Took my camera to the store again.

[sir pball]

Got a few more shots along the way. All fresh off the card, I'm waffling on coughing up for Photoshop again…

Everything from my Nikon D7100 wearing a Nikkor 35/1.8 DX lens (one of Nikon's finest, IMO)

Leaf on a fence


Adorable story…the cashier saw my camera and said "Oh, that's a fancy camera, are you a photo…photogra…photographicalist, I'm not sure the word?" and I said "yes, I'm a photographer but it's just a hobby. Would you mind if I took some pictures of you?" and she agreed, so long as she got to see them…and.I wish I could have taken a picture of her grin when she saw them


DC Metro awnings are quite aesthetic, though this may be better B&W


Italian restaurant


Bikeshares


Carwash and bakery…get a fresh baguette while you get detailed

[sir pball]

3. I'm very familiar with the GNU Image Manipulation Program.

Problematic name aside…it just plain sucks. It's not in the same ballpark as Blender, not the same league, not even the same sport.

Yeah, it's technically just about as powerful as PS but ho-lee-crap is the UI/UX awful. I've been trying to learn it for probably 20 years and I still don't really get it, to the point that the $20 a month for the Evil Empire (plus a terabyte of storage, which isn't bad at all) is looking very useful.

[2naSalit]

2. Nice!

And a pretty young lady.

[littlemissmartypants]

8. She really is, 2na! ❤️

[sheshe2]

4. Beautiful photographs, sir pball.

Thanks so much for sharing!

[sir pball]

6. Eh, I honestly don't think I'm that good...

But apparently y'all like me

[littlemissmartypants]

7. We love you, sir pball. Stay encouraged. ❤️

[sheshe2]

10. I beg to differ.

[sir pball]

14. It's imposter syndrome

I did get a 96 overall in Arts 271, B&W Photography (I still have my entire portfolio, negatives prints and grading sheets), and I always get praise when I share, but since I have literally no other artistic talent I can't convince myself!

[sheshe2]

15. Photography is your art.

You don't need to excel in any other art form; photography is your medium.

TY for sharing.

[sir pball]

16. It's weird, my profession is also called an "art"...

I'm a 30-year veteran of the "culinary arts", and while I have been an Executive Chef and created entire dishes from scratch, that have made my guests very happy, I've never seen it as an "art" so much as a "craftsmanship", if that difference makes any sense.

[3catwoman3]

5. I like the light fixtures...

...at the Italian restaurant.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. 🌞❤️🤓

[usonian]

11. I think that the old 35mm f.2 was the second lens I got, and an absolute gem.

Can't speak for the newer ones.

A lot of people are very pleased with the jpegs that cameras kick out, never mind the raw files, and I am generally so impressed with what Nikon does, that I almost always need only the mac Preview app to get a great photo. (similar to seashore)

Seriously, I used to use (the late) John Bradley's xv program to adjust light levels on many a picture. (long ago)

I use GIMP only to do some healing, and since I dabbled in oils when I was young, some airbrushing along with it.

Keeping things as simple as I can.

[sir pball]

18. These are the raws, converted without treatment...

Nikon's jpgs are usually quite nice, but I like to process my raws my own way to pull up the shadows and give them just a little more pop and contrast, think HDR Velvia…I'm just taking some time to accept that I need to be paying $20 per month to an Evil Empire for that privilege.

I can stumble through the GNU Image Manipulation Program but it doesn't give the same results as Photoshop. Once I bite the bullet and subscribe, I'll post the "developed" images.

[usonian]

19. I am trying out DarkTable, RawTherapee and Diffraction. They are free raw editors.

DarkTable
https://www.darktable.org/

darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer. A virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable lighttable and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them.

Have a look at our current features and how to install it on your system. And if you're new to darktable, the FAQ will answer many of your questions.

Raw Therapee
https://rawtherapee.com/

RawTherapee is a powerful, cross-platform raw photo processing system, released as Free Software (GPLv3). It is designed for developing raw files from a broad range of digital cameras and targeted at users ranging from enthusiast newcomers who wish to broaden their understanding of how digital imaging works to professional photographers.

RawTherapee provides a powerful suite of tools for you to produce amazing photos and showcase your creativity.

RawTherapee benefits users who take the time to learn what it can do. Luckily the community is quite welcoming and helpful! Check out the Forum, read up on RawPedia, and ask questions - there's always something neat to learn!

Diffraction, Free for a limited time. (hmmmm)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/diffraction-image-editor/id1544476110?mt=12
https://www.schubert-it.com/diffraction/

Diffraction is a comprehensive image editor designed specifically for macOS and tailored to the needs and mindset of creative creators. Whether you’re a professional photographer or an enthusiastic hobbyist, Diffraction offers robust tools to enhance and create stunning images. With Diffraction, you can color correct and retouch your photos, make creative compositions with layers and masks, or create your own images from scratch using its powerful brush tools, which include dozens of realistic and fun brushes.

I abandoned Adobo long ago.

Secret sauce for most of my jpegs.
If there is sky background,
Use mac Preview.app
Ask "auto levels"
Turn down highlights a bit (darkens the sky)
Slide the "levels" mid-range control to get a bit more gamma in the mid-ranges.
Turn up shadows to where they look right (works well and compensates for the previous two)
And if they are a bit flat, slide the black point (left control) up a tiny bit.

Most come out great.
On extreme shadows, I go into GIMP, select the really dark part, and raise its brightness just enough to look real. Sometimes, this is hard. (to select)

Gimp has been useful for erasing power lines, even insects that show up on my beautiful flower shots AFTER I take the shot. (heal, airbrush and so on). That's where my amateur painting skills show up.

Gimp removed power lines from this scenic.
Coolpix P510 (It is my carry-everywhere camera) so old that no RAW images were made.



reduced to 1.5MB for posting.

[sir pball]

20. I'm aware of all of them, and I've tried all of them...

…but I've been using the Evil Empire since 1997 and they are very good at building a consistent workflow and UX.

It's like asking me to change my chemistry for my B&W film, it's a hard sell.

[HAB911]

12. Beautiful work!

[George McGovern]

13. Good job sir pball! Neat DOF. AND nice that the cashier grinned when she saw her photos!

[sir pball]

17. When you have a 1.8 lens...

…it's hard to not do a bunch of DOF studies

[Grumpy Old Guy]

21. A new alternative to Photoshop

I'm a photoshop addict, but if I was starting over I might consider DXO Photolab. I use a lot of DXO Pure Raw 4 which is an excellent noise reduction software. Photolab incorporates Pure Raw as well as a lot of masking features similar to Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw.