Category: Photography

Color Correction is your Friend

Published by NiteMayr on April 25, 2008

I’ve posted these two images to illustrate a point. With access to some post-processing tools (Photoshop, Photoshop Essentials and even Picassa) we an “fix” the little inadequacies of the original images. In this case contrast, sharpness and color issues.

This article is not the one I was looking for on this matter, but it covers the same ground.

You can achieve the same basic fixes in Picassa using the image correction tools therein. Shadows and Sharpen for the most part, with some color correction too. It can make all the difference in an image.

(If you are interested, I was illustrating how bad the countryside smelled, I was ill on the way up to Kincardine last week due to the smell of the poultry farms)

EDIT: Removed Ava Knight’s Pictures

Ghost Ride it

Published by NiteMayr on March 4, 2008

"Feel the Penance Stare"

I really should have shot this against a dark background… Oh Well!

NiteCat, NiteGirl and I hit the theater yesterday and watched “Ghost Rider”. There was a line outside, leading us to worry that we would be late for the film and that we had greatly underestimated the drawing power of “Ghost Rider”

We were wrong on two counts.

1) We got in to the actual theater in time to see the end of the Spider man 3 trailer.
2) We greatly underestimated the drawing power of “Wild Hogs”.

I could not believe the stream of Nascar driven humanity that was waiting to see “Wild Hogs”, and openly celebrating it.

Wow.

Anyway, Ghost Rider was great. It meshed the Dan Ketch and Johnny Blaze Ghost Riders into one. It was a good movie, lots of action and good special effects. NiteCat LOVED it.

Nick Cage was great as Johnny Cage (giving him a chance to be Elvis on a Motorbike without singing)

The ONLY thing I hated was that Donal Logue was killed. No love for the redhead scotsman?

Up and Down Again

Published by NiteMayr on May 28, 2007

NiteCat, NiteGirl and I went up Skinner’s Butte today. No Mean feat. Well, not really, it’s a short walk but NiteGirl and I are pretty out of shape, so it was good exercise either way. This was yet another excuse to take pictures and generally gawk at Eugene as we will be leaving ever so soon.

I reward your patience with a picture:

Water can be Goopy

This was taken at the water fountain at the top of the Butte, where the water is apparently the only chlorinated water in the whole city. It tasted awful, but it takes a nice picture nonetheless.

Additionally, here is a nice picture from Alton Baker park, taken the day before:

Profile

Taken amongst a crowd of goslings, awwww.

Anyway, if you are interested here’s the skinny on my Car “The Batmobile” (Which is nicer than the Fatmobile)

NiteGirl, NiteCat and I were leaving the theater after the ignominious “Third Movie” when we realized that the car felt a bit odd on the passenger side. Looking at the wheel, we confirmed that it was a little low on air and we proceeded to fill it up, at which point I noted that the metal from the inside of the tire was coming through; but on the INNER edge of the tire quell surprise.

So, off to Firestone we go. Look, I’m aware of the issues they have had in the past, so I make the same assumption there that I make at Jack in the Box; due to their past bad press they HAD to clean up their act. Also, they were close and I have done business with them in the past.

After their initial inspection they also found that the passenger-front ball-joint and Driver-Rear wheel cylinder needed work. I assented to the work and they proceeded to perform these and OTHER repairs *for free* on top of the aforementioned tire replacements (4) and wheel alignments (lacking a lifetime guarantee, but I may never see another Firestone) and for good measure an oil change with the extra fancy high-mileage stuff.

I’m going to be scrambling to pay the Credit Card bill that comes along with this, but I can’t argue with the results. I was planning on getting this work done before the big move anyway, the power steering needs work and it needs a tune up; but an annoying squeak that I have been hearing for about two years is now gone and I feel more confident in the wheels (as they used to feel a bit, um, loose).

So there it is, the skinny on the Bat mobile. We also had a nice lunch at Red Robin, who still make crappy fries.

Weekend of Fun

Published by NiteMayr on May 14, 2007

Pow Wow Dancer

Due to the fact that I am leaving soon and that I have a finite bank of off time, I have taken a long weekend, which means “I have all the time in the world for doing stuff”

Some of the stuff we did this weekend

Hiked up Spencer’s Butte
Ate at PF Changs
Took Pictures of a Peace March
Watched 28 Weeks Later
Attended a Pow Wow at the U of O

Here is a Quick Rundown of my opinion of each:

Spencer’s Butte: A Fun drive out there. very long hike.

PF Changs: Sucked, too expensive no ambiance. The outdoor eating area is next to the fricking road.

Peace March: I was surprised by it but took tons of photos:

Peace Cowboy

28 Weeks Later: GREAT! Thrilling! A worthy sequel. I was worried that the lack of the formers cinematographer and director would hurt it, I was very very wrong. I’m going to see it again tomorrow!

The Pow Wow: Despite living near to a reservation for most of my life, I never actually got to see one of these up close. You cannot begin to imagine how amazing it is to hear the signing and drumming live like that. Don’t hesitate to attend at least one.

Oh, one more thing. NiteGirl had her first Mojito, she loved it!

My Cousin Josie

Published by NiteMayr on April 30, 2007

Josie at home

I would like very much to tell you a short story about Josie. Josie is not really my cousin. She shares a last name with my Family, but that’s about it We met and became friends in the Summer of 1995, the year I turned 20 for those of you who keep count of such minutiae.

Josie was one of those people who was always he center of the action, people circled around her like a little planet that had an irresistible gravity. People would float in and out of her life and through it all she was an affable person, even in the face of adversity.

I knew we would be great friends almost right away.

We became friends because I can’t tell pretty girls NO.

Ask any pretty girl who has asked me for something when I was under 20 and they can confirm (if they remember me) that I couldn’t answer in the negative when asked, I was totally without spine.

Josie needed help moving out of her crummy basement apartment, but the landlords were very “involved” and needed to be kept out of the matter. I enlisted some help and got to the job. A friend of the family came with a truck and we moved her out and into her new place as fast as possible. There was some open tension from the landlords, but the family friend was a Rugby player and the Landlord was trash. I myself was lifting packages great and small for 5 hours a night, and was no wimp. We moved furniture and belongings as fast as we could.

In hindsight, I’m pretty sure most of the people around Josie just looked at me like the loser who hung out. I’m not even sure if they were wrong. However, I met so many amazing people through Josie and loved those long summer days of just hanging around the local lighthouse or walking around in the dark night.

I wouldn’t have met anyone I know and love now had it not been for Josie. So Josie, I thank you.

A Nice Walk

Published by NiteMayr on April 27, 2007

We went out for Dinner with Karl and Tiffany (who is an awesome person, btw). Then we went out to Alton Baker park and scoped out the places where we are planning to set up shop to take pictures of the 5k Race this weekend.

We’ve settled on a few places and NiteCat, NiteGirl and I have walked the course.

We had a blast walking the route and just enjoying the country-like atmosphere. It was a good evening walk.

Race Track

Here is a picture from the SECOND part of the race that we are going to photograph.

New Rebel!!!!

Published by NiteMayr on February 9, 2007

I’ve finally made the jump to a D SLR for photography fun.

I still have the Kodak p880 on hand for fun, but I’m looking forward to the versatility of exchangeable lenses etc.

This is one of the last Rebel Xts out there, as the model run is over and Canon is pushing the Xti now (the 10.1 Mega pixel model)

007Ben was gracious enough to lend me a memory card while I wait to pay for a new one out of pocket next week. I took a bunch of shots (focusing on Marco shots as those interest me the most right now)

Boring New Years

Published by NiteMayr on January 2, 2007

I think NiteGirl drank more than I did over New Years; that’s saying a great deal since she drank about two bottles of wine. She was feeling depressed because her sister brought up her Grandpa, and NiteGirl just can’t seem to get over her Grandpa’s death. (It has been a couple of years now) So she drank, partly to forget, partly to just get her drunk on.

Otherwise it was all quiet for New Years, we rang it in at Midnight EST so that NiteCat could participate and we fired

Popped out

off some poppers (large and small).

It made a big mess, which is still pretty much hang around today. We fired the majority of the streamer type stuff onto the tree but inevitably some got on the ground and will require a good vacuum to pick it up.

Kodos had an accident with some pipe cleaners over the weekend and needed some first-aid. He will site for me and take some cleaning and anti-biotic cream but struggles if NiteGirl and NiteCat are near (I think he knows I can put up with the biting and scratching better than the girls)
On a cool note, NiteCat was wathcing “The Future is Wild” on Animal Planet and announced that she could tell it was fake animals, because they looked like computer animation.

Proud? I could have burst.

By the way, she DOES believe in Evolution. The Cavemen argument works.

Sometimes my Favourtie Place to Go

Published by NiteMayr on November 27, 2006

Emerald City Comics

On your left, used RPG books and locally produced comics (mixed with various stuff) on your right the “new” comics.

Ahead of you, Anime and Manga (there be dragons)

This is in the same building as Smith Books on Campus in Eugene. Check them out sometime, tell them Kevin sent you. (from the Internets)

San Francisco Trip: Day three

Published by NiteMayr on October 7, 2006

Heylo!

I’m back in Oregon and since I was so late coming in, I decided to wait until today to post my last blog entry about my Trip to SanFran. Our flight was delayed until 9:30 or so and we sat on the tarmac for 10-20 mins before we started off. so I didn’t get home until around 11:20 or so.

I digress though.

After I blogged about my birthday I went back out into the San Francisco night and tried to have a good time on my own, or at least without people I knew. This was pretty much the worst idea possible; I’m friendly enough but when I don’t have a wingperson I am also pretty much shy. I found a friendly bar and had a couple beers; but ended up headiung back to the hotel. Ah me.

When I woke up in the morning I had slept in about 10 minutes. So I had to rush through my morning routine AND get packed; in 10 – 20 minutes. When I was finished in the shower, however, I got a text message from Curtis saying he was running late. Whoop! I had time to dress and pack without worrying.

After packing and checking out, we hit the breakfast bar and had the “All American” [eggs, toast, hash browns and meat] it was great. I had ordered “fried tomatoes” the day before, but they messed with them, so no tomatoes today.
The Breakfast was good, but the waitperson was terrible, she kept yelling at the other staff. I left her a 2 dollar tip (the bare minimum).

I took a few pictures in the hotel; the fountain from the atrium; the bust at the top of the stairs into the Atrium, the elevtators [showing that you cannot see the elevators I had to ride in], the water art in the lobby and the mothership [chandelier] in the main lobby.

Check them out bellow:

I looked back over my shoulder and saw this view of Saint Patricks and took at shot:

The walk through the Garden was nice. I swear there were Little ASian Grandmas walking at exact 10 foot intervals through the entire area though; and little crowds of them all over the place. We were walking into an area that was built up around some form of art center; whose name escapes me.

I’ll update this post later when I am more rested.. stay tuned!

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