Silly me, I thought it was the EU flag, not the UK government one...

PM sent...

Prieni

John, it might be worth downloading the free standalone Camera Raw converter from Adobe and put your K20 PEF files through that to convert to DNG. Maybe PSP X2 is able to read those?

I made a habit of using Camera Raw to convert to DNG before touching them with Silkypix. The DNG's produced by Camera Raw are much smaller than the ones produced in camera. It would only put an additional step in your workflow but you wouldn't need to change it otherwise.

Prieni

Yes, it does (just downloaded the V3 on my Mac laptop). This is the most recent version available for Mac. So the updated support might change when V4 and Develper Studio Pro is available for Mac...

In that case I would be careful with Lightroom. Adobe is trying to strong-arm users into buying the latest versions by not updating camera raw for Photoshop at least. I don't know what the policy regarding Lightroom is, it might be different.

There is, however, a way around that in using the stand alone Camera Raw converter to produce DNG raw files.

My preference is Silkypix but I haven't tried a lot of RAW converters.

Prieni

I think what fooled me in this shot is the light streak just over the back and the darkish one around the right side of the head. It looks a bit like cut out and stuck to the background.
My suspicion was a darkening of the background.
As for the sharpening, I don't think it is overdone, apart from the two areas I mentioned perhaps.

The sharp bird and blurred background make this an interesting shot (at least for me), even if a pigeon might not be the most exciting bird...

Prieni

A great portrait, no doubt. Fantastic shot. And after reading the comments I do see the distraction in the collar snap. I think you have a good hand in capturing these hardened faces and I also think that your compassion for the disadvantaged makes a great part of this skill.

On the avatar I had a private discussion with Paul already (and I think that this is the right way to discuss). One more thought on this: Imagine the Union Jack crossed in the same way as my avatar. How would you feel about that one?

Prieni

Excellent set. My favourite is link 4, fantastic pic.
You have a very nice portfolio in PPG Mike, well done!

Prieni

[IMG]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t5/Prieni/andrew2.jpg[/IMG]
Quite similar to Martin.

Added a gradient from black to transparent, adjusted it to have the black bits on the sky, sharpish gradient to transparent. Layer mode overlay or soft light and adjusted opacity.

This is something I do quite frequently with skies. It is like putting on a gradient filter (unless the sky is blown, of course) and does bring out more saturated colours.

In this instance I added another layer with saturation/lightness adjustment. Again I only applied that to the upper part by putting a gradient on the layer mask.

I think it's a great image, just horribly oversharpened.

Prieni

I can see why the girl in the red dress made it in. Very nice setup and doesn't look staged. Congrats!
Looking at that shot I have the feeling that it could be sharper (though at that size it is just a feeling). Am I right?

Prieni