div tags, ID and class

Packhorse bridge - Whetstone

Oh what wonderful time I am having mastering the wonderful world of Cascading Style Sheets(CSS).  I have found that I can only take these for a short time and then have to move off and do something else - usually slaughtering opposing armies in Age of Empires.   Anyway I happy to report that I slowly the information is permeating through my befuddled brain and it is starting to make some sort of sense.  Whether this will stick or not is another matter and really must get back into the habit of keeping notes as to what I have done etc.  Oh the fun of web design and coding.

Dreamweaver - The first few lessons

It is like being back at school.   I have decide to work through the Dummies book from start to finish (well almost...I have skipped a few sections that don't reply - for example the chapter on how to create graphics/images for the web by photoshop).   So far so good.  I have  been very disciplined and completed the exercises even if they are very simple and something I would never do.  I am now onto chapter 5 - Cascade Style Sheets (CSS), the heart of modern web design.   The idea is that you separate content, text and images from style, fonts, underlining, alignments etc.  The later is placed in one or many style sheets.  I have some knowledge of style sheets but I want to build on and reinforce this information - hence the process of working through the book.  So far so good and I must say I am finding this really quite rewarding.

One the project front I hope that the staff accept 'Flash Photography' as my subject.  This is something that I have done very little of and this is a real chance to explore what to do and when.   To this end I am including interesting links on this subject in the blog.  This is mainly for my information but should anybody else read this and wish to use them well all the better.

So it begins - the great web page upgrade

I have been talking about this for months but I have finally got around to redeveloping my website.  This will take a while as the first step on the way is learn how to use Dreamweaver.   This may come as a shock as the current website was developed in Dreamweaver.   However, this was by more luck than judgement and I feel there are still many things I want to improve on.

The basic design inspiration is that of a blank gallery wall.   My intention is to keep the look as clean and simple as possible but at the same time improve the experience of the user.   I have no idea how long this will take but it is something I intend to get right.

The first step I am taking is to go back to basics.  I have started to read Dreamweaver CS4 for Dummies.   I have always found the dummies series a great place to start when learning about new software, programs etc - this is no different.  So the journey begins.

Digital workflow

Having spent the weekend thinking about the forthcoming upgrade of my PC I have come to some conclusions about my digital work flow.    The first is that this is an opportunity to refine the process so that it is as efficient as possible.   The second, and this is a linked to the first, is that I will build the work flow around commercially available software rather than using software that I have written for myself.

The nuts and bolts of the work flow will be built on two file formats.   DNG and TIFF.   The reason for this is because these are open formats and so should be immune to the vagaries of changes within digital file format.  They also represent the highest quality files for saving data.   Of course I will use small JPG files when publishing to the net or when required but the main file formats I will use are DNG and TIFF.

As for the software I will build the work flow around Adobe products.   The reason for this is simple - they are the industrial standard for photography and so should provide a stable platform upon which to build any work flow.    The only exception to this will be the use of Photomatix for generating HDR images.

Thinking about setting up the new computer

National Gallery - London

Having to undertake some interesting think about how to set up the new computer.   This wasn't too much of a problem in the past as I hadn't developed a significant digital work flow.   This time it is different and it is causing my brain to hurt.   It revolves around three applications: Adobe's Photoshop, Lightroom and Dreamweaver.   How do I set up these packages up on the new machine?   Equally, do I spend a some cash and buy CS4 - after all I am a full time student and so could get the web premium package for a significant discount.   This is probably the best way forward in the long term but just at the moment it may cause complications when I have an essay to finish.  Problems problems problems.   I suspect I will have to bite the bullet and set things from new and take it from there.   Should be an interesting few weeks.