Digital Photography Part 2

The topics discussed are listed here (pdf). We also covered the close relationship between a Digital Camera and the Human Eye. The TV series called “The Brain with Dr. David Eagleman”  on BBC 4, all of showings are on iPlayer and it’s a great watch. In one of the programs it dealt with what the eye sees and what the brain sees.

Security Issues

Passwords

These could usually be stronger and certainly not ‘password’. For general advice on setting passwords see here.

To check your password, go to System preferences > Security and Privacy then Click padlock to make any changes.  Click the General tab first:

Digital Photography Part 1

Dave reminded us of many of the principles of photography including:

The pinhole camera, how the lens works, exposing film and positive and negative images.  Colour, and how it is broken down.

Cameras from the original Brownie type through to the Single Lens Reflex, SLR and how they work.  Advantages and disadvantages. Apertures and light levels.

Topics discussed at the October Meeting

We had quite a wide ranging discussion on Mac topics this time.  Here’s a summary:

Turn off or Sleep?

Do you turn your Mac laptop off, or just close the lid when not in use and does it have any effect on battery life?  Well, the jury is still out – some did and some didn’t.  Here’s what can be found online:

Display a laptop screen on a monitor or TV

If you have a Mac laptop you may sometimes wish for more desktop space – especially if you open more than one app at once or work with large spreadsheets.  Although the Mac has impressive ways of switching apps (e.g. press F3, or spread three fingers on the trackpad), it can be very advantageous to look at pages on a larger scale. 

Know your Ports

Check the computer ports ( usually sockets that connect various devices ) on your Mac and find out what you can and cannot connect. Also, find out more about the most effective devices to use.

Mac “Ransomware” and how to remove it

You’re browsing the web, when you click a link. Maybe you accidentally clicked an advert, maybe you were trying to find a free film or music. Whatever you did, you somehow ended up with a scary image on screen.

iPhoto and Photo on the Mac

The Photo app has replaced iPhoto and comes as standard with the Yosemite OS Version 10.10.X operating system and can also be installed on top over earlier OS versions like Mavericks 10.9.X. If you have a lot of photos it seems to be much faster than iPhoto and much effort has been put into the organisation of photos.

Safari – Web browsing and cookies

When using Safari, have you ever wished that you could stop tracking from certain websites, or reached your limit of free browsing on others?  Cookies store data on your web browsing – you can remove them 

U3A Mac Group Changes

Jenny, who has led the Mac Group since its inception, will not be continuing because of other commitments and has handed over to Rod and Dave. We thank Jenny for all the work she has put in to make the group friendly, informal and so helpful to a diverse range of Mac users.

The use of iPhoto and its successor program Photo has came in for some critical comment – this clearly needs revisiting.