How to view EXIF data?

[fWord]

wah, simple question turn into this sort of heated discussion.

for what it's worth, i understand what you're saying. the main point is not really whether ppl should post exif, or how useful exif is, and you've never actually said that anyone who doesn't post exif is selfish. you're just wondering why some ppl only respond to praise, but don't seem interested in explaining how they got their shot.

actually that's OT from the original question already, but it's interesting to see all the perspectives that have come out. i had fun reading everyone's opinions

Yes...certainly it's gone a little out of hand. However it's good to see that we might be getting back to discussing the actual point, the reason why something about this matter was posted in the first place.

 

[fWord]

Aren't you exaggerating a bit here? While some discussions (e.g. this one) go a bit off-topic, I think overall there's a lot of educational articles/opinions on this forum. I wouldn't tie it to whether people include Exif information or not. There must be more to sharing/discussing/forging friendships than Exif.

Maybe one could consider an article series that shows photos along with explanations how they were made (e.g. in the "general, reviews & tech talk" forum). It probably just takes someone to express interest in it. I recently wrote a short article after being asked for something by PM; without that mail I wouldn't have expected anyone to be seriously interested in that topic.

Heheh...if it was exaggerating, I apologise for that, though I think it's statements like this which will take the discussion back down to earth and back on track. There is a lot of truth in it. We're here to share and discuss, and yet I've observed the opposite of that...just plain silence when questions are fielded to the photographer.

The forging of friendships happens here as well...lots of it. Of course, I'm sure we've all seen uglier sides, endless bickering and being pedantic over smaller issues when we should be united in hobby for a greater cause and benefit to others in the same field of interest.

For the record, and to everyone here: There has been some misunderstanding here. For whatever reason, I wasn't clear, English wasn't good enough, people took it the wrong way...etc.

However, the main question is, and has always been: why do people choose to be silent when asked about technique, method of execution and equipment? When these are asked as a whole, certainly the poster is more educated than some of those who ask, "Wow, nice photo, you must have a good camera?!"

Creating a sticky with hints and tips to do many kinds of photos would be a great idea, and should be useful to most photographers, especially if they're new to a particular segment of photography (eg. street, fireworks, wildlife). It's only the format I'd be worried about...every once in a while all the information in the thread will need to be summarized and rewritten in an organized fashion. Should we start it? :think:

I wouldn't have much to contribute though...just too new at this stage.

 

[zaxh81]

Okay, please don't go back there. It seems to be a general impression here that I made a specific mention that it was selfish not to provide EXIF information, which I'm sure hasn't been done. There must be some misunderstanding here because of unclear phrasing and English. But damn, if I had to think this hard for every reply I made, then it's probably not even fruitful for me to be on a forum...might as well go out and find it out myself.

Quoted from post #7

Sometimes I wonder if people do that to hide their technique, and that's pretty darn selfish. Don't know about others here, but I've observed some people refuse to state EXIF data or equipment when asked. Of course, the photographer has the right to keep this away, but I often wonder why there's such a big need to harbour such secrets.

What unclear phrasing and english?You definitely labels people who don't provide EXIF as darn selfish.

 

[LittleWolf]

Quoted from post #7


What unclear phrasing and english?You definitely labels people who don't provide EXIF as darn selfish.

I feel bad about perpetuating this sideline of the thread, as it has nothing to do with the original question. Still, I'd like to suggest to engage in a constructive dialogue about the matter at hand instead of keeping on fighting over words that have been written many posts ago. There have been so many interesting points in this discussion that it would be a shame to let it degrade into a flamewar.

I know I'm guilty of this at times, too ... but I'm trying to better myself.

 

[LittleWolf]

anybody? :dunno:

Just to contribute something on-topic...

I can't really help with the Mac (I left the platform several years ago). But as MacOS X has some BSD underpinnings, you might find suitable utilities in the Unix camp.

 

[zaxh81]

I feel bad about perpetuating this sideline of the thread, as it has nothing to do with the original question. Still, I'd like to suggest to engage in a constructive dialogue about the matter at hand instead of keeping on fighting over words that have been written many posts ago. There have been so many interesting points in this discussion that it would be a shame to let it degrade into a flamewar.

I know I'm guilty of this at times, too ... but I'm trying to better myself.

I will not post regarding that statment anymore.
Just hate it when people are demanding when they don't get what they want.

 

[fWord]

Quoted from post #7


What unclear phrasing and english?You definitely labels people who don't provide EXIF as darn selfish.

Well, if you are inclined to feel this way and don't even want to read the discussion and clarification that ensued after Post #7, then there is nothing I can do.

Certainly, whatever I wrote in that post isn't flawlessly phrased, so some misunderstanding has arisen. And even so, I held onto it and decided to go through this inhererently lengthy discussion to clarify it, rather than just edit the post, tell everyone it's been changed, and let it be.

Again, I don't want to step on people's toes, but if you don't want to hear me out, then this case has closed on a bitter note. Sorry it had to go this way.

 

[fWord]

I feel bad about perpetuating this sideline of the thread, as it has nothing to do with the original question. Still, I'd like to suggest to engage in a constructive dialogue about the matter at hand instead of keeping on fighting over words that have been written many posts ago. There have been so many interesting points in this discussion that it would be a shame to let it degrade into a flamewar.

I know I'm guilty of this at times, too ... but I'm trying to better myself.

And I offer you my apologies for any misunderstanding caused. From now on, I'll be extra careful with my posts. This thread has taught me that there's many lines that can be read between each sentence...things do get taken the wrong way at times, especially online.

 

[wiz23]

sorry to ride on this thread.

but does anyone have the Mac version to view Exif on browsers for Mac like Safari, Firefox (Mac version).

thanks

I can't find any exif viewer plug-ins for Mac browsers, but there is an EXIF Viewer for Mac available for offline viewing. I'm not sure whether u are using that?

 

[Deadpoet]

And I offer you my apologies for any misunderstanding caused. From now on, I'll be extra careful with my posts. This thread has taught me that there's many lines that can be read between each sentence...things do get taken the wrong way at times, especially online.

fward, why do you have to apologise? You stated what you believe, and others stated what they believe. I thought the tread was very interesting.

Every statements made, we can read between the lines, meaning can be twisted, conclusions drawn, neither sides backing off ...

So, all in all, eventhough I disagree with you, I am glad you started the thread and defended your position.

 

[Deadpoet]

.... I was only hoping that the photographer would be more willing to share information about technique and equipment used. But there were no answers to such questions.
.......
To bring this back to the very beginning, before it got this messy, the real question is not about how useful EXIF is, but why people don't want to share a technique or information (EXIF, or equipment etc) with others who are keen to learn.

Unless a photographer is trying to keep secrets on technique to get as little competition as possible in his/ her area of interest...this is my speculation. Would THIS be deemed as selfish?
.......

The photographer has full control of the photograph and all the technical and artistic details that go with it, and whether to divulge the information or not, is the photographer's call. If the photographer is not willing to divulge the information, for whatever reason, so be it. We, the audience, hae abswolute no right to demand the release of such information, for any reason, even if the audience wants to learn. This has nothing to do with selfish.

A mataphor, you have more than I have, I want some of yours, and you wont give it to me, is that selfish? You will ask what "more" is. But does it matter?

Be glad that the photographer posted the picture for our enjoyment in the first place.

According to idor, I am probably the most selfish of them all lah.

 

[markccm]

I can't find any exif viewer plug-ins for Mac browsers, but there is an EXIF Viewer for Mac available for offline viewing. I'm not sure whether u are using that?

have tried those, but prefer one that is like Opanda (Win version).
right click & can view immediately.

 

[igpenguin]

have tried those, but prefer one that is like Opanda (Win version).
right click & can view immediately.

Try Fxif
http://ted.mielczarek.org/code/mozilla/fxif/


Works on Firefox only I think. good enough for my PC and ibook

 

[markccm]

Try Fxif
http://ted.mielczarek.org/code/mozilla/fxif/


Works on Firefox only I think. good enough for my PC and ibook

thanks

will give it a try

 

[metallilan]

one more thing about the exif data, something i learnt pretty recently.

if you wish to photoshop and add borders to the image, without losing the exif data, simply save as, instead of save for web.

 

[fWord]

The photographer has full control of the photograph and all the technical and artistic details that go with it, and whether to divulge the information or not, is the photographer's call. If the photographer is not willing to divulge the information, for whatever reason, so be it. We, the audience, hae abswolute no right to demand the release of such information, for any reason, even if the audience wants to learn. This has nothing to do with selfish.

A mataphor, you have more than I have, I want some of yours, and you wont give it to me, is that selfish? You will ask what "more" is. But does it matter?

Be glad that the photographer posted the picture for our enjoyment in the first place.

According to idor, I am probably the most selfish of them all lah.

Well, if a photographer does decide to keep his techniques a secret from others, then there's really nothing we can do. I agreed that it is their right to withold any information they want.

But as a person who is new to photography, it's great to be able to learn more. I'm only disappointed that on the occasions when I see people asking about technique and it appears that they go unheard...how will these newbies learn more about the art if an expert will not educate them further?

BTW, who's Idor? :think:

 

[fWord]

one more thing about the exif data, something i learnt pretty recently.

if you wish to photoshop and add borders to the image, without losing the exif data, simply save as, instead of save for web.

Good point. And though I cannot remember exactly where it is in Photoshop, there's an option that allows you to check it to state that a picture be saved with EXIF data. Currently, I am typing from an old computer with a 3GB harddisk, so it has no photoshop on it.

The laptop which I spent a significant amount of savings on just died before CNY and it has now become a very expensive doorstop. It's strange...the hard disk failed before. I had it replaced for free under warranty just over 1 and a half years ago. And now it's dead again. I just don't get it.

However, I don't want to spend a whole heap buying a new computer again. I'd rather pour it into getting any other photographic equipment which I think I might need.

 

[longkangman]

For mac OSX I use simple tool like Jhead to modify/delete/add or the exif view
http://homepage.mac.com/aozer/EV/

Cheers.

 

[LittleWolf]

I'm only disappointed that on the occasions when I see people asking about technique and it appears that they go unheard...how will these newbies learn more about the art if an expert will not educate them further?

I've seen people asking and getting answers on numerous occasions. Maybe I have just better luck.

I've also seen questions that went unanswered - frequently when someone was obviously not willing to read the manual, but asking someone to spend his/her time to explain everything in detail. This is the spoonfeeding mentality that one of the previous posters referred to. The implication that someone else should spend time and effort to do what is below one's own dignity can come across as rude if not insulting. This may not apply in the cases that you're referring to, but it does happen a lot.

I also think it's not unreasonable to expect a minimum of basic knowledge. There's so much educational material out there in the form of books, magazines, web pages, etc. To give an analogy, a discussion forum on literature is probably not the right place to ask about how to learn to read and write. After seeing questions like "what is aperture?" for the hundredth time, the patience of people who could answer that question might wear a bit thin. Not replying might be the more gracious alternative to giving an honest reply...

I realize the above could come across as a bit elitist, but people have to remember that everyone here is volunteering his/her time and there are no paid instructors that have to put up with the more frustrating aspects of the teaching profession.

BTW, who's Idor? :think:

A nice clubsnapper who lives in Kampong Houston, I think .

 

[fWord]

I've seen people asking and getting answers on numerous occasions. Maybe I have just better luck.

I've also seen questions that went unanswered - frequently when someone was obviously not willing to read the manual, but asking someone to spend his/her time to explain everything in detail. This is the spoonfeeding mentality that one of the previous posters referred to. The implication that someone else should spend time and effort to do what is below one's own dignity can come across as rude if not insulting. This may not apply in the cases that you're referring to, but it does happen a lot.

I also think it's not unreasonable to expect a minimum of basic knowledge. There's so much educational material out there in the form of books, magazines, web pages, etc. To give an analogy, a discussion forum on literature is probably not the right place to ask about how to learn to read and write. After seeing questions like "what is aperture?" for the hundredth time, the patience of people who could answer that question might wear a bit thin. Not replying might be the more gracious alternative to giving an honest reply...

I realize the above could come across as a bit elitist, but people have to remember that everyone here is volunteering his/her time and there are no paid instructors that have to put up with the more frustrating aspects of the teaching profession.



A nice clubsnapper who lives in Kampong Houston, I think .

When it comes to information that might reasonably be expected from a photographer, even a basic one, you definitely have a point. Indeed I've seen such cases as well, and no answer is indeed better than a nasty one. Some do bother to reply, but they come up with shoddy, insulting responses. Still, there's a few that actually put in lots of time to explain some things clearly. But in time to come, as you say, maybe even their patience drops off.

However, if it involves a more advanced skill, then I hope a photographer will be willing to explain it, especially since I witnessed several people asking about the technique, and not just a single (possibly ignorant) one.

Ah yes...Idor. Pardon my ignorance. Too many people have been involved in this and too much blood and sweat has been spilled.