George Schaub

Every month in Shutterbug we publish photographs from readers based on an assignment
published in a previous month's issue. We get hundreds of photographs
from readers all around the world and unfortunately we are limited to publishing
just a small fraction of the work we receive. We've had topics including
"Black and White in Color", "Silhouettes" and "Historical
Reenactments." Our purpose in creating this section in the magazine is
to create a visual forum for readers and to challenge them to fulfill assignments.
It's always a delight to open the packages we receive. I know the thrill
I got when my fist photo was published, and my hope is that the same excitement
is shared by those whose images we select to publish each month.

...

For those who thought that we here at Shutterbug were inalterably attached to our Macs, the chance to work with a PC, albeit a very fast and upper-price range one at that, was something we did not want to pass up, if only to dispel our own notions about crossing the OS Rubicon. The new HP EliteBook 8540w we worked with came with 8GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, more connection slots than we ever could wish for, a Blu-ray reader/writer, a download card slot for SD memory cards (with adapters available for CF, etc.), microphone, image out slots to a projector, HDMI, and more. As configured the unit runs close to $3100, although we’ve seen lesser-priced units of the same model with more modest attributes. This is close to what you’d pay for a MacBook Pro similarly configured, albeit minus Blu-ray and various slots but plus a larger screen. But our aim was not to put it head to head against the latest MacBook Pro, but to check it out on its own merits. That said, in terms of size and weight it is similar to the 15” Mac in many respects (the HP being 9.9x14.7x1.3” and weighing in at 6.5 lbs with a 15.6” display) so there’s no plus and minus in portability here.

When I first reviewed an HP 7960 printer about two years back (www.shutterbug.net/test_reports/1203sb_hp/index.html) I was very impressed with the neutral black and white images it delivered. I had become increasingly frustrated with the color shifts in black and white with pigment inks, and have...