My friend was telling me about the powers of a gradient neutral density filter for landscapes. I poked around a little on the internet. It seems most real photographers have a plate of graded glass which they place after metering for the exposure. I don't know how to do that, but I did find some websites online that illustrate how to apply a gradient on GIMP. Basically you can apply a gradient to allow more light from one section of the photo, and less from another. It can therefore be useful in fixing a photo with underexposed or overexposed areas. I decided to try the technique on a photo of Lake Tahoe at sunrise, which I took, but it's too dark in the foreground. I multipled another layer, and modified that layer to show more light and detail in the foreground (the shore). Then I applied a gradient mask to opacify the sky of the modified one, then changed the percent opacity to 50%, and flattened that brightened, gradient layer with the original. This melded to produce the products below. I still like the old one since it had a rosy sky. I can prob work on that.
Before
After
Hmm. On the small screen you can't tell the difference so much, but you can see that even the stones on the shore are more visible. The ski runs down the mountain are now apparent.
Links to how to apply a GND filter are here:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6411
http://www.gimpguru.org/Tutorials/NDFilter/
http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/Howto_add_the_effect_of_a_graduated_neutral_density_filter_on_a_photo_using_the_Gimp_graphics_editor
A pack of yeast remained in my fridge which was due to expire in 1.5 weeks. Wondering if it would still be active, I put it to use on a new trial of pretzel making. Actually this is the first time I've tried to use yeast in cooking - the yeasty (for lack of better descriptor), sour smell was somehow comforting. It reminded me of making LB broth for bacterial cultures in lab. Anyhow, the dough rose in the hot Indian summer quite nicely, the pretzels were boiled 15 sec per side, and then finished off in the oven. After I make something it often doesn't seem appetizing to me, so I'm not sure if they were good or not. But fun was had. Here they are in their pre-boiled state, followed by done and awaiting toothsome trial. So yes, yeast can be refrigerated till exp date.
