The original was nice, but I didn’t think it was totally in the ‘wow, cool shot’ territory.
Change a few things around, apply a few effects, and I think the picture is much better. In fact, this one is printed and sitting on my desk at work now.
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
I just watched an interesting show on PBS, Unnatural Causes, Is Inequality Making Us Sick? I watched Episode 3, Bad Sugar. I wish i had watched Episodes 1 and 2, but i know they will rerun the series; they always rerun.
We all know that inequality makes us sick. Poor people cannot afford to eat as well, they are more likely to live where there is pollution, and stress is always a factor. But it is interesting to watch a show that goes into the problem in a thoughtful way, in more detail.
In Bad Sugar they talked mostly about diabetes, as one would expect. The parts that got me all excited was the part about, broadly, stress. People who live, specifically, without hope, are more prone to diabetes. I find that interesting both in a general sense and personally. People who feel hopeless are more prone to diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes, not only because they do not eat as well or exercise as much, but because hopelessness affects hormones and other things going on in the body.
🙂 And here i was, afraid i was going to write a very loooong entry on the subject.
Maybe i will write more later. I am still pondering.
Some shows are available to watch online. I wish this one was.
Images, revisited
I’ve posted a few images here and there with comments to the effect of “wish I could edit this image”.
Well, I’m running a trail version of Lightroom so I can do just that. Lightroom is a photo-editing program put out by Adobe. I like it and would love to own it. Right now, however, spending the $300 on the program isn’t going to happen. And I know they have Lightroom 2 just around the corner; they have the beta of that out, expires in August… so I’m hoping they will release it just in time for Christmas. Perhaps I’ll get it around that time, one way or another.
Anyway. Pictures.
A few posts back you can see the original of this picture; here it is edited:
A bit farther back, you can spot the original of this one:
Both of these images have been made into prints, both 4×7 and 12×18 sizes. We will be finding a few big picture frames when we can find them on sale; till then, the pictures are sitting in a stack.
To avoid posting the full set of 56 new pictures, I’ll stop with those two. I plan on posting a few more favorite images.
Flickr Link for those that had trouble getting to my pictures.
Recording history
Family history is one of those things that everyone talks about and passes on, yet nobody seems to write down. One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is how much history is contained in Dad’s tools. There are a lot of things out there that got bought once, used once, and never touched again… yet there is a story about it. Not to mention the tools that were fabricated, or are for things that don’t exist anymore.
There have been conversations about writing down the stories behind these tools, but I’m not aware of anything actually happening. I think part of the problem has been in the description of the tool. (so, just what is a 3 1/2 inch varmit? we’ve got the story for it, now which thing *is* it?)
Here’s my idea: I should come down some weekend and take pictures. Lots of pictures. Pictures of each tool, or set if it makes sense, that is interesting. I imagine the majority of the screwdrivers are going to get left out… Then I can get the pictures printed in a book, which I would give to Dad. He would then just need to write in the story behind each picture, in the book. I’m guessing that writing it directly in the book would be easier and more likely to happen than having him type out the stories. Perhaps someone could go back later and transcribe the text and I could remake the book.
So, anyone else think this is an interesting idea? We need not limit it to tools in the garage… anything with a neat memory behind it would be up for the photoshoot.
Shadows
Ok, here is the image:
I’ve been thinking of ways to improve it. I think cropping out the right side where the building wall ends might not be a bad idea. I don’t think doing anything to the color beyond auto balance corrections is needed. I have toyed with tightening up the shot, but I think having the forground is nice.
How bout ya’ll? I might try some edits and post them up here later.