PhotoBlog = 1000 Words +

Photography: Brain tree? by gothandy

I’m very fascinated by life and biology, but the human brain is extra-ordinary even in the extra-ordinary world of biology. It is the organ and system that is surely most responsible for the human experience. I have read casually on the ideas of how the brain works and it never ceases to fascinate me.

I recently came across a site and book dedicated to the idea that the brain really isn’t so impressive. I thought it was odd. The author seemed to know what he was talking about so I considered what he said. But I also found this article 10 Unsolved Mysteries Of The Brain and I have to stick to my position, the brain is one of the most impressive systems known to man.

You may have seen this before circulated around in an email or elsewhere. Can you read it?

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs dgig it or use aentohr srecive wtih the sarhe it btotun bloew!

If you can’t read it, it basically explains that for many people the brain does not read words as letters sequentially from first to last but it takes in all the letter symbols at once. And it seems that as long as the first and last letters are in the right place, it doesn’t matter where the other letters are placed in the word. Your brain will still be able to recognize the word! It works for me as I can read the above and it is fascinating to get this little bit of insight on how the brain works from this demonstration.

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Photography: Poésie by kaalam

 This is an amazing photo using a technique called “Lightgraff” by the creator. There are many light effects photos using light like this one. But the combination of skilled calligraphy paired with multiple light effects makes for an outstanding and innovative image.

I really like the work on Kaalam’s page and I’m looking forward to seeing more.

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Photography: After Burn by Dunny

I was thinking it’s about time I post again, and this photo popped into my mind. I found it a while ago and I had it all set up to write about, but when I tried, I just couldn’t pinpoint exactly the thoughts or emotions it evoked in me. Now, I think the best I can do is say this…

Sometimes when it seems that things should have just gone up in smoke and disappeared into nothing, all the sudden they take off and something amazing comes out of it.

But I still don’t know if I got it. Also the fact that a child is holding the match (or at least it appears to be) is very significant. There is so much potential in every human, especially children.

This photo is very inspiring and filled with hope and pleasant surprises (maybe that would put it best )

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Photography: Sigma 10-20 by Franky2step

I have purposely not posted photos that I consider having “artistic value” in the past. I chose not to post such photos because there are so many of them. They all have artistic value but since there are so many of them, the artistic value photo becomes boring if that’s all it has. In order for me to post a photo I see on here, it needs to remind me of something I have to say or inspire or provoke a thought. Or be something extremely clever or… well, I guess it suffices to say that it can’t only have artistic value.

I said all that to say that this photo is the exception. This photo is pure artistic value and it is such a work of art in my eyes that I wanted to share it just for its artistic value’s sake. It is truely an extra-ordinary photo and work of art. It’s a wonder how this simple picture was able to paint such a dynamic abstract painting, while still being a true and recognizable photo. It is truely a remarkable image.

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Photography: Habu Heading Home by The Electrician

If you were a refueling boom operator, you might have had a view much like this as the SR-71 came in for a fill-up. (Maybe a little lower.) He’d drop out of the sky from 80,000 feet and suddenly appear, top off his tanks, and be gone again. Magic…

The Electrician

That is amazing!

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Photography: Hong Kong from The Peak on a Summer Night by Stuck in Customs

This is an extra-ordinary photo. It was modified using HDR like I posted about here. For the full effect it “Looks best Large on Black”

I imagine this is what a city of our time would look like to someone who has lived their entire life in a rural culture with little technology. Maybe living the way their ancestors did thousands of years ago, and being isolated from the modern world. If they had climbed the top of a mountain to discover a modern city for the first time, I think it would look like this to them, a magical and unbelievable place.

This photo makes Hong Kong look very futuristic, and I’m sure Hong Kong is very futuristic in reality as well.

On a similar note, I came across an article about noted futurist Ray Kurzweil. His views are very much along the lines to the Transhumanists philosophy that I wrote about here. Some of this stuff sounds straight out of a science fiction story, but it seems people give alot of crediblity to his ideas. From the article…

If you went around saying that in a couple of decades we’ll have cell-sized, brain-enhancing robots circulating through our bloodstream, or that we’ll be able to upload a person’s consciousness into a computer, people would probably question your sanity.

But if you say things like that and you’re Ray Kurzweil, you get invited to dinner at Bill Gates’ house - twice - so he can pick your brain for insights on the future of technology. The Microsoft chairman calls him a “visionary thinker and futurist.”

I’m sure a city like the one above would look completely unbelievable to someone from times past. Maybe the future Mr. Kurzweil paints a picture of looks similarly unbelievable to us, here in the present. God willing, we will see what happens in the next 20 or 40 years or so. It’s definately wild stuff to say the least.

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Photography: central by simply♪

I came across this and I thought it was so good I had to share. In the online book about low-budget travelling, “How To See The World”, the author points out the parallels between marriage and traveling with someone.

Traveling with someone demands you know yourself and your partner. It is often said there would be less divorce if couples traveled a few months together before tying the knot. As with marriage, if you only think of your travel partner in terms of honeymoon rather than alliance, you are in for a sad shock.

Traveling with someone is an intense experience. Rarely in normal life do people spend so much time together, and make so many decisions, often based on little information. Selecting restaurants, taking buses, choosing museums, finding accommodation–all can cause great stress among couples. As a friend wrote, “Discovering you are hopelessly, completely, absolutely incompatible in a tent at 8000 feet and it’s thirty-two degrees outside is not a good situation.”

Just because someone is a good friend doesn’t mean he would automatically be a good travel partner. Traveling with someone with whom goals, money, and even personal habits have not been fully discussed can be a relationship-destroyer and trip-ruiner. Get everything in the open before you commit yourself to a backpacking trip to hell.

The three basic categories of travel friction are:

1. One has an hourly itinerary, the other doesn’t own a watch.
2. One prefers first-class, the other prefers the back of the bus.
3. One’s makeup case is heavier than the other’s backpack.

Do not underestimate profound differences such as these.

…

Both must understand a good travel relationship requires compromise on both sides to achieve a greater whole. Whining and nagging is usually the result of one partner feeling like he or she is not being treated fairly. Listening is the most important–yet most abused–skill between people.

LINK

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Photography: Migration is not a crime… by Trapac

I live in the Los Angeles area, and anyone who is familiar with the area, knows there are a lot of immigrants. Whether legal or illegal, there are a lot of people from foreign countries here. So I know first hand about the immigration issue in America. IMHO, the main problem with the immigration issue is the current laws aren’t being enforced. Someone who is here illegally is able to stay here without much problem.

I feel like there are only two ways to solve this problem. Either enforce the laws in the books, or change the laws in the books. If the laws were enforced we would be deporting hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions just in the L.A. area alone. That sounds impossible and any effort to do so would lead to some serious riots or worse. I would rather that the laws be changed to allow people to easily obtain citizenship, especially those who are already living here. I have a lot of friends who are either foreign born or who are 1st generation citizens. I want them and their families to be able to live here (as they do now) without the racial tension of trying to enforce the laws in the books. I also want them to pay taxes like I do, and many of my friends who aren’t citizens would gladly become citizens and pay taxes. A friend of mine who is not a citizen graduated from college with me. He is disqualified for many good jobs due to his lack of citizenship.

I know the problem is a lot more complicated than this but things can’t stay this way forever. The laws are meaningless if they’re not enforced. And they need to either be enforced or changed to reflect reality. Unless this happens we will continue to see a type of class or cast system develop. The Mexican nationals are not going to loose interest in moving to this country any time soon. I’ve heard that it’s somewhat of a “rite of passage” for young Mexican boys to make the journey, getting across the border to the U.S. This is because there is no opportunity or future for them down there due to poor economic conditions. So naturally, if your next door neighbor is the land of opportunity, that’s where you want to go. In many cases they can make a better living here earning minimum wage as illegals than they can down there.

Can we change this situation legally and make it more desirable for everyone?

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Photography: Primary Symmetry by Jeffffd

Nice shot! Almost and optical illusion

Jeffffd has a nice series of pics like this one. Great work Jeffff!

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Photography: My Kinda Town by stuckincustoms

This guy’s work is incredible! Using a technique called “HDR” (High Dynamic Range Imaging) he has created some very impressionable images that stand out. He posted a tutorial on the HDR technique here. I like how discribes HDR and how it enhances images in a blurb from the tutorial…

I’m a huge defender and believer of utilizing HDR as a technique for processing photos because I think it helps to evoke my actual memory of the scene. It’s just another tool that digital photographers can utilize depending on the situation. As opposed to the camera shutter and aperture, the human eye actually scans the scene at a very high rate of speed, constantly adjusting the pupil diameter to adjust the light and color levels. The pre-frontal cortex builds a quilt-like image that is comprised of millions of little bits, combined with neuron-connected memories of colors of objects. For example, when you look at a sunset, you can see all the colors of the clouds and sky, but you can also see all the colors of the trees and rocks in the foreground. This is why, many times, people get home after a vacation and sigh at their pictures and tell their friends, “Well, it was much better when you were there.” So hey, it’s 2007, why not use software and the built-in ability of your camera to make a beautiful rendition of what YOU really saw?

I’m inspired to try my hand at it. Maybe you’ll see some HDR pics of my own on here someday

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