Leonardo's bio, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Leonardo (or Leo) is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). He is distinguished by a blue bandanna (although originally all four Turtles had red bandannas) and his weapons are two ninjaken (literally "ninja sword"), which are universally referred to as katana. Leonardo takes after his sensei, Splinter, in taking ninjutsu very seriously. He spends much of his free time in practice and meditation. He has a strong sense of honor, and is a strict follower of the BushidÅ code. He often speaks for his brothers and tries to keep them in line, making him the de facto leader of the team, and often the lead protagonist of various TMNT stories. In the fourth feature film, "TMNT", Leonardo is stated to be the eldest of his brothers, although the relative ages of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not officially stated.
Leonardo was produced by NECA Toys.
When I was a kid, Leonardo was my favorite. Not really because of his personality (since he was a stick in the mud), but because swords are really, really cool. Years later, after reading the comics, I gravitated to Donatello, but I don't have his toy yet, so I won't digress.
FUN FACT: As a boy, I planned and designed my own future dream home. It was Leonardo's head. I had such big dreams.
This shot was taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden, inside their Enabling Garden. In Photoshop, I first duplicated my Background layer and desaturated it. Then, using a layer mask, I painted over the desaturated top later, revealing only the red bandanna and sword grips underneath. A quick bump to the Background layer's Red saturation, then flatten the image. Duplicating the Background layer again, this time I ran it through a Sumi Ink filter to soften the black lines and make it look more like an illustration.
My favorite part of this picture? His mask. I love the way it turned out
Genetically reborn in the sewers of EXIF:
| Camera: | Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi |
| Exposure: | 0.017 sec (1/60) |
| Aperture: | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length: | 50 mm |
| ISO Speed: | 100 |
| Exposure Bias: | 0 EV |
| Flash: | Off |
| File Size: | 2.5 MB |
| File Type: | JPEG |
| MIME Type: | image/jpeg |
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| Image Height: | 3888 |
| Encoding Process: | Baseline DCT, Huffman coding |
| Bits Per Sample: | 8 |
| Color Components: | 3 |
| X-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Y-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Orientation: | Horizontal (normal) |
| Software: | Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows |
| Date and Time (Modified): | 2009:04:18 01:57:32 |
| YCbCr Positioning: | Co-sited |
| Exposure Program: | Aperture-priority AE |
| Date and Time (Original): | 2009:04:12 12:35:17-05:00 |
| Date and Time (Digitized): | 2009:04:12 12:35:17 |
| Metering Mode: | Multi-segment |
| Color Space: | sRGB |
| Focal Plane X-Resolution: | 4433.29532497149 dpi |
| Focal Plane Y-Resolution: | 4453.60824742268 dpi |
| Custom Rendered: | Normal |
| Exposure Mode: | Auto |
| White Balance: | Manual |
| Scene Capture Type: | Standard |
| Compression: | JPEG (old-style) |
| Global Angle: | 30 |
| Global Altitude: | 30 |
| Copyright Flag: | False |
| Photoshop Quality: | 12 |
| Photoshop Format: | Standard |
| Progressive Scans: | 3 Scans |
| XMPToolkit: | Adobe XMP Core 4.1-c036 46.276720, Mon Feb 19 2007 22:40:08 |
| Orientation: | Horizontal (normal) |
| Metadata Date: | 2009:04:18 01:57:32-05:00 |
| Creator Tool: | Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows |
| Format: | image/jpeg |
| Color Mode: | 3 |
| ICCProfile Name: | sRGB IEC61966-2.1 |
| Viewing Conditions Illuminant Type: | D50 |
| Measurement Observer: | CIE 1931 |
| Measurement Flare: | 0.999% |
| Measurement Illuminant: | D65 |
| Color Transform: | YCbCr |
| Flash Return: | No return detection |
| Flash Mode: | Off |
| Flash Function: | False |
| Flash Red Eye Mode: | False |
Be good,
-Dave
|
Aaaand with that, I would like to wish you and yours Happy Holidays and all the best in the new year. Wage and myself are going to be taking two weeks off for the annual Davemas celebrations and will return with more pictures (and hopefully a new book!) on January 7th.
Stay warm, stay safe, and we'll see you next year!
I'm dreaming of a EXIF Christmas:
| Camera: | Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi |
| Exposure: | 0.167 sec (1/6) |
| Aperture: | f/4.5 |
| Focal Length: | 35 mm |
| ISO Speed: | 800 |
| Exposure Bias: | 0/3 EV |
| Flash: | Flash did not fire |
| Orientation: | Horizontal (normal) |
| X-Resolution: | 240 dpi |
| Y-Resolution: | 240 dpi |
| Software: | Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows |
| Date and Time: | 2008:12:24 11:48:46 |
| Exposure Program: | Normal |
| Date and Time (Original): | 2008:12:24 12:39:28 |
| Date and Time (Digitized): | 2008:12:24 12:39:28 |
| Shutter Speed: | 2584963/1000000 |
| Maximum Lens Aperture: | 4/1 |
| Metering Mode: | Pattern |
| Color Space: | sRGB |
| Focal Plane X-Resolution: | 4433.295 dpi |
| Focal Plane Y-Resolution: | 4453.608 dpi |
| White Balance: | Manual |
| Compression: | JPEG |
| Image Width: | 2592 pixels |
| Image Height: | 3232 pixels |
Be good,
-Dave
|
Today's update is going to be a bit different today, because I have two, count them two big announcements!
Announcement the First: I am going to be taking a short break over the holidays, from Christmas until after my birthday (Jan. 5th). Wednesday's Plastic 52 will be the last update this year and the Plastic 52 on January 7th will be my triumphant return to the blogospheres.
Announcement the Second: During my break, I will be hard at work getting my first book published! I received a great Foreword by a good friend of mine and will be publishing through Lulu.com. Expect a formal announcement once everything is all put together and I hear back from the publisher.
I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and I will see you...in the future!
For auld EXIF syne:
| Camera: | Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi |
| Exposure: | 0.003 sec (1/320) |
| Aperture: | f/9 |
| Focal Length: | 30 mm |
| ISO Speed: | 400 |
| Exposure Bias: | 0/3 EV |
| Flash: | Flash did not fire |
| Orientation: | Horizontal (normal) |
| X-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Y-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Software: | Adobe Photoshop 7.0 |
| Date and Time: | 2008:12:06 13:20:36 |
| YCbCr Positioning: | Co-Sited |
| Exposure Program: | Aperture priority |
| Date and Time (Original): | 2008:12:03 12:48:49 |
| Date and Time (Digitized): | 2008:12:03 12:48:49 |
| Shutter Speed: | 545386/65536 |
| Metering Mode: | Pattern |
| Color Space: | Uncalibrated |
| Focal Plane X-Resolution: | 4433.295 dpi |
| Focal Plane Y-Resolution: | 4453.608 dpi |
| Compression: | JPEG |
| Image Width: | 2592 pixels |
| Image Height: | 3888 pixels |
Be good,
-Dave
|
Have you ever seen a figure that you knew nothing about, but knew you had to have?
Enter: Monev the Gale.
From Wikipedia:
Voiced by: Masuo Amada (Japanese), Peter Spellos (English)
Monev the Gale is the first Gung-Ho Gun to fight Vash. Knives locks him in a cell to train his body for twenty years in order to gain the skill and power required to kill Vash. He wears a powered battle suit and carries two high-powered chain guns on his arms. These guns fire extremely fast due to the pressure chambers located on his back, and have tremendous stopping power, enough to tear through entire buildings. He also carries a wide variety of weapons in a big cloth rucksack, including an enormous minigun, powerful enough to punch through a bank vault. He is defeated by Vash and killed afterward as punishment. His life is spared in the anime, but is then killed by E.G. Mine along with Dominique due to his failure.
While I have never read the manga (I hear it is excellent), I have seen parts of the cartoon, and am familiar enough with Vash the Stampede and the other main characters in Trigun. Monev was actually given to me by my buddy Sid, because I kept hassling him about never opening his toys, especially awesome ones like Monev. Thinking it would get me off his back, Sid handed me the figure, telling me to go take pictures or something and leave him alone.
Clearly I am well regarded within my social circle.
Monev was shot in the forest preserve, in a blatant imitation of this photo by my friend Dr. Beef. Go check her stuff out; it's so much fun!
Photoshopping consisted of Auto Levels and a Lab Color tweak to make the little details pop. I really think I'm getting spoiled with this Lab Color thing. Take the picture, run the action, Save As... and I'm done! Can you imagine how short these blog entries would be if all I had to do was post a Wikipedia link and the picture?
Not that this is much better, mind.
Peace and EXIF!
| Camera: | Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi |
| Exposure: | 0.003 sec (1/400) |
| Aperture: | f/4 |
| Focal Length: | 27 mm |
| ISO Speed: | 400 |
| Exposure Bias: | 0/3 EV |
| Flash: | Flash did not fire |
| Orientation: | Horizontal (normal) |
| X-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Y-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Software: | Adobe Photoshop 7.0 |
| Date and Time: | 2008:12:01 13:30:02 |
| YCbCr Positioning: | Co-Sited |
| Exposure Program: | Aperture priority |
| Date and Time (Original): | 2008:11:27 11:54:54 |
| Date and Time (Digitized): | 2008:11:27 11:54:54 |
| Shutter Speed: | 566484/65536 |
| Metering Mode: | Pattern |
| Color Space: | Uncalibrated |
| Focal Plane X-Resolution: | 4433.295 dpi |
| Focal Plane Y-Resolution: | 4453.608 dpi |
| Compression: | JPEG |
| Image Width: | 2592 pixels |
| Image Height: | 3888 pixels |
Be good,
Dave
|
