I recently purchased a version of the controlled vocabulary software from David Rieick’s website (www.controlledvocabulary.com).

The CVKC software for Lightroom is slightly different to the version for Bridge, due to Lightroom allowing synonym designations, which are displayed in the CVKC file in {} brackets.

e.g Bridge format:-

action
>aim
>>aiming
>arm wrestling

Lightroom format:-

action
>aim
>>{aiming}
>arm wrestling

Davids website licenses the software to a single user, so you could download a version of CVKC for both Bridge and Lightroom.

After some experimenting, I would advise just using the Bridge version, which is also compatiable with Lightroom. Provided you do not use the Lightroom synonym designation, you will be able to easily transfer the keyword list back and forth between the 2 two programs.

This morning I was reading an article in Better Photoshop Techniques (one of my preferred photography magazines), and came across an interesting article by photographer Nick Rains about image keywording.

I have been thinking quite a bit about this subject of late, and how I can improve my workflow.

Nicks article discussed the technique of “Controlled Vocabulary”, which uses directory structured lists of words grouped by category, sub category, etc.

I had seen this technique in use on iStockPhoto and thought it made keywording very easy.

David Rieick’s website (www.controlledvocabulary.com). Has some interesting information on how the strategy of Controlled Vocabulary can be used to improve image workflow, and offers software for several imaging products, including Lightroom, Aperture, Photo Mechanic, etc.

It is well worth a look.

I just remembered today that the Samsung 2243BWX monitor I purchased recently came with a pre-made (or ‘canned’) profile.

For interest, I decided to compare the canned profile with the Spyder 2 colorimeter profile using the Chromix ColorThink software.

The 2D view of the profiles show the canned and measured profiles follow each other quite well, except in the area of blue to red transition. It also shows they are off-set slightly.

Investigating the 3D view (canned profile in solid, measured profile in wireframe), shows the reason for the offset is that the white point has a different placement in two profiles. Rotating the 3D view I  checked the black points and they located in the same place.

Conclusion:- The canned profile will probably do for the everyday computer user, but anyone serious about colour accuracy and management should be profiling their monitor.

I have been working on a windows laptop for a while, and spending a lot of time at present in front of it, decided to look at an additional screen.

Ideally I would have liked to purchase an Eizo screen, but they aren’t within my budget just yet, so I looked at various screens available around town.

Settled on a Samsung 2243BXW due to price, and the fact that Samsung is one of the four companies that make all of the LCD monitors in the world.

The thing that I like about the screen is the 300 cd/m2 brightness. This blows away my laptop, and interestingly this does not seem to be a specification typically listed with laptops.

The first thing I did on setup, was color calibrate the monitor using the Pantone Spyder2 to compare it with my HP laptop.  After some experimenting I discovered Windows does not support ICC profiles on multiple screens, unless separate video cards are used.

The other thing I noticed is that there is a very narrow viewing angle (around 5 degrees) for the correct colour viewing. Moving slightly to either side (or up and down) and a red hue begins to appear at the edges.

After calibrating the screen, I checked the ICC profile using Chromix ColorThink software. This software is brilliant for understanding color issues, allowing visual 2D and 3D rendering and comparison of color profiles.

Results of the calibration show the Samsung 2243BWX screen has a color profile that approximates sRGB. (The Eizo screens quote 95-98% of AdobeRGB1998).

The other result is that the laptop screen gamut is smaller than sRGB, and this explains why images viewed on a laptop in a non-color managed environment appear faded. (I have had a couple of friends confine this effect on different laptop brands.)

This raises an interesting question - If LCD monitors can produce sRGB, why do laptops have a smaller gamut, when they are effectively the same thing?

The conclusion - The Samsung 2243BWX will do me for now, but when I get the funds together, will be upgrading to an Eizo monitor.

I first learned the popular Canon Powershot G9 was being phased out on a trip to Malaysia last month.

Searching around the web today, I notice the Canon Powershot G10 has been released, and will be available in November.

Features at a glance:

• 14.7 Megapixel CCD sensor
• 5x wide-angle (28mm) optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer
• RAW image recording plus support for Canon Digital Photo Professional
• DIGIC 4 for clear, sharp images, high-speed AF (including Servo AF) and fast response times
• Targets all the main causes of blur with High ISO Auto, optical Image Stabilizer, Motion Detection Technology and Auto ISO shift
• Improved Face Detection AF/AE/FE/WB plus Face Select & Track and Face Self-Timer
• 3.0” PureColor LCD II (461k dots resolution) with wide viewing angle and optical viewfinder
• i-Contrast boosts brightness and retains detail in dark areas
• Dedicated Exposure Compensation and ISO dials
• 26 shooting modes with manual control and custom settings
• Smooth, 30fps VGA movies

With this year’s release of the 5D Mark II, 50D and G10, I think it will be the year for me to do some much needed upgrades.

Noticed a news item on the PDN newsletter the other day. New York photographer Vincent Laforet managed to get his hands on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II for a weekend. The result is a production called Reverie. It is what I can only call amazing for an SLR camera…. The 5D Mark II will revolutionize photography. Visit Vincents blog at http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/ to see more info.

To enable color management, type about:config into the Location Bar (address bar) and press Enter. Scroll down and double click on the gfx.color_management.enabled item to set the Value column to true and restart Firefox. More information. Note: to use this feature you must have a colour managed monitor, otherwise web pages may look worse.