San Gimignano

(going through archives)

San Gimignano, Tuscany. Beautiful and yet dark spooky place. Lost in time Medieval Manhattan.

Thanks,
vkphoto

Tiny airplanes

Where are they flying to?

Thanks,

vkphoto

Picture of the day: "Happy Sunday"

Cheers! :)

Thanks,
vkphoto

RPP vs ACR vs Capture One 7 (Fuji X-Trans RAF)

* 2013-01-20 Important update about "zipper" effect. Please see new test results below.

Finally I had a chance to process Fuji raw files with highly regarded  Raw Photo Processor
RPP is "no frills" free converter developed by Andrey Tverdokhleb. I recommend to read RPP for Beginners, it is really a good starting point to learn the basics of the tool.

For my RPP vs ACR vs C1 comparison I used the file provided by DPReview, here is the link . All "Tram 1051" pictures are property of DPReview.com

Capture One Pro 7.0.2 (beta) with X-Trans support

I was "raw only" shooter since I purchased my first digital camera in 2001. In the past 12 years I used almost every professional or high end digital camera offered by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic or Olympus but never liked "out of the camera" jpegs , until the Fujifilm X-Pro1's arrived. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that in most cases OOC jpeg files were just perfect and didn't require any further post processing. But we all know jpeg limitations and advantage of using raw files. Sometimes I was missing the flexibility of raw files when the image was required additional fine tuning of white balance, highlights, etc.  So I decided to shoot in RAW+F mode and process raw files only when it was needed. Supplied Raw File Converter EX (powered by SilkyPix) produced fair results but I didn't like its interface. In-camera converter worked well but the workflow become an issue.  Lightroom's  workflow was excellent and output was very good, but with one important exception. Pictures with tiny foliage exhibited a very strange "water colour" (a.k.a. "smearing") effect. Let me illustrate the issue with one of my typical photo.

The scene with foliage

Shooting conditions: Fujifilm X-Pro 1, Fujinon 35mm @ F8, RAW+F (std), Auto WB, ISO 200, tripod, cable release. Now lets open RAF file in ACR 7.3.

I am done with Instagram

I decided to start the new year on the right foot and cancelled my Instagram account.

Bacardi Island
 

I am still keeping pictures here and on my Flickr site. I used them as "post cards" to send to my friends while traveling. All pictures are taken with iPad.