From LIGHTROOM to APERTURE 2…thinking of switching? Worried YOU loose all your DATA and having to start all over again? Do I have the solution...?
I have been asked over and over again…I am using a Mac and like to use Aperture 2 but I have done all my previous work in Lightroom, is it possible to transfer all my Data over to Aperture 2 and not loosing all the info and hours of hard labor?
This subject has come up many times and until very recently I could not answers these questions, and I have to be honest here I have no Idea about Lightroom, I started with Aperture 1.0 been happy since day one and working now faster and more efficient in Aperture 2, some of my previous blogs with samples have shown and proven this only to well.
Back to the real issue, I got in touch with Apple and the APERTURE USER PROFESSIONAL NETWORK AUPN and ask this exact question.
![]()
Click
the logo and go direct to
AUPN
Why should we deny Mac users Aperture
2 if they
would like to make the switch, and if you ask me it
makes a lot of sense, if you a Mac user then you are
so much better off with Aperture just for the
integration alone plus with all these new plug-ins.
Apple is aware of it and from past experience a
solution is going to be available one of these days,
I hope soon for all you out there who like to make
the switch.
Go to AUPN for some info on this subject @
http://www.apertureprofessional.com/
Of course if I hear anything in the meantime or there
is some more NEWS on this subject I let you know.
GD
Is this a real Image? Are we facing a dilemma in Photography today with all this software around us? Photoshop-Lightroom-APERTURE 2 – Plug-ins, new filters, the list goes on and on…how can we prove it is a real image… or been manipulated?
Coincident…? Maybe…? Probably yes…?
But maybe not sure…?
Confusing isn’t it?

© Gunther Deichmann - for more images go to
www.deichmann-photo.com
Image above...lightning over Manila Bay...the Typhoon
and Monsoon season is
approaching.
Having
send off this riddle I better explain…
a visit today by
a young and up coming Photographer who is studying at
a prestigious school in Berlin…sorry no names, made
me think during our conversation.
We talked about the good old days…back in the film
days, photo labs, processing and how things have
changed now.
Do
you know about push processing, clip test’s etc.,
etc., I asked?
He looked at me and said, what are you talking
about?
Don’t they teach this
at your school? No, we all study digital and only had
an hour or so with a little Black and White film.
Now
here is my point…read below my personal thoughts and
philosophy about Photography today…bear in mind this
is only my
opinion.
Lets put aside the commercial photography for a
moment, like fashion, products and many other
subjects related to advertising…yes they have to be
around and will be with us, there are some great
Photographers out there shooting some real nice
stuff, we all have to make a living, including
myself, right!
But when it comes to travel or plain and simple
Journalistic/Geographic type Photography, I have to
think…
During a recent exhibition I overheard some of the
visitors saying WOW what a great shot, but he did
this in the Computer…not believing that the image had
been taken on Kodachrome
25 and
was as real as it gets, taken some 25 years ago.
Now here is my point and concern, when do we know
these days the difference between
a real image or a manipulated one?
How far can we go with our computer…it is a creative
field after all…in commercial work, advertising, FX,
or experimental creative photography we can go wild
and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that…the
computer and the software today allow us to do some
amazing things, I have seen some pretty cool stuff
and do some of it myself.
But when do people say WOW what a great shot and he
or she did this for real… not using Photoshop and
only the minimum tools in the editing software?
I guess these days we all, well almost all have to
use our computers and software to do the editing and
processing…it is the digital age after all, no
turning back.
But it is a bit of a worry… personally I am not fond
of all those filters and certain effects,
(some
manufactures even claim,
"helping create the world's greatest
images.")
Yes some of these filters and other plug-ins have a
place in commercial photography, but then who can
tell these days that they have not being used on
other images, how can we show how the image really
was at the time the shutter had been released, very
difficult indeed.
I guess we have to believe the photographer and take
his word for it, not much else we can do.... or do we
have a choice?
I am using
Aperture 2 as my darkroom and I love it
for it’s speed, simplicity and management system, it
is just great, plug- ins for me are out, except for
the ones which can make my life a lot easier e.g.
Exporting and the delivery of images from one
destination to another, this is very cool stuff.
Aperture
2 unlike
Photoshop let me work on my images up to a point…and
this is the part I really like, you don’t get tempted
to move some “heads around”, a great management
system, nice editing tools you do need for digital
files and a few other cool tools and applications.
But manipulation is out…if I like to do that then I
switch to Photoshop or buy some new plug –ins for
Aperture 2, the nice part is and this is real
great…with Aperture 2 YOU
can choose and
set it up the way you like it, customizing to suit
your type of photography.
With most other software you buy everything, it is
all inside, if you use it or not, plus the temptation
to “fix things” is always there.
When I shoot commercial work I try to get it right in
the first place, I had to do it for some 30 years,
why change now…but not adopting the attitude oh well,
I can always fix this in the computer later, maybe I
sound old fashion but it is so true these days.
I like the way Aperture
evolved, but I
feel to much attention has been given to all these
plug ins, yes if you do commercial work go for it,
but NO
if you do
serious creative, Journalistic and real life work,
because you like to look into the eyes of your client
and say… YES
this is the real
thing you can take my word for it…
If we forget or not been taught the old traditional
ways, then a few years from now, we cant be sure
anymore what is real and what is not.
Only a few years ago we had our negatives or slides
and could prove what was real and what had been
manipulated…I guess now we can only rely on
our Raw
images,
one more reason
to
shoot Raw only, what I am trying to say
is, that it is getting harder and harder to prove
these days what is real and what is not…please think
about and form your own opinion like I have with all
my blah, blah above.
But isn’t a great feeling to look somebody into the
eyes and say...
YES,
this is the real Mc Coy.
GD
What has a Whale in common with Kashmir in India & Boracay in the Philippines…? Just a coincident...Who knows…?
has been to all these places recently.
As you know I have just returned from Mumbai in India & Boracay in the Philippines... and today I came across this very interesting article.
If you book a Safari trip with Calypso Diving then you have a good chance to see them in Panagatan and if you go to Kashmir in India you might find some of their relative in sedimentary rocks as fossils.
Strange… I only returned from India and Boracay, and now this article rolled over my table...Coincident? Who knows…?
The image below was taken in Palau during one of my dive trips last year with
Sam’s Tours, who has a complete Digital Photo Center with six iMacs, wi-fi connected and of course Aperture 2.
But did you know that Whales “lived on land” according to some new discoveries... check out this amazing article below that has just rolled
over my table as mention above.

©
Gunther Deichmann - an un- identified Whale breaching
the surface
on a perfect day near Blue Corner in Palau
Micronesia
Whale
'missing link' discovered
Courtesy of:
By Helen Briggs
Science reporter, BBC News
Indohyus. The animal was
small, stocky and about the size of a raccoon
The whale is descended from a deer-like animal that
lived 48 million years ago, according to fossil
evidence.
Remains found in the Kashmir region of India suggest
the fox-sized mammal is the long-sought land-based
ancestor of whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Research in Nature indicates the animal lived mainly
on land but dived into water to escape predators.
Whales are known to be descended from land-dwellers
but the "missing link" has been a mystery until
now…for more interesting reading and photos click the
link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7150627.stm
Aperture 2 or now 2.01 the rescue of a 25 year old Dolphin in Australia before leaving for the F1 Grand Prix in Malaysia
Aperture 2
or now 2.01 to the rescue of a 25-year-old
Dolphin in Western Australia, how to revive an old
image with
Aperture 2...
it is a lot easier then you
think.
Your images don't have to be always in Raw
format...what about before...when you where shooting
film...all these great images on your hard drives or
archive from the
"Jurassic Park" era... here we go again... back to
Evolution?
If
you like me and have some old but good images on
slides, had them scanned and stored on your hard
drive, try and import them into Aperture 2.01, I do
this a lot accessing my older images from their
location on my external drives, never clogging up my
main drive.
This is
so cool...been real
organized.
The
other day I discovered this image from way back in
Australia, I guess it is about 25 years old and I
thought, hey lets bring this into Aperture 2 and see
what I can do with it, I could have done this in
Photoshop but I like my test drives and more laps in
Aperture 2 before leaving for the F1 Grand Prix and
Formula BMW race in Malaysia with Marlon Stockinger
next week.
Don’t worry they don’t have to be Raw files, the
image below was a 54 MB tiff file a rough scan, then
digitized a long time ago for archiving but was never
corrected for publishing.
Here is what I did:
Cropping out the boat on the left – applied the
devignette filter (large red
circle)
and
Wow all four corners cleaned up
very nice, then made some manual exposure adjustments
– fixed the blown out highlights with the new
recovery tool, adjusted the shadows and the Hue a bit
–fixed a fungus spot on the image
(small
red circle) with the new retouch tool
(clone or repair) and that was about
it…time to
do all of this 10 min. max.
See for yourself the images below;
before and after,
Aperture
2 came to
the rescue again, remember my earlier blog on the Sea
Lion by Tony Wu, now to a Dolphin rescue from Monkey
Mia in north western Australia some 25 years ago.

Before: The old and very rough scan from way
back

After: Corrected in Aperture 2.01 March 2008, see the
details above
My advise – use and get familiar with one software,
instead messing around with all these different ones,
you only get confused and later don’t know any more
what is better or worst, I continue with my laps in
Aperture 2 or
now 2.01,
but I am very impressed…"top timing and great corner
control in my laps", now I have more time after the
shoot for my family or creating new images.
Until next time GD
More images by Gunther
@
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/environment.html
PhotoShelter Collection updated... new images & aerials after sunset in Palau...plus a tip from Aperture 2 organizing your metadata quickly
We have just
updated my
PhotoShelter Collection with images
on:
New aerials from Palau Micronesia - Environment
Images - Wildlife and Nature - Tibet - Burma/Myanmar
& Cambodia.
Click on the images or use the link below
PhotoShelter Collection @
Once you in
the PhotoShelter
Collection just go to
the list and click on
recently added, enjoy the
images.
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/stock.html

© Gunther Deichmann - This aerial has been taken
after sunset from
a Helicopter, at this point I like to thank
my Pilot Matt Harris from Palau
Helicopters.

© Gunther Deichmann - Spectacular Waterfall
in Palau during the rainy
season.
A
quick tip
for Aperture
2... where to
find your Metadata AutoFill
List,
see the
small red
circle.
This is very useful for editing or cleaning up all
your metadata. See below the screenshot...just click
on Metadata
and in the
drop down menu click the AutoFill
List,
large red
circle
you be amazed what you can delete or add including
these spelling mistakes who keep popping up when you
fill in your Metadata.

Until soon GD
Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art: ACCEA...plus an Australian impressed with Aperture 2
"Become The Voice Of
Voiceless".

The Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental
Art: ACCEA
" NPAK" in Armenian acronym
is an alternative center for avant-garde and modern
art
in Yerevan, Armenia
You might remember from one
of my earlier blogs in February 2008, I mention
Armenia...yes from F1 and Marlon Stockingers first
Formula BMW race in Sepang Malaysia next week to an
international environment Exhibition in Armenia the
contrast is just so great...but you know I love
contrast. See below some details
from the Armenian Art Exhibition with many other
international Photographers participating to make
their Voices heard for our fragile environment.
GD
© Gunther Deichmann
- Save our Planet
Once the Exhibition is up
and running I provide a direct link, just stay
tuned... above and below are two out of seven Images
from my collection which will be on display during
the Exhibition in Armenia.
I have also received a letter from Mark Cox in
Australia re. Aperture
2...
I think the Sea Lion from Tony Wu has impressed
him... as mention before,
Aperture
2 to the
rescue.
Below a short intro from the Exhibition organizers...
more info and images soon on this
blog...
"Become The Voice Of
Voiceless"
The exhibition is about to protect environment and
animals. We are fighting for our nature as well as
for nature of the Planet. And it is very important to
us, that environmental photographers from all over
the world also add their voice for voiceless.
The exhibition will take place in Armenian Center Of
Contemporary Experimental Art. This is going to be a
big event in Armenia, which includes photography,
fine art and sculpture, film and video arts, rock and
classical concert etc., etc.

©
Gunther Deichmann - Mangroves Palau
Micronesia
Now
the letter from Mark Cox in
Australia...
Hi GD,
Great Blog with tony wu I like it very much this
Aperture 2 seems to be amazing ! have to get it when
I get back to OZ !!! Great Stuff GD keep them coming
please.
cheers.
Mark Cox
Photographer & Adventurer.
More environment images
by Gunther @
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/environment.html
_____________________________________________
Evolution explained…photography and the .Mac Web Gallery with Aperture 2...soon live from the F1 race in Sepang...plus 5 stars for Aperture 2
You might remember my
last blog when I mention the Evolution…and
the .Mac Web Gallery…cant stay away from it
because it is so awesome...
I have taken a different approach in my blogs…
explaining or talk about the new features
in Aperture
2…yes a bit on the
technical side plus some tips, but I like and
continue in bringing you real live information
about Aperture
2 from the
field…the
real testing ground.
I am
bragging again… YES… (justified) I am so impressed…
like in evolution the missing link came with...
Aperture 1.0 but with Aperture 2
we
started to walk upright…but to be honest, I am
actually running very fast now…
Sounds like I am back in to my fossils…discovery of
man… Aperture
2.
Lets
turn the clock back a bit…no…no fossils today, it is
just so amazing and I guess the credit has to go to
the engineers at the Apple
Aperture department.
Sometimes we forget... without these guys... we be
still in the Stone Age… the hours they have put into
the development, trying to please everyone… only to
often, we just take them for granted.
If you like me having a mix bag of images and I mean
a mix bag of thousands and thousands of slides, some
scanned and digitized plus raw images now, you might
wonder how all of this is organized… very simple with
Aperture. Even before Aperture
2 came
out a few weeks ago, I managed this very nicely
with Aperture 1.5
but now with Aperture
2 it has
open so many more possibilities in all areas of
photography.
I find my old and treasured images from 30 years ago
and mix them up with the new Raw files, not a
problem, the great thing is I can leave them where
there are… on my external hard drives just bring them
in as referenced files.
Store or
keep in their current
location.
A system which works so well and perfect for stock
images, you always look for this old shot… now you
bring it into Aperture 2
create a Web Gallery send low resolution files
first to your client and after he made the final
selection you send the big stuff all within Aperture
2…never leaving the program, but you do need a
.Mac
account.
Thanks
to the engineers from the Aperture
Dept. for
making my life so much more pleasant...fast and very
efficient.
Just last week I had several cases where images where
needed in low res. first for selection, e.g. sending
Philippine images to a German Publisher – providing a
selection for my web master for a web project – then
images for my friend Tom Stockinger to select the
racing shots of Marlon’s Formula BMW Pacific for news
paper press releases…

This
screen shot shows you what Tom received in his
email,
including a small message.
I am going to implement this during my next trip to
Seapang, Malaysia this month for the F1 Grand Prix
and the Formula BMW Pacific race...and continue the
very fast and furious.Including the Porsche Carrera
Cup, plenty of of action after the 15th of March from
Sepang.
As a
travel Photographer this new addition is just
perfect…what does this mean…very simple I can now
spend more time on the road shooting and my images if
in low or high resolution are with my client or at my
stock agencies long before I return home.
Talking about meeting those deadlines…easy now… I
just LOVE
this whole
concept…
Aperture 2 is my Road Warrior
now.

The
open Web Gallery on your
Browser
Once you
have received the email see
first image above you just
click
View Album and your
internet browser opens up, that's it...but now you
have all these possibilities...like different layout,
Grid, Carousel, Mosaic, Slideshow, downloading,
uploading, Tell a Friend etc., etc. and you not
restricted to just one page what ever is in your
Aperture Project or the selected images will be
online for your friend or client to see. Even the
option of username & password protect is
available.
Visit
Marlon Stockingers website and you see these images
also on his live Photo Gallery click the image or the
link below.
There you find also the Racing Calendar for the
Formel BMW in 2008.
http://www.marlonstockinger.com/gallery.html
Yes
real
live examples from
Aperture 2 and the .Mac Web
Gallery…what
took hours and days before, is done almost in real
time now…the "guy" who came up with this one should
get a
***** 5 Star.
Can you imagine you shooting this story for an
international magazine or reporting from some remote
place…the editors need to go to print the layout is
with the art department everybody is waiting for
you…well you might have to go into town for a
connection but after you published your
.Mac
Gallery you are back in the field
and carry on with your work…
At least the editors and art directors have some idea
what is going on and what else is coming…absolutely
fantastic.
For myself this is certainly one of the best new
addition in Aperture
2 not to
mention all these other cool things I have reported
earlier in my Blogs…and of course the new speed…all
for a fantastic price…two
votes today for
Aperture
2 and to
those guys and girls who where part in
developing/creating Aperture...
A Big Thank You!
GD
Visit
Gunther Deichmann's Website @
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/
Aperture 2 with the .Mac Gallery soon at the Sepang Malaysia 2008 Grand Prix Formula 1 Race race track…& pre selection for a German publisher via .Mac Gallery…that is integration.
Aperture 2 soon at
the Sepang
Malaysia 2008 Grand Prix Formula 1 Race
race
track… It was
here where Alonso and Hamilton finish 1 and 2
positions. ...A double win for McLaren team in their
recent F1 race in Sepang in 2007.
Good luck to Marlon Stockinger in 2008 for his first
major race the
Formula BMW Pacific
http://www.marlonstockinger.com/index.html
A test
drive for the weekend…my advice…make time for this
super cool addition play and explore the
Web
Gallery in Aperture
2.
I have provided some insight and samples below... go
and take your test drive and download your trial copy
@
http://www.apple.com/aperture/trial/
As
promised here is my follow up with these Philippine
stock images for a German Publisher…I have provided
some tips how to make things so much faster using the
Web Gallery within Aperture
2, but
before I go into all the details let me say
this…fantastic integration and so efficient having
this ability is just so amazing.
I am not
bragging… maybe just a bit… (justified) I am just so
impressed… like in evolution the missing link came
with
Aperture 1.0 but with Aperture 2
we started to
walk upright…but to be honest, I am actually
running.
Sounds like I am back in to my fossils…discovery of
man… Aperture
2.
Apple
has created something with this addition that I have
been looking for in a very long time. I mention in my
earlier Blog that Aperture 2 is
my Road Warrior now, I have won not only the
battle but the war…all jokes aside when you travel
like me and you have this amazing ability then I ask
my self what else do I need.

Preparing a .Mac Web Gallery - once you have
selected NEW Web
Gallery select your Project or
Images see red oval on
the left and publish it, the open
window on top red
oval is
actually my Activity
window
the red
circle is the icon
to activate it, this is super useful, you always know
what is happen in the background, no need to worry.

Below right
hand side the red
circle again but not shown in the
image above is again a very easy overlooked small
icon called Web
Gallery -
click here and you find all the rest you need for
publishing like... Settings...Visit
Web Gallery... Tell a Friend you can set passwords,
username and all sorts of different things...very
cool, but you have to drive a little bit with this
one, dont worry you figure it out in no time.

This is the actually
Web
Gallery from the internet browser,
there are so many cool effects and options for
viewing, these are some of the images from the
Philippines in low res. for the publisher in Germany,
the first batch...now if you click on
Tell a
Friend or
you can tell your client...see the red circle again
and see what pops up now...the image below... fill in
the details and you are done...plus you have a very
happy friend or client since they did not expected
this so fast...on time again... or from the F1 Grand
Prix 2008 in Sepang, Malaysia shortly.

The last thing you have to do...
Tell a Friend or tell your
client
Soon I am at
the Grand Prix F1 race in Sepang Malaysia, this time
to cover Marlon Stockinger for his Formula BMW also
called Formel BMW… the real race… no more test
driving plus all the F1 show, the Ferraris, the
pretty girls, the mechanics etc., etc.
Sepang
Malaysia 2008 Grand Prix Formula 1 Race will be on 23
March 2008...
I
be driving Aperture
2 and I
guess Marlon Stockinger driving the
Formula
BMW Pacific…the
fast and furies continues…
With this new addition in Aperture
2 I can
report direct from the event in almost real time, you
better believe it, I am sending you the racing
results from Sepang via the .Mac Web
Gallery.
What do you need to
accomplish all of this? You might ask...
Well, a
Mac...Aperture
2 a .Mac account and a
good connection that’s about it, so simple, don’t you
think. Here comes the magic word
again…Total
Integration!
Ha,ha...I
have not left Aperture all day...one software that is
all I need on the road.
Now
I can supply my clients from almost anywhere in the
world, including Palau Micronesia and Chuuk, with a
pre selection of jpg images or even the Raw files
…but you have to have a connection.
What ever
happen to Boracay? This tropical Island paradise? The
weather is still not to my liking…don’t worry we get
there soon, but after the F1 race, you just have to
stay tuned.
GD
Visit Gunther Deichmann's web site @
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/
Late breaking NEWS from Japan… the incredible rescue of an Australian Sea Lion with Aperture 2
the incredible rescue of an Australian Sea Lion underwater with Aperture 2... who kissed the Dome Port...but not the photographer.
Another Wow… and vote for Aperture 2 from Japan…from Australia to Japan to who knows where next?
I had a very long chat today on skype with my good friend and top under water photographer Tony Wu. Yes, you guessed right an Aperture user; the only problem is he now blames me for the introduction, but I don’t mind taking the blame for that.
If Tony blames me for Aperture then I blame him for the Blog, it was him who introduced me some years ago to this Blog stuff.
I just returned the favor and introduced him to Aperture…now we both have very little time left for our wife’s…hmm…or more in time to come.
We been chatting away on skype and talked about Aperture 2, Tony has just installed it on his Mac and I gave him a few tips online.
When we got to the details his exact words where… I just love the recovery tool for blown out highlights etc., etc. that one is so awesome in particular for underwater photographers, hey Tony… please send me some images for comparison, so he did of the Australian Sea Lion who just about kissed his Dome port on his underwater housing from one of his recent trips.
See below the before and after images and you might remember from my previous blog with the Ferrari and BMW about this new and fantastic feature in Aperture 2.
He was very impressed…not only by this new feature; yes he did some laps and was full of praise with the new speed and efficiency.

© Tony Wu - Australian
sea lion,
before correction
© Tony Wu - Australian
sea lion,
after correction in Aperture
2
Applied
correction
Exposure
-.50
Recovery +.40
Black point decrease from 3.00 to 1.00
Shadows 12.7
I also mention to him during
our skype call the new
All Projects button, ha, ha… he tried it
out while we where still online, he just couldn’t
wait... after I had explained the function and how to
use it, all I can hear was… Wow… wow…
that is really awesome… if I had know this last
night I could have saved my self a lot of time
looking for some images during a small presentation.
There you have it straight from Japan, from one of
the very best underwater photographer in Asia and
beyond.
Check out some of Tony’s underwater images @
http://www.tonywublog.com/
I said all along from fossils to BMW, Ferrari’s and
marine life, Aperture
2 can
handle all of it and a lot more… I guess this is
another vote for Aperture
2 and
this time from
Japan.
Thanks
Tony, for sharing this with
us.
GD





