dpeterso

Hello Jim - A warm welcome to the forum. I watched your slideshow and must say that I enjoyed it. You have many fine pictures, and having many fine pictures is a necessary ingredient to a good slideshow. If I may offer a few of my impressions and suggestions on what would make it better for me. I found the colors used in the frame distracting from the beautiful images. I didn't think the "pinkish" accent went with the gold tone matt; they seemed to clash. I think an improvement could be made by switching the framing colors to more "wintery" colors (or lack of colors) such as shades of gray. However Jim, these are just my impressions and certainly don't represent what you personally like or anybody else for that matter. I think a good rule of thumb is to listen to what others have to say, make changes if you agree, and above all, go with what you like. The second suggestion is regarding the use of the vertically oriented pictures. It's not just how you did it, it's when anybody uses them. They seem to break the visual continuity. I've said this before: I don't know how to overcome this "interruption" except to avoid using vertical pictures in a predominately landscape formatted show. Many will likely disagree with me about mixing the two formats. That's okay; it's just a quirk I have. The music worked well with the mood All in all, very enjoyable. Regards, Dave

Very enjoyable Barry. The monochrome accents your photographic skills, especially in composition. Well done agan! Dave

Wow! Barry, you keep the bar going north. From what little work I've done with collages, you must have spent considerable time and effort creating such a beautiful piece. Thanks so much for continuing to show us all what's possible. You're quite talented. Dave

Thank you for your kind words Bill. Dave

Thanks for your comments John. The equipment used for these particular shots was a Canon 10D with an EF 70-200 f/4L lens. Thanks again. Dave

Here is a link to a new slideshow, something different from my usual fare. I was working in Texas at the time and had a weekend with nothing to do. So I explored the little towns and found this folk festival. The lighting was quite challenging as you "blown highlight buffs" will see. Don't we all wish we could go back again with better skills and equipment. If you are a country & western music fan, you may even recognize a few famous faces. If you are a people watcher or a student of character studies, then you may enjoy this show. Hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment and critique. Dave http://www.epetersons.com/slideshows/Sam%2...%20Festival.zip

Hi Jeff - I've just finished looking at "Bootheel" #s 2, 3, & 4 at Beechbrook. I really liked #s 3 & 4. The music was great, and as usual, you always have a sense of adventure to your explorations. You and your wife seem to find the neatest camping spots. I paused the shows several times to study your camping gear. I can't believe your back can survive sleeping on a cot. Good job--keep them coming. Dave

Jeff - You captured the desolation of that border area well. You have a couple of great shots from the highway. I'm currently reading the book "Comanche Moon" and your images go well with the Larry McMurtry's written imagery. Keep traveling, and keep shooting. Regards, Dave

Very nice Peter! There is very little that I would change. I did hear an ambient hiss in the soundtrack, but I didn't notice it until the program ended. At first I thought it might be the wind or maybe some moving water. I just loved the birds. It created an impression of continuation while man-made structures slowly melt back into the earth. Very powerful images and sound. Regards, Dave

Thank you for the compliment Cead. The music performed by Basil Poledouris is "Theme from Lonesome Dove". Dave

Good morning JudyKay. Thank you for your comments. You're so poetic. I have since fixed the misalignment that you noticed. Good eye. I come from a gene pool that can "line things up", but by the time I finished adding the frames, my eyes were crossing. You asked if there was a better way. I had to sleep on an idea that I got from Lin Evan's tutorial on map making. What he did was to make a transparent cutout. So I made a transparent cutout of a picture frame and then brought it into PTE as a PNG file. Now, just like in real life when framing a picture, the image is place under the frame. This way, there is no alignment problems, plus the image can have PZR activities if so desired. I just love learning new ways to solve old problems! Have a nice day. Dave

I've recently been learning to use frames in PTE. Barry's presentations, as well as from other members, usually seem to look better on a rather square computer screen if they are framed to give a more landscaped perspective. So that is what I've done to one of my original slideshows. It's framed at 1280 X 1024 resolution. I don't know what happens if you look at it with a resolution of 1024 X 768. Let me know if you think it improves the show or makes it worse. Dave http://www.epetersons.com/slideshows/Flint...280x1024%29.zip

Hello Peter - I want to tell you that I enjoyed your show. I watched it with my wife and we both thought it was beautiful. Ordinarily, I'm not a flower kind of guy, especially when it comes to naming them. However, after shoveling 6" of snow from my driveway today, I must tell you that the colors looked wonderful. I'm curious about how you did the frames. I've finally figured out how to use frames in PTE, but I can't figure out how to add texture to the frame in PTE. Are you making the frame in Photoshop, and them bringing it in as a slide? I'm slow to realize it, but frames do make presentations much cleaner & professional looking. They give the eye a definite border with which to focus on the picture. At this point, I'm just trying to learn some of the framing techniques. Again, job well done. Dave

Hello All - I have another show for your consideration. Finding the church that you'll see in this slideshow was a serendipitious experience of the highest order. This place was in a tiny, obscure Kansas town of maybe 100 people. The countryside was poor farmland and pastures. One day while my wife and I were taking the backroads to another city to visit our son, we saw a steeple poking above the waving grasslands. On a lark, we decided to take a peek. I hope you enjoy it. Comments and suggestions are appreciated. Regards, Dave http://www.epetersons.com/slideshows/Saint...7s%20Church.zip

Hi Mark - I've just listened and watched your updated show on Norway. Personally, I like the narration. I can imagine how you must have struggled with it. But it turned out pretty nice and definitely adds to the show. Someday I'd like to get into it myself, but I can't figure out how to get around not liking the sound of my voice. Good job. Dave

Barry - I found your Enigma slide show a coincidence. I'm planning a project to make a show of an old Catholic church in our town that will be torn down to make room for a new church. I find it sad; we seen to have little sense of antiquity in the USA. Anyway, I plan to record it digitally at least. Your show was not only a delight to watch, it also gave me ideas for the project. I like how you capture the little things that may go unnoticed from a cursory glance. Well done. Keep them coming! Dave

A very relaxing trip down the river. The music worked well with the images. I really liked the opening; it showed me how much I have yet to learn. I thought the zooms worked well to create a sense of floating on the river. The speeds of the pans and zooms seemed suitable to the music and scenery. However, I'd liked to have seen fewer animations and also mix up the stills with the animations just a bit more. As Neil said previously, the stills hang a little too long for my taste. Shortening them by 1 or 2 seconds would be perfect. One further comment on the pans and zooms. I have finally learned, and it took awhile, to pan and/or zoom only if it adds information and/or meaning to the scene. The pan and zoom can be used to add a broader context to what you are showing us. If there is nothing additional to see, just keep it as a still. After having said all of this, I'll be scared to death to ever include a pan or zoom in any of my future presentations. :<). I've been presumptious about critiquing your work. All in all, it was enjoyable. I especially appreciate you having the courage, and it takes courage, to share your work with us. I wish more people would share what they are working on. I've not seen a show yet that I didn't learn something from, or enjoy in some fashion. For this I thank you. Dave

Mark - Now it plays full screen for me. Much better! One last thing to fix: the show won't end on its own; I have to hit the escape key to get out. Unless the effect was intentional, here's how to fix it: Project Options Main Show Settings Close Show After Last Slide Best regards, Dave

Mark - If this show is your first post, it certainly is not your first show. You've done a marvelous job here. The pictures were great! I really liked your skills with the low-light shots. You and a camera must be long time friends. I liked the turning page at the beginning and the end, and I normally don't care for any transitions other than fade. The music was moving and powerful, making the show very enjoyable. The only thing I'd like to see different is the view on my computer. The show didn't fill the screen and covered only part of my background. Plus, there was a blue bar on the top of your presentation with the "-" and "X" in the upper right corner. These things are merely technical issues that can easily fixed, I think. All in all though, I was impressed and I'm keeping your show to show my wife. She'll like it too. It's so nice to travel the world with other people's cameras and music. Regards, Dave

Thanks Lin. I wondered how this was done, and now thanks to your tutorial, I now know. You guys are the greatest! Dave

I'm anxious for some information on how to do this also. I hope you get some responses. Dave

Please don't be afraid to offer a critique as I need to learn from you all. Alan Jackson Hello Alan - Welcome to the PTE world. If you are like me, you'll find that it opens a whole new dimension to photography. Regarding your first show, not bad, not bad at all. Here's the good first: great low light shots. You have a good photographer's eye also. I really liked the technique use with the canon overlooking the city. I felt like a pigeon talking flight. The music was nice; it fit well. In general, the area is quite beautiful and you captured it well. Now, the part that I feel needs some work: pans and zooms; they are too aggressive. Slow them down in speed and the amount of movement. The excessive action distracted me from the beauty. I don't know what the solution is to my next suggestion, but I find the switching back and forth from landscape to portrait format distracting. Maybe some of the more experienced members can lend a hand here. Lastly, I think it suffered from the use of too many transition techniques. If it were mine, I'd stick to the fade transition. All in all Alan, you are off to a great start. In my opinion, you have some great pictures of a beautiful place. Present them in a simple, relaxed style. Best of luck and thanks for sharing with us. Dave

I've made some changes to "Images of Kansas" based primarily on what Dan & JudyKay said about the fire. The word "anomalous" used by JudyKay sums up the situation well. I didn't initially catch the mood shift because being from Kansas, the spring prairie burning is a spectacle to behold. However, I used it out of context. I've also made a few other picture changes that I hope stengthens the show. Here's the link: http://www.epetersons.com/slideshows/ It's at the bottom and titled: "Images of Kansas (01)" Have a nice day. Dave

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I learn from all of you, and it's gratifying to know you liked the show. I will be officially retired on 3-1-08, so I plan to spend much more time traveling (on the motorcycle) and taking pictures. Now I will finally have time as an ally and I can continue the search for the "good light". Regards, Dave