Monthly Archives: September 2011

Last weekend I was in Champaign-Urbana IL, visiting. It just so happened that the Urbana Sweet Corn Festival was going on at that time and, with that, a really bitchin’ classic car show.

I saw a lot of very cool cars and got a lot of very cool photos as well as the opportunity for a lot of artistic license and played around with multiple takes on several of the shots. To start this off, here’s a shot of what may be the coolest car I’ve ever seen, a 1935 Auburn Supercharged 851 named “Ruby”.

I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is but this car just spoke to me.

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Rather than try to explain it, here’s Wikipedia’s description of HDR.

“…a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminance between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wide dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight.”

Basically, take a bunch of exposures of the exact same scene with different levels OF exposure and layer them. It’s pretty easy to overdo but, when it’s done well, it’s almost impossible to tell. Here are my first attempts at HDR compositing.

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My paternal grandmother turned 90 on August 20. She’s outlived two husbands and all the rest of her siblings. She’s slowing down a little bit but still constantly moving. Kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids came from all over the country to descend on my uncle’s small town of Stowe, VT for a celebration.

While I was there, I took the opportunity to enjoy the Vermont scenery in addition to getting a well deserved 5 day vacation and a long overdue family reunion.

Sunset over Lake Bomoseen.

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Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve stopped by here, hasn’t it?

Right about a month ago, Gen Con 2011 hit Indianapolis and I went as a press rep for IndyMojo.com for the third year. As usual, it’s a great time and provides a window into a culture that everyone knows about but few really understand.

Wizards of the Coast’s Neverwinter booth, live monsters!

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