yijun_song

A cactus plant

Where did you take the picture from? Simply beautiful!

 

Go Bears!

Circular block of ice, with a wheat thin inside.

A boy

Caught this picture while walking through little italy in

Philadephia.

Tried to the capture the colorful interior and the light coming into

the tower.

Woah... noisy background. You definitely need to blur out the background more to make the subject stand out.

I'm not sure if I'm being affected by those comments before me, but now that I know that the halo is fake, it looks quite unnatural. Perhaps it should be made more subtle. Maybe a softer halo, and a little darker?

A last picture of my old worn shoes before I dump them.

The picture's a tad too dark in my opinion. Especially the right side of the picture.

What do you mean by "cuted"?

 

Oops! Ok, I fixed the colored head. In case anyone is still interested, it's here.

Wow. Sugar was really hard to spot! Great photo. I love the composition.

Wow, neat. Pretty creative. But I think that the little bit of juice on the front of the vase a little distracting. Also, I'm not sure if this is due to the mock fog, but the picture looks a little out of focus.

Thanks for the comments. Now that I look at the picture again, it definitely looks like I should have centered it better. I did try to take the photo from a smaller angle though. It didn't work because I didn't have a wide enough lens and there was very little room to move around in there. If I ever go back there, I'll definitely try again.

 

And oh, Elaine, the desert view tower is a tower located near the east entrance to the south rim of the grand canyon national park. It overlooks much of the grand canyon and some desert. Pretty cool. I have a picture of the outside of the tower here. Only costs a quarter to get up there. Best spent quarter for me in a while. =)

 

 

This is actually a photoshopped version of another pic. The original is here.

Stairway inside the Desert View Tower in the Grand Canyon National

Park.

 

 

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Reactions

Wow, it seems like I have really triggered off a stream of heated reactions. Please, let me say this. I am not American, but having been here for a number of years, I consider America a dear friend. The September 11 events were painful and everyone was deeply hurt. I do not think that it is wrong for people to be angry, in fact, I was furious myself. I, and so many of the protesters at Berkeley, fully appreciate the efforts of the men and women who fight to protect us. We thank them from the deepest of our hearts. We salute the firemen who gave their lives to protect us. We salute the soldiers who fight to defend the country.

 

Truely, we are indebted to these people and it would be the very last thing on our minds to protest against them. However, we feel that to start a war against a country for the actions of a small cluster of its citizens is unjust. Think of the many thousands who would lose their lives, their homes, their loved ones because of this war. When terrorists attack America, America can retaliate. By retaliating, we feel that we have avenged the loved ones that we have lost. But what can the poor Afghan girl do when she loses her father to a stray American bomb? Had we considered all alternatives before we started indiscriminate bombing?

 

Yesterday, I sent a friend to the airport. He was flying from SFO to JFK. They didn't even ask for his ID as he checked in and then boarded the plane. Whatever happened to increased airport security? Is the government serious about protecting the people against future attacks? Should we delude ourselves into thinking that by bombing Afghanistan we have destroyed all terrorist threats? While these many questions linger, is it right for the government to concentrate the bulk of its efforts on bombing an invisible enemy?

 

Berkeley is not a gathering of radical lunatics. We do not disagree for the sake of disagreeing. While others may consider us to be radical, I feel proud that any discussion in Berkeley, however radical, is always backed by reason, by conviction, and not just a blind splatter of intense passion. While the nation rushed to the streets with war cries, Berkeley pleaded for peaceful alternatives to be considered first. Students standing in the streets with banners saying "An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind" and "Justice, not vengence. Reason, not passion" make me proud to be a student at Berkeley.

 

I understand that being young students, we do not have the benefit of experience. Our ignorance and idealism certain shows up in what we say, and how we act. But brushing us off as "a bunch of pampered college kids" doesn't really help. We merely try to be a voice of reason. Share your experience, teach us, educate us, so we may learn. But please, also listen to us.

 

Finally, a tribute to the brave men and women who gave their all to protect us and all that we love:

 

/photodb/image-display?photo_id=520039&size=sm/photodb/image-display?photo_id=522546&size=sm

 

Fiat lux. May the light outshine the hatred.

 

 

ps. To avoid lengthening this flame war any longer, this will be the last thing I say on this topic. Perhaps we should just agree to disagree. Let's get back to photography. This is, after all, a photography website.

I disagree with James. I think that the fact that the boy takes up so little of the photo makes him seem small and insignificant. This actually makes the photo even more interesting because it strengthens the idea that the boy is young and innocent and is peeking into the huge world outside.

An easy way to do this in photoshop is to create 2 layers, both of which are a copy of the original image. Next, you would desaturate the bottom layer and leave the top layer intact. Then using the eraser tool, you can erase the parts of the top layer that you don't want, so that the color will be removed, allowed the black and white image of the bottom layer to show through.

Is that Hanhua in the middle?

Bad Haozhong... bad Haozhong... =)

 

Hello people.

 

This is the first time I've ever asked for comments regarding my photos and I must say that I'm overwhelmed by the response. Yes, I do endorse the message. Yes, I'm against the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. However, I wasn't really looking for a discussion of the war when I posted this image up for critique. I was looking more for a critique of the photo, not of the protest. In any case, I appreciate the feedback and find it somewhat necessary to respond to what you guys have said.

 

Elise: I solemnly apologize. I can't bring myself low enough to respond to you.

 

Randall: The barbaric acts of the Taliban cannot be used as justification for America's tyranny. I do not pretend that the Taliban was a good or even legitimate government, but I'm not convinced that that gives America the right to start a war, destroying the lives of the innocent as much as that of the guilty.

 

Jo: Thanks for the sympathy. =)

 

Philip: Hahahaha, that's a good one. I hate zeolitism too! (if only I can figure out what it means)

 

Mike: Thanks for your comments. An astute observation. Actually, there was quite a bit more action and emotion during the protests. I just didn't do that good a job capturing it. If you look at my protests folder you might find a couple more pictures that show the situation a little better. There were also a bunch of pro-war protesters in the crowd. Berkeley is made up of a fractious crowd. *grin*

 

Anyway, I guess I still have a lot to learn about taking pictures. Thanks for all your comments.

Antiwar Protests in UC Berkeley. Photo was taken in color. I

desaturated it in photoshop and left the banner in color to emphasize

the message.

Nice picture of boat quay. Damn, I miss Singapore. Haven't been back for a year!