As we enter a new decade, I am sure it will bring just as many revolutionary changes in the technology of photography, as well as in my own development as a photographer as the previous one. Photography has so many facets now beyond the photographer, camera, and lens. As a trip down nostalgia lane, I thought it would be interesting for a quick look back on the top 10 things that affected me, and probably many other photographers, in the last decade. Some things have changed, some surprisingly not so much. In fact, when I pull up some of these images taken nearly 10 years ago, it is hard to believe it was that long ago now.
Tri-colored Heron c.2000
Back in 2000, I was photographing mostly with a Nikon F5 35 mm film camera, considered top of the line at the time, and probably one of the all time classic 35mm film bodies now. It fetched a pretty penny back then, I can remember saving and saving for it. A recent check on Ebay has them selling from anywhere from $59 – $200.
Of course now with DSLRS – their value seems to plummet after 2-3 years when the next generation comes along. I am hoping the F5 will someday be a classic collectors item since I never sold mine. Throwing out images doesn’t cost me anything now, but keeping more of them does in hard drives, backups, etc, etc.
Read MoreI found it quite funny, that even 25 years later, that little booklet that drops in the ad for the original Macintosh looks just like the booklet I got with my MacPro when I switched last year. I suppose it goes to show even with leaps and bounds in advances in technology on a computer that is astronomically more powerful than the original, Apple still strives to keep things simple across all of their products. Are they always successful? No, but that goal is obvious in their product philosophy even 25 years later. I would have to say my experience to date is filled with a lot fewer computer frustrations than before Feb 2008, and for that – I owe them thanks. So Happy Birthday.
Here is another video that aired during the 1984 SuperBowl;
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Getting a new computer can be a great source of fun, as well as a lot of work in migrating all of your software and data over Adding a new computer with a new type of operating system.. you would think it compounds the work But actually it has been much easier than I expected A lot of people worry about software expenses in such a move from PC to Mac They can add up depending on the applications you use most My most heavily used applications are from Adobe; Photoshop, Lightroom, and Dreamweaver, and are probably the most costly to buy outright.
As I mentioned before, Lightroom already has cross-platform licensing, so it was a no brainer, and no cost to switch it My other apps, I have been holding off on upgrading them because I was anticipating this switch Dreamweaver also has cross-platform licensing, so it only cost me the standard upgrade fee to get Dreamweaver CS3 for Mac (less my NAPP discount of course!) Photoshop is a bit more complicated.
Adobe requires you to sign a “Letter of Software Destruction” (sounds ominous doesn’t it!) to transfer your PC license to a Mac license, and then only the normal upgrade fee applies if you are upgrading from an older version I was moving from PC CS2 to Mac CS3 in this case They do a lot of digging into your Photoshop history to determine your last full version that was registered (not upgrades) Other than some time spent on the phone (and you do have to call to get a ‘case number’), it was rather painless It is a good idea to first start with the 30 day free trial on Mac first to make sure all of your actions, presents, and plugins migrate over OK Even though I am only a week into my trial, I probably have to start planning my Photoshop for Windows CD destruction party now.
I. am already spoiled on the speed I am experiencing in Photoshop CS3 on the MacPro My PC was quite old I know, a new PC would probably perform fast just as well But just to highlight the difference, there is a popular Photoshop benchmark test that is referred to quite a bit here Give it a try if you want to see how your own computer fares Be sure to follow their preparation instructions.
Old PC: Dell 8300 Pentium 4 3 GHz, 4GB Ram, ATA hard drives, Windows XP Pro SP2, CS2 : Speed test results 3 min 45 seconds
New Mac: MacPro 2.8 GHz Harpertown, 6 GB Ram, SATA2 hard drives, Mac OSX 10.5.2, CS3 : Speed test results: 25 seconds :o
That’s quite a big difference of course, and I am noticing it in how much quicker I can process an image to a fully processed 16×24 size print.
I am still quite a newbie in learning the Mac way, lots of apps still to explore like iPhoto, GarageBand, all the other cool stuff available online All in all, software migration has been quite painless, and quite easy Smooth as silky water, and now flowing quite fast! 
Well, OK, a couple days belated, but nonetheless, a blogworthy event. There is a wonderful writeup about the history of Photoshop by Jeff Schewe over at Photoshop News, with all sorts of great links and backstory. Photoshop just celebrated its 18th birthday, Camera Raw its 5th, and Lightroom its very 1st. It is quite remarkable that the birthdays of Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom all coincide at the same time, without any forethought about planning them that way. The Digital Cosmos must come into alignment on February 19.
It is also a coincidence that Feb 19 also happened to be the day I downloaded and installed Photoshop CS3 (ie. v10) for Mac on my new MacPro. The user license I originally obtained for 3.5″ floppy disks will finally be changed over.
Reading the articles about the history, I learned that Photoshop has local ties I never knew about. It started in an Ann Arbor, Michigan apartment – where Thomas Knoll started developing it. From there it has grown into a huge industry of seminars, training, books, magazines, plug-ins, and tutorials on doing the same task ten different ways. Who would have thought? Aside from the massive industry it spawned, the generic phrase “Photoshopped” emerged. The program has played a major role in our feelings, interpretations, debates and attitudes towards the photograph and what it represents.
The link above has a lot of fun and interesting information, check it out (Oh – and why the rock photo? Besides just generally being on a rock kick lately, it reminded me of the Big Daddy Photoshop and all the siblings it has spawned :-) ).
Read MoreWow, my first post from a MacPro.. I am kinda teary eyed :) I am still in the process of migrating data and files from my PC and am quite happy with my decision thus far There are some statements from Mac users on various things where it ultimately comes down to “It just works.” I have to say I have had a few of those experiences so far It is pretty obvious that a lot of attention has been given to the entire experience by Apple The first time you turn the computer on you are presented with a little video show saying “welcome” in about 20 different languages in front of a little light show It’s not a big deal, but that small human touch that is nice to see Those small touches are everywhere, and I am seeing that they all add up to the complete experience.
. I am still finding my way around OS X Leopard and trying to adjust to the Mac way of doing things – from determining what programs are running to the unbelievably easy process of installing new applications ”Drag icon to applications folder” are the instructions you see a lot because that is usually all there is to installing a new program As mentioned in the comments of “Part 2″ – the mouse is certainly different I like the little magic ball for scrolling more than a scroll wheel, but hate the right clicking experience of this thing I think Mighty Mouse’s days are numbered.All-in-all a pretty good experience so far No technostress.. it has actually been quite fun.
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