Software

It's all about finding stuff in the dark.

--
darkroommike
"Tom Phillips" wrote in message
...


rafe b wrote:

"Lew" wrote in message
...

I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to
manage
their profession/avocation with software and, if so, what features
they
need.

I try not to let software manage me. I prefer it the other way around.

And this has what to do with darkroom?

On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:13:50 -0500, Lloyd Erlick Lloyd at @the-wire.
dot com wrote:


For me, far more important than any software,
is the ability to have my work on view where
I can absorb it.


Always enjoy your screeds, Lloyd.
You should write a book.

Anyway, on the general subject...

One of the major side benefits of having a
own photo website is just as a simple online
catalog of my best or favorite images.

This also forces me to come up with a name/title
for each image, which can be surprisingly
difficult, but exceedingly useful.

There are tons of inexpensive or free
programs these days that will make contact
sheets from your directories or arbitrary
collections of image files.

For each CD or DVD I burn, I make as
many contact sheets as are needed.

If they're snapshots, I might put 25
or 30 on a page. If they're images
I care about, 12 is a good number.

The contact sheets themselves are
saved in a specific folder, and
the printed contact sheets are
saved in a 3-ring binder. So I
can peruse them either on-line or
off-line.

Still and all... as the years wear
by, I find myself spending altogether
too much time organizing/cataloging,
and less time actually taking new
photos. That's sad.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

In article ,
"Mike King" wrote:

It's all about finding stuff in the dark.

The dull rumble you hear is the approach of a herd of
clues. Or maybe just the darkroom fan.
--
The things we hate most in life often turn out to be a mirror image
of ourselves. Better not to hate.

Findmedirectly - "infoatgregblankphoto.com"

"Lew" wrote
Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database application designer and
programmer, so I'm aware of the process and overhead.

So _you_ should be telling _us_ how to do it...

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
Fstop timer - http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

Well, I'm not asking _how_ to do it, rather what people find useful to
do and how compelling a case they make for doing it. If there were any
existing programs that assisted with darkroom work my guess is that members
of this list would be using them and have strong opinions about which ones
were best along with which features worked well for them & which didn't. Of
course I think about writing my own software, but I won't if a strong
product is already out there.
Here's my list of stuff so far:

1. Shooting:
date/time
location
film type
ie
subjects
notes

2. Processing:
cross reference #1
process date
developer
time/temp
notes

3. Proofing
cross ref #1 (will infer #2)
proof date
frame selection
notes

4. Printing
Cross ref all of the above plus frame id
print date
Paper & grade
Developer
Title
Notes

The most problamatic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
chemical free in the darkroom. Entering notes for individual prints after a
session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.

"Nicholas O. Lindan" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Lew" wrote
Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database application designer and
programmer, so I'm aware of the process and overhead.

So _you_ should be telling _us_ how to do it...

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
Fstop timer - http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

"Lew" wrote in message
...

The most problamatic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
chemical free in the darkroom. Entering notes for individual prints after
a session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.


Why not forget about a keyboard (in the darkroom)
and just enter recorded audio. You could transcribe
that later.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com

"Lew" wrote

Well, I'm not asking _how_ to do it, rather what

Dawn breaks...


Here's my list [of image related stuff to
keep track of in the computer] so far:

1. Shooting:
date/time
location
film type
ie

i.e. what?

subjects
notes

I would index by roll: Film type and development only
exist once for the whole roll. The roll points to a
series of entries for frames by subject and the subject
is itself a key to a subject database.

I would guess normally only two or three frames per roll would
have detailed data. Some would have "ditto" : most of mine in my paper
notebook a

"" + 1/2

So I would make that sort of thing easy.

If you are a zoney there should be a way of attaching a
zone system worksheet to an exposure. Again a sparse tree.

I imagine this would all be logged with a Palm or a Pocket-PC,
or would a notebook PC be available at the shoot?

For the non database [db] folks that means there is only one copy
of the word 'dog' in the data base and all pictures
of a dog have a pointer to this one copy. This
gets around problems of some labeled Dog, some dog
some Dogg: the computer can have trouble picking up all
the misspellings and variations in nomenclature and realizing
they are all the same thing. It is like having categories
for saving mail or keeping track of favorite sites: the
name of the 'box' is the subject index - all websites
with lamp jokes would go under jokes/lamp. With a database
it is possible to have the same data organized in different
ways: all pictures taken of dogs, all pictures of anything
taken in March 1984, all pictures taken with Tri-X.

One can spend forever on database


2. Processing:
cross reference #1
process date
developer
time/temp
notes

Processing data would be part of roll data: indexes to
chemicals with space for notes on variations - 1:1, stand, ....


3. Proofing
cross ref #1 (will infer #2)
proof date
frame selection
notes

Again this is part of roll data. It is 1:1 correspondence
with rolls.


4. Printing
Cross ref all of the above plus frame id
print date
Paper & grade
Developer
Title
Notes

Roll/subject/frame

Again a sparse tree, 1:1 correspondence to exposure so it
should be part of the exposure data.

I would start by looking at what you track now with paper and
put that, and only that, on the computer. That way you quickly
get a working kernel that you add to when you see additional
needs and you know when the design is done.

The most problematic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
chemical free in the darkroom.

Rubylith over the screen. Set the color scheme to all red, easy
if you run under DOS with DOS apps.

Keyboards are cheap. Just keep a spare one or two on hand.
Most are pretty spill proof and can be rinsed under the tap.

Computer? I'd use an old high-quality DOS machine,
something you would get for free. Compaqs or H/P Vectras with
286's are rugged. They are far more reliable
[with modern disks] than any Wintel/Mac box. And if it
gets chems in it, pull the disks, put the machine out by the
curb, and grab a spare DOS box from the basement.

Entering notes for individual prints after a
session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.

I only do 1 or 2 prints [each may have clone copies] per session.

If I am cranking out production with a negatrans and six uncut
rolls then there are no contact sheets. I read the negatives projected
on the easel to pick ones to print & I don't know that I would
keep data. I only do production in special situations; if it is
regular production I have a lab do it - they have the equipment
for that sort of work and I don't.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
Fstop timer - http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

We're on the same page now. I'd handle things under the hood somewhat
differently though.
-Lew

Lew wrote:

Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database
application designer and programmer, so I'm aware
of the process and overhead.


I've worn that hat working in Cobal, C, Basic, and
Assembly. That was quite a few years ago but think
I could wade quickly back in.
I'll likely buy an Apple system within the next few months.
What is your opinion of Mac's included programing facilities?
Specificaly AppleScript and X Code. I understand that X Code
is an Apple OS X included compiler. Java as well as other
languages are available. Dan

Hey Dan:
I'm strictly a DOS/Windows kind of guy. I've worked in this industry for
quite a while and I've *never* seen or heard about an Apple OS based
enterprise. I have seen banks of Apples in small shops and graphics
departments, however. End users who need the graphics stuff love them, but
I've never met a happy Apple OS programmer. Of course, maybe things are
better now.
-Lew