Friday, April 24, 2009

When Is A Coin No Longer A Coin?


Is the coin I have attached to this article still a coin in spite of its deterioration? If so, at what point in the process of deterioration does the object cease to be a coin? If the coin remains for years in the same place until we have only a small pile of sediment, would we say we still have a coin or at this point would we say we have the remains of a coin?

Allow me this premise. What if I am left with a pile of sediment but knew the coin in its better days, visually.. Would the coin be real? Would it not be real in my memory? If you sell your car is the car still real? Yes. It simply is no longer in your visual realm. Or is it? As you image the car in your mind is that not your reality of the car?

Let’s try this. What if I select a perfectly good bronze Roman coin and melt it with a torch.. Is the coin still a coin as we observe the molten lump of bronze? We have changed the entire appearance of the coin but is the image within our mind our reality? What if I shift my presentation and tell you I found the attached image amongst a group of rusted nuts, bolts and washers? I think your opinion will suddenly change.

So is it true that perception is reality or is it true that your perception is your reality? Thank you for reading and feedback is invited. Please bookmark.. God bless.. Jerry..

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

PhotoPlus Free Editor Has PS Like Features?


I fully acknowledge that the following PhotoPlus 6 Free article was developed by the freewarezoom.com staff. I take no credit for writing the article. The program is free and I think all our coin photography members should take a good look at the program before purchasing a photo editor. To download, perform a "Free PhotoPlus 6" search and locate a good download site.


With PhotoPlus 6 you can enhance your photos for the best possible results, adjust brightness and color and even remove red-eye - and all for free!. Put your creative abilities on display for all to see and impress your family and friends! Packed full of fantastic features normally reserved for high-end, high-priced applications, PhotoPlus 6 is ideal for complete beginners and professionals alike.

Features:
Creative Tools. Paintbrush, airbrush, clone, smudge and erase tools with adjustable brush settings including size, shape, softness and fade are all at your fingertips.
Digital Darkroom. Enhance, repair and tweak your photos for the best results possible. Adjust brightness, color hue and saturation, contrast, sharpness and more. Even remove red-eye!
Layer Effects. Add Bevel or Drop Shadow layer effects for a sophisticated 3D look on text or other image elements. The layer manager lets you alter and preview specific image layers. This is how the professionals do it.

Versatile Deform Tool. This “Swiss Army Knife” of image tools lets you rotate, resize, skew, reshape, or add perspective to any selection or layer. Easy to master, yet incredibly powerful.
Animation. Allows you to easily edit or create animated GIFs for use on the Internet or in presentations. With a few simple clicks, an entire animation can be created for you.


I have tried PP6 in the past and just as with any new program there is a slight learning curve. I highly recommend.. God Bless.. Jerry..

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Penny Coin Photo Contest


This is a close to last minute notice to join out “Penny Coin Photo Contest” at our group, CoinPhotography. We are a Yahoo group and it appears we are growing rapidly. We invite all to join our CoinPhotograpy group and join the in the contest fun.
You will need to join our group at the following URL in order to participate:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coinphotography

We are primarily focused on coin collectors but the doors are open to all. If you join as April 17 you will have more than a week to prepare coin photos. Out focus is on a US penny and on a US State quarter. Once you join our steering directors, Carlos and Ron, will point you in the right direction.

I can assure you we are a great and friendly group and we will be happy to share the photography information we have. Conversely, we would like for you to share with us.. Don’t hesitate, join and help us enlarge our Photography Family.. God Bless.. Jerry..