Hackergochi 'meme'

Christian, you forgot my (not so) recent hackergochi redo

Anyway, the picture I took of you back in Argentina isn't great hackergochi material; it cuts off part of your chin and the top of your head, which will get you a very very ugly hackergochi if you try to use it. Trust me—been there, done that. In addition, it's very likely that you like the picture because of the somewhat dark background, even if only subconsciously; by turning it into a hackergochi, you cut out that background, so the appeal of the picture gets lost somewhat.

Since you won't be at FOSDEM, I can't offer to take another picture of you. And since the picture you refer to is mostly great because of the lighting (which will no doubt be completely different, it freezing right now over here and everything) and the lens I used (which wasn't mine, but belonged to someone else; I just borrowed it for a few hours), I seriously doubt that I'll be able to get a picture that's in any way similar to the one you seem to like so much.

Having said that, taking a good hackergochi picture isn't too hard; just think of a few basic things while taking it. If you're not happy with any of the pictures you already have, then take a new one! The following might help you with that:

• You'll need a halfway decent camera. Webcams probably won't do, but your el cheapo digital camera will likely cut it.
• Good lighting. Try to use sunlight if at all possible; at any rate, try to avoid the use of a flash (except if you have one of those extremely expensive flashes that will simulate sunlight, but you probably don't).
• Turn yourself so that the sun casts some interesting shadows. Do not move at a 90-degree angle, because such long shadows are not interesting anymore; Something like 45-degree would probably be nice. At any rate, make sure the sun is not in the background of the picture, unless you want to see a black hackergochi.
• Frame the picture well. The more pixels you have for your head, the better. Make sure your head and neck fill as much as possible of the picture's frame, but do not zoom in too much—you do not want to have any part of your head and/or neck even touch the edge of the frame.
• Find a bland background. Something monochromatic is the best; think 'bluescreen'. Make sure you get a wall that is not near the colortones of human flesh.

After that, just cut out the head and add a dropshadow. Even if you're not very familiar with The Gimp, that shouldn't take you a very long time; andn The Gimp is fun enough to play with anyway. Hints: Look for 'scissors select'; the dropshadow is in 'filters' -> 'light and shadow' -> 'dropshadow'

Good luck