Photo for today --- Photo trickery

I like this shot as an example of how my concept of digital photography works ... that camera and editing programme are equal partners towards the end result ... and a knowledge of what you can do in editing can help in the field.

I was early and picked my spot for the shot but somebody later decided to stand on the stone pillar in front of the railcar. But I also got a shot of the railcar further back on the bridge and used a portion of that to replace the part of the car hidden by the person. It involved a small enlargement to compensate for the car being further back for the first shot. For this I think Paint Shop Pro superior to Adobe Photoshop ... still I started with PSP becuase then I couldn't afford PS and have never really taken to PS .. likely the reverse would be the case for somebody starting with Adobe :-)

It amused me :-)

As a photographer I am interested in how other togs work and was amused to see somebody using the LCD screen in bright sunlight when the camera has an Electronic Viewfinder, EVF. I guess old habits from film die hard and I almost always use my EVF and only the LCD for occasional low and high angle shots.

Photo for today --- "Freinds and Romans"

I wonder if the person who stuck this piece of wood in the sand saw the same thing that I did.

The inequality of unemployment

There is an interesting and disturbing op-ed in the NYT this morning by Bob Herbert where he points out the wide differences in the amount of unemployment in different decile groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/opinion/09herbert.html?th&emc=th
It makes me wonder how similar groupings are being affected in New Zealand. I would expect it to be pretty similar which is disturbing for the long term effects of governments doing little or nothing to rectify the problem.

It seems to me that in the Unioted States we have a caring President and supporting party hamstrung by the political system from achieving any progress while in NZ it is the basic 'speak calming words while doing nothing'.

Road Killers

From Lidsay Mitchell's blog ....
"The state of Victoria has a higher population than NZ but fewer road fatalities. Last year they had a record low in road deaths.

But a terrible accident at the weekend killed five young people. Typical aspects all present. Young, male driver. Limited licence requirements flouted. High speed. Alcohol.

STEVEN Johnstone, the 19-year-old driver in Sunday's horror crash that claimed five young lives in Mill Park, makes a chilling case study on the limits of the law. The apprentice roof tiler had a speeding conviction in the past year and was only allowed to carry one passenger, according to police.

Instead, his car was crammed with six people as it slammed into an oak tree at 140 km/h after hurtling through the intersection of Childs and Plenty roads.
This is followed by a discussion of the limitations of the law, what has been tried so far and what direction the police may go in next."



The problem is peer pressure and the fact that everybody wants to be liked and fit into some group. This applies at all ages and only a very few are strong enough in character to be individuals and say 'this is stupid behaviour'. In childhood I was frequently sitting on my guardian's knee while her husband drove. He was a cautious Scotish Presbitarian :-) and I'm sure I intook his attitudes to the road ... until I got my licence and occasionally pushed the venerable [ 1937 in 1948 ] Morris 8 up to 50 mph when alone. At that age I didn't have a 'peer' group.
So I'm lucky to be alive.

Censoring of posts and bans

It seems most common on those of the left wing who apparently cannot stand comments against their point of view. Perhaps I can be sympathetic that they are paying to publish their views, taking the trouble to run their blogs, so why should they tolerate discenting views.

I guess we expect everything to be free and easy to abuse each other with impunity, a common problem with some blogs ... a sort of fighting without blood or death ... not many wars in our neighbourhood.

I got refered to one thread on Red Alert and it was very disappointing with so many deletions and bans and hard to follow just what the thread was about. Will not go back there in a hurry.

It does seem rather juvenile all the censoring and banning.

Today's Photo --- The football

I could see nobody around at the time so how and why the ball came to be sitting on the rocks is a mystery. I did once notice a ball caught in a whirl of rubbish on the side of a river but that had obviously fallen into the river higher up the stream, but on the rocks is a puzzlement :-)