Yum, Yum! ( Will write more later )
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Thursday, 22 October 2009
First Week at Work
Well, things have been a bit hectic to put it mildly, hence the lack of blog posts. Also not had the chance yet to get any decent pictures in and around York, so apologies for the pretty bad one above.
That shot was actually taken while Rachel and I were out last Friday celebrating my first Week at work. And it was a very busy week aswell; down to London a few hours after starting at the new place in York, attended meetings (tried to keep up with everything that was being said) out in the evening for drinks and food with everyone, then more meetings before finally travelling back.
This week has been equally manic learning everything I can and trying to get up to speed. I am actually really enjoying myself, everyone is so nice, fun, clever and just fantastic to work with and the job I'm doing is fascinating and I am, hopefully, managing to learn lots of new things.
Still got lots to sort out in my life this and next week including hopefully moving house at the end of the month aswell as other personal stuff. So going to be mad busy for some time to come!
Friday, 9 October 2009
RAW processing on Linux
A technical post for a change (and the last entry for today as I've other things to be getting on with) and one that I hope will help others that may be struggling with the very same problem I faced.
I'd been using RawStudio on Ubuntu Linux for processing the RAW images from my Canon 350D camera. The results were fine and I didn't have any real problems, although I seemed to have to adjust the settings on almost every picture to get them to look right. I assumed that this was just down to what the camera captured and that having to tweak everything was just a natural thing to do.
I tried to use the same programme to handle images from Rachel's 500D camera and it got totally and utterly confused. The colours were completely off and while installing the latest daily snapshot did fix some of the issues it wasn't ideal. That said RawStudio is still a fantastic programme and it's very simple and easy to use.
Instead I found an application called RawTherapee which has proven to be much more successful and handles all the images flawlessly and, be default, appears to 'guess' the correct settings for all the images I've tried so far, both from the 350D and 500D cameras. The only criticism I have is that it's not as intuitive to use and is also complex in to deal with all of the available settings. However, all the available features means that it's incredibly powerful and I've already managed to 'rescue' some images because of it. For example there is a rotate feature which had meant some pictures that looked slightly wonky could be straightened very accurately and now look great.
To be completely fair, after a few sessions of use, I'm now getting use to the interface and I intend to use this for all the image processing from now on. I think I need to get my monitor calibrated at some point as well but that will have to wait until I can borrow something to achieve that (the tools are very expensive to buy apparently and the monitor I have - a Dell 2209WA (bought from Scan) - is meant to be fairly close to the right settings by default anyway.
Here's a screenshot of RawTherapee in action (in-expertly I should add, this is me using it here).
I'd been using RawStudio on Ubuntu Linux for processing the RAW images from my Canon 350D camera. The results were fine and I didn't have any real problems, although I seemed to have to adjust the settings on almost every picture to get them to look right. I assumed that this was just down to what the camera captured and that having to tweak everything was just a natural thing to do.
I tried to use the same programme to handle images from Rachel's 500D camera and it got totally and utterly confused. The colours were completely off and while installing the latest daily snapshot did fix some of the issues it wasn't ideal. That said RawStudio is still a fantastic programme and it's very simple and easy to use.
Instead I found an application called RawTherapee which has proven to be much more successful and handles all the images flawlessly and, be default, appears to 'guess' the correct settings for all the images I've tried so far, both from the 350D and 500D cameras. The only criticism I have is that it's not as intuitive to use and is also complex in to deal with all of the available settings. However, all the available features means that it's incredibly powerful and I've already managed to 'rescue' some images because of it. For example there is a rotate feature which had meant some pictures that looked slightly wonky could be straightened very accurately and now look great.
To be completely fair, after a few sessions of use, I'm now getting use to the interface and I intend to use this for all the image processing from now on. I think I need to get my monitor calibrated at some point as well but that will have to wait until I can borrow something to achieve that (the tools are very expensive to buy apparently and the monitor I have - a Dell 2209WA (bought from Scan) - is meant to be fairly close to the right settings by default anyway.
Here's a screenshot of RawTherapee in action (in-expertly I should add, this is me using it here).
York
I've obviously been visiting York since that is where Rachel lives and is also the location of the new job. However, I've yet to actually get some pictures of the city, which is rather frustrating since my visits have seemed to coincide with fantastic weather. I should say though that I think the place is absolutely beautiful!
I was sat by the river yesterday, reading my book, and it was just so picturesque and magical that I was really tempted to rush back to the car to grab my camera. Once I move I'm determined to capture pictures of the city and surrounding areas of interest at every opportunity. For the time-being, here is a shot from Fountains Abbey which is a National Trust site not far from York itself.
I was sat by the river yesterday, reading my book, and it was just so picturesque and magical that I was really tempted to rush back to the car to grab my camera. Once I move I'm determined to capture pictures of the city and surrounding areas of interest at every opportunity. For the time-being, here is a shot from Fountains Abbey which is a National Trust site not far from York itself.
Get over it
A friend of mine posted on her blog about been dazed and confused following the fact that her wife of many years has moved out of the family home. This was the arrangement they agreed on because of the tension caused by my friend's trans issues and was meant to be an occasion for relief, maybe even joy, at the freedom it bestowed. Instead my friend feels sad and lonely and the impact seems to have been nothing like she expected.
There is a very valuable lesson here: while logic and pragmatism may dictate changes in your life it is impossible to use any reasoning to prevent what you may feel. You can't walk away from a long term relationship without being upset about it, nor can you just turn off caring about someone who you loved and have many happy memories with.
I guess this is something that everyone learns in life sooner or later but it is worth bearing in mind in the case of those thinking of transitioning and the people around them. Someone's need to transition is compelling and may seem to exclude all other thoughts and feelings but that is not the case. Everyone concerned will go through so many emotions and, while there is nothing you can do to prepare for that, you can't dismiss it and claim that "it won't happen to me", it will.
There is a very valuable lesson here: while logic and pragmatism may dictate changes in your life it is impossible to use any reasoning to prevent what you may feel. You can't walk away from a long term relationship without being upset about it, nor can you just turn off caring about someone who you loved and have many happy memories with.
I guess this is something that everyone learns in life sooner or later but it is worth bearing in mind in the case of those thinking of transitioning and the people around them. Someone's need to transition is compelling and may seem to exclude all other thoughts and feelings but that is not the case. Everyone concerned will go through so many emotions and, while there is nothing you can do to prepare for that, you can't dismiss it and claim that "it won't happen to me", it will.
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