Less Than 8 Hours To Go!

Have you entered to win some photographic prizes, and to help us defray some of the repair costs to our vehicle? By the way, got the car back two days ago (finally), and it runs like new! 

As you can see by the gauge above, it doesn't appear we'll make the goal by the witching hour tonight. I'd like to propose a modest goal in the interim of 50% ($400). That's just another $40. Hmmm, maybe too modest. But let's try.

For all the entry, and prize details, just scroll down to the previous blog posts. Every thing you need to know is spelled out there.  But I realize, I haven't shown you the 2nd and 3rd place prizes. (Because I didn't have them.. now I do!). The second place winner will get a 10 pack of note cards with the same image as the grand prize, and the third place winner, a 5 pack. Here they are:

Printed on "velvet metallic" paper, these prints look nearly as awesome as the metal print the grand prize winner will receive. Each card can be opened for the sender's message, and of course, includes a mailing envelope. (The prints can also be removed- carefully- from the card and put in a frame if you so desire)

DRAWING DETAILS- 

I was hoping to draw tomorrow (the 19th) but will be in Las Cruces most of the day, so tentatively plan to see the results on Tuesday, and how's this for exciting: I'm going to try and live stream the drawing on Facebook! My "photo bro" Dale is tasked with the job of pulling the names out of the hat, or can, or box, or whatever they end up in.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's hit the new low target and maybe win yourselves some cool photos. Click right here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=J9G5BAWWBW7S4

 

Time Is Running Out!

Win this metal print, and help me get this car running again!

First off, many many thanks for those who have already entered/donated. Your generosity is most appreciated. We've made progress to the goal of $800, but we've still got a ways to go. And don't forget, that if the goal is reached, I will change the metal print to a larger size. The lucky winner will love that. 

All the pertinent details are in the preceding blog post 👇👇👇

Remember, the deadline is MIDNIGHT (MST), DECEMBER 18!  

Please share this post far and wide. I'm pretty sure a contributing factor to the slow start is Facebook's infamous algorithms... enough people arent seeing the posts. I'm counting on you to spread it around. 

Again, donate by clicking on the picture at the top of the sidebar👉👉👉 or use this handy QR code:

A (Very Personal) Fund Raiser!

Yes, you've seen this image here before. You're not mistaken.  But there's a new reason to display it once again. As you may or may not recall, a couple weeks ago the timing belt in the Subaru broke, and though I immediately pulled over to the shoulder of (busy) US 180, several valves were bent in the process, so while a new belt is only $40 and probably a hundred bucks labor to replace, replacing the valves involves more. A whole lot more. 

Let Car Wizard explain why...

So, yeah, my estimate to get the car (which we really like, and which had replaced the Focus as the daily driver) came to $3,067.89 including tax. My mechanic, good guy that he is, didn't mind me sourcing my own parts, so I've managed to get the bill down to around $2,500 of which $1,820 is the labor (again, watch the video).

So, what's with the picture, Dan? I imagine I hear you asking. Well, I'm asking for your help in defraying the crippling costs of this repair (it's been a costly autumn), and while I could do a GoFundMe campaign, it's not like this is a person clinging to death, or a beloved dog with a shattered femur is it.  It seems like GoFundMe's  make people feel guilty if they don't donate, and I don't want that. 

Here's what I decided to do. I'm going to have a small sweepstakes. I know that the image above was one of my most popular on Instagram and Facebook, and I always thought, if it looks good on this screen, I bet it'd be a screamer if I had it printed on metal! And it is...

This is printed directly to an 8x12" sheet of aluminum, and comes ready to hang.

If I was going to sell this setup, I would charge around $150, plus shipping.  This is going to be the grand prize in the "Subaru Repair Fund Sweepstakes"!  I want to keep it real around Christmas time, so entries are only $10.  I'm hoping for a significant number of donors so am encouraging single entries, but there'scertainly no rule (I'm writing the rules) against multiples. A $20 donation = 2 entries, and so on. 

My goal is $800 which means I need 80 entries. Seems very doable. Now, how will I choose a winner? It will be a random draw, by computer.  See this screen grab? It's from a random number generator website I found with Google (of course). On the left are the numbers 1-500 randomized (yeah, I'm optimistic!). When I receive your donation, it will be assigned a number from the list beginning with

the first number. The second donation will receive the second number. $20, $30 donations will be assigned the next two or three numbers, and so on. When entries close, at midnight MST on December 18.  I will ask the number generator to give me three numbers (yes, there will be additional prizes!) between 1-x (where x=total number of entries). The donors with those numbers, in the order the computer displays them, will be the grand prize, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners respectively.

MAKE SENSE?

Where to donate? Right here on this blog, at the top of the sidebar you will find a donate button that will take you to PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account. Or use the handy QR code at the bottom of this post. All major credit and debit cards are accepted by Pay Pal. (If you're morally or spiritually opposed to PayPal or something, DM me and I'll send you a Zelle money request from my Credit Union)

To review: THE DETAILS:

• Fund raiser/sweepstakes will run from right now till midnight MST, Dec 18, 2022
• Suggested Donations $10. (Additional $10 donations never turned down, LOL)
• Make donations using button at the top of ths sidebar, this blog. (a QR code will be available on other social media sites)
• Your entry number(s) assigned in order from the above list.
• Drawing will be held on December 19th, probably around lunchtime😜
• Winner will be announced on the blog, and other social media sites,and by email (if available)
• Grand Prize: 8x12 metal print pictured above, retail value $150*
• 2nd Prize: 10 pack, same image metal surface paper on embossed notecards w/envelopes
• 3rd Prize: 5 pack of same. 

Prizes will not be able to to be shipped to arrive by Christmas.

 

HERE'S A BONUS! IF...   If the $800 goal is reached, I will double the size of the Grand Prize metal print to 16x24! A $300 value! And I will keep the 8x12 and hang it here in the man cave... because I love it.

Questions? If not, Get set. B̶A̶K̶E̶!̶  DONATE!

 

Time Is Running Out...

Price is never going to be this low again*  Get Luminar Neo with all the 2022 extensions, and bonus goodies NOW!

*in my opinion, of course.

Posts may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these, I may receive a small commission at no increased cost to you. Thanks.
 

Help Our Bookstore! Here's Way Number 2

Here's another way to help us with our $3000 auto repair.... You know Readers Cove sells used books. But what if you're looking for new books for yourselves, or for holiday gifts. Use the book seller that supports small, independent business like ours, and skip Bezos's elephant in the room.

Use Bookshop.org. Margaret explains below:

"Shopping for a new book? Choose Readers' Cove Used Books & Gallery as your local bookstore when ordering. Bookshop.org supports independent businesses!"

Help Our Bookstore! Here's Way Number 1:

 Margaret says:

"Our audiobook fans can support us by shopping libro.fm with this link: www.libro.fm/holiday?bookstore=readercove. I highly recommend 2 that I recently listened to: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kemmerer and Horse by Geraldine Brooks."

So Many Tools, Dan, Do I Have To Use Them All?

Of course not.

We can all tend to fall into that trap.  There are so many sliders, extensions, conversions, and what-nots in every editing program and Luminar Neo is no exception. It's ease to go, "if I use them all, I'll get a really good finished image". Wrong. If you use them all properly, that's often true. But there are some very intuitive, and simple tools in Neo that will give you an excellent result, and it won't take you more than a couple minutes.

I did a test. Here's the beginning image, taken in the evening, just after sunset.  I wanted to lighten up the foreground, and bring up the pink in the clouds.

©Daniel Gauss/Shot On Site

Ordinarily, I'd use a large part of the Luminar tool box to get the result I'm looking for, but in this test, I wanted to see how few tools I needed.  So here's a screen shot of the edit history: 

A couple steps don't show up here. First, I cropped the image to 16:9 to get rid of some of the sky, foreground, and some of the edges. After that I went into Develop, where I selected the Adobe Standard Camera Profile for Fujifilm X-T2 raw files. Made a slight contrast adjustment, brought down the highlights a smidge, then made a one-click optical correction and I was done with the Develop tool.

I noticed one of the houses in the foreground was a little distracting, so I used the Erase tool to get rid of it.

Then, I used the first key tool: The HDR Merge Extension. I simply dragged the catalog image to the HDR Merge box, (it's primarily used to merge several exposures of the same image, but it works great for single images as well!), pressed "Merge", and the AI did the tone mapping and spit out a giant TIF file which looked exactly how I'd hoped it would.  I could have called in done then and there, but there was one more AI tool I needed to really pop those pink clouds: Enhance AI. (PRO TIP: In a pinch, this is often the only tool you need for a great looking photo).

I was done, so how many tools was that? Five. And it took probably 2 minutes from start to finish. 

Ope! I forgot the last tool.. I used the Layers tool to add a .png file of my initials in the lower right corner. So 6 tools.  And here's the finished product:

©Daniel Gauss/Shot On Site

So, the moral of the story?  If you're in a time crunch, or you just don't want to sit hunched over your keyboard, staring at your monitor on a beautiful day, there are tools here that can get you the result you want in just minutes.

You can now get Luminar Neo, and all the extensions, plus some sweet bonuses for ridiculously low prices during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales period. Use the discount code: DANGAUSS at checkout for an additional $10 off. 

Posts may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these, I may receive a small commission at no increased cost to you. Thanks.