RSS

Thus far, this has been the most amazing discovery for me. I had no idea what "RSS" was until this exercise, and it has greatly improved my web browsing! Now, I can get the daily doses of all my favorite websites in one place in a quick at-a-glance group. I have already set up 12 feeds, and will probably double that before the day's end. Using Bloglines has already turned me on to several new photography sites that I didn't know existed before today. Now, it's all starting to be worth it (nah, it was before...).

No, I'm not going to provide the link to my own Bloglines account. What I read in my off time is a bit personal to share with the entire PLCMC community :).

Technology Related...

Here's my technology related post. Just the act of typing this post relates directly to technology. It's amazing that we are even able to do the 23 things in these discovery exercises. Technology has both complicated and organized our lives - if that makes any sense... I suppose that with most anything good, you are forced to take the bad.

I am an avid user of Photoshop, so I'll discuss that program for a moment. You've seen the effects of Photoshop if you've ever looked at a magazine cover, movie poster, or company logo. The possibilities are endless and the program certainly has enough tools to keep a person learning about its capabilities for years. You can take a portrait/headshot of a regular person (like me) and transform them into a supermodel in less than 30 minutes. True, this technology has done its share to perpetuate the false norms of beauty and perfection, but it can also help you feel less critical about your own pictures after you remove the blemishes! :) The one big downside to this program is its cost.... upwards of $500 for the new version. ImaginOn does own the program, but unfortunately the program is on the computers in The Loft which are reserved for children aged age 12-18 - and I am not allowed to use it. I have Photoshop Elements 4.0 which is an abbreviated version that suits my needs.

Mashups

I've entered the world of mashups, and I think I'm going to turn back. Thus far, I haven't found anything very helpful. Yes, it's fun to see pictures of places visually laid out on a map, but I can use Google's image search to find pictures of Burlington, VT just a fast - if not faster. I used Wikipedia to see other mashups, but I didn't find an application that made my life easier. Yes, I now know what a mashup is; no, I will never use a mashup.

Flickr Fun

Obviously, this "thing" was a nice task to complete since I have a passion for photography and enjoy looking at most pictures. I am not a fan of Flickr, however, as I feel like there are many superior sites out there for what I need. Flickr is a great amateur, friends & family photo sharing venue but lacks a true "art" quality. pBase, on the other hand, is a great online photography gallery that is exclusively used by at minimum serious amateur photographers to display their work. At pBase, you don't have to wade through endless pictures of last weekend's frat party or Aunt Rhonda's trip to the mountains to find quality art. This, of course, is just a personal opinion of mine based on what I am looking for. Flickr is free, and it does serve its purpose.

The photo I chose to blog about is a photo tagged with "HDR." If you know anything about photography, specifically exposure, you know that it is very easy to have a bad exposure when taking a picture in either bright light or low light. The shadows will either be black, or the bright areas will end up white. This is an undesirable effect. A photo should represent a more true appearance. A new photo editing program allows the user to take up to 7 (or some a few more!) photos of the same scene, at the same time, exposing each photo to pick up all the detail from the highlights to the shadow areas, and then stitch all 7 photos together into one perfect picture that holds the true detail, texture, and color from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights - something impossible with "traditional" photography. The result is an amazing picture that while life-like, looks a bit unnatural because it is capturing something our eye is not use to seeing. Totally confused? Don't worry about it. You don't need to understand what's happening to enjoy the outcome. My quick tour of Flickr turned up this great HDR image. This photo was taken and post processed by D e e v a.

Back

After a whirlwind of a month, I'm back onboard with the program - with a ton of catching up to do. I have one day left here at ImaginOn before transferring to another branch. I have decided to forget about my photography lessons in the blog at this point because a) I am behind with 2.0, and b) because as far as I know, no one is reading this blog.

Over the next few days, I will prove that completing the 23 things on time is possible - no matter how behind you are. If you have procrastinated and need some encouragement, use my progress to help.

Okay, now that I have taken a public oath to complete this project, failure is not an option.

Update

If anyone is reading this blog, you haven't had much to read in the last couple of weeks (sorry). I got a new job and have been traveling extensively. I got a job as a photographer with a new company with a traveling digital photography studio. It's awesome! I'll have to give details later. Don't worry, I still work at the library - I can't give up this free mp3 player! Who would have known that this Learning 2.0 project would have multiple benefits for PLCMC! :) Kidding... The photography job is Thursday-Sunday, the rest of my "off" time will be spent working at the library.