If you want to gain an insight into how to take better pictures I highly recommend Darwins seminars, check out his web site for seminar dates.

One of the things I learned about however was High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. In simple terms, have you ever tried taking a picture of a landscape or object and although your main subject was perfectly exposed either the sky or the background was too dark or too light (washed out)?

The primary reason is that the contrast between your main subject and the background or sky is too high and the camera or film simply cannot adjust both extremes to be properly exposed into your picture. There are a few solutions to resolve this problem; Darwin is a god of using filters to properly expose his pictures to create stunning images where all elements are properly exposed.

Myself not only do I not have the patience to dicker with filters but I also don’t have the skill or a camera that accepts filters easily.

The alternative is HDR photography where in essence one takes multiple pictures of a scene at various levels of exposure (usually one picture under exposed, one where the main subject is correctly exposed, and one over exposed) and then using software to combine these into one correctly exposed picture.

This technique requires a rock steady hand or tripod or monopod, a relatively quick shutter speed, and a slow moving or non moving subject.

Darwin had discussed Photomatics by HDRsoft and I thought I’d give it a try, the results are below.

I took a picture of a wharf in Horseshoe Bay Vancouver using a picnic table in lieu of a tripod and the Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) feature on my Cannon G9:

Good exposure on main subject (wharf), sky washed out (over exposed)

Better sky, but wharf and grass too dark (under exposed)

Most of the picture over exposed except for the grass

I then dragged these pictures into Photomatix and clicked the process button to produce the picture below:

About five minutes of diddling with the settings, not bad (pretty darned good I’d say).

I believe there are also HDR features (or methods) in Photoshop CS2 and Photomatix also has a plugin for Photoshop, but using Photomatix was quick and painless. Sign me up!!!

 Sunday, August 19th, 2006, 1:30PM, it was a rough start; I had between 70 and 80lb on my back to carry while the lil’ woman pulled her weight with about 30-40lb on hers.

 It was between 23 and 27C and our hike took about 3 hours; same hike normally takes under two hours when we’re not loaded down to the gills.

 If you look at the map below we parked our car where indicated and followed the northwest edge of the lake (about 4km to the camp ground) over mostly flat terrain. There were a few gentle grades but with our packs if felt like we were climbimg Mount Everest.

Once we got to the campsite we quickly recovered and setup camp for the night. First item of business was the shelter which I took care of (we hot an Asolo Hawk 3 tent) while the lil’ woman went to the creek to get water. We purified our water using the Pristine ClO2 Water Treatment kits which involves mixing a solution into the water to sterilize it. Believe me after several hours of sloggin that water tasted good.

Note: that I’m not affiliated with any of the product mentioned here; no sir, no kickbacks or endorsements other than my own use of these products…pffft

Dinner consisted of camp fire weiners and beans and lots of fruit punch  We also did some smores and hit the hay early.

 Our son was suffering from some allergies and the Snoritator 2000 scared of any potential predators while preventing us from sleeping. I have to say that I kept the wildlife protection (pepper spray) nearby as I’d never heard quite so many wilderness sounds as I did that night.

Although the weather was hot during the day any parts of the body not inside a sleeping bag got chilled in the middle of the night (lesson learned…get a big enough sleeping bag).

 Natalie and the lil’ woman got up early while the Snorinator and I slept in until 8:00 the next day.

Check out the travel album below:

This book was a very good read but also an eye opener.I guess at my age I’m still naive enough to think that people have a certain inane empathy towards other human beings in this world.

This appears to be true when you see the world come together to try and help victims of the Tsunami in Asia, or of the hurricanes that devastated New Orleans.

But it chills my blood to read about the inhumanity that is purposely developed in other human beings for the purpose of taking the life of other human beings.

This book was very well written and gave me what I think is a unique insight into the mind of a killer.

Not a murderer but rather a man turned into a machine. Jack Coughlin freely admits that a certain mind set is required for his job and that it’s a requirement of being a Marine.

I had never truly realized how much thought and in some cases pleasure the Marines take in destroying (read killing) their enemies. It left me with a sense of fear for a few weeks after having read this book.

Nevertheless this is a great read and you shouldn’t ignore it just because the topic may be distasteful. Note that when I say distasteful this is no reflection of the authors or any of the people mentioned in the book just the actions that they document.

So I eventually made it to the Public library computers and requested a hold on the book.

I got the book just about 6 weeks ago and that’s how long it took me to read the 260 or so odd pages of that thing.

This is one of the driest things I’ve ever actually read. Normally I would have tossed the book back into the library return bin but despite its penmanship this thing actually offers some decent insight.

Not to go into details (the book does that in spades) but Imperial Hubris offers lots of information (some of which simply confirmed my suspicions) and analysis into the state of affairs of America’s war on terrorism.

Whether you’re a civil libertarian or a hawk you should read this thing as it has information for both of you.

Some interesting points:

1) America will lose in Afghanistan (all else being equal)
2) America will continue to bleed in Iraq
3) Osama Bin Laden is not in fact on the lunatic fringe of Islam

There are others things to learn, and I have my own opinions but you’ll have to decide if the book is right or wrong on these.

Support this web site….blah blah blah and go buy the book at Amazon.

The best compliment I can give this wine other than the usual crap of fruity, complex, good finish and so on is that it was like drinking velvet. I eagerly looked forward to my next sip and was loath to swallow
as the smoothness would have to leave my mouth.

This is not a wine that I or anyone without infinite amounts of money could buy every day, but for those once a year or a lifetime occasions I definitely advise people to splurge and try this gem with family and loved ones. I also advise people to drink this wine with a good meal
as I feel that both the meal and the wine are improved by each others
presence.

Opus One Resources:

Opus One – The official Opus One site, quite nice, has history, vintanges, and over view of the Opus One winery.

A review of all the vintages of Opus One from Wine Today.

I have not found any sites on the ‘Net that I feel comfortable endorsing for online wine sales so to get a bottle I advise you to visit your local wine store and ask for it.