Re: powerpoint lectures

**B* M* <b*@prodigy.net>**

Today I went to a digital presentation on garden photography by Rob Cardillo. His colors were intense and beautiful and the images were large enough files to look great on a big screen. He only had a sketchy few words on several of the frames -- these were for keeping the audience on track with the themes he discussed. Each frame was a single picture. With humor and thoughtful ideas he kept a large, diverse audience (the annual Chanticleer lecture at the local library here in Wayne) completely entranced. I would have enjoyed the presentation whether he had used slides, an overhead projector, or a computer -- it was the content and style that made it so good. Rob was patient about the one complaint, something beyond his control. The library kept the lights on during the whole event! Perhaps their lawyer made them do it. Someone turned the lights off (yay!), then a man in the audience got up and spoke to the librarian. Next thing you know the lights were back on. Rob's well
 handled photos still looked good. I don't think a slide projector would have been as bright under the circumstances.

Like Rich Pomerantz, I have a digital projector that I bought when my old slide projector started going bad. Mine is a midpriced Dell with 2300 ansi lumens, far brighter than many of the more expensive models.

Two years ago I listened to Rich's advice on this list and bought the ProShow Gold program from Photodex. It adds action to the onscreen possibilities. You can get the "Ken Burns" effect by taking a still image and zooming in or out or panning across it. This really keeps the audience awake, but don't overdo it with the wipes and fades or everyone will be dizzy. Captioning, music, and voice overs are possible with these self-executing shows. I sell two how-to CD's made with the same program, and for my own use I've made several shows with family photos.

I have given slide shows, digital shows, and talks with props and they all have their great moments. I've never done a talk without some kind of visuals or props.

 I had one disaster this year -- I agreed to do two live demonstrations of making garden troughs on the same day at the Philadelphia Flower Show, the first in a big demo auditorium and the second on a small stage on the busy show floor. I had a bad cold but "the show must go on." With coughdrops I made it through the first talk, but by the time of the second one my voice was gone, gack cough, certainly not helped by inhaling some cement dust, and I wished I could just disappear. Where was "power point" when I needed it!!

For anyone doing digital shows, my advice is to use PhotoShop to increase the contrast and color saturation if your photos need it, and keep onscreen words to a bare minimum. There's nothing worse than a screenful of words and three photos all crammed into one frame. Even the folks in the front row will have trouble seeing anything.

Betty Mackey
http://www.mackeybooks.com

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