Tilt Shift Photography

So, what is “cheating” nowadays? PhotoFunia and TiltShiftMaker, SketchUp, and… Oh, the list goes on and on… Programs like these abound…

Testing TiltShiftMaker here with random photos from various travels…

AFTER TiltShifting:

Luxor in Rotterdam – my favorite pic of this series…

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Subway in the Netherlands

Rome. Obviously.

Oh, and yes, I DO think this is “cheating”…

BEFORE TiltShifting:

Wayfinding_Iconography_v02

A work in progress…

Inspired by wayfinding iconography… Especially from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport where I took these pictures:

Lusting after the man modeling the Hugo Boss suit? No, this wayfinding sign was the main object of my infatuation.

I took a picture because of the encased McDonald’s sign here… Mmmmm… French fries…

So, what am I up to now? Well, let’s see if this project is ever realized…

Frank Gehry, EarthSwoop, and Google Earth

I haven’t been in a blogging mood lately. No particular reason. No, it wasn’t because I wanted to keep my photos in the forefront; I’m not THAT vain!

I’m cleaning out my inboxes, and I’m finally reading my Dec 2008 issue of Sightseer, the monthly newsletter for Google Earth.

Looks like they have several 3-D models of Frank Gehry’s works. Now, I’m not a huge fan of Gehry… I thought his work in Millennium Park was pretty garish when I first saw it from afar… And up close… Well, it got only a tad better… But, perhaps only because the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was playing at the time! But despite Gehry’s design, the lawn in front of Pritzker Pavilion is one of my favorite spaces:

Photo taken in Millennium Park, summer 2005

Now looking at the same scene in EarthSwoop:

Pretty neat…

And then there’s MIT’s Stata Center in Cambridge, Mass… Which, I’m also not a huge fan of… But it was one of the touristy things to see when I visited Boston last summer:

These 3-D models aren’t that great… Mostly because the images used on the faces of the polygons are very drab in hue, but also because the buildings don’t even touch the ground, but you can at least start to get a feel for the place…

The separated bike lane and the rhythm and repetition created by the allée of trees also add to the space. Not a fan of building, but I did like some aspects of the sidewalk, bike lane, and street:

And… Enough rambling for the month.

Fun with PhotoFunia!

I just discovered PhotoFunia! Oh, I’m sure they store photos of your face… But, eh. Beats Photoshopping these yourself! This is only a sampling of the “effects” that can be used on your photo.

 

[DIY] Patio Door Repairs

I helped Mom repair a patio door that several repairmen have told her throughout the years couldn’t be fixed due to foundation problems… That seemed a bit silly to me. And I’m stubborn sometimes. Okay, maybe all of the time… So, I thought I would try my hand at fixing this myself!

We had to muscle the door open and closed every time we wanted to go out into that patio area. One time I trapped myself out there because I couldn’t open the door to get back inside! Rather than wait there until someone returned home, I climbed up onto the roof to wait it out up there… But that’s another story!

I was replacing 35-year-old rollers, so these were a bit harder to find. After calling and/or going to Home Depot, Ace, and Southland, Buffalo Hardware finally recommended Dawson’s, a place that specializes in hard-to-find window and door parts! If you’re only a casual reader and mechanical details bore you, then at least read the WARNING at the bottom of this receipt! I wonder what happened that led them to include this at the bottom of all of their invoices! (Yes, these parts were pricey…)

If you want more details…

Swisco is also a great source for parts (and was actually a bit cheaper than Dawson’s…), and they have great instructions for replacing patio door rollers that I followed.

I had a hard time finding photos online in searching for DIY instructions, so maybe these will help someone else out… Or maybe they will help ME out if I ever need to replace the rollers on Mom’s OTHER patio door. But it really wasn’t that hard to do. Photos help, but weren’t necessary.

Rusty rollers; bright, shiny, new rollers!

The stationary glass panel and the sliding door were both removed from the framing. The bottom of the door frame was also removed to gain access to the old, rusty rollers.

New roller installed inside the old aluminum frame! Old roller in the foreground.

Bottom of the frame rubber-malleted back into place!

And voila! A working, gliding, sliding patio door! Picture not included, but use your imagination! Mom was VERY surprised that this actually worked, that I was actually able to fix this. What? Do I abandon that many failed DIY projects??? :D