@ElendilTheTall I have my first solo attempt ready for grading Teach! Ping me when you show up (ya slacker).

@Jolenealaska ping

Hi sweetie!

mornin'

Ok, I want to unveil my first attempt. There is one big oops, that I unfortunately didn't see.

tut <sets score to negative already>

I have not dealt with with white balance at all, because all of the colors are so similar that I didn't know what to do with them.

I am frustrated with layers, so I want to be sure that I pick your brain on that.

OK - Original, as snapped:

I like how American power sockets look like surprised smilies

anyway, proceed

After (I'm curious how many nanoseconds it will take for you to see my screw-up):

erm

focus point? nothing glaring at me

I would say you should avoid shooting so wide then cropping so much

Left top croissant

highest point

by all means leave some room to crop, but christ, not that much

tiny bit of a cloning smudge?

I wouldn't call it tiny, my croissants aren't Victoria Secret models. It looks soo phony to me.

because you've seen the original

I see nothing wrong with it, other than the aforementioned mega-crop

I am proud about one thing. I think I knew when to stop dealing with the finger hole.

one of life's great rites du passage

Too, I had some glare. At a bit of a zoom, it looked like flour had been dusted on the croissants. I think i showed appropriate restraint there too. So, for the most part I'm happy with the croissants, except for the very fake looking airbrushing effect on the top one.

Isn't noticeable AFAIC.

So what's your trouble with layers?

The panel is gone.

Press Ctrl + L

Well THAT was easy! :)

lol, was that the only problem?

Just with that.

Now I just used the numbers from the other day to do the sharpening thing, so I don't know if that really did any good or not. I can't really see it.

Play around

However, your massive crop has a negative impact on sharpness

I haven't even looked at white balance. This whole pic is hugely monochromatic.

it wasn't before you cropped it :)

Tru 'nuff that!

Tomorrow I am making mac n cheese with that pasta I like so much.

With that, I'm going to want it to be very sharp.

You'll want a darker background for that

if you use the wooden board, the pasta will just get lost against it

The whole point will be to accentuate the shape of the pasta.

I would suggest a lower angle so you can see the shape against the darker backdrop

I could bake it in a cast iron pan.

you could

but that wouldn't work as backdrop :)

I figure the pan, a scoop, and a plate.

this is freaky. I just went to smittenkitchen to find some shots for your inspiration, typed 'pasta' in the search box, and clicked the first recipe

smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/04/…

What kind of pasta is that?

That's it!

Freak. Y.

LOL

note show she puts the bowl off to one side

putting the main subject smack dab in the middle of frame rarely makes for an interesting composition

Like I said, I can bake it in cast iron (pretty much like that shot), but I want to scoop some out on a plate.

sure

but remember you're not paying for film development here

take lots of shots from different angles with different set ups

I could go back out tomorrow...I almost bought a plate today that was brick colored...

take one of the pasta just in the pan

from low and high angles

take some while you're preparing

take some of just the pasta on the plate

though something like pasta that you can't really position well is probably better off in a bowl

otherwise it's just an ungainly heap sat on a plate

That's a good exercise for tomorrow, I'm ready to take a break from gimp, and play with the camera and lighting and such, instead.

Do you have a big piece of white board or card or even paper?

or can you obtain one relatively easily?

No, it was on my list today too.

Yeah, I should get out tomorrow anyway.

for reflecting?

Yeah

you can also use a sheet of aluminium foil

but that will give a slightly harsher light

LOL, that reminds me of when I grew pot many years ago.

If I can actually dig out the car tomorrow, I can get one of those white umbrella things.

without a light source that won't be much help

a really, really strong light source

Well, that's a given that I would get that too.

How strong?

like halogen work lamp strong

but you'll have a hell of time keeping them in position

Hmmm

Maybe not, then

homedepot.com/p/…

Well, that's not out of the realm

the ideal solution would of course be an off-camera flash

but your camera wouldn't play with one

I don't want to even imagine ways that I should upgrade my camera.

I'll consider options like that after I grow into this one.

it's a pity, if you'd been consulted regarding the camera and then consulted me, I would have suggested you get a refurbed DSLR. They're only $300, and they can do so much more and so much better

quit it!

Besides, I know exactly how I came to own this camera.

Dad was somewhere....probably a business trip, he would never neglect to take his camera on vacation.

Suddenly he really wished he had brought his camera.

So he bought one.

then sent you his old one?

No, he sent me the temp one.

jeez, I need to get pally with your dad. Any man who can afford to just buy a camera because he forgot his usual one is my kind of guy!

I'm sure he'd be happy to invest in a talented young photographer who also happens to be his daughter's bestest friend in the whoooole chat room

He actually didn't even send it. His secretary, Linda, has been with him forever, she's like an aunt to me. He noticed the camera one day and it occurred to him that I would like it. So he gathered up all the parts he could find and brought them to the office. "Oh, and send this to Jolene".

:)

bless his wool-rich socks

Yes

so about that investment...

;)

He's unfortunately very stingy with "investments".

you don't get (and stay) rich by being otherwise, I would imagine

My Nana and Papa (paternal grandparents) were multimillionaires at least. They had planes, a few homes, Nana had a necklace that had to have been worth $250,000 (I'd love to know what happened to that). When she still did her own shopping (before Alzheimer's stopped all that), she clipped coupons and bought (no joke) generic potato chips.

no point in throwing money away

Have you seen the picture of her with my dad as a toddler?

nope

brb

Got it:

wow, she's a looker!

Yep

And that picture is still recognizable as my dad.

she has perfect teeth

That's Dad (and his lovely wife), recently.

yes, you can see it's him

While I'm showing pictures, I don't know if you've seen this one or not:

is that you?

yep

nice waistcoat

couldn't resist tidying it up :)

Nice! Can you do good for the little girl hugging the teddy bear?

Actually, I think that's a lamb.

I vaguely remember that toy.

hmm

tricky this one, it's got a nasty colour cast

slightly more natural

That's better :)

b and w

I think that's actually better

yeah - the photo is more or less fine (bit of motion blur in the hand), it's just the color degradation that banjaxed it

shame you can't see the gnarly colours in that waistcoat though

I posed for a lot of photos as a young child. And unfortunately, Nana fancied herself a seamstress.

lol

did she mug a bagpiper?

I should try to dig up a picture of the orange plaid polyester jumpsuit. I think that outfit owns primary responsibility for a certain social awkwardness that was mine from 3rd to 6th grade.

O.o

I'm pretty sure that's grounds for intervention by social services these days

have you relapsed into an orange-plaid haze?

I was very popular in my old school. We moved half-way through my third grade year. I think I wore that jumpsuit my very first day at the new school. Just my luck, that school was snobby, and labels mattered. It was not a good scene. Add to that my parents splitting up at that time, my being scared of the big old house and teachers alternately treating me as "short bus" and "genius".

And then...dum de DUM Narcissistic step bitch from hell.

poor you

but it made you the tough as nails go-getter that you are today

I had a crush.

His name was (is) John Jester.

He was always nice to me. We was also very handsome in my eyes, yet not cookie cutter at all.

I adored him from third grade all the way through High School graduation and beyond.

Julie (the sis) told me a couple of years ago that he is living in New York these days, with his husband.

lol, good eye jojo

:)

That makes me smile no end.

<hugs jojo for not saying 'to no end'>

pedant

no no!

that's a good thing

I know what you meant.

there's pedantry and there's not liking the just-plain-wrong use of a phrase :P

It's matters not at all. I know you're pedantic.

Did you use that 'it's' on purpose? :P

But, You always get me, so....it is what it is.

Nope, that would be a garden variety typo.

I'll choose to believe that

;)

I probably started to say one thing, and ended up saying something slightly different.

I type looking at my hands.

I don't necessarily look at the screen before I hit enter.

you rebel you

I've actually tried to learn to type. I'm hopeless.

I never consciously learned it, i just do it naturally after using keyboards for 25 years

if I use a slightly different layout, say on a laptop, I'm fucked for a while until my fingers line up

You would think I could say the same thing, but no.

can you touch type something you type a lot, like a password?

Barely

where do you rest your fingers when you place them on the keyboard?

I do get up to a decent speed (maybe 45 WPM), but I still have to look to get started.

and you know about the nubbins on F and J I assume

I don't, I curl my fingers up into the air.

Yeah, I barely acknowledge them.

It's not going to change at this point.

no

not with that attitude

:D :D :D

first one of 2015!

I am a shitty, shitty, shitty typist.

:)

That's what she said.

woo, the elusive double!

brb

I have a pretty nice chopped salad prepped, but it would take maybe five minutes of effort to actually plate it. Or I could eat a cookie.

I have chicken tikka, cous-cous and tzatziki

That sounds good.

healthsome

96kg this morning, another 1 down

boo ya

You're going to shame me into effort. I need to get rid of the last 5lbs, 10 more would be nice, 5 more after that would lead to bragging rights.

I wonder what would happen if I actually exercised

so far it's been just a dietary change

You would probably see more benefit in the mirror, less on the scale.

I gained 15 pounds during basic training, and the next summer's bikini season was awesome.

And I wasn't skinny to begin with.

pics or it didn't happen :P

Not a chance :)

I do have one from that era.

Maybe someday.

My bikini was crocheted, and it was very small.

O.O

Myrtle Beach was the hang out that summer.

It was fun to prance around that summer.

bikinis and automatic weapons - welcome to the US Army!

I got brown as a berry, I don't remember exactly what the rules were but it seems to me that we (my boyfriend at the time and me) spent every other weekend on the beach.

We'd rent a trailer for Friday and Saturday night.

I'd have to look at a map, but we were at Ft Gordon, Georgia. I think we drove just shy of two hours every weekend.

(each way)

And we'd be beach bums until Sunday night.

Back in BDUs Monday morning.

It was an odd dichotomy.

I was the highest ranked student, so I would call cadence for our trips back and forth from the barracks to class, in fatigues and combat boots. Far cry from beach volleyball in my barely there bikini just hours before.

@Jolenealaska is that the whole 'I don't know but I've been told' thing?

Yep

My favorite was:

In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety-Two

A Sailor from Cicily

Was marching down the streets of Spain

Eatin a bowl of chili.

He said the world was round-o

He said it could be found--o

That hypothetically motivated sun-of-a-gun Columbo

that sounds like a mouthful at the end

That last bit got increasingly raunchy with every refrain

Columbus was from Genoa

:P

/pedant

It makes no difference

i know, I'm pulling your leg

AFAIK, they don't do that in the British Army

By the end of the cadence he was a hypodermically stimulated son of a bitch

did you have license to make up your own, or was there an approved list?

A little of both

Depending upon who was listening

is there an 'Army Song'?

like the Halls of Montezuma for the Marines?

The West Point fight song

I learned the other day why the British Army is called the British Army when we have the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force

oh yeah?

namely, the Army was formed in the interregnum

I had to Google the term.'

ah, sorry

I imagine the English Civil War is virtually unknown in the States

there was a brief period when England was a republic

That's a long time! Was there no monarch in the interim?

Only in exile, Charles II

the Parliamentarians created the 'New Model Army', the first professional, national army since Roman times

before then it was all militias tied to counties and estates

the first modern army essentially, with uniforms, ranks etc

I bet that is a source of pride.

maybe in the Army

That's what I mean.

the NMA also introduced red coats - you may be more familiar with them :)

Yes :)

I find it amazing how so much Roman knowledge was lost, for so long

it really didn't occur to anyone in 1000 years to get a professional, trained force together?

But we still have Fish Sauce!

"Hang about John, the Romans conquered everywhere they went. Maybe we should try this whole 'training' thing"

pfft

"Nah, let's just give some farmers a gun and see what happens"

It worked for the US revolution!

with officers trained in the British Army :)

Heeheee

We ignore that part.

uh huh

you cheeky yanks you

<pinches jojo's rosy cheek>

When young children learn a little in school about the revolution. they love it. There is a certain joy in knowing you flipped the bird and won.

It barely matters that they won't even begin to understand the nuances until late high school.

have you read any Patrick O'Brian?

I Googled to be sure. Nope.

You should, they're excellent :)

there are a few books that deal with the war of 1812

I'll look, I haven't read a "new" author in ages.

WTF???

Drop the spoon and no-one gets hurt.

@Jolenealaska he writes like he was there

have you seen Master and Commander?

It sounds familiar, but I don't think so.

well, good - it's a good film, but it pales in comparison to the books

Pick out 1 for me.

amazon.com/Master-Commander-Aubrey-Maturin-book-ebook/dp/…

this is the first one in the series

there are 20

I've ordered a "sample", I'll read it tonight or tomorrow.

you'll be signing your e-mails: "I remain, etc. Jln. Alaska, RN" before the week's out, i promise you!

:)

I think I'm toast....must sleep.....

I may be over-egging the pudding here, but Kindle Samples are maybe humanity's finest invention

I love em

haha, I'm just glancing over the wiki entry for the series

This is your Friday, hmm...OK, See ya Monday if not sooner :)

the humour section

> Sometimes Aubrey gets in a muddle and Maturin affectionately mocks him by playing on the mixed metaphor: '... they have chosen their cake, and must lie in it.'; Maturin replies, 'You mean, they cannot have their bed and eat it?'

leave it for me...I gotta go

night hon

G'night sweetie.

hi everybody :)

@Jolenealaska I think I'm going to make sous vide chili . And use bit of chuck steak in it. So medium rare, sous vide chili.

All right, what's everyone's favorite sous vide rib process?

Brine yes/no? (actually that part might be a real question not just a poll...)