Do Not Disturb.
May 2nd, 2010 by ninja
Mika did indeed recover completely after only 3 days of the knock-out stomach virus. Today, the whole family made a dash to IKEA to bring home a few more items for the kids’ study corner: a simple desk just happens to fit exactly in the open space, and we’ll be able to use two of the junior sized chairs side by side. The back wall got 3 white metal boards to display the latest drawings, and the green leaves made room for Mika’s garland light. Hooray to Sung, who was the driving force behind this project.
Posted in Daily Musings, Photos
sooki responded on May 3rd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Very nice :) Who wouldn’t want to be in that corner now? Or that room for that matter…
ninja responded on May 3rd, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Just in time for her homework to kick in ;-)
It’s nice though, since it’s near a sunny window but you don’t look into the sun. Tobin will get the same chair in red (not many color options), which is back ordered until next week. The two chairs will also come in handy when Mika is doing arts and crafts on a play date…
darren namaye responded on May 4th, 2010 at 9:47 am
love the chandelier! btw what do you do in post to get your pics looking so clean and open?
ninja responded on May 4th, 2010 at 10:13 am
The chandelier was a gift to her when she was born and it finally got the stage it deserves. We love it as well!
Regarding my post production/imaging: i try to balance the colors as well as i can while shooting, often setting an individual white balance for mixed light situations like this one. The Lumix GF1 does a great job off the bat (even better than the Leica D-LUX 4 … it’s practically an SLR).
The main image was a bit tricky, because of the extreme back light from the window. I didn’t want to use a fill flash, because it would’ve lit up the cubby shelf in front of her too much, so i had to meter to get just enough of the light tones captured, and manually brighten Mika and some foreground items in post (via correction curve). Then a slight color adjustment and that’s it. Here’s the before/after.
darren namaye responded on May 4th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
wow sounds time consuming. but i am sure you have it down pat by now. i am a very average shooter and dont have the technical skills down… assessing light and metering. i use the prescribed “situations” that leica offers… i know, i know! my bad! my pics dont look like yours. but i do love the leica. i cant tell you how many times i get asked/stopped when i am shooting with the leica… people asking me about the camera and WOW IS THAT THE DLUX 4.
thanks!!!
ninja responded on May 4th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
In extreme cases, it can be time consuming. But i do this for a living (as a side business), so whipping my own daily shots into shape is non negotiable … it’s like my daily exercise routine.
I still use the Leica at times and love it’s portability – it delivers the best picture quality compared to all the other high end compact cameras. And it’s so much more quiet … the shutter noise might be the only aspect that seriously bugs me about the GF1.
darren namaye responded on May 6th, 2010 at 9:24 am
thanks for showing the before and after. very educational for me. you were always so adept at photoshop and i forgot you had your side business. ill keep you in mind if we have anything. thanks again.