Flickr and Photoshop Levels

First, as if I needed another place on the internet to regularly not update, I got a Flickr account: click me. Facebook doesn't seem like a good place to put my good photos, deviantArt doesn't seem like a good place to put non-art photos, and Ravelry isn't a good place for photos not based on yarn, so I needed a good place for all of the above.

I went apple picking with a couple friends last weekend and while there weren't m

any apples, there were lots of trees and a gorgeous blue sky. Photos from this trip made up my first Flickr set are saved in Hillview Farms, including...*

Also featured in this set is my newest love: Photoshop's levels feature. I'm thoroughly addicted to manually editing levels--especially the individual RGB channels. Don't get me wrong, I love my Canon PowerShot SD550, but is ultimately is a point-and-shoot with a small lens and small sensor and can use a little tweaking.

Ok, so there was a lot of tweaking. I'm probably overdoing it (just learned today about alt + white/black point to see what might be cut out when adjusting the point), but the colors are so vivid. I don't know how long I've stared at this progression in wonder so far. The first image is after noise reduction, sharpening, and cropping (to straighten it; it still looks crooked to me though), but no levels/contrast/color/etc. adjustments; the second is after applying a levels layer to the whole photo; the third is after applying a levels layer to just the sky, with the ground and trees masked out. Vivid!

Expect many more of these. Eric can only stand to watch me hide and show a levels layer so many times so this obsession needs an out somewhere. Hello, Internet.

* Click on the photos to go to their respective Flickr pages.

Healing nicely

Shortly after finding my dpn's two weeks ago, I developed a pain in my right wrist. It wasn't a dull, short-lived, maybe-I-had-too-much-to-knit pain; it was a serious, sharper pain occasionally coupled with a prickly feeling in my hand. I freaked and didn't touch yarn for a week but it still hurt. So I picked up a snazzy wrist brace, wore it most of last weekend, then just slept with it on every night since then and I'm feeling much better! I don't have any more pain at all and I'm feeling confident I can knit tonight at my weekly, two-person S&B without worry.

Of course, I couldn't go two whole weeks without touching yarn. The second week I broke down, but didn't knit. Instead, I dug up many of my partially used skeins of various Caron Simply Soft colors, measured them out (I'm starting to doubt the measurements, but more on that later), and wound them up with my makeshift nostepinde.

The seven yarns outlined in red are all new to my Ravely page this week (yes, a Cascade Venezia also snuck in there; again, more on that later). I'd still say it was a productive week, but I'll admit I am longing for my needles.

Also to compensate, I broke out my camera for slightly more artistic uses than merely documenting my new obsession with measuring yarn. I bring you, the Leaning Tower of Yarn:

Ok, not all that impressive yet, but at least it's not another straight-on, one-skein, one-color shot. (Ok, you caught me, now I'm actively trying to include more hypenated phrases in this post =P)

Still, can't wait to start actually knitting again!

Digital + Film

Wouldn't it be really neat (if really expensive) to combine film and digital into one camera? You'd have the best of both worlds immediately available at your fingertips. My favorite application for this: practicing in digital, then flipping a switch capture the moment with the already-confirmed-the-looks-good settings on film. I love film and I love developing it myself, but it's frustrating to spend so much on it + developing and then discovering that it's just a bit off from what you were going for.

Fire photos

...are available on dA:

• Blues and Curls
• Blue flames
• Vivid Colors

Someday I'll put more thought into the titles.