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Jul
27
Vintage! This is a random post. The year was 2008...
[This entry was originally published exactly a year ago - July 27, 2007. This is an anniversary reprint. On that date, lightning struck and the greatest wheels were set in motion. Time stood still for only an instant and then leaped forward. A beautiful day indeed...]
This time it was only midnight. I walked towards False Creek and the bridges to go record some invisible colors. Somebody was sleeping on the beach. I can’t blame them.
We now go back to current chronological entries:
Apr
13
« Mon pays, ce n’est pas un pays, c’est le printemps... »
It’s here. Spring is at our door. Quebec is emerging from under its heavy snowy blanket and liking what it sees. Soon, flowers will bloom and the sun will allow for great paragliding. Now that’s what really matters! 
I haven’t done much in terms of blogging since my departure from Little Cayman, mostly for technical reasons. My laziness is very technical, you see. The laptop it still out for repair, and the digital camera hasn’t yet come out of my luggage.
As expected, the culturo-climatological shock (with emphasis on the logical stem) has been hard. My feet are complaining inside of shoes all the time. My skin is dried up by the crisp cold air. Three cats in the house are making my eyes cry and my nose itch permanently. In the paper today, tales of war and of waste, but I turned right over to the TV page...
And then there is family and friends, lots of love and warmth, and untiring Yann 
There’s normal food and great micro beer. There’s a long forgotten affection for Jean’s and sweaters. And there’s the promise of what’s to come...
So soon photos will appear back here to document the journey. I’ll just need to catch my breath a little longer, and manage to stop staring in awe at the puzzle around me, jaw gaping and eyes wide. It’s only the real world, after all...
Defined tags for this entry:
travels
« I found you by googling « HDR photography explain », and you did. Kind of. Thank you! What do you think of Trey Ratcliffe (found his work the same way)?
Date of comment: 2007-07-28 09:50 •My interest is theoretical. I have a friend developing a game/interactive system involving HDR and he’s sworn to secrecy about it, so I must educate myself before telling him to get stuffed.
I particularly liked the backlit saucisson. »
« Hello Marie,
But seriously, HDR as used in a gaming development context might turn out to be radically different than when applied to photography, so don’t be too quick telling your friend to get stuffed...
Date of comment: 2007-07-28 11:26 •Glad to have been of service. I am relieved by your « kind of » because my posts never pretend to be too serious nor do they aim at defining HDR by themselves. Other people do that much better. I’m merely dropping my own grain of salt into an already very salty and agitated ocean...
Somebody else did mention Trey’s blog a while ago and I paid it a visit back then but haven’t had a chance to return. I seem to remember he skilfully uses Photomatix (or similar) for slightly abstract and painting-like results. That was my first flirting with HDR too and although I’ve drifted towards a less-traveled road, I still enjoy these kinds of very dramatic pictures.
As for your interest being purely theoretical, never say never: I have a feeling the only way to photograph a backlit saucisson on a 12 1/2 by 5 1/2 terrace would be to use HDR...
Cheers! »
« Hi Vince
Date of comment: 2007-07-28 12:28 •Thank you for the words of caution. No, I was simply miffed at being so excluded from the (fulltime, time-consuming)process...And I do tend to shoot my mouth off!
Good luck with your Marukawa search. I’d be happy to ship! »
« The fourth photo is my favourite of the set. How much processing did you do to these photos? I’m curious about the techniques you used. »
Date of comment: 2007-07-28 16:06 •« Hi Andrew,
Date of comment: 2007-07-28 18:37 •These are actually not HDR, they were just single long exposures shot in auto white balance mode. Of course at night with such long exposure times and all the mercury lights, the auto mode gets fooled and the result is a strong yellow/orange color cast. So when processing the RAW file, I basically bring back the white balance to a much colder setting until the colors seem natural and almost day-like. The rest is a routine adjustment: white and black points, boosting the midtones, increasing contrast and saturation, reducing color noise a little, etc. In other words, the regular Camera Raw or Lightroom work. Then in Photoshop, advanced denoising and sharpening with my favourite tool, FFDD5. »
« Hi Vince
Date of comment: 2008-07-27 09:49 •....WOW!
Marie »
« Now did I mention the very special HDR effect achieved by bracketing shots of duck prosciutto slices on a Pacific Northwest sandy beach?
»
Date of comment: 2008-07-27 10:54 •