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			Stop for a moment and look - Helen's journal and online home In which an old dog attempts to learn new tricks.




			06:13 pm April 21st, 2013

heleninwales


	Stop for a moment and look
	I'm going to combine two days into one post here. Moving to a new computer has disrupted everything, so though I've taken pictures, I couldn't process or post them. Most of yesterday was spent dismantling the old computer and assembling the new one. I also had to clean out lots of dust from on, under and around the desk and do some hoovering. :) Today I started installing software and finding out how to use Windows 8. It's a bit of a steep learning curve, but it's starting to make sense. It's going to mean different ways of working, but it will just be different and neither better nor worse. I have used so many OSes over the years, that I'm not wedded to any one in particular. So yesterday, the only stopping I did was pausing in my cleaning and rearranging and the only looking was out of the window. That was a bit of a shame because it was a gorgeous day with a cloudless blue sky. Appearances can be deceptive, however, because it was not very warm. As this post shows, today I successfully installed PhotoShop Elements, and Digital Photo Professional (the software I use for processing and converting RAW files) and worked out how to download photos from the camera. I also downloaded and installed Semagic for writing LJ posts. In the process, I discovered that Windows 8 panics when you try to install almost anything, but if you reassure it, things do work. Mostly. Walking up to Quaker meeting this morning I got slightly rained on and the afternoon was very grey, so today's photo of the same view looks a bit different. Tags: stop for a moment and look Current Mood: optimistic

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	Comments




			Thread started by mark

	From: kishenehn	Date: April 21st, 2013 06:41 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I'd panic if I had to do anything at all with Windows 8! :-)

Funny ... I like both those shots, but the second one is definitely more evocative. Just the opposite of how I'd feel in real life. :0

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	From: heleninwales	Date: April 22nd, 2013 07:29 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yes, cloud can be very photogenic, especially as rain doesn't really show up very well in photos. I know, I've tried to photograph it and unless it's really tipping down, it doesn't show at all.

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			Thread started by Sherwood Smith

	From: sartorias	Date: April 21st, 2013 09:53 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Oh, that sky! Actual clouds! (Sez one who has just been through the driest winter since 1897)

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	From: athgarvan	Date: April 21st, 2013 10:17 pm (UTC)		(Link)

New computers can stink! Congrats on the lovely photos

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	From: heleninwales	Date: April 22nd, 2013 07:41 am (UTC)		(Link)

When we first started using computers back in the mid-80s, a new computer meant exciting new possibilities. Now, though this one is more powerful and faster, I probably won't actually able to do anything new with it and I have all the upheaval of moving all my data (mostly photos and word processing documents) from one machine to the other.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: heleninwales	Date: April 22nd, 2013 07:39 am (UTC)		(Link)

There's been a lot of extreme weather around recently. We've had out coldest winter for something like 50 years. It still doesn't really feel warm enough to be spring and we're almost in May.

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			Thread started by Nutmeg3

	From: nutmeg3	Date: April 22nd, 2013 01:20 am (UTC)		(Link)

I love that second shot, though I probably wouldn't want to be out there when a storm rolled in.

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	From: heleninwales	Date: April 22nd, 2013 07:36 am (UTC)		(Link)

It's quite scary out there in high winds now there are so many trees at the back of the house. Believe it or not, when we moved into our house, it was a field at the back and there were only those tall trees in the distance. All the rest has grown up in just under 30 years.

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			Thread started by Elizabeth

	From: lizziebelle	Date: April 22nd, 2013 11:20 am (UTC)		(Link)

How do you like Elements? Does it do everything you need/want it to? I'm finding I need something more than iPhoto, and wondering if Elements is worth buying.

(Reply) (Thread)

	From: heleninwales	Date: April 22nd, 2013 01:04 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I actually use quite an old version of Elements which came included as part of the OU digital photography course I did back in 2007. It does absolutely everything I need with regard to photo-editing, so I've never bothered upgrading. For me the full PhotoShop Creative Studio (or whatever it's called) would be overkill and probably contains lots of complicated stuff I would never use.

I'm not sure how much Elements costs, but I know it's much cheaper than the full professional PhotoShop. It does layers, which it the most useful step up from the very basic editors. I know some people use Paint Shop Pro, which has similar features to Elements and there is also the GIMP, which is free. I had to learn it once to teach it and found it rather counter intuitive, but that's because it started life as a Linux program. I have seen some excellent results produced using it and... well... you can't beat free when it comes to price. :)

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: lizziebelle	Date: April 22nd, 2013 01:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Thanks! I have used Photoshop before, and it is rather complicated. I just want a little more flexibility than what iPhoto has.

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	11 comments or Leave a comment