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Showing posts from February, 2012

60/365 Photo Project - Snow Returns

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Snow Returns I really thought we were going to make it th rough the rest of the winter here in New England without any more snow, today proved me wrong. This is the same tree from Day 56 only a few days ago, crazy to think of the contrasting weather in only a few days, but hey it is New England after all. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS tone adjusted in post processing.

59/365 Photo Project - Church At Sun Rise

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Church At Sun Rise As the sun rose it lit up this church in South Boston this morning. Although the weather was a little cooler today the unseasonal winter continues without any snow on the ground. I had to wait a few seconds for the passersby to get out of the frame but other than that this was shot as seen in my P&S no cropping. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS tone corrected slightly in post processing.

58/365 Photo Project - Fire Escape

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Fire Escape Out of the office, to take a break away from my computer screen, for lunch today and I happened upon this fire escape in South Boston. I like the repeating pattern of the wrought iron. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS and cropped for squaring and tone corrected in post processing.

57/365 Photo Project - Signs Of Spring

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Signs Of Spring Crocus blooms come early with the very warm winter weather we've had this year in Massachusetts. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS and tone corrected in post processing.

56/365 Photo Project - Windy

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Windy 60 MPH wind gusts rustled through the trees around our apartment, luckily without causing any damage. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS .

55/365 Photo Project - Porter Sq, Cambridge

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Porter Sq, Cambridge Heading home passing through Porter Sq in the heavy rain of the late afternoon showers. This was tone corrected and color enhanced in PhotoShop. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS .

54/365 Photo Project - Western Ave, Cambridge

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Western Ave, Cambridge Heading home I caught the late afternoon sun shining over the homes on Western Ave. This was tone corrected and color enhanced in PhotoShop. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS .

How to get 30 second Skip ahead on Comcast/Xfinity DVR

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Ok, so I've tried to keep an open mind about having to go back to Comcast cable now that I've moved to a location that doesn't have FiOS but Comcast isn't making it easy. One of the most obvious things you will notice about Comcast sucking compared to FiOS is the inability to watch items you have recorded on your living room DVR on the bedroom cable box. This is something FiOS has offered for many years now and yet Comcast are still way behind. There's little that can be done about this except complaining to Comcast in the vain hope that they give a crap about their customers, but at least their on demand content now apparently allows you to continue watching something on your second TV that you started on the first, whoop-pee doo. A second and more common feature that I found was a disgrace to be missing was the inability to skip ahead 30 seconds. Not sure if you have the 'Tivo' DVR from Comcast if you get this but that wasn't an option from Comcast in

53/365 Photo Project - Broadway Station Selective Color

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Broadway Station Selective Color Heading home on the T at Broadway Station on the MBTA Red line. This was converted to B&W in PhotoShop but first I created a duplicate layer from background and using the selection tool cut out the areas I wish to show their true color. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS .

52/365 Photo Project - Time To Shop

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Time To Shop After work today I had a little time to shop at the mall before heading out to meet some colleagues for pizza and beer. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in Av mode, no post processing.

51/365 Photo Project - Fluorescent Bulb

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Fluorescent Bulb Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS . This was a difficult shot my P&S shooter to expose correctly, the bulb being very blight, to the human eye the background here is also bright white.

50/365 Photo Project - Memorial Drive at Sunset

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Memorial Drive at Sunset This was taken earlier today just as the sun was beginning to set on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS . There's no sky filter applied here the 'darker' blue sky at the top of the frame is actually the sunshade of my cars windshield. FYI, my wife was driving while I shot this.

Free March 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

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Get your free March 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper. Simply click on the above image to get the full size version and right click to save it to your picture directory (depending on your browser). Once saved locally you can set it as your desktop background. For instructions on how change your desktop background on a Mac or a PC click here or here .

49/365 Photo Project - B&W Selective Color

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B&W Selective Color This was converted to B&W in PhotoShop but first I created a duplicate layer from background and using the selection tool cut out the areas I wish to show their true color. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS no cropping, tone corrected and of course processing as described above. I like the 'pop' of selective color, will have to try this more often. This is my second attempt using this technique, you can see my first try in my January 24th post .

48/365 Photo Project - Left Over Valentine Chocolates

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Left Over Valentine Chocolates So many chocolates, so little time, nom nom nom. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in low-light mode with macro focusing, cropped for aspect in post processing. I was impressed with the point and shoots detail at macro focusing here, no where near as good as my DSLR but good nonetheless.

Google Navigation Bar changes WTF?

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What the Google Nav bar looked like before Example of the Google Nav bar now It really bugs me when companies change things for no good reason, if it aint broke dont fix it!! Today's example of this is the Google navigation bar at the top of our brower window panes, we've all seen them when using Google services, now they've gone and changed the color of it again, and not only that they've moved links around so now we've got to hunt for the calendar when before it was easy to find next to the gmail link. Not sure what they are thinking with this new 'monochrome' look including black on white Google logo, not a fan. Stop changing stuff Google, grrrrr!!

47/365 Photo Project - Moving On

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Moving On Today's photo is the last one I'll take in our old home, now it's time for my wife and I to move on to the next chapter of our lives. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS , cropped for aspect and levels adjusted in post processing.

46/365 Photo Project - The Bane Of My Life

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The bane of my life I've now spent a total of 5 hours, in 3 days, on the phone with various Comcast tech support, billing and account personnel none of who could actually manage get my TV working beyond even basic cable. Surprisingly my internet access, without which I would go nuts, has been fine. So that's the subject for today, Xfinity the bane of my life right now! #firstworldproblems Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in hand held night mode, a cat hair I didn't see in the frame removed in post processing ;)

45/365 Photo Project - Central Sq Dreams

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Central Sq Dreams After a morning of none stop re-arranging of boxes and furniture I had to get out of our apartment and headed to Censtral Sq. for lunch. This was taken near the bus station, I never stopped to take note of this 'dream' column before. I like the various patterns in the photograph. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS no post processing.

44/365 Photo Project - Chaotic Mess

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Chaotic Mess Moving house is never an easy thing to do, and this weekend the move was no exception. Here's the state of chaos in our kitchen right now Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS corrected levels slightly in PhotoShop.

43/365 Photo Project - No Snow Here!

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No Snow Here! Today's photo is meant to contrast the photo I took January 22nd which was the last accumulating snow we had in the Boston area. Yesterday we were suppose to have several inches of snow but happily that didn't happen as witnessed in this photo. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS no post processing.

42/365 Photo Project - NUFC Fan Mug

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NUFC Fan Mug Packing away your life in to boxes is a rather stressful process, but digging through the cupboards and finding blasts from the past is fun. As was the case for the subject of today's photo my Newcastle United Football Club fan mug. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in macro focusing mode without on camera flash, cropped, but no other post processing.

41/365 Photo Project - Tree At Twilight

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Tree At Twilight Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in toy camera mode without on camera flash, cropped slightly to remove a badly placed street light, other than that no post processing.

40/365 Photo Project - Battery on Granite

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Battery on Granite I almost forgot to take a photo today, but this dead battery on the kitchen counter top provided an opportunity to test the close-up focusing abilities of my Canon P&S. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in macro focusing mode without on camera flash, cropped for squaring, no post processing. The light here is provided by the overhead kitchen pot lights, using on camera flash would have blown out the details and reflected in the granite.

39/365 Photo Project - Red Line Train

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Red Line Train The Alewife bound train pulls in to the station. It was fortunate timing during rush hour to catch this shot without anyone getting in the frame. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS , no post processing.

38/365 Photo Project - Harvard Squared

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Harvard Squared A completely dreary day and a fairly uninteresting shot this I thought I'd go square in the square. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS , cropped for squaring and framed in PhotoShop.

37/365 Photo Project - Sun Rays Over Boston Harbor

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Sun Rays Over Boston Harbor It really did feel like Spring in Boston MA today even though we are still thoroughly in the middle of Winter. The suns rays and reflections on the water brightened an otherwise very average Monday for me. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS , cropped for size and adjusted for tone in PhotoShop.

36/365 Photo Project - Spuggies!

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Spuggie Out for a walk this afternoon around the Boston Common and Copley Sq. provided an oppurtunity to snap this spuggie and his friend in the bushes. (FYI: Spuggie is Geordie for Sparrow.) Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in Portrait mode to keep the background out of focus, cropped for size, but other than that no post processing.

Better in Black and White?

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The question I set out to answer today 'Is Black and White a better choice of taking dramatic photos than Color?' To test this theory out I've converted several of my shots to B&W and compared them to the original full color version. I chose shots that I thought we're adequate in color but with contrasting light and dark areas that I believe could benefit from Black and White conversion. Check your favorite photo editing software for options to convert your images to B&W. I'll let you be the judge if the color original wins out or if the B&W converted images are an improvement. I have to say I like the conversions a little better, how about you?

35/365 Photo Project - Cat Portrait

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Cat Portrait Asta patiently sits for her portrait. I like how her eyes are sharp and in focus even in the low light of our living room. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in portrait mode, no post processing.

34/365 Photo Project - Panoramic of Cambridge Town Hall

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Panoramic of Cambridge Town Hall 4 different photos taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS in landscape mode were combined in to one large panoramic (original 7944x4632 px) to make today's photo. The finished combined image was tweaked in PhotoShop to remove 'joins' and also one set of annoying overhead cables. Can you believe it's the middle of winter? Not a sign of any snow in Cambridge MA today.

33/365 Photo Project - Keyboard

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Keyboard I've been extremely busy lately and it seems like I am tied to my laptop keyboard, so it only seemed fit that today's photo be of that beast of burden. Taken with the Canon PowerShot SX230HS .