Arthur & His Twin Turbo Bentley

Some cool eye make up primer images:

Arthur & His Twin Turbo Bentley


Image by dustinsapenga
This was a long process but i finally finished it. when i first met Arthur this thing was sitting in front of his auto shop with a nice coat of primer on. i dont even think it had door knobs on it yet. when he bought the car it was "totaled". by that i mean the whole passenger side had been smashed in by a guard rail or somthing, and he repaired the whole thing himself. every part is hand made in england so each door panel alone is ,000 dollars. this bad boy has about 650 horses and feels like airforce one on the inside.

This image was a composite of about 25 different photos. 1 for arthur, 1 for the background, and like 23 for the car. i used a mixture of bare stobes, diffused strobes, and continuous lights. the trickiest part about shooting a composite photo like this is lining up your perspective correctly. i made sure before i went out and did this i figured it out which ill share with you.

1. shoot at the same focal length – this is true especially with wide angle lenses. at different focal lengths lenses distort differently. the depth of field can also play a role in this. if you shoot a portrait with a 50mm at 1.4 where the background is completly blurry dont try to drop a picture of someone where they would normally be out of focus. just make sure if you shoot a backround photo at 20mm, shoot the portrait at 20mm.

2. bring a tape measure – this is important because it makes sure you maintain your perspective. if you shoot a picture of someone standing straight up and then try to drop their image into a background image that you shot kneeling down its going to look like theyre leaning back, or foreward. this is unbelieveably true for cars. because the have all four wheels on the ground its easy to make one float by shooting at the wrong perspective.

3. maintain consistent contrast – this is where it starts to get tricky. this is true untill you have the image all stitched together. contrast is what draws your eye to an area. raise it if you want to draw someones eye to the area, lower it if you dont want them to notice it. when shooting with strobes you can really wash out the contrast and have super bright highlights as well as bright shadows. you need to make sure all your shadows are as dark as all the other shadows in the photo otherwise its going to look like theres fog surrounding it. now the reason i saw this is true until you get the photo stitched together is because if you notice in this photo i lowered the contrast in the background photo of the end of the tunnel to draw your eye away from it and on the arthur and his sweet ride.

4. maintain consistent colors – this is pretty straight forward. dont shoot a portrait at 5600k and try to drop it into a photo shot at 2600k. its just going to look funky. the best way i found to do this is shoot in raw, auto white balance in the photoshop raw editor, and then color balance your stitched photo.

5. dont resize part of the image in photoshop the fit it where you want – like i said before your lens warps it a certain way at different parts of the image and if you resize transform it to be bigger or smaller youre moving the area that that part of the image was in. for example i had to actually shoot the car that far away, i didnt fill up the screen with the car and then size it down to fit behind arthur because if i did the distortion would make it look fake.
if anyone has any questions or suggestions feel free to drop them by. i can always use some input.

The Veritas League and the Quest for the Tome of Tangiers: Hotter Than Hell


Image by Professor Fumolatro
(Continued FROM)

As we found our places in the workshop and I set to gathering supplies Jesse’s curiosity (the most valuable character trait in any man of science) continued to get the better of him.

"How have I done anything that could be value in this Professor?"

"It was your experiments in the continuous production of heat from compressed matter that gave us the refined Pitchblende power source that runs the Hoever-Carriage was it not?"

"Perhaps my initial research was of some value" He replied modestly "but it was The Lady Porkshanks and yourself who made the application practical."

"Well my friend we are about to make it more so."

"You intrigue me Professor, can you explain your reasoning?"

For a brief instant I felt as if we were back at University in a lecture room with Jesse was my only student. Making myself comfortable with the notion, I set to work while I spoke:
"As you well know every last form of matter in creation interacts in some way with other forms of matter. Some react passively and slowly while others react with speed and violence. Consider the vital element, Oxygen; the beneficial gas… Without it we would die. Without it your beloved gunpowder would not fire. It is invisible and odorless and nearly weightless; but given time it will eat away at iron leaving almost nothing behind. In excess will cause the air to ignite spontaneously. It is highly interactive."

Jesse grinned as I picked up a caliper and examined another component all the while continuing my lecture. I must confess the stresses of the previous days had already begun to melt away. Being back in my element, the laboratory, the workshop, the "inventorium" was deeply refreshing to my soul. I continued.

"Other elements are much less reactive and need to be coaxed and cajoled to mix and match with their fellow elemental materials. And some" (I paused dramatically to capture the attention of my student) "react not only with others but within themselves… Pitchblende for example."

He nodded knowingly.

"Your work found that refined pitchblende when compressed at significant pressures created a reaction within itself that generated heat so significant that it could be used as a fuel source. All Lady Porkshanks and I did was improve the process and apply it to the boiler."

"Of course professor, but I know all this – how is this to help dispose of the evil book? We cannot boil it away?"

I wondered if he was being purposefully obtuse or was he simply playing his role as student for my benefit. Playing along I leaned in slightly to look him more closely in the eye.

"Why, Jesse, does the boiler operate at fixed temperature?"

"Because the unique properties of the compressed pitchblende generates heat a predictable rate."

My internal fire was beginning to glow as I assembled the first of several components.

"Why is it not hotter?"

"Because we have compressed it to its limits."

Raising an eyebrow I peered over my spectacles and asked, "Have we?"

His eyes widened. I had his undivided attention.
I cleared my throat for emphasis.

"What if, my friend, we had only reached the limits of our ability to compress the matter and with the application greater pressures we could release greater energy? What do you suppose the released energy could reach?"

Jesse stood, almost at attention, he stammered with excitement
"The.. the potential is… staggering! From what I recall from the tables I created when I charted the output potentials… With sufficient pressure the matter might reach a point at which the output of energy would exceed the matter’s own ability to contain it! The results could be… dare I say it? Incalculable!" His look suddenly turned quizzical. "But how in heaven’s name will we achieve such pressures out here with limited facilities? We’d need a press ten times the size we used previously to even approach such levels."

"Who", I inquired, "said anything about a press?"

"But.." was his only reply. I changed my tact.

"Jesse, what happens to the powder in a shell when the rifle cartridge is struck by a firing pin?"

"The primer ignites the powder and it explodes."

"And why does the rifle not explode?"

"Because the barrel is made of steel and the force of the explosion is used to push the projectile out the barrel. Professor you know all this."

"True… but indulge me. What would happen to that projectile if a heavy steel plate we placed inches from the muzzle?"

"Well naturally it would.. be.. COMPRESSED!" His excitement was palpable, and contagious."and if we were to do that with the Pitchblende…"

"Precisely!" I shouted "You have the keenest knowledge of explosives out of all of us. I propose we construct a vessel that directs not one but multiple charges inward, simultaneously, to compress the Pitchblende so completely that it releases all it’s potential energy at once!"

Without another word Jesse leapt into action. Down the corridor to raid the arms cupboard, back to his quarters to gather supplies from his private collection; he returned to the workshop loaded to overflowing.

For hours we labored, stopping neither for food nor drink but only necessary consultation and conversation. For my part I extracted the extra supplies of Pitchblende from storage and continued to construct the containment vessel.

By mid afternoon our efforts reached their conclusion.

Based on Jesse’s knowledge of explosive forces and our experience with compressed Pitchblende we calculated the potential heat and resultant explosive force that would be released from the device would be so significant that we’d need to be several miles distant at detonation.

That required not only a trigger but also a timer… something like a pocket watch. Since all our pocket watches had failed since our arrival in this dreaded place I would need construct a new non-mechanical ‘pocket watch’. For that I would need a tin can, barbed wire and a few bits of string and chewing gum.

* * * *
Power Mad I used under Creative Commons license: Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Power Mad III – used under Creative Commons license: Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Bric 1 – By John Edgar Park – used under Creative Commons License Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/2197737299/ – used under Creative Commons license Attribution 2.0 Generic

Fire Engine Gauges – used under creative commons license Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Chemist’s Lab Tools – by curious expeditions – under creative commons license Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Additional material by MofoJT II

Bristol in a nutshell


Image by rhurtubia
Un primer intento de otro tipo de stop motion…. quizás me quedó medio mamón (o cursi), más que nada por la canción…. pero a mi me gusta ¿ya?….

Aparte que la letra me parece demasiado ad-hoc: efectivamente estamos viejos, algunos ya de vuelta y enfrentando desafíos de "gente grande"….. realmente el tiempo pasa muy rápido. Es bueno detenerse y mirar un poco alrededor….. ya falta poco para que eso de "children growing up, old friends growing older" sea una verdad incuestionable.

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath,
Before I start off again.
Driven on,
Without a moment to spend
To pass an evening
With a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
I’d like to pause,
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim-
Who learns to transcend-
Learns to live
As if each step was the end

Time stand still-
I’m not looking back
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each sensation a little bit stronger
Experience slips away…

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes.
Let my defences down-
All those wounds
That I can’t get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause-
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain,
Whose ship runs aground-
I can wait until the tide comes around

Make each impression a little bit stronger
Freeze this motion a little bit longer
The innocence slips away…

Summer’s going fast,
Nights growing colder
Children growing up-
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away…

Tags:Arthur, Bentley, Turbo, Twin