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In this post Nathan Pask takes a look at a technique to get HDR Style Images Using Layers in Photoshop.
There currently seems to be a lot of interest in HDR or similar processes. What is HDR? Essentially, it's about collecting a series of shots taken on a tripod at different exposures and allowing über clever software to merge them together to make one supposedly perfectly exposed image. There are various types of software or plug-ins such as Photoshop, Photomatrix or FDR Tools that make producing a HDR image fairly straight forward.
Does the final result look pleasing to the eye? The jury is out for a majority of it as far as I'm concerned. Some images I think look fantastic, but others I feel have done nothing to enhance the subject. It's using process for processes sake. Being a professional retoucher for quite a few years, working for many demanding clients such as Condé Nast on Vogue, Bride & Traveller magazines, the idea of retouching is about making an image more beautiful than it was to begin with. For the retouch to be successful, it needs to look seamless. It wants to look amazing, almost too good to be true, but with no tell tale signs of it having been manipulated. Granted, there is a place for 'artistic' imagery, and perhaps some people who are producing HDR are just doing it for an artistic result, but I personally tend to lean towards the 'too good to be true' style when producing an image like this. If you are not a fan of the results HDR give, but like the idea of it, read on. The process I am about to talk you through has essentially the same premise, but will give a more realistic finished result as per the example above.
So to begin, you need to a good sturdy tripod. This is a little easier if you have an SLR camera, but it can also be done with a point and shoot if you can manually adjust your exposure. Mount your camera on the tripod and compose your image to your liking. It is important that when you take your images, your camera doesn't move. A handy tip if you don't have a remote control is to set your camera to it's inbuilt timer and shoot with this as when you press the shutter you are shaking the camera ever so slightly and you will get a slightly blurry result. Every situation is different because your subject and light is different, but for the image above, I took a shot exposing for the water which was 4 seconds at f22, I then took another shot exposing for the rock face and the trees which was 1 second at f22 and I then took another exposure for the sky which was 1/4 of a second at f22. Ideally keep your f-stop constant in this process and as you have it on a tripod you can afford to close down your f-stop/aperture to give you maximum depth of field throughout your image.
The following process is using Adobe Photoshop. I am on a Mac using Photoshop CS3, but it doesn't matter which version you have. As long as it has layers, you are sorted. Download your images from your camera onto your computer. Once you have chosen your exposures you want to use, in my case 3, open them all in Photoshop so you can see them all side by side with your layers palette open on the side like this (click images to open larger versions).
It doesn't really matter, but I tend to use my darkest layer as my base just because it's logical. With this in mind, select the middle exposed image. Head over to your layers palette and click and drag your layer icon and drop it on your darkest image. Then select your lighter image and repeat the process. Obviously, you can have as many images/exposures as you like and continue this process till you have dragged all your exposures onto the one image. The more you have, the longer it will take to combine and the more complicated it will become, so choose your number of exposures wisely. You shouldn't really need any more than 3 or 4 exposures unless your subject is particularly complicated.
Click back on your darker image that you have been dragging the layers on to. You should now have 3 layers in your palette and should look like this. You can close the other 2 images as these are no longer required. What you have left is one image open with your multiple layers, in my case 3, each layer containing exactly the same shot just taken with a different exposure all sandwiched on top of each other.
You can't fully manipulate the bottom layer called 'Background', so select this layer, go up to the options at the top of the Layers palette and duplicate the layer. It's not essential to do this on this particular retouch, but it's good to get into the habit of duplicating your original layer so you always have an untouched original just in case it all goes pear shaped or you want to refer back to it for some reason. Safety first!
Click on the little eye icon on the left hand side of the 'Background' layer so it makes this particular layer invisible. You wont be needing this layer. It's just there as a back-up. I tend to rename all my layers at this stage so it makes it easier to manage. Again, it's not essential for this retouch, but getting into the practice of naming your layers appropriately is a good habit to get into. When you work on more complicated retouches that might have dozens of layers, it makes it much quicker when you can see easily which layer is which.
So what are we going to do with these 3 layers? We are going to mask out portions of each layer to allow elements from the layers underneath to show through eventually giving us 1 image formed out of 3. Let's start with our lightest exposed layer. In my case, I want this layer for the water and reeds only. Most of the trees and the sky are way too overexposed. Over to your Layers palette again, select your top layer (your lightest layer) and we want to add a layer mask to this layer. Go to the Layer menu at the top of your screen and select Layer mask/Reveal All. As a shortcut, you can also simply click on the little icon circled and it will do the same thing.
For this particular layer mask I don't want to create a hard edge so we are going to use the brush tool to manually create our mask. Over to your layers palette again, make sure you have the mask part selected (not the image icon) when you click on the mask, it should have the broken black frame around it indicating that you have selected the mask. Making sure your colour is set to black (if it's not, click on the top colour square and change this 100% black) and select your brush tool. We are ready to mask!
We are now going to paint with this tool creating a mask revealing some of the image below. In this case we want to get rid of the sky, rocks and most of the trees. Make sure the opacity on the brush is at 100%. Use an appropriate sized large brush to get rid of a majority of it and when it comes to going around the water line I used a small brush and zoomed in so I could see a little better as I was masking.
You should be able to see your middle exposure layer below coming through. You will also see your little mask icon on your layers palette will give you a preview of what you have just masked out. Keep going until you are satisfied. I will show you how to do a more accurate mask on the next layer. But this method we have just performed is a great way to do a quick mask. Once you are happy with your mask, select the layer below. Create a new layer mask as before but instead of using our brush tool on it's own, this time we are going to make a selection first as we want the mask to be a little more defined around the edge of the cliffs. We want to mask out the sky on this middle layer to reveal the nice rich sky on the darkest layer below. To make a selection you can do this a few ways. As there is quite a good difference in colour and tone between the sky and the rocks in my case, so I am going to use the magic wand tool at a tolerance of about 25 and with my shift key on my keyboard held down, select different pieces of the sky till I have an unbroken line of 'marching ants' around the cliff face. (Note: Make sure your image icon is selected in your layers palette, not your mask icon otherwise your magic wand will select your whole image). I won't have every little piece of the sky selected, but I don't need to worry about that at this stage. The most important thing is that I have an unbroken line around the cliff like this.
Any easy way to select the rest of the sky is to use the lasso tool and holding down your shift key, quickly go round the parts that aren't selected so you end up with a lasso selection all around the area we want to mask. In this case I want to put a small feather on the selection before we mask as even though I want a crisp line, it's very rare that you don't need at least a small amount of feathering. So go up to your Select menu at the top of your screen and select Modify/Feather. In my case I want to use about 3 pixels of feather. Maybe use this as a starting point for your image, if you find out in a few minutes when we start masking this layer that it is too much or not enough feather, just go back in your history palette to this point and alter your feather amount. Every image is different and the amount of resolution in your image will play a part in your feather amount required.
So we now have the marching ants selection around the sky with a 3 pixel feather. Select the mask icon back in your layers palette on the middle layer. There are a number of ways you can go from here, but I like to use my brush tool again as it gives me more control. Select this tool again and we are going to do the same as before, however the selection has made it much easier. Like bowling with the rails out over the gutters! You cant go wrong.
It's at this point that you can begin to see the whole picture forming with elements from all 3 layers playing their parts in your overall final result. Continue masking until you have filled your entire area selected. As we have a small feather on the lasso selection, if you keep going over certain areas around the edge of your selection with your brush tool it will creep your mask out a little more if you feel your selection didn't quite go far enough. When you are happy, deselect your marching ants by going back up to your Select menu at the top of your screen and choosing Deselect.
You should now have a pretty much final image visually. You may want to touch up here and there to be completely satisfied. In my case I need to get rid rid of some nasty little sensor marks using my Spot Healing tool on the bottom dark layer. *Note to self – must clean my sensor!* You can alter other things at this stage such as the contrast, hue and saturation. Clone out elements you don't wish to be there (Cloning is a whole OTHER tutorial on it's own) in my case, a plastic bag caught in the reeds and using my burn tool, just going over the edges of the cliffs a little for effect.
Once you are completely satisfied, you need to save it. I like to keep a copy of the layered file just incase I decide to alter it slightly in the future, so save it as a .psd or .tif with your layers intact and make it obvious in your filename that it's the layered file. Save on your computer wherever you wish. Once you have done this, back over to your layers palette for the last time. In your layer options, select Flatten Image.
You can now save your final image in whatever format you wish to use. Probably a .jpg to save on hard drive space. You have now completed a manual version of HDR using layers. HURRAH! I hope this was of some use. I encourage any comments on this method. I don't think anyone knows everything there is to know about Photoshop and as my Grandpa always used to say, "there is more than one way to skin a cat!". But this is a method that has served me very well over the years in coping with shooting an image that required different exposures to fully recreate what I saw with my own eyes.
Thank you so much for taking the time of sharing you knowledge.
Angelina Loz
Thanks for the tutorial. I just used the technique on almost the same shot from Yosemite (same location, less water more rocks) ;-)
Elements 9 has now layer masking. A quick and easy method is adding black and white gradients in the layer mask.
Excellent tutorial! This is the way that I do most of my HDR images. I've included you in a list of the top 5 HDR tutorials on the internet here: http://www.aputure.com/blog/2010/12/07/5-great-hdr-photography-resources/
I've been using Tufuse or Hugin to combine bracketed images and both work well but require some tweaking for contrast and exposure.
I believe Nathan's image 'does' qualify as an HDR (high dynamic range) image. I believe however, that people have come to erroneously associate "tone mapping" with HDR, but they're obviously not the same. Not to go into the specifics but the crazy, colorful, in-your-face look of tone mapped images is pretty obvious when you see one.
HDR on the other hand would look vibrant and intense but the content would still rule the images's overall value, not some 'artistic' effect. But strictly speaking, an HDR image does not alter but preserve what the eye originally saw at the time the photo was taken. Even the word "enhanced" using HDR techniques would to me, only mean enabling the image to be more of what you originally experienced during the shot.
To paraphrase Zack Arias, "Ten years from now, if you've 'tricked' out your photo with effects, will it still be a good photo when the effect has become passé."
I was recently introduced to this technique, and like to perform this, but as stated above, it sure is time comsuming... I have been finding images turn out great, and print very well, but when I upload them to flickr to share, they really do not look right at all... I have been trying to figure this out for a while.
I do a lot of HDR and already find the process quite lenghty but very powerful in terms of rending. I'm using lightroom and photomatix to get best results, and it works very nicely.
Tutorial on HDR with lightroom and photomatix
Now that HDR has integrated into the world of photography,
there are a few new styles of HDR starting to crop up around
the internet.
For those who are interested in trying their hand at one of them I have just finished writing a tutorial for "Dark Style HDR"
Which you can view with the link below:
Brent, you can do this, particularly if your original is a RAW file, however it wont quite have the same dynamic range as if you had actually shot it with the correct exposure. The sample I used for this tutorial has quite dramatic differences in exposure. You would struggle to get the same level of detail, saturation and crispness to your final image. But worth having a go to see if you like the results. That of course is the main thing.
i have a question,,, can i just brighten up a photo and save a copy and darken another one and save a copy as well so i can have 3 different exposures? instead of taking 3 photographs on a tripod... :)
Good tutorial,i preffer manual work with photoshop, Photomatrix is great for beginners but if you are proffesional i think this real thing....
This method often looks much more natural than HDR, probably as many people go everboard in HDR which results in ugly halos and really unatural looking shots. Thanks for the tips.
This is nice but this technique is most commonly referred to as DRI or dynamic range increasing. I often couple this technique after the HDR process through Photomatix to further extend the dynamic range and bring back some realism. There are better and fast ways to get the tones you need to blend in place, such as the blend if function under layer options.
i really like the tutorial and i will try this my self.
how ever it occurred to me.... that i could just take one photo and make 3 different versions(one very bright, mid, and dark) and then blend them together to create a HDR looking image.
i guess this defeats the purpose of taking a HDR shot though.....
hmm, how do you handle the halo ( the dark contour) wrapping the mountains?
Lisa, I've emailed Nathan this morning... He's a touch busy today, but will try to sort you out with the original images (there are multiple)
Hi, I would like to download the original image just to practice with. Don't worry. I won't post it anywhere. Like I said, it's just for practice. Is there anyway I can find it?
Good tutorial, thanks :-).
However, I would still call this HDR and tone mapping.. the fact that you combine and mask the images by hand does not change the fact that this is one way to capture higher dynamic range than can be caught in single shot (HDR imaging) and then manipulating it to be properly shown at limited dynamic range display/print (tone mapping).
Just posted on my blog HDR tutorial: Create HDR photos with free software. Qtpfsgui and GIMP can give you more impressive results than commercial HDR apps.
I don't think you will find that anyone mentioned anything about hating HDR either on the tutorial or in the comments. You are right. Photography or any art expression is about taste, and this method was a sidestep away from HDR using it's principles if your taste isn't HDR. I think you will also find that I mentioned in the beginning that some HDR imagery looks fantastic, but there is a certain lighting situation that will work best with HDR. What I was mentioning was that all too often, I see what would have been a pretty ordinary image to begin with and to mask this, throw it through some HDR software to get a result. I dont find that particularly clever. That is process for processes sake as I mentioned. But I have seen some fabulous results, it's just a matter of educating when HDR is best used rather than going out and taking a picture of your dog in your dark living room and expecting HDR software to rescue your average image.
I know you said you weren't, but you do sound very bitter indeed! This wasn't an anti HDR tutorial, this was born from the dozens of people asking me over the past couple of months questions like, "I kinda like HDR, but I am looking to get a more realistic result, can you recommend any software?" and, "I just wish I could could expose properly so I could reproduce what I was seeing with my own eyes". If anything, this is a small salute to HDR for using it's principals, just used in a different way to get a different result.
I appreciate your sentiment and your comments though and good luck with your artistic expression whatever that may be.
It's a little discouraging to see so many people hating on HDR. Photography is art, that's like trying to say that a particular genre of music is better than another... It's not. That's your opinion. While you are entitled to it, when you do something like this to appeal to newbies, it's good form to keep that opinion to yourself, and simply offer your alternative method.
Creativity should be encouraged, and countless times all I see is people hating on HDR because it doesn't look as real as a single shot photo. That's like hating Classical music because it doesn't have the rhyme schemes and beats of Hip Hop music. It doesn't make sense, and it should not be an issue.
When I first started in photography, I loved HDR and found it to be my method of choice. When others saw my pictures, all I got was "HDR doesn't look real, therefore it's not good, you need to learn how to take better pictures"... Comments like these turned me off HDR for quite some time, and pushed me into doing something I didn't really enjoy doing. It was to the point where I almost stopped taking pictures, because I didn't get the same satisfaction from the process as I used to. I eventually got back into HDR, and decided that no one else can tell me what I think is beautiful, I have to make that decision for myself.
It's a shame to see so many people, who a lot of newcomers look up to for guidance and advice, shun and discourage a form of expression. If you're giving advice to newcomers, you should be doing so free of personal opinon. If you don't like HDR images, don't look at them. The same goes for someone who prefers Classical music to Hip Hop, they don't go around listening to upcoming young Hip Hop artists and telling them their work is terrible, they stick to what they know. I often wish photography was more like this, but unfortunately a lot of people want to be the expert/authority on everything, and tell others what does and doesn't look good. Obviously a lot of people feel HDR is a great method of capturing and expressing their photos, or else it would have never become so popular.
It sounds like a lot of people are judging HDR based off of photos someone did while learning the art. Almost all of my first HDR photos were riddled with halos, but over time, those disappear as I learned how to better manipulate and utilize the technique. It's no different to people who are just learning post production, and you can see clearly every touch up they did. Doesn't mean all post production is terrible, it simply means they're learning. A lot of people even prefer the blown out HDR photos riddled with halos, some of my favorite HDR photos I've ever done were also some of my first and full of halos and unrealistic lighting/colours.
Just remember, it's all relative, and it's all taste. You can't tell someone what they do or don't like, but you can influence them to the point where they become ashamed of what they do like, and that simply takes the joy out of what they do. If someone asks you for your opinion, don't base it on your personal tastes, try to be as neutral as possible, and provide constructive criticism. If you don't like HDR, or know much about it, don't tell them HDR isn't good or realistic looking, give them composition tips if applicable, or simply tell them that you don't do HDR and don't really have any advice to give them. The last thing ANY art form needs is people discouraging expression and creativity. That is exactly what art IS.
I don't mean to sound bitter, but this is essentially me venting for the years of anti-HDR sentiments thrown my way that I can only imagine other people who are in my position when I first started might take out of things like this.
If you like HDR, do HDR. Photography isn't about what everyone else likes, it's about what you feel expresses you in a way you enjoy doing. Maybe it won't make you a professional photographer, but I'd rather not make money from photography than make money from it in a way I don't truly enjoy.
*I'm not trying to be harsh to anyone in particular here at all, I just want people to understand that you can't tell someone what is or isn't a valid or good form of expression.
I really appreciate the effort put in here.
however as it has been asked before.. the distinction between the cliffs and the sky is not looking perfectly seamless..
is there anyway we can come over this issue ?
I uploaded a black and white scan to Flickr - it was a train carriage and window picture with steam drifting past and condensation on the window .
I got asked by the Admin of the HDR Ortoners and Dragen effect group if they could have my picture in their group .
I said they could have it but had to point out it was taken on Ilford Delta 400 film , you could spot the Delta grain pattern on the carriage roof straight away ( other commenters said the grain gave a grittiness to the picture ) .
I said I used a 28 year old Olympus OM2 to take the picture - technology from long before HDR .
Says a lot about dynamic range on digital ? - LOL
There is a lot of overblown , overcooked landscape pictures on Flickr and yes it can be a cliche
Thanks for the TUTORIAL.
Want More..........
Photoshop Elements users can fake layer masks like this:
Or you can install a layer mask tool:
If you install the tool, I'll warn you that PSE will take a LONG time to rebuild the content database the first time you open it after adding the tool. So start it up and go have lunch or something while it rebuilds. :)
P.S. Will I love your pictures, especially the cave! Great shot!
Thanks for sharing this very interesting tutorial with us. I learned a lot, and I am eager to try out more.
I am curious how much different the same pictures would look like if you would use the merge option and simply merge the 3 pictures together, that's how I do HDR normally. Anyway great tutorial, thanks!
Great tutorial! HDR gives amazing results for some specific (tough) topics like shady mountains with bright skies.
Thank you very much!
Excellent tutorial. I at least minimally tweak all of my shots, but only layer and "magic wand" about half of them for in-depth manipulation.
I use Paint.net, not Photoshop, so don't have quite as many manipulation options. Still, I'm pretty pleased with much of the work. Always good to learn a new thing to keep improving!
Ebook / Viral Report Ghostwriter
Flickr Photostream
Great technique and good tutorial. I never even thought of doing this before I saw this article.
Thanks so much
Excellent tutorial! It must have taken some time to put together. OK, the technique is well-known but this explanation was very clear and helpful.
I've been thinking about putting up something like this on my blog, but unfortunately I have a very old version of Photoshop and the interface isn't in English either. So tutorials like this will have to wait.
And to to those of you that think this is some kind of HDR: it is NOT! - the author just refered to HDR in the beginning to say his method is an *alternative* to HDR.
And yes, I've seen a bunch of HDR's on Flickr and I have mixed feelings about them... Like any tool, it can be used with various results.
Great tutorial. Very simple.
Nice tutorial, but would not really consider it HDR-style, at least if you are using a more expansive definition of HDR.
I would consider it more of a DRI or digital blending tutorial.
This type of thing has worked well for me also, better for my tastes than an automatic HDR creator. I have been happy doing it in PS7 for a while now: http://dlensphoto.blogspot.com/ I will have give this specific technique a try now -- thanks for posting!
HDR is the black velvet poster of the photography world. Tacky tacky tacky. Multiple exposures is interesting sure, but get over the ugly cliché that is HDR.
Great feedback everyone and I'm glad some of you got something out of it. Merging multiple exposures with layers in Photoshop is my most commonly asked question, so I thought it relevant to choose this to share. I look forward to seeing your results. Maybe send it to email@example.com as I would be keen to see how you get on.
I just want to clarify for those who didn't like this tutorial, I wasn't trying to make an HDR image. It was simply using the PRINCIPALS of HDR and creating a more realistic result. If you want an HDR result, use PhotoMatrix or any one of those applications. This was to create something entirely different. And as I mentioned, there are many ways to get the same or similar results, however this method has served me well and this is how I do it. If you think there is a better way, then I am all ears and I await you taking the time to write a tutorial of your own accordingly and look forward to learning something new.
Thanks for the info, i will try this very shortly on some photos. Your photo came out great!
Great tutorial Nathan! Nice explanations and a really well thought out workflow. I'm going to use this later on a bunch of bracketed shots I did in China last month.
I really don't understand the deal with people giving someone a hard time for putting up free helpful content that took effort to put together..
With regard to this controversy on here about whether or not this is really HDR - isn't the point of high-dynamic range imaging to combine several exposures and extend the range beyond that which is possible for a camera to record? Whether that's done with software or manually shouldn't have any bearing on anything.
I'm throwing a link to here up on my blog tonight if that's cool with you.
Amazing work Nathan! This is one of my favorite shots of yours. :) I didn't know it was an HDR and as far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing! Sometimes HDR is way over-done and I think you did this one just right. Thanks for sharing your workflow here.
I'll support Sime by saying HDR's main aim is to produce a photo with High Dynamic Range. Automated software like Photomatix makes this process simple with some great features for managing the output. This tutorial is doing the same, it's just more of a manual process. So Jonas, your an idiot if I'm straight with you, try learning the concept behind HDR.
@Jonas... Sorry, where are your results?
This tutorial sucks! Learn to use Photoshop dude! This isn't HDR. I feel sorry for the peeps you hoodwinked by calling this HDR.
Great tutorial. I admit that I first saw this technique on Lumninous Landscapes and have used it a couple of times
I have found out that this works best when there are clearly defined borders/edges which delineate the different exposure regions. I have had some complex multiple exposures where the only way to go was using the built-in merge function, or using a HDR tool
I use PS elements, and I don't think I can do layer masks so the "destructive" method mentioned by Luke Gedeon would have to work for me. Is it possible you could make the original files available for download so I might preactice the technique? Or one similar?
The only thing I'd add to this excellent layer-masking tutorial is the alignment step, even when taken on a good tripod. CS3 has this under Edit > Auto-align layers if you want to do it automatically, or temporarily set a low opacity to nudge the top layers around manually.
Thanks, great tutorial... I certainly need all the help I can get with Photoshop!
Oh, cool! Thanks.
Yes, there is a difference. A mask can be edited any time, erasing parts of the picture destroys the pixels. Masking is non-destructive editing, the pixels are still there, they're just invisible. Erased pixels are gone. You can get them back with the history brush but if you close the file, the history is gone and you have no way to recover the pixels.
So what is the difference between using a mask and erasing to transparent?
After you finish laughing at my question... I am curious. Is their a difference in usability or results?
A simple technique to understand and master. This is the ideal work flow if you have several shots of the same source with different exposures. I'm just getting into photography and find I'm taking a lot of photos that just don't cut the mustard, the ones that work really well are usually sole shots so I can't use this technique unfortunately.
However I duplicate the layers and work in areas using the Layer Mask and play around with the levels section at a time. Eventually the photo comes together and is merged down to complete the job. I find this approach more flexible for a beginner like me, though once I advance a little I'm sure your technique will come in handy.
Thanks again, I'm sure this tutorial took a while to write and appreciate the detail in your explanation.
The Floating Frog
Great and thorough tutorial, thanks for taking the time. One thing I've noticed when isolating the sky in my mountain pictures is the dark like where the mountain and sky meet. I'm curious to find a good technique on softening that transition.
By and large HDR is not about creating perfect exposure, it is about creating exposure that goes beyond the range possible in nature. It is an artistic technique, not a retouching technique.
Having said that, I am often not a big fan of it... but this tutorial is about something other than HDR, it is about fixing exposure issues.
Nice tutorial, nice looking final image. One tip and a comment: To turn your background layer into an unlocked normal layer without having to duplicate, alt-double click the layer and it will unlock.
On your final image, the transition between the sky and the mountains looks a little bit rough to me; you might try using the blur tool on your layer mask to blend things in a little more.
Great tutorial. I've been using this same method for many years and I also find that the more layers (exposures) you use, the less precise you have to be when masking with the brush. If there is a big difference between layers when you mask them is can easily halo. With more layers at closer exposures I tend to use a larger soft brush and it can sometimes be faster and more seamless.
Great tutorial... very simple and easy to get good results.
I often use photomatix to increase the detail in highlights and shadows. Here are a few of my HDRs's (all of them combine 3 to 5 bracketed shots):
The skill is trying to make them look like they aren't HDR!
Thanks.. Great Tutorial.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this technique is also called "Exposure Blending".
This isn't quite the same as HDR, its essentially masking using Photoshop and whilst okay for things such as replacing the sky with a better exposed version is not the same. Working on a more complex image would take forever and still not give exactly the same results.
As for the majority of what I suspect you are referring to when you say "Does the final result look pleasing to the eye? The jury is out for a majority of it as far as I'm concerned. " is those overblown HDR images where there's a halo/glow around everything. If presented with a properly done HDR I doubt you'd even realise it was one.
Still, its a good tutorial on combining layers using masking.
This type of article is why I joined DPS. Thanks for once again reinforcing a great decision on my part...
Been using this technique before even anyone knew what HDR is. Much more natural look but sometimes quite a lot of work, especially when complex objects are in the shot that are hard to mask. Sometimes masking-plug-ins like Vertus Fluidmask or something like that come in quite handy.
Great work. Love photoshop tutorials. To me though you could have done without the middle layer. Look forward to trying this out myself.


text:
Save one magic season that produced a BCS championship trophy, Gene Chizik's record in four years as Auburn University's football coach won't be inscribed on any Hall of Fame plaques.
Save one magic season that produced a BCS championship trophy, Gene Chizik's record in four years as Auburn University's football coach won't be inscribed on any Hall of Fame plaques.
Take away 2010, and Chizik's Tiger teams were .500 overall and 10 games under that level against Southeastern Conference opponents. This year's 3-9 finish (0-8 in the SEC) cost him his job.
Those focused solely on football will dwell on the numbers, but an Etowah County family will vouch that they don't measure the man.
Over the years, we've documented young Bayleigh Phillips' fight with cancer. Someone would have to lack not just a heart, but a soul to be unaffected by her personal vibrancy and the positive attitude she's shown when faced with things that would hammer a 350-pound lineman to his knees.
An Auburn fan, Bayleigh connected with Chizik's wife, Jonna, two years ago at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet, then met the coach at an event in Birmingham. A relationship was forged that also included one of the Chizik's daughters, Landry, who is Bayleigh's age (15).
The Chiziks stayed in touch with Bayleigh, both in good times (birthday wishes) and bad (offering prayers when her brain tumor grew and she faced chemotherapy and radiation treatments).
Fast forward to Thanksgiving Day of this year, when Bayleigh and her family were at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham, delivering food to families in the hospital, and Chizik was preparing the Tigers to face arch-rival Alabama in two days.
Bayleigh returned a missed call to her mother's cellphone from Mrs. Chizik, and was told that the coach wanted to talk to her in a little while.
That conversation ultimately left her flabbergasted and weeping — to mark the sixth anniversary of Bayleigh's cancer diagnosis, the Chiziks gave her a car.
The coach called her "an inspiration." We think he put that arrow in the bull's-eye.
Cynics might say "he should've had his mind on the ball game." (The Tigers lost 49-0). There are numerous Alabama lakes we'd advise those folks to take a dip in.
It must have been a moment of incredible pressure — trying to find a way to defeat a superior opponent, probably aware that his job was in jeopardy. Still, Chizik made the time not just to reward, but honor someone who's faced more pressure and battled for higher stakes than are possible on any football field.
We think this is a good man.

subset: commoncrawl


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In my first year working at a grossly substandard animal shelter in Maryland, I forced myself to go in early to euthanize dogs by holding them in my arms and gently helping them escape an uncaring world without trauma or pain and to spare them from being stabbed haphazardly—while they were fully conscious, terrified and aware—in the general vicinity of their hearts with needles blunt from reuse and left to thrash on the floor until they finally died by the callous people who would arrive later to do the job.
I always wonder how anyone cannot recognize that there is a world of difference between painlessly euthanizing animals out of compassion—aged, injured, sick, and dying animals whose guardians can't afford euthanasia, for instance—as PETA does, and causing them to suffer terror, pain, and a prolonged death while struggling to survive on the streets, at the hands of untrained and uncaring "technicians," or animal abusers.
It's easy to point the finger at those who are forced to do the "dirty work" caused by a throwaway society's casual acquisition and breeding of dogs and cats who end up homeless and unwanted, but at PETA, we will never turn our backs on neglected, unloved, and homeless animals—even if the best we can offer them is a painless release from a world that doesn't have enough heart or homes with room for them. It makes it easy for people to throw stones at us, but we are against all needless killing: for hamburgers, fur collars, dissection, sport hunting, the works. PETA handled far more animals than 2,069 in 2012. In fact, we took in more than 10,000 dogs and cats and work very hard to persuade people to spay and neuter their animals and to commit to a lifetime of care and respect for them. We go so far as to transport animals to and from our spay/neuter clinics, where they are spayed or neutered and given vet care, often for free! Since 2001, PETA's low- to no-cost spay-and-neuter mobile clinics, SNIP and ABC, have sterilized more than 50,000 animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from being born, neglected, abandoned, abused, or euthanized when no one wanted them. And on a national level, PETA is focusing on the root of the problem through our Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign.
If anyone has a good home, love, and respect to offer, we beg them: Go to a shelter and take one or two animals home. The problem is that few people do that, choosing instead to go to a breeder or a pet shop and not "fixing" their dogs and cats, which contributes to the high euthanasia rate that animal shelters face. Most of the animals we took in and euthanized could hardly be called "pets," as they had spent their lives chained up in the back yard, for instance. They were unsocialized, never having been inside a building of any kind or known a pat on the head. Others were indeed someone's, but they were aged, sick, injured, dying, too aggressive to place, and the like, and PETA offered them a painless release from suffering, with no charge to their owners or custodians.
Every day, PETA's fieldworkers help abused and neglected dogs—many of them pit bulls nowadays and many of them forced to live their lives on chains heavy enough to tow an 18-wheeler—by providing them with food; clean water; lightweight tie-outs; deworming medicine; flea, tick, and fly-strike prevention; free veterinary care; sturdy wooden doghouses stuffed with straw bedding; and love.
What we see is enough to make you lose faith in humanity. One pit bull we gained custody of, named Asia, looked like a skeleton covered with skin when PETA released her from the 15-pound chain she had been kept on for years. Asia suffered from three painful and deadly intestinal obstructions, which prevented her from keeping any food down. She faced an agonizing, lingering death, so our veterinarian recommended euthanasia to end her suffering. We pursued criminal charges against those responsible for her condition, leading to their conviction for cruelty to animals. That is just one of the dozens of cases we see every week.
The majority of adoptable dogs are never brought through our doors (we refer them to local adoption groups and walk-in animal shelters). Most of the animals we house, rescue, find homes for, or put out of their misery come from miserable conditions, which often lead to successful prosecution and the banning of animal abusers from ever owning or abusing animals again.
As long as animals are still purposely bred and people aren't spaying and neutering their companions, open-admission animal shelters and organizations like PETA must do society's dirty work. Euthanasia is not a solution to overpopulation but rather a tragic necessity given the present crisis. PETA is proud to be a "shelter of last resort," where animals who have no place to go or who are unwanted or suffering are welcomed with love and open arms.
Please, if you care about animals, help prevent more of them from being born only to end up chained and left to waste away in people's back yards, suffering on mean streets where people kick at them or shoo them away like garbage, tortured at the hands of animal abusers, or, alas, euthanized in animal shelters for lack of a good home. If you want to save lives, always have your animals spayed or neutered.
See more about how PETA saves animals.
Written by Ingrid E. Newkirk
Article source: PETA Files


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
A top Georgian envoy in Israel on Sunday urged the Jewish state to use whatever leverage it has to put pressure on Russia to pull its forces out of the small Caucasus nation. But while voicing support for Georgian territorial integrity, Israel decided instead to appease Russia by halting all arms sales to Tbilisi.
Israel has sold some $500 million worth of military equipment to Georgia over the past few years, and top Israeli military experts have been involved in training Georgian armed forces.
Israeli soldiers who participated in training Georgian forces as recently as four months ago told Ha'aretz that they were not surprised when hostilities broke out. "There was an atmosphere of war about to break out. ...From my point of view, the battles of the past few days were to be expected," said one soldier.
As Russian forces invaded Georgia late last week and the two nations engaged in what is increasingly being called a full-scale war, Israel's leadership expressed concerns that Moscow could retaliate for continued Israeli military support of Georgia by selling advanced arms to Iran and Syria.
Defense officials cited by The Jerusalem Post later said that arms sales to Georgia had ceased several months back, after Israeli authorities became alarmed by urgent requests for large supplies of weapons by Georgian authorities apparently aware that they were about to go to war with Russia.
Said one Israeli official, "We have good relations with [Russia and Georgia], and don't want to back either in this conflict. We therefore made a decision to drastically minimize sales of weapons to Georgia."
Many Israelis expressed frustration with what they said amounted to abandoning Israel's allies in Georgia to appease Russia, even though advanced Russian weapons have been reaching Iran, Syria and their terrorist proxy Hizballah for years.
Israel is home to some 80,000 Georgian Jews who would also like to see Jerusalem provide outright backing to the small Christian nation.
Georgia's other major military backer, the United States, has said it will continue to provide support and training to the Georgian army, and warned Russia that its military escalations could severely damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, flew solo Tuesday night for a charity dinner at Windsor Castle -- but despite his wife's absence, there was no lack of glamour surrounding the royal.
Wills was hosting the event, sponsored by designer Ralph Lauren, to benefit the Royal Marsden cancer hospital, one of Princess Diana's favorite charities. The second-in-line to the British throne has served as the hospital's president since 2007.
"I am enormously grateful to Ralph Lauren for his generosity, and to all of you who so kindly support the hospital," William said in his speech. "You should know that what you do saves lives and gives hope to thousands of people."
Later, the duke said (via Us Weekly) it was "a wonderful thing" that Lauren was backing the "great addition to the hospital." However, he did apologize for his fashionable wife's absence -- Catherine was busy tending to their son, Prince George.
"I'm sorry my wife's not here," he said (via People) when he introduced the designer in the castle's Grand Reception Room. "You probably would far rather [see] my wife."
Lauren, who attended the event with wife Ricky Anne Loew-Beer, dressed several of the celebrities for the event, including "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson and Oscar winner Cate Blanchett.
After the reception, the 230-person party moved to the castle's ornate St. George's Hall for a lavish three-course dinner set across two long tables, the Daily Mail reported.
"The King's Speech" actress Helena Bonham Carter also showed her support and said that these events were crucial to raising awareness and funds to fight cancer.
"It requires a huge amount of money to come up with a cure for cancer," she said. "We now live in times when it doesn't mean death, a lot of people are living with the disease. It's very different from when I was a child, the C word was taboo. Hopefully, for my children, it will be a thing of the past."
Carter also noted that she had met the duke in the past when she was vacationing in the Caribbean.
"The duke and I met before, along with the Duchess, before they were married, when I was staying on Mustique," the actress said. "I got very drunk at one point and I was determined to ask him to be a godfather to my daughter. He quite wisely said no."
The actress, who has long been linked to director Tim Burton, said that she admired the prince and that "he has got the same grace as both his parents."
When model Kate Moss, the queen of the catwalk, met the prince, she also asked about his wife's whereabouts -- rather flirtatiously, according to the Daily Mail. When he said Catherine wasn't there, Moss replied, "Such a shame."
"Sherlock" star Benedict Cumberbatch said that he felt "guilty" that he chatted with the prince for so long.
"He is just a stand-up guy," said the "Hobbit" actor. "I completely forgot to ask him how he got over his jet lag from his trip to Australia, because I was there at the same time and I saw all the commotion when he went to Sydney Opera House."
The duke and duchess wrapped up their highly publicized three-week tour of New Zealand and Australia last month.
Cumberbatch added that he hoped the evening would get the Royal Marsden on people's radar.
"That's what we're here for," he said. "Cancer isn't a disease that needs much awareness, but it does need continued funding for research."
Also in attendance were Victoria's Secret model Cara Delevingne, "Downton Abbey's" Laura Carmichael, Allen Leech and Lily James, "Game of Thrones" star Sophie Turner, "The Wolf of Wall Street's" Margot Robbie and photographer Mario Testino, among many others.


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The other thing about the dinner was the longest pre-dinner cocktail party in the history of pre-dinner cocktail parties. It went on for literally hours. The bus transporting the turf writers who were staying at the media hotel, on Long Island, had gotten lost getting into the city, and the staff at the athletic club was told to hold up the dinner until the stragglers arrived. Meantime, the bartenders, who were only outnumbered by about 5 to 1, kept pouring. I would have liked to have seen the bar bill that night. It might have been more than the handle at the Breeders' Cup a few days later. I was staying at a hotel in Manhattan, and traveling by cab, so no harm, no foul. But after an hour or two of pre-dinner drinks, I wrote the name of my hotel on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket, just as a precaution. What happened to me in New York many years before, a few days before the first Belmont I ever covered, wasn't going to happen again. At an ungodly hour, I poured myself out of Jimmy Ryan's, a jazz joint on 52nd Street, and flagged a cab. I might have been staying at the Roosevelt, but for the moment I couldn't remember. "Take me to the Belmont," I said. "Guess again, mac," the cabbie said. "The Belmont burned down five years ago."
From what I can tell, Heisman voting is much like the Eclipse Awards--the only governing rule is that there are no rules. For my fellow voters who are seeking guidance in the upcoming Horse of the Year election between Blame and Zenyatta, I say, leave well enough alone. There are Eclipse Awards rules for another competition, best stories, broadcasts and photos about horse racing, and they run five pages, or about four pages too long. If a task force were commissioned today to write rules for the Horse of the Year voting, they wouldn't finish by Christmas, and their final draft would be Magna Carta in length. They would need to be told at the outset that they aren't being paid by the word.
In recent years, when both Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen were heavily favored to win Eclipse Awards for best trainer, I sometimes adopted rules of my own and left both of them off my ballot. This was at a time when rulings for drug violations dotted both of their records. Both horsemen denied wrongdoing, but their innocence was seldom substantiated. Most voters were not concerned--Pletcher won four straight awards, starting in 2004, and Asmussen has won the last two years. This year, a handful of voters, incensed over Pletcher's role in the Life At Ten cause celebre at the Breeders' Cup, might skip over his name at ballot time, but it is the wrong year to be running away from the heavy favorite. In 2010, there has been Pletcher and nobody else. He is more than $7 million ahead of the next trainer on the money list, he's won the Kentucky Derby and three Breeders' Cup races, and his barn has won at least 44 graded stakes, double that of Bob Baffert, who's second in those standings. Last year might have been the time to ignore the raw numbers and jump ship, and the Zenyatta camp, after she had won the Breeders' Cup Classic, thought that their trainer, John Shirreffs, stood a good chance to bag an Eclipse. But the voting totals were as raw as they come: Asmussen 130, Shirreffs 57. This time around, Shirreffs will not even be that close when Pletcher's votes are tallied.
The Racing Hall of Fame is an entirely different kettle of fish. Unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, no rules. Pete Rose, who gambled on baseball, has a record that would normally guarantee enshrinement by acclimation, but he has never been allowed on the ballot. I love Pete, for what he did on the field and for the glib way he talked about it afterwards, but I could never vote for him. Pat Valenzuela, an admitted drug abuser and in trouble with racing authorities much of his sometimes spectacularly successful career, has Hall of Fame credentials, and as sure as Shinola, he'll wind up on the ballot some day. That election will make Blame-Zenyatta seem like child's play.
Back to matters Cam Newton at Auburn. There might even be a lesson in this for Eclipse voters. Although the Newton investigation has yet to run its course, one of the Heisman voters, a sports editor in Mississippi, said: "Sooner or later, we have to send a message about what's right and what's wrong. People tell me that the kinds of things we're hearing about with Cam Newton are just part of college football now. But I say it's not part of college football, and if it is, we need to stop it." One of the schools that was allegedly bidding for Newton's services was Mississippi State. Sometimes, I guess, you have to check your objectivity at the door.


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Erezhac necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 409 diseños de 119 diseñadores freelance.
Solar Stream Green Energy Group
Solar Stream Green Energy Group Inc is a professional company selling turn- key solutions for renewable energy – mainly solar power, enabling individuals and businesses to sell power to the grid, and make a very good return on investment.
We plan and install solar systems for those who are thinking of the future and our planet while making a profit at it.
Our prospects and customers will be property owners who have space on their roof or land, to install a system. There are a few main markets, who are good candidates for these systems:
• Residential
• Commercial
• Agricultural
• Cottage
• Institutional
• Schools and School Boards
We would like a clean modern logo, that is Unforgettable Original and Professional.
We deal with large companies, we are looking for a logo that is simple, FRESH, "easy on the eyes" yet clear and bold about what we do. One that screams "Trusted Professional" but also "Warm" and "Approachable".
Our "style" is similar to Apple - simple and clean, minimalist.
We are thinking that maybe it could have a sun in it – not a must! And we like the yellow and green colours.
The logo would be eye-catching, UNFORGETTABLE and more perhaps on the "Elegant" side, but again have a "minimalist" feel.
1. No Cartoons
2. The logo/identity design should be one that when resized will still look awesome and clear on websites, standard size business cards, postcards and letterhead etc.
3. The files we will require are:?
Print file format - .ai (CMYK)?
Web file format - .tiff, .jpg and layered .psd (RGB)
4. Please do not use any stock images or clip art in the logo.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Jennifer Lopez Chose Casper Smart Over Reuniting With Marc Anthony
Though Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez announced their split last summer, Anthony only filed for divorce last week. We now know what may have been behind the hold up: Anthony wanted to reconcile with Lopez, but Jenny from the Block wasn't having it.
TMZ reports that Anthony and La Lopez had a heart-to-heart talk only a few weeks ago to see if she really wanted to end their marriage for good. Turns out, she did — because she is head over heels in love her backup dancer, Casper Smart. Sources told TMZ that Anthony was "blindsided" by her decision and didn't realize she was so serious about Smart.
While we can understand why Anthony would want to salvage the relationship (J. Lo is the world's most beautiful woman and they share two adorable tykes, four-year-old twins Max and Emme), it's been pretty evident that it's over.
In fact, it seems like Anthony was the only one shocked by the 'American Idol' judge's decision. Lopez has been getting Smart since last fall, even buying him a car for his recent 25th birthday and steaming it up onscreen with him in her new 'Dance Again' video.
For his part, Anthony has been no slouch in the dating game, either. The 'I Need to Know' singer has been dating 24-year-old Venezuelan model Shannon de Lima. We wonder how she feels about him trying to reconcile with Lopez!
The news may make the upcoming weeks a bit awkward for the former-but-friendly couple. The duo will perform together on 'Q'Viva! The Chosen.' If nothing else, it may encourage more nosy fans to tune in!


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DJM-400 - CDJ-400 Package
Limited Edition CDJ Package
- Pair of Limited CDJ-400, Limited DJM-400, Exclusive Pioneer Case, HDJ-1000 headphones and $100 free music credit
- Only available on pioneerelectronics.com
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Two of the DJ Industry's most popular products, together at last. Black-on-black with an indigo glow, the limited edition DJM-400-K and CDJ-400-Ks are a sinister take on the DJ duo that has changed the game.
More than two turntables and a mixer
Designed for experienced DJs and collectors, this limited edition package comes with the following.
|2 Limited Edition CDJ-400-K turntables
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|An exclusive Pioneer DJ case – Specifically made for this package
|$100 in free music if purchased before January 31st (Mail-in Rebate)
This CDJ package combines excellent performance and features with USB integration, MP3 playback, MIDI support and much more - all packed in a look that flat out works - case closed.
Exclusively From Pioneerelectronics.com
The special edition CDJ-400, DJM-400 and matching Pioneer DJ coffin are only available on pioneerelectronics.com and supplies are limited. So don't delay taking advantage of this unique opportunity.
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This exclusive blue cobalt case is specifically built for the limited edition CDJ-400-K and DJM-400-K pro DJ combination. This matching colored case cannot be purchased anywhere else in the US and is emblazed with a Pioneer DJ Logo.
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Life at Deloitte
Developing our people
People first. That is true at Deloitte. The approximately 200,000 people working in over 150 countries are the organization's most valuable assets. People are the very reason client service excellence is a hallmark of Deloitte, and why developing talent is a top priority.
Life at Deloitte
Keeping our people safe
When an organization has more than 200,000 professionals working in 150-plus countries, there's an ever-present risk that some of those people may find themselves in harm's way. DTTL's Global Security Office (GSO) works diligently to minimize those risks and to assist in times of need."


text: Newton County was created from parts of Henry, Jasper, and Walton counties and dates to 1821. Its name honors Sergeant John Newton, a companion of the Revolutionary War hero William Jasper. Covington, the county seat, is named for Patriot General Leonard Covington. Newton was the first county in the United States to give public school students free transportation, the idea of School Commissioner G. C. Adams in 1893. Adams also founded the first 4-H Club.


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Scandinavian Chic: Sheepskin, Pine Chest & Nighstand
Yep, Scandinavian design never gets old. Not in my book.
- New York, NY: Sheepskin Throws - $159
- Los Angeles, CA: Swedish Chest - $1000
- New York, NY: Flat Weave Rug - $775
- Homewood, IL: Finnish Nightstand - $125
- Midlothian, IL: Jens Risom Table - $200
Shoppers, check out the Classifieds for many more listings. Sellers, gather up your goods and list them in our Classifieds to turn them into a little extra spending cash.
Go To: Classifieds Main Page
(Images: As linked above)
Apartment Therapy is not the seller of these items. This is an edited selection of our favorite offerings from our Classifieds. For more information, see How it Works. Happy Scavenging!


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Buy Life
Who Was Involved
Keep a Child Alive's Buy Life campaign was launched in 2010 and raised $1M for children and families affected with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. The campaign repositioned consumerism and the act of buying, by asking people to 'buy life' and turn a selfish act into a selfless one.
Keep a Child Alive was founded in 2003 by AIDS activist Leigh Blake and 15-time Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys. We believe that every person has the right to quality health care and that all children deserve a future. We support innovative, community-based responses that increase access to life-saving HIV treatment and care, nutritious food, and loving support for children and families living with and affected by HIV. We are currently providing services to over 50,000 people in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and India.
To learn more about Keep a Child Alive, visit:


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Has anyone tried making it? My friend made some for me, and asked me for pointers. I only told him to ease up on the ice, and cook down his sugar into simple syrup.
His recipe roughly:
Oolong tea
Simple syrup
tapioca balls
Mix tea, creamer, syrup, and ice. Spoon in tapioca balls(boil the balls first).
It was kind of watery the first time, so he wants to try again soon. Any thoughts?
Bubble/Boba Tea Recipe
Apparently, people like to eat.
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- PAstrychef
- for all intimate metaphysical encounters
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Re: Bubble/Boba Tea Recipe
Most of those drinks use sweetened condensed milk, which acts as a thickener.
Don't become a well-rounded person. Well rounded people are smooth and dull. Become a thoroughly spiky person. Grow spikes from every angle. Stick in their throats like a puffer fish.
Re: Bubble/Boba Tea Recipe
Thanks, we'll probably try again after he finishes a crash course in bubble tea making. Apparently it's a popular niche market.
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text:
"Schrauder" Surname
Frequency of "Schrauder" Surname in the US
2000 US Census
The surname "Schrauder" is not included in the US Census Bureau's ranking of surnames with 100 or more people. Since fewer than 100 people with this surname were included in the 2000 Census, it is relatively uncommon.
Source: "Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000", US Census Bureau.
1990 US Census
Accoring to the US Census Bureau, "Schrauder" ranked #60,448 in frequency out of 88,799 surnames for which statistics were released from the 1990 Census.
Source: "Frequently Occurring Surnames from the 1990 Census", US Census Bureau.
"Schrauder" Graves on Histopolis
Histopolis currently has 2 grave(s) with the surname "Schrauder".
Search the Histopols Grave Index for the surname "Schrauder".
Resource Links for "Schrauder"
Do you know of a web page containing information about this surname that would be useful to genealogy or history researchers? Please add it now! (Free registration required)
Surnames that Sound Like "Schrauder"
The surname "Schrauder" has a Soundex code of S636. The following 79 surname(s) may sound similar to "Schrauder" since they share the same Soundex code.


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Hey all,
So it was finally here, what we all dream for as a drifter. Doing a D1GP round!! Well I dream about it all the time haha.. Mike and Kawato offered to take me to the track when they were going "5AM"... I jumped at the chance to get to the track early.... So after a few hours sleep we heading off to the Odaiba track which was only a few min's away from our hotel.
While Mikey was busy on FB I stood back and drooled over all the D1GP cars arriving to the track.
How good is Kawato-Sans truck. No ramps, no bullsh*t just straight off. Only problem was they had to bring another little truck with all the spare parts.
Another awesome setup with the Crazy 13B AE86!!
Mike couldn't help himself once it was unloaded!! T88 huffa on a 13B :O
They setup so quickly
Team Quickstyle were some cool blokes. Was looking forward to seeing their beast on track
I was very interested in this car built by Tanaka Engineering. 2J with tons of power and a complete different front end from normal.
While it was still around 6AM, Mike and I decided to go get some much needed breakfast. We walked for a bloody long time to find ever shop was closed.
The famous TV building
We ended up in some crazy posh hotel looking for the breakfast but had no luck. Getting weird looks and I also came across a Local Winery back home which was being advertised.. Hmmmmm
So without a single bit of food we walked all the way back haha
Looking at the track it was starting to come together nicely. Team Orange trucks had arrived so I was keen to get down and see where I could lend a hand.
This Aristo was pretty nice, sporting a crazy 2JZ also
BeeR R34 of Tezuka's!! Do I need to say anymore?? Was so crazy taking this picture and thinking back to when I was a kid watching the HPI issue of Tezuka ripping it up in his Pink Chaser ahhhhhh so pumped!!!
Tokita's BeeR Crown is another awesome 2J powered beast.
My baby!! Seriously could not wait to get behind the wheel on this machine
The back drop here in Odaiba was just unreal. Made for some real awesome shots.
Up Garage arrived with their brand new FT 86 and the famous Hibino's AE86.
Nob's New FT-86 was not yet ready for competition so his old HKS beast was going to be used
Mikey the bloody good egg done my D1GP stickers for me haha. Thanks bro!!!
HUGE Thanks to YOKOHAMA Japan for hooking up a heap of ADVAN NEOVA'S
So before we knew it drivers briefing was up and lets just say Mike and I could have been no shows as we didn't understand a single thing.
Team Mate Suenaga-San. Bloke was so tired from organising and traveling early in the morning. Said he was not in the right mind set for today. Lucky he is a seeded driver and today was basically a practice day for him
Hibino's day finished after his second session. While Mike and I were waiting and watching before out group went out we had a small chat about 'hitting the wall' lol... We stopped talking about it after this. Goes to show just how easy it can go wrong. We found out later that mind over matter didn't help Hibino, they said all week he was saying "I really hope I don't put the new car in the wall". Believe it or not it was fixed and running by midnight ;)
This S15 was easily one of my favourite cars of the whole weekend. The driving style had something to do with it though haha.. Loved watching it
I wanted to show you all a video of the practice sessions and qualifying but my footage is still being recovered. Above here is the Qualifying sheet. My first run was a normal one in the bag safe one, no idea why I did it like this because I put so much pressure on myself for the second run now. It basically needed to be balls to the wall to make the TOP 8 to get through.
Now ill explain quickly. If you are not a TOP16 driver from the previous D1 Season you go into the bottom Qualifying group. In this group you need to Qualify in the TOP 8 out of how ever many people enter the event. IF you qualify in the TOP 8 you then go into the final Qualifying session called TOP 24. So the TOP 16 seeded drivers automatically go into this and the TOP 8 from the other Qualifying session make up the TOP 24. Understood? haha
With my second qualifying run they said my entry was prefect and would have been a TOP 8 spot if i didn't Miss shift after the entry to carry on the rest of the course. So it was completely my fault and I was still happy with my results. I just wanted to get back behind the wheel of the Team Orange GDB as it was just so good to drift.
SO after qualifying Mike and I went for a walk around as we were now spectators until Sunday for the International comp. Saito-Sans JZX100 2JZ was the first car we went up too.
Seriously LOVE this car
Not that Saito understood me he was a bloody cool dude. One of those moments were you are freaking happy haha...
So now with the day over I hung around with the Team Orange crew till they wanted to leave. They had to fix the EVO 9's holinger as it was having issues.
I went for a walk and stumbled across some D1 Queens practicing for tomorrows big day... I stayed till the end lol..... O_O
Team Manager of Team Orange was a dude called Sleepy and he could speak perfect English. He said Dinner time and everyone jumped up and walked with him haha... The same walk I did in the morning was so much crazier at night time!! How good does this look???
We ended up at an all you can eat place. I found this Chocolate fountain!! I wanted to take it home hahaha
After this I was buggered so we went back to the hotel and pretty much crashed. Was looking forward to watching my first ever D1GP round tomorrow yieeeeewww!!!!