Dr. Roach’s Guide to Photoshop CS4 For Beginners: Preferences

intro-prefs

There are still a lot of people using Photoshop CS4 even though Photoshop CS5 has been out for some time. In the spirit of sharing, this series of downloadable lecture notes for CS4 is placed online for those who may need some help with the basics of the program. Much of the basics remain unchanged in CS5 and I believe that the original tutorial will prove useful for many of the steps of the revised Photoshop CS5, but there are minor differences sometimes. Originally, these notes were part of … [Read more...]

Review: THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY: An Approach to Personal Expression

ARTPHOTO

I always enjoy receiving a review copy of any book from Rocky Nook Press because I know two things about it in advance: (1) the book itself will be printed on Acid-Free paper, and will still show its illustrations with brilliance and clarity for years to come, and (2) the book will be bound in such a manner that it will behave itself and lie open beside my computer without the necessity of putting weights on each side of the open volume in order to make it lie down quietly and allow me to enjoy … [Read more...]

Review- Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3: A Photographer’s Handbook

Amazon.com_ Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3_ A Photographer_s Handbook (9781933952673)_ Stephen Laskevitch_ Books

I recently received a review copy of Rocky Nook's Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3: A Photographer's Handbook by Stephen Laskevitch. I always enjoy receiving a book from Rocky Nook to review because they print their books on acid-free paper and the reproduction quality is as outstanding as the content. As a workshop teacher I am always interested in another teacher's approach and quite admire the methodical, logical, and easily-understood approach that Stephen Laskevitch uses in Photoshop CS5 … [Read more...]

Review: ART TEXT v2.2.2 by Belight Software

Review: Art Text v2.2.2 by Belight Software

Editor's Note:  Wouldn't you know? Just as we released this article, a newer 2.3 version with a vector editor has been released. Dr. Roach will review it at a later date. Back in April, 2009 I last reviewed BeLight's ART TEXT and found it a useful headline and logo designing tool, but time passes and the new 2.2.2 version appeared as a review copy (from BeLightsoft. Com)on my desk with a new, revamped look and a greater ease of usage. … [Read more...]

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Review: Pixelmator 1.6

Pixelmator 1

About a year and a half ago (January 7, 2009 to be exact) I wrote a review of Pixelmator as a potential light-weight image-editing software. At that time I found it a very useful and inexpensive image-editing software that was well worth its $59.00 cost. (Download from Pixelmator.com) A new version of Pixelmator (1.6) is available as a free upgrade to current Pixelmator owners, but a word of caution goes along with it. Pixelmator has been rewritten for Snow Leopard 10.6 and the new version … [Read more...]

Photographs by Britt Stokes

These Files sizes are large. Please be patient. Taken in 2010 with The Infrared Conversion Digital Camera … [Read more...]

Keeping Up With Google: Speed a Factor in Page Rank

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I was reading my morning news website yesterday when I ran across a link to an article entitled "It’s Official: Google Now Counts Site Speed As A Ranking Factor" posted at SearchEngineland.com . It seems that Google has responded to results of numerous studies over the years that concluded that even a half second delay in delivering content will result in shorter. For instance, as part of their own internal experiment, Google slowed down their own search results by 100 to 400 MILLISECONDS, … [Read more...]

Review: Crossbrowsertesting.com

crossbrowtest

Since I have already sang their praises,  this is more of an introduction to Crossbrowsertesting.com than a review. Best described as a Browser Compatibility Lab, this online service offers a place to test a website on just about every browser- operating system combination. It offers two types of testing: interactive (to test ajax, javascript, and flash) and screenshots (which verifies layouts across all browsers). The site offers three (3) pricing plans which all include access to their … [Read more...]

Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity by Michael E. Stern

Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity - Rocky Nook

Rocky Nook Press recently sent me a review copy of Michael E. Stern's new book Build A Better Photograph: A Disciplined Approach To Creativity, and since I am always interested in the creative process (especially when it involves disciplined thought), I was happy to sit down with it for some quality time. I gravitate towards that word "disciplined" because I am an analytical and systematic individual. My trusty Mac computer dictionary provided the following: With that in mind, I have … [Read more...]

Four Companies with Great Customer Service You Should Know About.

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The new year introduced me to new vendors and reinforced my belief in 2 old ones: crossbrowsertesting.com,  browsershots.org, polurnet.com, and arthemis premium wordpress theme. This is a story of great customer service. Arthemis Premium Wordpress Theme Some time last fall, i decided that i wanted to change the DigitalAppleJuice theme to Arthemis Premium wp theme by Colorlabs Project. I am still a huge fan of the Revolution- Studiopress themes- all my client themes are based on them … [Read more...]

Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style by Alain Briot

For those of you who follow The Luminous Landscape web site, Alain Briot's name will be a familiar one from his informative and insightful writings for the photographer. If you are new to his writings you will be in for a treat in his second book published by Rocky Nook (his first was Mastering Landscape Photography). Rocky Nook produces beautiful volumes printed on acid-free paper that reproduce the dynamic tonalities of the fine-art prints that they showcase, and the long-term … [Read more...]

Lighting On A Budget – Pt. 2

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...]