STATUS QUOtes — 20150429

“Use your enemy’s hand to catch a snake.” — Persian Proverb

“Wise is what you want to be. Smart is easy compared to wise.” — Jerry Seinfeld

“A whaleship was my Yale College and my Harvard.” — Herman Melville

“Do not touch MY iPhone. It’s not an usPhone, it’s not a wePhone, it’s not an ourPhone, it’s an iPhone.” — Unknown

Pickleball: Earn the Net

When I first began to play Pickleball a year ago or so, one of the points that was emphasized to me over and over again was to get up to the net. Some proclaimed this edict with a near religious fervor. I watched those around me and they were running helter-skelter to the net as soon as they could.

After a while, I realized this isn’t always the best strategy. As Deb Harrison remarks in the video below and as others who coach have noted, you have to “earn the net.” By this they mean that you need to make a good shot in order to approach or work your way into the net.

You can’t return a serve midway into the opponent’s court directly to their powerful forehand and expect to have an advantage while running to the net. In many cases, the ball will get to you before you are ready, or it will go flying by you at a fast clip.

To win consistently, you must make an “approach” shot. That is, a drop volley or angled shot that causes the player go make a weak return, etc. which facilitates an approach to the net without the odds of an even better shot coming back at you.

Now that I have realized this, I am a bit more selective when working my way to the net with my partners and it has paid off.

Watch Deb Harrison as she demonstrates the best ways to “earn the net.”

Pickleball: Earning the Net, Deb Harrison

Do you think “earning the net” will help your game? Are you purposeful in using this strategy? Leave a comment below!

STATUS QUOtes — 20150428

“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.” — Jim Rohn

“If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.” — Thomas Jefferson

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” — Richard Branson

“Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually you find a hair stylist you like.” — Author Unknown

A Matter of Perspective – Eiffel Tower

Let’s face it some of us are just not skilled enough with Photoshop to remove or add certain items from pictures without making it look very amateurish.

I guess Sid Frisjes felt a bit intimidated by wanting to have a forced perspective picture of himself and the Eiffel Tower so he posted the picture below on line and asked:

“Can someone photoshop the eifeltower under my finger? [sic]”

Sid Frisjes - Eiffel Tower Photoshop Request

Image via Mahsable

Here is just one sample of the renderings offered:

TForced Perspective with Sid Frisjes and Eiffel Tower

Via Mashable –> IMGUR

Visit the Mahsable web page to see the others. Some are quite clever in their prankish way!

STATUS QUOtes — 20150427

“There is no love that is not an echo.” — Theodor Adorno

“The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.” — Woodrow Wilson

“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.” — Doris Lessing

“Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.” — Warren Buffett

Lightroom 6 Upgrade – Much Ado About Nothing?!

Like many photo enthusiasts, I use Adobe’s Lightroom and the BUZZ this week has been about the new version.

One of the most highly touted upgrades was the addition of a High Dynamic Range (HDR) merge and adjustment component. I watched one of the webcasts from Kelby One and when I saw the results of one of the HDR-processed photos, I said huh?


Kelbyone
, one of the premier training resources for photographers and photo enthusiasts, had several webinar-type broadcasts about the new version.

NOTE: I have nothing but praise for Kelbyone. They offer many free resources to help budding and seasoned photographers. They produce a free Lightroom show every Friday which I am always anxious to watch so I can gather a deeper understanding of Lightroom and learn new techniques/options. So this is in no way a comment on their reportage of the new upgrade to Lightroom. They call the shots as they see them.

Here is the link for their review of the new options available in Lightroom – Kelbyone

After they demonstrated the new HDR component to process an HDR image, I didn’t think it was anything like a traditional HDR photo. I thought that I was just not experienced enough with HDR and I wasn’t appreciating how good it was. After all, over the Internet, it is really hard to get the best view. I figured if Scott Kelby and R.C. were satisfied, it must be good.

Well…several days later, it appears that the Emperor May Have No Clothes. Trey Ratcliff, the father of the modern HDR movement as far as many are concerned, has chimed in and seems to have the same feelings I had.

Read his comments about the new upgrade here:Lightroom 6 and HDR?

What are your impressions of the new version of Lightoom?