หากคุณกำลังวางแผนวันหยุดของคุณคุณต้องการพิจารณา Thailand. ประเทศไทยเป็นหนึ่งในจุดหมายปลายทางของ การเดินทาง รักที่สุดในโลก. มีหลายประเภทภูมิในเสนอ. พื้นที่ภูเขาของเหนือ, ที่ราบลุ่มในพื้นที่ภาคกลาง, ตะวันออกและภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือและภาคใต้ของประเทศไทยด้วยข้อเสนอบางหาดที่น่าสนใจที่สุดและหมู่เกาะในดาวเคราะห์. โครงสร้างพื้นฐานของประเทศไทยเป็นหนึ่งในทันสมัยที่สุดในภูมิภาค. การขนส่งการธนาคารและโทรคมนาคมเป็นสิ่งที่ดีและทำให้ประเทศไทยภูมิภาค remotest สะดวกและง่ายไป. ร้านอาหารไทยเป็นตำนานและสถานที่สำคัญสำหรับผู้เข้าชมและร้านอาหารและบาร์ช่วยสมบูรณ์ package ต่อต้านไม่ได้กับอาหารที่ดีที่สุดและความบันเทิงมี. แกลเลอรี่และพิพิธภัณฑ์หลายขุมคลังที่อยู่อาศัยของวัยแล้วไปให้ผู้เข้าชมภาพสุขแท้.

ภูมิอากาศของประเทศไทยเป็นเขตร้อนสูงอุณหภูมิและความชื้นและ dominated โดย monsoons. เมษายนและอาจเป็นเดือนสุด. มิถุนายนเห็นต้นใต้ลมมรสุมตะวันตกซึ่งยังคงเป็นจังหวะจนถึงปลายเดือนตุลาคมนี้. เดือนพฤศจิกายนถึงสิ้นเดือนกุมภาพันธ์อากาศจะดีกว่าด้วยเย็นข่าวภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือและลดลงในระดับความชื้น. นี้เป็นฤดูกาลท่องเที่ยวหลักและเวลาที่ดีที่สุดไปประเทศไทย. ภาคเหนือและภาคตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือโดยทั่วไปจะเย็นกว่ากรุงเทพฯในฤดูหนาวและในฤดูร้อน hotter. ปริมาณน้ำฝนประจำปีประมาณ 1,520 มม. ในภาคเหนือ, ตะวันตกและพื้นที่ส่วนกลางประมาณ 2,540 มม. หรือมากกว่าในส่วน ไทย ของคาบสมุทรมาเลย์และประมาณ 1,270 มม. หรือน้อยกว่าใน Khorat ที่ราบสูง.

Luke 19:8-10, 41-44
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost”… As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

What a stark contrast both these passages have! The first is Jesus’s proclamation of salvation to Zacchaeus based on his act and statement of faith and the second is his frustration with Israel for it’s hardheartedness because the people believed they were living by the law but in reality were far away from God. Is this not strange? Zacchaeus was the height of sin and corruption whereas Israel were God’s own people! How could Jesus be so dreadfully mistaken? Aren’t God’s own people automatically holier and worthier than cheats and thieves like Zacchaeus? What specifically are we being reminded today by the Lord if we are saved and if we are unsaved?

Jesus in his ministry on earth constantly reminded us that everything in his kingdom is the reverse of what we believe and know through the world. The world teaches us that we are good people and if we believe in ourselves and live by it’s rules, we are considered well. However, the Bible reminds us that all mankind has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When Zacchaeus was called by the Lord, he saw his unworthiness before Jesus’s perfectness and realized what Jesus was offering to him. A new start! If you are not in a relationship with Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, the message is clear. Submit and get a new start plus the perfect reward . If we are saved by God’s grace alone, we are reminded today to not live in a ritual religious lifestyle but in a living relationship with the Lord. Every day and every moment we are to remember how unworthy we are and how the Lord has blessed us with a new life. We are called to forgo ourselves to be of service to the Lord. Let’s all be reformed Zacchaeus’s!

In His Loving Service,
Vineet

PS: Sign up for daily devotionals by clicking the email subscription icon at the top right of this page or by visiting http://groups.google.com/group/in-his-loving-service. Share this with your friends and family who need some encouragement.

Birds Flock Together

Dark Chocolate and Coconut Truffle Trio with French Dessert Wine

Food Creation, Preparation and Prop

Well I wasn’t involved in the actual making of the truffles so I can’t talk that much about it (it’s her secret recipe ). One thing I know is that she use bits of orange peels so the truffles actually have a dash of citrus taste when you eat it. But I digress. 

Initially I was trying to use my other verrine that I used in my previous post. However I could only fit two truffles into it and the formation didn’t look good. It’s like two chocolate balls hanging in the glass with no purpose. Anyway I did try to use different combination of truffles, use two verrines with two dark chocs and the other verrine with two coconut truffles but they just didn’t work. So I gave up using my favourite verrine and settle with this tall verrine. It turns out that fits exactly three truffles into it. Perfect! 

Now that I decided on the verrine I need to decide on what combination of truffles to put it. Assuming I’m going to use one verrine, I have several choices: all three in dark choc, all three in coconut, alternate dark – white – dark, and alternate white - dark – white. I voted for the alternate colour one – it would be a waste for me not to use the available combination. And I just happen to like the dark choc more so I chose the dark – white – dark combination. 

I always associate dark chocolate with elegant dessert finishing off a fine three course dinner. So again, low key setup come into mind.  What else comes with dark choc? Dessert wine maybe? What? of course it’s French dessert wine! It’s also an excuse for me to use my favourite verrine in this shot. 

Also notice that I create a similar copy of the main setup and put it as a background. 

The shooting 

Camera is rather in low angle position to accentuate the height of the verrine. Softbox is at 2-3 o’clock pointing down 45 degree from the top. I did try to lower the softbox to light the verrine from the side but the reflections are so bad that I abandon the idea straight away. 

The camera is set to F3.5 1/25th at ISO100. 

Observation 

The dessert wine is slightly out of focus, which is delibarate. I made them both in focus at first but find them competing with other for attention so I opened up the aperture a bit to throw the dessert wine a bit off focus. 

Also I angled the camera so that the bottom dark choc has the white plate as it’s background and the middle coconut truffle has the black background. Now I did have problem with the top dark choc truffle because it is dark and the background is also dark, giving a bad contrast – you can hardly see the edge of the top truffle. This is the main reason why I create a second copy of the setup and put it in the background. I positioned the second copy so that the top truffle has something bright as background. 

Also noticed that the top right part of the glass have some choc powder on the glass surface. That’s deliberate otherwise I couldn’t get the edge of the glass visible enough against the background. 

There you go, my last verrine project for the year. I hope you enjoy it and Merry Christmas everyone!

วันนี้เรารู้สึกเหมือนว่าเรากลับใน จีน หรืออาจ San Francisco ของจริง Chinatown. แทนเราในคนขายของชำ, Arizona, อาหารกลางวันเลี้ยงกันในรายการโปรด: ติ่มซำ. เราไม่แน่ใจว่าหลายท่านมีประสบการณ์ติ่มซำ. เรามักจะพบมันพิเศษที่หลากหลายของอาหารจะรีดรอบๆร้านอาหารและคุณสามารถเลือกจากรายการที่คุณต้องการ. คาดหมายไม่เป็นทั้งหมดมีหน้าคุณเชิญให้ท่านลิ้มรสและเพลิดเพลิน. เรามีรายการโปรดของเราและวันนี้เราได้เพิ่มบางใหม่จาน.

ทีม Hill, ร่วมด้วยเพื่อนๆหลายๆชอบอาหารกลางวันของ dumplings กุ้งกรอบ, ตุ๋น buns บาร์บีคิว rolls ไข่กรอบ, ซี่โครงอะไหล่อร่อย, กุ้งขี้อายเชียงใหม่และ Hun สุย Gok. ผักสดสีเขียวสดใสที่มาพร้อมอาหารคำหนึ่งประกวดราคาแต่ละละลายในปากของเรา. บรรทัดฐานเป็นบางส่วนไป Lotus เมล็ด Jin Dui, อบทาร์ตไข่และอบไข่ Custard Buns. พวกเขาพอใจของเขาฟันหวาน. แน่นอนผู้ชื่นชอบอาหารยังสามารถสั่งอาหาร mein, เป็ด, บะหมี่, ข้าวผัดและหลากหลายมากอาหารทะเลสดทั้งหมดรวมทั้งกุ้งก้ามกราม.

เมื่อเรากลับพรุ่งนี้บางทีเราจะสั่งอาหารทะเลในหม้อดินหรือแผ่นร้อนของกุ้งและหอยสแกลลอบ. ทั้งหมดนี้กับบริการรวดเร็วและเป็นมิตรและความปิติยินดีของการพบครอบครัวร่วมเพลิดเพลินกับอาหารที่พวกเขานั่งรอบโต๊ะกลมใหญ่. ณที่เรามีอยู่ยกเว้น Boston, New York และ San Francisco เราได้พบมันยากที่จะหาอร่อย, จริงอาหารจีนโดยเฉพาะติ่มซำที่ดังกล่าวราคาสมเหตุสมผล.ตอนนี้เราสามารถปล่อยตัว. เราขอสนับสนุนให้คุณลองสมบัตินี้และจะรับรู้ว่าคุณจะชอบเท่าที่เราได้.

King จีน เปิด 7 วันสำหรับมื้อกลางวันและมื้อค่ำแต่ติ่มซำเป็นหน้าที่ที่กลางวันเท่านั้น. พระ จีน ตั้งอยู่ที่ 1,050 W. เรย์ถนนคนขายของชำโทร 480 899 8099. สำหรับติ่มซำไปแฟกซ์เป็น 480-812-8989. ส่วนหนึ่งของบทความนี้อาจจะทำซ้ำตราบเท่าที่ผู้เขียนได้รับเครดิต.

637 // December 20, 2009

The weather has been unseasonably warm down here in Denver. Which, I don’t mind at all. Keep all the snow in the mountains… (well, unfortunately, that hasn’t been happening, either).

I took Mr. Cub on a walk today around the neighborhood, this squirrel followed us for about a solid two blocks.

I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten quite a few views of my last post specifically Google-searching for Lightroom and DPP color differences and RAW Conversion.

RAW Conversion complex and important part of digital photography, and it is by far the main computer related aspect which I spend time studying in my own photography.  It’s so important, because even though I work hard to visualize and execute the photo well in the field, the RAW conversion is the most important step to converting all the hard work I’ve done correctly, and where it can all fall apart or get very frustrating.

Over the last three or four years, RAW conversion has begun to make sense to me, and it’s only in the last year or so that I’ve begun to build my own RAW conversion preset from scratch in Lightroom.  I believe I’ve gotten much better results that work well with my workflow.  Again, my typical workflow is this :  1.  Import and auto-rename, organize with Adobe Lightroom.  2.  Exposure, Color, and Noise reduction adjustments in Lightroom.  3.  Export to Photoshop for output sharpening, touchup, and localized enhancements such as contrast adjustments or sharpening.  4.  Save (which automatically is picked up back in my Lightroom catalogs).  That’s about it.  Sometimes there’s much more photoshop work…..like with closeup portraits, or Architectural interiors, etc.  Landscapes are usually pretty straight forward if I’ve done my work in the field.

The biggest thing that I work on is maintaining detail in the shadows and highlights, without having the image look flat.  Lightroom’s Default RAW conversion settings do a decent job at first glance, but one thing I find is they clip the blacks way too much, and boost the mid-tones to lights to much.  Photos end up being more contrasty and chunky looking then in camera.  For this post, I’m using a photo that my Dad took at Mt. Jefferson.  I had similar photos, but his composition was better.  This was a hard photo to take because the sunlight was really harsh that morning, but there was so much color to capture, thus presenting a good challenging image to produce.

Using Lightrooms Default import and RAW conversion settings, I get something like this…..

RAW file converted with Lightroom's default settings.

There’s a little bit of nice color, and the composition is pretty nice, but the tree line beyond is very dark, with little detail.  Also, the foreground feels a little too contrast as we can’t see a lot of detail on the grass and rock….again, in the shadows.  Similarly, the sky feels a little washed out, but some of that is because of the bright glancing sunlight.

Adjusting the Black Clipping, Brightness, and Contrast settings will help out quite a bit, but give this a try.  Go to Presets, Lightroom Presets, and apply the ‘General – Zeroed’ preset to the image.  It immediately undoes everything that Lightroom applies to the RAW file, and gives you an extremely dark, flat, colorless photo.  However, build back your own preset  little by little.  Start with the Brightness and Contrast……maybe set them back up to 40 or 50 Brightness and 15 to 25 Contrast.  Add 1 or 2 points of Black Clipping, etc.  If you do this little by little, you’ll start to end up with a better basic image than Lightroom’s default presets.  THE KEY   is the Tone Curve.  I find that the default Tone Curve is way too contrast in just the wrong places for Landscape shots.  So ‘zeroing out’ the settings puts the Tone Curve to Linear (i.e. flat).

This is what I’ve done with my files, trying to emulate the image that my Canon EOS 50D shows on it’s LCD, and then backing the contrast and Black CLipping off just a little.  (I can always add a litte contrast to selective areas in Photoshop with great control IF needed).  Here’s a screenshot of my ‘50D_Default’ RAW conversion preset, which is my typical setting I apply on import to all the .dng files.

Again, take note of the Linear Tone Curve, and also the Camera Calibration makes a huge difference.  Find what works for you, and for different subject material.  (I treat Portraits very differently)  And here is the Mt. Jefferson image with that applied…..

RAW file converted with my customized settings

What’s different about it?  Well, it’s a little darker and I’ll admit it…..it’s  a little flat throughout.  But that’s a quick fix at any time in my workflow either in Lightroom or in Photoshop later.  What isn’t a quick fix is bringing back detail in the shadows, and this conversion leaves much softer color and detail throughout the treeline and grasses.  It also is missing a little color, and that’s mostly because this image had glancing light and bit of haze. We’ll fix that.

The main things I see here are the lack of brightness in the light areas, lack of color in the sky and greens, and the Color Balance wasn’t quite right in camera.  Again….most of this is due to harsh glancing sunlight coming across the lens from upper left horizon.  Dad has a very good lens, but that can only do so much:)

I tweaked the settings one by one in Lightroom, starting with White Balance, a little bit of Fill Light and Recover combined with additional Black Clipping, and then Vibrance and Saturation.  I also adjusted the tint color in the shadows to warm them up just a bit since I cooled down the overall White Balance.

The final Basic settings look like this….

Final image-base tweaks to the RAW conversion settings.

I also increased the exposure just a little bit, and then add a slight GND in Lightroom to recover the sky again.  The majority of your work will be done balancing out the Brightness, Contrast, Fill Light, and Black Clipping.  Exposure effects all of them, so I don’t touch that until the end.

And last but not least…..the final RAW conversion straight out of Lightroom!

Final RAW conversion, with my default settings, and image-based tweaks.

All this really only took me about 20 minutes or so.  And don’t worry….they don’t all take that long, this was just a tough photo due to the harsh daylight.

I urge you all to sit down, and Zero-out your settings, then rebuild your own presets one setting at a time like I did.  Once you get it to a point that you think it will work for a default…..DON’T FORGET TO SAVE THE PRESET!  You can also tell Lightroom to make your custom conversion settings the Default settings.  Once you’ve done this adjustment, your images will import into Lightroom looking more like what you remember, and more like what your camera’s LCD showed.  This means less time on the computer, and less frustration

Photographed by suvodeb

He’s bigger, meaner and stronger…so let’s just pretend he doesn’t exist.

– License

One of my bestest pals came back today- she’s studying away- and we had sort of a mini reunion. Most of us were there and there was the usual assaulting of one another that brings us closer together – they know what I mean. So over the next couple of days there shall be sleepovers and food- all we really do.

Anyway so I came home today and found myself in a colourful mood (or maybe I’m subconciously/consciously trying to avoid cleaning my room) so I decided to do something I had been randomly thinking about a while back.

Sadly I can’t say much more right now because it’s only so long I can put it off ’till my mom realises- thank goodness she can’t find my blog on her own - so off I go to prep my room for Christmas… grrr…. love the season, hate the work…

Hope you enjoy these in the meantime:

Don’t forget to subscribe…

And Smile

Khai

Your alignment and your reliance on source
is always
conditioned by your willingness to let go of attachment let go of judgement
and let go of limitations
source wants to experience vastness and expansion through you
and your judgments your attachments and your limitations prevent that
this is resistance
resistance to the truth of what is
the truth of what is ever-expanding goodness
yes you have heard things are what they are
and there is no right or wrong
no good or bad
however there is good in everything
if you choose to see it
there is good for good is love
good is God
bad is an illusion
good is not
so understand from the perspective of contrast and the perspective
of polar opposites
good and bad are relative and illusory
however from the perspective of source
all is good
and that is where you want be
that is what you need to align with
seeing the good in all
yes
this is important for your continued growth in a way that brings you to the best and highest for all concerned faster
and so it is

- Morning stream of consciousness writing from John Stringer
Find out more about this blog by reading the BACKGROUND STORY.

Sign up to get these messages delivered to your email athttp://snipurl.com/myrn

In this Image one single gray look different because of it’s varied background.
The theory of relativity by Einstein is applicable not only for physics but everything possible around us.

Son, never buy an arrangement of flowers off the shelf. Learn how to put your own together.

It’s simpler than you think. Pick a main color that will serve as the background, then pick one either complimentary or contrasting color. You can use as little as one flower for the contrast. At least one of them should be able to diffuse its pleasing fragrance throughout the room.

Etching gives a whole different look and feel to a bead, it adds texture and in some cases makes it easier to see the detail and depth in a bead. My enameled beads are a good example of this. When I don’t etch them, the shine makes it really hard to see the subtle play of colors that is happening on the surface. The shine seems to push your eye away and not allow it to sink more deeply into the surface.. Etching tones down that shine making it easier for the eye to sink down into the bead and see the subtle play of colors that I’m trying to show.

Of course etching can also ruin an otherwise gorgeous bead. The question of whether to etch or not can sometimes be a very tough call.

I’ve heard it suggested that putting a bead in the freezer for a short time will give you some idea of what it might look like etched. Or you can make an extra bead especially for test purposes…etch it and see what you think.

I haven’t tried the freezer trick, I’m not that patient, I usually just go for it… I tend to etch nearly everything I make :O)

Of course it’s not necessary to etch the whole bead. It’s possible to mask parts of your bead with water-based latex paint and those parts won’t get etched. I do this with my masks and the necklaces on my goddesses. The image above is a good example, the body is etched, the necklace and tail are not. It can make for a nice contrast. Just pick up a small tin of latex paint from the hardware store and a small fine tip paint brush. It takes about 20 minutes for the paint to dry and it will stay on your bead until you rinse with warm soapy water. I have heard that you can also use nail polish and even Elmer’s Glue, but I hate the smell of nail polish and Elmer’s Glue too so I just use the paint. A small 1-2 oz. tin will last you for years, or until it dries out.

People ask quite often, how long I etch my beads for. First I have to admit that I have no idea what brand of etching solution I am using. All I can tell you is that it is bright pink-violet in color and it gets darker over time. The supplier I buy it from, pours it into smaller bottles for resale and all it says is, “etching solution”along with a warning label. It takes only about 5 minutes to etch my beads. I don’t know what brand it is, but I am happy with the results so I haven’t bothered to ask. Read the label on your bottle, it will probably give a suggested etching time. If not, try etching in 5 minute increments. If after 5 minutes you rinse and dry your bead and it is still shiny or spotty, etch for another  5 minutes, and so on, until you find the right amount of time.

How I etch my beads…

If you have a workshop with sink to do this in that’s great, just make sure it is a well ventilated area. I don’t have a workshop sink so I have to use my kitchen sink. I make sure that all food and drink is put away and that the sink is empty and clean before I begin. I lay down an old newspaper to work on.

All of the supplies that I use for etching, I use ONLY  for etching and nothing else. I use a small plastic bowl a bit bigger than a tuna fish can. I put my beads in and then pour the solution over them. I stir them gently with a plastic Wendy’s spoon to make sure they are coated on all sides and then set the timer for 5 minutes. You need to wear eye protection and rubber gloves and a long sleeve shirt or better yet, a plastic apron when etching. This stuff is acid, not only can it burn you but with chronic exposure it can effect your bones and joints and probably other things as well. Needless to say, you do not want to get it on you. If you do, rinse immediately with soapy water for 5-10  minutes. If you get it in your eyes, rinse immediately with running water for 15 minutes.

(edited to add: It is suggested by some that as part of first aid treatment, you should also mix a few tsp. of baking soda with the water to neutralize the acid. Here is the MSDS sheet for Etch-All Dip N Etch, it doesn’t make this recommendation but using baking soda can’t hurt and might help. I suggest that you read the MSDS sheet so that you know what you are working with and how to properly handle and dispose of it. If you are using a different brand, I recommend looking up the MSDS sheet for the one you are using. Most can be found on the internet.)

When the beads are done etching I fish them out with my plastic spoon and put them in a larger plastic bowl filled with warm soapy water and a tsp. of baking soda (to neutralize ). I swish them around for a minute or so and them change the water and swish them again. Using an old tooth brush I add a few drops of dish soap and then scrub each bead briefly then rinse again in plain warm water. Then I set them aside to dry. I am wearing rubber gloves and glasses the entire time. I use a plastic funnel to get the solution back into the bottle, then I rinse all my bowls and tools really well with warm soapy water (andmore baking soda if you wish) and put them away in my craft cupboard so they won’t be used accidentally for food. Rinse water down your drain really well and clean your sink well.

Next week I’ll talk about how I finish my etched beads.

(Tuesday’s Torch Tips is an ongoing weekly series of articles. If you’ve got any suggestions for future tips, please leave me a comment and I’ll cover them if possible. Torch Tips will cover a wide variety of topics including; basic lampworking techniques, design, photography, marketing and selling, and so on.)

Played poker with some friends this afternoon/evening.  Being “that guy,” I had the camera on hand to grab some candids of the guys while we were playing.  My buddy Trey was good enough to respond in kind and grab a shot of me at the table.

I remember when I was just starting off taking pictures, for a while I sort of whined and complained ‘cus I thought I had nothing to photograph. My sister was the one who told me at some point to just take pictures of anything; that I don’t need models or sets or anything. So one day I sat out in my gallery and really started looking around. I noticed a lot of things for the first time, stuff that collectively I had always considered beautiful but when taking in their individual components I noticed their individual differences and what made each of them uniquely attractive.

Why on earth am I posting this now? Well it’s not because I have nothing better to post. I was actually watching Love Actually last night- I’m serious- and it’s one of those movies that I can watch at absolutely anytime, no matter my mood, and end up feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. I especially love the scene in the end where everyone is meeting at the airport and hugging and kissing and smiling J

Well anyway it was good to see that this world can really be wonderful. There’s a girl by the name of Hanna Lendor, who’s mother has been pleading for months to help them raise $1,000,000 for a liver transplant that can save her life. If a few people donate a little of what they have it can really add up. If you care to you can put money in any branch of Royal Bank of Trinidad & Tobago (RBTT) on the account number: 8917113188.

So once again on a happier note, it’s good whne you can to take the time out of your day to capture beautiful moments. It doesn’t have to be with a camera, simply write it down. You’ll look back at it later and get the same warm feelings all over again. Try never to forget the simple things that make this world wonderful, because when it doesn’t seem so great , it’s those moments that help you smile.

On the other hand it might help to take note of some of the really depressing stuff life throws at some people as well. It humbles you when you look back at it and helps you to remember to have compassion, which is in essence what will make the world a better place right?

And on an even happier note- for me at least- its 2 weeks till Christmas!! Ha I looked up as soon as I typed that and trust me my house at this moment absolutely does not reflect that.

That also means “The Wedding” is closer as well. Yipee/Yikes?!?

The centrepieces started arriving and the bows to decorate the church as well as the hall and they’re absolutely gorgeous! I hope and pray that come that day all goes perfect. I can’t wait to get married!- okay , scratch that I can, for like five or six more years; I’m nineteen. Not so much for the wedding but for- here comes hopeless romantic me- looking down the isle and seeing someone you love and trust so completely that its 100% scary because it’s 100% fact that that one person can absolutely destroy you, and even knowing that, still walk down that isle to that person because you don’t care.

To all my commitment-phobe friends out there- you know yourselves- I know this is absolutely not helping you. But fear not, I shall save more of my gushy, lovey-dovey sappy romantic vibes for a later post; probably the wedding one, who knows.

For the time however just enjoy these photos from around my home and try your best to capture (in anyway you can) any and every moment of ‘wonderfulness’ you see!!!

I played around with my colours a bit in some of these pictures. It’s fun doing something you love to do that makes you happy! Try it. No matter what it is (scratch that- don’t quote me on that…)

And subscribe…

Remember to click to enlarge…

And most importantly Smile !!!!

Khai

The Grackle

Do Not Steal, god will find you.  Don’t copy, he’ll smote your printer, don’t cut n past, your keyboard will break, don’t print screen.. again with the printer, and dont redistribute in any fashion without credit.. I’ll find you and feed you to the gators!

If you want to share it, please click ont he photo and use the options in Flickr.  You may also share the blog page.

Thanks- Management =)

Author : WIDJAJA, ADI

Kenyamanan pengguna pesawat televisi diantaranya dipengaruhi oleh cahaya ruangan. Cahaya televisi yang tidak seimbang dengan cahaya ruangan akan dirasa mengganggu. Untuk itu dibutuhkan perubahan brightness dan contrast pada pesawat televisi yang sesuai dengan keadaan cahaya ruangan. Suatu feature tambahan dibuat untuk mengadaptasi brightness dan contrast gainbar televisi secara automatis berdasarkan kondisi cahaya ruangan menggunakan LDR VT935G. Pengontrolan secara logika fuzzy dilakukan dengan memberikan variable tegangan pada titik input chip LA 7674 (TV trainer) yang mengatur tegangan brightness dan tegangaa contrast televisi. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan bahwa system dapat berjalan cukup baik dengan kondisi awal brightness dan contrast yang gelap sekali. System mengadaptasi perabahan cahaya ruang dengan mengatur brightness dan contrast televisi.

Keyword : brightness, contrast, fuzzy Logic

Sumber : http://repository.petra.ac.id/1066/

Here’s the latest batch of photography from Taiwan. Just some random pictures that I’ve come across in my daily adventures.

Check out my new website and archive for more photography from Taiwan.

Our camp, high atop SongLuo Hu (松羅湖)... another mountain lake.

Long story short: We went hiking camping to SongLuo Hu mountain lake, near Yilan, Taiwan. The evening was nice, but after we went to sleep, a torrential rain started coming down and the lake swelled up and nearly engulfed our tents... This picture reminds me that we can have fun, even under terrible circumstances.

To read more about the two pictures above, go to Hiking Taiwan.

I've been wanting to shoot more in these alleyways that are all over Taipei. This one isn't really my favorite, but it's a start.

I like rolling up to the skate spot and seeing my friends sitting in nice light. Taipei, Taiwan.

A skateboarder rolls by a nice sunset in MuZha, Taiwan.

The entrance to BiShan (碧山) mountain temple just outside of Taipei, Taiwan.

The reflection of Taipei 101 in a new building in Taipei, Taiwan.

Sunset over Taipei city as seen from Lion Mountain, Taiwan.

To see more of my photography, check out my portfolio and archive website.

Cheers,
-neil

Anyone who looks at a lot of my pictures knows I love lots of contrast. I mean it has it’s place, but when I can give a photo punch with contrast, I will!

So how do you give a black and white photo lots of contrast? It’s easy, I’ll show you!

Open up your photo in Photoshop Elements (I’m using 7).

Here is a picture of my boyfriend on his 1960’s motorcycle that he just finished refurbishing. I love this photo in color, but it also has a lot of dark and light elements, which makes it perfect for a high contrast conversion.

Go over to your layers menu and click on your adjustments layers drop-down menu (black/white circle) and select “levels” from the menu.

A histogram will pop up, and take a look at where the “hill” (what do you call that thing) drops off. Mine dropped off a little before the edge on the black side, so I slide my black slider over until it lined up with the beginning of the “hill.” (I really need to find the real name for that thing). Adjust the white side if you need to, but don’t bother with those eye droppers, I hate the results they usually give anyways. Once you have made your adjustments, click OK.

Click on the adjustment layers menu again and this time select hue and saturation. In the menu that pops up, slide the saturation slider all the way down to -100. This will make it completely black and white, but you can also experiment and leave a little color in.

If you want to make a sepia tone photo (or any other color), check the colorize button, and then adjust the hue button until you find what you want.

But I just wanted to do a plain old black and white conversion, so I just left it at -100 in saturation and clicked OK.

Okay, one more layer adjustment, so click on the layer adjustment menu and then Brightness/Contrast.

When that menu pops up, you want to then adjust your contrast levels, this is what will give you photo that punch. I like to slide mine pretty far down, usually all the way to +100. Then play with your brightness slider until you see what you want, it’s totally up to you.

What a little more punch? You can change the blending mode to soft light, hard light, or even vivid if your daring. I like to change it in the levels layer (click on the white rectangle), but you can experiment however you would like, that’s part of the fun. Don’t forget about opacity!

Once your done, flatten and viola! You now have a rockin’ high contrast b&w photo to impress your friends with!

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t have Photoshop Elements? Don’t feel left out! Let’s try this in Picnik. I’m lazy and don’t feel like taking screenshots, so I’ll talk you through it instead. In the edit tab, click on color, and slide the saturation slider all the way down, till it’s black and white. Then click on exposure and slide the contrast slider up, till it reaches a point that you like. If you click on advance then another little menu will pop up, and you can play with the shadows and highlights, and the brightness. A tada! Now that was easy huh?

It’s a peaceful Sunday evening- not that quiet ‘cus my sister is home – and I’m posting again. I’m really happy right now as I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from readers/viewers. I’ll try my best to keep people entertained.

Anyway I was going over my last couple of posts and noticing how bright and colourful everything was so I decided now might be a good time for some black and white pictures. I love working with black and white photos.

I took some more pictures today of a floral arrangement my mom got but they’re also pretty colourful so I’ll post them up some other time

This one  is one of my favourite black and white pictures I took that was sort of meant to be part of a series to make a portrait of my camera. That is still in progress.

This next one I over-contrasted but I still ended up liking the look.

This is also part of a series I did one evening when I was feeling a little idle. It was a shoot I had been planning on doing for a while. The rest will probably be in a post soon.

This last one is another sneak peak from what’s to come for the wedding photos. I’m really excited if I didn’t mention that before and I went to Trincity Mall yesterday and I finally got my shoes! Yay me ! Oh and it’s the ring box by the way:

So leave your comments and don’t forget to Subscribe and Smile !!!

And always remember: it don’t matter if ya black and/or white! (Listening to some MJ)

I decided to complete the 5″ x 5″ square paper cut I did of what my friend Joanna calls “naked trees” to give to my grandfather for Christmas.  I painted a watercolor sunset as a background on an 8 1/2″ square sheet of Canson Mi Tienes paper, then used some self-leveling acrylic gel medium to adhere the trees to the paper.  I did an all-over brush bristle texture in the top layer of gel medium, but I think I’d rather have the gel a little thicker and smooth instead.  I’ll add a layer and see what happens.  Until then, here’s the current status of the piece:

Everything looks yellowed because I had to take the picture without the flash, or else I got a glare off the gel coating.  We’ll see if I can’t get a better shot once it’s finished and framed.

Acrylic,spraypaint, on canvas 120/85 cm 2009

One thing I regretted was not having picture of my old girl Leah. She was such a rude little four legged creature but was indeed one of my favourite dogs. She had personality and attitude- something I love in dogs- and now she’s gone. She died because her puppy died and she was lonely and depressed.

We’d gone through this cycle with her before  (well obviously not the dying part). When her mom died it was the same thing. She got depressed, refused to eat and went around looking like the world was just too cruel a place. She’d turn her head slowly to you, blink twice then walk away slowly and you could just here the organ pipes playing slow sad tunes in the background. So we got her a dog. Yes, we no longer got dogs ‘cause we wanted them, we got a dog ‘cause Leah wanted one. And then she’d be fine.

This time however, well, we were just too late. It was a pretty sad time for all of us.

Two days later however, on my way home my dad called “Hey we got a puppy; I think you’ll like him,” he said. Hmm?

So I got home and there was this short black and brown dog that in fact looked like a slightly bigger-headed version of Leah- she was short and black and brown. The first thing that came to my mind and I said, “Dad, this is not a puppy.”

He was a fully grown male- all sharp teeth, deep bark and claws but quite adorable. We named him Tiger.

I name that is one hundred percent not apt.

Other than the fact that I am certain he is a grown dog, he acts more like a puppy than the puppy we did get afterward. At first he was shy. Growling as we came close but now, everytime he says you his eyes go ding his ears flap up and you could almost hear him say “Gasp! Its playtime?”- I’m not kidding. No seriously, I’m not.

Leah was loving in her own way. When she decided to pay you any mind- particularly when another dog was getting attention- she’d come and rub her head on your legs and roll over and act just like a good Hollywood dog (hell even privates licking included for extra show). At other times however, you get a sniff and she’d turn up her nose and make her way beneath the car as if to say, “I have better things to do like sit in the shade and watch you make an ass of yourself while trying to get me to play with you”

I swear sometimes it even looked like she was saying “Hmm I wonder how long you’d keep at this,” or “if you’re a good human I just might reward you with a lick and a smile.” Sigh I miss that dog.

So now there is Tiger and Fluff. Best friends and worst enemies. She recently learnt how to climb over the separation between their cages to keep him company and to climb out the cage completely when she was annoyed. Her preferred resting spot is on top of him and he shares everything with her but his food- and her food if given the opportunity (we don’t let that happen though )

So since Leah always gave me a kind of look that said “If you point that little metal thing at me and go click I’ll dot dot dot,” I never really did get much pictures of her. And Fluff refuses to stay still long enough for me to actually take the picture- the only good ones I get of her must be shot in high speed burst. Tiger or “Tigy-boy” as I sometimes call him is quite the poser, though I must say as a model he needs some range.

My Favourite pic of Tigy-boy

I played a lot with the colours in this one:

A coloured version of my fav one. I like my reflection in his eyes:

Well isn’t it always the way… one minute you don’t see anything you like and then the next minute, your drowning in fabulous artwork. The new week has just begun and already I have a marvelous drawing for you.

Louise C’s style is neat and considered. She confidently adds detail to her Glasgow 2014 inspired drawing. Capturing the balance of the sports woman perfectly, Louise (S2 from Castlehead) has added a great range of tightly drawn and well proportioned contrasting shapes. Leaving the athlete’s skin pale using area’s of white negative space, she draws attention to the clothing and the bend of the body, possibly the most important aspect of the sport.

A great eye for observation and defining the shapes of the body, Louise has been able to deliver a sketch that is even more successful than the photo that inspired it. Great Work!