Thoughts on Lightroom and Other Things

Ooooh, what a mysterious title!

Whoever posted that link to the photo contest, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't have anything to submit that would fit the theme, unfortunately =(...also...the prizes seemed...biased...like, technically I'd enter under the amateur category, but even the grand prize seemed like a bit of a copout (point and shoot camera and some other stuff). I was tempted to enter the professional division, if it wasn't for the like $50 entry fee. So, yeah, thanks for the suggestion =) I might enter a picture or two into JPG Magazine again soon. In fact, I had a few that fit the "On Stage" theme they have this week, but I wouldn't be able to get a model release in time from Illuminations =(. I entered one photo a long time ago with Soyoung in it and everything blurry. I think it was themed like "What would you see in heaven" or something, and I liked the blurry abstraction of a friend who greets you standing in front of a foresty-looking/green background (background was the slope, but the blurring made it seem more 3d).

Richardson, the only Chinese music I have is F.I.R. and I like them a bit. Any suggestions? Trying to get Jiyeon and Soyoung to help me with Japanese music, lol.

So, I used the beta version of Lightroom 2.0 on this machine because of the 64 bit support. Kinda like how I used the beta Lightroom 1.0 on my old computer. As I expected, there were QUITE a few feature changes/upgrades in the real version. The full retail version is decidedly quicker and a bit more intuitive, and it hasn't crashed yet (beta version crashed often)! As such, I have to heartily recommend Lightroom 2.0 for anyone with photos...it isn't as powerful as Photoshop, but it really doesn't have to be.

Anyway, I have restarted my horrid Lego addiction! I started because I saw this video. I don't think it's healthy to replace WoW with ANOTHER massively multiplayer online game...especially a Lego one, since that will probably be more addictive...Oh well, it's not out yet...Oh, yeah, so it restarted my Lego addiction because I starting looking around at stuff...and...I mighta bought some stuff...like 2 ice trays, a popsicle maker, and a t-shirt...moving on, I found a pretty cool blog dedicated to Legos! I'll link it here (http://www.brothers-brick.com/), and I'll add it to the side, as well as a Lego section =).

Also, I have Rosetta Stone and will be trying to teach myself some languages! I'm starting with Japanese, cuz technically I've wanted to learn it since middle school. I want to eventually learn Korean and Spanish, relearn Mandarin, and maybe relearn French. They had a CD for Arabic too, and that sounded very cool...even if it'd be very difficult...oh well, never give up, I say!

I should finish packing...I'm going back to Ithaca this weekend! So yeah, packing and Japanese!

Stay Tuned.

LIGHTROOM 2.0 CAME OUT LIGHTROOM 2.0 CAME OUT LIGHTROOM 2.0 CAME OUT LIGHTROOM 2.0 CAME OUT LIGHTROOM 2.0 CAME OUT LIGHTROOM 2.0 CAME OUT LIGHTROOM 2.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/
YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAY

Sorry for the essentially meaningless post, but I wanted to say this as it's now out of beta and hopefully won't be as buggy....

Now that it's not beta, I can fulfill Directive 1 of photos! No temporary software to process my pictures! Should be a deluge of photos coming soon.

Also, I'm going to quit WoW cold turkey. At least for a few days. I have other things to do with my time during the summer. Today I'm going rock climbing and will probably edit photos...tomorrow is probably editing photos...lol....

Plus, it gives me free time at work. This summer I'm doing a lot of project management, so I kinda sit in my office and wait. I used to use that time for reading about gaming and WoW and stuff, I think I'll study my GRE vocab all day instead.

Oh yeah, I still want some recommendations for music for my slowly-being-rebuilt music library!

Speaking of which, time to whip out the flash cards!

Back from the Dead! Mostly

Hey guys,

I finally got my computer back up and running! Vista64 didn't want to play nice with 2 of my older hard drives (they were PATA attached to a RAID on the motherboard, for those of you who care), so I took them out and got another Terabyte drive. Now I'm slowly rebuilding my photo and music libraries, as well as my bookmarks and stuff. If you guys have any recommendations for music, let me know! I like listening to a lot of different artists and styles. However, any suggestions may have to wait...I have to refind all the music I listened to before, plus go through a 59 gb backlog of music I downloaded but haven't been able to convert, much less listen to yet =(.

But yeah! Hard drives are up and running, Lightroom 2.0 beta sorta works (its amazing when it DOES work, but it crashes for no reason sometimes), Zeke is bored most of the time though.

I'm looking at getting more photography stuff. I really want a fisheye lens! They have a 180 degree field of view that's distorted and looks pretty cool. Specifically, I like this one. How useful is a fisheye lens? Not really. Look at pictures taken with fisheye lenses and you'll see why. How COOL are they? Tres cool. So cool, I don't even need to put in the proper accent.

I also want a normal wide angle lens, like this one. The super wide looks awesome...plus, L-series glass is pretty phenomenal (my white lens is L-series).

I might also replace Zeke with a newer model in the fall. I want a full frame sensor, which Zeke doesn't have...I dunno what I'm gonna do with him! I don't really want to sell him since 1) my dad wants a camera and 2) Zeke really likes my white lens...

Also, these things aren't cheap...gotta keep scrimping and saving...

Been playing WoW a lot lately...I didn't work out so much this week because I basically had 2 weeks of no exercise and my body couldn't handle my normal exercise...oh, I should detail that I guess

Monday: 30 mins cardio, arms and shoulder resistance training, 3 X 15 reps of 80% max capacity
Tuesday: 30 mins cardio, upper torso resistance training, 3 X 15 reps of 80% max capacity
Wednesday: 30 mins cardio, lower torso resistance training, 3 X 15 reps of 80% max capacity
Thursday: 30 mins cardio, legs resistance training, 3 X 15 reps of 80% max capacity
Friday: Open
Saturday: Open
Sunday: Open

I want to fill in Friday, but I tend to travel Friday afternoon, so it screws things up...

But yeah, 2 half weeks of work screwed my schedule really bad and I have to get back on track. I think I lost like 10 pounds, but vacations kinda messed that up...by last check I lost 6 pounds. Yay! I'm going to sign up for a gym membership at school, too.

Anyway, I'm gonna stop this post now. Feel free to sound off in the comments!

Stay Tuned!

PS. Dark Knight put a smile on my face.

My Selections

Hey all, I know this post is loooooooooong overdue, but here are my top 10 and top 5 pictures in no particular order, with reasons why. I also gave 2 runners up.

Again, some of the pictures are a bit too wide, but I don't know how to fix that problem short of doing what I was SUPPOSED to do with the blog: go and edit the html and css files, reupload them, and have Blogger use the new files with new graphics.



This picture was entered into the contest with more dust correction and titled "Geometry." You guys picked up on the thing I was trying to capture and the thing I liked most about this long hallway. I really liked all the lines and shapes and everytime I look at this photo, I feel like I'm looking at something caught between two mirrors. I did my best to try to frame this picture to make it as symmetrical as possible, but it looks like I might have to try again later.



This second picture was also entered into the contest under the title "Imminent." I liked this picture because of the vantage point. I also tried to capture some of the tense emotion that was flowing throughout the hallway. Admittedly, there was one exam with a larger, more interesting crowd, but I didn't have my camera that day, unfortunately.



This picture was also entered under the name "Texture." I told Eugena this as I mounted this photo on coreboard, but I liked this picture because seeing it makes me want to actually touch the surface it's on, even though I know better. Plus, the shadows from the wrinkles in the shirt add some nice depth, and the worn text (shirt came like that) gives a sense of age. This blending of senses is compelling to me. I believe I will try to get this printed on canvas, if I ever want it at home.



This photo was entered under "Other Self." I liked this one because of the mirror surface on the lake and how the mirrored self had more visible parts than the actual self. Sorta like a metaphor for searching for yourself, I guess. Please ignore the last sentence as it is basically me trying to do something I'm not good at: be an intellectual. Let me rephrase.

DUR PURTY PICKY-CHUR



This photo was not entered into the contest because it received (I think) no popular votes. Possibly one. I'm really not sure why this photo resonated so strongly with me. I think it might have had something to do with the relatively simple color scheme, yet it also has a lot of detail in the photo that gives a feeling of touch. I guess I would title this one "Stairway."



Another photo that was entered into the contest. This one was titled "Tunnel." I liked this one because of the tunnel structure, plus I really feel that Rhodes is quite under-appreciated, architecturally. Maybe because few people have reason to go there, and even fewer of them look at the stairs.



This was entered as "One Spot." Kim discussed the aspect of the photo I liked the most, which was the play on the depth of field. The lens I used is my favorite (haven't used the monster 70-200 that much yet), the Zeiss 50mm 1.4, but I stopped it down to 2.8 (I believe) here. I felt like that specific spot had a story; perhaps the only safe area in a bleak and desolate world?



"Waiting." If this picture were taken before this 9/11 security madness, it could have multiple meanings, I believe. I dunno, but I thought that people used to be able to walk to the gates and along the concourse even if they didn't have a boarding pass. I distinctly remember my mom picking me up from the airport like this a few times. In any case, I liked the potential stories that this photo could tell. In case you haven't noticed, I like to imagine scenarios and I value the potential stories as much as the object the story starts from.



"All Eyes on Me." I like how the lights drew attention to the subject.



"Nature Loses This One." I didn't actually see why this photo was so popular. This is probably my least favorite of the 10 I selected, but I did like how the colors and lights seem to back and support human development/society/technology, while the woods and grass that are normally portrayed as comforting and warm are almost made to be villains here.

These next two photos are runners up:



I liked this one because I tried to show the tree as being contained or caged inside the window frame, but with parts of it being able to sneak through. I also liked the different angle, but I disliked how much stuff is going on in the picture that is extra...



One of my endless hallway shots...I liked it except I think it would've been much much better if there was a person at the very end, near or at the window.

I hope I don't seem too full of myself for talking about my photos that way...

Anyway, I won't be coming to Ithaca this weekend. I'm going home to visit another company plant that makes different product to try to learn more about our technology and business. I will be up next weekend to wish everyone a good break/good luck and possibly to move some stuff back into the apartment. I don't really know, I'll play that part by ear. My last day at work will be January 11th, and I'm moving out by January 13th. So, I'm giving myself a week break to relax before school starts. I'm trying to get a week off for Christmas/New Year's, but I don't know how that's been going; I asked my boss about it, but last time I talked to her about it, she was still getting feedback from her boss.

In other news, the newest patch for World of Warcraft was quite substantial and made lives easier in general.

Also, I've bought way way way too many games for Wii. List as follows:

Metroid Prime 3
Super Mario Galaxy
Mario Strikers Charged
Zack and Wiki
Wii Play (for the controller)
Big Brain Academy
Battalion Wars 2
Wii Zapper

You may be wondering why I got so many games, well, Toys R Us had a "buy 2 Wii games, get a 3rd free" sale, and I figured I might try my luck. This is why I got Wii Play instead of just another controller, so I could get a free game. I was extremely lucky; both Toys R Us's in Northeast PA got hit REALLY hard. Like, at one store, the only games they had were shitty launch games. In fact, I actually scored the very last copy of SMG in both places, and that was because I called ahead and reserved it for a day. When I went to buy it, the clerks had to tell customers they had no more SMG, and had to hide my copy when I checked out. I also wanted to get Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, and Wario Ware, but they were sold out. Well, they were sold out of the first 2, and I didn't want to buy only one game during the sale. Apparently, Hannah Montana was extremely popular this year, as clerks asked by name if I wanted it.

I don't actually play very much Wii here. My room is too small for the arm-swinging action I use and I'm uncomfortable setting everything up in the living room as my roommate has a tendency to be very forceful with objects and not as respectful to my stuff.

But, more stuff will come soon!

Stay Tuned.

I'M HORRIBLE

**EDIT**
Can't believe I forgot this:
YAY SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**End edit**

SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING MORE OFTEN.

Granted, I don't think anyone reads this religiously.

It's been hard, as usual, to post. I've been spending a lot of time editing pictures actually. I'm trying to enter a small portfolio into an Architecture, Art, and Planning photography contest. The grand prize is $7,500, which is a nice lure to college students, but I'm more interested in the competition.

Here's the information for anyone interested.

Photographers in general are an interesting lot. We look to each other's work to draw inspiration and ideas. This is what I'm much more excited about. I really doubt I'll win any prize in this contest, but I want to see what Cornell students are capable of. The contest is open to any students at Cornell, and I want to see what other people take pictures of. See what qualifies as art to them. How did they take their pictures? Who will win? How will the photos be judged? These are the things I'm thinking of. Because of this, I actually encourage more people to try out! You don't need an SLR to make great photos and I want to see more! In my opinion, art is communal and should be shared, so I really like the idea of being open about sharing techniques and ideas and such. Granted, I still hold all copyrights on my photos, but I'm protective about my work.

Other than that, Photo Society is trying to print a magazine with member-submitted photos. They'll vote on the best photos and have the magazine printed. I'm trying for this one too but I'm also very interested in how, who, and what people are shooting. It's a very exciting time for me, photography wise. I'm also about to buy a new lens, bag, and flash!!! =)

Going through my photos for these contests has shown that I actually forgot to upload about 50 pictures from the spring onto facebook...oops...I'll try to fix that soon.

When I decide which pics I want as candidates, I'll post them as a collection/group onto Zooomr and ask for opinions. Til then,

Stay Tuned.

PS: How's everyone else doing? Sound off in the comments!