Joe says…
This is still v.2 of the image (click for large, v.3 image) but I thought it would be interesting to point out the problems I’m working to fix.

It really does look nice the way it is, but if you wanna get picky (and I do) then you might notice as Dave did:

Also, if you’ll look at the plane’s engine furthest away, the background is washed out (which is fine) but starts to come back in as it creeps up to the engine and makes you ask, “what the heck is that?”

And as you can see, we’re merrily on our way to v.3.

By the way, here is the original source image which is simply a snapshot I took with my Canon A80 during a visit to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Dave says…
I printed version 2 on my EPSON Stylus Photo 1280 yesterday and I gotta say…damn it’s looking good. The print was lying on my conference table when a client came in this morning. When I told her a buddy of mine had done it she was very impressed. I of course changed my tune and took all the credit. ;)

Dave says…
I’ll let Joe post his masterpiece. I think he’s on v.3 at the moment. He’s got a great eye, so it’s really cool to see him messing with Photoshop and creating some pretty impressive art.

Meanwhile, here in Cleveland we’ve begun our precipitous fall into Winter. I can’t say everything about Winter is bad. I like it when the snow is new and the world is all hushed. I actually enjoy running the snowblower, but then what guy doesn’t like wrestling with over a hundred pounds of growling machine? It’s a good workout and I always end up drenched in sweat rather than cold. Maybe this is the year I’ll take up skiing, though I’m still worried about wrecking a knee.

By the way, it’s Cooper’s 4th birthday today. That’s him posing with his Dad on a caboose. We went to visit them last Spring, and wound up at this little petting zoo which for some reason has a caboose on the grounds. Coop had a lot more interest in that big empty red box than he did the beasts.

Dave says…
Joe, here’s how you get that “dream” effect:

Duplicate the layer. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the duplicated layer (in this case, 4.0). Apply the “Hard Light” blend mode. That’s it. I flattened the image and played with Levels a little.

Joe says…
Thanks Dave. I tried it quickly with this photo I took in Oregon. It does seem to give that effect I’m after. With some fiddling I can probably get it. Thanks again.

Dave says…
Check this out - a before and after:

I didn’t do a thing to the before picture - not even adjust levels. I’ll tell you why in a second. This time, I took the layer, duplicated it, and applied a Gaussian blur of 5.0 pixels. Then I applied a blend mode of Hard Light. I duplicated the original layer again, but this time a Gaussian of 2.0, and the blend mode is Screen. I liked the effect I got but then remembered that I hadn’t fixed the color balance on the original. When I tried that, it turned out the result was too blown out in the highlights. I kinda dig the way it turned out without any Levels or Curves futzing.

He’s another one, with more goofing off involved (click for a bigger version). The leaves are pretty cool.

iPod flea

Joe says…
The teachers are on strike here in British Columbia where I live. The Telus (phone company) workers are too but the phones still work so who gives a shit. The kids are out of school as a result which means less traffic from parents droppping off and picking up. Other than that, can we stop with the signs and the not working and the union thing all together? Are working conditions so horrible that we still need unions? I’m clearly not in a union. I don’t even know anyone in a union. We’re all getting by just fine. If I’m not happy at work I either deal with it or address it but I don’t stand outside with a sign. The only people who read the signs are the people holding them and the other people that agree with them which are usually people from other unions. Otherwise we all just get annoyed.

You want more money. Boo hoo. Oh wait, you want to improve education for our children by lowering class sizes. How the fuck is that going to happen? They would either have to, a) build more schools (which they do albeit not as fast as you’d like) or, b) add more portables. So since this is either not realistic or simply undesireable, your claim of, “better education for our children” is just a smoke screen for, “I’d like more money”.

Dave says…
Is there a union for the self-employed? I’d dig that. Then I could strike against myself, set up a lawn chair out in front of my one-man office, and relax. People would honk and I would bask in the warm glow of their support.

What’s with that honking thing, anyway? I think half the people who honk at strikers are either doing it so the sign-holders will look over and check out the polite hand gestures being tossed at them, or so they can hear and appreciate the yells of “get a job!”

There’s a company over in Euclid, or South Euclid or whatever that’s been on strike for over two years. I’m thinking at this point the scabs are doing their jobs better than they ever did.

It seems to me that lowering class sizes would not only mean more classrooms, but more teachers as well. So this is some complicated math. If you’re all willing to take a pay cut so that more buildings will be erected and more teachers will be hired, come on back to the table. Sure, it’d be nice if we could take some of the money being wasted on a bunch of other crap and put it towards the goal of better education, but when was the last time you heard about a politician asking for less pork in the budget?