I don’t travel that much, so as a result my photography tends to be of local sites. Recently I went through a period of burnout, where it was difficult to get inspired to shoot locally. I would go to a place and tell myself “I’ve shot this already, what’s the point?”. Subsequently I wasn’t doing a whole lot of shooting.
I just returned from a trip to Texas to visit my youngest son, who is in the Army. During the trip I was so focused on getting there I didn’t take time to notice the scenery, but did tell myself I wanted to go back to a couple of areas to shoot. I’m glad I did.
As I drove home through the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California, I began to see with a fresh vision. I saw the way the light played on the hills and foliage. It seemed every few miles I was jumping out of the car, camera in hand, grabbing the tripod and setting up for some shots of the landscape. I shot panoramas, HDR, and single shots attempting the proper exposure in that single image. Photography was fun.
The point I’m trying to make is when you feel burned out or uninspired, try something new. A new technique, a specific subject, or a new location. It can breathe life back into art, and put a spark in your creative eye. Have fun!
I have always bought HP printers because they seem to last forever. I even own an HP laptop that still works even at the ripe old age of 10. The one product I truly enjoy is my 4 year old LaserJet 3330 multi-function printer. I fax with it, I can scan, copy and print, all on the same machine on my desk. Until I upgraded to Windows Vista.
The software application package that originally came with the LaserJet 3330 would not install under Vista, or any other version of Windows other than XP. I went to the HP website where I could get absolutely no help finding the software needed to run all the functions from my computer. I did locate the PCL6 printer drivers for the 3330, which I downloaded and installed. It makes my printing real nice, unfortunately it did nothing for being able to use any of the other functions except in manual mode. Scanning was dicey. Photos could be scanned into Microsoft’s Fax and Scan accessory, but text documents were unreadable.
So I called HP tech support. After trying to tell the voice recognition software what I wanted, and confusing it, it finally gave up and transferred me to tech support, which is where I wanted to go all along. Apparently it didn’t understand “multi-function printer”.
I spoke to a tech support tech with a heavy East Indian accent. He said the 3330 was discontinued and they offered web support only for the product. I said I downloaded the drivers, but I was looking for the software applications that run the functions through the computer. He told me the drivers were available through the web site and I should download them. I said “I know. I just told you I downloaded and installed them. I need the application software.” This back and forth went on for about 3 minutes. Apparently my problem was not in his script. Finally he told me to hold while he researched the problem.
About 10 minutes later another tech guy came on the line. This one had a Russian accent. He asked if he could help me. Once again I explained my problem. He said “I don’t know anything about multi-function printers.” I asked if he could transfer me to someone who does. He said he wouldn’t know who to transfer me to. I asked him to look in his phone directory. He said he did not have one. I asked for his supervisor because he would have a phone directory. The tech guy said “My supervisor is an admin. He doesn’t know anything.” I hung up.
I called the HP corporate offices where I spoke to Juanita. She asked for a case number. I told her no one opened a case. All I got was an “I can’t help you” and a lot of runaround. She transferred me to HP’s commercial division where I spoke to Christine. Christine asked for my case number. I told her no one would open a case.
Christine said she could not help me (see a running theme here) but did tell me my product was discontinued and there would be no further support for the product. I told her the product works fine and why should I have to give it up because Microsoft upgraded operating systems. I told her it was a matter of getting the API from Microsoft, which they already have for the products they sell which do work under Vista or Windows 7, and re-writting some of the code in the original application software so it would run under either of the newest operating systems.
I then asked Christine if it was HP’s policy to render their products obsolete whenever Microsoft changed operating systems, forcing consumers to have to upgrade if they bought new computers. Christine didn’t answer that question. Instead she transferred me to Christian who said there was no software upgrade available and I would have to ask a 3rd party vendor for the upgrade. He gave me the phone numbers for the 3 vendors.
I called one. The vendor laughed when I told him what I wanted. He said that was HP’s responsibility. The vendor said he could write me the software but it would cost. I said “No thanks” and called the HP corporate office again.
I again spoke with Juanita who said she could not help me because I am complaining to the wrong office. I said I already complained to the commercial division and they said they couldn’t help me. They would not even open a case. Juanita said I would have to complain again to the commercial division. I explained that if I didn’t get satisfaction from a group I go to the next level up which, in the land of common sense, means I need to talk to corporate. Juanita said the commercial division is not under corporate. I asked her “Doesn’t corporate run everything?” Juanita said it doesn’t.
So I used the department store analogy. I said if I have a problem in the jewelery department that can’t be resolved, the next logical step would be to go to the store manager. Juanita said it would not. The problem would need to be handled in the jewelry department. I said but I just said I could not resolve it in the department so I need to take it to the next level, correct? Apparently not at HP.
Juanita transferred me back to the commercial division where I spoke to another guy with an accent of undetermined origin. He told me he would open a case and forward it to the engineers, but it would be an internal case only. I asked what that means. He said there would be no followup with me and no resolution to my complaint because the product was a discontinued product.
I asked this tech that according to what he, and everyone else at HP is saying, when a customer buys an HP product they should never ever upgrade their computer, because to do so would render their HP equipment unusable. The tech said “Not exactly”. It seems some of their better sellers will get upgraded software and some won’t. I bought a product that they won’t upgrade.
I asked him why they won’t followup, and that after this experience why I should ever buy an HP product again. He said there would be no follow up, but did not answer the second part of the question. I informed him he lost a customer and I would post my experience on every social media outlet I belong to and encourage everyone I know to boycott HP until they have a cultural change and remember the consumer comes first. I hung up on him.
This experience is indicative of what is wrong with America. The corporations don’t care about individual consumers, and the politicians don’t care about the citizens. I have a printer that works fine, but due to HP’s indifference to maintaining upgraded software, I am forced to have to replace this perfectly good printer. The printer will end up on a landfill, or recycled, or donated to some non-profit who is still using 7 year old computers. But I have to spend money to buy a new printer.
Can you imagine the uproar if GM, for example, told all the Saturn owners they could no longer get parts for their Saturns, even if they purchased it the last year Saturn was in existence? There would be lawsuits galore and GM would be forced to supply parts for the next 10 years. By the way, there is a law already forcing car manufacturers to maintain a supply of parts for discontinued cars.
If you own an HP product do not upgrade your computer unless you want to buy a replacement product. HP will not help you unless your product is still under warranty. Getting tech support from HP is unbearable at best, between trying to understand the myriad of accents, to the lack of knowledge displayed by the tech support reps I encountered. I encourage everyone to boycott HP. I hope someone from HP sees this blog and responds to me about why I received such horrible treatment from their company and why they render their products useless just because Microsoft upgrades their operating systems.
A correction to my previous article. When composing your HDR image series in camera, the f-stop should remain constant through all the photos in the series. Only the shutter speed should change to give you the 1 stop increments. If you change the f-stop the focal point will change and could cause an out of focus section within the final photo.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography has come into its own as a way to bring out detail in high contrast scenes. I use HDR photography in my landscape shots as an attempt to bring to the photo the best representation as how the scene looked while I was there.
I find high contrast scenes, such as those with bright sunlit areas with deep shadows, are the best candidates for shooting with HDR in mind. Other types of photography suitable for HDR processing includes, Architecture, street scenes, and indoor, or outdoor, low light shooting. A composition with moving subjects is not suitable for HDR unless you shoot in bracketed mode on your camera, and your camera is capable of shooting 3 to 5 frames per second to avoid blurring subjects.
When I go on a shoot, I keep my mind open to HDR possibilities. The technique I prefer for separating the shots specific to an HDR image is really quite simple. I take a photo of the scene with my finger in the frame. I then take five bracketed exposures, each being 1 f-stop apart. I start with a centered metered shot, then move 1 stop over, 2 stops over, then 1 stop under and 2 stops under. After the last shot in the series I take another shot with my finger in it, signaling an end to the series.
When I shoot sunrises or sunsets I may take several series of shots due to the ever changing light. This enables me to be able to chose from several processed HDR images for the right mix of colors and light.
Once I’ve uploaded the images to from the camera to the computer I have a couple of options for processing HDR images. The first is Photoshop CS5. Photoshop CS5 has a Merge to HDR function which combines a series of photos into a single HDR image. The process is fairly simple and produces a decent image.
My favorite HDR program is Photomatix 4.0. Version 4 is a big improvement over version 3, which I thought produced HDR images that were too overprocessed. Version 4 includes some presets, but also allows for finetuning the image. It produces a very smooth, color balanced image that has none of the pinkish tones found in similar programs.
Processing the image using Photomatix is pretty straight forward. Load your series of photos and the program merges the images, giving you a preview of the final untouched image. You have the choice of selecting a preset, or tone mapping your image using the sliders to make your adjustments.
Photomatix can create both color and black and white HDR images. For more information go to the Photomatix webpage: http://www.hdrsoft.com/.
I am fortunate to have 8 of my photos in two different gallery exhibitions. The first is at the Vacaville Art Gallery, 718 East Monte Vista Ave, Vacaville, Ca. This is a mixed media exhibit and runs until March 5, 2011.
The second is at Studio II, 570 Soscal Ave, Napa, and is a juried show, running until March 18, 2011. Gallery hours are 11-5, Thurs-Mon.
I hope those of you in the Vacaville and Napa areas will come out and see the show. Support your local photographers.
ʻIMAGESʼ
Vacaville Art Gallery
February 5 – March 5
featuring photographs and
art derived from or inspired by photos
Tues, Thur, Sat: Noon to 4 pm
Wed, Fri: Noon to 7 pm
Sun, Mon: Closed
Web www.vacavilleartgallery.com
email: vacavilleartgallery@castles.com
A combination of exhibiting my photography and posting interesting articles about photography. This blog will be updated weekly with, what I hope will be, fresh and interesting material.
