first paying job

[egosbar]

im still learning all about resolution etc , i thought the image i posted was about 3000 pixels at 240 p/inch , is that not a reasonable resolution too work with?

 

[Spectrum]

on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being an absolute beginner id say im at a 4 or 5 but i think its easier to get from 1-5 then it would be too get from 5-10 if you know what i mean

I used to think that. I've been using PS for 6 years, and I learn something almost every time I create a new piece, especially with the stuff I'm doing at the moment (turning people into Marvel and DC characters) because I've not done much of this specific type of editing before. If you're still coming to grips with resolution, then I would say you're a 2-3/10. Nothing wrong with that. You will have more knowledge in some areas than others, nobody is completely even in all areas.

Don't rush things. I thought I was the sh!t in my first 18 months, when actually I was just sh!t - compared with what I can do these days. Take your time to fully understand each technique and area before moving on. Nothing worse than half understanding something, and then being caught out when a client needs something quickly, and you can't do it. Been there (very first client), its not fun.

 

[egosbar]

I used to think that. I've been using PS for 6 years, and I learn something almost every time I create a new piece, especially with the stuff I'm doing at the moment (turning people into Marvel and DC characters) because I've not done much of this specific type of editing before. If you're still coming to grips with resolution, then I would say you're a 2-3/10. Nothing wrong with that. You will have more knowledge in some areas than others, nobody is completely even in all areas.

Don't rush things. I thought I was the sh!t in my first 18 months, when actually I was just sh!t - compared with what I can do these days. Take your time to fully understand each technique and area before moving on. Nothing worse than half understanding something, and then being caught out when a client needs something quickly, and you can't do it. Been there (very first client), its not fun.

exactly why i say ill do it give back a low res and watermark and if you like it pay a small fee , reason i dont really understand res yet is i dont print anything or enlarge , my main focus on ps was creating art through photo manipulation more then editing which is why i was pretty easily able to mask the grass in , the editing and printing side i would say im at a 1 but at this stage its not what im using ps for , ps is much easier too do then painting with oils , less mess , no drying time etc so when i say im at a 4-5 i would be saying that for what i do with ps not the whole package , i fully understand the complexity of the program and i learn everytime i play which is everday ( gives me something to do in between poker hands lol) , im just a lot quicker at photomanipulation and smoother then i was before , i dont rate myself highly but im pleased with some of the work ive done in my portfolio and i can see improvements as i progress , as i said im looking forward to rewatching all the videos when i get time im sure more will come into place
if i get work that is out of my league id simply post here and take a finders fee .
im not trying to be a pro just make a few bucks if the client likes it and pay for my next camera one day , im a superzoom bridge fan lol fuji hs50 is a pretty good camera for the cash and im interested too see where these bridges will be in a few years.

ps reminds me of excel , im pretty good at that for what i do but ive only touched the tip of the iceberg
i dont rush too much im a bit of a perfectionist which is why i generally only submit one entry into challenges , if something bugs me i keep going back until i have it right or at least too my eye is right . Over the next 6 months i will be concentrating on photo editing and training my eye

im pretty happy with the level im at after less then a year
be interested to know if you looked at the work in my portfolio it represents pretty much from the bottom too the last image my journey so far , the last one is a photo my daughter took which had serious blown areas and a terrible backround , that and adding the shark are the only two images i used some original stocks , so that is the area im really heading into now photomanipulating my own images using some internet stocks

 

[egosbar]

tom is this what your talking about i just desaturated the backround a little

 

[Paul]

Now it looks fake mate.

 

[Tom Mann]

tom is this what your talking about i just desaturated the backround a little

No. As i said in my previous posts, its more a matter of relative brightness and contrast ratios.

In the opinion of many (most?) pro portrait, studio, and wedding photographers, the goal is NOT at all to have the final result looking like it came straight out of a camera unmodified, using only the ambient light that happened to be available at that moment, but to think more like a painter who can use whatever tones he thinks best for the image. In this case, IMHO, at minimum, the shadows in the subjects absolutely MUST be lifted.

Also, are u looking at this on a calibrated monitor? An older laptop, by any chance (even if it was calibrated using external hardware)? I ask because if u are, especially if it is overly bright (as many new monitors are set up to be eye catching on the showroom floor), you could be basing your brightness and contrast decisions on inaccurate info.

T

 

[egosbar]

its a cheap laptop , im getting a new one soon but you bring up a very valid point , are we all seeing different things

i have 1k too spend at the good guys in australia , anyone care too take a stab a which laptop i should buy , its a gift voucher so has too be in their store

photoshop will be a big part of what i use it for

 

[Tom Mann]

Hi Ego - I'm no expert in what's currently available on the market, but, for what it's worth, I just bought a new laptop a month or so ago and have been really happy (and pleasantly surprised) with the quality of images viewed on the built-in LCD screen. I certainly can see differences between it and my hardware calibrated NEC, but the differences are surprisingly small, even in what is essentially the "straight-out-of-the-box" state. I made no attempt to hardware calibrate it using either my Spyder or my Color Munki, but I did adjust the screen brightness (visually) to roughly match my NEC.

It's an Acer R7:
http://www.acer.com/aspirer7/en_US/ (mfgr)
http://www.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-r7/4505-3121_7-35757122.html (cnet review)

1920x1080 touch screen
win 8 (I upgraded to 8.1)
i5
6 G of RAM
500 G HD (5200 rpm)
602.11 b/g/n
either 1 or 2 USB3
HDMI out
Bluetooth

It's got a unique hinge that I really like that allows it to be used in (a) like a normal laptop, (b) like a tablet, (c) like a photo-frame for small group photo and powerpoint presentations, and best of all, (d) an easel mode.

I stuck an old copy of PS CS5 (64 bit) and the newest LR on it. They installed easily and function perfectly.

I picked it up for $799 USD at a store called "Best Buy". This model was released about a year ago. The reviews say that one can now do somewhat better in terms of raw horsepower, but, to be honest, if work with images is going to be one of your main criteria/uses, I would recommend this model because I was shocked at how good the screen was compared to my big NEC, and because comparing image quality of (other) laptops in showrooms is next to impossible - it's basically a crap-shoot.

Just my $0.02,

Tom

 

[Tom Mann]

PS - I just saw your comment about the gift voucher. I have no idea if the model I recommended is available in that store, but if it isn't and you want it, perhaps they can special order it for you.

T

 

[ibclare]

Whatever you do, stay away from anything cheaper. I bought an ASUS cheapie because it was all I could put out at the time my last PC died. Now I have to send it to them for diagnosis and repair. I t started acting up at about 6 months. At least it is still in warranty. Never again. I'll sell my soul to spend twice what I did and get a decent product. And not an ASUS, even if they make decent models. Fool me once . . .

 

[Tom Mann]

At the risk of stating the obvious, fortunately, Clare's Asus is not the same as Tom's Acer. ;-)

Nevertheless, Clare's advice is sound.

Sell your 2nd born (in advance, if necessary ;-) ) to get a high quality, reliable machine (consult the reviews), and probably even more important:

• Make absolutely sure whatever you buy is never subjected to bumps or vibration when running or in transit;
• Always make absolutely sure to wait for all HD action to cease when you shut it down;
• Run periodic diagnostics so that small problems don't turn into big ones;
• Use virus and malware protection and detection software and update them religiously and run regular scans;
• Be constantly vigilant about pishing attacks - the increase in frequency of these is scary;
• Use different passwords for everything and change them often (...look at the recent compromise of the Adobe customer files);
• etc.

T

PS - At work, I have a small IT staff that maintains about 100 desktop machines and a handful of laptops for our design labs. Our experience is that while hardware problems do happen, probably 90% of our problems are caused by malware or the users. If it's a hardware problem, it's usually something obvious like tripping over a cord and bending a USB or power connector. Our laptops (which are subjected to much more physical abuse than our desktops), experience more hardware problems, but most of these are caused by #1 and #2 above.

 

[dv8_fx]

I like this site...... http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ . Don't drool....

This is in the US but you can use their models as a basis of what to get in terms of hardware . Mix and match the configurations to get the dream machine you want......

then continue drooling some more....... :mrgreen:

 

[egosbar]

there are only 12 laps in the 800-1000 mark too consider from this store , heres the ones to consider , any thoughts ive never used a samsung lap before

http://www.thegoodguys.com.au/buyon...00+1000%7D+1000%29&minPrice=&categoryId=15481

im leaning towards this one
Samsung NP355V5C-S07AU NP355

no touch but a 1tb hard and 8ram , 1.9 ghz processor ,

Or

the acer v7 with the touch , i usually buy acer and been pretty happy with them

i think ill post this in a new thread im sure there are members who would point me in the best direction

 

[mnfcp]

Mine was at my old high school helping the technology department. That was fun to have one fewer class to do.

 

[besmirched]

im leaning towards this one
Samsung NP355V5C-S07AU NP355

That's ok I guess. The cpu is AMD and has 8 cores. Imo intel i5/i7 would be nicer and especially the haswell versions as they run on less power. However 8 cores are cool if you get into after effects as the more the cores the merrier after effects renders.

Wouldn't you rather a 17" full hd screen? I know I would.

Not sure how handy you are with computers but the first thing I would do is rip out the original hard drive and replace it with a ssd.

 

[Tom Mann]

For ordinary sized images, to me, these days the real issue when purchasing a laptop for image editing is its LCD display, not its processing horsepower.

Almost any reasonable processor running a 64 bit OS and with 6 or more Gig of RAM will run PS at a reasonable rate. The concern about the display is that there are a huge number of examples on photo discussion groups on the net where people have purchased a laptop, used their hardware calibrator on it and the best delta_E that could be achieved was still horrible.

IMHO, if a major use of the laptop is going to be color critical image editing, and you don't plan to supplement the on-board display with an external conventional monitor, then you simply MUST have a good display. The problem is that it's very hard to determine this from reviews posted on the net, from viewing an in-store display, etc.

T

 

[Tom Mann]

Ego, in your previous post you mentioned several laptops. The problem is that nobody can tell which has a good monitor unless you take each of them home and try to calibrate them. I know that I can't tell from a written description, and unless some testing organization has done a good comparison, no one else can tell either. Color and tonal accuracy is not something that can be easily spec'ed, and not even measured very easily.

T