Yesterday I shared an image from Boronda Lake in Palo Alto’s Foothills Park that I had post-processed using techniques I learned in a recent workshop with Dan Burkholder.
I took a few more images while I was there – on a grey, overcast morning – and wanted to share them here. It’s a lovely place and worth a visit now that it’s open to all. I’ll likely come back and do some creative post-processing on a few of these images as well.
Recently the city of Palo Alto has opened up access to Foothills Park which for many years has limited access only to residents of Palo Alto. I’ve never been there so this morning – a grey one here on the San Francisco peninsula, I decided to take a quick drive to visit Foothills Park and see what it’s like. In particular, I was interested in seeing the small lake – Boronda Lake.
Last week I finished up a workshop led by Dan Burkholder on iPhone Artistry. Dan reawakened my interest in capturing and editing photos just on my iPhone. I made the following image using the Camera app on my iPhone 12 Pro Max:
I then used the free Snapseed app that Google provides to edit and stylize this image. Dan had walked us through the capabilities of Snapseed during his workshop so I put many of the tools he taught us to edit this image – here’s the list of tools that I applied:
I was particularly intrigued by the Grunge tool – one of my fellow workshop participants was a fan of the tool and shared some of his techniques with us. Using the Grunge tool, I was able to colorize and texturize the image resulting in the final version:
Earlier today, Om Malik shared a post comparing the iPhone camera with the old Kodak Brownie Camera – see Why the iPhone is Today’s Kodak Brownie Camera. It is amazing what these small “supercomputers in our pocket” are capable of in terms of image making and processing. This morning’s image of Boronda Lake is just my latest example.
The bright sun this Sunday morning motivated me to head over to Moss Beach and one of my favorite locations at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. A few of us were out walking when I turned around and saw this morning glow behind me.
Here’s the original image shot on my iPhone 12 Pro Max in ProRAW format and post processed in Lightroom on my iPhone.
I’m currently taking an iPhone Artistry course from Dan Burkholder and he has taught me some new techniques for image post processing. One of the approaches he taught involves using the app Formulas to create a distressed version of the image:
Next, I used the app InkWork to create a line drawing version of the image:
Using the app Image Blender, I combined the distressed version with the ink version to create the final version. This was over 90% blended to the original image with just a slide amount of the inking being added:
I like how the inking layer added some darker shadows to the tree trunks. And I was finished!
One of my favorite trees in Filoli is the Camperdown elm that sits between the Pool Pavilion and the base of the tennis court. It’s at the end of a long grass lawn across from the west side of the Garden House.
Here are a couple of earlier posts I’ve shared about this tree including one from 2013 when I first began noticing this tree. I had mistakenly called it an oak tree originally but was quickly educated to learn that it’s really a Camperdown elm.
During a recent visit, I was patiently waiting for some folks to get out of the image I was trying to make when two kids walked into a sunny spot on the edge of the image – and one of them was wearing red. Talk about the decisive moment!
I’ve had fun post-processing the image in different styles all on my iPhone. Here’s the original image shot with the Camera app on my iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Here’s the first processed version – with a lot of white balance tweaking and cropping done using both the Photos app and Snapseed.
Finally, here’s a painterly version – created using Adobe’s Paint Can app on my iPhone and then processed in Snapseed to brighten up a bit and add a border.
Morning Reading – Saturday, January 09, 2021
And what a week it has been. Time to move on.
What We Found in Robert Caro’s Yellowed Files – The New York Times
“There’s a belief among some — not all — nonfiction writers that all that matters is to get the facts,” Mr. Caro said, reflecting on his continuing quest to find the right words. “I don’t believe that. I believe that the quality of writing is just as important in nonfiction as in fiction.”
Meanwhile, at the White House this morning, the president’s schedule: President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings. Indeed.
The Inciter-in-Chief | The New Yorker
Donald Trump is just days from his eclipse. It cannot come soon enough.
Opinion | Trump’s Capitol Offense – The New York Times
Donald Trump’s inhumanity, his sick torrent of lies and incitement, came to its inevitable, shameful end on Wednesday, when a mob smeared blood, excrement, hate and death all over the Capitol.
The American Abyss – The New York Times
Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president. When we give up on truth, we concede power to those with the wealth and charisma to create spectacle in its place. Without agreement about some basic facts, citizens cannot form the civil society that would allow them to defend themselves.
How Jamie Raskin Survived the Capitol Attack and His Son’s Death – The Atlantic
“Enough, my beloved colleagues. It is time for America to heal. It is time for our families and communities to come together. Let us stop pouring salt in the wounds of America for no reason at all.”
Here lies @realDonaldTrump, having tweeted itself to death – SFChronicle.com
The Twitter account @realDonaldTrump died Friday. It was 11 years, 8 months old and had issued nearly 47,000 tweets. None of them survived. The cause of death was hubris.
Twitter warns of Inauguration Day violence, million MAGA march, as reason for Trump ban – The Washington Post
Citing the potential for Trump’s words to incite others — even in the absence of clear references to violence — took Twitter’s enforcement actions to a restrictive new level
George Washington warned us that this could happen.
Our nation’s first president wanted to unite Americans, and he believed political factions and parties were antithetical to that goal. He was the only president to avoid claiming one.
The G.O.P.’s New Distancing Policy – The New York Times
Some Republicans may be trying to jump off the Trump train at the final station. But they’ve already spent years helping fuel the engine.
Some Pro-Trump Rioters Wanted More Violence – The Atlantic
The building’s silence carried with it a sense of relief, like the end of a horror movie, when viewers can finally exhale. But it could just as easily mark the beginning of something worse.
The Capitol Riot and White Conservatives’ Extremism – The Atlantic
That means, to win elections, virtually all Republicans now need superheated turnout from the Trump base: white, non-college-educated, nonurban, and evangelical Christian voters. And that means Republicans of all stripes will feel pressure to continue portraying Democrats not merely as misguided or wrong, but as an existential threat to GOP voters’ lives—even as Wednesday’s riot captures how those alarms are exacerbating the greatest strains on the nation’s cohesion since the Civil War.
It’s 2021, and the pandemic is still here – The Verge
I regret to inform you that even with all of the other news happening this week, there is still a pandemic going on.
The Tiny Satellites That Will Connect Cows, Cars and Shipping Containers to the Internet – WSJ
Like so many innovations in their early days, from the internet to the smartphone, no one is quite sure what low-cost, low-power data relays from space will enable—or whether there will be enough demand to sustain the many companies jostling to provide it. In the next year, hundreds of satellites from more than a dozen companies are set to launch.
Morning Reading – Friday, January 08, 2021
What a sad week in America. Twelve days to go…
Donald Trump’s Final Days – WSJ
He has cost Republicans the House, the White House, and now the Senate. Worse, he has betrayed his loyal supporters by lying to them about the election and the ability of Congress and Mr. Pence to overturn it. He has refused to accept the basic bargain of democracy, which is to accept the result, win or lose. It is best for everyone, himself included, if he goes away quietly.
Bring the Insurrectionists to Justice – WSJ (Peggy Noonan)
He is a bad man and not a stable one and he is dangerous. America is not safe in his hands. It is not too late. Removal of the president would be the prudent move, not the wild one. Get rid of him. Now.
Donald Trump must be held to account for storming of the Capitol | Financial Times
American institutions have come under attack before. Never, though, at the instigation of its own president.
First GOP lawmaker calls for invoking 25th Amendment to remove Trump | TheHill
“Here’s the truth. The president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell. And the president now must relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily,” Kinzinger, a centrist Republican and frequent Trump critic, said in a video message posted on Twitter.
POLITICO Playbook: A fitting end to the Trump presidency – POLITICO
We all knew President DONALD TRUMP’s term would end badly. It had to. There were just too many lies. Too many conspiracy theories. Too many times where journalists searched their syllabuses for new ways to say “unprecedented” and where Americans across the country sat aghast learning just how low we could go in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world.
A Self-Pardon Won’t Save Trump – The Atlantic
To grant him dismissal would allow every future president to negate every future criminal investigation of himself, and to give himself a get-out-of-jail-free card upon his exit from office. I would be very surprised if there are five votes on the Supreme Court for this position.
Hawley’s presidential aspirations have been flushed down the toilet because of his role in instigating Wednesday’s assault on democracy. He should do Missourians and the rest of the country a big favor and resign now.
Jan. 6 Was 9 Weeks — And 4 Years — in the Making – POLITICO
The “fringe” of our politics no longer exists. Between the democratization of information and the diminished confidence in establishment politicians and institutions ranging from the media to corporate America, particularly on the right, there is no longer any buffer between mainstream thought and the extreme elements of our politics.
Morning Reading – Thursday, January 07, 2021
What happened yesterday was a travesty, an embarrassment, a very sad and dark day for America – provoked by a president. “I love you,” he said to his supporters. It’s time for change. Our leaders need to react.
Trump’s Reckoning—and America’s | The New Yorker
On his way out, Trump is leaving destruction—actual, not metaphorical—in his wake. What wreckage will tomorrow bring?
The day Trump broke the GOP – POLITICO
Republicans started the day losing the Senate. They ended it with President Donald Trump’s supporters losing their minds.
It’s time to deplatform Trump – The Verge
It’s time for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to remove Trump.
Trump and Twitter – Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Turn off Trump’s account.
Update from Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook
We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.
Opinion | Trump caused the assault on the Capitol. He must be removed. – The Washington Post
Responsibility for this act of sedition lies squarely with the president, who has shown that his continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy. He should be removed.
Opinion | Impeach and Convict. Right Now. – The New York Times
For five years, Republicans let him degrade political culture by normalizing his behavior. For five years, they let him wage war on democratic norms and institutions. For five years, they treated his nonstop mendacity as a quirk of character, not a disqualification for office. For five years, they treated his rallies as carnivals of democracy, not as training grounds for mob rule. For five years, they thought this was costless. On Wednesday — forgive the cliché, but it’s apt here — their chickens came home to roost.
U.S. Capitol Insurrection Was a Trump Show, From Start to Finish – Bloomberg
It was inevitable, perhaps, that one of his final presidential acts would involve stoking an assault on the Capitol. It’s not inevitable, though, that the Pandora’s Box he inherited and so gleefully opened will remain a permanent fixture.
MO Sen. Josh Hawley to blame for mob, Capitol coup attempt | The Kansas City Star
This revolt is the result, and if you didn’t know this is where we’ve been headed from the start, it’s because you didn’t want to know.
The Capitol Invaders Enjoyed the Privilege of Not Being Taken Seriously | The New Yorker
The invaders may be full of contempt for a system that they think doesn’t represent them, but on Wednesday they managed to prove that it does. The system, which shrugged off their violence like it had been a toddler’s tantrum, represents them. It’s the rest of us it’s failing to protect.
FBI — FBI Seeking Information Related to Violent Activity at the U.S Capitol Building
The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals who are actively instigating violence in Washington, DC. The FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.
Morning Reading – Wednesday, January 06, 2021
Today is the day when the U.S. Congress officially counts the Electoral College votes for the presidential election. We are finally here. We are hoping for a rational process today!
Did the Coronavirus Escape From a Lab? – New York Magazine
What happened was fairly simple, I’ve come to believe. It was an accident. A virus spent some time in a laboratory, and eventually it got out. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, began its existence inside a bat, then it learned how to infect people in a claustrophobic mine shaft, and then it was made more infectious in one or more laboratories, perhaps as part of a scientist’s well-intentioned but risky effort to create a broad-spectrum vaccine. SARS-2 was not designed as a biological weapon. But it was, I think, designed.
Covid-19: U.S. Has Been Down This Vaccine Rollout Road Before – Bloomberg
Just as the U.S. is now struggling to distribute Covid-19 vaccines, so did the nation struggle in the mid-1950s to distribute the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk. There were shortages, mistakes and self-inflicted impediments. In some ways, the parallels are striking. To delve into the history of the polio vaccine is to realize that it has lessons for the here and now.
My January 6 Trump Protest Nightmare – The Atlantic
He could have said, “Any mass gathering right now is going to put police officers and Secret Service agents at much greater risk of getting sick or dying.” But he values the lives of others too little to have done so. He chose instead to feed his own ego at the price of American carnage.
Opinion | Jeff Flake: ‘Trump Can’t Hurt You. But He Is Destroying Us.’ – The New York Times
Today, the American people deserve to witness the majesty of a peaceful transfer of power, just as I saw, awe-struck, two decades ago. Instead, we find ourselves in this bizarre condition of our own making, two weeks from the inauguration of a new president, with madness unspooling from the White House, grievous damage to our body politic compounding daily.
Opinion | Have Trump’s Lies Wrecked Free Speech? – The New York Times
The essence is that the business model of advertising added to the editor-free world of the internet, means that it pays for them to make us crazy. Think about the comparison to the processed food industry: they, like the internet platforms, have a business that exploits a human weakness, they profit the more they exploit, the more they exploit, the sicker we are.
The Electoral College Isn’t Supposed to Work This Way – The New York Times
“The possibility that politicians of either party could change an election’s outcome through postelection manipulation of the Electoral College is destabilizing. And the idea that the vice president, sitting in the chair as presiding officer of the joint session of Congress to “count the electoral votes,” could decide on his own to ignore electors certified by the states and replace them with impostors certified by no one leads straight to the end of democracy.”
Morning Reading – Tuesday, January 05, 2021
How Donald Trump’s Presidency Ends – The Atlantic
A tall metal barricade has been erected at Lafayette Square, just north of the White House, and is covered top to bottom with signs—welcome proof that as Donald Trump maneuvers to defy the Twelfth Amendment and cling to power, the First is very much intact. you’re fired, one sign reads.
The Beleaguered Chroniclers of the Trump White House
“The greatest challenge in covering this White House has been to aggressively seek out the truth. But how do you strive to be fair and accurate when you’re covering a president who is calling you a traitor?”
Giant Viruses Can Change Their Hosts’ DNA – The Atlantic
Leave it to viruses, however, to keep surprising us: Giant viruses don’t just kill their hosts. In some cases, according to a recent study, they can keep their hosts alive and become part of them.
Sourav Chatterjee awarded prestigious mathematics prize – Stanford Today
“When you’re going to have this one mathematical idea that is a leap, it’s completely unpredictable,” he added. “I might be taking a shower, or driving my car. But that moment when the big idea comes, it’s just amazing.”
My best photographs of 2020 – Charlotte Gibb Photography
When I reflect on everything that happened in 2020, it is a wonder I was able to make art at all.
COVID-19 concerns: Air New Zealand crew to overnight in Hawaii instead of US mainland
Air New Zealand explains that the Hawaii stop will allow “our crew members to overnight in Honolulu rather than Los Angeles” in an effort to reduce the risk of crews catching the virus on the mainland, where positivity rates have climbed as high as 15% and up.
However, Tesla’s TSLA, +0.73% popular midsize model — the bestselling car in Norway in 2019 — fell to second place in 2020, losing out to Volkswagen’s VOW, +0.18% Audi e-tron with Volkswagen’s ID.3 in third.
The Beatles saved me in 1970. Can music save others in 2021? | 48 hills
I have not the slightest doubt that I survived adolescence because of four musicians I never met, but whose sounds permeated my life from the age of about 10. Two of them are still with us, though at the ages of 78 and 80 we can’t be sure for how long. They were in a band together a long time ago and you might have heard of them. Their names are Paul and Ringo.a
Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach on the Drama of ‘Walk On By’ – WSJ
Hal had just three lyric lines. They would become the song’s opener: “If you see me walking down the street / and I start to cry, each time we meet / Walk on by.” I came up with a melody line and we evolved from there.
The Art of Coincidence: Street Photos of Special Accidental Moments
Because we are surrounded by coincidences, it is often difficult for us to pay attention to them. The camera is an amazing tool to preserve the moment and in the perspective of time also to infuse it with additional meanings.
5 Ways to Be Creative with Your iPad in 2021 – Holly Pixels
What was it Bob Ross said? “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” Yeah, let’s do that.
Morning Reading – Monday, January 4, 2021
Let’s hope American democracy survives this week. This morning’s stock market action certainly reflects uncertainty – about both this as well as the state of the Covid pandemic. It’s a time to be hopeful about this new year – but we’ve got these huge irritants from 2020 still lingering and fouling everything up.
A moment of grave danger for US democracy | Financial Times
Extraordinary as it may seem, what amounts to an undeclared coup d’état is being attempted in the US. It will almost certainly fail. But the next two weeks will severely test the strength of America’s institutions — and the courage of its public officials.
“But as infection rates in the Bay Area climb during the winter surge, and I.C.U. beds finally start to fill up, the lesson to take from Berkeley, San Francisco, and many other successful cities isn’t that, by listening to science, an educated and careful population can stop the spread. It’s that, even within a city that has systematically priced out the most vulnerable populations, an outbreak can still happen. The virus will find vulnerable people where they live—even if it’s in barns on the outer edges of the city, even if almost nobody knows they exist.”
What the San Francisco Bay Area Can Teach Us About Fighting a Pandemic – The New Yorker
“But as infection rates in the Bay Area climb during the winter surge, and I.C.U. beds finally start to fill up, the lesson to take from Berkeley, San Francisco, and many other successful cities isn’t that, by listening to science, an educated and careful population can stop the spread. It’s that, even within a city that has systematically priced out the most vulnerable populations, an outbreak can still happen. The virus will find vulnerable people where they live—even if it’s in barns on the outer edges of the city, even if almost nobody knows they exist.”
Airline workers face mask resistance with scant government backup – The Washington Post
As the man returned from the lavatory with a mask dangling from one ear, a flight attendant asked him to put it on properly. “Why? Is something going on that I should know about?” the passenger asked, before grabbing the mask and ripping the string. “Damn it, I guess I can’t wear it now.”
We Must Keep This Republic – The Atlantic
“These past four years and this week have shown, as no doubt the weeks, months, and years to come will show, that the challenge remains—that free and democratic government was, is, and will always be a fraught and uncertain enterprise. But despite the damage, on the evidence, the people of the United States and their institutions will meet that challenge.”
Divided U.S., Not Covid, Is the Biggest Risk to World in 2021, Survey Finds – Bloomberg
“With the global economy still in the teeth of the Covid-19 crisis, the Eurasia group sees a divided U.S. as a key risk this year for a world lacking leadership.”
Predictions for the state of travel in 2021 from our editor – The Points Guy
“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is how important human interaction is and that one of the most amazing aspects of travel is that it teaches us about others. As we all venture out in 2021, I hope that we view our trips through a new lens and realize just how lucky we are to travel.”
Heartbreak, it seems, is never out of style.