Day: August 10, 2011

Although I’m not a huge user of Photoshop or other photo editing applications, I find myself increasingly experimenting with the capabilities of these programs.

I use Photoshop Elements 6, a pared down version of the full Adobe Photoshop set up. Even so, I don’t come close to using all of the tools that are available. Also, Elements costs a fraction of the full Photoshop price.

The photo was made with my Fuji X100, at 1/220 sec, f5.6 with ISO set at 200.

As you can see, the original image was pretty ordinary and quite bland. I wanted to spice it up by conveying a feeling of speed, movement and excitement.

Step 1: I opened the image in Elements 6 and immediately duplicated the original image so I wouldn’t loose the original if I pushed the wrong button. Who says we don’t learn from experience?

Step 2: I wanted to focus attention on the tandem bike riders, so I made a substantial crop thereby eliminating some distracting background and enlarging the image of the bikers.

Step 3: Then, I carefully used the magnetic lasso tool to select the the riders and the bikes. It actually took 3 attempts to get the selection close to what I wanted. I clicked “inverse” in the select menu to keep the bikes in focus.

Step 4: With everything but the bikes and riders now selected (that’s what “inverse” does), I went to filters/blur/motion blur and applied a modest amount of that effect.

Step 4: To further accentuate the bikes and riders I slightly darkened the background (enhance/lighting/brightness contrast)and lightened the tandem riders and bike (filters/render/lighting effects/omni). I also goosed the color saturation a little and tried (without huge success) to sharpen the face of the man on the tandem.

From Big Mike;

For More Info Click Below

http://www.bigmikesbikes.org/

http://twitter.com/#!/BigMikesBikesMA

What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?

Pleasant Street resident Jenna Howard is providing updates on the peppers, squash and other vegetables growing in her plot at the new Burnham’s Field Community Garden. The reports and photos will allow GoodMorningGloucester viewers to follow the garden’s progress with a weekly answer to the question, “What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?”

By Jenna Howard

Week Eight

Peppers, peppers everywhere!

I have four different types of Peppers growing in my garden. Italian Peperoncinis, spicy Jalapenos, sweet Carmen peppers, and super HOT Habaneros. Over the past week I was able to harvest lots of different peppers. So, as you can imagine, everything I ate last week had peppers in it!

Of all my peppers I am most proud of my Habanero. It’s green (it will turn an orangy-red shade when it’s ripe) and not quiet ready to be picked yet, but an accomplishment nonetheless! Habaneros are actually pretty hard to grow because they thrive on hot weather and lots of sun. They are pretty fickle and should only be watered when dry. Overwatering can give the peppers a bitter taste.

The Habanero is one of the hottest peppers around! It packs a punch even though it will only get to be about an inch to two inches long. Habanero chili peppers are rated 100,000 – 350,000 on the Scoville scale.

Not familiar with the Scoville scale? (Neither was I!) The Scoville scale is a measurement of the spicy heat (or piquance) of a chili pepper. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin. The highest rating on the scale is 16,000,000 — AKA PURE CAPSAICIN!

See where my peppers rate on the Scoville scale:

Habanero: 100,000 – 350,000

Jalapeno: 3,500 – 8,000

Peperoncini: 100 – 900

Carmen: 0 (no significant heat)

"We are looking for generous individuals and/or companies willing to donate auction items as a silent auction item for the Kevin J Belrose Memorial Golf Tournament, Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated. All prior auction items have been hugely popular and historically generated a great deal of revenue. All proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Kevin J. Belrose Memorial Scholarship Fund endowment at Cooperstown Central School. The fund was established in Kevin Belrose’s memory in 2005 and is awarded annually. Cooperstown Central School is the custodian of the endowment; its Tax ID number is 15-6002179.Cooperstown Central School will acknowledge all sponsorships with a letter documenting your donation for tax purposes. I thank you for your consideration of this request.  If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at 781-608-5692 or via email annemariebelrose@yahoo.com .

Sincerely, Anne Marie Belrose"