Bits & Bobs

Apologies for the quality and size of this image. It isn't really intended to form part of my photostream, but was uploaded for discussion purposes ... www.ipernity.com/doc/autofantasia/31629159

This is the basic shot I used as the basis for the above challenge. You can see how it turned out by viewing the processed image contained within the notes.

This is a screenshot I took of an intermittent problem I'm experiencing when trying to view other people's photographs in lightbox mode. I've reported it to ipernity, but so far they've been unable to reproduce the effect so are somewhat puzzled. So, I'm opening this up for comments to see if anyone else out there has experienced or is currently experiencing the same type of problem. Here's a link to the photo I used for the screenshot: www.ipernity.com/doc/dolladdictionuk/31660709

Here's the original image which was used as a basis for Beware The Mechanic pretty much as it came out the camera. The only changes being that I've resized it and added my watermark and a fine line border. You can see the final creation in the notes or click through by using the link below: www.ipernity.com/doc/autofantasia/35620327

Don't get too excited this is just a little quickie for demonstration purposes, produced using a screen shot of one of Ann's photos so not as sharp as it might have been were it created using the original. Still, hopefully enough to let her see what they offer and why I thought her photo would lend itself to being 'orbified'. For anyone who hasn't seen Ann's original shot simply follow the link below: www.ipernity.com/doc/498743/36918210

My browser of choice up till now has always been Google Chrome. However, over the last few days I've been having real issues with it in particular how it displays (or not as the case may be) some text fonts. On some sites the problem is minor and the text just looks a little raggedy. However, on some others text has become almost illegible. I've now spent hours online looking at old forum postings etc from people who have had similar problems with earlier versions of Chrome, but so far none of the so called fixes have helped. So, in desperation I thought I'd flag up the problem here to see if anyone else on ipernity is having the same trouble and if so to ask if they've found a fix that works. The above is a composite screen shot I've knocked up to try and show what's happening. The left hand side of the red line is how that particular forum post appeared when viewed using Internet Explorer. The right hand side is how it is now displaying when viewed using Google Chrome. Hope someone can help. I tried reporting it to Google themselves, but apparently they get so much 'feedback' (that's complaints to you and I) to enter into personal correspondence. Heaven help us when they get those driverless cars on the road!

So this is for anyone out there who saw me first attempt at creating an image in HDR. This is the 3 images combined using nothing but the HDR Photo Merge facility in PaintShop Pro. You'll see now why I was tempted to process it further as I think it's rather bland and certainly nothing like what I thought an HDR image would look like. Notice the ghost clouds too!

Continuing my foray into the world of HDR, this is the middle (normal exposure) image of the 3 that I used to create the PSP merged photo. Although I'd not have been happy normally to use tis as it is without tweaking I do feel that SOOC it's actually better than what PaintShop Pro produced using the 3 separate images.

So, as a comparison here's what happens when you use the same 3 images, but in PhotoMatix and process using the Balanced preset. To me this has much more life to it than the rather flat image PaintShop Pro produced using the same 3 images and notice how Photomatix has all but eliminated those ghost clouds. What do you think?

So, taking it to the next level, this is what you get using the same 3 images in PhotoMatix when you process using the Creative preset. Maybe a little too false for some folks, but I think it's my favourite so far in this experimental set.

And picking up on Norm's suggestion in response to my last upload, this is what you get using the same 3 images in PhotoMatix when you process using one of the Monochrome presets. Be interested to know what people think, but I'm kind of torn between this and the last one. I think Norm was inspired to suggest the mono approach!

Yet another attempt at doing HDR. This is from a shoot I did earlier today and has been created from 3 bracketed RAW files using Photomatix and then finished off in PaintShop Pro.

A free download from the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio that I used in creating my entry for this week's Sunday Challenge entitled Don't Go Around Tonight . It wasn't supposed to be for people to see in its own right other than as a link, but I forgot to change the authorizations .... ooops! I was going to change it, but as a few people have been kind enough to comment on it and add it into their faves I thought it better to leave it on show for the moment at least. However, I've now closed comments on it for obvious reasons. You can find out more about this organisation and view more of their awesome images, many of which are available as free downloads, by following the link below: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov

Just want to flag up a new user called John Cabre who overnight had left a spam message on my photostream with a link for a PhotoShop tutorial site. He has no photos, articles or contacts and so it would appear his sole purpose here is to promote the aforementioned site. I have blocked him and reported the matter to the ipernity team. If he has left similar messages on your photostream you may want to do the same. Please note that I did not follow the link he posted as I had no way of telling if it would be safe to do so.

I was one of the many that came flooding across from flickr back in 2013 having found its revamp too messy, not at all intuitive and way too slow for my internet connection to handle. I knew that in time I would have got used to all those new buttons and learnt how to do what used to come naturally, but it would still have looked a mess and still have been far too slow. So I left flickr behind and began to set up my new home here on ipernity having decided that it was by far the best alternative product on the market. In many ways it reminded me of the ‘old’ flickr, it was clean, fresh, and easy to use and above all it was fast. I didn’t have to wait for ages for photographs to load, there were no ‘bad pandas’ to be found and the people behind the site seemed keen to develop it as best they could, but in a way that suited the end user. Team Ipernity not only communicated with account holders on a regular basis, they consulted them on possible new developments, they sought their opinions, and best of all they actually took on board what people had to say. All very refreshing in today’s world, particularly if you’d moved here from flickr and so I was quick to show my support by taking out Club Membership. In that first year they posted 73 articles and made many subtle, but welcome improvements to the site. The following year that number dropped to 31, but they were still very active and the product continued to deliver in ways that flickr never did so I naturally renewed my membership and continued to add to my photostream without any concerns. However, in 2015 it appears all is not well in ipernity. Since the beginning of the year following on from the cloud migration only 2 articles have been published by the team and none of them, with the exception of Julian, appear to be using the platform that they themselves helped create. Elsewhere the team seem to be even less active with no posts on Twitter or Facebook at all in 2015 and the Google+ account seems to have died altogether. All of this, combined with the team's tardiness when it comes to responding to tickets over recent months and their apparent inability to solve the problems reported, really does leave me worrying about what is happening to ipernity. It has left me questioning if this is still a thriving go-ahead community inspired business model or if it is a project that is it being left to simply tick over before ultimately having the plug pulled and the life support switched off? And I know from posts, articles and discussions I’ve read elsewhere that I’m far from being alone in having these concerns so I’m posting this open letter to Team Ipernity in the hopes that they might respond. Don’t get me wrong, I still love ipernity and I’m not meaning to criticize the product or for that matter have a go at individuals … I’m merely expressing an opinion that, from the outside at least, it does indeed appear that all is not well in ipernity. I accept that sometimes no matter how enthusiastic you are about a product and no matter how hard you try to make it succeed there are times when you can do no more: when you quite simply have no more time, energy or finances left to invest. That may well be the situation as far as Team Ipernity are concerned and whilst it would be devastating news at least people would say they tried, they tried, but they failed. No shame in that, at least not as far as I’m concerned. However, what would be unforgiveable would be if having reached that point they failed to communicate it properly and at the appropriate time to users, both existing and potential. For instance, most people would think it very unprofessional to continue to take subscriptions knowing that the project had been cast adrift like a rudderless boat, which had been holed below the water line and abandoned simply to be left to sink without trace at some point in the future. As it happens, my own Club Membership is up for renewal again in a few weeks and all this uncertainty is making me question whether I should renew this time around. So, it would be nice not only to have my open tickets dealt with, but to have some answers/reassurances about the future of ipernity. If you share my views, or at least some of my concerns, and you too would like to know what the future holds for ipernity then please add the above image* into your faves. Click that little star now and help shine the spotlight of Explore onto what we Brits would call "the elephant in the room".** *The image shown entitled "Elephant In The Room" was produced by Canadian artist Brandon Thomas and sourced through the deviantart website. You can see more of his work here . **The phrase "elephant in the room" is an idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk which no one wants to discuss.

Simply a section of brickwork that forms a wall on Turker Lane, Northallerton. This picture is posted for a manipulation challenge in the Come Slide With Me group here on ipernity. Edit: Sorry, but I just had to come back and give this one a title (albeit a rather obvious one) and add it into Sight and Sound : Pictures & Music . Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)

Just a macro of some rusty old metal. Feel free to use creatively as you so wish for textures or backgrounds etc..

Just a simple macro shot I took of an old rusting barrel I came across whilst out walking recently.