Plunge Taken

Well, after more months of here-and-there playing with Lightroom and On1 Photo Raw, On1 came out with the 2020 version and along with other enhancements, in this one they added a direct ability to upload photos to SmugMug sites. So that was all it took to finish the deal for me. After some testing of this new version, I finally took the plunge today and cancelled my Adobe subscription plan. 

It's interesting how hard that was to do! Not technically hard, just emotionally. Like so many others, I had complained in the past about having to pay a subscription fee to use Adobe's products, but when it came time to cut the cord I found myself more hesitant than expected. I think it was the comfort of knowing I was using the industry gold standard, always updated, and so well developed as a product. 

So today I'm off that wagon and out on my own with Photo Raw as my only image editing tool. I've always like the app and used it here and there, so it's certainly not unfamiliar. And On1 has an ever-growing following, with lots of great content on YouTube and of course, their own support and help guides. So it's certainly not like going completely dark. 

I'll post some updates as get to know the app better and adjust my workflow and image management for this app. I'm excited and looking forward to this next chapter in the hobby! 

Next Step from LR

After a hiatus for all kinds of other activities, I'm back to spending some time getting my photos organized and updated. Now that On1 has their 2019.5 release out, the features are better than ever. While this LR alternative still lacks the ability to publish directly to SmugMug (the awesome host for alwpics.com), they're starting to hint that could be in the works.
So today I'm using the On1 Lightroom plugin to migrate my edits in LR to Photo Raw 2019. After that, I'll be playing with the app for a while before I make the final decision to stop using LR.
I have to say at this stage that it's pretty likely I'll make the switch, especially because I really don't use Photoshop (the other half of the subscription with Adobe) anyway. Other than resetting the workflow I use to back up my images to my SmugMug site, using Photo Raw looks like it'll be a joy and very similar to using LR. I'll write another post about how it goes soon.
Also just a note about Lightroom: I've really liked using it. Adobe is, of course, the most experienced developer of photo imaging software and still the most widely used by creative pros for a lot of good reasons. For part-time enthusiasts like me though, the subscription and forced links to Adobe servers are not worth it. Having a lower-cost, perfectly suitable alternative is just fine. 

Time to Ditch Adobe?

If you know photography and Photoshop, that might be eye catching. Ditch the venerable Lightroom/Photoshop combo? Whatever for? Or, if you don't know of those things that well, you might not find this all that interesting. Regardless, it's a big shift for me, so I thought it worth a post.

Here's the rub I've developed with Adobe (arguably, much like Apple, a love 'em or hate 'em company for many of us). It's the control thing. I don't like being controlled by vendors, forcing me into products that serve their best interests over mine, or pushing me to become more and more dependent on them. More on that in a bit - first, I have to give Adobe some due praise.

PS and LR are still apparently the best apps out there for photo professionals and serious enthusiasts. Having done some recent light research, I can say it appears they still have the lion's share of the market. And for good reason. LR and PS are the longest-tenured and most developed, mature, robust and powerful photo management and editing apps out there. But it's not all about the apps.

Likely in an effort to rope users into more loyalty, Adobe moved to the subscription model a few years ago, and I didn't mind - in fact, the $10/mo price for full use of LR and PS is what helped me jump in with them. Well that, and the unfortunate decision by Apple to kill Aperture. So, rather than spend $1200 to buy a product I'd have to replace every few years, this subscription made a ton of sense. And the ridiculously high price to buy it outright is what had kept me away for decades.

And after a couple years of using Adobe, I have no complaints. I'm far from a serious enthusiast and not really a pro, so I'm not picky about RAW file conversion quality or other complex aspects. In fact, I really love LR's DAM (Digital Asset Management) system, which helped me organize my previously messy 18,000-image collection. But there's a fly in the ointment.

Recently I got an email from Adobe - and the photo world also started talking - about Adobe changing up the LR versions. Now instead of the nice single app, they have two: one (the one I've been using) is now Lightroom CC Classic. And the new one takes the name of the old one, Lightroom CC. That confused me and the market, but Adobe's marketing folks cleared it up quick. What we're seeing is an evolution toward not just software-as-a-subscription, but full cloud-based photo management and editing. Some are saying the old way (we keep our own photos on our own machines) is dying and the cloud will be the only way to store information, including photo collections. That may be unavoidable, but most of us aren't ready, not yet.

Translated, I see a future where you pay Adobe for both the software and the online photo storage. A future in which the two are inexorably linked, and the user is locked into a contract that if broken, it would be hard or impossible to get and keep their images. Now that may not happen, but I don't like the idea of a company pushing my image management into their own court in any way, and I also don't care for the likely price increase. I love my SmugMug site and it's unlimited storage, and I really love storing and backing up my own creative work. All 18,000 images of it.

Add to that, unlike pros and prolific enthusiast photographers, I don't use my software that heavily, so I'm more willing too take chances and try new things. And until now, I didn't see many affordable alternatives LR. Until now.

There's a nifty little company out there called On1. Having used On1's wonderful Perfect Photo Suite 10 (and a previous version) for my image effects for some years now I'm quite familiar with this wonderful app. In fact, most of the portfolio pics on my web site's front page were stylized with it. And I receive all kinds of marketing emails from them touting the latest and greatest updates. I like On1, so I don't mind. Then the last two upgrades caught my eye.

In 2017 they released their first true competitor for LR and PS, On1 Photo Raw 2017; in this all-new app, they had added DAM so users can catalogue and organize their collections through the app, just like with LR. Then later in the year came the 2018 version, now available. It's much improved and getting some rave reviews, even though it still has a few things to make better. And after a few more emails with really tempting upgrade pricing (one time, $79, no subscription needed), I took a close look. Frankly, it's too tempting  not to try.

So here goes! I'm taking the plunge. Adobe friends and pundits, don't fret. I'm going to try Photo Raw 2018 alongside LR for a bit before I decide to file divorce papers. But after reading multiple blogs and reviews, I have a feeling I might just ditch LR/PS, save $40-$120/year, and see where this rabbit hole leads. Stay tuned - I'll write about it!

The Lightroom/SmugMug Super Combo

I've been working hard on getting my image library into pristine condition since switching from Apple's Aperture to Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop a while back (see previous posts). This last winter I did a bunch of research on backing up my ever-growing and precious bank of images, and man, there so many options. Hard drives? RAID array? Cloud? Discs? Well, no, not discs - that's so old school!

Hard drives are certainly getting affordable - 2 TB models are a sweet spot at around $100 or less. But they can fail. So I knew something online would be best. I settled on using my long-time SmugMug account (alwpics.com), since I already pay for a subscription to keep the site alive as a showpiece. Since they offer unlimited cloud storage and use an iron-clad backup process, I reasoned that SmugMug just makes sense.

So I set up the excellent Lightroom plug-in from SmugMug, started creating Smart Galleries to capture keywording, and developed a relatively simple process to store all my photos on the site, not just the ones I considered worth sharing (I can make folders, galleries or images private).

So now I have a great process. I store all my images on my iMac, back them all up to a small external hard drive, and back them up to my SmugMug site, all with Lightroom as the primary tool. It's great, generally simple, and even fun. And I can access my site on all my devices, from my Kindle Fire, Android phone, or even the kids' iPads. Great combo, and what nice age to be living in!

Oh and on these posts about digitizing my old "analog" photo albums - 1991 is done, 1992 is in progress and 1993-2002 are still in queue. Many more hours of that to come!

Digitizing Old Images

I'm finally started!
After a few attempts, I settled on a method to digitize our many old images, most of them from prints, and now the first album is done (about a dozen to go).
The Setup

It's really low tech. In my basement studio I'm using a table, 60w incandescent clamp light at a 45 degree angle, and a piece of 11x17 low glare picture framing glass I found in one of my old art frames.

I used Scotch Blue tape to border the edges of the glass, and made a small rectangle on the table to easily place photos in the same spot. In this image, a photo is laying on the tape spot. Using my Canon G15's live view, I fine tune the placement and gently lower the glass onto the photo. Then I make sure the camera is still (bumping the tripod causes vibrations so I wait 3-5 seconds) and snap the picture with the remote cable release.

Now the things are set up this way, I'll spend an hour or two a few evenings a week to work through our other albums.

Why not scan or some other way? I tried scanning on my flatbed and didn't like the images - contrast was extreme, among other things. This method allows me to adjust white balance in-camera, and by shooting RAW, I get large files that I can adjust in Lightroom. Many of our negatives are lost, so this is the best way I think I've found to digitizing from prints, besides expensive professional scanning.

How do they look?
On screen, just like the prints! The ones I'm doing now are from 1991-1993 and were shot with really inexpensive cameras (one was a 126, for those who remember!). Here's an image from summer of 1992 of my dad, with only a few exposure, contrast, color and clarity adjustments (no noise or other cleanup done yet):

And now to do about 10 more years' worth of albums, including our wedding and honeymoon in 1994. Looking forward to permanently preserving these priceless images!

Progress

Many hours of work are behind me as I close in on the finish line. Of the 17,000 images I've been sorting, some 3,300 dupes and out-takes are gone, leaving the pristine collection at 13,264 images. Of those, 10,065 are family pictures and 2,659 are personal (all the nature, travel and other stuff). These are just the images taken since January of 2003, when I switched to digital.

Next, after I load the remaining 5,000 images or so onto alwpics.com to back them up, I'll start digitizing the images from my film days, going back to around 1991. I have no idea how many there are, but guess around 5,000 or so. Many are slides, so digitizing will be an interesting endeavor, to be sure.

Lightroom is turning out to be a great tool. I like the clean and efficient way it links to my web site, making it easy to manage the folders and images there right from the application. I resisted switching from Aperture for some time but can say now I'm even more glad I did!

Major Site Refresh Underway!

Now that the holidays are over and I have Lightroom set up, it's time to dust off the galleries and clean up Alwpics.com. I'm fast at work with Nature and other galleries. If you browse through, you'll notice a simpler layout (e.g. Nature will have just four galleries, one for each season) and lots more images. New galleries will also appear for special subjects, like trips, interesting things, and animals.

For family, I tend toward privacy and password protect most images. For you family members, I'll share more as I take down old galleries and add more over time. It'll be really big - I'm going to be setting up the site to be my permanent online backup, so most of the 14,000+ family images will end up there.

More to come as I make progress!

Switching to Adobe

It had to happen sometime. Early in 2015 Apple let us know that our beloved Aperture would no longer be updated or supported going forward. I was so happy with the Aperture and iMac combo, but had to make a decision - keep using Aperture as it slowly became obsolete, or take the plunge and start over with the Adobe Suite.

Rather than wait, I took the plunge. $9.99/mo is more than I care to spend (Aperture was $80 when I got it) and I was satisfied with On1's Perfect Photo Suite for the more complex editing Aperture couldn't do. But Lr/Ps is the standard, there's tons of support and learning content on it, and it's always kept up to date and upgraded free on this plan. So Adobe it was.

Since July 2015, I've been adapting. On and off over months, I moved 17,000 images from the old library to a pristine new one, cleaning out dupes, organizing better, and keyboarding many as I went. I'm actually glad now for that. My collection has never been in better shape.

Lightroom is fantastic, too. It was pretty easy to get the hang of it. It's got a nice mobile syncing feature and also syncs with my SmugMug site well. So I'm definitely happy I made the switch. Now for the winter of 2015/16, I'll be using Lr to help me overhaul my online presence. You'll see a better web site layout and certainly many more images. Time to move forward!

Back to It?

It's been quite a while since I posted on the blog, or for that matter update alwpics.com. Much as been happening, but as Autumn 2015 creeps in I'm planning to get back at the PC more often and add more images.

In other news, I'm starting a second blog called Learning by Al Whicker. Inspired by my boss's advice to publish a recent accomplishment, I'm thinking it would be nice to contribute to my field of professional learning and development. Link coming soon!

All-New Website

I'm thrilled! SmugMug, my website provider, recently overhauled their design tools and site functionality. Besides a better user experience and fresher look, this also allows us "tweakers" to customize our sites much more easily, and not have to learn nearly as much code to do it. It's fantastic.

After a week of editing, I just unveiled the new site, at www.alwpics.com. Now that the site is so much nicer, I plan to add many more photos and will provide updates here on the blog.

Check it out and feel free to leave comments on this post with feedback on the look and feel.

Who says a cloudy summer day can't produce beautiful images? I took this one at Sharon Woods Metro Park in Columbus a couple weeks ago, and jazzed it up using Perfect Effects 4. Even seemingly droll days offer so many opportunities - all we have to do is look. :-)

Only 2 years for an iMac to quit?

Unreal. At just two years old, my favorite piece of equipment has failed. I'm lucky I backed up the 12,000+ images I have, but if they can't recover them, I may have lost a few recent ones along with recent documents. I'm also really glad I bought the Apple Care protection plan - I'd hate to try to fix this myself.

Lesson of the decade: back up your files, no matter how good or new your computer is! You can bet I plan to enhance my backup routine, that's for sure.

The Canon G15

Just a couple months ago I traded up from a Canon SX10is to the newer G15 for my portable carry-every-day camera. At 18MP and with 1080p video, it's a great little shooter. It also pockets well, has a flash shoe, and shoot RAW images; all requirements for me.

So far the images are great, and I'll soon post some samples. Great camera!

I've been experimenting with OnOne's Perfect Photo Suite 7, and it's just fantastic. Tools like this can unlock so much creativity!

How Does It Look?

It's been a while since I tweaked the web site and blog. I've added slide show to the main web site, showing nature pictures, and changed the blog over to a white background for easier reading. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions!

Amazon's Really Heating Up

I recently got my first tablet, a 7" Kindle Fire HD. What a screen! Not only did it quickly replace my iPod Touch as my primary "PDA" and all-things digital tool of choice, it's also a lot of fun for games and videos, too. 

I have to give Amazon one special compliment: the email client on this device is wonderful. It works in real time with Hotmail, meaning that I don't have to recreate all my folders; I can access them exactly the same way I do at a computer on the web. Of course, I can work with emails offline, too. 

Another handy surprise was the syncing of contacts and calendars with Hotmail (I use two accounts, and the Kindle lets me sync them as I choose). Very nice! 

It won't do everything a full-featured tablet like the iPad can do, that's true. And the selection of apps in in Amazon's limited store is tiny compared to the greater Android market and Apple's App Store. But for $199, the Fire HD is definitely worthy of your first entry into the tablet world. It's a hit with the kids, too!