Photoshop CS5
Photoshop CS5 was released today and I downloaded a trial. Didn't spend much time with it but what I saw I liked. I love the content-aware feature. I took this photo I had of Ashley from our visit to the rail trail a few weeks ago ...
What I didn't like about this photo is the fact that Ashley had a tree growing out of her head. With CS4 I could clone it out with time and patience, but with the content-aware feature of CS5 I was able to achieve this in less than 2 minutes ...
The other new feature I played around with for about 15 minutes or so was HDR toning. So I went back into my archives and dug up this photo from almost two years ago.
Always felt that this photo was only so-so. It really doesn't pop and kind of on the boring side of things. So I put it through a HDR treatment. I was shooting for something more dramatic and more interesting to look at. Here is what I ended up with after about 15 minutes or so...
Not 100% happy with the results I achieved, but I think I like this better than the original. I should probably spend some time and try to remove the pile of branches on the left hand side.
I'm still not sold on the HDR functionality. I've been using Photomatrix Pro for some time now for my HDR photos and I've been pleased with the results I get. All in all I've got to say I like CS5 and I'm looking forward to learning more about it.
Sholan Farms
Went to the Sholan Farms yesterday apple picking.
I was amazed at the amount of apples on the ground. This past week has been a very windy week which explains it. We even lost power one day last week due to a tree taking out a power line.
I love the straight lines seen at the orchard.
This weekend happens to be the scarecrow festival. Everyone is welcomed to bring in some clothes and build your own scarecrow. For those of you with a competitive nature, you can enter your scarecrow into a contest.
Plenty of hay to use for your scarecrow. Seems a lot easier than when I was a kid and you had to rake the leaves to gather fill material.
The festival is still going on today. They have music, face painting, hay rides, games and a petting zoo. We picked 1/2 bushel of apples and purchased some apple crisp mix while there.
I noticed these apples when we were heading out. Not sure what kind they are but at the moment they are sure colorful.
The People of Old Sturbridge Village
Everywhere you look while at Old Sturbridge Village you have the chance of seeing workers in authentic clothing from the late 1800's. This gentlemen above was responsible for providing weary guest a ride around the property.
Below we have a young woman making her rounds feeding the chickens.
Now this laborer was busy minding the lumber mill
I did not quite figure out what this women was doing. At first thought, I assumed she was doing laundry. The more I think about it though I think what she was doing had more to do with preparing wool.
This happy farmer was glad to take a break
These lovely ladies were on their way to give a demonstration of 19th-century games
This guy here is yet to be dressed. I heard a rumor that dressing is planed for the fourth week of November though 
Nashua River Rail Trail
My wife and I have been on a walking kick lately. For todays walk we ventured to the Nashua River Rail Trail for a 4 mile walk. This trail was part of the Boston and Maine Railroad opening up in 1848. The last freight line ran along these tracks in 1982. Paving the rail trail starting in 2001 and 2002 followed by a grand opening in October 2002. The north west end of the trail starts in Nashua, NH and travels south east all the way to Ayer, MA. The total length of the trail from start to finish is 12.5 miles.
Along the trail you see remnants of the old railroad such as these moss covered railroad ties pictured above.
At the far end of the watershed pictured above I saw a Great Blue Heron. Unfortunately my 18mm-200mm lenses that I had with me did not have enough reach to take a close enough picture. Being a protected watershed area, getting closer was not an option. I had to settle for this photo that shows the clouds reflecting off of the water.
We made it
Went hiking this morning on the monoosnock trail. We did the part that starts at maple street in Leominster and hiked to the top where there is an observation point that overlooks Kmart plaza and parts of Leominster and Fitchburg. It is just over 1 mile to the top and all uphill. Ashley wanted to jog to the top while I was looking for any rock I could find to sit on for a break . To be young again...
I put together a panoramic photo from the top that came out okay. I used 7 photos and the process resulted in a 16049 x 2458 photo. My blogging software was not happy with this photo forcing me to go to plan B. If you'd like to see the pano you can do so by following this link Pano