Baldur Bjarnason

@baldurbjarnason

Writer, web developer and consultant based in Hveragerði, Iceland. Lapsed Interactive Media Academic. Webby Tech Stuff and webby book stuff.

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Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 16d

Almost forgot to add the photos themselves. These are from a new path that was made in the reforestation area to the north of the town to a small grove called Ísakslundur that wasn't really accessible before

A path through some trees. On one side we see a sign with the word "Ísakslundur" which means translates to "Isaac's Grove" in English. A few of the tree stumps to one side have been carved into mushroom shapes

Behind the new path is an older, disused path so there must have been another path leading up there at some point.

Once you walk down that path you get to a field that is covered with buttercup flowers

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 16d

So this is a very short quick and dirty, if a bit silly, video where I talk about the place I'm in with the photos I just took laid out over the audio.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 17d

Here are a couple of attempts of mine to take moody photos of the geothermal fields behind the horticultural school, by the Fífilbrekka cottage. #nature #iceland #blackandwhite

A black and white photo, shot through a field and trees, of an area of geothermal springs. You can see steam rising and, way on the other side, a small warning sign.

A black and white photo of the mountainside. Steam rises from a geothermal spring.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 17d

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

A rusty pipe used as a fence post. It is surrounded by green and a small birch tree

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 22d

Finally got around to posting two months' worth of photos to my blog. These are pics I've been posting on social media but haven't had the mental bandwidth to add to my website. "Long-delayed summer 2026 photos" www.baldurbjarnason.com/notes/photos...

A cat stretching out on its back on asphalt and yawning.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 23d

Foggy pasture #nature #iceland

A ditch in a green pasture. A bit of mist lies over everything. Yellow buttercup flowers have overgrown the ditch.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 28d

Black and white take two.

The same photo of a bench in a field in fog, again using ACROS black and white film emulation from Fujifilm but with more exposure adjustment and a bit of a contrast adjustment using the curves tool.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 28d

I had a go this weekend at simply using in-camera processing for my photos because the Linux-based photo tools are kinda garbage. But the in-camera tools aren't fantastic either, so even minimal editing in CaptureOne on top of the built-in Fujifilm tone curves really can make a big difference.

First off, we have a JPG as delivered by the Fujifilm camera. It's of fog over a field with a couple of lone trees and a bench. In the background we see the roots of a mountain. It's kind of a flat image

The same photo, still using the same tone curve offered by Fujifilm, just with a bit of an exposure adjustment and a saturation boost on the greens. It is not flat

Again, the same photo, again using a tone curve from Fujifilm except this time it's their ACROS black and white film emulation, some exposure adjustment. The image looks very moody, though it is probably darker than it should be

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· 29d

Halide's film simulations are actually okay.

The path past the geothermal field behind the horticultural school. We see what's supposed to be a "security" fence separating the hiker from boiling mud

A path into the fog. This is by the small cottage called "Fífilbrekka" that noted pastoral fascist Jónas frá Hriflu built in the post-WW2 period. It's being renovated, hence the pipes by the path.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jul 11

For this #caturday I decided to try something different. Not in the subject, the model today is my neighbour Lukka, a very friendly black and white cat. No, it's an experiment in just using the camera to generate JPGs.

Lukka, a black and white "tuxedo" patterned cat on a fence looking very intent.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jul 5

Here's a bit of an audio experiment. Not actually video, just an audio recording of a group of horse riders passing by during my hike.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jul 4

My walks and Grása's have been crossing paths lately #cat #caturday

Grása, a long-haired grey and white cat, walks past some wild flowers growing next to the pavement.

A black and white photo of a grey and white cat standing on the pavement and looking to the side

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 30

This here is here is a bird called "Jaðrakan" in Icelandic or the black-tailed godwit in English. There's a pair that seems to nest every year somewhere between the golf course and the horticultural school #bird #birds #iceland #nature

A long-billed orange wading bird in the middle of a field of grass filled with flowers that are (mostly) native to Iceland

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 28

These photos of this goldcrest also show the impact of processing. Two have more heavy-handed processing. Two have more "naturalistic" processing, mostly exposure and saturation. None of these are strictly speaking more "correct" they just have different connotations #bird #birds #iceland #nature

A goldcrest perched inside a halo of leaves. This colour photo is a relatively naturalistic photo that just uses the tone curves provided by the camera manufacturer but with exposure adjustment and a bit of a saturation boost.

Same photo of a goldcrest perched inside a halo of leaves. This is a more heavily manipulated photo that has a bit more contrast and has local exposure and tone adjustment with a mask. The contrast makes it look a bit more cluttered.

A "naturalistic" black and white version of the same using the Fujifilm "ACROS" film simulation with minimal adjustment.

A more heavy-handed and "contrasty" black and white version with local adjustments.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 28

Goldcrests are the smallest and shiest birds we have here in Iceland. I managed to spot some movement, couldn't see clearly even when zoomed in, but after cropping in on the extreme zoom, lo and behold, a goldcrest. #bird #birds #iceland #nature

A landscape-oriented photo this time. Emphasises the circular pattern of the branches that frame the goldcrest.

The goldcrest is a tiny yellow bird. Here it is perched on a branch surrounded by green leaves

The goldcrest again. In the same tree but on a different branch. Even though I was quite a way away, it was still staring at the photographer

Still wary of the photographer. Still in the same tree.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 27

I think cleaning my typewriters might be my summer project.

A picture of a manual typewriter with some text typed out on a page

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 27

The horses were surrounded by a beautiful landscape and a mass of flies. And a bunch of starlings, young and old, snacking on the flies. #horses #iceland

A small herd of horses in a field. Buttercup flowers dot the field and you can see trees in the distance.

A horse lying in a field. A starling perches on its back

We see the rumps of two horses and a starling passenger

Two horses and now we can clearly see the cloud of flies.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 27

Another one for the "bird on a fence post" files. This time a starling #bird #birds #iceland #nature

A black and white photo of a starling on a fence post.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 27

Common redshanks very vocally object to your presence in their territory. #bird #birds #iceland #nature

A common redshank, a smallish wading bird, perches on a fence post and objects to the photographer

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 27

So, when the weather is nice my neighbour Grása, this longhaired grey and white cat, likes to nap outside in the overgrown grass by one of the trees in the garden #cat #caturday

Seen from above, a cat is sleeping in some grass

The cat has woken up and is looking at the photographer. She later went back to napping.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 18

The other side of this former power station #photos #iceland

We see a small house by a river, only the walls remaining. Grass is growing around it.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 16

So this used to be the power station for a wool mill back before there was even a town here in Hveragerði. #photos #iceland

A ruined house, now just brick walls with no roof, built next to a river. The banks of the river are covered with greenery.

That same house from a different angle. Now you see the steps in the path that runs along its side.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 13

Don't know this dog's name but it seemed to be having a good day #dog

A black and white dog lying in some grass.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 13

So, this is Gríma. She lives next to the spot of grass that serves double duty as the town official football field and the overflow for the local campsite on busy days in the summer. #cat #caturday

A tortoiseshell cat sitting on a lawn staring at the photographer

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 12

Summer #photos #nature #iceland

A ditch filled with sunflowers leading to a tree, in the distance we see power pylons on a mountain

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 11

Bumblebee wings sure beat fast. This one's wings are just a blur #photos #nature

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 10

These two photos of a male and female common crossbill are very much not sharp. Kinda out of focus. This is because I took the photo through the very dirty balcony door on a rainy day. #photo #photos #bird #iceland

An orange male crossbill on a timber balcony railing. He has scattered seeds all over the place. His beak curves and crosses itself in a distinctive way

A grey and yellow female crossbill on the same railing. It is so dirty. I really need to clean that.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 10

Horse doing horsie things. #photo #iceland #horse #nature

A brown horse grazing in a field. Behind it we can see a fence and beyond the fence are trees.

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 10

I wrote about this in The Intelligence Illusion back in 2023 > One problem with integrating generative models into your product, especially a hosted product, is that many of the uses of AI are likely to fall outside these protections. illusion.baldurbjarnason.com 2/2

Screenshot from a PDF of the Intelligence Illusion containing the following text:

"Section 230, and similar laws in other countries, let hosting companies host without being liable for what their customers upload. Without those laws, social media networks and search engines would not exist. In most countries these laws have some limits, but overall what they mean is that you aren’t legally liable for the comments that somebody posts on your service."

"One problem with integrating generative models into your product, especially a hosted product, is that many of the uses of AI are likely to fall outside these protections. If somebody gets your online AI chat widget to talk like a genocidal Nazi, you might be as liable for that as if you had published pro-genocide Nazi propaganda yourself. That would mean that exposing these tools to your customers risks exposing you to enormous legal liability."

Baldur Bjarnason@baldurbjarnason· Jun 9

This blackbird had its beak full of worms and insects. It had to do that thing where you stop in your tracks and shuffle things around a bit so as to not drop your groceries. #bird #birds #nature #iceland #photos