This is another sunset view from our condo on Sunset Beach in Treasure Island Florida. It was great fun spending a whole month on the beach. It was something we had always wanted to do and we are blessed to have the time, money and health in retirement to do some of the things on our wish list. The nightly sunset views from our balcony were stupendous.
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Long Boards at Sunset
I have been experimenting a lot with Google’s NIK Collection photo editing tools. Previously I have created HDR images by using auto bracketing on my camera and combining the images with Adobe Lightroom. However, The Nik Collection offers editing tools that are pretty effective.
The advantage of HDR is the increase of detail and color adjustment in the image. I still feel that auto bracketing offers more detail because it actually changes the size of the image. The Adobe Lightroom auto combine also has a powerful de-ghosting procedure that allows you to take HDR images without the use of a tripod. However as you can see from the two images below, the NIK tool also increases detail without a dramatic increase in image size.
Not all images are improved by the HDR process and I am not sure if this image actually benefits although the change is dramatic. What’s your opinion? Comments are truly appreciated.
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From The Speakers Balcony
HDR Redux
When we moved back to Pittsburgh in 2014 we really lucked out in a lot of ways. Of course neighbors sometimes can be a liability when buying a house. Just ask me about Long Island sometime. However, Regent Square is a wonderful Pittsburgh neighborhood and we have great neighbors. One bonus we couldn’t have planned for is that one of our neighbors is a singer-songwriter.
I have great respect for songwriters, they are poets. As a novelist, yes I can say that, I am even more impressed. It’s hard enough to think up the words let alone set them to music. Our local poet is Matt Aquiline and he writes alternative country rock music that is humorous and heartwarming and never depressing. Last night he played at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh with his new band and they were awesome. They were proceeded by The Highballers with Belén Pifel, who used to sing with Matt when they lived in Washington. At the end of the night Belén Pifel and John Woolf joined Matt and his new band for a great finish. Here are some images from the show.
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Matt Aquiline with Belen Pifel and John Woolf
The Highballers
Belén Pifel
Matt Aquiline, Belen Pifel and John Woolf
I learned a lot of interesting things during our tour of the US Capitol. I did not know that each state was allowed to have two sculptures inside the Capitol. There is one area that is full of sculptues and others are scattered through the magnificent building. I partuclary liked this one that stands guard in the Capitol Visitor Center.
This is Jack Swigert who was a native of Colorado. He was an American test pilot, mechanical and aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and NASA astronaut. He is one of the 24 people who have flown to the Moon. I like the reflection of the visitor center in his visor.
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Captain Jack Swigert
I am currently writing Worlds Apart which is book two of our DreamMap series. If you read the first book, DreamMap you know that the story involves parallel worlds. I just wrote a series of scenes that take place in The Kings Box in the Chichén Itzá on a parallel earth. This is an image from the real one on planet earth.
If you haven’t read DreamMap, you can currently buy the Kindle edition for just $.99 just follow this link click here!
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The King’s Box
Today is our 45th Wedding Anniversary To celebrate we will be offering DreamMap on sale! Starting on today,June 6 and ending on June 13 you can buy our exciting fantasy/mystery novel DreamMap at Amazon for just $.99 for the Kindle version. You can also purchase the trade paperback for just $10.53 and get the Kindle version for just $1.99 additional. So discover the other world romance of Jake and Rose and experience the thrilling ride through our world of the DreamMap.
To order your copy, click here!
On February 2 of 2012 I started this blog with this very same image. This image of Captain Beefheart at the Pittsburgh Syria Mosque is very special to me. It was the first time I was every back stage while a band performed. It was my first color print. I took it during my first year of photography with my first Nikon camera. It was the first image I posted to my commercial online site. It was my first online sale. It was also the first image I ever had stolen and unfortunately has been used on a few bootleg recordings.
I thought it was fitting for repost today. I started this blog as a way to express myself mostly through my images but also through commentary on things I like. I have kept it mostly non political and about my favorite subject; photography. The blog has helped achieve some small success with my novel and other books but I mostly keep posting because I find it enjoyable and challenging.Thanks to all my followers around the world and the people that have purchased my products. Hope you will stay tuned for the next 1000!
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Zoothorn Rollo with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
Some of the most wonderful “art” in the world is stuff you just find walking around. There is no artist signature, no gallery lighting or people walking around going “hmm” while they touch their chin. This is an ornamental design integrated into a wrought iron gate found near Cancún in the Mexican province of Quintana Roo.
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Found Art
Recently I posted an image of a Flamingo Squabble at the Highland Park Zoo in Pittsburgh. All the flamingos, maybe a dozen in all, were engaged with one another but off to the side was one flamingo all by himself. There were also a few blue herons together but one was also estranged and hung out near the solitary flamingo. Were these two pals ostracized from society for some unknown avian crime? Guess I will never know.
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Strange Birdfellow
A few years a go I published skippy the Pelican. So named by me since he seemed to skip across the water. This was taken at a small harbor on Isla Mujeres a small island near Cancún in the Mexican province of Quintana Roo. I decided to edit the image using the HDR tool from the NIK Collection by Google. The new image is on top, so you be the judge. Comments appreciated.
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Skippy Redux
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