How I know Ann's a photographer.

Ann’s finally getting around to realizing that she is, in fact retired.  She still acts like she should be keeping busy doing stuff all the time instead of doing “fun” things (as “fun” as can be while pretty much locked up at home), but I think she’s finally easing up a bit (don’t let her know I told you).  Well, this week we started chatting about a gripe we both have about Capture One, the photo developing software we use, and she decided to try and figure out a solution to our problem.  In the process I was reminded that Ann is indeed a photographer.

I’ve mentioned that I (make that we) occasionally photograph in a square format (see my rant a few posts back about why Fuji doesn’t add 4:5, 5:7 or 3:4 into the mix of the formats the X series camera can shoot. . . Fuji, are you even listening?).  The problem is, unlike my Panasonic point and shoot, when the images I’ve taken in the square format setting on the camera do not come in as a square, they come in as 2:3.  Sometimes I immediately know to check whether it was made as a square, but not always.

Well, Ann started working on figuring out a solution (of course after contacting Capture One to say, “Hey, they can do it in Lightroom, why not CO?  Want to put it on your feature request list?).  She found someone who posited a solution he uses for his GFX camera (which allows for not only square, but 4:5, 5:7 and 2:3 in addition to the native 3:4 . . . Fuji, you listening yet?), so Ann decided to try it.

Now, let me give you a bit of background.  I’d been having some issues with my point-and-shoot (yeah, right after deciding it’s an excellent camera).  We eventually tried wiping it and Ann updated the software for me while I was working.  Well, to test the camera (it was scrolling through menu items, to include when I was previewing images, in a non-stop fashion), I pushed back my desk seat and whirled around a couple of times in my chair pressing the shutter 5, maybe 6 times just to record some images on the card.  Face it, I was testing to see if the camera worked, not making fine art.  Fortunately the upgrade worked!  I’ve since deleted those images, never downloading them into Capture One.

So when Ann decided she wanted to test out this guy’s approach for importing square images into Capture One, this is the photograph Ann took for that test.

Now, I’m not saying that someone who spins around in his chair to make test images isn’t a photographer.  But I will absolutely say that anyone who makes the above image as a “test” image for playing around with importing images into Capture One is!  Despite Ann’s assertions to the contrary.  

And no, the importing technique really didn’t work . . . .