(Thursday, October 30th, 2008)
This is easy to reduce a color photo to a B&W image (any photo software or any B&W photocopier can do it). But the reverse operation seems difficult at best, impossible in most cases. However, a team of French scientists from the French INRIA (Guillaume Charpiat, Matthias Hofmann et Bernhard Schölkopf) presented recently an algorithm that succeeds to rebuild the color information from a B&W photo. And with some success.
On the image on the left, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has been converted to black and white (A), using color data and textures from a similar image (B), the algorithm built a color image again (C) not too far from the original (D).
Analyzing this work, I’d say that part of the differences between the result (C) and the original (D) come from the quality of the conversion to Black & White which led to an image quite hard (a bit more contrast than needed).
Impressive result on photos, you can expect to see it applied to moving images (and movies).
Source: Futura-Science.
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(Wednesday, October 29th, 2008)
Found in the morning, this lionness had just kill a gnu (wildebeest). After eating most of it, she actually tried to hide the carcass in order to avoid seeing it stolen by others (hyenas or vultures, for example).
 Lionness - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
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 Lionness - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
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 Lionness - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
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Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them
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Lion (Panthera leo, Lion, León), Masai Mara, Kenya, September 2008.
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(Tuesday, October 28th, 2008)
In the coming days, I will post a number of images taken in Masai Mara National Park, Kenya, of various carnivore animals after or during lunch. Beware, it may be a little more disturbing than most subjects, for sensitive or young people. However, this is routine observation in the wild: Big cats are nice but they eat animals. Raw.
First, this is not a feline. A spotted hyena found in the morning, in a small water pool, after an early lunch.

Spotted hyena - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
It is easily forgotten in savanah folklore as recorded in our Northern countries, hyenas are not only carrion eaters stealing their prey from less powerful animals (like cheetahs), but also successful hunters who compensate for their slow running speed with a rather considerable endurance. They kill about half of their food.
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta, Hyène tachetée). Masai Mara, Kenya, September 2008.
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(Saturday, October 25th, 2008)
Some of my best images are available are posters, cards, prints, laminated prints, etc. on RedBubble.com. I like the quality of their service, their prices and the broad support (including good discussion forums about photo).
What you’ll like even more is that they reduced the shipping costs to NOTHING for a week. They are celebrating their shipment of 100,000 photo/art masterpieces around the world. At this moment, they decided to offer one week of free shipping. You just have to use the following coupon code when checking out: ‘100000masterpieces’
PS: The promotion will expire at 2359 on 30 October (GMT). Just in time to prepare your gifts for Christmas or for your 2009 new year’s cards.
Buy my photos at RedBubble
- Cards,
- Matted Prints,
- Laminated Prints (between shiny plastic sheets),
- Prints mounted on hard support,
- Canvas Prints,
- Framed Prints
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(Friday, October 24th, 2008)
If you are interested, you can find some of my images about big cats (lions, leopards, cheetahs) on my new web site YLoveBigCats.com. As you certainly have noticed, some of these images come from my recent trip to Kenya (Masai Mara).

Lionness, Kenya (Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles)
Find more stories in Big cats, Cheetah, Leopard, Lion, Photo, Photo safari
(Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008)

Young black-backed jackal (Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles)
Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas, Chacal à chabraque, Chacal de lomo negro o chacal de gualdrapa). Kenya, Masai Mara, September 2008.
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(Tuesday, October 21st, 2008)
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We would be troubled thinking about the future of this migration. Wildebeests and zebras are depending simultanesouly on free access to enormous tracts of lands (more and more limited by Human activities) and ecological stability (that could be seriously unbalanced by the global warming). |
The Great Migration: This is the name of this major and annual animal move between Kenya and Tanzania. Between 1.5 and 2 million gnus (wildebeests), several hundred thousands of zebras and some more antelopes follow a wide triangular geographical pattern to find the lands with the best possible grass depending on the rains and the temperatures.
Since they have to cross rivers, this quickly becomes a difficult task. All the more because all kinds of predators know the locations and are waiting for them. The gnus strategy is simple: Overwhelm the predators. If a lion takes 1 gnu out of 10,000, it is better than 1 out of 10. So, they regroup themselves in enormous herds before rushing through the waters.
 Gnu |
 Gnu |
 Gnu |
 Gnu's crossing (Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles) |
 Gnu's crossing (Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles) |
The predators (lions, hyenas, crocodiles) are waiting. And they are taking a life toll on the herds.
Since this is quite graphic (Mother Nature is not often very nice with the weakest animals), the following images may be reached separately. But young and sensitive minds should avoid looking at the following depiction of a Nile crocodile attack on a swimming Burchell’s zebra (in the Mara river).
(more…)
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(Monday, October 20th, 2008)
The “Great migration” in Kenya and Tanzania is the move of gnus (wildebeests) but also of zebras. Usually, I have a tough time to find inspiration when shooting these animals. But in last September, I believe that I found how to draw a few good images of these zebras.
 Zebras on the Musiara plains (Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles) |
 Burchell |
 Burchell |
 Burchell |
 Burchell |
Burchell’s zebra (Equus burchellii, zèbre de Burchell, cebra de Burchell). Kenya, Masai Mara, September 2008.
All images: Copyright (C) 2008 Yves Roumazeilles (all rights reserved).
Find more stories in Photo, Photo safari, Wildlife photo
(Sunday, October 19th, 2008)

Two lions (Copyright 2008 - Yves Roumazeilles)
A few images of lion females on YLoveBigCats.com (Kenya 2008).
Find more stories in Lion, Photo, Photo safari
(Saturday, October 18th, 2008)
Before some big cats, here are some vultures again:

Vulture, in flight (Copyright 2008 - Yves Roumazeilles)

Lappet-faced vulture (Copyright 2008 - Yves Roumazeilles)
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(Friday, October 17th, 2008)

Sun rise in the accacia - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

Sun rise on the plains - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
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(Thursday, October 16th, 2008)
Giraffes, here is a weird animal. On of the real bizarre things in nature.

Giraffes - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
You can often see young males fighting:

Giraffes fighting - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

Giraffes fighting- Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
It seems that they are fighting in a very slow motion.
Despite that, it is a very aggressive behaviour and the males use that to decide hierarchies and access rights to the females.
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You can click on the thumbnail images to enlarge them.
All images are Copyright 2008 - Yves Roumazeilles (all rights reserved).
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