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IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

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retroleds

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IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post24 Aug 2006, 03:35

Not complaining, really more concerned...I've sent pictures to Guy at ledwatches.net a few times and they've neither been posted nor have I heard back from him. It's a shame, I have 8-10 pieces besides those that are not shown there or anywhere else from what I can tell. I love going to Guy's site as a point of reference and would like to add to the collective "database" - it seems a lot of us use it. 8)

I think Guy is either a member or a lurker here....maybe someone will pass it on.
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.
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Seer Taak

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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post24 Aug 2006, 19:26

My guess is that Guy has a day job, and other distractions, that keep him away from updating? I also use ledwatches.net as a point of reference, as well as a general drool fest, where I can see watches I wish I hope to have one day. As I think this was one of the original intentions, i'm pretty sure he would be happy to add pics of watches not already there.
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retroleds

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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post25 Aug 2006, 16:15

Maybe I could offer to do some web work for him... he is probably trying to maximize his enjoyment of the summer weather like many folks.
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post30 Aug 2006, 07:43

Hi gang.

Sorry for my "disappearing" act. Yes, life has been busy and overwhelming. Like many, I carry a big workload and my mouth is bigger than my stomach. (Meaning I like to do more things than I really have time for.)

I'm not trying to excuse my inactivity, but besides my job as the sole tech writer at a company (meaning I get all the tech work and video they have), I just finished my 3rd book (on local history), I volunteer as webguy for two historical groups, I'm in charge of a large digital archive project, and I try not to neglect my wonderful wife and 2 young sons. And I sometimes like to sleep, though it would be nice if I could skip that. (And I just realized I sound like I'm offering excuses -- I apologize.)

I have a large backlog of photos to post on the site. All need to be processed - meaning optimized for the web in PhotoShop (or equiv.) and that's one of the issues right now. It's my fault that I ask for these photos from you wonderful people, but then I don't make the time to process and post them.

I will try a bit harder in the next few months - especially now that the boys are back in school and I have a little more free time after they hit the sack. If someone wants to help with the photo processing and is good with a photo program (I can explain stuff in Photoshop), then I'd gladly send you a sample and we see if we can work that out. It's really not tough work, just work.

In the meanwhile, please don't give up on me. The guilt should push me to work harder on updates for the next few months. :-)

Guy
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post30 Aug 2006, 18:56

Guy,

I like I'am sure everyone else uses you wonderful site as the first place to look for LED watch info and its good to know your still alive.

I've got a few watches that?s not currently listed on your site that I'd like to send in, what?s the format and file size for the pictures and I'll size them to save a bit of your valuable time.

Keep up the good work...
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retroleds

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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post01 Sep 2006, 05:26

Guy,
I'm with Klippie...give us the pixel size and quality(compression) you consider prudent and some of us will try to have everything in order for you when sending. Thanks again for your site - a valuable resource.
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post01 Sep 2006, 07:26

Thanks for the offer. That would help a lot.

Usually I like to see horizontal-shaped (wide) pictures at 600 pixels wide, vertical-shaped (tall) photos at 400 pixels. Resolution is about 150 pixels/inch.

Before you size the photos, please crop the photo so there is a little space around the watch. Then when the photo is sized, the best of the photo comes out nice and clear.

The photo should be sharp and in focus. It would be nice if photographed without flash or so you don't get flash glare.

A couple tricks I use include shooting outside in hazy (morning) light or in light shadows. That way the light is bright enough not to use a flash. I also use the high quality mode. For some reason, if I shoot high quality and then "resize" the photo, the picture is very sharp. If I shoot low quality and don't, then the quality is poor. I don't understand it, but that's why I usually prefer higher quality photos sent to me. After I crop and resize, I'm much happier with the quality.

If you do need to shoot indoors with flash, tape a piece of white paper over the flash to cut the output. Also, in order to shoot closeup, most cameras require you to be zoomed OUT, the closeup setting on (usually a flower icon), and move close to the item to photograph it. (Remember though that a close flash might cause trouble with glare.) Some people will make a "sheet box" with a sheet hanging around a PVC plastic "box" frame. You can then shoot outside with this since the sun's light will be diffused by the sheet.

Hope this helps.

And thanks for the offers! Yes, I still will accept other sizes, and hope that I can start posting more. As long as the site is helpful to you chaps, I'd love to keep it going.

Guy
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post01 Sep 2006, 23:46

Guy,

Here's a couple of images cropped and sized within the values you posted, which do you prefer the look of for your site.

1.

Image
(400 high X 420 wide - 72pix res - 68KB file size)

2.

Image
(468high X 600 wide - 72pix res - 100KB file size)

Regarding using a flash, the picture was taken using the flash from about a foot away from the watch I tilted the face slightly so that the flash is not reflecting in the face or the case. A little bit of trial and error reaps a lot of rewards.
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post02 Sep 2006, 00:19

Klippie:
Recheck your settings - that top file comes up as 96 dpi and the dimensions are different(400X381). A 72 dpi file of that size would be about 48k, and only about 24k if reduced to a 60% quality on the jpg compression. The "extra" pixels can't be seen on a monitor; however, the differences in the files would be very evident if printed, as print resolutions are much higher than monitor resolutions.

Bearing in mind that a 17" screen(13" horizontal width) at 1024X768 resolution is only showing 75 pixels per inch...at 800X600 it falls to 59ppi.
Here is the 24k "reduced" version. Virtually imperceptible difference.Image
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post02 Sep 2006, 01:48

Mr.Calc: One other question I had on photos we submit:is it in bad taste to imbed one's name or website in the bottom of the picture, or should we keep the pictures clean and keep the name stuff out of there? Embedding a name "might" discourage some of those "picture borrowers" we find on ebay vs. it just ain't as clean. You're the captain - we await your orders! 8)
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post02 Sep 2006, 06:52

No, please don't add text to the photo - particularly across the image. There have been some images that have copyright ownership along the bottom and that's okay, though not desired (on my part). If people feel more comfortable with a line at the bottom, I can live with that. Same if there is a desire to promote a site -- though I would prefer to include that in the text below the photo.

I've known a couple ebayers to reuse our photos, but they're in the minority and it's a problem that will hash out in the final auction results - if important at all.

I'm more interested in an open site with sharing being the most important feature. Having text across an image implies (to me) that you don't trust the users. I care more about the majority of users and want to keep the site open and honest - and assume 99% of my visitors are that way.

I don't want the few bad apples in the world to change the way we (I, the people who share photos of their watches, and our visitors) collect and share information. I don't mean to be philosophical, but I found that trusting people and being honest with them has been more enjoyable than being "overly careful." I've been used a little at times, but that's minor compared to the great people I've met by being open and sharing. (In my "past life" - prior to LED watches - I was very involved in early pocket calculators. Same type of research and stuff - even co-wrote a book on the topic. I had the same code of conduct and never regreted it.)

Whoops, I'm getting philosophical. And I don't mean any offense - you asked a very simple question with a valid concern based on what some less-than ethical ebayers have done.

Sorry, but it's late, has been a long day, and I'm rambling on.

I'll take a look at the sample photos tomorrow and respond. My first feeling is that they are too "small" and the quality is just a tad lower than I like to see. Not really sure what that means -- I'm not a PhotoShop guru. And I think you hit the specs of what I said. But I need to drop one of the images next to a photo I did and compare.

Thanks again for all your support!
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post02 Sep 2006, 17:36

little1up,

Thats very strange, the Photoshop image size shows this...

Click to enlarge.
Image

And the exif data on windows shows this...

Click to enlarge.
Image

One shows 96dpi and the other 72dpi, they should be the same...???
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retroleds

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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post02 Sep 2006, 18:08

Klippie:
Ah, the mysteries of photosizing and resolution. I suspect imagebucket.com is adjusting them. Your new shots come up as 72dpi, (when saved as a file and brought up again in Photoshop....remember that dwf.nu places it's own constrains on picture size when loading them)
#1 is 977X478
#2 is 845X544

Understand, this isn't a crisizm, just an underscoring of how confusing and f'd up sending and sizing photos can be. If you are using Photoshop 5 or above, I'd suggest the "save for web" function, which is right there under the "File" pull-down menu. "Save for web" maintains 72 dpi(you can't change it), and you can adjust the quality(compression loss) you are willing to accept....and it shows you on-the-fly how it is changing file size.

Wow - this has turned into a full-blown thread. I'm hooking up with Guy and gonna try to push some of this forward.
http://www.retroleds.com - Sales of vintage LED, LCD, analog watches, parts and gadgets - repair tutorials & tips
Nov. 2022 - back in business!! BItter divorce is in home stretch, come grabs some great deals, I had to open the safe . . . damn attorneys. piss.
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post10 Sep 2006, 19:20

Thanks to my buddy little1up's encouragement and help, I'm starting to post more photos on the www.LEDwatches.net site.

Take a look and if there are others that you have that should be posted, send them along. If you had previously sent me some shots, please remind me -- I've got a ton of old emails I'm going through to uncover what I still have left.

If you have new photos, please be sure to send several angles, make sure they're relatively close and in focus. They don't have to be perfect, but they should be identifiable. Also, I no longer want to post "unidentified" watches anymore, so we'll need a brand name - either by box, manual, or label on the watch itself.

Thanks for all your patience & support!

Guy

www.ledwatches.net
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Re: IS LEDWATCHES.NET still accepting photos.

Post11 Sep 2006, 23:14

Hi Guy,

I've sent you some pictures of a Zodiac led on the 10th of August , check your emails again!
The eye of the master,
Does more than bote his hands.

L'oeil du ma?tre
Fait mieux que ses deux mains.

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