One peculiarity I have noticed from photos I would like processed so as to increase their aesthetic and visual values, is that most of the photos I chose for this blog come from mobile device uploads. It would be indiscreet to mention the particular devices but either the photos are overexposed, assuming unusual brightness in places that could have made them more valuable, or they are dark and underexposed.
For those of you who do mobile uploads often, I’d recommend you download the instagr.am app on your phone and use its filter, or if that is too inconvenient, use my service, to enhance your photos through my detailed post-processing methods.
My picks for this week.
My picks for this week come from six photos: three are overexposed , exhibiting unusual brightness while two were underexposed and the sixth was a good photograph but had slight contrast problems.
I’d choose to highlight the beautiful sixth first that had a contrast problem. I am choosing it because I know the guy in particular. I frequent the cybercafé he runs. To be honest and this is not a commercial runt, he runs one of the best cybercafés in Satellite town, at Trinity Computer School, and a computer school to go with, as the name entails.
NB: All photos have been scaled to a 410px width to accommodate the spatial limits of my blog.
The original photo as uploaded on facebook.
See after much enhancement, how the walkway and the leaves blend with the environment.
The same photo after post-processing and enhancement.
The next has too much of a bright screen-like curtain masking the photo that even the dark clothes worn by the lady on the left along with her companion looked old, washed and worn.
The original photo as uploaded on facebook.
Now compare with the result after post-processing. Note how the white aluminium panels and the fluorescent lamps seem more gentle on the eyes.
The same photo of a workshop after enhancement.
The other four remaining photos
There are four other photos that you can look at and find aesthetic delights in going through – if you haven’t already on Facebook – while noting the differences between my enhancement work and the original as uploaded by the Facebook user.
The next two are too bright.
The original photo as uploaded on facebook.
I thought she was somewhat careless to have uploaded the photo the wrong side up, so I rearranged it for her.
After enhancement, note the differences in quality and aethetics.
I could have worked on this further, but decided to err on the side of being human.
The original photo as uploaded on facebook.
I didn’t like the luminous glow towards her bust but didn’t have the time.
After processing the original photo downloaded from Facebook.
She looks beautiful, with the cap, doesn’t she?
The next two are somewhat dark.
The original photo as uploaded on facebook.
This was a good photo but I thought I wanted her face to come out of the dark background, so I had to download it for enhancement.
Her skin now glows.
See the differences!
The next was bad, really. I squinted to make out her face and the background.
The original photo as uploaded on facebook.
How different after enhancement.
Post-processed and enhanced Photo. Note the differences.
All for a day’s work of photo processing.
It’s best to do a good thing and get it done well. So, when next you want to upload your photo on Facebook, wonder what your friends would say if you gave them a sloppy photo. What would they say if you presented yourself as uninteresting when there is so much the world has not discovered about you?
Show it with a good photo.
It will cost you only a hundred naira (N100.00) if you want me to process your photos for you. But be assured that the result will be what would make your friends go wow! Message me on my Facebook profile, or simply call: 081-56366920.
Looking good is good business. Show it!
Years ago, arranged marriages were the norm. Sometimes, a relative who lives abroad, whether in America or Europe, makes a request for a marriage partner because he or she wants to marry from home and not some foreigner abroad. If you have not encountered that scenario, I have.
Today’s cartoon is on the theme of people entering a marriage agreement with the believe that they had no say in the arrangement; that they just have to enter into marriage from some arrangement because the partner wields power, money or some other benefits which everyone wants to share.
That is when the marriage agreement looks like some Terms of Service (TOS).
The bride above, Kathy, is in a dilemma because her partner-to-be must possess qualities such as money, power or fame which her family, peers, or closest social circle craves. And he knows it. So, having the bargaining power, she agrees to the marriage arrangement with the benefits it can confer in mind; he knows this and she knows it. So what would he do? He’d make sure he gives her the ten commandments of what he expects of her in the marriage, some reasonable, sometimes absurd. This is what the cartoonist refers to as some Terms of Service (TOS). It reminds one of the long list of terms you encounter when you are installing software. At the bottom of the screen, you will be told: If you agree to these terms, click here, or If you do not agree, click here.
It would be a recipe for disaster entering marriage hoping to get some benefits from it; whether of any of the three above.
But we all do it most of the time.
The Officiating Priest’s point of view
The second dilemma the cartoonist portrays is that after reading the terms of service, the officiating minister thinks she is making a big mistake entering into this arrangement, hence his use of the words terms of service, and reminding us of the fact that most of us, like Kathy, decide to click: I do, whether to marriage or to installing software, even though we do not know a thing about how it works, provided it has worked for others.
That is the caveat. We think because it has worked for others it will work for us.
Well, like for installing software, if you do not like the arrangement again, Kathy or you or I who desire the benefits of money, power or fame, can simply go to the control panel and uninstall the software or apply for a divorce.
That would be a sorry outcome, but that is what everyone does.
May our marriages last forever!
The first interface that appears on my Facebook each time I log in is the newsfeed where you receive the status updates from your network of friends and contacts. I have noticed that one particularity of that feed or street, my own parlance, are text and images and because I am a graphics artist, I tend to have a more than the casual eye for photos. I have also noticed that most of the photos that are uploaded on that street are from Mobile devices.
That is where the problem arises. Most of the photos uploaded from the mobile devices have some quirks or the other because they were not processed by the uploader. Some tend to be depressing or dark, some tend to be overexposed, while others have color blending problems or lack contrast.
I believe that whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well. If first impressions matters, then every impression on my newsfeed is a first impression on Facebook.
So I decided to help. I selected some photos and retouched them and wrote to the uploaders about my work. One of them thanked me heartily, which I appreciated, although the other two have not replied.
The Photos I retouched.
The first photo was that from a woman who looked beautiful in a rural setting sort of way. I liked her immediately I saw her because she came to me as somebody who is frank and down-to-earth.
Her photo though had some faults.
This is the original.
The original overexposed image
First, the color range of the photo above is distorted. You tend not to like how the camera brought out the face. So, I fixed that. The bright lights on her face made her look unappealing; there were so much light irregularities. The contrast also did not come out well. I fixed them also.
This is the final result.
The photo above now processed with GIMP
If you ask me, I will tell you that I spent more than a considerable amount of time on her that I decided that leaving the pimple marks as-is would save me time for other things.
The second photo.
Sometimes, children make us remember the days of innocence. This one did.
The original photo of the innocent child.
The picture is nice looking but the image was also dark with shadows like the one above. The contrast was blurred and that made the face look depressing when taking the background that was bright into view. So I decided to work on it. The background also lacked well defined contrast and I set it also.
You can see the final work below.
The boy's photo processed
The final result made the young boy look intent, intense and determined. Just look at the eyes!
The third picture on my newsfeed street.
The third picture I decided to retouch was that of a young woman who looked set and determined to make it in life.
The original photo
The image was striking and I had to make a comment on it on her Facebook page. It lacked enough lights and that made the photo look blurred somehow. I had to fix that. The face was dark and downhearted compared to the wall and background. I fixed that. I decided to try two tones for the photo to see how she would look. I thought she could make for some model. I also set the contrast for the photo.
I am sure you will like the work.
The first result.
The photo above processed. This one wasn't toned.
See how her face is now bright and she became darkly beautiful.
The second result. I toned this one.
The second processed photo. This one was toned.
I can also work for you.
I see lots of photos on my newsfeed street that needs retouching a lot. Maybe yours needs some post-processing work to look better. Remember, on Facebook, every impression is a first impression and first impressions count.
How much will it cost you?
Only one hundred naira (N100.00). It’s just for network time and for my efforts. I am doing it for you as my friends that is why you come across my newsfeed street. If you are interested in processing your photos, just message me on Facebook; I prefer Facebook because it is tied to my mobile number. Note too that I go to work from noon and return home at about 10:00pm in the night; although the work is just below the old minimum wage, it is still something. So, just message me on Facebook and attach the photos and leave an easily reachable mobile number so I can sms you when I am through processing them. I prefer you pay me cashless (Visa Classic, Naira mastercard, paga etc). Cashless reduces the burden of paying and is easier for a hundred naira.
Remember, first impressions count. Don’t leave your photos as-is when you can add value to them with a little processing.
Marriages have been known to break up when mates do not communicate. But what if both mates want to and love to communicate once in a while, but suddenly the other partner has no time at that moment, or does not have that second to spare?
This is what no marriage or home should be: each mate hiding behind busy schedules or chores when the time for communication and sharing things is needed.
This is the scenario: Wife wants to talk with husband. Darling, do you have a second to spare? Husband is busy with the tires on his car or some other interesting hobby and tells her: I need to get this done now, Darling. If this happens often and on, the wife might become resentful and being human, she could find an excuse to retaliate.
Hence, the above cartoon.
Roles could change both ways. The cartoonist is fascinated with the fact that when any of the mates has a second, it turns out to be not a second to spare at all, because the other is busy and vice versa.
So, the question is: Who is going to give way to the other?
That question should not have come about if communication has not started to break down and if resentment and backbiting has not started becoming a demon who has found a victim.
So, for all you newlyweds and agedly married, lurking behind a curtain of business might turn out to be costly in terms of family communication.
What could used kitchen utensils and used husbands have in common? They have been thrown out of the door and will never be needed. So what would happen if they happen to be found in your sitting room?
The lady here is making it plain to her two divorced husbands that she has no need of them; they came b(l)ack to her on their own. So, was she trying to say she was so dearie and unforgettable as a housewife that they had to come "black, blue and used " again?
Yes. Her divorced husbands have been thrown out before like used kitchen pots to try their luck with other women but as they later discover, nothing beats a capable housewife who knows how to manage her home. So they came back to find her still in the sitting room, still housewifing, still capable and better than other women.
This must have been a poignant victorious moment for her and for tips on how to make your marriage a success.
The idea: Take the "L" out of the "Black".
If you have read the blog on what wedding pages represent, then you should understand the focus of this post. Otherwise, I would advise that you read that article first.
Wedding pages on facebook (WPoF) is an idea that is still in development. The only product that has reached maturity is its “wedding pages on facebook (WPoF) post-wedding picture frames and cover pages.” Engagement ink intends releasing other products and services with time.
The idea and the benefits of that product are all explained in this document which is in pdf format.
I believe that you, as a married person or a professional wedding or events planner, or a merchant in wedding accessories, will find this product to your benefit.
Thanks a lot for your time. Engagement ink hopes to do business with you.
