Graphic design, art, etc...

A DSLR & Photoshop doesn't make you a photographer4-03-09

Let me start by saying I am not a professional photographer. I like to think that I have a good eye, knowledge of composition, light, and so on.

I frequently visit smashingmagazine and flickr for some eye candy so to speak. I have noticed that more and more "photography" is more photoshop filters than catching a special moment in time. It is more about the megapixels and less about the story told in the photo. I am a fan of HDR and enhancing photos with curves, levels, channels and so on, but the number of poor photos and rip offs is getting out of hand.

Henri Cartier-Bresson said,

"To take photographs means to recognize - simultaneously and within a fraction of a second - both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis."

I feel his point is beautifully illustrated in the photograph to the right. He didn't take this photo with a Canon 50D and retouch it with Photoshop. He recognized his chance to take a great photo with a Leica 35 mm rangefinder and a 50 mm lens.

The point is...LOOK...FEEL...and don't rely on Photoshop. Use it to enhance your photos not salvage them.

Green Living in a Digital World12-22-08

One benefit of the current economic crunch is people are becoming more frugal and quite frankly it is about damn time. Several years back I didn't think much of sleeping with the TV on or using Styrofoam plates. It is a lot easier than you think to live greener and save your self some "bank" at the same time.

The following list is not all you can do, but hopefully it will get you going in the right direction.

1. Use hibernate mode(it is not the same as sleep mode!) or even better turn it off.

This may seem like common sense or maybe even silly, and if you are like some of my friends that leave theirs pc on 24/7 then you maybe able to save a nice chunk of change.

For example you have a powerful graphics card and a crt which requires roughly 300 watts an hour x 24 hours x 365 days a year equals 2,628,000 divided by 1000 x the national average of .1194¢ per kWh equals 313.78 a year. Now if you had an LCD monitor, turn the damn thing off when not in use and a more efficient graphics card that pulls 150 watts an hour based on a liberal 10 hours of use a day that equals 65.37 a year. You just saved enough for a new motherboard or an iPhone.

2. Unplug your seldom used electronics or invest in a smart power strip.

Even when you have electronics such as: printers, scanners, televisions, dvr's, vcr's, dvd players and stereos unplugged they still use electricity. Granted the amount is not much and varys from product to product it still ads up.

3. Go rechargeable on those batteries.

If you have a digital camera, you know how fast those batteries can lose their charge. By getting reparable you save yourself money by not buying batteries frequently and you do your part to help our growing landfill problem.

4. Pay bills electronically.

By doing this you save some trees(receipts, envelopes & checks and lower emissions since there are no mail trucks for you own personal vehicles involved.

To read the article that inspired this post click here.

Call of Duty: World at War, Review12-18-08

I have had this game for just over 10 days, and to be honest I am still having mixed emotions. I was really excited about World at War. I have enjoyed the Call of Duty/Medal of Honor franchise since the beginning, so my expectations were high but not unrealistic. I know a game sequel is unfairly judged much like movies and don't even get me started on games based on movies..UGH!

I will cut to the point. Team death match made me so angry that I literally had to turn it off and step away. You know when you spawn and die before you even get a chance to find cover(because you always spawn in the open or under fire,that happens about 50% of the time)? My favorite is on the kill cam after you die. The enemy is behind you...he aims...fires...and hits the wall next to you and you die.

The hit detection is awful, the maps are chaos forcing you to just run in circles, the nade spamming, flame throwers and spray & pray is totally frustrating. Overall team death match is a disappointment and I will go back to TF2 or Call of Duty 4. Sorry if this was on your Christmas list. If you are getting this game for team death match, you may want to reconsider if you are highly competitive like yours truly.

Right click this and save target as.