Random thoughts on art, technology, stuff, and occasionally Real Estate: June 2007

I grew up in Eagle Rock, a community in Northeast Los Angeles, California. Many of my early childhood memories involve a trip to the Eagle Rock Branch library.  I still have pictures in my mind of the way books were arranged on the low shelves in the children's section, the polished wood floors, the high windows, hurrying down the steps with an armload of new books.

The library was closed in 1971 due to earthquake damage, however, thanks to the dedicated efforts of preservationists and community members, the building was saved and renovated and reopend in 1997 as the Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center.

But this is not a post about preservation.  It is about one book from my childhood that I first found on the library shelves.  I took it home, read it, cried.  Every six months or so, I would look for it again on those low shelves, check it out again.

I'd forgotten that book for years.  And then a couple months ago, that book popped into my memory:  The Blue Cat of Castle Town.  Sadly it is no longer in print - it should be - but several Amazon resellers have copies.  Do read the customer reviews here

I bought one.  If I disappear for a few days, I am in Castle Town, learning the River's Song. 

"Once in a blue moon, there comes a cat that is blue" .... a cat fated to learn the song of the river, and in turn teach the same song to one special mortal ... a magical quest.

Occam's Razor is often paraphrased as "The Simplest Solution Is Usually The Best Solution".  (Brother Occams' original phrase in Latin was "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem" which is translated in Wikipedia as "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity".... Demonstrating that the simplest translation is also usually the best one -- but I digress).

Hold the thought of Occam's Razor while you take a look at this photo of a lovely hillside home in Eagle Rock.

There is one obvious problem.  The green trash can in the driveway.

I see four possible solutions, two on-site, two in post-processing.

1.  On Site:  Physically move the can.  Pull it out of sight before shooting, pull it back to its original place when done.

2.  On Site:  Shoot from an angle where the can is not visible.

3.  Post Processing:  Crop it out.

4.  Post Processing:  Clone it out.

Reviewing all four options, I don't doubt that Brother Occam would choose number 3:  Cropping.  That option takes the least physical effort, and the least post-processing time.

But if you are absolutely determined to practice your cloning skills, let's give it a whirl:

I see three distcint "zones" surrounding the trash can.  1.  The Driveway.  2.  The brick wall.  3.  The shrubbery.

I'll work on the driveway area first.  Select a "donor" area by ALT clicking somewhere in the driveway.  Then click on the trashcan to "paint" the color from the donor area over the trashcan.  Be careful of that green flower pot!

One secret to successful cloning is to keep reselecting the donor area.  Each time maybe from a slightly different position to pick up minor color variations.  Think of an artist dabbing his/her palette, then dabbing on his/her painting.  Then back to the palette-dab a little more, back to the painting-dab a little more.  Back and forth, back and forth.  Dab the palette, dab the painting.  That's the idea.

Next, I tackled the shrubbery.  Choose a donor area - ALT click - Dab over the top portion of the can.  Keep with the back and forth thing:

The brick wall will be the tricky part, because I want to maintain a good straight diagonal line where the surface of the driveway meets the brick wall.

The longer you practice with the Clone Stamp, the more you will come to appreciate Brother Occam, and the value of the crop tool.

When I looked at this sample image I used to illustrate merging images, I couldn't help but recognize how much it looked like the typical real estate marketing images I see in ads all over town:

And since the cat is now out of the bag that Marilyn and Elvis are alive, and well and selling real estate in Blue Hawaii, I could not resist the urge to turn the image into a banner for their real estate blog:

I recevied a request from Ginger Sala:

• For marketing purposes I want to combine 2 separate photos of Roger and me...both are currently on white background. I want to put them together and overlay them on another photo..beach background.

Let's see ......

First choose and open your three photos.
One for Background.  One photo containing the Ms.   One photo containing the Mr.

Start with the prep work:

Take a moment to think about the size and lighting of the Ms. and Mr. images. 

For each image, click View -> Actual pixels.  To do this properly you need to be working the image's original size.

Lighten or darken each image separately so they match. 

Look at the size of each individual, Mr. and Ms..  Resize as necessary so they match.  Pay particular attention to the head sizes.

If you need help lightening, darkening or resizing, just holler.

Now:  Extract each individual.  Here's how to use the Magic Extractor tool.  It's actually quite easy.

Remember to keep all three images open.  Use the move tool   to drag the first individual into the background.  Postion the individual.  Move the seond individual.

Note the layers palette: 

Each image placed on the background becomes a separate layer.  Note that the highlighted layer name in the palette indicates the active layer.  You change the active layer by clicking on the layer name.  When a layer is active, you can edit that layer.  Getting familar with layers might be the most important point of this silly post.  :-)

If you want the individual images to overlap, you can change which image appears on top by clicking Layer -> Arrange .

When you are satisified with the postiioning of all the individuals, click Layer - Flatten Image to merge the layers together

All right -- I have some "fine tuning" to do

Notice I accidentally snipped the top pouf of marilyn's hairdo off. 

This can be easily fixed with the Clone Stamp.   Click the Clone Stamp -- ALT click somewhere in Marilyn's hair -- release the ALT key, then click in around at the top of her head to add the hair back it.

Once I filled in all the missing hair, I used the smudge tool    to blend it in with the existing hair.

I cloned and smudged to get rid of the little stray white artifacts.

You can also use the smudge tool to just slightly soften the edges of the individuals.

Here we go ... (Not perfect by a long shot, but you get the idea!)

More about using the Move tool to create a photo collage here.

Last week I joined Facebook, just like many other AR members.  It wasn't long before my News Feed and Mini-Feed were filled with notices of stuff posted by my friends.  And other than "My Wall" I couldn't see how the heck to post anything.

For example, it seems you can't post and share links without a "Posted Items" module, and your "Posted Items" module does not appear until after you have posted something.

Just in case any others here are as befuddled as I was, here's the deal:

Start by posting a listing, (that's always a good place to start for a real estate agent)  You don't need a "Posted Items" module to post a listing.  And once you post a listing, the system will generate the module.

Click on Marketplace, in the left column

Click Add a new listing

Choose Housing.  Under Housing, there are sub-categories for Rentals, Sub-lets, and Real Estate. Choose the appropriate one.

Fill in the description.
Click create Listing.
I passed on the $1 promotional offers.

After the listing is generated, click "Share".

The Post to Profile tab will be highlighted.
Add a comment if you want, click Post.

Once you have posted something A "Posted Items" module will show up on your profile page.  Once you have that "Posted Items" module, you can then also post links.  Beside the "Posted Items" Header, click edit. 

This is the "My Posted Items" edit screen.  In the right hand column, you will see "Post a link".  You can fill out the "Post a link"  and click post.

 
Whew!  I'm getting old.  It's taken me almost a week to figure that out.  Maybe this info will save someone else a week-long headache.

And I noticed the FaceBook crew has a blog.  Maybe there's some more information there:  http://blog.facebook.com/ 

Are you following the drama aboard the space station?

On Tuesday, as astronauts were installing new solar panels,  three navigation computers crashed and could not be restarted.

Not to make light of a potentially serious situation, but anyone who has worked with computers for any length of time probably knows that feeling.

You install a new piece of hardware or software, and boom, everything crashes.  I can still remember that sinking feeling in my gut the very first time that happened to me.

A Windows System Restore won't fix the space station. 

But it is a very useful tool, and it can save the day in many cases.  In case you are not familiar with it, here's where to find it:

Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore

No, you probably don't want to try it right now.

How it works is, over time, it detects "restore points"  as you work -- or you can manually set restore points. 

When you add or change something, and the whole system goes FUBAR  (FUBAR:  "Farkled Up Beyond All Recognition".  a military term adopted by geeks, or maybe it was the other way around), using system restore will just reset the system to an earlier point in time.

More info on the space station:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/14/healthscience/14shuttle.php

A while back, I was pondering Russell Shaw's statement that  ...

• "Man too often finds that his "solutions" become his new problems. Most of the difficulties one faces on a regular basis (problems) are, in fact, themselves solutions to earlier problems." 

You know I keep wondering if Compact Flourescent Lamps are going to fall in this category sometime in the future.

Yes, they save energy.  Yes, I have placed several in my own home.  I confess, mainly because I like the idea of not having to climb up and replace them anytime soon.

However, all CFLs contain a small amount of mercury.  Here's a quote right off the EPA's fact sheet: 

"Mercury is an essential ingredient for most enery-efficient lamps.  The amount of mercury in a CFL's glass tubing is small, about 4 mg.  However every product containg mercury should be handled with care."

As in, what happens if you accidently drop one of the CFLs, and it breaks?  Oops.  This homeowner in Maine spent a little over two grand in cleaning up the toxic-waste-mercury-spill on her bedroom floor to the standard required by her state Department of Energy.  Oops again.

And what about disposal of these babies when they finally do burn out? They must be taken to a household hazardous waste disposal facility.  Go to http://www.lamprecycle.org/ , and click on State Lamp Recycling Regulations and Contacts to see the rules for your state.  Do you suppose some folks will cheat and just toss the burnt out lamps in the trash?  Nah, people don't do stuff like that.

Every upside has a downside.  And visa versa.

Edit:  I scanned the product package ... here you go  (in PDF format)

Jonathan did a terrific job lassoing and extracting his image to create this professional picture.

But you want to know a secret: I can lasso basic shapes - like windows - pretty darn good.  When it comes to lassoing complex shapes - like people - more often than not, the lasso will go skitering cattywumpus across the screen with a mind of its own.

If what you want to do is extract the image of a person, you might find its easier to use Photoshop Elements' Magic Extractor.

Open your image  (I'm working in Photshop Elements 5)

Click Image -> Magic Extractor

The Magic Extractor screen will open up

Click on the Foreground tool.  Using the Foreground tool tells Elements what to extract.

Drag the tool - scribble style - on the part of the image (person) that you want to extract.  The Photoshop Elements help files say you can just make a few dots here and there.  I kind of like lines to pick up all the color variations.  Don't try to draw the edges -- you might accidently pick up some background.  Note that you can set the brush size in the right column of the screen.

Click on the Background tool.  Using the background tool tells Elements what to exclude.

I usually set a fairly large brush size for the background tool.  Slowly scribble around the entire background ... you do not need to make a solid mask.  To finish up you may want to switch to a smaller brush and dab some dots.

Hit Preview

Use the "Add to Selection" and "Remove from Selection" tools to tidy up.

When your "extraction" looks about right, right OK.

Once an image is extracted, it can be moved and repositioned just about anywhere.

A few days ago Maureen Henry posted a blog looking for Photo Editing Help.  The photo she was looking to fix was an underexposed "before" shot of a kitchen.  Now that the kitchen is painted and staged, she wanted to be able to show both a "before" and "after" shot.  She has a great "after" shot, she just needs a properly exposed "before" shot.  Only problem:  She can't go back and reshoot the "before" since the kitchen doesn't look that way anymore.

Wait a minute.  Maybe we can take the "after" photo, and photoshop it back to an earlier point in time.  We can at least unpaint it.

Here goes:

Open the image -- I'm doing this in Photoshop Elements 5

Click on the Selection Brush tool

Set Mode to Mask Mode

Here's an easy way to think about Masking:  If you were painting a wall, and there was an object you did not want painted, say a baseboard, you'd probably cover the baseboard with masking tape to keep the paint off.  Well, that's what we're doing here. 

The hardest part is getting the edges straight.  Start by dragging the cursor along the outline of the object you want to mask. I usually start with a small brush size, and tackle the edges.  Just like if I were painting a wall.

Once you've got the edges right, you can change to a large brush and fill in the rest of the area.  Just keep dragging the brush tool around the image until you've covered (masked) all the areas that you do NOT want to paint.

Now for the easy part.  Click Enhance -> Adjust Color -> Replace color.  You'll notice your mask disappears and you now have areas selected with marching ants.

The replace color dialogue box will appear.  Make sure the left side eyedropper is the active one. 

Now click on the red painted wall in the image (that's the part we are going to change back to its original neutral color) .  The color showing in the dialogue box will change to the selected color.  Move the hue, saturation, and lightness sliders until the new color looks about right to you.  Move the Fuzziness slider towards the right to blend the final change into the total image.

When you are finished, hit  Select -> Deselect.  This isn't perfect, and would need some detail touch-up with the clone stamp ... but we're on the way to unpainting Maureen's kitchen.

A new way to enjoy Second Saturday Art Gallery Night in Northeast Los Angeles!  Ride the Highland Park Arts & Culture Shuttle!

June 9th - Artists in the Arroyo: An Evening in Highland Park

On the evening of June 9th, 2007 LA Commons is sponsoring the Highland Park Arts & Culture Shuttle to connect you to local galleries, artists, neighborhood events, and of course great food!

An Evening in Highland Park will give you access to an amazing line up of activities, including:

5:00 PM

5:30 PM to 6:45 PM

7:00 PM

8:00 PM

7:00 PM to 10:00 PM Ongoing

Let them know you're coming! RSVP torsvp@lacommons.org  or by calling 213-705-4457 to join  this one-of-a-kind evening! This is a free event and children are welcome. Of course bring a little spending money for dinner or to purchase art at the local galleries.