Feel like experimenting? Taken advantage of the iDVD Themes in a different way, this is a simple work-around very basic but fun and if you use Snapz Pro X for your screenshots then why don’t you try the Movie capture option, this option can give you some very cool results, it is fast and easy to use.
I only used a couple of Themes but in iDVD you have so many to choose from…try experimenting and you find there are a lot of cool things you can do. The Titles are: The Commercial - Our Marine Life - Tropical destination
Please note: You might have to refresh your Browser to see the new Video Clips. Click the link or the image below and View the three (3) 15 and 30 sec. Clips., or go to Music/Video Podcast

© Gunther Deichmann - Composite, Mumbai India April 2008

How to do it…open iDVD choose a Theme go to your Media Browser and here you have your Aperture 2 library.
Pick a couple of images drop them into your iDVD Theme and you almost there, if you using Snapz Pro X choose the Movie option and record your iDVD theme.
Make sure you have the Drop Boxes enabled otherwise they become part of your recording.
The rest is pretty much automatic, once Snapz Pro X has finished the recording (depends on the lengths of the clip) it prepared also a QT file for you, I usually save them on my desktop easy to find later. (This file can be from 50MB plus in size)
The only thing left to do is drag the Movie clip into iMovie open your Media Browser for the Music and pick anything you have created on to the timeline.
Fine-tune and make your soundtrack fit, add a fade in and fade out, or what ever you like (lots to choose from) now you can export everything to many different file formats.
You have different options for exporting your Movie file, there is also Share available. If you have Quick Time Pro even better there you have all the conversions you ever going to need, plus you can do some editing too, but you have to have QT Pro.
How long does this take…not very long at all, I guess the hardest part is the Music, which I created from scratch in GarageBand, but since I had already a good selection of soundtracks the whole operation took only one hour for all three clips.
Of course you can create more than one recording/clip with Snaps Pro X and join them together later in iMovie creating a short presentation or demo, great for the web.
PS. I kept these files very small for easy viewing on the web, however you can leave them in their original size that is good enough for your desktop and TV.
GD

Tags: Snapz Pro X, Video, Apple Mac, iDVD, Quick Time, Capture, Tips, Web , Photo Composite, iMovie

Today I like to share with you an image I have received from Massimo Casal in Vietnam, I have known Massimo for quiet some time from email exchange and Aperture discussions. After seeing my previous article on “View from my Car Window” he send me this very cool image from Hanoi, Vietnam.
Thank you Massimo for letting me use your image on my blog, a nice one to share with all our other readers.
See below email from Massimo:
Hello Gunther!
I always very interested to follow your blogs updates.
Just my 1 cent:
- Regarding the way to protect your pictures on the web I agree that flash make it more difficult. Anyway as you know very well it is very easy to copy a pictures using tools like "Grab" for the Mac, even if still in low resolution.
- I do really like your latest gallery "The View from my Car Window". Street photography (with or without car!) is what I really like and do a lot here in Vietnam. I would like to share the following picture that I got from the car last weekend.

© Massimo Casal - Ha Tay province just ouside Hanoi,Vietnam
you might also noticed that I have added a Copyright watermark
on Massimo’s image hence my other blog
“How to protect my images on the web”.

The picture is taken in Ha Tay province (just outside Hanoi city) from the car window.
I used a Canon 1DMarkIII camera + 28-300L lens. RAW file processed with Aperture 2.1.1, using also the Dodge and Burn plug-in to lighten and sharpen the bride face.
Thank you very much and Best Regards!!
Massimo

Tags: ASIA, HANOI ViETNAM, View from the Car Window, Aperture discussion, Dodge and Burn, Raw File, Canon, Gallery

But before we hit the road a short announcement…
Aperture has just been updated to 2.1.1
Apple has just released Aperture 2.1.1, and update to the program that "supports general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of minor issues."


A few recent images from this series are on my Blog Gallery click here
or on the image above.
You might have to refresh your Browser in order to view the new images..

Sometimes we don’t realize what is around us when we travel by car… traveling to meetings or other appointments, visiting friends or family members. In short we spend a lot of time in our vehicles, trains, busses etc.
Shooting from your car window…glued to your seat never leaving the car, of course you have to have a Driver or go by Taxi. This can be challenging but also rewarding a very different perspective from the car window… you might remember I did something similar in Mumbai, India.
I had to discipline myself not to jump out of the car at times, but then that was the whole Idea in the first place, and I am not finish yet by all means…a lot more to come.
Not easy… moving, your view been blocked by other vehicles when you just about to press the shutter, trucks pull along side of you, or you have to stop at a red traffic light… see something and then of course comes Green, oh no… missed that one too.
We see these images every day as we drive to work or go to meetings, never realizing what is around us since we have to pay attention to the traffic. But as a passenger or with a driver you can create some amazing images, of course you have to bring your Camera along to the Board meeting… “A word of advice don’t try this, if you driving the car this could lead to major traffic jams and crashes…”
For more on the “The View from the Car Window” go my PhotoShelter Archive there you find images from Mumbai, India and Manila, Philippines.
PS.
All images have been taken with out ever leaving the car, edited in Aperture 2.1 then exported direct to PhotoShelter using the Plug-in from PhotoShelter never leaving Aperture. In other words I was “glued” to my car seat and also to my seat in front of my Mac BookPro using Aperture 2.1.1 now if that is not a coincident, then I don’t know.
GD

Tags: TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY, Manila, Philippines, Street Photography, Aperture 2.1.1, Update, Apple Aperture, Photoshelter

I always get ask how do I protect my images on the world wide web…it used to be a bit complicated and tiresome but with Aperture 2 it is easy and straight forward.
Some thief’s go through great length and spend time removing even opaque watermarks in Photoshop, there is never a 100% guarantee even with Aperture and its automatic watermarking.
The perfect solution is don’t display your Images on the web…but I think these days are over and we all like our images out there…so how do we protect our images?

© Gunther Deichmann - aerial of Kayakers in Palau Micronesia, barely
visiable and not to distructing from the image an applied watermark
using Aperture 2

Here are some simple Tips to make it harder for these thief’s …
Make sure your images are in gif or jpg low resolution but still good enough to show them in their full glory. Avoid high resolution images, it is an open invitation for thief’s and they slow down your website.
Apply a watermark as described below using Aperture’s settings.
I recommend placing an opaque watermark over the entire image or covering one third of the image, this is much harder to retouch. Don’t place your © COPYRIGHT name and notice on the sides or at the bottom, this can be easily cropped out.
Choose an opaque setting you are comfortable with and is not to distracting from the overall visual. (Opacity settings eg.0.1 to 1.0 all depends a bit on the image, light or dark) With different options available the opaque slider in Aperture 2 is a good start how the watermark is going to look, just try different settings until you satisfied.
Use only your name or create a logo in Photoshop as a layered file,
it is entirely up to you. The screen shot below shows you where to find the Watermark settings in Aperture 2.
You can also deactivate the Watermark any time if you need your images without it.
I provided you a link to “How do I protect my images online” a great article I found recently with some additional options and tutorials to save guard your images from those thief’s.

Go to Preference and choose the export icon, click and a drop down
menu appears. Click on Edit and another menu becomes available.
Now you see all your Watermark options and settings. (red square)

Below: Excerpts from the mention article...
I am setting up an art website. I want to protect my photographs. What’s the code that keeps you from highlighting an image, right clicking an image, copying an image, etc.
Protecting photos is a common request for photographers wanting to put their content up on the Web. You can do this with JavaScript or by watermarking the image. There is no way to use straight HTML to protect your images from downloading. Some ways include:

* no right-click script
This prevents people from downloading the image when they right click on it.
* Shrink wrapping
This hides the image by letting the thief download something other than what they are trying to download.
* Watermarking
This puts information on the image itself, so when they download it, they have your copyright information right on it.
* Flash
Flash makes it more difficult to steal images...
…read more @
http://webdesign.about.com/b/2008/07/25/reader-question-how-do-i

Tags: Copyright, Legal, Protect, Watermark, Palau Micronesia, Photography, Kayaks, Aerial Photography

Omar and Aperture 2…what has a Dive Master to do with Photography and Aperture 2...?

Click on the Image and go direct to more of Omar’s Photos

Omar’s Images in Aperture 2, the red square is where you
find the info on Camera Models and a lot more...

The other day my good friend Dirk Fahrenbach from Dugong Dive Center dropped by and gave me this CD…hey Dirk what I am going to do with that?
There are some images from our Filipino Dive Master Omar on it, please have a look give me your opinion. Sure…I imported the images into Aperture 2 and got a real surprise…wow these are real great…what camera is he using?
Dirk replied, Oh… one of these little small ones in some sort of Housing…
After I had a good look at the images I checked on the Metadata in Aperture 2 and found out the Camera Model, it is a Canon IXY.
After importing the images I only applied a few adjustments, mainly…cropping, Auto levels and a bit of contrast…since all the images had been in JPG I had some limitations, but Omar’s shots where that good anyway that little was needed for improvements.
Again, Aperture came in very handy in editing the shots very fast and applying some basic adjustments, I created a new project and after I am done can store this one on my external drive in case we need Omar’s shots for some future publications.

Click on the Image and go direct to more of Omar’s Photos

Above Photo: © Omar D. Linsangan - mating Cuttle fish or Sepia at the house reef from Dugong Dive Center... for more info on Dugong Dive Center click on the small Banner Ad on the left. Plans are in the making for a Photoworkshop int he near future at Club Paradise and Dugong Dive Center. Please stay tuned for the announcement and what better way to go diving with Omar who will find these cool critters for you.

Great shots with a small Camera and it gets to show you again what can be done with limited equipment, I guess in Underwater Photography you have to be a good Diver first, and Omar has that mastered for sure.
Dirk asks me if I could show some of Omar’s Images on my Blog and I readily agreed nice images from a very humble Dive Master. It is these people…Dive Masters and photography assistants who make our shots at times easier to get, so lets give them some credit and support their hobby and passion.
For a selection of Omar’s Images (LOW RESOLUTION ONLY)click on the Photo Gallery above (upper left) I have created another Photo Gallery for Guys like Omar, otherwise we never get to see their nice images.
GD

Tags: Dugong Dive Center, Housereef, Diving, Palawan

© Gunther Deichmann - restored images...for more and to compare images
click on the GD PhotoGallery upper left corner on this page.

Whenever I get the time I import some of my very old and scanned images into Aperture 2.1 some dating back 30 years. Due to age and storage condition a few have deteriorated somewhat…loss of color, fungus due to the tropical environment or just good old age.

I used to use Photoshop but now with Aperture 2 there is seldom the need for it and at the same time I can re-catalog them into my system with the Metadata. Restoring Images that are extremely rare in particular old traditional ceremonies with the Australian Aboriginals seldom practiced today. I apply a variety of tools and techniques to retouch the images covered in fungus, scratches etc. with the clone or repair tool, plus the Adjustment Panel gives me a ton of other adjustments to bring the images back to life.

You be amazed what Aperture 2 is capable off, including one of my favorites the Monochrome mixer, given you all the options for some cool looking Black & White images, some of these old images actually look better in Black & White.

I have incorporated a NEW GD PHOTO GALLERY on my blog page now, (upper left side) there you find a selection of images that have been treated in Aperture 2 comparing the original with the restored or converted image next to it. Now and then I upload images into the GD Photo Gallery for you to compare, a lot easier then showing them all on the Blog direct.
Please remember these are only low resolution Images.

This is not image manipulation, I am only restoring some old and precious photos that would have been lost or considered unusable for publications without altering the overall visual.
Most of these images had been scanned from slides a long time ago for preservation and archiving purpose, now we just go back in Time and fix what needs fixing nothing else.
Aperture 2.1 handles the tiff format real well and I have no problems importing files with over 56 MB in size.
However some of the adjustment tools in Aperture 2.1 cant be used since they have been designed to work only with the RAW image format, but this has not stopped me for doing most of my restorations in Aperture 2 now, archiving and bringing them back to life again.
GD

Tags: Restoring old Images, Aperture Tips, Tribal, Restoration, Historical, Aboriginals

Due to frequent requests and for those who have missed my previous article...
How I operate and work in the field using Aperture 2...
A simple solution for all your storage plus back up while on the road & you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do it.

The image below shows my typical Hotel or on the road setup, MacBook Pro with two Lacie 160-Gig Rugged Hard drives, if you buy these drives make sure they have a triple interface, they also come with USB only. I love this setup, daisy chain the two drives with fire wire 800 and use the fire wire 400 to go to the Mac Book Pro. (A, B) The drive marked with A is where all my reference Aperture files go, the B is only for backing up drive A via the simple SilverKeeper software from Lacie, (if you purchase the drives the software comes with it) C is my high speed fire wire 800 Card reader, this one goes direct to the fire wire 800 outlet on the Mac Book Pro. You can also do it the other way around, daisy chain with 400-fire wire and use the 800 fire wire out let on your Mac Book Pro.
(Of course you can use other hard drives and a different back up system as long they have a triple interface)

On the road set up


SilverKeeper software from Lacie, comes with the hard drives.

This way you can upload all your CF Cards with out running short of storage space, it is advisable to connect your computer to the outlet since both fire wire Lacie drives take the power of your machine, however I have used this system in the field without the luxury of a hotel and this works fine for just under two hours. (tested with a 1 year old battery at 100% charge)
However it is a good idea to carry a spare battery or make sure you near a place with an outlet where you can plug in your computer.

Back home I just transfer the project and images over to my MacPro and back it up again to my larger external drives.
Now you can erase all the images on your Lacie hard drives and use them for your next trip.
You still have the thumbnails and previews in your Aperture 2 Library in jpg at a resolution you have decided on, I use a resolution of 1024 for my Previews in Aperture 2, good enough for my Keynote presentations and the .Mac Web Galleries. (see my previous blog)

For all the latest and New Images click this link:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/newimages.html

GD

Tags: Lacie Hard Drives

Where have all my images gone?
My Import panel is empty...

At times we get too comfortable with the good things…and I am no exception, in one of my earlier blogs I praised Aperture 2 with its do not import duplicates function…remember this nice and great feature when you mixed up you CF Cards…do not import duplicates, a really fantastic time saver when you on the road.

Well yesterday I tried to import some images, which had been treated outside Aperture 2 from the same Project, but into a new Album…I had my images on my desktop and when I tried to import them into the same project into this new Album everything on the import panel was blank. (They did originated from this Project and I exported them a week earlier for a special selection into a folder on my Desk top.)

First I could not figure out why these files would not show up, but then I realized it…
The field in the import panel was ticked at do not import duplicates…very clever of Aperture 2 but not so clever on my side since I have this checked all the time when
on the road.

Keep an eye on the do not import duplicates check box...red oval

I had worked with these files before and they where also part my earlier Project, of course now they become duplicates…I wanted to over ride this for a specific reason and do some more work with them, up on deactivating the check box all my images appeared and I imported them in no time.
This is just a little reminder or when you absence minded, don’t freak out all the images are there except for a simple mistake.
GD

Tags: Aperture Tips

APPLES + APERTURE 2 = MUMBAI INDIA

© Gunther Deichmann - Fresh Apples in Mumbai India
View GD images on India at his PhotoShelter
archive or collection @
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/stock.html

It is amazing what you find or have forgotten when you do some more editing in Aperture a few weeks later. Remember my recent trip to Mumbai India for the Apple Aperture 2 World Tour. During my stay at the Hotel I noticed these Apples on this small Table, I thought…hey not bad, the light, the reflection and I guess the relationship between the words Apple and Apples, I shot this scene right in front of me using only the available light from the window.
Then in Aperture 2 I used only the Raw conversion, the straighten tool, a little cropping and applied some sharpening.
So there you have it…real fresh Apples from Mumbai India.

© Gunther Deichmann - Apples and window

This shot was taken few minutes later while sitting on my bed and looking towards the window, a straight shot I might add…and I didn’t move the furniture either, no manipulation in Photoshop, again using only the Raw converter in Aperture 2, the straighten tool, a little cropping and some sharpening.

The Black & White image below…

© Gunther Deichmann - Mumbai India April 2008

I saw this women sitting outside her home in a small alley in central Mumbai, the original image was color but converted to Black & White in Aperture 2 using the Monochrome mixer.
GD

Tags: Aperture 2, art, Photography, Tips, Apple, India, Aperture Tips

Let there be visuals with sound...
pure integration & imagination!



Artwork © Mark-Lee Deichmann - Mark-Lee used an old iSight camera
mounted on the Mac Titanium G4…took a self portrait of him
& manipulated the image in Photoshop.

Take an Aperture slide show…you have to make a presentation while on the road, fine you have the images and got Aperture 2… but music…?
In most cases if you using a Laptop for your roadwork I guess you have GarageBand and iTunes…iLife installed.

If not, you better hurry and do it now…

Here comes the sound, you create a sound mix in GarageBand or use a short loop (pre-installed with GarageBand) export the finished track to iTunes and you’re done.

The only thing left to do… open your slideshow in Aperture 2 and add your sound track you created minutes ago, follow my instructions below how to get there, iTunes is now at your fingertips find your sound track & add it to your slide show, sounds almost too easy.
See my sample screenshots below…

Maybe a bit of practice in GarageBand will help, but the rest is easy…

Take my Son Mark-Lee for example… he is doing some part time DJ work and he uses my old but still very functional Titanium Mac G4 Laptop, using GarageBand and creating his own artwork in Photoshop, see above…pretty cool if you ask me.

There he is sitting with his Numark PHX Headphones whipping out music on GarageBand or just mixing his sounds for his DJ stuff on my old G4.
If you are a music lover and created your own mix, of course you can use these too...but please don’t use something from the iTunes Store or from other sources, Music which does not belong to you, respect the copyright of others.
GD

When GarageBand opens you see this screenshot, the small red circle shows you where to find your loops & Jingles, now delete/remove the tracks (large red oval)


Select Jingle red circle on the left then your taste of music e.g.. Blues/Rock red circle in the center, pick something which will fit with your timing/lengths of the slide show, listen to it and if Ok drag it on the the now empty time line, remember you removed the other tracks previously.


Select Share a panel opens up to guide you the rest of the way...to iTunes


Back in Aperture 2 select your slide show, a small panel opens, now click the small arrow, red circle to go to all the settings for your slide show



Once you have arrived here you have many options and your iTunes Library is there too, now you find your sound track which you have created only minutes before, select it go through your slide show settings and your done. Your own sound with a cool Aperture 2 slideshow created on the road.
Of course you can always prepare some music at Home and later use it for your Aperture Slideshow, I have created my own tracks when traveling and the weather was bad, spend my time in the hotel room, mixing sound tracks in GarageBand... but at least I had some fun.

Tags: GarageBand, iLife, Integration, Music, Sound, iTunes

Not only for the Professional Photographer...

Before the arrival of Aperture some of us used iPhoto but found it had its limitation… now you installed Aperture 2 and keep going back to iPhoto for these older images…Yes?
No need… you stay in Aperture and have access to all your iPhoto images and can leave them there, no need for importing all the high-end stuff, no more switching back and forth.
As a matter of fact you can do this not only with iPhoto but also with your images stored on your external drives from years ago as mention in one of my earlier blogs.

Now back to iPhoto and Aperture 2, because of the integration everything works just so smooth and the cool part is staying in one software instead open up half a dozen or so…
Check out the screen shot below for more details, so there you have it, full access to your iPhoto Library.

I normally use my iPhoto Library for my Blogs and personal images like the kids and family and use Aperture 2 for my Pro stuff, keeping them separate. The choice is yours how you like to manage your images, it is easy to import your complete iPhoto Library and use Aperture 2.1 working with one software.
That is why I love Aperture…given YOU the choice.

A little tip... if you have mixed up your personal images with some others but like to separate them, import the iPhoto Library into Aperture, once that is done delete all the personal images in Aperture and your images are organized, dont worry your personal images are still in the iPhoto Library since you selected in the import panel leave in current location.
Now you can go back to iPhoto and delete the non personal images...
I call this a real spring clean.

GD

Go to File in Aperture 2 scroll down and select Import then Import iPhoto Library, make sure you select leave images in their current location.
Aperture automatically creates a new Folder (see the red square on the screenshot) containing your complete iPhoto Library,
Depends on how many images you have stored in your iPhoto Library this could take some time since Aperture 2 creates Thumbnails and Previews.

This is a screen shot of my iPhoto Library and you can see (I selected the underwater images) they are now in my Aperture Library.

Visit Gunther Deichmann's website @
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/home.html

Tags: Integration, Images, Photography, Aperture Tips, Learning Aperture 2, iPhoto, Apple, Mac, iLife

A cool little Aperture 2 Tip...

Where do you find at a push of a button YOUR Camera Info when you like to compare your shots after the shoot in Aperture 2.1
See the provided screen shot below, the small drop down menu (small red circle) is where you find ...Show and Hide Camera & Color info...the red oval shows you the data, you have to be in the adjustment mode/panel.
This is very useful when comparing shots, what might have gone wrong or right...You can also move your Cursor over the image to get the color Value in between the images, the grey area will show you the Camera info. Play around and you find this is a very useful addition in Aperture 2.
You can also move your cursor over your Thumbnails... for those of you who are still in the early stage of Photography this command is great for analyzing your images quickly.
Try it out and have some fun...Aperture is not only great for the Pro's but it can help you to take better images by quickly finding out what went wrong or right.
GD

Visit Gunther Deichmann's website @
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/home.html

Tags: Aperture, Photography, Camera, Digital, Tips