Misha - yup...the Space Needle observation deck is at 524 ft (where I took these photos from). All - Yea, I have to admit that there is just something about nighttime city shots. That and neon...I love well done shots with neon in them. I can't wait to get out this holiday season and try some longish exposures with xmas lights and traffic light trail type stuff. :) -=>Donald

Photo scanned from negative.

I don't know why I never tried this before. This seems to work ok for b&w; color is probably a totally different story because of things like dmax and the color correction required. The above is a scan of a print. Had a really hard time metering this when I took it (the only light was what she had on her claws and they were dancing around). I finally gave up trying to get a good scan from it. This is one of the photos that prompted me to start saving for a film scanner. The photo in the next message was scanned from the neg using the cardboard-o-matic setup. Note that the heavy "grain" you see in her face is actually caused by the printer paper used to diffuse the light. Makes me think that those cheap "film scanner" modules they have for flatbeds might not be bad if you have a halfway good scanner and you stick to b&w negs. -=>Donald

I used a sheet of paper (standard 8.5x11 sheet of white printer paper) to diffuse the light (a 60W bare bulb). Between the paper and the negative is a cardboard frame with a rectangular hole cut in it (a little wider than 1 frame width and a little shorter than the film height). I'm sure with a better lightsource and better diffuser you could get better results. Not film scanner quality, but not completely horrible either. Of course, dealing with a color neg is probably a whole other ballgame. A little later tonight, I'll scan a neg that I also already have a scan from the print and see how they compare. -=>Donald

Hehehe...you guys kill me. In touch with my feminine side...ouch. :) hahaha Star - Actually, I'm glad you said that. I had the same thought. Even so far as to think that the 2nd duck (2nd from left) almost looks sad the way his head is down. Yeesh..talk about having issues. :) -=>Donald

Grain Surgery is a wonder (I hold it in as high esteem as I do the gift from the gods the MIGHTY "Healing Brush". :) One of the really great things about Grain Surgery is that it actually has 3 seperate uses. The one it's most often used for is the removal or minimization of grain. But like Alpha says above, it can also add grain (you can choose grain templates - ie. Tri-X 100, Tri-X 400, etc.). The third is the one that I just love the sound of (but haven't used yet), you can actually input an image into it with grain that you like and it will sample/analyze the grain structure and then attempt to replicate the look of that grain onto a 2nd image. The grain aliasing issue is still a current one. There is a recent (6 months or less) article on it that I read about 2 week ago. I'll see if I can find that link somewhere. -=>Donald

Add my congrats to the above! How can anything title "Study in Texture and Toes" not be great to begin with? :)

Yea..stay away from the Windows version. It doesn't have nearly as much development time as the Linux version. Besides, -anything- you put onto Windows is bound to be a nightmare. That's right!! I said it!!! And I'm only 20 minutes away from the Mothership (Redmond,WA). Ummm...if I vanish, please let my family know it was the Microsoft Police that did it.:) Ok ok...XP has been treating me fairly nicely (although i still have yet to figure out these little pauses the system does even when it's doing nothing). -=>Donald

Attached Link: GIMP Plugin and Filter Examples

Misha - If you have or can install Linux, Gimp is an exceptional program that rivals Photoshop in almost every way. And how do you ever beat -free-? Throw into it that updates are made regularly and that there are a large number of free filters and plugins for it (see link for a few examples). And all for a free OS. Did I mention I like free stuff? :) -=>Donald

Attached Link: Sunset over Bryce in Winter

If your friend is still unconvinced, have him take a look at this URL. This is a photo by another amateur photographer named A. Cemal Ekin; I really like his stuff. Remind him/her that this was reduced and jpeg'd so that it would fit within the posting guidelines of that site (640x480 200k or less). It was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 995 - a 3.14megapixel consumer digital camera. In the end, it's not the equipment, it's the photographer. -=>Donald

One of the things I've noticed that holds true for both digital and film cameras when landscapes are taken is that it really helps to use filters on your lens. I'm not a landscape guy, but the ones that I know who are swear by split neutral density filters. They allow you to get decent exposure on the land/foreground and the sky without getting totally underexposed land or blown out skies. Many also love using a polarizer with a warming filter (like an 81A). Many of todays consumer digital cameras have filter threads on the lens. Even those that don't, companies like Cokin make filter adapters that fit on any camera with a tripod mount on the bottom. Filters can help you to decrease or eliminate haze and give you more dramatic skies with better color. -=>Donald

Thank you very much! Talk about unexpected surprises. :) As I told Star in an IM, it's a rare time words fail me ... this is one of those times. I really liked this lady. She was one of my favorites. Such great attitude. Did I ever mention the back of her shirt said "Bite Me" on it? :) Thanks again ... you've made my week. :D -=>Donald

The whole style of the building and wagony thing in front (see, student of history) pulls you back to the old days. The b&w/duotone one just sort of fits with it. I don't know how comfortable you are with PS'ing beyond standard stuff, but I'd probably go in and clone out the wire (phone?) going diagonally along the top of the roof. Distracting; but that may just be me.

Canon EOS 630. Trying hard to save and pick up a EOS A2E or even a EOS 3 if I get lucky. Hope to move to digital SLR one day (Canon D60). -=>Donald

If we're talking photo-gear: The "Yeah..right" list: 1 - Canon D60 DSLR Body 2 - Sigma 100-300 F4 EX-IF HSM Lens 3 - Nikon SuperCoolscan 4000ED Film Scanner The "could happen" list: 1 - Tamrac 5474 Velocity 7 Sling Camera Bag 2 - Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 Lens 3 - Lots of film -=>Donald