The Dave Hill Look

Hi everyone it's been quite awhile since I blogged as I've been quite busy and now is the only time that I'm free so here goes....

I recently stumbled on what they call the "Dave Hill Look" and I've gotten interested in it that I've decided to try and attempt to create that look. I researched on how it is done and hoping I would come close to the "look" Here is my first attempt at it, feel free to comment and critique on it.

The picture on the left is the original one and the one on the right is the supposedly dave hill look. I'm not sure if i got it or even close to it, I did follow the tutorial I guess it takes lots of practice for a novice like me hehehe. Here's the steps in achieving the "Dave Hill Look" which i found in the DIYPhotography.net website:

1. The first thing is to duplicate the image layer (CTRL + J) and run a High Pass filter on the duplicate layer. Then choose 4.0 as filter radius.
2. The next step is to select "vivid light" as the layer blending mode. Now flatten the layers (CTRL + SHIFT + E).
3. Again, duplicate the layer, and do a High Pass filter on the dup. This time select 6.9 as radius and color as blending mode.
4. Now choose layer opacity 40% and flattened again.
5. Now again - duplicate the layer. Now call on the Gaussian Blur (Filter-> Blur-> Gaussian Blur) filter and set it to 9.5. Still using the dup layer, call on the noise filter (Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise) and apply 3% noise.
6. Now add a layer mask (Layer -> Add Layer Mask -> Hide All), and select the eyes using the lasso tool (L is the short cut for this). Now invert the selection (Shift + Control + I).
7. Now take the brush tool (B) set the opacity to 30% and paint over the entire image. TADA! Eyes are a bit sharper then the rest of the image. Flatten again.
8. The final step is to apply some unsharp mask filter (Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask). Use the following values: Amount 100%, Radius 30.0 Pixels, Threshold 0.
   

Lakbay Tour: Batangas

I got a taste of my first experience being around a group of photographers when my good friend Henry encouraged me to go and referred me to Denmark fondly called "Mac" by the group. I called him up at the insistence of Henry as he knows i have a tendency to back out. I'm glad i didn't and went through with it. The people were warm and nice to me although i was very quiet all throughout the trip with occasional chat with Karen about what setting i should use and all. She was very accomodating. We started taking photos at Taal Batangas in the morning then had lunch at Taal Bistro then headed to Anilao for the much awaited sunset at Aguila Resort. Looking forward again for another EB with this group, they're fun just wish Henry would be able to come next time hehehe. Here is a shot I took and my first group hug.....

Group Hug at Taal Batangas (pic courtesy of Dave V.)

Sunset in Anilao Batangas

Birthday Celebration at Gerry's Grill

Last night I went to Gerry's Grill at Trinoma with my officemates and our boss to celebrate my two officemate's long overdue birthday treat lol. One of the highlight of the festivity is when the celebrants were greeted or rather sang the birthday song to both of them and was given a cake courtesy of our boss and another colleague. We had a blast at how Nino (one of the celebrant) reacted to it. All in all it was a fun-filled night, it's always nice to dine out with friends since this doesn't happen often :)

My Nikon D60

Yes! Finally I now own a Nikon D60 and I hope that I would be able to take good pictures like my friend who got me into buying this camera coz he knows I love to take pictures and I really do ever since I was a kid :) Now that I have my own DSLR i would be able to bring it with me and take pics of nature. I'm not much into portraiture so expect to see nature photos from me soon. That's all for now until then...

mIRC

Remember this familiar logo? Well that my friend is the enhanced logo of mIRC, pretty cute huh? Let me tell you a little bit about mIRC for those who are just starting to get into it.


What is mIRC?

mIRC is a shareware Internet Relay Chat client for Microsoft Windows, created and developed by Khaled Mardam-Bey. It is unknown though if the 'm" in mIRC stands for anything. A lot of people are using mIRC to meet new online friends and i was one of those people who got addicted to chatting on mIRC.

The mIRC Life

I started using the mIRC to meet new online friends. The channels i knew then were the ones listed under "Favorites" so I got to talk to different people from all over the world. Soon I came to learn of other channels and went there, the latest was the "lesbian" channels. I took a break from mIRC and I never thought I'd come back again but my friend got bored at home and she asked me where she can chat and I told her mIRC so i taught her the basics she only needs to know to get her started and then I just found myself being drawn back to mIRC again but this time i didn't stick to the "Favorites" I went to the "lesbian" channels to see what they talk about too. There I met this person, an sOP in that channel where I went, at first I thought she was just like the others coz they did something that offended me a little so I left the channel but she pm (private message) me and asked me why I left and she did thought that they may have offended me I didn't comment on it and she asked me to come back with her. I thought she was different and a very nice person afterall :D Everthing went smoothly with us until one day I felt something different, something was wrong coz I felt this person I came to like so much distancing or avoiding me, needless to say our friendship fell apart I won't go into details of that incident as the last time we spoke I promised and agreed that if we're both in a certain channel I have to leave. I guess you could say my experience with some of the lesbians weren't so good but I'm not generalizing coz I still have some good lesbian people I talk to up to now....if only that person I first met would give me another chance at our friendship I would be glad to have her as my friend again :)

The Season of Lent

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent is a forty day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. In most churches the decorations is purple, the royal color, to prepare for the King.

Lent has been practiced for over two thousand years, since the earliest days of the Church. Today Christians vow to give up something of temporal significance in lieu of actual fasting. In Roman Catholic tradition, meat and chicken are not eaten during Lent. Commitment to prayer particularly repentance are also traditions being observed during Lent.

I'm back!!!

Hello everyone and yes I'm back after a long hiatus from blogging. I must admit that I kinda neglected my blogging for quite sometime now. Let me see....there's been a lot that has happened to me of late good and bad experiences. I'll be starting with the good ones first, the bad ones maybe later or never at all lol (laugh out loud). First I better eat dinner then I'll come back and start writing so don't go away....I'll be right back :)