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Local creatures

akv

Well-Known Member
Hi all,
It's good shooting weather now and all the creatures are out working on their tans.
Sigma SD14 70-300mm for all and 28-80mm for the spider. Processed in SPP 2.5

The duck family has been around the neighborhood, they were checking out the real estate in our backyard seeing if it's a good neighborhood to raise kids in.

Interesting story about the ant and the peony, the lady who owns the flowers says that the ants help the plant reproduce.

And if you know the names of any of the creatures(except Vicki the cat) please share! I'd especially like to know what the grubby thing is.
Enjoy!
 

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um....

duck, duck, ant, spider, larvae, cat :)

Your duck pictures are lacking some contrast, and I think you have the green cast going on....
 
Hi AKV,

nice pictures really! :)

I suspect Jason is right ... you have got one of these "green cast" SD14s.

Compare:

Original ...........................................................WB-corrected

View attachment 1623 View attachment 1624


Just have your camera serviced for colour-calibration. SIGMA can adjust that.

That should be free during warranty.:)

See you with nice pictures

Klaus
 

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Thanks guys!
I'll have to check and see, I haven't noticed the green cast issue before. I think I had my color wheel off in SPP.

Any ideas on the turn around time for Sigma USA regarding fixing stuff?

For the contrast issue I messed with the levels to lighten up the ducks, they were in the shade and there was lots of spotty sunlight so I was trying to avoid blown highlights while trying to bring out their colors and detail. Could be something else too though, I was shooting at 300mm.
 
akv,

The lack of a green cast may be due to how your monitor is calibrated. On the forum, you're able to see the difference since two versions are side by side.

If you are on a windows based computer, you may want to look into calibrating your monitor with something like Adobe Gamma or a separately purchased hardware/software monitor calibration tool. Either way, you will be better off knowing that your monitor is not contributing to the rendition of your images on the screen.

BTW, if you have Photoshop CS3, Gamma is included, but just not stored into the appropriate directory. I found a video tutorial which tells where to find Gamma and where to put it so the computer will be able to run it. The video tutorial addresses a Vista OS, but the destination is identical to what you'll use if you are on XP.

Adobe Gamma Activation and Use Tutorial
 
Thanks Steaphany,
I don't have adobe though, but I can see the 20 levels clearly at the bottom of the page. But I guess that doesn't do much for color.
 
Akv,

You may want to explore and trial either photoshop or elements. Not just to gain access to Gamma, but it will open up a wonderful set of tools and creative possibilities. Adobe does allow a download trial, though I'm not sure of how long the trial period lasts.

Budget wise, Elements is a lot cheaper and I've seen many videos which address various photo manipulations and techniques which can be performed in either package.

Photoshop

Elements

I know that this will bring on another hurdle, more software to learn. There are many resources online, but I've grown partial to:

www.photoanswers.co.uk

who publishes "Digital Photo" and "Practical Photography" in the UK. I'm lucky that a local Hastings usually carries a few copies of "Digital Photo" every month. Each issue includes a CD with about a couple hours of video tutorials. At the photoanswers web site, there is a section for free access Videos covering a nice range of subjects, many being tutorials on how to achieve a specific effect or presentation. I find the videos quickly deliver the information I'm looking while demonstrating the effects.

I'm far from being a photoshop expert, but "Digital Photo" and photoanswers has helped me get up to speed.

Now, getting back on subject, I do not know if Gamma is included in Elements or what changes have occurred between Photoshop CS3 and CS4.
 
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