New B&W Magazine?

[vickersdc]

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So, the dates have been set - the first article will appear on the 15th January and the website will go live a couple of days before, on the 13th.

 

Before that however, it might be a good idea to get a couple of people to test the site. Would any of you be interested? This testing won't need to be done until around the end of the first week in January, and it'd be useful to check the site out, make sure various links work and that the layout works with your internet browser.

 

I'm thinking that if we can get 4-5 people running PC's, Mac's with assorted browsers then it'll give me some chance of ironing out any problems before the 13th.

 

Hope you help - either send me a PM via this site, or email me at creativeimagemaker at yahoo.co.uk

 

Cheers,

David.

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[vickersdc]

Just thought you might be interested in a new competition that will start when the website goes live on January 13th 2008.

 

It's been inspired by a comment made by a contributor (Christopher Walrath) who has written a couple of articles for the magazine, and it's one of those articles that brought about the idea for a competition.

 

You'll have to wait until the new website hits the 'net for more details, but although there's no actual prize (other than the self satisfaction of being pronounced the winner - you will have your winning entry included in the paper version of the magazine in April)!

 

So, for more details look to http://www.creativeimagemaker.co.uk on the 13th January.

 

Cheers,

David Vickers.

[vickersdc]

To go along with the new website, there's a new email address (which is active now) if you would like to contact this project. The email address info@creativeimagemaker.co.uk can be used to submit comments, ideas, thoughts, articles and images.

 

Speaking of images, the first Feature Image has been selected for the website and there's a photo gallery that will need some more images in it too. I'll be looking through the Flickr 'Creative Image Maker' group at Flickr: Creative Image Maker to select some for the website. Take a look at the group pool of photos if you get a chance - there's some great images.

 

The first article has also been chosen, but I'm not giving away any more as there needs to be something of a surprise for when it all goes live on the 13th Jan.

 

Thanks,

David.

[vickersdc]

It's just a couple of days until we go live and I can't wait! There's been a couple of set-backs, but we'll deal with those in a moment.

 

The site is just about ready - a couple of finishing touches which I'll do Sunday morning, before publishing the site. I'm looking forward to getting it live, as I'd like to spend some time with my wife and daughter!

 

Now, about those setbacks. One contributor, John Cowie, was going to write an article but is due in hospital thanks to a bad leg. I'm sure you'll wish John a speedy recovery - then he can use that rest and recuperation time to write that article ;-)

 

The article that I was hoping to lead with has had to be put back one week to give out writer a chance to complete it! I can't wait for this one, and he was always up against it to produce the article against a pretty tight deadline. Not too worry, as it just so happens that I've a couple of spare articles knocking around that have been sent in!

 

I'd just like to say a huge "Thank You!" to those who have sent in their writings and images, as well as to those who have pledged articles.

 

Now for the one big setback...

 

Despite that fact that we haven't actually gone live yet, I'm busy writing a new website. It turns out that the web hosting package that I purchased (that clearly advertised an 'unlimited' number of pages) only had a very limited number of pages - 66 maximum. Whilst that might sound like a lot - it was arranged as 6 top level pages, each with 10 sub-level pages. That's it - no sub-sub-level pages, and no more than 10 pages per top level page.

 

Considering the number of articles that I'm hoping we can produce throughout the year, we're not going to get too far with that restriction.

 

So, I've had to start back from scratch, loading up an web-server and Perl language scripts on my laptop. I've had to dust off a few brain-cells from my days as a Systems Administrator working on UNIX systems to create the new site!

 

So, don't get too comfy with the version 1.0 of the Creative Image Maker site! I reckon we'll be renting that space for about a month whilst I write version 2.0, then we'll switch over.

 

Anyway, until then, enjoy Creative Image Maker when it goes live on the 13th January (when we'll also launch the competition). The first article will be on the 15th.

 

Thanks to all those who have helped with advice, work, comments, pictures and to all those who have joined the Creative Image Maker group on Flickr ( Flickr: Creative Image Maker ).

 

David Vickers.

[vickersdc]

I've just pressed the 'Publish Site' button, so I guess that means we're now live at Creative Image Maker.

 

You might find that there's a slight delay before you actually see the site - don't worry; because of the way the internet works, the changes need to be propagated throughout the web (for those in the know, the Domain Name Servers need to be updated and could take up to 24 hours).

 

Cheers,

David.

[rob_x2004]

Guess I have to wait the 24hrs. Will check back.

[vickersdc]

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Of all the days to make a mistake!...

 

The site is now up and running at Creative Image Maker - Home - the link in my previous post had the 'www' bit in the address, which is NOT needed.

 

Apologies,

David.

[fotohuis]

Creative Image Maker - Home

 

indeed, even WITH the www it isn't working.

 

Whatever, great site:

 

Additional info for Mark's Antony coffee developer article:

 

Because this is a low contrast developer the stuff is also suitable for developing the Technical Pan ATP-V1.1 film from Rollei.

 

But just for fun. Best overall results you will have with the R.L.C. or the Moersch (UGI) or SPUR Technospeed developer (on higher iso rates).

A third alternative is the high dilution Rodinal trick

 

To support your new analog virtual magazine our Fotohuis will send a small price to the winner of the photo competition.

 

End date 30 March 2008.

 

Best regards and succes with your new magazine!

 

Robert

[vickersdc]

Well, we are now one week old and what a success it's been! Thank you all for your support and coming to visit the site at Creative Image Maker - Home.

 

There's been a marvellous response and it's been great receiving your mails, with the vast majority seeming to like the new site.

 

So, how well have we done? Well, in the first seven days there's been just over 750 visits and an amazing 3,615 page views (now, that can't have all been down to my wife). Actually, my wife has still to visit the site so she's still a little perplexed about what it is that takes up my spare time!

 

There's a new article going up tomorrow (Tuesday 22nd January) which I think you'll find really interesting.

 

The build of version 2.0 of the site continues apace and I had a bit of a breakthrough over the weekend with how articles will be displayed - nothing fancy, I just wanted a particular look and neat coding! So far, the article archive has been sorted out, as has the competition page, the gallery and featured images - I reckon another couple of weeks should see the new, new site completed and ready for switchover.

 

Again, thank you for the support you have shown - keep popping by to check out the latest articles and images.

 

Cheers,

David Vickers.

[vickersdc]

There are quite a few things to update you all on...

 

1. The switch to version 2.0 of the website.

2. Paper-based magazine.

3. Up-coming feature images and articles.

4. Other news.

 

*** Version 2.0 ***

The bulk of the new website is ready, but it's always a bit of a catch-up as each week passes by as I have to upload new items to the current site and then convert them for the version 2.0 site. The quicker we can get the switchover done, the better!

 

The change to the new site will mean that it will be unavailable for 24-48 hours whilst the changes percolate through the internet. That switchover may well be happening this week once I'm happy that it is sorted with the hosting provider (there are currently 'issues' around finances for this - i.e. I want a refund!).

 

*** The Paper Magazine ***

It would appear that the idea for a print-on-demand magazine will not be happening. I received the samples from Lightning Source (whom, I must add, were extremely helpful), but the quality of image reproduction just wasn't what I had hoped for.

 

This is a bit of a blow in the whole plan, but undeterred I have found a good ol' traditional printer who could well save the day! It's likely that there will not be a magazine in April as I had originally hoped, but with luck June may be more realistic - and here is where you can help me... I will need to have a rough idea of how many people are interested in a proper, quality magazine so that I can obtain pricing. You can email me at info@creativeimagemaker.co.uk (subject line "Paper mag") and let me know. It'll give me an idea of whether I'm looking at printing 500 copies, or 5.

 

*** Future Features ***

There are so many articles in the pipeline that I want to put them all up on the site now! It's becoming hard to choose what should go up and when! This is fabulous and I'd like to thank those that have already been published and all those waiting in the wings for their work to be published. Over the next couple of months we've got...

 

- An article by Dorothy Kloss about building a darkroom;

- Several article by Christopher Walrath covering a range of subjects (Chris was one of the first people to contribute and he's still waiting to see his work in the magazine - sorry Chris, it's coming, honest!);

- Stan L-B writes about why light matters;

- Jason Brunner, whom some of you may recognise from the APUG forum, has written a piece about the Fotoman 6x17 camera;

- Jim Read tells us about creating cyanotypes;

- Tom Overton provides follow-on information about the use of coffee as a developer;

- Do you buy equipment from eBay? I know I do, and John Sawula has written an article about it;

- Even I am getting in on the act! I've written articles on the Nikon EM camera (a much under-rated camera), and I'll be kicking off the beginners series with a look at the equipment one needs to create your own images...

- ...and I've also got a Polaroid special planned as well (in spite of recent announcements about Polaroid!).

 

Feature images are going from strength to strength as well - today (10th Feb) will see not one, but two feature images! Thanks to Dennis Cordell and Alan Huntley for their kind permission to use their photographs.

 

*** Other News ***

As I'm sure you are all aware by now it's been an interesting time in the world of photography. Fuji unveiled their prototype medium format rangefinder - a 6x7 folding camera and we await to see if it actually makes it in to production in the future. Polaroid, on the other hand, have announced the closure of two factories with the loss of several jobs. This is a great shame to those of us who use Polaroid films - especially for image transfers and emulsion lifts as the Fuji film just doesn't work the same way. It's interesting to note that Polaroid is ready to licence the technology and I wonder who will take over the production of Polaroid films - let's hope someone does!

 

With that, I'll end there. Please stop by the magazine site over the week to see all the new features. It's at... Creative Image Maker - Home

 

Thanks,

David.

[vickersdc]

The current Creative Image Maker website will be updated early next week (week commencing 18th Feb) and this will mean a loss of service for a few days.

 

The current site does not allow us enough room for expansion as there is a limit on the number of pages allowed and it also has a fixed hierarchy of those pages. We are already near the limits on the articles section and so this update is needed. The new site provides us with much more freedom and I'm looking forward to getting it uploaded.

 

The new site has a familiar feel to it, although there are some minor differences - particularly in the way that articles will be displayed; with the new site, articles will appear in a new window. Navigation remains broadly similar as do the section titles.

 

The current site will have to be pulled first, before the new site can be uploaded; following that the domain name servers (that allow your computer to go to the site) will need to be updated and that can take 24-48 hours. I'm looking to start this on Monday, with a view to normal service resuming on Wednesday.

 

As an additional thing, I'm wondering whether it's worth re-instating the Gallery? I definitely want to keep the Feature Images as that seems to be a real hit, but I'm not so sure about the Gallery - especially when there's Flickr, APUG, et al. What do you think?

 

Also, I haven't been pushing the events / exhibitions / camera club sections as I've been concentrating on getting articles and images - do you feel that this section is worth building up (I'm happy to do it, if you think it's worth it)?

 

That's all. Remember that it is a magazine for you and I do value your input, we wouldn't be here without it after all!

 

Cheers,

David.

[vickersdc]

Finally the site is going through the update process, having been taken down by the service provider.

 

This was the first step in the process - the original site had to be removed to allow me to get a better web hosting agreement. The new site can then be uploaded and the domain pointed at the new server.

 

I'm currently waiting for some information about the new server before I can upload the version 2 site. It's slow going this update, but at least we have made some progress!

 

I'll keep you posted.

 

David.