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The natural friendliness of the Balinese people really takes some getting used to for a European. It must be because of the fresh fruit and the light menus.
, - so most shooting is taking place during the golden hour (early morning or late afternoon) for soft, flattering light. This light is more “warm”. Open curtains and blinds to use natural light because in most cases is makes rooms feel more inviting.
I asked myself this question a few day ago as I went in my spacetime in the evening to “Marina Bay” to watch the Lion spill his water. The lifestyle, the food, the honest politeness and the joie de vivre are contagious. It is as if a code has been written over the city state that is universally accepted without contradiction. And, unlike in Europe, everything works in Singapore. Really everything. But it's not quite as simple as that:
It is always difficult to draw a direct comparison between the economic performance and success of Singapore and Europe, as they are different regions of different sizes, resources and economies. Singapore is a very small but highly developed city-state with a very open, export-orientated economy. Europe, on the other hand, is a large continent with many countries that have different economic systems and levels of development. In recent decades, Singapore has had a very dynamic and fast-growing economy fuelled by investment, trade and finance. Many European countries have experienced rather moderate growth rates during this time. Singapore has some advantages such as a very efficient infrastructure, a stable political system and a high investment rate. In contrast, many European countries are struggling with structural problems such as national debt, unemployment and regulatory requirements. However, Europe as a whole has significantly greater economic strength and a higher per capita income than Singapore. That many European countries are among the wealthiest economies in the world has different reasons than in in Singapore. Also the critical view on NATO, America and Europe with it’s wars and and interference in the internal affairs of other states it’s in Singapore very well articulated and carefully observed. Overall, it can be said that Singapore has experienced an impressive economic rise in recent decades while Europe is in rapid decline. Many companies are moving away because all production is unprofitable due to unaffordable energy costs, labour costs. Ironically in Singapore wages are lower as well as labour costs people are more positive. In Europe wages haven’t increased measured against inflation for 30 years (the purchasing power of one euro today is as high as 1 DM 20 years ago, while the Swiss franc, which was valued at 1:1 with 1 DM 20 years ago, is now valued at over one euro). Europe is definitely in decline. Those who talk this up are paid to maintain the narrative of a successful Europe. It's good to come from a bit older generation so that I don't need to have to integrate the effects of artificial intelligence into my synapses. That doesn't mean that I reject it. In view of the intelligence of many of our much-loved representatives, it seems to me that artificial intelligence does less damage if programmed correctly. Politicians are far too biased and therefore one-sided, not nearly as complex as AI.
I thought this AI in photo editing could be helpful for faster editing from a daily workload of about 100 to 400 photos. Think again... Although the latest AI systems, especially machine learning systems, can perform amazingly well and show human-like abilities in areas such as speech recognition, image analysis or strategy games, it takes ages to achieve really satisfactory results when it comes to photos created with high-resolution sensors. And processor power, under 16 Gig Ram and M4 nothing works at all. Things are sure to improve soon. However, AI systems lack the holistic understanding and flexibility of human thinking when it comes to image processing. Fast, harmonious editing of Helen photos in Lightroom is quick because it is a tried and tested programme that has been continuously developed by really experienced programmers.My LR 6 from CS (not CC) still works like on the first day. As with the Lightroom alternatives such as Darkroom, Darktable etc, these AI programmes are only trained for specific tasks and have difficulties with contextual understanding or creativity. They exaggerate certain details of a photo too much and then neglect details in other areas. This is probably why many photos that have been generated with the help of AI simply look kitschy and exaggerated. But here, too, I believe that the vulgar taste will unfortunately prevail. |
Those who have been growing used to the absurd will feel at ease in these times of ours.....
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