). I don’t think they give a damn about their job. Which is sad. FedEx on the other hand is always helpful and forthcoming with help when I need it. Apparently the lazy UPS man decided to just skip the pickups for the last 2 days and that’s why my Amazon return hasn’t shown up in their system. It’s just sitting downstairs along with 15 other boxes that have to go out. So, Amazon will get their wrong lens after all and I won’t be dinged for 1400$. Now let’s all hope the UPS picks up the stuff today.

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Ok, so that little screw up with the Canon EF 16-35 F/2.8 continues to be a little more nerve wrecking. I printed out the shipping label from Amazon and sealed up the wrong lens back up and dropped it off with the client’s shipping and receiving department. I’ve done this a number of times and never had any problems. This time, the tracking number did not show up in the UPS yesterday evening as I had hoped, which wasn’t that big of a deal, maybe the UPS Ground truck only does one morning pickup. So, today I checked the UPS site a few times, and it still hasn’t showed up. Now, I am worried. I don’t want to deal with UPS & Amazon claiming that I’m trying to rip them off. Also, the lens is 1400$ on Amazon so they could charge me 1400$ x 2 since they shipped me two lenses and got 0 back. This would really really suck! I’m going to stop by the Shipping & Receiving tomorrow and check out what’s going on. Maybe the box is somewhere in the corner and the UPS guy didn’t see it.

Onto the good things…The lens I got today is indeed a Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8. It’s one sexy piece of glass if you ask me. A little shy of 1.5 pounds. I took some test shots but did not check the sharpness. Focusing is very quiet & very fast, as i would expect. Sample shots will probably appear sometime soon.

Categories: Gear, Photography
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There is no way I can cover everything there is to know about RAW files and all the tricks that others know. I’ve done some research on digital workflows and my biggest frustration was that people didn’t really go into the exact motions of their workflow with an explanation of why they chose to do it that way.

My workflow is still in the process of being developed so I will modify it as necessary.

One of the best things you can do is pick up The DAM Book and read it. There’s a lot of good stuff in there about organization of images and how to tweak your RAW workflow to tailor you.

This is my take on this (navigation is also available to the right):

1. Introduction
2. Camera Setup
3. Physical Layer
4. Logical Layer

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Wow…The 16-35 f/2.8 from Amazon came today. I walked downstairs to the client’s shipping and receiving area and got the package. Got back to the lab and cracked the box open. The black/white/red box labeled Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8 was staring back at me. I opened up the lid and pulled out the warranty card which said 17-40 f/4. Confused, I pulled out the manual which also said Canon EF 17-40 f/4. Still unsure I pulled out the lens and looked at the rim. It also said 17-40 f/4. With disbelief I pulled out the packing slip and saw it say Canon 16-35 f/2.8.

Immediately I called Amazon and told them I need to return this item because the box is right but the items inside are not. I also asked them if they would cross-ship the replacement to me.

After all being said and done, Amazon did right by shipping me a replacement overnight. And letting me return the item. I’m surprised something like this would happen with a seller like Amazon.com. My theory is that Canon ran out of the 17-40 f/4 boxes and stuffed a few of the lenses into the 16-35 f/2.8 boxes. I mean, someone who didn’t know any better might have thought it was a better deal. I’d much rather opt for the inverse. A 16-35 f/2.8 in a 17-40 f/4 box.

Categories: Gear, Photography
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Amazon.com: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Camera and Photo
You purchased this item on February 21, 2006.

Very stoked. Now I have f/2.8 all the way from 16mm to 200m and f/4 from 140mm to 400mm. The only other thing I lust for now is the EF 600mm f/4 prime lense but it’s definitely out of my price range right now

Categories: Gear, Photography
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I had to drive down to Virginia today. I would have driven down on Sunday but President’s day allowed me to go today. Before I left I went and did some last minute shopping; apparently the LowePro LC-2 is large enough to fit a Canon 550EX which is great, I couldn’t figure out what pouch I needed to carry it safely. Also picked up a 77mm UV filter for protection. Now my carry-kit is a Canon 10D, 50mm f/1.8 MkII prime lens for low light situations, Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6, Canon 75-300 f/4-5.6 and a Canon 550EX with a Sto-Fen OmniBounce in a LowePro Toploader 75AW. The great thing is that it’s fairly compact, and I’m prepared for almost anything. I do want to replace the 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 with a Canon 24-105 f/4 but I want a Canon 16-35 f/2.8 first.

Categories: Gear, Photography
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Amazon.com: Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers: Books: Christopher Grey

I just opened the Amazon box and flipped through this book. Looks very good and full of good stuff. Can’t wait to read it.

Categories: Books, Photography
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