Smart Technologies of Southern California

So, the saga continues with stuff that you should definately find out more about.

HDR Photography

No it doesnt mean Hi Definition pictures, it is a technique in which you take 3 photos of the object at 3 different apertures, combine them, and expose the highlights and shadows of your object in greater detail. It is rather incredible when done properly. Now it doesn't take much to get started, and some advanced point and shoot cameras are capable of doing this as well. I actually followed this tutorial here but you can find more guides just by using google to search for info. And since I am lazy with photo manipulation, naturally I had to take the next step to actually create the HDR image, and using photoshop isnt really my thing. Searching for the right software was key for me, I ended up trying 3 different software suites specifically for HDR image creating and tweaking.

The ever so HDR famous, Photomatix Pro, Easy HDR, and Dynamic Photo HDR. My personal choice was Dynamic Photo HDR, not that it was much easier to use than the others, but I tend to find that the images end up looking more like I imagined before starting. You have to try them yourself anyhow, most people love Photomatix, so that would be the suggested first one to try. 

 

Here are some HDR galleries that are incredible!

Smashing Magazine | HDR Pool on Flickr | Richietown on Flickr

The Goatee Saver. Why didn't anyone else think of this before? It just makes sense. You look like an idiot using it, but who cares, this shit is practical. If I had a goat, I'd buy one. http://goateesaver.com/

Got a little trick for you folks out there. I just found out about this the other day. I found a couple of sick songs on myspace, which I hate going to myspace, but the no-name bands are pretty decent sometimes. Well... to get a long story short, when you hear the music, you can't download it unless the author allows it. Well I say that is retarded, the music is playing from somewhere, so lets figure out how to get it. Thankfully I didn't have to figure out much, I just went to http://www.file2hd.com/ and pasted the url, and bam, the page generates links directly to the files. How can you not say, that is badass. Kudos to the team who created that site.

Moving on. Here's a website that constantly tests programs for everyones benefit. http://www.downloadsquad.com/ They show you programs you've never even heard of that you just might need. I haven't seen anything I need quite yet, however I am sure the day will come.

I have more to come very soon, probably in the morning. I have alot to drink tonight.