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Photoshop and Lightroom

7/24/2011

I've recently had the opportunity to play around with Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. I used to have Photoshop, but I realized that I could spend hours and hours on one picture. I take too many pictures to be spending that kind of time on just one picture. That was about the time I discovered Lightroom.

I love Lightroom. It does almost exactly what I need it to. When my Canon's sensor was dirty, I was still able to fix all the little spots that were on my pictures. There are tons effects I can play with, and I have been totally pleased with it. There is just one thing I wish it could do, blur. I can mess with the clarity and sharpening, but I really just want a blur. For those of you that read my post about creating an Artificial Bokeh, you'll know that I was able to accomplish it.

Photoshop can accomplish a lot. There is so much I can do with any one picture. It's amazing. The problem is figuring out your way around and that it can take a while to get the effects you want.

I love both of these programs. Lightroom is my preference because of the time thing. I'm really excited to play around with Photoshop, but I would rather have Lightroom than Photoshop. Since the price tags for these programs are a little ridiculous, I would definitely recommend Lightroom if you have lots of pictures to edit or Photoshop if you want to super edit a few pictures at a time.

Those are my thoughts about Lightroom and Photoshop. If you have any questions about either of these programs, I'll do my best to answer them.

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Eyes

7/22/2011

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People never believe me when I say my eyes change color. Well, here is proof. I have two pictures taken at two completely different times... several years apart actually. I have taken out the color in the background, but I have not messed with the colors at all.

This first picture was taken in January of 2007.

This second picture was taken a few days ago... so July of 2011. It's a little out of focus, I tried. Don't judge me.

I think I'll try this again later to see what I get, but there you have it folks. My eyes change colors.

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6 Things I Learned in Santa Fe

7/18/2011

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I feel like my trip to Santa Fe was a total learning experience.

Here are 6 things that I learned whilst in Santa Fe:

1. A fly can hang onto a window until the vehicle reaches around 60 mph.
2. George R. R. Martin lives in Santa Fe fairly regularly.
3. Texans like bad chocolate.
4. Beware the woman at the camera shop with the cat.
5. The easiest way to tell the difference between a fir and a spruce is the needles. Firs have soft needles and spruce have hard, sharp needles.
6. A lot of people die in Santa Fe.*

*We saw a lot of cemeteries in Santa Fe... more than an average city. I could easily surmise that Santa Fe puts their cemeteries in more central locations or that their cemeteries have a smaller limit to their capacity. Neither of those can quite compete with my conclusion that a lot of people die in Santa Fe.

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WR Line Phenomenon

7/14/2011

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I am going to rant for a second.

Here is a question:
Why is there always a line for the women's restroom?
Better question:
Why do women feel the need to go to the bathroom in herds?

It doesn't matter if there are 12 stalls or just 1; it seems like there is always a line. I also think that the more stalls there are, the longer people take. Perhaps I wouldn't be so upset about this phenomenon, but I was at Walmart today where I was fairly certain I would end up like the astronomer Tycho. Walmart was emptier than usual, but there was still a line for the bathroom. Not only that but one of the stalls had been locked and then vacated via crawling.

If anyone has any wisdom concerning the "WR Line Phenomenon", please, enlighten me. Until I have gained insight, I will remain baffled and occasionally vexed.

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Flickr to Picasa

7/10/2011

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I've thought about this for a while. Some of you follow me on Flickr, which is awesome. I love seeing all the pictures you guys post, but I really just hate how Flickr organizes things. It's really that Flickr doesn't organize things at all. It allows for sets, which is nice, but it's just not enough for my OCD. I tried it out for a year and there are some things I really love about it... for instance, I really like that I can see my stats, what's popular among my pictures, and which of my pictures is more "interesting". I love that I can look on a map for all the pictures I took in a certain area. I never used the editing feature because I love Lightroom too much to use anything else.

So, Flickr is nice, but my OCD won't allow it.

Once upon a time, I tried out Picasa. I hated it. I hear it's better now, so I'm going to give it another shot. So far, my biggest complaint is that they don't allow subfolders... I think I can work past that. The problem with not having subfolders is that I arrange all my folders within folders. For instance, I have a main folder called "2011". As a subfolder, I have "Summer 2011". As a subfolder of that, I have the random adventures I have had this summer like "Moab 0622". In each of these final folders, I have an "Edited" folder. So, in all I probably have like 15 folders with the name "Edited". Since Picasa won't allow subfolders, I now have 15 folders with the same name... so I have to go rename them all.

Once I get through this renaming process, I think I will be much happier with Picasa than with Flickr. But time will tell.

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Happy 4th of July

7/4/2011

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It's the 4th of July... in case you were wondering what the date was and happen to think my blog might be more accurate than a calendar. So, happy birthday to the US of A.

I will be celebrating in Durango, Colorado. I hear there will be fireworks tonight. Honestly, I'm not too excited about the crowds or the actual holiday, but I really like the fireworks. There is Coldstone in my future as well. I've heard rumors of a parade and street dance tonight. It's currently 95 degrees outside... so I doubt I'll be attending either of those.

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying your 4th of July, spending time outside and have a blast at whichever fireworks show you decide to attend... if that's your thing.

If you're not from the US and couldn't care less about the 4th of July... well, bear with me, it will be the 5th soon.

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Photoshop and Lightroom

Eyes

6 Things I Learned in Santa Fe

WR Line Phenomenon

Flickr to Picasa

Happy 4th of July

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