Photo of the Day
Today as we were leaving LaPorte to come back to West Lafayette I wanted to get a picture of something that I have not shot yet in my hometown. This four seat theater has been the only one that I have known in my town. We have state of the art theaters in Michigan City, but LaPorte has always just had this one. The theater that I know the best was more well known for its sticky floors than the quality of the movies inside. A few years ago it closed down, and I thought that movies in LaPorte were done for good. Since then two different groups have purchased the theater. From the way that it looks this second attempt has now failed. What does it take to get people to see a movie in their town? I like the fact that one of the last movies showing at this theater was the Expendables 2.
This is not my best work. In fact at the theater I knew that it wouldn’t be the picture of the day. Something was just not right. I had an idea when I saw this shot for one straight on that might allow me to see more of what was inside the theater. At the time in front of it I thought that it would look too boring. Now thinking about it I wonder how much of the detail inside could have been brought out in HDR. I guess another lesson was learned, and that is to overshoot your subject. I ran out of time today so I had to use my picture that I wasn’t sure of.
Technical Data
I shot this with HDR in mind, but I only used the metered exposure here. I just brought that shot into Lightroom, and performed what has become the standard practice to it. I increased the highlights, increased the shadows, and increased the clarity. For some reason on outdoor shots I have a set of sliders that looks very good. I have been very happy with this process as the pictures do not look as fake as my old style of HDR made them look.
Other News
I am thinking about changing the design of this page. I am currently using a free template. There is a lot that I like about the design, but a couple of things that I don’t like. I guess the main thing is that only one picture shows up at a time. I have thought about switching before, but I have been so used to the EXIF data being posted automatically on the left hand side that I haven’t been posting that. I can’t find any free or pay templates that will do this for me so I think that I need to study up a bit so that I can alter a template that I like to display the information that I want it to. I would guess that I will roll out the new design as this project nears completion.
Purdue vs. Eastern Michigan Photo Gallery
Yesterday I took a few pictures that I liked at the game. I posted on picture from then as my photo of the day yesterday. I posted the rest of them over at my other site here. I think that some of them turned out rather good. From 35 rows up I don’t have the angle that I need, but it is still fun to try and capture moments.
Kelby Worldwide Photowalk
Here is that part of the post where I talk about the photowalk that I am leading on campus after the Wisconsin game in October. The date is October 13th to be exact, and the walk will start at 4 o’clock est at the Neil Armstrong Statue in front of the Armstrong Hall of Engineering. Over 1,000 photowalks are planned around the world. If you are not near West Lafayette then you kind find a walk near you on the Kelby site. Sign up now to be part of this event. Nearly 17,000 walkers have already signed up so far. Activity has picked up a bit on the Purdue sites even with the short time being posted. You don’t have to be a pro (I am far from it) to attend. Any kind of camera is welcome as well. Here are a few links to the various sites which promote the event. If you want to sign up you should do so on the Kelby site in order to be eligible for the prizes though.
Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk ( Official Purdue Site)
Dave Wegiel Photography 