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<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:41:18 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>Pass-Times and Opinions</title><subtitle>Main</subtitle><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/atom.xml"/><updated>2009-08-18T21:35:05Z</updated><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>Picture of The Day</title><category term="HDR"/><category term="Lebanon"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Photography"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/8/14/picture-of-the-day.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/8/14/picture-of-the-day.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-08-14T18:40:46Z</published><updated>2009-08-14T18:40:46Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable"><span><img src="http://www.sfeir.net/picture/mount%20lebanon.jpg?pictureId=2811981&amp;asGalleryImage=true&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1250275278515" alt="" /></span></span>Mount Lebanon is known as the western mountain range in Lebanon. &nbsp;Extends north to south across the whole of the country. &nbsp;Mount Lebanon also has the Mediterranean coast&#8217;s highest peak called Quornet Al Saouda at over 10,000 feet. &nbsp;Among the forests in the area are groves of Cedars of Lebanon. &nbsp;This photograph was taken from the eastern mountain range called Anti-Lebanon mountains.</p>
]]></content></entry><entry><title>Take Back the Beep Campaign</title><category term="Other"/><category term="Take Back The Beep"/><category term="cell phone messages"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/31/take-back-the-beep-campaign.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/31/take-back-the-beep-campaign.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-07-31T13:09:15Z</published><updated>2009-07-31T13:09:15Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[David Pogue has started a Take Back The Beep campaign which is encouraging us to write our cell providers to get them to either get rid of the very long introductory message before we leave someone a message (or someone leaves us a message), or make it optional so we can all go turn that off and stop annoying our callers.
]]></summary></entry><entry><title>The Bench - Paris, France</title><category term="HDR"/><category term="Paris"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Photomatix"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/26/the-bench-paris-france.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/26/the-bench-paris-france.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-07-27T00:02:25Z</published><updated>2009-07-27T00:02:25Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p><span class="full-image-float-left ssNonEditable"><span><a href="http://www.sfeir.net/gallery/france"><img style="width: 250px;" src="http://www.sfeir.net/picture/bench.jpg?pictureId=2811926&amp;asGalleryImage=true&amp;__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1248653179164" alt="" /></a></span><span class="thumbnail-caption" style="width: 250px;">The Bench</span></span>It&#8217;s odd how sometimes you can just be walking by enjoying the day, and all of the sudden you happen on a scene like this one.</p>
<p>I remember clearly walking around with my cousin, snapping pics of different things, he was making fun of me because I had my camera with me constantly and egged me on to take pictures of lame things&#8230; &nbsp;but then this woman sat down on this bench looking at Notre Dame de Paris. &nbsp;[click]</p>
<p>The image is processed in HDR of course using Photomatix. &nbsp;I used my standard trick which is to shoot in RAW then when you get home, you create the 2 other exposures and generate what I feel is this soft and serene rendering of the scene.</p>
]]></content></entry><entry><title>How I work with HDR and keep it very simple.</title><category term="Aperture"/><category term="HDR"/><category term="PTLens"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Photomatix"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/24/how-i-work-with-hdr-and-keep-it-very-simple.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/24/how-i-work-with-hdr-and-keep-it-very-simple.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-07-25T00:14:30Z</published><updated>2009-07-25T00:14:30Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[There are more and more artists who work with High Dynamic Range imaging today, and most of the photo blogs I've seen seem to always involve photoshop in the process. I guess if you want to go for the big BAM effect, the surreal digital impressionist feel, you want to get into Photoshop and help your image get that extra umph.

I've been a photographer for quite a while now, more intensely since college, and I have always loved the control that Ansel Adams, and later Phil Davis, have brought to black and white photography. The goal of Adams' Zone System and Davis' Beyond The Zone System are not unlike what HDR is trying to do for digital photography: The point is to control your image in such a way that you maintain various levels of details in your image at both the high and low end of the image density.

So to me, using HDR is simply a tool to allow me to take control over my exposure and 'develop it' digitally in a way that conveys what my eye saw.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Writing songs and recording remotely</title><category term="File Formats"/><category term="Logic Pro"/><category term="Music"/><category term="Remote Recording"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/23/writing-songs-and-recording-remotely.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/23/writing-songs-and-recording-remotely.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-07-23T14:13:42Z</published><updated>2009-07-23T14:13:42Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[How do you work in a studio with artists who are not at your location and still get the job done considering the challenges of variations in file formats, audio daw software etc...]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Lisboa - Church of Santa Maria Maior - Organ</title><category term="Churches"/><category term="HDR"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Portugal"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/21/lisboa-church-of-santa-maria-maior-organ.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/21/lisboa-church-of-santa-maria-maior-organ.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-07-21T16:46:10Z</published><updated>2009-07-21T16:46:10Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Having just gotten back from Portugal I keep thinking of an image that might represent Portugal well.  This church is certainly representative of the beauty found in Portugal.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Why is Audi's service getting worse?</title><category term="Audi"/><category term="Cars"/><category term="Consumer Rip Off"/><category term="Other"/><category term="Service"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/17/why-is-audis-service-getting-worse.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2009/7/17/why-is-audis-service-getting-worse.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2009-07-17T15:17:38Z</published><updated>2009-07-17T15:17:38Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[For the past few years I've owned Audis. I recently got a new 2009 Audi A4 Avant with all frills and thrills. Sales department was great all the way to purchase etc. Since getting this car last October, I've had nothing but steering-related problems with it. Perhaps it doesn't help that I have the fancy Drive Select, but you figure if it's in there it must work.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Day At The Newseum</title><category term="HDR"/><category term="Newseum"/><category term="Photography"/><category term="Washington DC"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2008/11/11/day-at-the-newseum.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2008/11/11/day-at-the-newseum.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2008-11-11T23:19:25Z</published><updated>2008-11-11T23:19:25Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[Had a good day visiting the Newseum in Washington DC.  Of my favorite exhibits was the Pulitzer prize-winning photographs.  Of the photographs I took there, this one is my favorite.  It's black and white HDR for those who know what that is.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>NetNewsWire or Google Reader</title><category term="Google Reader"/><category term="Opinion"/><category term="Other"/><category term="Software Reviews"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2008/11/3/netnewswire-or-google-reader.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2008/11/3/netnewswire-or-google-reader.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2008-11-03T12:42:22Z</published><updated>2008-11-03T12:42:22Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[I stepped on google reader for rss reading about a month ago, and yes I know it's been out for a lot longer, and decided to give a spin. I've been using NetNewsWire for a few years now, and saw it grow into a pretty mature and quite easy to use RSS feed reader. If you haven't used it yet, google reader is at http://reader.google.com.]]></summary></entry><entry><title>Town Hall my ass...</title><category term="Opinion"/><category term="Other"/><category term="Politics"/><id>http://www.sfeir.net/main/2008/10/7/town-hall-my-ass.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sfeir.net/main/2008/10/7/town-hall-my-ass.html"/><author><name>Robert S. Sfeir</name></author><published>2008-10-08T03:02:59Z</published><updated>2008-10-08T03:02:59Z</updated><summary type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[1 hour;  That's all I could take of this Town Hall presidential debate.  This thing is ridiculous.  How much more can McCain lie and mislead people?]]></summary></entry></feed>