ACQUINE: Automatic Photo Rating - Aesthetic Quality Inference Engine

As I've been trying to decide on my final portfolio, I needed some criteria other than my personal preference. I have some friends with good eyes, but sometimes they are sympathetic to my plite.  I've already stripped what I have down, and what is left can subjected to others preferences. I'm always looking for more feedback of my photos because I have moments of brilliance, and sometimes not so much. Everything I've uploaded to my flickr account has been reviewed a few times before I think it's "reasonable", not all of it is perfect, but I liked it.  

Introducing ACQUINE, one of the most useful, and most frustrating things to happen to my photography. ACQUINE is a software based aesthetic engine;  in effect a software based photo critic.  The software scores an image out of 100, 50 is considered a portrait by a typical quality professional photog, but anything over 40 is considered an above average image.

I've uploaded a number of images and while my average is in the 40s, my highs are in the 90s and my lows are actually in the single digits!! I know it's not the final word on what is a good photo, and the designers have challenges with the engine; it is a work in progress after all.  They mention limitations of the system, but it still is frustrating.  It shows me some gems, and then totally disses some of mine and some others favourites.

If your curious about your own work give it a whirl....



More Later....
G.

End of Year Photography Gig

Over the Christmas break I got an opportunity to shoot some hockey again.  For the 3 year running I shot New Years Eve for the Oilkings.  My timing was a bit off but I still got some good stuff.

• 2009/12/29 - Lethbridge Hurricanes
• 2009/12/31 - Brandon Wheat Kings
• 2010/01/03 - Red Deer Rebels

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G

Photo or Illustration?

Personal-2009-10-25-Canon EOS-1D Mark III-0019,
originally uploaded by trollkarlnet.

I've been playing with some presets in Lightroom. A couple generate an effect that makes the photo look more like an illustration. I love the effect, but it makes me wonder, what is a photo?



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G.

A Study In Clouds

Personal-2009-09-15-Canon EOS-1D Mark III-0004-Edit,
originally uploaded by trollkarlnet.

Over then next few days I'll be posting a number of cloud shots to my flickr account. The diversity in colours and textures are mind boggling.


More Later...
G.

Harvest Time Is Upon Us

Personal-2009-09-13-Canon EOS-1D Mark III-0015-Edit,
originally uploaded by trollkarlnet.

Harvest time is upon us.


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Props For Some Lightroom Presets

I've been doing a lot more editing in Lightroom over the last while, and I must say it ROCKS!!! Many people have created Photoshop Actions, but I've never been a big Photoshop fan. I preferred Corel's offerings, but there were not many choices for plug-ins. Now I only round trip to Photoshop if and only if it is necessary…Serious Sharpening or Noise Reduction… Otherwise I live in the quiet, non-destructive world of Lightroom.

Recently I come across some very great Develop Presets (Lightroom editing speak) which have expanded my range of what I want to do with my photos, without spending a large amount of time.

• Mathais Blix -- http://blog.blixfoto.com/journal/2008/8/3/my-lightroom-presets.html 
• profiPhotos News -- http://www.profiphotos.com/blog/fr/2008/11/new-lightroom-2-presets-focus-beauty-builder/ 
• Christopher Bartelski. -- http://cbartelski.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/lightroom-presets-inspired-by-soda-pop/ 
• Vivian Chung -- http://vivianchungphotography.wordpress.com/category/lightroom/lightroom-preset/ 
• X= -- http://x-equals.com/blog/?cat=10 

Often they are not used as is, but get me in the ballpark, and I still have to have a feel for which treatment makes the best photo from my picture. Or they give me ideas for my own additional presets.

Thanks to the preset developers for making their warez free.

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G

PS: Thanks to Gavin Seim for keeping a great list on his website.

The Painted Family

Personal-2009-07-18-Canon EOS-1D Mark III-0130-Edit,
originally uploaded by trollkarlnet.

The Painted Family

From my youth, I start to recall a song we learned in grade 2 or 3, don't exactly remember

"I ride an old paint, I lead an old dan
I'm going to Montan' to throw the hollihan…"

Full lyrics

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G

NB: 2010/06/17 Migration note, I've modified the post name to match the photo name.

Sun Setting On Oil Pumps

Personal-2009-07-01-Canon EOS-1D Mark III-0040-Edit,
originally uploaded by trollkarlnet.

Driving between Provost and Edmonton using Highway 41 on Canada Day, I did a number of silhouettes. Unfortunately GPSed on my Blackberry 8830 gave me issues so I don't have this photo geotagged.

More Later ....
G.

Day of Photographic Adventure... (Update 2)

Day of Photographic Adventure... I've uploaded the HDRs to my flickr account and added the other half of my GPSed track.  I didn't like any of the pix I took of the Lamont County boys fighting the brush fire so I'm not going to upload them.




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G

Abstract Art and Photography

On Flickr there is a group called ROTHKOesque. These are photos that look like they are in the style of the abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.   Mark Rothko was known for doing paintings with blocks of colours, called Colour Block Painting. It's an interesting style, and I have a number of sunsets that might be considered Rothkoesque
I will have to explore taking more photos in this style.

More Later....
G

Day of Photographic Adventure... (Update 1)

Day of Photographic Adventure... I mentioned I took a bunch of HDR pics I've uploaded them to my flickr account and linked them to my GPSed Track.

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G.

Day of Photographic Adventure...

I had to get out and see if I could capture photos of a thunderstorm.  Instead, I ended up playing with some HDRs of clouds.  There were a number of lightning strikes, and I got a couple of photos of the Lamont County Firecrew putting out a fire from one of the lightning strikes.  I will be uploading these to my flickr account over the next week or so.

On my Blackberry 8830, I've been using a piece of software GPSed which acts as a GPS data logger.  I've been having very mixed results with it.  At times, it looses GPS connectivity, and I don't know if it is the a problem in the blackberry GPS or the way in which GPSed is interacting with the 8830.  So a number of my tracks on GPSed.com, aren't complete.  If I catch it in time I can reset my blackberry and start a new track but, I think I will just have to get a Garmin to do my GPS data logging.

More Later ....
G.

Day 9 -- México 2008 -- Tripitas

Today is Marcela and Issac's last day with us, so I get to the house early and say my farewells. I do a first photo pass of the house, but the results are vetoed. Estef and Cristina have a siesta, so mama, Nelvin and I head to a major park for a bit of sight seeing.

On route to the park I see a mamey vendor, I shout mamey, take note of the location but we didn't stop, D'OH!!! We make our way to Tangamanga Park.

Tangamanga Park, is San Luis' equivalent of Central Park, or Stanley Park etc. People running, an RC Plane/Car area, BMX Track, tennis courts etc. It's mostly irrigated so it's an nice green oasis in the middle of the mexican desert. They also have a botanical garden of the native flora of the state. We stroll around the garden, and then head out, we get a couple of frozen fruit bars (I forget which type, something we normally don't see here ... sniff.) Now to find that mamey cart. Nope, gone, no sign of him, I'm left wanting. I'm still kicking myself, I should have bought more mamey that first time.

We get back to the house enjoy our fruit bar and then clean the house. Out we go, for lunch, mariscos y tostadas. Yummy, A large seafood cocktail with a splash of salsa and advocado. Sooo goood. Why can't we get food like this backhome. MickeyDees or BurgerKing is just not the same. Fastfood that is fast and flavourful and nutritious.

A little more cleaning, now as each room meets mama's approval I snap off the photos.Unfortunately we never got mama's room upto scratch... ahhh welll. Supper time and the quest for Tripitas, tripe tacos. We find the place, yeaaaaahhhh!! So Good, Nelvin and I need seconds. I've noticed the sodas I've been drinking here in Mexico are much less sweet than stuff in Canada and the US. Come to think of it the cereal I ate as well. Stupid yanks and the high fructose corn syrup ( watch King Corn.)

Day 5 -- México 2008 -- Camino

Today I decide to be adventurous.  I gab an instant coffee, load my back pack, put on my runners (should have worn my boots D'OH!), and head out.  I start walking towards some of the church spires I had seen on my numerous car rides between Cristina's and the Hotel.  I stop at the OXXO (sort of a 7-11 or Macs store) grab a couple of protein bars, some gatorade and some water, and keep on trekin'.  I pass the industrial area, and get to a more residential zone.  The streets are fairly narrow, and the light isn't great.  I don't really see anything that inspire my photographic interests.

An hour and a half in, I get to the church I used as a landmark.  Unfortunately there was a wedding in progress when I arrived, so I didn't spend too much time.  I try to take a couple of HDR sequences since the church is in shadow and backlight by the midday sun.  I head off to the next.  Again I tried a few HDR sequences, and off on my way.

Day 2 -- México 2008 -- Posada

The day started with a knock on the door. I ignored the first couple raps since, I thought it was people bothering others. Then I heard "Greg, my daughter sent me to get you." OK, It's for me! I hurridly get cleanup and dressed and I meet Nelvin Grande in the lobby. He drives us to his job site where he is building a new group of houses, and they were having some issues with the grade of the road. So, I watch the various trades performing their tasks and reflecting how different construction jobs in Canada are, and yet how the same. I walk outside of the gate and took a quick tour of the neighbourhood.

After about 20 minutes, or so we make our way to the house. I finally meet Marcella, and her beau Issac. Cristina laughs at me and asks how do I know I wouldn't be kidnapped. I tolder what her dad said and the door, we both laughed. They then laughed at me for carrying my passport around my neck, like I did in Ecuador. So they took it and put it some place safe and we were off running errands. Off to the mercado looking for flower center pieces for the tables for the fiesta. At the mercado, first thing up xoconostle, a super acidic cactus fruit, splash of lime, and a splash of chili powder, yummy. As we stroll around the mercado, we see a couple different flower vendors. I also see a tortilla press in action, a couple different butchers, so I see arrachera, and yup I got the right cut of meat, but it is difficult to get here. Next up enchiladas potosina, yummy, fresh handmade tortillas con chili, with a nice flavourful filling.

Reviewing Old Photos..

I've been going through my old pics because I'm contemplating retiring my self-hosted gallery.  Now I'm hosting most of my stuff currently on flickr.  I've definitely grown as a photographer since 2003, when I got my digital rebel.  I don't shoot as many frames, nor do  I like as many of the frames I've shot.  I've become more critical, and my goals as a photographer have changed.

When I started, I was on my high-horse about don't edit,  don't adjust, don't enhance blah blah blah. What a prat, I've gotten over myself.  I now think of my RAWs as a digital negative (as they are intended), and an unrefined image. Now, my job is to take the raw image and create the best photograph possible from that image.  If I need to do some colour correction, or enhancements, so be it. Crop it, rotate it, I don't care, just get the best quality final piece of art possible. Find the photograph that is hiding in the picture. 


More Later ....
G

NB: 2010/06/21, I have retired my self-hosted stuff, but not by choice.

A Weekend of Diversity

The weekend was full of hits and misses.  Saturday I experimented with some GPS software for my blackberry.  It WORKED!! I was able to create a map of the route for the day and was able to geoencode my photos, and upload them to flickr.  Sunday Bzzzzt!! I'm not sure if I mis-entered the config info for the trip, I have a couple of way points of places I wanted to come back to, but no track, no info to do geoencoding.

Think Positive About No Snow!

Well there is an upside to no snow. Snow owls are more easily seen. I had been bombing up and down some of my usual haunts.  I spotted this guy, and was able to pop a couple of frames off, before he got out of range.  I really wish I had some longer glass I would have been able to spend more time with birds like this one. 


While I'm not unhappy with my 100-400, a 400 f/2.8 would make it so I could use my teleconverters and get little more reach.  Ideally a 600 f/4, or even a 800 f/5.6 would be cool.  This was cropped out of a shot at 400mm. I was maybe 10m from him and managed to get this frame just as he had enough of me a headed for some peace and quiet.


More Later ....
G.

Finally!!

I finally got my Canon 1D Mark III.  What a difference it makes over my 20D and 30D.  WOW! What a difference in performance.  I now have to decide should I do a 40D as my backup, or hold out for a second Mark III. I may have to contemplate a 5D or it's replacement as a full frame back up instead of the 40D, but that is a little ways out.

I also need to contemplate a couple of long primes 200f/2, 400f/2.8, 600f/4, 800f/5.6.  The 200 and 400 being my prime candidates.

Happy New Year!!

Well it has been far too long since I graced the pages of my blog, or updated my photo gallery.  Well that is about to change (at least I hope).

On the photo front, I've broken down and have a new laptop (a Dell XPS), and most importantly Adobe PhotoShop and Adobe Ligthroom.  Let me start off with saying Lightroom rocks. No knock to gimp and dcraw, but I never quite got the juju for messing with RAW files on my FreeBSD boxes. Additionally not have any real colour management has been an issue.  Now that I've been shooting RAW and comparing to the JPEG output, it's making me kick my ass that I didn't shoot RAW all the time.  To use a photographer pun

Now I've seen the light!!