I found this one on a forum from "Candy" (user name) and had to post it. It was too good not to. I think I will give it a try the next time I am out and about. Why not try it for yourself I bet it will leave a lasting impact.
I can't wait.
-----------------------------------
"Now I understand what they mean.... I need to remember this.
Subject: Redistribution of wealth
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read
"Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.
Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I
laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the
coincidence.
When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him
that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He
stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to
redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless
guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the
server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless
guy was grateful.
At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I
realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn,
but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn,
even though the actual recipient needed the money more.
I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in
concept than in practical application."
-----------------------------------------------
BTW if you get a chance to download Hannity's last hour from Friday do it. It was only Obama supporters and they were asked to say why they supported him. It may be painful to listen to not only the comments but to Hannity. Wow, what a listen it was though. Sorry I am one of those people that really do not like to listen to him. He is as hard and un-wavering on the Republican side as Air America is for the Democrats’. I want some balanced debate because both sides can benefit from the ideas of one another. That is, if they will stop towing the party line and use common sense for a change. However, most are just too concerned with themselves and their pandering constituents than what would be good for the country as a whole.
As far as this election goes we have Ultra Liberal, Liberal, and just plain nuts. There I think that sums up the entire ticket. This is truly a best of the worst campaign. I fear we may never see the Moderate Democrats like Zell Miller or the Conservatives like Ronald Reagan for a long time to come if ever.
Just side note: Have you ever read Thomas Pain's "Common Sense" or how about Poor Richard's (Ben Franklin) wisdom on Hints for those that would be Rich. How about anything that our founding fathers put to paper. The internet is a great tool if you will use it.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
HOW DO YOU LOOK?
When dealing with images it is critical that your monitor be calibrated and balanced to see the image in its true light. Many times people are viewing and processing images on an old or non-calibrated monitor and wonder why their pictures do not look right or comes back from the lab with weird colors.
Example: I was setting a layout for a client (who owns a printshop) and he wanted me to set a job from a scan he did. The background on this one was a pattern with red and had photos in the panels. He wanted me to change the text only. When I pulled it up on my system I immediately saw that the background was pink not red. The background had a very intricate pattern and I advise him to him to redo the job from scratch and let me build it up to match the original. He said no because of the money and time. I think his quote was, “I scanned it myself so I know it’s right.”
Two days later he was running the job and I get a call. “There’s a problem with the job.” He said. “it’s coming out pink.”
I’m thinking to myself, “DUH”. I reminded him of our conversation.
“How can we fix this?” I repeated the conversation.
It is a necessary evil that monitor calibration needs to be done. There is also a number of ways to do it and while some will cost you an arm and leg, I found a few online charts that will do the job for most people. I take no credit for these as they belong to others and I have linked accordingly. Click on the links below them and it will take you to their site or article that will give you full descriptions and how to’s.
This first one comes from an artical by Giovanni a member at photosig. I do not have a website for him but I will try and find one.The link for this artical is http://www.photosig.com/articles/1562/article
The next one is from photofriday, the direct link can be found at http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php
Example: I was setting a layout for a client (who owns a printshop) and he wanted me to set a job from a scan he did. The background on this one was a pattern with red and had photos in the panels. He wanted me to change the text only. When I pulled it up on my system I immediately saw that the background was pink not red. The background had a very intricate pattern and I advise him to him to redo the job from scratch and let me build it up to match the original. He said no because of the money and time. I think his quote was, “I scanned it myself so I know it’s right.”
Two days later he was running the job and I get a call. “There’s a problem with the job.” He said. “it’s coming out pink.”
I’m thinking to myself, “DUH”. I reminded him of our conversation.
“How can we fix this?” I repeated the conversation.
It is a necessary evil that monitor calibration needs to be done. There is also a number of ways to do it and while some will cost you an arm and leg, I found a few online charts that will do the job for most people. I take no credit for these as they belong to others and I have linked accordingly. Click on the links below them and it will take you to their site or article that will give you full descriptions and how to’s.
This first one comes from an artical by Giovanni a member at photosig. I do not have a website for him but I will try and find one.The link for this artical is http://www.photosig.com/articles/1562/article
The next one is from photofriday, the direct link can be found at http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php
Friday, October 10, 2008
HISTORY IN HD
If you like old, antique or nostalgia have I got a site for you. It is called Shorpy, History In HD. It claims to be the site of the 100 year old photographs. In truth most are not quite that old but there is a great sampling of Americas past ranging from about every subject; e.g. Dust Bowl Days, Cars, Tractors, Store Fronts, Gas Stations; just about anything can be found here ranging from the 1860’s thru mainly the 1930’s with older and younger photos thrown in from time to time. I like to view the photos by Lewis Hines who covered the plight of the children workers throughout the country.
It is kind of funny that when my kids start complaining about school, homework and the like, I say, “Your right. Let’s see if I can find you a job.” I hit the Shorpy site and bring up photos of various jobs they may enjoy. I like to watch their face get all screwed up when they tell me that they are too little to work and I find a 5 or 6 year old selling papers for 25 cents a day. “Nope, look here’s a kids’ smaller than you. See!” That usually stops the conversation and they go on about their business of doing what they were supposed to be doing to begin with.
This is truly a fascinating place, but I will warn you. You can get lost in time and spend countless hours there. As of this writing there are 605 pages of photos. All of them can be made supersized by clicking the link under the photo (do it) the detail is unbeliveable. Shorpy has a huge following all ready but if you have never been there it is truly a treat. You can also order any print you see on the site.
It is kind of funny that when my kids start complaining about school, homework and the like, I say, “Your right. Let’s see if I can find you a job.” I hit the Shorpy site and bring up photos of various jobs they may enjoy. I like to watch their face get all screwed up when they tell me that they are too little to work and I find a 5 or 6 year old selling papers for 25 cents a day. “Nope, look here’s a kids’ smaller than you. See!” That usually stops the conversation and they go on about their business of doing what they were supposed to be doing to begin with.
This is truly a fascinating place, but I will warn you. You can get lost in time and spend countless hours there. As of this writing there are 605 pages of photos. All of them can be made supersized by clicking the link under the photo (do it) the detail is unbeliveable. Shorpy has a huge following all ready but if you have never been there it is truly a treat. You can also order any print you see on the site.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
I FOUND IT.......AGIAN
I need to share a secret with you. I am a cartography junkie. There I admitted it. I revel in pleasure when it comes to history or maps and could sit for hours on end. I ran across a copy of the 1914 Soil Survey of DeKalb County Georgia today and studied it for a good while. After looking at it all; the landmarks and streets that came to mind and all the memories that they held. I suddenly realized what I was looking at was not just a map, I was looking at my family’s life.
Click on the image for a full size view
Like many families we all came from somewhere and for ours, or for at least 4 or 5 generations, this was home. I doubt very seriously that many of them left this section of the map in their entire life. Scottdale, Georgia was a Mill Town or Mill Village as we called it. Everyone living in or around the mill made their living either working in, around or in support of the Mill. It had its own store, barber, post office, doctors and anything else that was needed. It remained that way for about 65-70 years. Part of our family was still there until the mid 90’s. Retired, but still there.
My immediate family left the village but we did not move off the map until the mid 70’s.Myself being around 9 and my brother being around 15 years old at the time. So what you are looking at is about 1/4th of my life. And what a different world it was. Everyone and I mean everyone knew everybody else. This was a good and bad thing especially when you’re a kid.
That translates to: You were pretty safe no matter where you went and the world mostly revolved around a single baseball field, hundreds of holes, ditches, culverts and anything else you could climb on or in. The down side was if you did get into trouble; which if you are true kid was at least once a day; you could count on more than one spanking. Usually by whoever caught you and then again when you got home. That is if some grown up who hadn’t taken out his or her frustration didn’t see you coming and decide to vent. Hey, you were a kid after all, you had to have done something wrong today right?
Truly though it was a special place and for those of us over 40 a better place because you had and knew what a community was. I am truly lucky because today we live in a more upscale neighborhood; about an hour south; with all the amenities but where we live it is a community once more. Neighbors actually do things with each other. Our kids’ play all the time and travel from house to house and as usual, get in trouble sometimes. Everyone watches out for everyone else, it’s just like the extended family.
Since being married we have moved a couple of times and had some great neighbors but nothing on the scale which we now have. We found a community once more. I think I’ll stay. But it was sure nice to have a look back.
Click on the image for a full size view
Like many families we all came from somewhere and for ours, or for at least 4 or 5 generations, this was home. I doubt very seriously that many of them left this section of the map in their entire life. Scottdale, Georgia was a Mill Town or Mill Village as we called it. Everyone living in or around the mill made their living either working in, around or in support of the Mill. It had its own store, barber, post office, doctors and anything else that was needed. It remained that way for about 65-70 years. Part of our family was still there until the mid 90’s. Retired, but still there.
My immediate family left the village but we did not move off the map until the mid 70’s.Myself being around 9 and my brother being around 15 years old at the time. So what you are looking at is about 1/4th of my life. And what a different world it was. Everyone and I mean everyone knew everybody else. This was a good and bad thing especially when you’re a kid.
That translates to: You were pretty safe no matter where you went and the world mostly revolved around a single baseball field, hundreds of holes, ditches, culverts and anything else you could climb on or in. The down side was if you did get into trouble; which if you are true kid was at least once a day; you could count on more than one spanking. Usually by whoever caught you and then again when you got home. That is if some grown up who hadn’t taken out his or her frustration didn’t see you coming and decide to vent. Hey, you were a kid after all, you had to have done something wrong today right?
Truly though it was a special place and for those of us over 40 a better place because you had and knew what a community was. I am truly lucky because today we live in a more upscale neighborhood; about an hour south; with all the amenities but where we live it is a community once more. Neighbors actually do things with each other. Our kids’ play all the time and travel from house to house and as usual, get in trouble sometimes. Everyone watches out for everyone else, it’s just like the extended family.
Since being married we have moved a couple of times and had some great neighbors but nothing on the scale which we now have. We found a community once more. I think I’ll stay. But it was sure nice to have a look back.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
HOW I GOT THE SHOT 3 FOR 1
I missed last month of "How I Got The Shot" so this month I'll throw in a 3 for 1.
I have been trying to show examples of easy shots with very little equipment that anyone can do. Here is a set of different shots with basically the same principle and setup with slightly different settings. All where metered prior to shooting and then adjusted for the look I wanted. Remember a light meter as well as your Auto and P mode will all give you a starting point for your creation. Find that starting point and then adjust the shutter and f stop to see what happens.
On this one I put the light beside me about 10-12 feet from the model and I had my assistant hold the reflector about waist level next to her. That blended the light and took out the shadows.
This one was shot pretty much the same way except I used a larger panel and angled it so it would mix the natural and strobe lights. This not only lit her well but kept the backgound nice and saturated.
This last on was shot with a reflector only that was about 10-15 feet away. I used the silver/gold side because of the distance and it also helped smooth her skin tone out to bring out her eyes.
I have been trying to show examples of easy shots with very little equipment that anyone can do. Here is a set of different shots with basically the same principle and setup with slightly different settings. All where metered prior to shooting and then adjusted for the look I wanted. Remember a light meter as well as your Auto and P mode will all give you a starting point for your creation. Find that starting point and then adjust the shutter and f stop to see what happens.
On this one I put the light beside me about 10-12 feet from the model and I had my assistant hold the reflector about waist level next to her. That blended the light and took out the shadows.
This one was shot pretty much the same way except I used a larger panel and angled it so it would mix the natural and strobe lights. This not only lit her well but kept the backgound nice and saturated.
This last on was shot with a reflector only that was about 10-15 feet away. I used the silver/gold side because of the distance and it also helped smooth her skin tone out to bring out her eyes.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
BUY! BUY! BUY!
In the events over the recent slide and panic over the Wall Street’s slide we can look at it as a failure and pull our money out or we can recognize this as a sale and buy. Is it at the bottom? Who can tell I don’t think so. However if you or your kids have a little money set aside in an account somewhere, now would be a good time to invest in a mutual, index fund or a stock of choice.
Now you noticed I said good time not a great time. The low we hit in the economy was at the lowest since 2005. That’s right 2005, …so. It is a sale but not a bargain. The economy will bounce around for a while but it will recover without question.
Look at it in this since. We are at war, there has been - no rationing, stamps, rubber, metal or tin drives or other life changing factors that has drove the fact into our daily lives. In fact sadly, if it was not in the news every night most Americans would not even know that the war was in existence.
Contrary to popular and media beliefs we have yet to be in a recession look up the definition if you have doubts. While company after company is going under and jobs are being lost make no mistake it is bad, fueled even worse by the panic that is caused by the TV coverage. Jobs are hard to find, money is hard to get and credit is where it should be (given to people that can actually qualify and pay back loans).
That said with a lagging market and a wally-world sale of the countries stocks I found myself looking in all the nooks and crannies to find something to invest. Too bad for me, I didn’t find any. Like most we are strapped too and had nothing to pull from. Then one day over the weekend it struck me.
“How much do the kids have?”
After looking into their savings I found some. Not a lot mind you but some. So, today they are proud owners of a new mutual fund.
They were not excited. They didn’t even know they had money. Frankly, I don’t think they care one way or the other. Isn't that what being a kid is suposed to be.
I can understand that. I grew up in a single parent household until I was 9 or 10. My grandmother took care of us and my mother worked 3 jobs and was still behind most of the time. Did I know? No. I had no idea that we were poor or down on our luck.
To me, my world revolved over a certain set of streets and friends. The days outside playing, getting dirty and bloody was all we cared about. I would think most of the families in the neighborhood were in the same boat, but us kids had not a clue. It all seemed right with the world to us.
Teach them, love them, show them and spend time with them. You can stress the importance of right decisions more with actions followed up with words and explanations. I does not however, work so good the other way around.
Now you noticed I said good time not a great time. The low we hit in the economy was at the lowest since 2005. That’s right 2005, …so. It is a sale but not a bargain. The economy will bounce around for a while but it will recover without question.
Look at it in this since. We are at war, there has been - no rationing, stamps, rubber, metal or tin drives or other life changing factors that has drove the fact into our daily lives. In fact sadly, if it was not in the news every night most Americans would not even know that the war was in existence.
Contrary to popular and media beliefs we have yet to be in a recession look up the definition if you have doubts. While company after company is going under and jobs are being lost make no mistake it is bad, fueled even worse by the panic that is caused by the TV coverage. Jobs are hard to find, money is hard to get and credit is where it should be (given to people that can actually qualify and pay back loans).
That said with a lagging market and a wally-world sale of the countries stocks I found myself looking in all the nooks and crannies to find something to invest. Too bad for me, I didn’t find any. Like most we are strapped too and had nothing to pull from. Then one day over the weekend it struck me.
“How much do the kids have?”
After looking into their savings I found some. Not a lot mind you but some. So, today they are proud owners of a new mutual fund.
They were not excited. They didn’t even know they had money. Frankly, I don’t think they care one way or the other. Isn't that what being a kid is suposed to be.
I can understand that. I grew up in a single parent household until I was 9 or 10. My grandmother took care of us and my mother worked 3 jobs and was still behind most of the time. Did I know? No. I had no idea that we were poor or down on our luck.
To me, my world revolved over a certain set of streets and friends. The days outside playing, getting dirty and bloody was all we cared about. I would think most of the families in the neighborhood were in the same boat, but us kids had not a clue. It all seemed right with the world to us.
Teach them, love them, show them and spend time with them. You can stress the importance of right decisions more with actions followed up with words and explanations. I does not however, work so good the other way around.
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