Switching to Mac OS Lion: My experience testing on a separate drive.

Posted on November 25, 2011 by atgo

For anyone who is contemplating switching to OS Lion and has been delaying this update. Due to the many negative reviews or for fear of losing important software. I have decided to post my experience with testing the new OS on a separate drive. This is by no means meant to be a definitive guide, review or in depth look at the changes to the new OS. I just thought it useful for those that do not know how to test and install on a separate drive or just want to hear a positive reaction to the experience. I strongly recommend testing the OS first before installing on a mission critical drive.
The steps I took before downloading the new OS were the following:
• Update all software to latest versions
• Create 2 bootable backups of the main volume. (I use SuperDuper which is very easy to use and straight forward)
• I used an external volume lacie 500Gb hard drive. Connected via firewire to test the new OS.
• After creating the clone or bootable backup on the Lacie drive I then restarted the Mac to boot from the Lacie drive. To do this you just need to hold down the Option key ⌥ while restarting. When prompted I selected the volume I wanted to start up from which was the Lacie clone.
• Once the computer had restarted using the Lacie drive I then used the App store to purchase and download the new OS Lion 10.7.2. I did the download overnight as its about 3gb and would have taken about 3 hours.
• When I returned to the computer there was a window asking me if I wanted to install the new OS. I clicked install and selected the clone Lacie drive to install to. Installation took 30mins.

I could see straight away in the dock software which was no longer going to work (icon covered with no entry symbol) this included:
Dreamwever MX
Epson Scan software for the 3170 model scanner
The following is a list of my critical software which all appears to be operating well (latest version unless stated);
Filemaker Pro
Photoshop CS5
Lightroom 3
Epson Print Driver for the Stylus Photo 2100
Epson Print CD
Word 2008 v.12.3.0
Expression Media v1.0.3
Omni Focus
Colour Navigator 6

Overall the finder seems snappier and quicker when changing views. Its also less intrusive all icons now seems to be the same colour for folders, buttons etc.
All my settings have remained intact. Although one noticable chgange is that the sidebar on windows is now reveresed that where before I had all my devices at the top then folders below that and then favourites. This is now reversed which was little annoying at first. It is possible however to drag devices into the favourites area so actually this is an improvement over the previous design. I also notice that scrolling up/down using the wheel on my Wacom mouse and wireless Apple mouse has reversed. Apparently Apple believe that this is more intuitive way to use a mouse. It is possible to change this via System settings > mouse settings.
So far this is as much testing as I have done, but I feel confident that I will not have problems using the new OS. I have also not looked closely at new features.
Drop me a comment if you have any questions or suggestions!

#Hash key on Apple Mac Keyboard

Posted on November 11, 2011 by atgo

This post is for anyone who is new to using a UK Apple mac keyboard and is searching for the hash # key on your apple keyboard. You wont find it…..as its not there. But you can use a shortcut.

Hold down the alt/option key then press 3

For anyone who is an avid Twitter user the # hash key is becoming an important character.

If you don’t get a hash appear, open the Keyboard Viewer if you don’t see any other character changing when you press the alt/option key. Try this:

Open system preferences > Keyboard > Select the ‘Modifier Keys’ button at bottom right > you will see a list with the Option key and a drop down list next to it. It should say ‘Option’. If it says ‘No action’ change this to ‘Option’

Attention to detail – Lighting for an award portrait

Posted on October 22, 2011 by atgo

The brief was simple, capture a striking portrait of a staff member with their award for leadership, for an internal company publication. The person in question worked across a department involved in creating maps from geological data. I settled on creating two different images. The first a simple headshot of the subject with award and the second a portrait involving other staff members and some action. For the purposes of this post I am using the example of the basic headshot portrait with award to show how using lighting and background can create an effective and engaging image, of what is usually a fairly standard shot of someone holding an award.

With this type of assignment it is preferable to be able set up without causing to much disruption and to be able to do this quickly, especially if planning multiple shots. As such I travelled light for this assignment I had with me x3 SB800 flash guns, x 2 stands, 1 softbox brolly, 1 translucent brolly

For the first shot, the headshot I new I needed a background which I could either blur using a long focus lens wide open to isolate the subject or I could create a backdrop which was tied in a little more to the story of where the subject worked and could also serve as a background to the second shot involving some action. After a quick scout of the open plan office I settled on the option to create a colourful and striking backdrop using the many maps found in the office. The map we selected was pinned up over other maps already covering the wall to create a large area of map and colour which would provide a large enough background to fill the frame.

I made sure that the space I was going to use would provide enough depth to allow me to light for both the background and the subject as well as allowing me to throw the background out of focus slightly. I set up 2 lights on stands one with the Softbox and the other with a shoot through brolly. The softbox was placed high and close to the subject on camera left so that light would fall on background, as well as creating quite hard shadows on the subjects face. I took the first test shot to see how this looked.

Award Portrait for internal publication - lighting test

This has created quite a punchy image, but I felt that the shadow created on the subject’s left side was little dark and needed fill. I also noticed the background seemed a little dull. To overcome these issues, I placed a light with shoot through brolly on camera right, close to my position and high. For the background I placed a 3rd light on a box low down behind the subject on camera right. I left this third flash bare without a gel or any light modifier. The other 2 had green and orange gels, the purpose of which was to match the flash light with the white balance setting on camera and the ambient overhead flourcesnt of the office and also contrast with the bare background light. Shooting with my chosen white balance setting with the bare SB800 meant the background took on a subtle bluish colour. After some tweaking by aiming the light away from the background slightly the light fall off was enough not to be distracting and gave the maps more life.

Award Portrait for internal publication - Final shot

Is the face of corporate photography changing?

Posted on November 2, 2010 by atgo

The constant online presence that companies are now adopting means that the need for staff to appear friendly and approachable is more desirable than the old style stuffy boardroom corporate image. Making a first and lasting impression is vital in keeping your clients up to date. The ever present website and staff profile page means that the corporate image is now more important than ever before; we see company employees enjoying themselves on Facebook often at charity events, or making new connection on LinkedIn and Twitter. Companies are no longer seen as a single entity but as a group of individuals taking their place online. The representation and use of avatars is very important in that role, no one wants to see the profile image with an anonymous silhouette.

For the past 2 years I have been asked increasingly to provide images suitable for social media websites when undertaking corporate headshot photography. This has meant fulfilling briefs which ask for approachable, friendly and eye catching images of staff. Understanding how Avatars are used is part of this process. An Avatar is an image used to represent yourself on the internet, typically it is used on social media websites such as facebook, twitter etc. Gamers also use them to represent themselves inside a game environment. It is an image which uses simple compositions, bold colours, and good lighting to represent the subjects personality. It also an image which is adaptable to the different sizes allowed by social media sites, and it helps to break the ice to begin online conversations.

The avatar image is usually cropped to a square and some sites will allow you to position the crop where you want and others will do this automatically. So its best to choose an image which works well as a square initially. If you are going to crop the image yourself, its usually also best to crop to an image size no less than at about 180px x180px, most sites will reduce this size. So at least you can start with a better quality size and then let the site reduce the dimesions without loosing any quality. You will also have a file which uploads very quickly. For reference I have provided a some typical avatar sizes used by the common social media websites. Read More >

A professional photographer will be able to create a well lit and composed image which will jump out of the screen. Images need to have a lot of punch. This can be achieved with careful lighting and a good choice of background. If you intend to take the image yourself the best approach is find a location with colour and no confusing clutter. Make sure you face any available light source and then think about how you want your personality to be reflected.

The changing nature of corporate photography is still bound by restraints such as time and budget, but there is a greater amount of flexibility and creativity due to the need for a strong, corporate online presence. Boundaries are being broken through due to the informality of social networking sites, creating a more individualised and friendly corporate face.

Personal Avatar Size Reference Guide

Posted on October 12, 2010 by atgo

A useful guide to social media avatar sizes.

Facebook: Lets you display up to a rectangular image 180 pixels wide x 540 pixels tall while showing avatars of 50×50 pixels elsewhere.

LinkedIn: Sidebar images measure 40 × 40 pixels and profile page images can be 80×80 pixels.

Twitter: Profile pages display images at 73 × 73 pixels while showing avatars at 48 × 48, 31 × 31 and 24 × 24 pixels elsewhere.

Google: Gmail (96 × 96 pixels) and Friend Connect (both 82 × 82 and 40 × 40 pixels) use different images, the image sizes aren’t too different.

Yahoo!: Pulse is Yahoo’s Facebook-like site. The Profile page has your square image at 128 x 128 pixels, but the most-used size is the reduced 32 x 32 that appears near comments.

Myspace: Allows up to 158 × 158 pixels for an image on the profile page, and uses 28 × 28 pixel icons everywhere else.

Update ‘How will the Sun affect my photograph’

Posted on October 3, 2010 by atgo

In conjunction with my previous post I have discovered a great free desktop application, for tracking the sun’s movememnt through the day at any location throughout the world. Thanks to a blog post on David Tejada’s site. You can now use the ‘The photographer’s Ephemeris‘ Tool to see very comprehensive information about the Sun and Moon’s position overlaid on a satellite image map. If used with the Elevation of Obstacle Calculator you can determine the precise distance of shadow fall from an object with the sun behind.

Elevation of Obstacle Calculator for photographers- How will the sun affect my photograph

Posted on September 21, 2010 by atgo

Have you ever needed to know whether the sun will be in just the right place for your photograph. Photographers can use the calculator below to determine how the suns elevation will be effected by obstacles. You will need to use a sun position calculator first to determine the elevation in degrees of the Sun beforehand.

Elevation of Obstacle Calculator

How to take better Holiday Photographs

Posted on September 16, 2010 by atgo

Just read this interesting article by Martin Parr the famous Magnum documentary photographer on how to take better holiday photographs. Not sure I agree with documenting everything including your trip to the supermarket! http://gu.com/p/2j7t8/tw

Approachable Corporate Portrait

Posted on August 16, 2010 by atgo

I often get asked to produce portraits which are friendly and approachable especially corporate portraits. Traditionally these tended to be be very formal boardroom, desk type shots with very little character.

The need to have web profiles, avatars and press releases has contributed to the style of these portraits changing. There is often a limited amount of time to shoot many subjects in a variety of poses and with multiple backgrounds. My preferred method to make best use of limited time is to use the existing daylight when available and filing shadows with reflectors. This allows a fast turnaround of location background and subject poses. Below are examples of available and artificial light portraits all taken using interior office locations or nearby exterior locations, sometimes with many changes of location. Very often portraits are produced during conferences or between board meetings.

Friendly Approachable Corporate Portraits

Alex Orrow Photographer

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