I have been trying out free downloads from some very respectable sources, to determine the suitability of various software programs for ease of use and effectiveness. I am primarily interested in comparing capabilities and limitations of similar programs. And they all have to be free. The big idea is to give the digital photographers a big jump into the 21st century. But every venture has it's risks. Some of the programs I have been trying are all-in-one tune up tweakers that promise to have many of the tools you might need to keep your computer up and running like a well oiled machine. But in the process of comparing them, I noticed that they are by nature each very complex aggregates of tools. So when I try to compare several of these programs, I am changing things all over the place. And it is a little difficult to keep up with. I take a lot of notes, keeping track of every step along the way. So when inevitably something does go wrong, I know it must be right there in the notes in front of me. After all, that's exactly what I did before it quit working. So it makes sense that if I look at the last few steps I took, I might be able to see what sequence of buttons I pushed that did the evil deed. THESE PROGRAMS are powerful, and can easily change many of your configuration settings in a very short amount of time. In some instances, these programs will even change things you were previously unaware of, and previously powerless to change. I realise that this means I have been doing some product testing, but I am looking forward to getting the CHICAGO PhotoShop Meetups.com Digital Photographers off the ground quickly at our first meeting. This kind of computer involvement is new to photography, but the digital cameras are easy to process pictures on using your home computer. The computer turns out to be the first publicly common color film processing method in history. Any weakness in the system will be learned about quickly. I also noticed how fragile the photos are when they are printed on a computer printer. One drop of water, just one drop of water, and the image is instantly ruined, permanently.

The PhotoShop Groups at Meetups.com have slightly more than 10,000 members at this time, including one in Toronto, and one in London. All the rest are in different cities across the United States. You should consider this as an invitation to become a Digital Pioneer. They have membership lists for each group, with their own group message boards, files, and photos. There might be an enormous wealth of know how to be gained. And nearly 6,400 people said they were interested. The technological tools used to process these images is available to those who are interested. There has never been a color photo processing curriculum anywhere in the United States, primarily because the equipment was not in the hands of the American consumers. That is now subject to change for the first time. Given the tools, they will create a new art form. Many of the capabilities are familiar to those who have developed black and white film, and printed their own enlargements in the darkroom. But there are many distinct differences that only thousands of people can fully explore and expand on. Kodak was founded by George Eastman, the man who said Photography was for everyone. This might be one of those occasions.

This time it only took me 24 hours to put it all back together. And self taught !! I don't care anymore, it's like a giant puzzle, trying to figure out how to get it working after I do whatever I did. I was so floored I took a day off from everything and straightened up my room. Then, having no clear idea how to do anything about being frozen out of everything, I decided it would be a good time to clean the carpet. But listening to a 21 year veteran computer programmer chew me out repeatedly for an hour and a half in a Chinese restaurant did the trick. Being made fun of in public and being called stupid 5 times, with detailed explanations, was too much to avoid any longer. The fact that I had just shot nearly 70 pictures in our Chinese New Years Day Parade, very openly in public , in front of hundreds of cheering Chinese who were all smiling and waving to the camera, did not make it a good time for me to crash the computer. On the way out of the restaurant, the waiter said we both had a very good reputation. Fisher (that's his name) had just told me the entire history of software development while he was eating a massive bowl of Chinese soup. They call it Pho (pronounced Fa) and I'm sure the lessons that this computer programmer taught me did in fact give me a little understanding about what happened and that it could be fixed. But I didn't really have much confidence I could do it myself. He was talking about prices and what all was involved, how difficult and specialized the equipment and training was to enable a real programmer to accomplish this rabbit out ot the hat trick. But I was on the spot, and I had to do something quick. Sometimes when I get beat and beat again without getting so much as a clue of how to get any of the work off square one in the first place, I just do something else until a different approach kind of dawns on me. But Fisher the computer programmer was not going to let me get away with it this time, so when I got home I knew I had nothing to lose. I did not have an operating manual or a restoration disk, and he said I should go back to the place where I bought it and demand that I be given those things, so I could proceed to make my computer work again. I really thought I could not do it. But I did find a little pamphlet of only a few pages, with an instruction about a paragraph in length that told me where to start. No sooner than I got started, when I had to enter some information, so I called AT&T tech support, and he explained a little, but he got me started while at the same time telling me that it was a computer problem, not a telephone company tech support problem. He also told me to call back if I needed any more help. Well, it was enough !! I did it !! No manual, no restoration disk, nothing but the right starting point and a little phone company ingenuity. I lost all of my programs, I lost all of my pictures, I lost all of my files, I lost all of my accumulated emails, I lost everything. I worked on this computer for 24 straight hours in a row, and I not only got it freed up and running smooth, but I also completely reprogrammed it, and debugged everything. Then I put my new pictures in and worked on th4em. Then I got the music working, and then the videos. I wasn't feeling like I was in that big a jam anymore. My room was all straightened up and organized, all put away, the carpet was clean, and my computer was running just fine.

Happy V-Day Everybody, You have just got to look at MajorGeek.com They have got every kind of free downloads you will need to enhance your capabilities. I really like the SystemTweaker, it fixed my computer up like a car at the speed shop. Also for those of you who expected to hear about what photo imaging programs I like best, well they are almost all on there. I know several other exceptionally good ones that aren't on that site, that are also free. If you have problems with any of these and it gives your computer a cough, just rip out the desire completely by the roots, and there will be no sorrow. That's what Buddha said and it's true. I find that I get the best results when I tear out everything I can every couple of weeks and delete as much of the built up files as possible. I work so much on the computer the wood shavings keep piling up all over the place, and it usually takes me all day to get rid of the leftovers. I have even got experience at cleaning out the jams from the paper shredder. Go paperless !! There is so much free stuff on that site alone, you will need to use caution that you don't download too much at once and overstuff your system. Remember there's a balance you are trying to achieve. But in the Spirit Of Capitalism, I will admit I have had to rip out some things after a hard day of free downloading on occasion. HP.com has a couple of good ones and some free online classes too. The Nikon software that came with my camera is useful. Kodak.com has Easyshare software that is a free download. Shutterfly.com has some beautiful stuff for free. And there's PhotoBuckets.com for even more. Of all the free image downloads on the free websites, I like PhotoFiltre.com and of the paying software, I like PhotoShop Elements and PhotoShop Album, because they don't cost too much and they are easy to use. But you will do well with PortraitProfessional.com facial remodeling program, that only costs about $40. There is a 3D imaging and animation program on MajorGeek.com I just downloaded and haven't tried yet. The worst drawback I found among all of these programs was that some of them open the picture files in the form of listed file numbers. Beautiful programs too, with many fine features, but it's like trying to play cards with them all face down. I can't guess why, but that doesn't make my workflow go any easier. Nikon.com the camera giant has some reference material on their corporate website, NikonGlobalGateway.com and if you poke around their sites long enough you won't be sorry when you find one of the best 35mm SLR camera books I have ever seen. Cannon.com has some of the good stuff too. And let's not forget about Fuji.com or Agfa.com or Polaroid.com or Kodak.com for tips to take better pictures. If you want to know about light and light meters and correct exposures, the best I can send you to is if you type the old saying "Expose for the Highlights" into your search and click on where it says that. You will soon learn most of the tricks of exposing different types of film. You should also type " The sunny f-sixteen rule" into your search and you will be well rewarded with two of the real professional methods of achieving correct exposure 9 times out of 10. And there are those of us who still point our camera at the palm of our hand and take a meter reading that way, figuring it to be the same thing, and it is. You can also find a little guide printed on the inside of every box of film. Of course the best way to take better pictures is to clean the camera lens. Professional photographers have found that taking a lot more pictures helps too. That way they can pick out the bad ones and throw them away before anyone sees them. Another reason photographers take better pictures is because they have a camera with them. Type "Top Tips for Better Photos" in your search and see what you get, you won't be disappointed. There are camera clubs around and you can find them with a little search of "My City" Camera Clubs. On the internet you can find Meetups.com and they have Digital Photography Groups that meet once a month to go shooting pictures together. They have membership lists you can quick link to like we do on our blogs. And part of their website is Files, and part of it is Messages. You can find all kinds of helpful information there. Look around at all the major cities and see what all of them have. Professional Associations are also good learning resources. The American Society of Media Photographers, the Professional Photographers of America, the Fashion Photographers... And if you look at the websites for listings from the huge Universities, you will find a vast wealth of very high level writing on the various fields of specialization within the photography industry. But keep in mind that photography is for everyone, with classes at public libraries, at the park department, in continuing education classes, and at our technical undergraduate community colleges. Many of the classes are actually taught at night school , so adults who have to work can attend classes, and still go about their daily schedules. In the end, what makes a good photo is not just the expensive camera equipment, or the photographer's natural talent, it's also the dedication. Happy Valentine's Day Everyone !!

PHOTOGRAPHS Pictographs, visual words Universally understood Irregardless of races, genders, religions, countries, ages, or educations Everyone reads pictures Innate communications