Hilary Lovin' Obama

Photoshop edits to this are limited to image adjustments only--the signs, the hand, the drag outfits, and the unidentified smoke were all real.

Another Before and After: Coke Dog

The original was taken on a brilliant sunny day in India, creating a high contrast image with a blue cast from the sky. The faded red color of the wall was completely lost.
















In this photograph I really wanted to capture the blinding brilliance of the original day. If I just wanted to create a gentler picture, I could easily tone down the brightness just a bit. But this one captures the squint-your-eyes feeling and restores the intersection of yellow walls, blue sky, and red wall I originally found so appealing.

Portrait Adjustments in Photoshop

This is how a recent image came out of my little, usually accurate Powershot: extremely blue, overwhelmed by the cast of the sky:















This is my adjustment in photoshop, to salvage a great portrait. I used curves and layer masks to adjust tone and bring out lightness in certain areas while avoiding the dullness that comes from adjusting brightness or color directly.

Wireless Playlists

Today I'm tripping about seeqpod (www.seeqpod.com), an online wireless music service that bills itself as "playable search." You can look up artists, find hundreds of their songs available online from various websites, and add them to a playlist, which you can save. Then, whenever you're connected to the internet, you have access to your vast playlists which could a MUCH vaster collection of music than your puny 160 gig external hard drive. With the advent of the iPod Touch and its wireless connection, will this send digital music files the way of the CD? (Thanks to my favorite chancebender for showing this to me; check the site out soon at www.chancebending.com)

Below is a screenshot of the very simple and usable interface.

www.seeqpod.com

What happens when you REALLY want something

A fascinating new study from the Journal of Consumer Research finds that when we long for something intensely -- like a much-needed vacation -- a wider array of options will sound appealing, potentially leading to some out-of-character choices. Similarly, when we are especially hungry and presented with an range of menu choices, we are more likely to deviate from our favorite meal.

Continue reading at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070912130821.htm

sea sponge

Google homepage iterations

Check out this fantastic page where you can view all the iterations of the Google homepage. A little bit of history in the making:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://google.com

layers

Sketchfu is this totally cool program my artist uncle showed me. You can create and share sketches online, but the best part about it is the way the sketchmaking process is recorded. It's really amazing to see all these fantastic pieces of art, made using very limited tools, and then watch the speeded-up recording of it happening online.

Check it out! http://sketchfu.com/drawing/20378-colors




Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!