~ 16/365 I'm a Scientist ~

Today was a day I tried to include my cats, 2 of them kind of cooperated, the other bloodied me up and never made it in the shot....lol.  This tshirt is a present from the wife, I always joked with her in any argument that because I taught grade 7 science that I was a scientist.  She laughs at me and found this tshirt at Old Navy for me.  I love it, hehhee, had to make it a 365.  Not happy with the final edit of this, really sloppy photoshop.  :)  Composite shots are NOT my specialty.....but they are still fun.

-Randy

~ New Edits, CS6 ~

CS6

So the new photoshop drops May 7th and I made my pre-order on mine yesterday.  I have been using the beta and loving it.  There are some really cool new features which I am in love with.  The new blur filters are great, the tilt shift one is by far my fave.  They created the look to mesh better with lightroom, blacks and greys, it just looks great.  Colour images pop out awesome when I am working on them.  It also will allow me to edit video, although I have not tried that yet.  I used my teacher cred to get the educational discount....so I am excited to use this program to create this summer.

New Edits

Here are a few new edits of Susan and Tatiana edited this week.....have a good finish to the week everyone.
-Randy

~ Emily ~

I was looking at some photoshop tutorials last night on a really cool website on photoshop. It really reminded me how much fun it is to be creative with photoshop. There are so many talented photoshop artists out there that it makes me feel a bit overwhelmed when I try and do similar work. I have to keep reminding myself how individual art is. I know that is a simple concept but I am always looking at other artists and creative people and feeling like somehow I just don't stack up. I do love it and last night I played around with a pic from my shoot with Emily. I have come up with these two versions. I really like them both for different reasons.

A great resource for stock photography to use with edits is here. I found a lot of cool images to use and sometimes a good stock image is a place to start for creating ideas. Just use your imagination, practice photoshop and really start learning to use layers, layer properties and how to blend layers together to create different looks. I found dodge and burn are also very helpful tools. The trick when you blend lots of images together is to try and make the lighting and colour work. It's like a magic trick, trying your best to create the illusion that all of those elements you are blending together in photoshop deserve to be there together. A good way of doing this is doing an image adjustment for colour balance on the layers to try and make them all work together.

I hope I am able to inspire someone else to try using photoshop and to be creative. I am by no means an expert or on the level of some of the photoshop artists out there. It's an art form and takes time and a lot of talent to master. You have to start somewhere and don't let others intimidate you. Just do what you can do and it will come. Baby steps, I started with some really basic concepts and techniques. Google is your friend and there are some excellent guides and tutorials out there. I look forward to exploring my creative side more this summer. :)

On a personal note, thanks SO much to the people (you know who you are) that read my blog about my Dad and his recent diagnosis with cancer. He is seeing his doctor today to discuss treatment, so hopefully tonight I will have some reassuring news. Your thoughts, prayers and well wishes really helped and I thank you so much. I know many of you have had loved ones and close family ill and also experiencing cancer, which makes it mean even more to me on a personal level that you cared enough to let me know you were thinking of my family. Thanks so much. I hope all of your families and friends stay safe and healthy this summer and in the future too! :)

On a really happy note, my beautiful wife returned safe and sound from her Huntsville adventures. I love having her back as do the 3 baby cats. Life is good! :)

~ Weekend is Here ~

So I did some art today, took a sketchbook picture and tried colouring it on my computer using photoshop. It's not what I imagined, or how I'd like it to look. But for a first attempt in a few years I am happy with it. :) I would love to colour like a pro....and paint digitally....maybe one day I'll master it all. :)

~ The Moment ~

I think that photography is amazing. However it seems there are photographers out there...and yes you know who you are. These photographers are the "technical" nerds, the ones that obsess over lighting and over all the technical aspects of photography. These photogs need to always see sharp images and technically sound photos. Their gear and the lenses they use must be top of the line. I think far too often this type of photographer loses the moment in the quest to get that "perfect" image. I have been learning more that the moment is far more important then the light, the sharpness. Sometimes it's the moment that matters most. Let me explain. I shot a wedding where I had the couple select an image to be printed. She picked an image I liked but when I went to edit it for print. It had a blury area on it that happened do to movement when I shot the picture. There was nothing I could do in photoshop to fix it so I thought it probably wasn't a good image to use. However after looking at it I could see it was a special shot even with that "flaw" and the couple liked the moment in the picture.
I am starting to try and find those moments in my pictures now and hope that I can try not to become obsessive about being one of those technical nerds and allow the pictures to just happen. A few years ago I was doing this shoot and caught the model adjusting her boots and this was not a posed shot. I had my camera ready and snapped this shot. It is one of my faves from the shoot and happened when we were both not really "trying" for anything amazing. It just happened. I think that quest for L glass and great SLR bodies needs to be set aside sometimes and the moments need to be caught. There will always be an amazing SLR on the market, always be great lenses to buy. But those moments come once in a lifetime and it's up to the photographers to catch them. So use a point and shoot, a SLR, a disposable...just catch them.
Oh yeah and Oilers win!!! :)
-Randy

Drawing Tablet

Just loving my tablet. I sketched a picture quick tonite and played around with it. This was REALLY quick....I am happy with it. It's a new Wacom BAMBOO tablet. (drool) An Anniversary present from Jenn....XOXOXOOXOXOX THANKS WIFEY!!! :) Here is my sample: