What computer do you use?

I recently upgraded my laptop and gave my well loved, but slower machine to my kids. I decided I wanted a 17" monitor (more room to see images and place pallets in Photoshop, etc.) I wanted to try an Apple, but a Macbook was out of my budget. After a bit of shopping around I found a deal on a Toshiba P200 that had tons of horsepower, 2GB Ram and all the trimmings. Unfortunately, it was preloaded with Vista. I say unfortunately now, but at the time I was anxious to try the latest greatest operating system..... I hated it..... I quickly installed Ubuntu as a dual boot to see if that would satisfy my needs...
I will admit there are a few rough edges. My webcam seems dodgy, and it took a bit to find a photo workflow that worked for me. Some help from this website, and a bit of research has brought me to the following method:

1. Raw files are downloaded to date organized folders. ie Year/Month/date or 2007/10/29
2. Since I have gnome raw thumbnailer installed, I can view and delete poorly composed or exposed images right in the file browser. This is a preliminary edit. just getting rid of the junk.
3. Anything that looks promising gets an initial tune-up in RawTherapee or Lightzone (unfortunately, Lightzone for Linux has been discontinued).
4. The next step is where I am having trouble. I haven't yet found a program I am happy with for fine and final retouching. I have tried the Gimp, but I just can't get comfortable with it. Cinepaint is supposed to be good, but again I can't seem to get comfortable. I tried Pixel but it seemed pretty buggy. Maybe it will get better...

So I am doing my final processing in Photoshop still running on a windows XP machine I keep running. I guess I still have some learning to do if I want to move away from windows...

one post per month?

Wow, a whole month has passed.
I went down to Port Angeles to visit a friend. We did some hiking and I ended up with these images...

A forest photo

I was out in a local park and found this image


I think it has potential.

Paths to Creativity

The Online Photographer has an interesting article on creativity and art education. I can relate. I did go to photo college, and I like to think that I have used some of that education in a lot of the jobs I have worked at throughout the years. I think art school helps fan the creative flames. For me it confirmed that I enjoy photography, and that I do have some talent.

and another hobby...

When I was a kid, I built and flew model airplanes. Being a kid, though, I could not afford my dream of a remote control Helicopter, as they cost thousands of dollars.
Well, apparently this has changed...
My son recently bought a small remote control airplane (with his own money I might add) and I was intrigued. After seeing how inexpensive the plane was, I started looking at helicopters. I looked at the airhog offerings, but they seemed too much like toys.
I also didn't want to spend a ton of money, from everything I heard, helicopters are tough to fly and you will crash.
I found a good compromise with the Falcon 40. I later found this site that has some great advice. Having owned this helicopter for a couple of weeks now, I will definitely say they are tough to fly. Part of my problem is I have been flying in an enclosed carport with various "stuff" around the edges. Read not a lot of room. I have broken a set of main rotor blades and burned out a motor, but I can hover for a few seconds now. Step two will be to improve my hovering and start controlled flight (forwards, sideways and backwards)

Take me to your leader

Ok, maybe not...

I'm Back

I took a vacation to bring my kids to meet their grandparents. No internet, beautiful mountain scenery, a large lake, and HOT temperatures.
I will get some photos up soon, but in the meantime, one of the first images I took after I got back...