Colour Manage your Firefox Browser

Its barely a year since my last post. I'm back and have lots to share specially tips in photography, drumming and vizualising. Let me start off with a tip in browser colour management.

Recently I noticed disparity of colours on an image displayed on my Photoshop and Firefox. I remember a month back that my Vista created a new user profile for me as my old one corrupted. As a result my Lightroom and Photoshop custom profile was reset, all my Firefox browser bookmarks gone and a lot more similar things happened on some other programs.

So for Firefox in particular, I had to re-enable color management by doing these steps:
1-on your Firefox browser, type "about:config"
2-it will give you a "here be dragons" warning...don't be scared, just go in
3-in the filter search box type "gfx.color_management.enabled" and once the same line appeared in the list below, double-click until it shows its value set at "true"
4-you are done, restart your Firefox browser. now to test, compare if an image uploaded in your Flicker for example shows exactly the same in colour terms as when that image is opened in your Photoshop or Lightroom. they should be identical.

Test Driving an Enzo Ferrari

F1 Test Drive at world's only night track (virtually)

it's no joke driving this four-wheeled monster, you wouldn't want to risk your life shifting to 7th gear and face extinction in a flick. but damn, i love the adrenalin, wanna be like Schuma =)

more pics here: http://glenoe12.multiply.com/photos/album/211/F1_Test_Drive_Singapore_Track_Virtually

BMW-Z4 (painting with light)

"The Z4 was designed by Chris Bangle and began the controversy over his "flame surfacing" design and aggressive styling choices, which can also be seen on most modern BMW cars, most noticeably the 7 Series and 5 Series. As of 2007, the entire BMW car line, including the BMW 3 Series and X5 SAV, had incorporated Chris Bangle's design theme." (complete wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Z4)

just sharing an example of using HDR image in a 3d/CG scene. the HDR image is not seen here but i used it to simulate light and the reflecting environment. how the HDR looks like is somewhat similar to the background image, only that its a 16-bit floating image format like RAW(background is only 8-bit).


just like shooting/photography, i had to key-in the appropriate f-stop/shutter/iso/wb values in the software's camera parameters to get the right exposure, as well as to set up sunlight with its correct physical value, plus additional lights (as strobes) to enhance the subject, the workflow is virtually painting with light.

HDR? Enter Paul Debevec. In 1997, he presented a paper at SIGGRAPH (PDF), the leading graphics industry expo. He brought forward the idea that a high range of brightness levels could be captured by combining multiple exposures of the same image, much like the pictures shown above. Differences in brightness at the various exposures could then be stored in what is known as a radiance map, which could be added to the picture's color information. For example, most pixels are stored as varying levels of red, green and blue, or RGB. With the generation of a radiance map, a fourth value, A, could be added to each pixel, and the resulting file stored in an RGBA format. (taken from and more here: http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/lostcoast.ars/2)


(above) Paul Debevec enjoying prawn mee soup and Tiger Beer in one of the hawkers in Singapore. Who says HDRI imaging should be glamorous?

I'm Back Shooting Macro!

'shoot within your equipment's limits' is my motto. i don't easily fall for buying cliche lens. you'll end up carrying a heavy bag on photoshoots, confused of which lens to use on location, or worse owning good lens but not able to maximize its capabilities. the only good thing i can think of is its cool factor. not to mention the $350 worth of workshops, i bet you can easily learn all those techniques on the net, tutorials are priceless nowadays. okay that's just my excuse, coz i'm cheapo =) but i have already set my mind on the next lens purchase, but will need to wait a little more till the manufacturer settles with its new agency here in SG. for now here are my latest dragonfly macros. and thanks for your time dropping by!

Shake Your Head by Eraserheads

Thanks CoedLiza for reviving this song--for me is one of the best ever written.
Anticipate, trust your guts, shake your head, walk away, no regrets...move on!



I was born, upside down
I felt my grandma put my feet
on the ground
They put a spoon, in my mouth
And everyone was shocked to
hear me shout
Well i knew i couldn’t take all
the dog food that they make
I’d just as soon as put myself
on a stake and burn

Refrain:
I saw it comin’ around
I saw it comin’ around, yeah
I saw it comin’ around
So i just, yeah
Shook my head and walked
away.

I grew up, in a town
Where everybody tried to push
me around
The girls were alright, but
the guys were tough
They’re always buggin’ me with
macho stuff
Well, i ain’t no stupid
fighter, i go for flower
power
I’ve been running every race
just to save my face, yeh

(repeat refrain)

Bridge:
Well, they try to see if you
care
It’s just a matter of not
begging for more
You know it’s really suicidal
to just give in
With people you can never
really be sure–
O-hoh when it gets down to this

They’ll eat you up
When the words get in your head
They’ll get you up
It’s a saving grace to have
enough
When you find yourself in a
compromising spot
You should know, you shouldn’t
take
All that dog food that they
make
You’d just as soon as put
yourself on a stake and burn

Refrain 2:
You’ll see it comin’ around,
You’ll see it coming, comin’
around,
When you see it coming around,
you just, yeah
Shake yer head and walk away
Yeah! (walk away) alright!
Shake, shake, shake, shake
yer head;(2x)
Yes, the one you think with..ho
—ohhc’mon, c’mon

Sing along with us!

New Heroes Anthem by Mr. Brosnan?
From the Banda Fantastica 3 compilation album.

Polka Interior

I'm back. Here's a revisitation of an old project, tweaked a bit of finishes and decors. Hope you like it!