Canvas Prints gone wrong

Just over a week ago I ordered 2 canvas prints as a gift for my wife from http://adoramapix.com. I have never ordered a canvas print before. I had heard they do good work, so I figured they would be a good choice.

Today she opened the prints only to be disappointed with the results. On the outside everything seemed really well wrapped and protected. On the inside the brown wrapping paper was stuck to BOTH  prints.

Paper stuck to print on left edge

From what I can tell, it looks like the print was still wet when it was wrapped up for shipping.  I have contacted AdromaPix customer service and I am waiting for a response.  I will update this post when I learn how they will handle the problem.

I was planning to have some images printed for a public showing of some photos, and now I will pick a different photo lab. Any recommendations?

UPDATE: Within an hour AdromaPix replied that they will re-ship my order ASAP. Pretty good response from them.

Trying out DxO ViewPoint

I do a lot of shooting with a Tamron 10-24 Ultra Wide angle lens. I love the wide angle, but it causes a lot of buildings to tilt backwards.

A new program was released this month from DxO labs called ViewPoint and it is designed to help users adjust photos that have an odd tilt to them.

I downloaded the trial on my Mac and in about 5 minutes I was able to make some pretty major adjustments to one of my images. I have to say I am impressed.

I used the "Standalone" version on the Mac since they have not yet released an Aperture Plugin.

Controls are easy to use but I found them pretty slow to respond, even on my Mac with over 12GB of RAM. But still it was very usable.

I tried to do a quick edit on a few other images but the POV resulted in too much cropping in order to fix the tilt in the building, which was not going to leave me with the image I wanted.

I will probably buy a copy of program next time I am in the middle of editing an image that just looks a little off. http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/dxo_viewpoint/introduction

D600 or no D600?

The news has been buzzing about the new D600 from Nikon. You probably already know this is the latest feature rich full frame DSLR from Nikon, at a "reasonable" price. Even Ken Rockwell pre-ordered one for himself.

I have been dreaming of this camera all summer, really wanting to upgrade from my D5100, but now that it is officially available I am probably going to pass....  The reason? The cost. Below is a breakdown of what it would cost for me to have a configuration equal to my D5100 setup.

Lets break it down:

1) Camera Body: $2,100
2) Battery grip: $322
3) 3 additional batteries @ $62 each
4) Nikon 16-35mm FX Ultra Wide angle lens to replace my 10-35mm DX lens: $1199
(Lens needs to support a 77mm filter for my current filter collection)

Total: $3,807

So now the cheap D600 is no longer a cheap upgrade for someone moving up to a full frame camera.

The logical next upgrade would be the D7000, but it isn't a big enough difference from the D5100 to make the leap. So for now I am going to wait for a few things before I upgrade:

1) I want to see what Nikon releases as the next generation of D7000 level cameras (released 2 years ago)
2) Wait to see if the D600 drops in price AND if a new selection of cheaper Ultra Wide angle lenses hit the market. Yes, I know cheaper does not mean better.

Next you may ask, why do you want to upgrade? These are a few of the reasons...

1) I want more controls at my fingertips and not hidden in menus
2) I want a histogram to view prior to shooting
3) Hoping for an onscreen level
4) Additional bracketing options
5) More autofocus points
6) Custom pre-sets
7) Better weather proofing.

Lowe Pro vs. Thinktank

Yesterday I was lucky enough to win a Retrospective 20 shoulder bag from ThinkTank Photo.  I have been using a Lowe Pro Messenger 200 AW bag for about 6 months so far, but I was still really excited to get the ThinkTank Photo bag. I have heard a lot of great things about ThinkTank, and I can see why they have such a good reputation.

I was very impressed with how many internal pockets I found inside the ThinkTank bag. Seriously, I never expected to find a pocket for just about everything you would need to stash. It had room for a flash, room for filters, lens cleaning supplies plus a camera with a tall lens attached.  I was also pretty impressed that it had multiple zipper compartments, including room for an iPad.  The bag was a great color and the material was really pretty thick and well padded. Also included was a rain cover in a small pouch. The shoulder strap was also really well padded.

My Lowe Pro bag is longer, but not as tall. It also would not hold the iPad very easily. When I need a smaller bag for a short trip, I will be using the ThinkTank Retrospective 20 bag. When I want to take just about everything, I will use the Lowe Pro.

Train Interior Series Continued

I had a chance to return to the Western Railway Museum today for a special membership day, which allowed access to some "new" trains. While I didn't get to use a tripod, I was still able to sneak in a few decent interior images.

I was able to capture a few of the interior features in more detail....