Ok, we got some actual HDR up in here.

(although for ULTIMATE BLEND I should really be using a tripod, but eh...)

Originals:




As you can see, this isn't exactly the most interesting subject material. The day is overcast lending the pictures to being completely wiped out on the top, and also not many cool things are happening in the pictures themselves.

ALL THE SAME, LET'S SEE WHAT WE CAN DO SHALL WE??

-hdr processing... vrrr...vrrr... vrrr... *DING*!-




WOAAW! Those pictures... they... they...

they still aren't all that interesting! Haha, well, you can't make gold out of lead after all. (dammnit).

BUT!

We can also see pretty clearly that there is a HUGE increase in the amount of visible detail and level of information displayed.

Using this under the right circumstances would allow for photographs that would otherwise be all but impossible.

The hard part then is of course *finding* the right circumstances, but, oh well, good things and waiting and all that.

A good point to note. I am using HDR somewhat sparingly. This is because HDR when used more liberally creates pictures that the mind immediately recognizes as fake. This can be a good thing (think fantasy worlds), but at the same time usually isn't what the scene calls for.

Happily limited use can result in photographs that look like they could fairly normal (if a bit intense).

...

...

And so! Today was another pretty eventful day, or, if eventful isn't the right word to use, interesting would certainly fit.

I took my second Hyaku Draw (HUNDRED DRAWINGS YATAAAAA) class today. Surprisingly I have yet to draw a picture yet.

Rather, this time we did a "blind trust walk". YEAH ONE HUNDRED DRAwin... um, what?

So. I was paired up with a girl who could speak english (read, speaking english is used liberally here) and the class was told to take off their shoes. Then, giving us all blindfolds we were told to head out into the Musabi campus and essentially just wander around until the period was over and then come back.

So I start my day (it's 9:30 in the morning) with a blindfold on my eyes, no shoes on my feet, wandering across stones/tiles/rug whil being directed by a somewhat shy japanese girl in another language (I told her not to speak english for simple directions).

I was in complete darkness and the only directions allowed were vocal, so after the first ten minutes I was really starting to lose a sense of connection to the real world beyond the different feels my feet and skin were experiencing.

After another fifteen minutes the fact that my only directions were being given in japanese from an exterior source started to result in me moving almost without direction from my own brain, not having the time to think about what I was told each time I just did what she said, hoping my subconcious knew what it was doing well enough to stop me from falling down a flight of stairs.

After about an hour of this we switched and then *I* became the puppet master, which, while fun, was not comparable to the first part.

Being "blind" for that amount of time, and being completely guided by something that you have no connection to gives a pretty messed up sense of space, time, and self. I honestly think that you would have to do it more than one time to truly be able to remember the whole experience in a usable way, but I will concede that it was a *very* interesting trip, and hopefully something I will eventually be able to use.

After that I did another japanese lesson. I'm learning but the limitations I have on casual speech are just *staggering*. Ugh.

Although there is a guy in the class that can't speak or read any japanese at all. Damn does that have to suck.

The final point of interest of the day was my dinner.
So I cruise into town on my awesome musabi granted bike and head over to my favorite delicious and cheap restaurant. The woman there knows me by now, so I point out what I want and she shuffles away to whip it up. (it was cold soba and tempura if you must know), and when I go to sit down, what seems to be one of her kids (or employees, or somebody that is somehow related to the shop) comes over and sits down at the same table with me.

Apparently he is very interested in learning english (he was *terrible* at it by the way) and tried to ask me about school and where I was from and whatnot. He pretty much failed, but *another* guy who was working at making my dinner comes over and *this* guy can speak perfect english. Immaculate. So with his help I was able to talk about musabi and new york a bit, while we both ate some soba and tempura. The english speaking guy was pretty awesome, and the guy sitting at my table was cool, if a bit of a loser (haha, he really only liked crappy american stuff).

But any case, when I finish with my dinner the guy says that the meal was free, and the other guys confirms it. AWESOME.

I doubt it will ever happen again, but that's not going to stop me from going to that restaurant 200% more often!