Pretty extreme effect as shown here. Wouldn't most people prefer a more subtle diffusion filter? They can be picked up really cheap.

A good thumbprint on the rear element will make everything look soft.

I think Olivia is proving she can talk any sort of rubbish and all us males will be pretending to be listening intently with that nodding that shows her we've turned to putty.

Olivia's sponsor-list is impressive - each link has the ref=Oliviatech.com suffix. I bet the affiliation cash-registers are ringing.

If you want to compete with Olivia, you'll need a Marilyn-Monroe who ends each photographic tip with a new excuse to say,

"O-ooh, all my clothes just fell off!!"

Oh dear, I made the mistake of asking my gf what she thought of Olivia.

@brianluce @goanna Maybe it's just because I've spent my entire life around beautiful women, but when Olivia talks I spend more attention to what she says and the way she says it than how she looks.

One of my advisors in college was told when they attended one of their first graduate school classes by their professor (without a hint of humor irony) that they were too pretty to take that music class. I can only imagine how I would feel if my qualification for a given job was explicitly stated to be based on my appearance (for anything other than an acting job).

If you had someone else with the same appearance as Olivia but with a less energetic personality, they would be far less effective as a presenter - and her personality is a more direct product of how she's handled her life than her appearance.

I think Olivia does a good job of presenting simple information in a concise, conversational approach that is not intimidating and tends to bring a much wider audience than a techy presentation. The fact that topics she covers (or the information she presents) is not usually what I specifically am looking for does not make me any less sensitive to the good instincts evidenced in her approach. The personality she presents is consistent with the result she wants to achieve, and while it may occasionally be irreverent or flirty, I never find it cheap, gratuitous or exploitative.

There are lots of very physically attractive men and women out there, and if that was all it took, many of them would be succeeding as well as Olivia does. But she brings something to the table that goes beyond her appearance and I think we should recognize that.

@thepalalias

Then said gf did that playground, sing-song,

"Olivia -does -a -gooood -jooob of presenting siiimple informaaaation in- a conciiise, conversaaaational approooach"

with her goo-goo-eyes look,

followed by her that look but menacing this time. Sorry, have to go now.

@goanna I'm not saying that some women aren't guilty of doing the exact same thing as some men - judging someone more by their appearance than who they are.

If someone wants to be conservative or moderate in their expression, that is just as valid as if they want to be open.

Anyway, I'm just alert to these sorts of things. My parents taught me to be very proactive in parsing wording when I was younger (my father would have me analyze the unspoken messages and undertones of films before I turned 10) but I am just not very hot on the idea that women should be taken less seriously if they combine being attractive with jokes that are only self-effacing.

To paraphrase what my youngest sister once said, feminism doesn't mean that all women should be one way, and that the way they should be is different from the way they were. It means that society should not limit them in their expression because of their gender. And that is something I've believed almost as far back as I can remember (I can still remember the first and only time I called a certain toy "sissy" before I understood how little sense it made to do that).

@goanna Sorry, I don't mean to pick on you. :)

It's just been an interesting year for one of the fields I work with (video games) in terms of some of the attempts to limit expression by female members of the press and female writers for video games.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/anita-sarkeesian-feminist-games/

Take your pick, Olivia or Bloom!!

@Vitaliy_Kiselev As in the 5th circle of hell or as in the musical circle of 5ths?

@brianluce Fair enough. :)

@Rambo I think you just gave me an idea. :)

@Vitaliy_Kiselev Respected.

But I meant where does the reference come from? Why the 5th circle as opposed to any other circle, etc.?

Hmm...what is the difference in images between using vaseline and pantyhose to wash out or soften the image?

Topic closed.