Davide Barranca’s ‘Decomposing Sharpening’

Dan Margulis is The Man

I’ve been dabbling in the Dan Margulis’s Picture Postcard Workflow since serendipity landed me in Dan’s session at Photoshop World Boston in 2006. Dan’s methods and his teaching style are unique in their depth, usefulness, and results. They’re not easy to pick up casually, though. Davide Barranca posted this on
Dan’s Color Theory Yahoo Group, and I’m linking it here for my own reference as much as anything.

Actually I got carried away with it and wrote a four articles series (called Decomposing Sharpening) on that very topic on my blog. Not that all that bandwidth is required to understand what I’m doing – let’s say I’ve happily dug into the subject. A schematic index is as follows:

#1 Introduction
PPW Sharpening, Halo Maps, Blending Modes
http://bit.ly/P9veyv

#2 Mistakes
Why the obvious (Darken / Lighten, double Smart Filters) fails
http://bit.ly/RQy8L6

#3 Workaround
Setup for RGB/CMYK images (Subtract adjustment layers, cascading blending modes)
http://bit.ly/U6MvJc

#4 The Lab way
Setup for Lab images (Smart filters, visualizing Threshold, Blending mode boosters)
http://bit.ly/QbHfWn

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On Reading Roosevelt

David Silby at Edge of the American West:

In two paragraphs, FDR sums the case for government regulation and oversight, the case for government full-stop, better, I think, than just about anyone, and certainly anyone recently.

via On Reading Roosevelt – The Edge of the American West – The Chronicle of Higher Education.


An interesting and apposite post, but primo for the category “FDR pwns everyone infinity no backsies.” That’s a blogging category I can get behind.

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Mountain Day

Sunny and warm, low humidity: a mountain day. Instead of going up a mountain, we took a walk down the road to the other side of the brook, going up via the gate of Michael and Hilary’s property. So so pretty. Resting now on the porch with Gracie.

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The Watcher

This guy is keeping an eye on the highest part of the trail to the brook. I feel safer.



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Overcast with off-and-on drizzle since I arrived. Lots of cleanup yesterday. Very happy to have found the “on” switch on the water heater this morning, and Gracie is pleased that I brought out a heater next to her bed after a chilly first night without.

Finally for now, this is my plan for Saturday: http://nebrewfest.com/
The forecast is clear and 80s.

Yes. Beer.

Posted in Far Mountain, Travel | Tagged | 1 Comment

Supper’s Ready

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Sardine and avocado on sourdough with onion, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. A New Belgium Fat Tire, Arcadia by Lauren Groff, and Gracie keeping an ear cocked for the thunder.

Posted in Books, Food and Wine, Gracie | Comments Off