Lightroom’s Adjustment Tools – Quick Tip

Hi Folks:

The impetus for this post came from one done by Matt Kloskowski over at Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips.  I have a different photography style than he does and so I won’t likely incorporate the ‘super edgy style’ that he did, but it led me to consider how else the idea might be used.

Of the two images below, the image on the left shows a photo made with my cell phone camera (a Samsung Galaxy S i9000), and the image on the right is the same image after being pushed around a bit in Lightroom.  Cell phone images don’t have a lot of structure so you can’t push them very far without them dissolving into a goo of pixels. Continue Reading →

Finding Validation

Hi Folks:

I’d hate to hazard a guess as to how many videos there are on YouTube, but every once in a while you come across one that makes you want to e-mail every one of your friends. As that’s never likely to engender friendship or respect among your peers, I thought I’d post it here instead. It’s a short film called ‘Validation‘ and expresses in beautiful terms the impact we can have on each others’ lives. Presenting this here probably revokes my ‘Cynic’ card forevermore, but there it is. Please note: any reference to parking garages is purely intentional… 😉

So, without further ado, I encourage you to take fifteen minutes of your day to turn up your speakers or plug in your headphones and watch ‘Validation’. Just click the image below to start (it will open in a new window or tab).

Validation

And Marcia, I would gladly pay for parking for you.

Hugs,
Mike.

.

P.S. The following showed up in my Inbox this past week… thought I’d share it with all y’all:

Fellow Meetuppers,

I don’t write to our whole community often, but this week is special because it’s the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many people don’t know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby.

Let me tell you the Meetup story. I was living a couple miles from the Twin Towers, and I was the kind of person who thought local community doesn’t matter much if we’ve got the internet and tv. The only time I thought about my neighbors was when I hoped they wouldn’t bother me.

When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they’d normally ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being neighborly.

A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet — and grow local communities?

We didn’t know if it would work. Most people thought it was a crazy idea — especially because terrorism is designed to make people distrust one another.

A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months after 9/11.

Today, almost 10 years and 10 million Meetuppers later, it’s working. Every day, thousands of Meetups happen. Moms Meetups,
Small Business Meetups, Fitness Meetups… a wild variety of 100,000 Meetup Groups with not much in common — except one thing.

Every Meetup starts with people simply saying hello to neighbors. And what often happens next is still amazing to me. They grow businesses and bands together, they teach and motivate each other, they babysit each other’s kids and find other ways to work together. They have fun and find solace together. They make friends and form powerful community. It’s powerful stuff.

It’s a wonderful revolution in local community, and it’s thanks to everyone who shows up.

Meetups aren’t about 9/11, but they may not be happening if it weren’t for 9/11.

9/11 didn’t make us too scared to go outside or talk to strangers. 9/11 didn’t rip us apart. No, we’re building new community together!!!!

The towers fell, but we rise up. And we’re just getting started with these Meetups.

Scott Heiferman (on behalf of 80 people at Meetup HQ)
Co-Founder & CEO, Meetup
New York City
September 2011

Photo of the Month – August

Hi Folks:

I’m still editing the images I made in August, but I’m far enough along now to pick a favourite.  This image actually relates to another blog post we have coming up called ‘Walking Victoria‘, but as I haven’t written it yet I thought I’d talk a bit about Lightroom presets instead.  There are presets in a number of different areas in Lightroom: import presets, metadata presets, print, slideshow and web templates for example, but for most people the word ‘preset’ in Lightroom refers to Develop presets.  Some people love them and others say they wouldn’t deign to use them, insisting that each image is unique and should be treated as such.  To each his or her own, as the case may be.  My position lies somewhere in the middle.  There are a number of websites that have presets for sale; personally I haven’t found the need to buy any.  There are other sites that offer presets for free, and I have downloaded and installed some of those.  I’ve also made some of my own.  Mostly I use presets as starting points for creative ideas, or for suggestions when I’m not sure how to present an image.  I almost never leave the image ‘as is’ when using a preset, but continue to build onto what the preset has to offer. Continue Reading →