ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Saturday 26 March 2016

HAPPY EASTER. (26/03/16)

I haven't many photographs but it is not for want of trying.
Mark very kindly informed me that the NIK filters are now free from Google. I tried these years ago and was very impressed, the price was eye watering so I didn’t continue beyond the trial period. They can be downloaded HERE.  It is a pretty big file at around 450MB and the filters are not, as far as I know, stand alone so will have to be loaded into Adobe or editing software of some sort. They do work in Adobe Elements but not all of them do. What the Hell they are better than an Easter Egg and cheaper. I recall that getting them into Adobe’s filter directory was a bit of a problem but that is probably my incompetence rather than NIK’s or Adobe’s fault.
I’ll let you know how I get on. The weather has been beautiful this week though it is raining hard at the moment, here are a few snaps.
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I have spent ages trying to get pictures of Woodpeckers and have managed a few. I have also seen one going in and out of a hole in a tree so perhaps they will nest there.
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These are on the tree next door to the one with the hole in as I can’t see it when it enters the tree and apart from a feather or two have missed it coming and going. I’ll keep persevering. Have fun.
PS. NIK filters install themselves, I just clicked a few times and Bingo they dropped right into Photoshop quicksticks.
See, not sure what I did here but they work a treat and the computer didn't require swearing at. Just make sure you select the correct bit depth for your machine. That's obvious but I often forget but that's because I'm a bit dim.

23 comments:

  1. It is hard to getegood shots of theWoodpeckers with all the branches in the way. HAPPY EASTER and have a great week ahead.

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  2. In my experience woodpeckers are the very devil at making photos hard to get.

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    1. Graham, I don't really differentiate between species. I have trouble with the hens.

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  3. Thanks for the info about the NIK filters. A 590MB download for the Mac. They are suitable for use with Aperture on the Mac, one of its built in programs, as well as Elements 10 so I'll see what it's all about.

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    1. John, yes a big file. I have used them and really liked them but not to the tune of £500.00p. I have had a quick play and they didn't disappoint.

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    2. Great. All work in Aperture and all but HDR in Elements 10 on the Mac.
      Lovely Easter present and less fattening than a chocolate egg.

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    3. John, yes a proper bargain.

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  4. It looks very promising for a nest site for the Woodpecker Adrian. I find even though shy the Green Woodpecker is easier to photograph then Great Spotted Woodpecker. I have very few images of the GSW

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    1. Douglas, they are very timid. I will keep an eye on the hole they are looking at.

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  5. I have NIK available for a relatively long time, but I don't use them as I have never found them intuitive. I know they're good, but I don't prefer them. When I tried ON1, I found that I was able to relate better for whatever reason.

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  6. John, I did look at ON1 but it was more like a trimmed version of Lightroom and I don't use that. I rarely find anything intuitive.

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    1. I don't see ON1 as Lightroom Lite. There are several modules. The Enhance module is, perhaps, LR lite, but I see the FX module much more like Nik's Color Efex and Silver Efex combined into one module. (It used to be 2 separate modules.) There is also a portrait module. For me, as a Photoshop guy (although I now use it less because I can do almost everything in LR), ON1 seems much more comprehensible (as an alternative for intuitive :) ) than Nik in the way that it dovetails with PS and works in layers etc.

      This make it sound as if I care what product you use, and I don't. :)

      I am just trying to set the record straight as I see it -- which doesn't have to be the way that anybody else sees it.

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    2. John, I have never used Lightroom. I have on other folks machines and found it fine for what it was meant for. Quick preview/post sort of stuff. I only upgraded from GIMP and Elements when Adobe became hire by the month. I bought CS6 extended and use it all the time. I use all and everything. Lightworks is the best for video compositing but expensive Fusion 7 was equally dear but is now free. I was using AfterEffects the other day and couldn't find out how to get a proxy 50% res in the editor. Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't but if it does then Adobe should say. Everything else can edit in real time with a decent GPU. Even Blender can do it.
      I'm not advocating one lot of software over another but I do tend towards free.

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  7. Love the photos. The woodland scenes and animals are my favourite.

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    1. Marie, a slow week but at least I got some free software out of it.

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  8. Keep trying Adrian, little sods are Woodpeckers. Have a good weekend with the dogs.

    peter

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  9. woodpeckers are beautiful birds ! love these images of the forest
    Happy Easter Adrian

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  10. Downloaded Nik. Pretty cool.. and not much beats free!
    Happy Easter, Adrian.

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    1. Laura, yes there is some good stuff in the package.

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