My 6-light CFL fixture worked well in the studio, but I wanted more light and the option to add a light modifier. I decided to move up to 3” PVC and install eight lamp sockets around the outside of the pipe. We're going to call this fixture a SPIDER, you'll see why in just a moment. Here is my original collection of parts. A 3” clean-out plug serves as a hub for the sockets. My original idea was to attach the clean out plug to a 3” bushing … [Read more...]
Mac Pro: Falling in Love with Apple all over again.
July 14, 2009 By 2 Comments
I have a brand spanking new MacPro- -2.66 Quad Core with 600 GB Hd & 6 GB 1066 RAM and a 24 in. Cinema Display with an Wacom Intous3 4 x 6 in. Pen Tablet. I was weak in the knees, and silly-giddy as I liberated this monster from its cardboard confines. It is truly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Made more beautiful because its mine. In the last couple of years, I have cooled to Apple's hip reputation for quality and innovation. My Intel iMac's motherboard needed replacement … [Read more...]
Topaz Labs DeNoise: Another Winning Photoshop Plugin
June 1, 2009 By 3 Comments
UPDATE: Dr. Roach reviews the latest release of DeNoise here A few weeks back I wrote about TopazLabs application TopazAdjust3, and I liked it so well that it obviously influenced me to take a look at its sister (brother?) application DeNoise. Topaz Labs makes applications for both still and video imaging, and it is the digital still imaging area that have my interest because Photoshop from Adobe is the center of my workflow and I like things that plug-in to Photoshop. … [Read more...]
Concept Art Reverie 2009- The Workshops
April 30, 2009 By 7 Comments
rev⋅er⋅ie [rev-uh-ree] –noun a fantastic or visionary idea... Sunday the doors opened up at 1 pm (now that's an artist schedule!), and the true meat of the conference began. Before the opening keynote, Massive Black CEO Jason Manley stressed to the crowd that Reverie would address the economic climate woes through exploring the various markets where an artist can sell their work. Though this flexibility, artists can gain more opportunities and independence. … [Read more...]
PHOTOGRAPHIC MULTISHOT TECHNIQUES by Juergen Gulbins & Rainer Gulbins
April 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I've been neglecting a new book that's been on my desk for a month. When I first glanced at Juergen Gulbins and Rainer Gulbins new book PHOTOGRAPHIC MULTISHOT TECHNIQUES I realized that several of the techniques discussed involved the new Adobe Photoshop CS4, and at the time I hadn't upgraded yet. I put PHOTOGRAPHIC MULTISHOT TECHNIQUES aside until I had upgraded to Photoshop CS4 and become comfortable with the new interface and some of the new tools. Now I've … [Read more...]
Lensbaby Composer: A Selective Focus SLR Camera Lens (pt 3)
March 18, 2009 By 6 Comments
A Three Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Pt. 3 of 3: Be My Lens, Baby...always Another improvement over my Lensbaby 2.0 is the lens cap - the 2.0 shipped with a nice, heavy solid metal lens cap that screwed in place... unfortunately, it was kind of slippery and difficult to get off sometimes. The Composer ships with a new squeeze-type lens cap (the style that lets your fingers get inside a lens hood, hmm, what a handy accessory that would be?). Easy on and easy off, but not so … [Read more...]
Lensbaby Composer: Selective Focus SLR Camera Lens (pt 2)
March 17, 2009 By 6 Comments
A Three Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Pt. 2 of 3: Be My Lens, Baby...again Remember our fun with the Sima? The Lensbaby Composer (and all the Lensbaby line, since they use interchangeable elements) is 50mm in focal length compared with the Sima's 100mm. That gets into the usable range for many landscape opportunities, and makes a decent average focal length for portraits and details. Need wider? They can do that... it's that system concept I love so much. Offered as … [Read more...]
Lensbaby Composer: A Selective Focus SLR Camera Lens (pt 1)
March 16, 2009 By 8 Comments
A Three Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Pt. 1 of 3: Be My Lens, Baby! Soon after receiving my first 35mm camera, I found that photography was a little more difficult than it had first looked. Ok, it was a lot more difficult. After mastering the learning curve on how make a sharp, well-exposed photo, I saw some photography by David Hamilton and Robert Farber. I was back to square one. Suddenly, I wanted to shoot soft focus images. But, how to do it? Shortly after graduating … [Read more...]
Illustrator CS4: Gradient Reflection & Glossy Surface
March 4, 2009 By 13 Comments
Making transparent gradients in Illustrator have become much easier with the new Gradient Annotator, a new tool in Adobe's Illustrator CS4. It is now possible to define the opacity if individual color stops in a gradient, revealing underlying objects and colors, and creating multiple layered compositions. The process of creating these gradients have become exact- set the gradient angle, position and dimensions while previewing the effect directly on your artboard. Here, David Turton has created … [Read more...]
The Nikon Creative Lighting System: Using the SB-600, SB 800, SB 900 & RiCi Flashes
March 3, 2009 By 2 Comments
As a landscape, architectural, and product photographer I seldom actually photograph people, and most of my artificial lighting is done with "hot light", that is, continuous lighting done with Lowell or similar tungsten-balanced equipment. Therefore, flash units for me are usually confined to snapshots and general family pictures. My experience with on-camera flash has been limited to the level of advanced amateur if I'm being completely honest with myself. However, a couple … [Read more...]
Pixelmator: The Manual
February 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment
There are some basic functions I wanted to cover before exploring Pixelmator as a tool for Photographers. I intended to publish an introduction to the gradient palette today. However, before moving forward, I thought I would give the Pixelmator User's Manual a read. All the basic features are documented, the information easily accessible and very well organized. Most of the tools are self-explanatory so I didn't feel the need to read the 1st chapter: The Working Environment. Chapter 2: … [Read more...]
