Flickr!

Whoa! Flickr is getting serious! Free? Terabyte? Full resolution?

Did I say, free?

I've never used Flickr, preferring Picasaweb (Google+ Photos) for my storage needs, but this offer is tempting, indeed. Nearly unlimited full-resolution uploads?

I'm stunned! Stunned, I say!

What's Flickr's endgame? Are they just upping the ante, knowing full well that Facebook probably won't, Google already had unlimited uploads (with a Google+ account and at a lower resolution) and most other services with this offer are pay-to-play?

Read TechCrunch's article on the move by Yahoo to revamp Flickr.

Out This Morning

Took my dog out for a walk this morning on Cherry Creek State Park. Naturally, I grabbed some pictures while out.

These are the before and after shots -- SOOC and post-processed with Snapseed.

I apologize for them not being in the same order as I haven't quite figured out how to keep them that way when blogging from mobile.

The before shots are first three and the after images are the second three.

Denver

Had a chance to grab a couple of (android) shots of the Denver skyline.

The images were edited with Snapseed and then two of them -- one of each -- were given some extra treatment. You know, for fun.

Unfortunately,  I didn't know we were going to be allowed on the 7th floor garden terrace or I would have brought my tripod and Pentax.

The Shell

"The Original" SOOC

I know I've been ignoring this blog for a while and I apologize for that indiscretion. While I haven't stopped taking pictures, both with Android and with Pentax; and while I haven't stopped sharing them on both Google+ and Streamzoo, I just haven't been in a place to sit down and type out posts.

Today, hopefully that changes.

The image to the right is one I snapped at the dog park a few days ago. This shotgun shell was just sitting out there on the walking path in a place designated for dogs, horses, cyclists and runners.

It's not really a place for shot guns or their shells. Now, granted, this area used to be a gun-dog training area, but casual dog walkers eventually took it over from those trying to teach their hunting dogs not to fear the sound of a shotgun firing and to retrieve on command. Occasionally a shotgun shell is found in the park, some older than others.

For giggles I played with a handful of photo-editing software options and differing techniques to create the images below. Since this image was simple, had some depth of field and a foreground subject matter it was an easy image to experiment with in this manner. This first one, How the West Was Won, I edited with the online service, PicMonkey. There are strong similarities between PicMonkey and Google's Creative Kit (formerly known as Picnik) and that can be ascribed to PicMonkey being the pet project of those developers who originally created Picnik and left Google after their program being acquired by the search giant.

On to the edits!

Winning the West

 I decided to give this image an "old west" or sepia feel since the lonely shotgun shell lying on the ground just shrieked "leftover from the OK Corral" to me. It's not from anywhere close to Tombstone, AZ, but Colorado was also a part of the western expansion of the late 19th century and that was good enough for me. In order to complete the feel of the "old west" I rounded the corners and darkened the edges.

Edit on the Go

Since this was an Android original, my first edit was using Google's (Nik Software) Snapseed Android app. While far more feature filled than many image editing Android apps, Snapseed is still just a mobile app and therefore limited. The image, which I stated before, screamed old west and instead of creating a sepia image, I just boosted the contrast, made the image black and white and then added some texture --  hopefully to give the image a classic feel, perhaps a little nostalgia from the 40s or 50s, before color film became widespread and monochrome still ruled the world.

My impression of the final edit is an image found in an old newspaper or magazine, accompanying a story about murderers on the run in New Mexico, Utah, Texas or the Mojave Desert.

Like PicMonkey before, Google's social network, Google+'s, online image editing software is easy and convenient. While this image edit became the template look for the above wild west look I settled on above, I used Creative Kit because... well, I was bored. That's right, I was logged into Google+, became bored and decided to play with Creative Kit.

Aftermath of the zombie apocalypse

This edit was a little different, instead of  "old west" I saw the final image and immediately thought of the what the world would look like in the aftermath of the impending zombie invasion. Not the zombies running around trying to get at our brains, but rather what the world would look like once the last zombie has been dispatched from existence. It won't be sunshine and rainbows, I think, but a wasteland devoid of humanity with the ground littered in the shells of bullets giving proof to humanity's fight for survival. Sure there will still be people, but perhaps a tenth of the population of any given geographic location, I think.

Charlie

Took an (Android) picture of my roommate's dog Charlie yesterday. I also edited it a couple of different ways.

I like them all for different reasons. However, since I'm loading from mobile, I'm not sure what order these will load. So, the one that looks the least edited is probably the SOOC image.

I made Tea

Black. Lipton. With honey because I like it sweet.

The Rose

While out walking the dogs today I caught this little rose stuck in a gutter. As you an see, my dog Rufus' feet are in the upper left hand corner of the picture. Just another reminder that a photo opportunity can be found nearly anywhere.

 I really like dichotomies and this opportunity brought forth a perfect chance to catch one in the wild. I also like those wild unplanned spur-of-the-moment catches with my camera. Those moments in time that are unique in themselves, where the right mix of action, location, lighting and circumstance are not easily recreated in a studio or by random collection of events.

The first image is straight out of the (Android) camera, or SOOC, and the second was edited with Snapseed for Android. I'm not real thrilled with the editing I performed in Snapseed, the rose's petals appear too light compared to the rest of the image. Maybe I'll rework it another day.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

For the past 14 years my motorcycle club has ridden in the Denver St. Patrick's Day parade.

These are some of the Android shots I took today. There are many more dSLR shots to come, but these were quick and easy to edit using Snapseed.

Yesterday's End

Taken with my Android device and edited with Google's Snapseed app. 

This image is of the Cherry Creek Lake in Colorado, looking west. 

A Walk with Rufus

I took my dog for a walk earlier this evening and didn't bring my dSLR along with us. I know, I know, bad Magic Elf Box.

To be honest, unless Rufus is off leash he's usually just in the way: pulling on my arms while I'm framing an image, nudging the tripod/monopod, getting into pictures I don't want him in or not into pictures I do want him in.

Today I just decided to bring along my Android. I'm sort of like Luke Skywalker like that.

All images were edited with Snapseed.

The first image, to the right, is of a pair of shoes I saw there at the park months ago, the last time Rufus and I walked over there. I saw them still sitting there under a bush and decided to take them down to the lake shore and use them as a prop. 

The picture of shoes is something I've been wanting to do and this was just a serendipitous moment.

What really surprised me was the number of dead fish on the beach and in the water. A ranger (or was it the Park's GM) once told me this was natural but I've seen too many stories on the news about swimmers getting rashes and mutant fish to trust that line of spin.

This fish was just sitting there and I think I might have stepped on him before noticing him lying there. There was still a little bit of snow near his tail (that's the white stuff back there) and you can see the line in the sand where I removed a twig that served no aesthetic purpose what-so-ever. Not that a dead fish is aesthetic at all, but the twig didn't fit the image I wanted. 

Remember, I went out with only my Android and Rufus to keep me company. While the coyotes were howling and Rufus was sniffing the dead fish I was able to capture this image of the Cherry Creek lake, Denver Tech Center and what can be seen on the mountains in the background.

At one point we saw (I say "we" but I mean "I" -- Rufus doesn't notice these sorts of things) a bicycle chain dangling from this gate post. I have to conclude, since this is a very active bicycling route, someone's chain broke and they either field replaced their chain or called for a ride and left this dangling for a good Samaritan or park ranger to dispose. 

To be honest, with Rufus pulling on the leash eager to move on, I only had a chance to take this one picture before he dragged me in front of a father/son duo of bicyclists. Not the greatest shot, but I like juxtapositions and this one has metal and wood, man made and natural.

I have noticed, though, the images appear better on my Android with Snapseed than they do displayed here. For some reason the colors aren't jumping out and the sharpness doesn't seem to be as prevalent as it appears on mobile. Is it the screen? Hm.

Cheeseman Park, Denver, CO

Click for Album

A couple of weeks ago I took Rufus (my dog) down to a park here in Denver. It's a park I've only been to a handful of times in my more than a decade living in Denver. Not that it's a bad park, it's just not that close to me and I have to pass by a dozen other parks to get to this particular one.

In my spare time, I'm trying to write a novel. My protagonist lives near this park and I needed to know more about it, so I grabbed my camera and walked around, taking pictures of the park, the area around it and Rufus. Why? Because I'm a photographer in my own mind and we always take our cameras with us.

The light on this particular day was great, diffused by the clouds perfectly. A lot of the images I took were just pictures of the area so I didn't have to rush down there every time my character walked through the park, but I did get a handful I don't feel too bad sharing.

You can click on the collage above or the slideshow below for all the images from that morning.

Denver Botanic Gardens Lights 12-24-2012

On December 24th, 2012, for the second time since moving to Colorado I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens for their Blossoms of Lights event. The first time, with an ex-girlfriend, happened a few years ago and neither of us brought a camera. To be honest, she wasn't entirely thrilled with my desire to photograph my life and I carried the camera (my trusty Pentax *IST DS) rarely.

This time, however, I went for their Blossoms of Lights showcase alone, with the specific intent to bring my camera and tripod, so I could take my time and work on my schedule, not having to worry about someone else's concerns. I chose Christmas Eve thinking most people would be home with the families, preparing for the December 25th festivities. 

I was wrong.

Apparently, December 25 is a very busy evening for the Gardens. I was surprised at the number of people there and getting shots without  people turned out to be very difficult. 

With the overcast skies and the lights from the city of Denver bouncing back down, the sky really was that off-tungsten color instead of night or with dusk colors.