Disqus - Latest Comments for nzm

Re: Dubai PhotoWalk!

Michele — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 22:20:47 -0000

Outside Starbucks. The tower behind you is where we used to live! Have fun, and watch out for zealous security guards!

Re: How to Use LAB Color in Photoshop to Add Punch to Your Images

Michele — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 11:44:35 -0000

Thanks for the reply.

Converting the image back from LAB to RGB using "Convert to Profile" will also flatten the Layers - it's just that Photoshop doesn't first ask you if this is ok!

So that's also something to be aware about when using "Convert to Profile" to change back.

Hence, your recommendation to perform the Curves correction & then convert back to RGB before commencing any other image adjustments (where it's important to retain layers), is a good one!

Re: How to Use LAB Color in Photoshop to Add Punch to Your Images

Michele — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 10:50:01 -0000

Hi Jim

Thanks for the concise & extremely helpful article.

One question. Is there any difference between "Converting to Profile" as you do above, or changing to LAB by using "Image - Mode - LAB color"?

Thanks and regards.

Re: FC Barcelona and the expensive revolution. Or is it really needed?

Michele — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:36:18 -0000

Nice one, Ramzi.

I'm not sure about your comparison of the Pique/Hummels combo to one of Pique/Busquets.

In Hummels you have a dedicated CB with positioning nous, who is always looking around him to see where the opposition players are in context to where the play is happening. You seldom see Hummels ball-watching.

In Busquets you had a filler "CB" with absolutely no sense of trying to clear the ball out because he wouldn't be in the correct position to properly receive the ball. The man is actually a menace in the Barca box!

Re: Before and After Portraits Reveal the Effects of Time and Aging

Michele — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:49:08 -0000

Most of those images of the people when they were younger have been retouched. It was quite normal for portrait images to be retouched. A lot of wrinkles and lines have been removed, making skin look smoother and less lined.

Re: The Polar Extremes

Michele — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 05:52:05 -0000

And the fares are freaking ridiculous, as we experienced. Euros100 per person (one way) to boat across to Hesteyri which is on the other side of the fjord from Bolungarvik. We didn't want to swim back, so it was another Eur100 to return to the mainland. ;.)

Re: Across the Estate

Michele — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:54:06 -0000

To be fair to him, he used the aircraft image as an example of bad HDR.

Re: Google+ Communities Launch – The Photo Community

Michele — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:07:42 -0000

Hmm...might have to dust off my G+ account for the SIC page - Dave Veffer might just faint from the shock! :)

Re: Photo Mystery – Ye Olde Blacksmithy

Michele — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:56:29 -0000

Well - it is in my 'hood!

Re: Photo Mystery – Ye Olde Blacksmithy

Michele — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:13:04 -0000

Gran Cuchilleria on Carrer de Ferran. I walk past it just about every time that I go into town. ;.)

Re: Moving to New Zealand

Michele — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 08:12:40 -0000

GEMA sucks. They block almost any video that has music.

Re: Don’t argue, it’s broken

Michele — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 09:21:42 -0000

So you two have evolved from talking to each other, through the emailing each other phase and are now into the Skype conversation step?

You trendies! :)

Re: Swimming Through the Grotto

Michele — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:54:31 -0000

Great interview. Darlene is a friend of mine - she and her husband visited me in Barcelona last year and we had a ball photographing. We also worked for the same NZ company - albeit in different countries!

Re: Walk in your customer’s shoes

Michele — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:19:35 -0000

Yes - but if you charge the client on an hourly basis for designing the albums:
1. the cost goes up for the studio engaging QBY to do the work.
2. it's not the most efficient use of anyone's time at QBY to be doing culling work that should have already been carried out by the studio.

If QBY is charging a flat rate for this work, and the designer then has to spend hours sifting through countless images which look the same, compared to the time which is taken to design an album when there are fewer image choices, then the latter option has to be better for the QBY designers and, ultimately and most importantly, all the QBY clients - because the work will be completed faster with less bottlenecks and exceptions in the production workflow. I.E. Faster turnaround time.

Now, think of the client that has to wade through all those images to find the ones that they want to include in the album. "Oh, I like the one of me in #506, but my husband looks better in #403 and the bridesmaids look better in #404, 410 and 415..."

Ultimately, what Heather is saying here, is: make the process easier for everyone - studios, production houses and especially the clients. Give people too much choice and too much work when it comes to selecting their images, and the joy can quickly turn to confusion and complexity - and will often reduce the total $$ (and profit margin) of the sale if it's all too hard.

Re: I’m Done with drobo

Michele — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:44:02 -0000

I'll join the others who recommend that Synology is definitely the way to go. We've had ours for a couple of years with no problems at all. The interface is incredibly intuitive and the whole system is faultless.

There's so much that you can do with this system (including running home security!) but we use a unit to store images, document files and it's also hooked into our TV so we store movies on it as well.

We chose Western Digital 1TB drives and have had no problems with these. As storage demands dictate, we'll swap them out for bigger ones and use the old ones in laptops or as external storage drives.

Wireless connection is a little slow, but our router could have a bearing on this. Must replace router...

You won't go wrong with Synology, Scott.

http://www.synology.com/ind...

Re: The Rock Cleaved

Michele — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:40:52 -0000

That's an iconic shot in Milford Sound.

The wind was so strong that day that it was blowing the waterfall back up the cliff. Gravity had to work hard to make its living. :)

Re: Across the Top of the Old Village

Michele — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:23:23 -0000

Seriously?

I wonder how all the Russian tourists in Barcelona have got here. :)

Most countries work on a reciprocity process. For example, if it's hard to get into a country (e.g. Russia) for a certain passport holder (e.g. NZ), then NZ will make it hard for citizens of Russia to visit NZ. Fees are often the same between countries.

A NZ passport has got to be one of the easiest on which to travel - although Russia does try to make it hard for us also! They need to know about every night's accommodation details and often it is required that an invitation letter is sent from the hotel to the tourist, so that this can be presented to the Russian Embassy along with the travel application. Russia cannot be visited on the spur-of-the-moment. :)

One of my fondest memories was the first time we drove into Oman from the United Arab Emirates. At the border I paid nothing (because NZ allows Omani citizens to visit NZ for free), while my German partner had to pay a fee!

Re: Levante 1 – 2 FC Barcelona: Barcelona Squeaks By and Keeps League Hopes Alive

Michele — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 07:46:34 -0000

The penalty on Busquets was well-justified entirely on his actions BEFORE the ball hit his folded arms. You cannot come in with a high leg, studs-up attempt on another player and not expect to be pinged. Silly play resulting from VV not clearing the ball out effectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: The Lady or the Tiger? Barca-Granada 5-3

Michele — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:43:23 -0000

Heh - you got me there with the order of penalties! Hoisted by my own petard... lol.

As for the number of penalties for Madrid, all I can say is that they know how to get them. They know how to milk the fouls and the way in which they fall, and they do everything right so that the ref will award them with the penalty shot. I'm not saying that all the penalties are undeserved, I'm just saying that the Madrid players really know how to get them awarded.

In comparison, Barcelona players don't know how to get them, and when they do simulate (as per Cuenca who dived for a penalty - can't remember which game, off the top of my head - l'Hospitalet at Camp Nou perhaps?), we cules were quick to criticise his actions and prefer that Barcelona wins honourably.

Simply, Barca players don't know how to fall properly! lol. Alexis deserved a penalty for being brought down, but he fell too easily and then looked at the ref while on his knees. He should have rolled over onto his side, clutching his leg where he was hit. Sometimes, the ref needs to be shown what happened. ;.)

Alves' nemesis is Granada's Dani Benitez. Benitez manages to rile Alves like no other player can do. He also got the better of Alves in Granada's home game against Barca. Benitez is a cat fighter - dirty and streetwise. His putting on the brakes to cause Alves to crash into him to force the penalty was something that Mourinho would stand up and applaud, and then he'd be signed to join Madrid. He already has the haircut. (As per Callejon when he got Casillas sent off last season at Cornella-El Prat!) The ref couldn't see what Benitez had actually done in that split second, so I'd give him the benefit of doubt over the first penalty, but Alves was all over Benitez' back which the ref could see. The second penalty was a bit harsh - ball bounces off Alves' leg onto his hand, BUT Dani's on a yellow already. He's played enough to know that he should keep his arms down, as Ramos does with his hands behind his back. Benitez once again outfoxes Alves. Plus, we all know in Spain that handballs (or balls to hands) are pretty much always pinged with a yellow card - especially in defensive situations.

It's a fine line between sportsmanship and gamesmanship, and it would fill the internet if I carried on with this subject!

As for Ronaldo - well, he has to find some way in which to make up for his failure to convert freekicks this season, doesn't he? 37 freekicks and 0 success. This, from a player who is touted as a freekick specialist. So now he becomes the penalty specialist and tap-in king. ;.)

All the above is said in humour with a taste of truth, of course!

Some observations to wrap up:
1. If Barcelona had won more of its away games in the first half of the season, we wouldn't be questioning the penalty imbalance with as much energy. Face it, Barca's finishing was dismal in the season's first half and clear chances failed to be converted into goals. (We still see it in this half of the season too, but they also manage to score too.)

The (too) many draws cost us a lot of points, and the losses to Getafe and Osasuna were unnecessary, and I really put those losses on Pep's weird selections of players for those games, and his reluctance to change the game plan early (if it's not working), or to sub on players much earlier than he usually does. He really was lost without Tito as his second pair of eyes.

2. The Spanish referee system has to be cleaned out. It's a joke. Where obscure handballs can be seen (think Messi and Alexis vs. ATM), more blatant fouls are being missed. I realise that it's incredibly difficult for refs to be seeing everything going on - especially when spaces get crowded during freekicks and corners, but something needs to be done. Another ref by the goal for freekicks and corners may be a solution - another pair of eyes concentrating on player movements off the ball.

The RFEF, as an entirety, needs to grow some cojones and clean up their act, and start to act as a governing body with no favouritism towards anyone. They need to be taking action with ANY player who shows a lack of sportsmanship (Pepe, Pique for his ref speech etc) and NOT only when these incidents appear in the ref's match report.

3. Teams in La Liga leave their pitch renewals until AFTER their home games with Barcelona - sad but true. I've noticed that at least Valencia, Bilbao, and Osasuna all have either new or repaired pitches now. It's something that happens, and something which Barcelona will have to learn to play against - as much as they still have to figure out how to play against a parked bus defence.

I'll stop now! cheers.

Re: The Lady or the Tiger? Barca-Granada 5-3

Michele — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:12:10 -0000

Nice summary, kage - and amusing!

Just a slight correction - Milan scored first at Camp Nou this season with a Pato goal not long after kick-off. Barca then scored 2, and then Milan scored again in virtually the final minute to even things up at 2-2. And it was AC Milan not FC Inter Milan.

As for Valdes - sigh.... He was lucky not to give Granada that 3rd penalty last night with his tackle. Also, let's hope that Barca seals the CL ties without coming to penalty shootouts, or that Pep subs in Pinto for Valdes 1 minute before the end of 0-0 play which would lead to the shootouts. I'd back Pinto over Valdes for penalty saves!

Re: La Liga review: Sevilla 0 FC Barcelona 2 – For Abidal!

Michele — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:02:08 -0000

Well, it appears that it was all wrong on TV last night AND it was a Barcelona-based TV channel that got it wrong, not a Madrid station!

There was a offside signalled, as this (blurry) video will show.

The folu is signalled by the ref with his right hand. he quickdraws the yellow card and presents it to the Sevilla player walking in front of him. He's still showing the yellow as Xavi kicks the ball to Messi. The ref runs forward with his card hand still in the air - he's allowing play to continue and will finish with the booking later.

However, the sideline ref has signalled the offside, as his flag is in the air and he's standing still and not running with the play.

What the video is not clear in is whether the sideline ref was wrong, or whether he was right and Messi took off running just a fraction too early: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Watch it in full screen mode.

Re: La Liga review: Sevilla 0 FC Barcelona 2 – For Abidal!

Michele — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:58:11 -0000

Well - Pique, Cesc and Puyol are all now in relationships with women who are 10+ years older than them.

Pique and Cesc may be having issues, but IF (big, big IF) the women are influencing Cesc and Pique, then they should learn from their capita who only seems to have improved, and grown stronger and better!

Re: La Liga review: Sevilla 0 FC Barcelona 2 – For Abidal!

Michele — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:51:08 -0000

Pedro's slowly coming back. We joke that he's lost form because he had his teeth fixed! Maybe he's had to learn how to rebalance himself because of it!

Re: La Liga review: Sevilla 0 FC Barcelona 2 – For Abidal!

Michele — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:37:41 -0000

The 2nd Messi goal was not ruled offside. The reason why the goal was not awarded was explained tonight on Spanish TV - together with video evidence of what happened.

The ref was in the middle of giving a yellow card to a Sevilla player, and Xavi (I think?) quickly re-started play by kicking the ball to Messi who then scored, but the ref called the play back because he hadn't finished with his yellow-card action. Damnit.

Re: Zermatt in the Evening

Michele — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:03:47 -0000

It's called "antici...pation". Summed up so well by Dr. Frank N. Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show: http://www.youtube.com/watc...