Dear blog diary, For a couple of months it seems that at I have abandoned you, forgotten you---not true --- I promise that I will update you more often (hopefully)! Covids and all the resultant lockdowns have certainly altered the rhythm of life for most of us. Perhaps better than many, I have been able to keep my hobbyist/sparetime photographic interest going at at pretty good pace---not continuously as I certainly get my full share of creative dry patches--like just now, which might have prompted me to look at my blog. Normally, at this time of the year, when we are almost guaranteed hot sunny weather here in Toronto, I would have taken the opportunity to head off to the central city area (I am located 20 kms west of the city core, but luckily on a main rapid transit line) for street photography when we are normally flooded with quirky tourists and sidewalks jammed with overflowing & colourful outside restaurants. As of today, due to Covids both these are mostly missing and personally, I am not anxious to bring Covids home with me---why take the risk? Isolating myself in house, garden and immediate proximity with mask are the order of the day.
All of the foregoing has led me to further investigate what new challenges my cameras can offer. Over the years I have used the video function, albeit infrequently, almost always only on my overseas travel jaunts to basically to diarise sights and sounds, as opposed to constructing a composite video sequence that builds into a short story or visual report. This past month, with trepidation, I decided to get my feet (somewhat) wet in the video process. Not over-board---just dabble. So far I have produced 4 clips---each time, trying to unearth & incorporate new features in the software menu. I am a strong believer in incremental learning---adding a new technique one at a time All my clips have been created using the old free Microsoft Movie Maker that was included as part of Windows 7 and earlier. I was able to locate a site that allowed me to download old Movie Maker into Win 10 and so far it seems to work perfectly. I also decided to upgrade my Photoshop Elements v.12 to Elements version 20 bundled with Premiere which is the companion video software programme & which Adobe state is targeted at beginner/enthusiast to near pro level. Anyway, to this point on my video journey & with only 4 clips in the can so far, I have ventured to use Movie Maker only and am still building my confidence to use the more sophisticated platform for my next effort.
Just a note on Photoshop Elements---as mentioned I happily used v12 for a number of years. To be honest I cannot see any real/worthwhile improvements in v20. Can only suggest that you save your money for this upgrade.
Just a note on Photoshop Elements---as mentioned I happily used v12 for a number of years. To be honest I cannot see any real/worthwhile improvements in v20. Can only suggest that you save your money for this upgrade.
