Konrad Dwojak - Photography Portfolio » Architecture

Aperture 3 Finally usable: Aperture 3.0.2 Update

konrad — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:54:11 +0000

You might recall that Â I mentioned in my previous blog articleÂ I would be moving away from Aperture 3 and I promised to tell you why. Well, things have changed in the past week and they’ve changed quite dramatically, but in a good sense. Apple released update to Aperture 3 with the number 3.0.2 on 25 March 2010. Although, this update number looksÂ insignificant, it includes many crucial updates and fixes (at least for the most part) what was bothering me the most: extremely low performance of Aperture 3. The detailed description of the fixes in Aperture 3.0.2 update are provided on Apple’s website here.

I spent few hours yesterday testing Aperture 3.0.2 and I have to say I was positively surprised. This update makes Aperture 3 finally usable or as Scott Bourne from PhotoFocus.com wrote: “Aperture 3.0.2 â€“ FINALLY Finally Ready For Prime Time”. It’s true (and many photographers confirm that) that Apple’s first public major releases (like Aperture 3.0) are in fact full of glitches and bugs. Therefore, they should be seen by the end users as ‘unofficial’ public betas and not final products. Only after few updates (just like in case of Aperture 3), these products become usable. I myself didn’t use Aperture 3 and I waited for the first update of 3.0.1 but even then, the product was not operational, unusable and buggy. I’m a littleÂ surprised and even disappointed that Apple Â acts they way it does with its products towards the customers. Maybe they will learn the lesson, especially after such a sound criticism about buggy Aperture 3. Sometimes it’s good to learn from competitors Apple!

Having said that, I will probably stay with Aperture 3 (well, actually Aperture 3.0.2) as it seems to work fine (more or less at least). I’ve tested about 75%-80% of the features and performance of its 3.0.2 update and it works much MUCH better than the previous version.

Article Picture: Some of you might be familiar with it: it’s theÂ Atomium in Brussels (Bruxelles), Belgium (see map) or at least a part of it.Â

New Lens: Nikkor 35mm f/1.8

konrad — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:08:21 +0000

I just want to put here a little update about my photography equipment. I bought a new lens few days ago: Nikkor 35mm f/1.8. You can read more about the lens on Nikon’s website. I had time to take only few test shots with this new lens but I can already say it is worth the money I paid for it. It delivers clear and crisp image with great aperture and the lens is very bright (requires little light with large f-stops).

Just to let you know, the picture attached to today’s post is not taken with a new lens. As you can see, it’s a picture of a building in Gdansk, Poland. It’s a typical building built during the German occupation in the Second World War. Gdanks is full of similar buildings like this one.

About Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 from Nikon’s Website
Review on Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 from PhotoZone

Welcome to Poland!

konrad — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:48:26 +0000

I think I did 6 km. today in 2 hours just walking and taking pictures in Gdansk (Poland). Ok, maybe not only taking pictures because I had to arrange few things, but anyway!

The weather was much better today, in comparison to previous couple of days, so I could finally grab a camera and head out to the city. If the weather allows, it will be the usual practice of each day: a camera and long walks in the city, meeting people and taking pictures (also portrait photography).

The picture attached to today’s post is something that screams: WELCOME TO POLAND! I was walking towards one of the biggest cemetery in Gdansk and there was an old house on the opposite street from the burial ground. It was abandoned and ready for demolition. I think homeless people used to stay there and the city government cemented the building from the inside in order to prevent people staying there because of insecure conditions.

Architecture Maastricht

konrad — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:59:22 +0000

I have to admit that my experience or knowledge about architecture photography is very limited. However, pictures of buildings or bridges, when taken in appropriate way, may be as fascinating as pictures of other subject. In my opinion, the right angle and the position of a photographer in such pictures is vital. Besides, every architect (just like an artist) wants to send out a message in his building or architecture. The trick is to capture that message and provide it in a picture. Well, there is still much of practice and improvements ahead of me