Stephanie posted most of the images from our trip to Illinois on her blog.

Check them out here.

Ever since I read about them, I've been obsessed with trying to create HDR photos - even though I don't really have the proper equipment to do it nor the photography expertise.

HDR images merge the data from two or more photos taken at different exposures to bring out crazy detail and contrast in both the foreground and background - especially when there is a bright background.

The problem I have is stabilizing the camera for all three shots and finding subjects that don't move so that all the images line up at the end.

Anyway, here are a couple I that turned out ok. The first three images are the originals, followed by the merged HDR (twice).

The first set is the sun coming up looking over the Boston Harbor (at East Boston/Chelsea) outside my front door; the second is the crazy pink building viewed from my "back yard".

This little guy showed up the other day. I named him Dominic. Since then I have spent the majority of my spare time watching opossum informational videos on YouTube. I have discovered the following:

• Opossums are very clean - cleaner than raccoons and other varmints
• Their internal body temperature is too low for them to carry rabies
• They eat the food that would normally support the rats that live in the north end
• They only live for 2 1/2 years
• They are the only marsupial that lives in North America
• And the way they waddle around in wicked cute

He comes around almost every day at about 6 o'clock or so. Sweet!

I found this desk chair on the street years ago... but sitting cross-legged on it 10 hours a day for the last three years has taken its toll - to say the least.

I love the chair though. It's metal (instead of plastic resin) and has a great industrial feel to it. So I decided to reupholster it.

It worked out _OK_. It did the trick, but mostly from a utilitarian view. Stephanie says she likes the original brown back contrasted with the orange seat, but I'm not sure. At least she won't call from New York anymore to tell me she found pieces of foam from the chair in her hair after taking the bus back.