Quickly create photographic blur effects using a simple new interface with on-image controls. Create tilt-shift effects, blur everything and then sharpen one focal point, or vary the blurriness between multiple focal points. The Mercury Graphics Engine delivers immediate results.
View more Photoshop CS6 videos here.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.
Michael Norton’s research shows you can buy happiness, by spending money on other people. “The specific way that you spend on other people isn’t nearly as important as the fact that you spend on other people.” Whether in big or small ways, this video will change your life and someone else’s too.
On Saturday, May 5, at 11:35 p.m. EDT the moon will be 8,000 miles closer than it’s average distance to the earth and will appear 30% brighter and 14% bigger. This supermoon coincides with the Eta Aquarid meteor shower from Halley’s comet.
The best time to view the moon will be the early evening, just after the moon rises.
The best time to view the meteor shower is late Saturday and early Sunday.
Later in the month, on May 20 there will be an annular eclipse.
Learn more here.
Charles Adams (my assistant both in the studio and in the field) is having his first exhibition this coming Friday, May 4th at Asymmetrick Arts in Rockland, Maine. It will run until May 25th.
24 of his images will be on display, along with sculpture from artist Vic Goldsmith. For those that cannot make the opening, there will also be an Artist talk on May 19th.
May 4 – 25
Asymmetrick Arts
405 Main Street, Rockland ME
207.954.2020
Learn more about Charles Adams and view his images here.
Visit Asymmetrick Arts here.
Huntington Witherill and I discuss the importance and uses of composition.
Discover Huntington’s favorite quotes here.
Read Huntington’s short Q&A here.
Read our extended conversation here.
Find out more about Huntington Witherill here.
Jerry Uelsmann’s 1983 nude is a very influential photograph for me. It makes direct what is typically only implied in some ‘straight’ photographs – that mankind is not separate from nature. The transparent merger of figure and ground is poetically rich in so many ways and on so many levels.
No matter how subtle, traces of color change both visual and psychological dynamics in an image. Choice of paper (the color of the white) and toning (the color of highlights, midtones and shadows) can offer both technical and expressive opportunities. The warm toning of the print in my collection seems particularly appropriate. It’s not a heavy toning, but the print is definitely not neutral. The red of the warm tone seems appropriate for flesh. It gives the image a more approachable feeling, perhaps even a touch of romanticism. It makes the subject seem nearer to the viewer; a cooler color would seem more distant. It changes the impression of ambient temperature and time of day; a cooler color would seem closer to winter and twilight or dawn.
The image is also clarifies the differences between analog and digital processes. The substantial burning/darkening at the top of the print hold the eye in the image longer and minimizes what could be distracting area of contrast if it were brighter, but the way the burning reduces midtone and shadow detail in the region calls attention to technique, where it could be minimized or eliminated in a digital process. I wonder if this image were remastered digitally if the artist would decide to reveal traces of grass in the face, perhaps not as much as is revealed in the body or if an attempt would be made to maintain the volumetric aspects of the body where it is? Neither of these technical considerations diminish the work. We know the artist is working within the limits of a particular medium – masterfully. Still, asking these questions and making comparisons and contrasts with other possibilities offer us more insight into the artist’s vision at large and what he his trying to communicate more specifically in this visual statement. This is only one of so many other reasons why media matters.
(There’s a lot to be learned from looking at originals, which is why we look at masterworks from my collection in all of my digital printing workshops.)
Find my comments on other Masterworks In My Collection here.
Learn more in my digital printing workshops.
Be more green!
You can make a difference today!
Make many small changes to make one big change!
And you’ll save a lot!
Take action now!
Here’s one idea.
Use Public Transportation.
Vacation time is coming and it’s time to plan your families next big getaway. The trouble is energy prices are through the roof and everyone’s interested in saving money. Here’s a way to save money, create jobs, and help the environment at the same time.
Use Public Transportation.
Using Public transportation is a cost saver and a green lifestyle for not only your daily work commute but can also make your next vacation a healthy, cost saving adventure.
Here are a few interesting Public Transportation facts. if used, Public Transportation can save the average household upwards of $8,400 a year. It’s estimated that public transportation saved more than 640 million gallons of oil last year just based on the reduction of congestion.
According to Treehugger.com, The United States dependency on foreign oil supplies would decrease by 40 percent if just one in 10 Americans used public transportation. And economically?… public transportation employs approximately 400,000 people and is a $54 billion dollar industry. Not to mention all commuters that have the ability to work due to the availability of buses, trains, and subways.
And…. we haven’t even yet discussed the health benefits of taking public transportation! Many studies have shown that the average American walks 6 minutes a day. Public transportation users walk an average of 19 minutes a day, very close to the target health incentive of 22 minutes per day. It’s safer to take public transportation. Public Transportation has a lower fatality rate per passenger mile than car travel as Public Transportation users tend to drive less frequently, drive at reduced speeds and are less likely to engage in high risk driving. Riding a bus is 79 times safer than riding in an automobile, and riding a train or subway is even safer.
And then there is the basic enjoyment of it. You have no worries about where to park your car, get gas, or pay tolls. No worries about your children getting to tired to walk… just grab the next bus or nearest subway. See the sites, take a long walk and still be near a conveniently situated bus stop or subway.
So why not plan to use it on your next vacation to a new city, region, or country? It’s a great way to see how the locals live, to enjoy the pace of your new vacationland. Get out from behind the wheel, enjoy the sites and plan a safe, happy, healthy vacation.
Find more public transportation information here
Find more resources that will help you take action now here.
Find environmental organizations to support here.
Julieanne Kost shares the top 10 enhancements in the Layers Panel in Photoshop CS6.
View more Photoshop videos here.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.
“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.” – John Cleese
Among the many gems John Cleese shares, he outlines “The 5 factors that you can arrange to make your lives more creative.”
1 – Space
“You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures.”
2 – Time
“It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time.”
3 – Time
“Give your mind as long as possible to come up with something original.”
4 – Confidence
“Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”
5 – Humor
“The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.”
View more creativity videos by John Cleese here.
View more creativity videos here.
Learn more with my creativity resources.
Learn more in my creativity workshops.
Huntington Witherill offers quick candid answers to 20 questions.
Here are some highlights.
How do you know when an image doesn’t work?
It will fail to communicate anything beyond the fact that it is a photographic record.
How do you know when an image doesn’t work?
It will fail to communicate anything beyond the fact that it is a photographic record.
How do you know when an image is good?
I know an image is good when it exhibits the following three (3) attributes:
#1- An interesting and effective use of light has been captured.
#2- A visually stimulating and well-balanced composition has been employed.
#3- The technique and craftsmanship used to render the photograph itself demonstrates sufficient proficiency so as not to disrupt or distract from either #1 or #2.
How do you know when an image is great?
I know an image is great if I am brought to tears.
How did photography change your world?
It caused me to view myself, and the world around me, in a much more personally effective and fulfilling way.
What are your answers to these questions?
Read the rest of his short Q&A here.
Read our extended conversation here.
Read more of Huntington’s favorite quotes here.
Find out more about Huntington Witherill here.