Copying EXIF Information

Lots of data is recorded in photos every time you take a picture with a modern digital camera (EXIF data). Stuff like; make, model, aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc. Nowadays, it's possible to add GPS information as well. This information is available in programs like Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture.

Unfortunately, the recorded information might get lost if you use graphics software to manipulate the photos. For example, I take 5 photos and blend them into one for a panoramic photo or an HDR photo. The result can be stunning, but mostly, the original EXIF information is gone. In these situations I copy the information using jhead (exiftool is an alternative) from one of the original images and place this in the final (manipulated) image. Downside is that this is kinda disrupting for my 'workflow', because is done by the command line.

It would be nice if e.g. Lightroom had a context menu of copying the EXIF information (this is possible for other metadata in the photos), and pasting it in the new photo.
Some might say that this might not be very ethical because the data is from another image, but then again, there are tools already available for doing this. Even though these aren't very user friendly. Perhaps a small suggestion for the developers.....

Experimenting with HDR

The HDR consists of a 5 image series (-2EV -> +2EV) taken last Saturday in Goedereede.

More photos from the Goedereede shoot are available on my flickr page.

New Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VRII

Rumors are that a new and improved Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S lens will be announced/revealed on Photokina 2008. Which would be nice since I'm still saving money to 'replace' my Sigma 80-400.

It would be nice to come back from holiday, and to find out that Nikon shipping lots of new goodies :).

Another Possible P&S Candidate

Recently I blogged about wanting a (new) Point&Shoot camera. Back then, I optioned the Canon G9 and the Panasonic Lumix LX3. But in the mean time another candidate roared its head; The Leica D-LUX 3 (in black).

Choices, choices, choises... When will it end?

FireFox 3 Color Management

In the 'old' days, Safari was probably the only Internet browser with some decent color management. The problem was that images displayed in Firefox and Internet Explorer looked a bit desaturated and lighter.

Now, in FireFox 3 you have the opportunity of enabling color management. Just set the following configuration option to 'true' (by double clicking) in the FireFox configuration settings (to access the config-part of FireFox, just type about:config in the address bar).

gfx.color_management.enabled

This feature is turned off by default. Restart firefox and be amazed by the colors in your photos on the Internet

Lucky shot

I spotted the airplane just in time. It's a KLM airplane heading south. The image is not manipulated (apart from the conversion to black&white).

More photos at my flickr page.

Point & Shoot

Ever since a certain split-up, I'm in need of a decent point&shoot camera. A nice small camera to fit in my pocket for every day snapshot use, but with pro-like features. Why?, because they won't allow you to attend a concert with a Nikon D300 and a 80-400mm lens.. (or any lens for that matter). And the camera on my Nokia N95 is not satisfactory at all.... But then again, it's a phone.

At the moment I'm kinda interested in the Canon Powershot G9, or the Panasonic Limux DMC-LX3 (which is not available yet. The first is.. well... kinda a legend at this moment, but the second is throwing high hopes for that segment. The new Nikon P6000 lacks Mac support and uses a closed RAW format at this time, so that's a no go (even though the integrated GPS in kinda neat).

Guess I have to wait for the first reviews of the Panasonic Lumic DMC-LX3. I hope it's available soon.

Brilliant Olympic Photos

Fotostrecke: Die besten Bilder der Spiele - Olympia 2008 - stern.de

Reflecting Windmills

Taken @ Kinderdijk, the Netherlands

More photos at my flickr page

A Day at the Beach

We went to the beach @ Bergen aan Zee last Sunday. Weather was almost perfect. The wind and sandblasting sucked a bit. Especially for the kids. His enthusiasm lasted only for a couple of minutes.

On the beach (the wet sand) the sandblasting itself was gone... Until we had to head back home.

Fortunately, I didn't change lenses during this trip. If I would have, I'd probably had a body full of fine sand and salt. The circular polarizing filter I used did need a proper cleansing.
Wind, sand, and salt... not a good combination. The 'salt-damage' on the polarizer would have made a nice macro, if I would have thought of it :) . Thankfully, it's clean again.

More photos at my flickr page