Here is a list of the things I really like right now that make running my business easier and more productive, especially as a sole-proprietor who wears all the hats.

FileZilla: FileZilla is an open source FTP program. The nice part, it’s free and it works. It will keep track of multiple FTP sites, and does a great job of transferring lots of files. I use it to upload slide shows to my web site for clients to access.

LogMeIn: LogMeIn allows me to easily access my home or work computer from any location. It takes a few screens to actually gain access to the remote computer, but once connected screen redraws are fast and can be customized to provide more detail if necessary. I tried doing remote access through other means but with dynamic IP addresses and modem/router configurations I was never able to make it work reliably. With LogMeIn I have not had a problem. I use the free service which allows me access to all my files as if I was sitting at the machine. You can upgrade to a paid Pro service to move files directly between your local and remote computers. I use the service listed next when I have to copy files between local and remote machines.

DigitalBucket.net: I found DigitalBucket.net when I was searching for a file delivery system that my clients and I could easily use. DigitalBucket offers a lot more functionality that I currently take advantage of, and they offer ample storage options for reasonable prices. I like them because they have a very intuitive interface for uploading and sharing files. My clients don’t have to log in unless they want to access the advanced features. I just send them a link to their files and they are ready to go.

Hosted Microsoft Exchange: My websites are hosted by MyHosting.com. They started offering a hosted exchange service that would provide my Blackberry with two-way push email, contacts, tasks and notes. I had been struggling trying to keep my Blackberry synced up to my computer and often had calendar items out of date. Now everything I enter on the Blackberry is automatically synced to the hosted Exchange server and everything I enter in Outlook on my computer is synced to my Blackberry. I wish I had done this two years ago.

Miscellaneous

The Luminous Landscape is one of the sites I watch on a daily basis. Micheal Reichmann always has great articles on photography as well as great guest essay’s.

Today’s guest is Art Wolfe. Most of the work we see from Art and all other photographers is the final product, the end result of sometimes lots and lots of planning, time, patience and luck. The essay Art provided gives a glimpse into what it takes to get to a great shot and what some of the hundreds of thousands of images professional photographers capture that usually never see the light of day.

Art Wolfe Essay at The Luminous Landscape: Night Fisherman

Digital Photography, Miscellaneous

There are always problems that have to be solved when working a shoot. Most of the time the problems revolve around light. Solving the problems sometimes requires a little creativity.

Exterior light is too bright

The image above is just such a problem. This shoot started out in the morning with fog outside providing a nice bright, but diffuse light to the interior. By the time I got to this corner cabinet shot, the fog had burned away, and the double-doors just to the right of the cabinet were lit up with very bright indirect and direct sunlight.

Exterior light getting better

After placing a couple of scrims (light blocking tools) outside the window, the image was better, but not great.

To get rid of all the light required three scrims blocking both doors and the windows above the doors. This being the winter, the sun was at such a low angle that it also reflected off the floor and onto the ceiling. Another light blocking scrim, this time a dog blanket laying nearby, was placed on the floor to block the light reflecting onto the ceiling.

Final Image

The final image shown above, shows off the contrasting cabinets nicely.

Recent Work lighting

After an image has been sized to the proper dimensions, it should be sharpened. Sharpening is a process that enhances the contrast between light and dark areas of an image. Ironically sharpening is done in Photoshop through a filter called Unsharp Mask. Starting with Photoshop CS3 there is also the Smart Sharpen filter which provides more options for the sharpening process.

For this article I’ll use Unsharp Mask. The first step is to view your image at 100% magnification. You can select the View menu and then Actual Pixels. Then scroll the image around until you can see a good location to evaluate your sharpening settings. You will not be able to properly review the results of sharpening unless you are viewing the image at full size (actual pixels).

Now select the Filter menu, then Sharpen, then Unsharp Mask.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Unsharp Mask Dialog

For a good explanation of why it is called Unsharp Mask, see the Wikipedia article on Unsharp Mask. The article also explains the three sliders: Amount, Radius and Threshold.

Each image is going to be different, and an image sized for the web will not require much in terms of Amount and Radius. The Amount slider changes how much sharpening is applied. The Radius slider changes how wide the sharpening effect becomes. Increase the Threshold slider to make sharpening work on the areas of the image where contrast is greatest.

Start by having Amount around 50 and Radius around .3, and Threshold at zero. Use the Preview checkbox to see what happens before and after the change. Then adjust Amount way up to 200 and run the Preview checkbox a few times. The change in the image is very pronounced. I call this popping. You want the image to pop a little, but not too much. Play around with the Amount and Radius until it pops how you like. Of course this is subjective, so do what works for you.

Conclusion

Determine what size you want your image. Size it for that specific use. Sharpen it appropriately. Create an IMG tag that works for that image.

Processing Images For The Web (Part 1) - Introduction
Processing Images For The Web (Part 2) - The IMG Is Everything
Processing Images For The Web (Part 3) - Proper Resizing

Digital Photography photoshop, sharpening, web

Rampathon 2009 happened on March 16th. 32 teams of volunteers built 32 ramps for deserving people and families. For my part I visited 7 ramps and took pictures of the teams and some of the recipients for use by the MBA and the participating volunteers. I was only able to get team pictures at 6 of the ramps as the 7th one finished before I was able to show up.

The weather this year was absolutely beautiful. It wasn’t as hot as last year, but it was still sunny for a lot of the day. I’m sure the volunteers appreciated not having to deal with rain.

Here are the pictures of the teams that I visited:

Professional Women in Building

R&R Specialists and Persyst Consulting

Shirey Handyman

Tenhulzen Remodeling

Tenhulzen Remodeling

Stewardship Remodeling

Wirecraft Electric

News Rampathon