Day 1268

I finally got all my Las Vegas photo files processed and they're currently on a FedEx plane in-route to New York. I need to make a mental note that it takes at least a full day to individually process 500 image files in Photoshop. What was I thinking when I convinced myself that it would only take me a few hours to get these files ready for publication? The sad thing is that I can never charge for all this Photoshop time, because every client I've got believes that the pictures I take should come out of the camera looking like this. Since most photographers shoot in some sort of Camera RAW format these days, nothing could be further from the truth. Camera RAW images always need some sort of processing. Oh, well. The images look good now. Maybe they will help me got some more work in the future.

The roofers are just about finished.  They attached the galvanized metal flashing to the edge of the roof today and applied the final top sheet to the carport. In a day or two, they will be gone and I will have a large bill to pay.  All in all, I think the roofers did a good job. They repaired all the areas where mistakes were made and I'm reasonably confident that my roof isn't going to leak for a while. The only thing I'm disappointed about is that the roof still doesn't drain properly. The rafters have settled and warped over the years and the low point on the roof is right near the center. Although the roof is now waterproof, there are still areas that will become small duck ponds after a heavy rain. These puddles will evaporate quickly in the Summer, but next Winter I'll probably still have to pump or sweep the standing water off.

I've got a big photo shoot tomorrow. It's a good assignment, I'm not really looking forward to it, because I still need to go to the storage warehouse tomorrow morning and dig out all the heavy backdrops and studio gear. I can carry everything I need for editorial jobs like the Couture Show in a small carry-on bag. Jobs that require studio strobes, soft boxes, and large muslin backdrops fill up the entire car. I'm getting too old to keep lugging all this stuff around. Too bad my day rate isn't high enough to hire a couple of muscular assistants to do the heavy lifting for me. It would be nice to be one of those photographers who just walks on the set and is handed a camera.

Dot seemed tired today. I certainly can't fault her lack of energy. It was hot and muggy outside. Summer is on its way. Truthfully, I was tired too. I need some time to sleep in late and watch old Dr. Who episodes on television. I doubt that this is going to happen any time soon though. Everyone is in a hurry. This usually means I've got deadlines to meet, whether I like it or not.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1267

I think I bit off more than I can chew. I thought I could process 500 images in Photoshop today in plenty of time to send the color corrected files to my client this evening. Well, the FedEx man has come and gone and I've still got quite a few files left to color correct. I sure wish the auto white balance function on most DSLR cameras worked better. In run and gun situations where there are multiple light sources, I often have to go back and manually color correct each image. The large ballrooms I was shooting in at the Couture Show, were often lit by a combination of ambient, incandescent, fluorescent, and mercury vapor light. Since each of these light sources has a different color temperature and an on-camera flash is seldom enough to overpower the bright theatrical lighting, my best alternative is often Photoshop. That's what I did today. I looked for something in each image that I knew was true white, made it white again, and the rest of the image snapped into place. The pictures look great. They're just taking me longer than I thought to process.

Before I started my Photoshop marathon, I had a meeting with the roofers. We went up on the roof and they explained why filling in the little depressions where the roof has settled would just cause the puddles of standing water to shift to another part of the roof. Evidently, the high point on my roof on all four sides is the exterior edge. This is exactly the opposite of the way it should be and causes water to drain toward the center of the roof instead of spilling over the edge. The edge of a flat roof should always be the low point. Other than build an entirely new roof with a pitch to it, there just doesn't seem to be a way to get my roof to drain properly. My advise to all first-time homeowners: don't ever buy a house with a flat roof.

I don't think the dogs like Photoshop. I tend to move around more when I'm writing, and when I move around, the dogs get more attention. I often wander around the house and even go outside when I'm thinking about where to go next on a writing project. Sometimes I get my best headline ideas when I'm not sitting at the computer. Photoshop is much different. A big Photoshop project usually involves lots of repetitive actions. I crop and re-size images. I color correct and eliminate blemishes. I add meta tag information. It's not brain surgery, but it can be time consuming.

Tomorrow looks like another busy day. The roofers will be back. The road crew in front of the house will be back. I've got some website revisions to make and another article is due. First on the docket though is getting all the images processed and burned to a disk, so I can drop them in an envelope and take it to a Fedex drop-off. Poor Dot might have to end up waiting another couple of days for her acupuncture session.

Faith is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day