Please provide your feedback on the photos and the way they're presented on the Web. If you print them please drop me a line to tell me how you printed them and how they turned out. I'm learning and your feedback is valuable to me. Constructive criticism is especially appreciated :-)
Updates
11/26/03 -- updated images in PC1 and PC2 to remove excessive digital artifacts. Changes were made to the following IMG_????.jpg files: 3988, 3999, 4006, 4011, 4014, 4016, 4052, 4056, 4063, 4076, 4078, 4083, 4088, 4092, 4099, 4151, 4155, 4156, 4159, 4162, 4167, 4182, 4207, 4212, 4214. Changes affected regular size and "full size" images on photos.gunnsite.com only. Photos on WebShots and Ofoto have not been updated.
WebShots and Ofoto Galleries
Identical galleries are available on WebShots and Ofoto. Links to both are on the front page. I experiment with these two sites and having duplicate galleries is a good way for you to order prints. Please don't ask me for prints unless it's a special request and it can't be done through any other means. See my comments below about printing.
Downloading
There are several different ways for you to download these pictures to your own computer. I suggest one of the following:
- On gunnsite.com, Right-click on the "View Full Size" link at the bottom of the picture, and then "Save target as ...".
- On Webshots, Right-click on the "View Full Size" link at the bottom of the picture, and then "Save target as ...".
Printing
Using the galleries I've created on WebShots or Ofoto is the easiest way for you to get prints. If you want 4x6 sized prints, simply go to WebShots or Ofoto and select and order them. I've ordered 4x6 and 8x10 prints from WebShots in the past and have been happy with the results. Ofoto has a very good reputation. WebShots is a little more expensive than Ofoto. Pephoto.com is the cheapest print service I could find at .15 per 4x6 print but they only offer an upload service, no online viewing. All the images have retained a 35mm aspect ratio which is 1:1.5. This equates to print sizes of 4x6, 8x12, etc. If you want to print at the popular sizes of 5x7, 8x10, and 11x14 you or the print service will have to crop the image.
If you have downloaded an image, you have several choices for printing:
- use your own photo quality printer,
- burn the images onto a CD and walk them into Ritz, or
- upload them to your own favorite internet printing service
A few of the original images will hold up to printing large sizes, perhaps up to 13x17 inches. Many of the images are either not tack sharp or the noise (grain) is too prominent and for those reasons take caution before going through the trouble and expense of large prints. You may also want to consider doing your own processing on these images to optimize your method of printing. I uploaded to WebShots and Ofoto the same large file attached to the "View Full Size" link on gunnsite.com. Both WebShots and Ofoto do their own processing on the file as it's uploaded so there will be slight, perhaps imperceptible, differences between the images on gunnsite.com and what you find on WebShots and Ofoto. Too much information?
Details
After reviewing these images I wrote up a long list of improvements that can be made for future shoots of this sort. Chief among them was to balance the mix of my onboard flash and the available light. That's not possible for the dress rehearsal but for all the shots on stage during the Photo Call my flash could have provided more fill to lighten the shadows cast by the stage lighting. The second item on the list was to learn more about post-processing, that is image manipulation, printing, and Website development.
I used a Canon 10D for all the photos. When a flash was used it was the Canon 550EX. The "film" ISO settings ranged from 400-1600. Exposure settings were generally around 1/60s and f-5.6. I used a Sigma 17-30mm and Tamron 28-300mm lenses for all the shots.
The Canon 10D produces a 3072x2048 180 dpi image slightly compressed into a JPEG format that ranges from 2.5MB to a little over 3MB in size. I batch processed those images through Photoshop to slightly increase sharpness, and to slightly compress them (8 quality setting on the JPEG save dialog in Photoshop), to generate a slightly sharper and considerably smaller file as the "full size" image. The "full size" images retain the 3072x2048 180 dpi resolution, appears identical to the original, and is easier to handle in bulk quantities and faster for you to download. Because it's retained the qualities necessary for good prints, it's the right candidate for you to download. The other images have been downsized and their resolution changed to 72 dpi to optimize viewing on the Web. I also use ThumbsPlus to browse, process and organize the images.
As you may have noticed, I had some challenges. In particular the workflow associated with the progression from original image through adjustment of luminence levels, sharpening, and resizing was "interesting". I found out too late that resizing after sharpening is not a good thing and that it tends to over emphasize the digital artifacts produced from the sharpening function. Unfortunately I had already committed to this with no apparent time effective means of reversing my steps. Also, I rebuilt the pages to be easier for older (800 x 600) displays and slower (56K) connections which further emphasized the digital artifacts associated with sharpening and then resizing. I was also surprised to find out the relatively large differences between the images viewed on different applications. Internet Explorer was especially bothersome because it darkens and reduces the tonal ranges of the images when compared to the view I get from Photoshop and ThumbsPlus.
I want your feedback!!! If you've read this far your comments are particularly valuable to me.
Thanks,
Charlie