JetPack

I've experienced a bit of an epiphany this week. Following a number of chance interactions it seems that people have been looking at my website and on at least a few occasions, actually reading it. Despite the substantial amount of work out in, it still comes as a bit of a surprise. Part of the reason for this surprise is that for the last two years, every single print sale or workshop has come from either Facebook or Twitter; buyers and clients have only gone to the website after their initial interest has been confirmed.The immediate consequence ( apart from a smidgeon of pride) is to encourage me to stop up my efforts a little as the provision has been a little thin over the last year or so. Over the previous month, I'd been updating galleries (hate that job....) and generally tidying leaving two major jobs to do. One was a renewed attention to the blog and the second was to organise a few bits of background stuff including site statistics. Having looked around for a number of plugins, I decided to fire away with a collection called JetPack. This bag of goodies is written by the same people who write the WP code and seems to offer a mixture of features I want now, those I might want, those I might want if I ever understand what they do and those unlikely to be required. The set is nicely written so that only the code for the activated plugins runs on the site.I could have used Google Analytics as I used to do on my old hand written site but to me the JetPack offering seems more elegant and more quickly gives me the information I want. I'm hoping ( based to be honest on what others have written rather than my own specific knowledge) that site security will be enhanced. I'll also compare the WP comments feature with the anti spam plug in that I'm currently using to se if there is any gain to be made.If any of this is of interest, do drop me a line. My intention is to add to this individual entry with updates as things bed in.

Sleeklens Photoshop Actions

Recently I was sent a set of PS Actions for evaluation. They were sent free on the basis that I would try them and write a review. I've had the opportunity to try most if not all of the many options that they offer. First I should point out that the use of actions does not sit particularly comfortably with my normal way of working; I don't even create my own presets and tend to process each image 'longhand' and from scratch. From the start, the install is straightforward as one might expect; I was even supplied with a YouTube video to assist though not required. Looking at the actions panel, the majority of the actions have short self explanatory names. I always appreciate such touches as I'm never at ease if I have to refer to the documentation to see what they contribute.The list of actions is extensive Exposure, Contrast, Temperature, Saturation, Toning, some special effects and actions for exporting to web at preset or custom sizes. In many instances a helpful tip box pops up to remind you that the effect can be modified by changes to the opacity of the layer. In truth all the actions work well and in both predictable and controllable fashion and would seem to be a useful set of tools for many photographers. For my own particular purposes I would have three reservations about their usefulness for me.

• In some instances, for example the web export, the same result can be achieved with the normal File ->Export and in a similar number of clicks.

• Many of the actions can be duplicated by the use of a conventional adjustment layer - I'm not sure why I might use an action to adjust exposure or contrast when I could use an adjustment layer as easily.

• Many of the more striking actions produce a look which doesn't really suit my style. Even though they can be moderated by adjusting opacity, some still lack subtlety and produce colours which I find odd.

On the positive side I found some of the actions to be of interest, notably the Dull day, Dark dreams and Sky enhancer were able to provide a measure of 'rescue' for less satisfactory images especially those made in flat lighting conditions. I did struggle with the suggestion that the sky enhancer could be brushed in - in my view a better result was achieved by using a gradient fill on the layer mask. The actions are well constructed and well presented and I'd be sure that they would offer useful tools for many photographers. I'd be surprised if I made use of more than a couple in my own workflow however.