Rebellious Blog

From University of St Andrews in Scotland comes a web service called Face Transformer. It will change your face in the way that you may find it hard not to smile. With this tool you can change your age, gender, race etc.

See you next Friday.

Previous playgrounds:
1. Jigsaw Planet
2. Cameroid

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As a wedding photographer I obviously work with people. Sometimes things get really difficult. Quite often I work with videographers. Most of the times the cooperation goes very well but sometimes it may be a nightmare. Once on a wedding I worked with a team of two videographers. They were virtually everywhere making my job much harder.  I wanted to capture the bride getting out of the car but thanks to a very quick videographer who liked to be close to the action I ended up with a photo of the guy’s arse. Then there was a formal entry to the reception venue and all ushers, bridesmaids, best man, parents were coming in and introduced to everyone by a guy. I managed to capture all of them except the newly weds. Again thanks to the videographer who was in good position all the time until the bride and groom entered the room.  So instead of the couple I had the photo of the videographer’s back. The guys entered the frame more times but luckily for the couple I managed to take some nice pictures.

A few days ago I went to meet up a couple in the church where they are getting married. The priest showed me the place where I can photograph from and said I cannot move from side to side and cannot photograph signing of the registry as the flash photography may distract and someone can make a mistake when signing. When I asked about non-flash photography he also refused for the same reason. This way the bride will have her photos taken from one side only and when vowing the only expression I can capture will be on the groom’s face as the bride will be facing him. Also no photos from signing the lifetime contract.

In photojournalistic wedding photography the moment plays very important role as when it’s gone it’s gone.  That is why I prefer taking photos when couple signs the actual register as often right after they do it they feel very happy and the moment and real expressions cannot be repeated. Staged photographs with mock register or when pretending to cut the cake etc. do not carry the same emotional impact when looking at them years later as they only recall moments of posing not the actual events.

As you can see not only photographer has the influence on the final effect of the wedding photos. Other people also can have a big impact on it and can spoil the photos even if they think they want to do something good for the couple.

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For this weekend we have Cameroid which is very simple service that lets you add full range of different frames and effects to your photos taken with a webcam.

See you next Friday.

Previous playground: Jigsaw Planet

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Photography can be very serious but it can also be fun. So in these posts you will have a chance to discover some web services that allow you to play with your photos. Most of them are there to bring some smile on your face. Life’s to short to live it in sadness. One weekend one playground. I will try to post entries on Friday mornings.

The first website is Jigsaw Planet. All you have to do is upload your photo and  it will be cut to create a puzzle. You can invite your friends to play with your photos.

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Some time ago I found a website where you can take a simple test. There are about 70 simple questions to which you answer yes or no. It doesn’t take too long and can be fun. There are 4 main personality types (temperaments) and this test shows to which group you belong. But do not take it too seriously it’s only fun. It was interesting to see that many things did match in my case.

Simply visit http://www.humanmetrics.com and take the test to see what type of personality you are.

According to the results this is my type: Results

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The general opinion is that marriage and motorcycles do not mix.

I started thinking more about it after the wedding last week when a guy I spoke with told me he sold the bike after he got married. Also my friends are getting married soon and when they came over she said that he’s changing the bike for a car. My first reaction was: DON’T! Simply because I wish them both well. I explained to him that it will be the dumbest thing he can do. He will be upset seeing his friends going for a ride. He will blame his wife for it (even if she tells him it was his decision). Things will get worse and worse by the week and may even end up with a divorce.

A few months after my wedding I sold my bike but only to get something else. Soon after my son was born I bough my dream bike – Honda 1100XX Superblackbird (they could come up with a shorter name) and I think that was the best decision made. People told me – “It is quite unusual to buy one of the most powerful bikes in the world after a child’s birth. It should be the other way round – you should sell your bike now.”
They were so wrong. Bike gave me opportunity to get quicker to work and back so I had more time with my family. It also acted as a safety valve when things got tougher and pressure was too high.

Do not abandon your passion for the sake of getting married and NEVER ask anyone to give up theirs to do so. It will not give a real profit but can ruin lifes of both of you. My wife never asked me to sell my bike and she always knew I must have one. She understands my passion for motorcycles and knows I need to ride from time to time. I never met a person unhappy for having a bike but I met some regretting that they sold it.

I believe there are different views to this matter and I will happily read about them in comments below. So what do you think?

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