Hi Folks:
We haven’t done much chalk art recently because of the rain (no complaints – it refills the aquifer and we’ll appreciate it next summer). Unfortunately rain isn’t very kind to chalk art! We’re expecting another major storm this weekend so we’ll have to put out something else for Hallowe’en, but in the meantime, remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks:
Making digital panoramas is essentially a two-part process. In part one of this post I covered a bit about digital panoramas in general and some considerations that become important when collecting the images to be used for the panorama. Part two is focused (pun intended) more toward what to do with the images once you have them on your computer.
NB: If you have a smart phone you can use the panorama mode on your phone to make a simple panorama. Some even allow you to create a panoramic image from a video. Depending on your phone and your expectations, that may be sufficient for your needs. For me, it’s mostly not, because one of the benefits I find in making a digital panorama is the increase in resolution I obtain from joining together several images into one. The downside to that is that file sizes can get quite large, so when rendering the final image file it’s best to balance what you want against the capabilities of your computer. Sometimes I try to make smoke come out of mine… 🙂
This post is (typically) very long, and so we’ve broken it up into segments for you. Clicking on the subtitles will bring you to the relevant section:
How Panorama Software Works
Projections
Panorama Software Options
Making Panoramas
Stitching Errors
Exposure and Image Noise
Parallax
White Balance
Chromatic Aberration, Fringing Colour Artifacts
Image Cropping
Keystoning
Final Thoughts
Hi Folks:
As Labour Day weekend is upon us we’re starting to wind down summer once again. Vacations are (for the most part) coming to an end, children and adults are going back to school… Still, we wanted to offer a reminder that even as seasons change, some fundamental things don’t. Self-value is inherent, and not linked to what we do. And kindness is always the right response.
To that end, we wanted to offer you a reminder to put on a happy face and engage your world with love. 💗
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. This drawing took two whole sticks of yellow! But it was worth it… 🙂
P.S. II, the sequel: This is our ninth Hugs chalk art pattern for 2024. If you’d like to see all of them, click here: 2024 Hug Zones.
Hi Folks:
Yes, I’m aware I haven’t yet posted part two of my ‘Making Panoramas in the Rainforest‘ post. It’s coming. Truly!
Okay, the idea for this post came from a couple of sources, but most notably from an image I made recently with my phone camera. I have a Galaxy S21 phone, and in pro mode it allows me to shoot in raw/dng format. I can open those images in Capture One as raw files the way I would any other.
Before we continue I want to reiterate a couple of things. Those who have read our previous posts will be familiar with them. The first is a reminder that digital cameras don’t capture images. Digital cameras capture light as information, and we can take that information and arrange it in such a way that it looks like an image – either on screen or in a print. This happens because we arrange that information into a grid of little coloured dots (on paper) or little boxes (pixels) on the screen. Continue Reading →
Happy Canada Day folks … to all of those born here, and to all those who have found their way to our shores. Remember to hug the ones you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. A shout-out today to our wonderful friend Glennis, who wrote this beautiful poem back in 2019: Free Hugs
P.S. II, the sequel – a reminder that next Saturday (July 6, 2024) is International Free Hugs Day! Let your hugging inhibitions go and embrace the love!!
Hi Folks:
All of Marcia and Mike’s parents are gone now, but we have two sons and a son-in-law and five beautiful grandchildren. We are Grandy and Grandalf! 🧙♀️&🧙♂️
As with those who are moms, Happy Father’s Day today to all of the strong, loving men who are fathers, to those who are chosen dads, surrogate dads, step-dads, adoptive dads, and to the women who are also dads.
Special thanks to all those who love and support them.
Hugs,
M&M
P.S. For anyone who’s interested in knowing how the spherical pattern was made, click here:
Father’s Day Hugs (behind the scenes)
Hi Folks:
This is a short post that covers a bit of what went into making our latest chalk art drawing, for those who might be interested…
To start with, credit and thanks to @the.world.of._drawing on Instagram for the design! Much appreciated.
Now, if only sidewalks came with grid squares we would have been all set. Unfortunately, they typically don’t. So, in order to create the design in sidewalk chalk, we had to get a little inventive. The first step was to create the pattern in CorelDraw, like this:
The second phase was to take that pattern and cut it into 12 pieces. Each section is contained with an 8″x10″ rectangle so as to fit on a sheet of letter-sized paper. An X-Acto knife was used to cut out the red lines in the paper, leaving gaps at the junctions to hold the template together. 
The next step was to assemble the cut-out pages of the template into three strips of four images, using painter tape to hold them together:
These strips were reassembled on the sidewalk, and a piece of white chalk was used to transfer the cutout lines to the sidewalk. After that, coloured chalk was used to complete the pattern. The final result looks like this:That’s it!
Hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks:
Today (June 8) is a very special day for us, for three reasons:
1) It’s World Ocean Day! As Sylvia Earle said, “No blue, no green.” Oceans are vital in so many ways that we can barely begin to comprehend.
2) On June 8, 2002, Marcia proposed, and we continue to celebrate Us every day.
3) AND, our first Free Hugs adventure was on June 8, 2010! You can read more about that here, but when we set out we were – in a word – terrified. Excited, but terrified. We had no idea what to expect, and we stood there with our FREE HUGS posters for what seemed like an eternity until a little girl saw us and came running over. The rest, as they say, is history. Eleven years, thousands and thousands of hugs, handshakes, fist bumps, smiles, stories and more shared with people from (at least) 88 countries. Our thanks to each of you – every hug is unique and special.
In honour of the occasion we updated our Hugging Spot in front of our house:
(No you’re not allowed to point out that we got the rainbow colours reversed – purple is such a lovely colour and it called out … and it went downhill from there. Think of it as a sunrise instead. A new day. Yeah, that’s it. 🙂 )
Remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!
Hugs,
M&M
Hi Folks:
I’ve been making digital panoramas for a lot of years now, and I’ve written at least a half-dozen different posts on different aspects of them. This one is for a specific case scenario rather than a general post on panoramas, but before we get too far, we need to cover a few basics. If you want to skip the basics and go straight to the rainforest part, click here.
First, understand that digital cameras don’t capture images. Digital cameras read light and render it as information; that information can be displayed in a way that makes it look like a photograph. All digital cameras capture raw files; not all digital cameras give you access to them. Now, raw files require digital post-processing on a computer (as compared to .jpg files, which are post-processed using an algorithm provided by the camera manufacturer and the processing power of the camera). The other side of that comparison is that raw files provide much more information to play with than .jpg files. This is especially important when shooting in the rainforest, as we’ll get to below.
Second, to do this with any degree of efficiency it’s important to understand at least the basics of colour management as it relates to cameras and computers. Remember: it’s less about accurate colour and more about consistent colour between devices.
So that we’re all on the same page, it’s important to understand the difference between a panoramic image and a digital panorama. Compare these two images:
(click on any image to see it larger)
Dallas Road shoreline, Victoria, BC
Third Beach, Tofino, BC