The Darwinian Evolution of Photoshop

I found this sweet little graphic earlier today. Click on it to view larger.

Infographic: The Darwinian Evolution of Photoshop by Tech King

Kicking and Screaming

I’m not 12 anymore.

It’s a bitter reality that I’m struggling to deal with, but just six weeks before my 26th birthday it’s ultimately sinking in. That being said, it’s often mentioned by those around me that I’ve got the brains of a 20-something, the body of a 40-something and the maturity level of a 12-year-old. I can’t really argue there; all valid points, indeed.

But now it’s kickball season. And although we’re playing a child’s game in a very adult fashion (you’re either hungover, drunk or drinking at the field), it’s still a game – and a game I plan on winning! Our team name is Red Ball and Vodka and while we’re in the “rookie” division we still take competition seriously.

And that’s where my problem lies. Have you ever seen a grown man cry over kickball? You should have seen me Sunday. Well, I wasn’t literally crying, per se, but rather writhing in pain after straining my quad (such is the life when you fail to stretch before an adult kickball game).

But like I said, I’m not 12 anymore. So if that means stretching for 20 minutes before a 50-minute kickball game, it’s better than dealing with the hideous pain I’m feeling now.

First photo with my new iPhone

I'm still surprised by the detail in this photo, taken (and sent to the blog) with my new iPhone.

It's a shot of the sunroof in my Jeep from yesterday's rain, as well as my new background. The new HDR function on the phone is pretty sweet, so I'll definitely be playing with it a lot, not to mention the HD video!

Selling Out

 
Not that it’s any surprise to those who know me well, but I finally did it. I sold out. I sold out harder than Green Day. Not that there’s ever been any doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t (I’d sell my pinky toes if the price was right), but after my history of denouncing certain products I ultimately conceded. Although, I guess calling me a hypocrite might be more logical. 

You see, after years of bashing the iPhone (I did so publicly here) I’ve finally succumbed the greatness that is Apple:

I got an iPhone.

Now, I’ve never hated on Apple products. After all, Mac computers are the industry standard in journalism, graphic design and all things multimedia. What’s more, I’ve even praised the iPhone as a standalone device in the past (see here).

It’s AT&T I’ve had issues with. Not personally, per se, but rather witnessing the dropped calls, shoddy service and poor overall performance of those around me. Indeed, Verizon is the greatest network in the country with the best service (see map below). An iPhone on Verizon was something Holly and I have wished for since the phone came out.

The kicker began a week ago: Holly’s Blackberry Storm 1 was freezing more often than not (as was mine); then, her battery stopped keeping a charge; we received an e-mail from Blackberry for a battery recall; and then we saw the actual iPhone 4 in action at my brother’s.

It was time to switch. And switch, we did.

Now I’m up to my neck in the app store, playing free games and constantly just admiring the beauty that is iPhone. We’ll accept the fact that we may lose a few calls, but since our new service is plan is essentially the exact same as our previous Verizon (albeit cheaper!), it’s a risk we’re willing to take.

So call me a sellout. Call me a hypocrite.

Or, just call me on my iPhone.

Jake Donahue v. YouTube – Part 2

It’s been a week and no response. The only difference is that when you click on the video from my personal channel on YouTube you are greeted with this little ditty:

I’ve noticed there are now three other uploads featuring the exact same Nike commercial (one is actually from Nike Sportswear). I’m not sure why the two non-Nike uploads haven’t been removed just yet, but if they make it through and I do not, I’ll be pissed.

At the very least, I do have solace in knowing that people can still view the commercial. After all, whether it’s my upload or somebody else’s, I’m just glad people are still excited about KGJ.

But as for YouTube, this isn’t over quite yet.

Coming Soon: The Donahue Media Group

A new company is in the making…

The Donahue Media Group will soon launch a new website, before taking Portland, Ore., by storm.

Jake Donahue v. YouTube – Part I

Well, well, well. It seems the powers that be over at Google’s YouTube have blocked my latest videos.

On Monday, I uploaded the new Nike commercial featuring my childhood and adult-life idol Ken Griffey Jr. I then uploaded the tribute video that the Mariners shared on the big screen during the game after he officially retired last month. In less than 36 hours I garnered close to 20,000 views on the Nike commercial – a video that brought tears to many people – and close to 1,000 on the video tribute from Safeco – you want to talk about making grown men cry, watch that video more than once (I will post it to my Vimeo stream soon).

I’ve been getting dozens of e-mails like this:

getoharmony23 has made a comment on Ken Griffey Jr - Goodbye Baseball Hello Cooperstown - Nike:

Greatest of All Time. Brings tears to my eyes even thinking about how I will never get to see the most exciting player that ever laced up the cleats. . :(

And this:

azarel7 has made a comment on Ken Griffey Jr - Goodbye Baseball Hello Cooperstown - Nike:

I don't even play or follow baseball very closely but I know that the man is a legend. Man just played well, no scandals, no drugs, no arrogance, just the game. Sports needs more athletes like him.

Yes, “azarel7,” sports DO need more athletes like him.

But if you click on the videos now, you will be greeted with the following bar across your screen:

What’s more, they put a “strike” in my YouTube account’s “personal record”:

(click to view larger if you want to actually read it)

I have since responded with an e-mail to YouTube protesting the matter. They will forward that on to “MLB Advanced Media,” the originators of the complaint. Since I’ve seen many baseball and Nike commercials/videos all over YouTube already, I must only assume I’m in the right.

Furthermore, this little ditty seems to make it seem like I’m acting within the legal boundaries:

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use

So, while I wait for things to be sorted out with YouTube, here is the video in all its original glory (thanks to Vimeo):

Goodbye Baseball, Hello Cooperstown from Jake Donahue on Vimeo.

Goodbye Baseball, Hello Cooperstown

Thank you, Nike! Here is the latest commercial from Phil Knight and Co. emblazing the great Ken Griffey Jr. for all to see!

I saw this for the first time tonight during the MLB Homerun Derby. What a fitting commercial during an event that Griffey so often dominated.

Thanks again, Nike, for this awesome commercial!

My camera’s 10,000th image

Holy Sanata Clause Shit!

After 21 months of playing with my 2008 birthday present (the Canon S5 IS that Holly so lovingly bestowed upon me a few weeks before my actual birthday almost two years ago), I finally shot image No. 10,000. And be it ever so fitting, it occurred during our honeymoon in Maui.

Here is IMG_0000 (after IMG_9999, it reverts back to zero):

Knowing that this milestone was steadfastly approaching, especially at rate in which I was shooting down in Hawaii, I really wanted a special image for my camera’s big moment.

Well, Maui couldn’t have painted a better sunset picture!

This was on our way to watch the Independence Day fireworks from the streets of Old Lahaina in West Maui. I was going to try and shoot a bunch more of this awesome view, but some Hawaiian asshole veered his beat up Toyota directly in front of me and my tripod – completely blocking our view! I was pissed, to say the least. But, alas, I still came away with what I wanted: An awesome palm tree shot. Soon after I hammered out some pretty sweet (at least for me) fireworks photos.

But enough about that one image – let’s dig into some stats.

Since Oct. 26, 2008, when Holly gave the camera to me as an early birthday present (she hid it in her bag when I picked her up from the airport, then asked me to grab something out of it. I was speechless for a moment, then excited beyond belief), I’ve taken that camera everywhere!

So, to break it down a little further, between Sunday Oct. 26, 2008, and Sunday, July 4, 2010, I shot 10,000 photos.

That’s roughly one photo every 90 minutes!

Yeah, you read that right. I averaged just over 16 photos a day for 623 days… over 112 photos a week for 89 weeks… 476 photos a month for 21 months!

Now, I’m sure those numbers aren’t incredibly staggering for somebody like our wedding photographer, Benjamin Reed, who popped off over 5,000 shots at just our wedding alone! But for a guy who’s never been paid to shoot photos, I’m chalking up 10,000 as a pretty sweet number.

That being said, here’s to 10,000 more!

Falling Stars

Here’s my second attempt at a star trail timelapse, shot from the balcony of our hotel:

 

Honeymoon Photos

Just a preview of what we get to see EVERY DAY down here in Maui:

 
Sunset at our hotel.

 
People canoeing along the shoreline.

And the sunset view from our hotel balcony (actually, this the balcony outside the elevator just three doors down from our room).

The sky is falling!

 
This image is over 300 30-second images over a 3.5 hour time frame stacked on top of each other.

My new wife and I just started our honeymoon in Maui last two nights ago. Since she was knocked out by jet lag as the sun finally set, I set up the tripod on our balcony (Oh! Quick sidenote: We had originally booked a "garden view" room at the uber-nice Sheraton Maui on Black Rock, as anything else was insanely expensive. Well, upon checking in, we found out the hotel upgraded our room to an OCEAN FRONT view... at no extra cost! Booom shakka lakka!!!)

Anyway, I let the camera shoot one 30-second photo every 45 seconds for just over 3 hours, 30 minutes (it may have lasted longer if the batteries didn't die when I fell asleep).

Nevertheless, I was astonished at how visible the stars were with so much ground light shooting into the palm trees. I think a little over halfway into the video the lights on the ground dim lower, so next I may wait until 12:30 a.m. (that's about when they dimmed, according to my EXIF data) and start a new one. And this time I'll use brand new batteries, so we'll see what happens

 

My Wedding Toast

I’ve been asked multiple times lately if there’s video of any of the wedding toasts from Saturday’s awesome event. Well, I haven’t found a complete clip yet, but I do have mine pretty much written out. Ben Lee (my best man) offered up the single greatest toast I’ve ever heard in my life. He is a goddamn comedian who made the entire ballroom erupt in laughter – for nearly ten minutes! His toast could be featured in a movie, and I feel so honored to have listened to him talk about me. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.

Ever.

But, like I said, I can’t find any video. If anybody has one, please let me know!

That being said, while I did simply use the text below as an outline for my toast to those involved in the wedding, I’d say roughly 85-percent of the speech is here:

MY TOAST

First of all, thank you to my beautiful bride – you’re by far the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, and tonight I simply cannot staring at you. You’ve always been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen – tonight, you truly topped anything I could have imagined.

But right now, I want to thank the rest of you. To everyone who’s here and not here, you’ve all been part of our lives in one way or another. It’s your presence around us who’s transformed both Holly and I into the couple we’ve become.

For the lengths you’ve traveled – literally all corners of the country – thank you for joining us today! You’re making this joyous occasion a truly remarkable event.

Cathy, my new mother, thank you so much for your contributions today. This wedding wouldn’t be the beautiful day it is without you. But more importantly, thank you for letting me marry your daughter. She is every bit the woman she is today because of you.

And my mom, you’re the sole reason I am who I am today. Your struggles and strengths, your heart and your soul have impacted me more than you know. Thank you for the life you’ve provided me, and the mentoring I’ve received. You’re much more than a mother, but one of my closest friends. I’m sorry for the week we’ve had, but what better way to get over the lowest of lows than by the highest of highs.

While my grandma isn’t here and grandpa is here in spirit, I can only thank them for everything else. Every single ounce of the person I am - the good things, anyway – are directly related to my relationship with them. My grandma is my true second mother, while my grandpa was more of a dad and friend than a grandpa – he will be missed so incredibly much. I do feel better knowing that he’s most likely sitting in heaven telling God how to make things better, because if anybody can do that, it’s Euge.

So, before I move on, a toast to Eugene Matchett, my grandfather.

Now, these guys (groomsmen). Thank you all for not just getting me here today, but getting me everywhere I’ve ever been – I know I only have one brother, it feels like I’m always surrounded.

Ben, my best man, I don’t have enough time to talk about you. You are a unique and inspiring individual, and people are better for knowing know. Since playing video games at Oregon state, our fake fist fight before lake Shasta because the seniors thought it would be funny, our trip to Coeur d’Alene and everything since – you’re indeed my best friend and truly a best man. Thanks for being there every time I needed it.

Gene – you’re like an older brother, you’ve backed me up when others neglected, and you’ve always seen the best in me. I’ve looked up to since I was a kid, and I always will.

John – again, you’re more like a brother than a friend. Holly and myself have always loved you and miss you know that we live in Oregon. You’re one of those guys who dance around in my head when I’m about to do something stupid – I ask myself What Would John Do. Sometimes it actually works.

Zach – You are my little brother. I know we may be cousins, but I’ve always considered you my brother since we lived at Grandma’s a few summers ago. You’re a cousin, a brother and most importantly a friend. We’ve had similar lives growing up, and think we’ve both done something right if our Mom’s haven’t killed us yet.

Michael – finally, my actual brother! What can I say? From the time I was a little boy I’ve wanted to be you. You’ve always been inspiration to me. I wanted to go to WSU because of you, I wanted to join a frat, and most importantly, I wanted to marry a blonde. I think that’s the only one that really worked out in the long run!

Jeff- I’ve only said a bad word about you once – when you woke Holly and I up one morning by screaming your own name – the next morning I only laughed, as I showed up late to work and tried to explain myself. You’re a great friend, both Holly and I look forward to your wedding next year and a long friendship living nearby.

Aaaaand.

Garret – We weren’t best friends in high school, but since getting to know you after graduation I wish we would have been. You’re quite possibly the nicest guy I know, and I know a lot of people. Holly has always considered you a relative because of your friendship, and I’m happy to have you here

The bridesmaid’s: wow. You all look so beautiful and elogent. You’ve made Holly’s life so much easier, which in turn has made mine the same. Thank you to Holly’s sisters and my own, as well as Kathy and Emily.

But for the Bride. I cannot thank you enough. You are the most generous, loving and caring individual I know. I’ve loved you from the day I’ve met you, and I can’t believe we thought it was only a joke in high school when I said we’d get married one day.

But most importantly, thank you for saying yes. After all, when I proposed to you last year, all I got was an OK. Hearing you say “I Do” gave me all the confirmation I needed! If our lives are half as good as the past few have been, I will be the luckiest man alive!

Why I Love My New Bride

This was a complete and total wedding surprise. Holly bestowed the greatest wedding cake upon me the world has ever known! This wasn’t the main cake, but rather a supplemental “groom’s addition” accompanying her beautifully-decorated masterpiece.

I’m baaaack

OK, so it’s been over a month since I’ve shared with the world what’s been going on in Jakewood. But, with all due respect, I feel I should be granted a wee bit of leeway these past six or eight weeks.

In what’s quickly become the busiest time of my life, I never could have conjured up the sheer madness that has been my life lately. From coaching Little League during the regular season to taking on the younger All-Star Team in the post season (although my assistant coaches really did more work, thank you so much for all their help!), I was also involved in a little party yesterday, an amazing night over a year in the making.

You know, my wedding?

Holly and I got married yesterday evening, surrounded by friends and family who flew in from all across the country. It was indeed the greatest night of my life, a true event that will forever be ingrained in my memory thanks to those who attended. Pictures will be coming soon, thanks solely to the work of Ben Reed – by far the most amazing photographer anybody could ever ask for!

However, it hasn’t all been pure joy. Just less than two weeks ago my grandfather finally passed away following a short battle with lung cancer. The funeral was held on Monday, just five days before our wedding. But, like I said during my speech as I toasted my mother at the wedding, it was only fitting that we gathered soon after experiencing the lowest of lows to celebrate the highest of highs.

Grandpa, you will be truly missed. Rest in piece forever.

The days leading up to the funeral were obviously cumbersome, but even more so as I was charged with  writing the obituary. (You can read the entire obit here). Thanks in large part to my former journalism advisor Nils Rosdhahl from North Idaho College, I was able to work with my grandmother, mother, aunts and uncles to tailor the endearing article so fitting for the greatest man I’ve ever known.

Nevertheless, I’ve since learned the best way in dealing with these things is simply not to dwell on the fact that I’ve lost somebody so paramount in my upbringing, but rather celebrate the life of and memories of the incredible man who shall never be forgotten.

As cliché as it may sound, I truly believe that while one life has ended a new one is now beginning. The best possible way to honor my grandfather is simply to spend my life affecting those around me as positively as he did his.

And that starts with my new bride: Holly Beth Donahue:

Portland Golf Club

A friend of mine from high school is now the membership director at the Portland Golf Club. They needed photos for marketing materials, so of course a photos-for-golf trade was all I needed!

The lighting wasn’t perfect, but we still had fun. If anything, we scouted spots for next time. HDR brought out some locations better than others:

Brochure

I designed a brochure for somebody’s homework assignment recently, yet I went forward with it like it was for a $1,000 client. I' had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use this trick with the grassy typography, and voila, here it was!

So, while I essentially did the project for free, it was SO WORTH IT! Even if only for the fact that I spelled “Grow” with grass.

Here’s the cover (PS: There are a couple of typos, but I really wanted to share the design before I made my final edits!):

More Photos

Tonight Holly had her friend Kathy come over to help sew things for the wedding. Thus, I boogied outside and shot some more photos. Let’s just say the other day got me all excited to get out as much as I can nowadays, especially with the killer sunsets we’ve been having.

Here’s how I killed a few hours tonight down at the Sunset Transit Station where the Max Rail drives by:

My Photographic Evolution

I think it’s funny to look back at the “Edits” folder of my computer. That’s where I keep any photo I shot that I took a few extra minutes to make sure it looked good enough to share. Since it’s organized by date, it’s very easy to notice the trends I’ve gone through in just the past year.

You can tell just by stepping back and looking at the bunch as a whole where I first learned about Vibrance/Saturation in Photoshop CS4, as well as when I took the saturations to extremes. Then there was the heavy editing thanks to automated actions you could download from all over the web, followed by the heavy vignettes. There’s lots of panoramics and night shots, as well. Eventually came the HDRs followed by the use of Topaz Adjust to bring out single images into HDR-like fashions; not to mention long exposures, fast exposures and time-lapses.

Now, I’m into letterbox-style black borders. Why? I have no idea, aside from the fact that I’ve seen a few photographers (see here, here and here). Maybe it’s how they turn into a square. Perhaps it’s the contrast. Like I said before, I have no idea – I just like it.

…at least for now. We’ll see what happens next month.

Anyway, I’ve been busy playing with some older photos and taking some new ones this week and last. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

This little dandy was hiding deep in one of my Coeur d’Alene folders. Shots like this make me miss my drive to work in Idaho, all along Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive.

This was at sunset tonight. Holy friggin’ moly it was insane! I didn’t think I’d get it to look nice at all, and especially since I didn’t have my tripod handy. But I guess I was wrong…

I have wanted to shoot this photo since first moving to Portland, especially after seeing some awesome images of this same vantage all over flickr. Tonight was my night! This is actually an HDR of three separate 15-second exposures (+1, 0, –1).

From the same spot as above, overlooking downtown Portland from the top of OHSU. I had never been up here before until tonight, and I can’t wait to go back again! (Looks WAY better large!)

New edit of an old shot: This was from back when John came to visit. A little too dark for my taste, but I think that’s probably why I kind of like it, it’s not my normal edit.

And lastly, one of my favorite shots ever with an updated edit. This is probably my best “journalistic” shot, as I was on a police ride-a-long for a page design I thought might look nice. I borrowed a Canon from school and rode with a cop (who I actually went to middle school with, oddly enough).

Quick Break

Anymore it is far too easy to get my mind off track. I’m supposed to be working on a project I have due tomorrow, and it will likely take most of the day. So it makes total sense that I would get up in the middle of it all just to go outside and take a photo, for no other reason than to alleviate an urge that suddenly overwhelmed me.

And it wasn’t anything special, either. Just a panoramic down the road:

 
Click to view larger.

Little League, Big Win

So far this Little League baseball season I’ve been stoked with the potential my team keeps flashing. While moments of incredible brilliance often times rear their gorgeous heads when I least expect it, more often than not we screw something up. But since we’re just two games into the regular season (five if you count the pre-season pitching machine tournament – I don’t), that is to be expected.

Nevertheless, since we’re just a AAA team of 9- and 10-year-olds in a league not too obsessed with winning, I’m happy with our progress. We know what we need to work on now and what we’re pretty good at. We lost on Friday due to simple mistakes made by our own team, so our win yesterday was even greater when the players realized why they won – preventing those same mistakes.

But the greatest achievement so far this season has come in the form of one new player. At his first practice, having never thrown a baseball in his life, he only talked about his undying love for basketball and why baseball “sucked.”

Then a funny thing happened: He got better each practice, proceeded to take a greater interest in baseball, and now leads the team in hits, stolen bases and batting average!

In the middle of a recent game, after ripping a line drive into the outfield and then stealing third base on the subsequent play, he came bounding into third base with a beaming grin.

“Coach Jake!” he bellowed as he reached the base. “I LOVE baseball! I think I love it more than basketball! No, I love it the same. Ummm, no, never mind. I love baseball more!”

I’m chalking that one up as my greatest coaching success And like I said, we’re only two games into the season.

I love this sport.

Waiting for Heidi

A few weeks back I met my good friend Heidi downtown for pizza and beer at Rocco’s (more about that place in a bit). Nevertheless, since I had the afternoon off work and didn’t want to wait indoors for our meetup, I headed downtown an hour early with camera in tow.

Now, I’ve seen this elephant before, lastly when my buddy John visited over Thanksgiving, and we simply took a few shots with our Smart Phones. But this time I had my Canon S5, so I grabbed an HDR:

I’m fairly certain that this might be my greatest HDR capture yet. Especially with the blue skies and white clouds behind, thanks to Photomatix for helping me pop the colors and contrast (Of course, I cannot wait for Photoshop CS5, check out the new HDR file handling it boasts. Can I get a Boom Shakka Lakka?).

Here are the rest of the shots I captured while waiting. All in all I’d say arriving early was worth the wait!

While Holly was out

Tonight, my bride-to-be was out at Cirque du Soleil, so once again, I had the apartment to myself.

This is never a good thing.

With an empty home I quickly remembered this photo on Flickr and how much I wanted to try it myself. It was this photo that made me realize I could only try it when she was out – imagine the mess I would create.

So, here’s my version. I couldn’t get the timing down exactly. And it took 62 tries to get a few I liked, but this was the best:

Portland Clouds

I went to the Pittock Mansion this afternoon for one specific idea: A time lapse video of the clouds moving over downtown Portland. I took one photo every 15 seconds for 35 minutes.

Low and behold, it didn’t turn out so bad.

Flower Time Lapse

Holly got a plant from her mother the other day. Seeing as how I've been into time-lapse photography lately, I thought I'd see how it would bloom if I set up my camera.

So, after six and half hours of shooting (1 photo every 3 minutes), I came up with this little ditty. Unfortunately it doesn't look as cool as I thought it would, but I didn't feel like leaving the camera and laptop going all day. Maybe next time. I want to buy the AC adaptor for my camera, that way I can leave it plugged in and take photos for 3 days straight!

Anyway, here’s my 6-hour attempt:

 

Calendar Contest Winner

One of my favorite websites, Smashing Magazine, holds a monthly contest where users can submit calendar designs for computer websites. Last month I downloaded one of the awesome designs for my own desktop.

For April, however, I decided to design my own and submit it. I thought I was one day late, but alas, I just found out today my design was chosen!

Now, I wasn’t the only winner, as they pick a slew of designs to feature each month (click here to see all the winners this month). But I’m still excited that such a prestigious, world-famous multimedia website would feature a design by me!

So, without further ado, here is the design I submitted (their only rule is that you showcase their logo somewhere and include a calendar in the design for only one month).

 

By the way, that photo of the squirrel was taken with a borrowed Canon Mark III during my fellowship at the Poynter Institute. I still firmly believe that any single person can take phenomenal photos with that camera.

If I can do it, anybody can (here are some of the others I shot with that awesome camera).

New Website

I finally started building my Online Portfolio (jakedonahue.com). For real this time – and not just another Wordpress template, either. This one is alllll me!

But the keyword here is STARTED.

All I have is a landing page at the moment, but I created it from scratch. All by myself. This can still direct you to my temporary blogger site holding my graphic and news design portfolio, as well as my writing portfolio on another blogger site.

You can also access many of my social media outlets along the bottom (you have no idea how long it took me to make those buttons “pop” when you hover over them).

So let me know what you think. I have a feeling the rest of the site will be based off this.

Crown Point

On Wednesday I was going to drive out to Cannon Beach for some photos and spend the afternoon with Holly. Well, unbeknownst to me, she already had plans – so, I was going to go alone. But after thinking about it, I really didn’t want to. Besides, the coast was supposed to get rainy in the evening and I wanted a sunset photo anyway.

Instead, I waited a few hours until close to twilight and drove up to the Crown Point Vista House, roughly a 30 minute drive from our house. Now, the only reason I even knew about this building and the subsequent stellar view was from this photo on Flickr, taken by one of my new favorite photographers, Andrew Curtis.

I wanted to capture something similar, but alas, the cloud cover would not allow it. Rather, I was able to capture these three little beauties:

I never thought I’d be able to get the clouds look so nice during a sunset. After seeing this guy’s shots of the sunset at Fenway Park in Boston, I really had the itch for it. So, obviously an HDR was the only way to go and I’m fairly happy with my results.

 
A nice little 15-second exposure of the building and moving clouds. The moon was peeking through at moments, but my favorite part of this photo is the red light on the security camera screen. It’s easier to see when viewed large. You can also see some stars poking through in the larger version.

 
This is actually three images merged together. Since I was so close to the building I couldn’t get the entire window set and moon in the frame. I really like the cloud movement in this, but I’m not so sure about the way the building is slightly rotated in the frame. I was on my hands and knees in a parking lot with cars driving close behind, so I didn’t have much safe time to experiment.

Editing

A while back I shared a photo that I shot after being inspired from others on Flickr (here is the shot that inspired me). Anyway, in the comments under that photo somebody recommended I try a photoshop plugin called Topaz Adjust.

So, I did. and while I really think the newer version looks better, it still looks too much like a cartoon. But I guess that’s how most HDRs look. Oh well, here are the two different versions. The first one is my edit with Topaz adjust, while the second image is the original.

I guess that my favorite part of topaz is that it really brings out the contrast in things, like the clouds and the wooden pillars.

Holly Cooks!

Holly (out of the blue) decided to make homemade pizza the other night. Not a regular cook, I was perplexed by her decision, to say the least.

But then I saw her pie! It looked great, smelled great and tasted excellent!

So, last night we decided she should make another. And this time I set up my camera and laptop to catch her in the act:

Holly in the Kitchen from Jake Donahue on Vimeo.

Counterintuitive, maybe?

Thanks to my good friend Heidi via Google Buzz (still not sure how to even use Buzz, but I seem to get notifications from everybody else), I noticed this retarded little goody: Solar-powered cell phone covers.

Like the author of their article even says:
"I have no idea if the environmental cost of making these things cancels out the benefits..."

My point, exactly! I have no doubt that every sandal-wearing, paper-recycling, hipster-wannabe in Portland will be toting these contradictory phone covers around by summer. But there is no way these things do more good for the planet, especially with an $80 price tag. Assuming they only make a marginal 25% profit off of them (and they're probably marked up much, much more than that), they would cost the company roughly $66. In reality, it's probably closer to $50 per cover.

There is no way they've been churning these things out sans a huge electricty-guzzling factory.

But here's the real kicker: It takes a 2-hour sunbathing session to garner enough power for only a 30-minute charge. If you're going to spend $80 for something to just charge your phone for 30 minutes, why not buy a spare battery? Wait, it's an iPhone? Damn... You can't even touch the battery.

(Want a spare iPhone battery? You have to do this).

I've got a better idea: Take that $80 you would have wasted trying to "go green" and put it toward cancelling your AT&T contract.

Go to Verizon and get a Blackberry. Then kick Luke Wilson in the head.