This is part of my endless list of free stuff from the web. Believe it or not, most of the graphics offered on the sites listed below are free. HOWEVER they are all offered under different licensing agreements- some require a link back to the designer's website, some required copyright credits, others require nothing at all. Make sure you read the licensing agreements carefully. Don't abuse an artist's intellectual property rights and they will keep sharing their work with … [Read more...]
PRACTICAL HDRI: High Dynamic Range Imaging For Photographers
November 5, 2008 By 2 Comments
Jack Howard should be a familiar name to many of you photographers as he is the Editor of PopPhoto.com/Popular Photography & Imaging where he tests and reviews cameras, lenses, software and a multitude of camera gadgets. HDRI photography (high dynamic range photography) is a growing phenomenon of interest in the photography field. Simply put, it is a method by which the photographer produces an image that has more dynamic range than that which is possible with normal film or … [Read more...]
Profile: Bret Taylor
October 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Madbadcat's Note: By his own admission, Brett Taylor is largely self-taught. I would tend to argue that, as artists, we are all "largely self-taught", exploring new territory each time we approach a subject. His passion for painting may come from finding TEXTURE as a new addition to his visual vocabulary. Chek out the texture on this closeup of one of his paintings. ::: Artist(s) Name::: Bret Taylor ::: Media::: Mainly acrylics these days, but in the past I've used … [Read more...]
Digital Infrared Photography by Cyrill Harnischmacher
October 6, 2008 By 2 Comments
One of my colleagues is an architectural photographer who shoots digital infrared images a great deal of the time. Unfortunately, he lives several hundred miles from me and when we are together (which actually is seldom) we spend our time talking about our lives and clients--and lately, hurricanes (since we both live in areas that are affected by storms). That means that we don’t spend a lot of time talking about infrared photography, which I would really like to do. For me, that’s … [Read more...]
Technique: One Version of Composite Art
August 18, 2008 By 2 Comments
Nature is the greatest teacher of mankind. In it we find ourselves revealed. To humbly read its lessons and thereby transform ones’ self is to give birth to the deeper soul. My montages are my meditations within this often fragile, yet persistent, living realm where our own impact is so palpable. Indeed, we are a part of nature itself, not separate from it, and our interaction within this world determines our own identity and substance. Hopefully my montages will trigger a realization of … [Read more...]
LAYERS: The Complete Guide To Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature
June 23, 2008 By 1 Comment
When I pick up a book to read it I have an almost overwhelming desire to know something about the person writing the book before I even flip the pages of that book. I want a connection between that person and myself in order to justify committing myself to their momentary care. I look first at book forwards or introductions or at least the author's brief inside the front cover. This is true whether the book is a work of fiction or a technical manual. Without this beginning I … [Read more...]
Creating a Web Comic with Comic Life
June 16, 2008 By 5 Comments
First, this article assumes you have content (even if it is only in your head) and ready to tackle the technical aspects of web comic creation. In short, many artists still work traditionally by scanning their pencils and/or inked drawings and digitally coloring them in Photoshop. However just as many create their work digitally either in Photoshop, Illustrator, or various 3D software programs. The main rule for web comics is it needs to be developed quickly, in order to meet … [Read more...]
Seven Key Techniques For Taking Your Images From Flat To Fantastic
June 2, 2008 By 1 Comment
I used the sub-title as the title because I think it makes the subject clearer. I think that describes why Scott Kelby's book is not just another Photoshop book even if you don't know who Scott Kelby actually is. If you don't know, then I suggest you crank up GOOGLE and pick a couple of dozen of the 999,000 entries it says it pinged up for your perusal when you punch in his name. I'll give you the summation—he knows Photoshop. He knows it very well! I secretly think he is at least a … [Read more...]
The Nikon D3
May 26, 2008 By 2 Comments
I was always an F kind of guy. My first Nikon pro camera was the original F - a 1971 black body FTN. It supplemented my FM2 and I had it until just a couple of years ago when I sold it to a close friend, who bought it with the understanding that I might occasionally need to fondle it... call it conjugal visits. A few years later I found a really nice F2 that I still have… I skipped the F3 and F4 entirely … [Read more...]
EXPLORING DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY & GROUP THERAPY, TOGETHER
May 19, 2008 By Leave a Comment
When I studied traditional photography over twenty years ago I did not see how much the art would shift for me in the way I executed it and what it meant for me. I believed like many of us that the silver halide was a thing of exacting beauty that could never be replaced. … [Read more...]
Exposure & Lighting for Digital Photographers Only
April 25, 2008 By 1 Comment
I recently encountered a relatively new book by Michael Meadhra and Charlotte K. Lowrie entitled Exposure and Lighting for Digital Photographers Only published by Wiley Press in 2007. … [Read more...]
The Nikon D300 Camera at Work
April 21, 2008 By 1 Comment
My job as a Still Photographer in the motion picture industry requires me to get the best possible images for publicity purposes. This requires me to constantly update my equipment when new and better technology is developed. Such is the case with the Nikon D300 camera which hit the market in Dec 2007 and is now available without the waiting list that it had for several months. I had been using the Nikon D2x and the Nikon D200 cameras for several years, and a Nikon D100 and D1x prior to that. … [Read more...]
