According to Flickr “favorites” these were my top photos of 2020. Not all of the photos were taken in 2020 (in fact, I took very few photos in 2020); rather, these are the photos most “favorited” in 2020.

For 2019, click here.

Posted on December 30th, 2020 under Other. Tags: photography. Comments Off on Top photos of 2020

Without Topaz Adjust AI and DeNoise AI

Once upon a time, about eight and half years ago, I didn’t shoot in RAW; I only saved my shots in jpg format. Alas, those photos are far more difficult to process in terms of getting them to look like what the scene originally looked like. The above, 11-photo photomerge is one such example. In Photoshop I wasn’t able to get the final panorama to look like the brilliance of the sunset from that one evening in New York back in 2012. Because I shot in jpg, the details were muddy and not recoverable (in Photoshop at least).

I downloaded Topaz Labs’ Adjust AI to see if it could do better. Adjust AI comes with a bunch of filters, none of which I liked. However, the adjustments for highlights, colors, shadows, etc. are far more powerful and customizable in manual mode than what you see in Photoshop, and I was able to bring the scene back to something more closely resembling what I saw with my naked eye that evening. The results are below.

With Topaz Adjust AI and DeNoise AI

Topaz Labs’ Adjust AI is available for under $50 until 12/31/20. Use the code holiday2020 at checkout.

Posted on December 29th, 2020 under Other. Tags: brooklyn bridge, landscape, new york, nikon d7000, panorama, photomerge, RAW vs Jpg jpeg, sunset, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens for Nikon, topaz denoise. Comments Off on Topaz Adjust AI

In no particular order:

Puscifer – Existential Reckoning

Mora Prokaza – By Chance

Myrkur – Folkesange

…And Oceans – Cosmic World Mother

Oranssi Pazuzu’s Jun-His @ 2017 Roskilde Festival

Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin Kynsi

Warbringer – Weapons of Tomorrow

Carcass – Despicable EP

Sylent Storm – The Fire Never Dies

Vader – Solitude in Madness

Green Carnation – Leaves of Yesteryear

Uada – Djinn

Enslaved ‎– Utgard

Troy Sanders of Mastodon

Mastodon – Medium Rarities

Auðn – Vökudraumsins Fangi

Deftones – Ohms

Finntroll – Vredesvävd

Sodom – Genesis XIX

Redwood Hill – Ender

Dark Tranquillity @ 2019 Gefle Metal Festival

Dark Tranquillity – Moment

Afsky – Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død

Death Angel – Under Pressure EP

And a few from 2019 that I wasn’t familiar enough with to make the 2019 list…

Cloak – The Burning Dawn

Heilung @ 2019 Copenhell

Heilung – Futha

Possessed – Revelations of Oblivion

Exulansis ‎– Sequestered Sympathy

Posted on December 27th, 2020 under Other. Tags: afsky, audn, carcass, concert photography, copenhell, dark tranquillity, death angel, enslaved, Heilung, mastodon, metal, myrkur, oranssi pazuzu, roskilde festival, sodom, uada, vader. Comments Off on Favorite albums of 2020

Some good news, some really bad news (Svartidauði, Vader, and KMFDM).

Posted on December 21st, 2020 under Other. Tags: brutal assault festival. Comments Off on 2021 Brutal Assault update

Mike Trout

Trout doesn’t have four MVPs yet, but in his nine seasons he has three MVPs, four second-place finishes, and two others in the top five. He has led the league in runs four times, OBP four times, and OPS four times. That must be what home plate umpire, Manny Gonzalez, is alluding to.

Posted on December 18th, 2020 under Other. Tags: baseball, los angeles, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D750, sports photography. Comments Off on Mike Trout