Hartman Creative Arts

I’ve been experimenting with soft focus recently, and this evening I started browsing around for a soft focus filter to add to my kit. Actually, I’m probably going to make my own to fit my Cokin filter holder, but browsing the web is usually a first step for most of my DIY projects.

During my surf, I found a page that featured an action set for Photoshop that included a few example photos of the actions in… er… action. See the page here. I’ve installed the actions and they work well enough… mostly relying on the blurred overlay technique with a few twists for added dimension.

As I continued to surf, I checked ebay for actual filters, figuring that a cheap filter my be a good start to see how this is done in the real world. So, I was a little surprised to see this auction using some very familiar example images to show the results of the real-world filter. (I’m featuring a screen shot since once the auction is over any link to will be dead soon after).

Um… can we all say “busted”?

The seller is an outfit called Citiwide-Online. I don’t doubt that their filter provides the desired effect, but I wouldn’t expect the example images to be true to the final in-camera result.

Prior to the last month or so, I’d only been in a Richmond Camera store once. At the very beginning of my camera addiction, I drove out to the Cary Street location and looked for a camera bag and was sorely disappointed by the selection and the help. That was years ago at this point… probably six if I remember correctly.

Then about five or six weeks ago, someone on the Richmond Photography Meetup Mailing list recommended Richmond Camera’s professional photo lab service. To be clear here, RC does processing for anyone and everyone, but if you make like a pro or serious artist, you can sign up for their professional program. So I did, thinking that I’d like to start getting more prints made and possibly begin selling some stuff. Part of the signup process is to send them some shots for test prints, so I did. Which led to my first trip back to a Richmond Camera brick & mortar store since 2003.

In the last few weeks I’ve been in one of their stores three times, and every time I’ve been pleased with the service. Today, for instance, I called the Patterson Avenue store to see if they had a particular monopod in stock. The guy checked, and said they didn’t, but I went over there anyway to check the rest of their selection. Sure enough they DID have it. The guy who took the call was really apologetic, and I assured him it was no big deal. The price was decent… about 10% more than if I’d bought it from somewhere like B&H online, but when you add in shipping and wait time, it would have been a wash. Plus, I have the gear right now. So “win” all around.

The other two visits in the last few weeks were to pick up my test prints (which were superb, by the way), and to grab a new camera bag (along with a few other accessories). Each of the most recent three visits was to a different location (they have six in the greater Richmond area) and every time I was greeted warmly and offered as much help as I needed or wanted from the staff.

As for the camera bag… as much as I like the theory of my old Velocity bag, the one I have just isn’t suited for the sort of gear I carry. The newer versions seem better designed, but I wanted a traditional shoulder bag this time around. I ended up with a decent no-name model at RC for about $80 that I have hardly any complaints about. I keep meaning to write a review of it and probably will shortly.

The point of this post really is to give kudos to Richmond Camera and to remind you to visit your local camera stores. I’m as guilty as the next of just ordering things online. You might be surprised what’s available in your own back yard (or at your local retailer’s newly released website).