Moving On

We have been working on our new softer and friendlier website for some time now and while not totally complete, there is enough there to give it a coming out party. Hard edged graphics have given away to nice calming color and a little more free spirited graphics.
As far as the blog, I have decided to bring it under the peekfoto domain to increase my search engine ranking and it is just easier to work with. Why is this a surprise, I am using iWeb that comes on the Mac. I am still exploring many of the option but right now some of the nice tool I am used to on blogger are missing in iWeb. It does however clean it up and gives it a less clunkier feel.

Here is the top of the blog, come on over and give it a read right here. We will give this a go and hopefully it will be an enjoyable experience for all. I am not sure if I will be moving all the archive posts from blogger over to the mac site. For right now I am going to leave it where it is.


Take care and I'll see you at http://peekfoto.com/Blog/Blog.html


Cya there... Doug

As with anything that man comes up with, there will be good uses as well as bad. Facebook is one such creation. Personally I have 121 friends on Facebook, just a bug-splat on some peoples friend list. As I read some of the entries, and review photos of some of the people it can be alarming what is displayed and said in this form of virtual social medium. The minute the Share button is pressed the seclusion of the keyboard and display are immediately transmitted across the internet to whomever. Your friends may be friends that are not you friends. Talk about the ultimate six degrees of separation!

For the good of it, the image above is a scanned image from an old Kodak 110 Instamatic camera. The three girls in the photo are Ashly, Lindsay, and Sandy, Sandy being our daughter. They were part of a Christmas program at a church we were attending at the time. It was through Facebook a while back that our family was able to get back in contact with Ashly who is currently in Germany. I put this image up and the next day we were all friended by Lindsay, Ashly' sister.

My only warning to the Facebookers I run into is that we all need to guard our heart, and watch what we say and show in any social environment. There is very little privacy in the Big Brother world we find ourselves in.

That will do it for today.

Cya... Doug

Enough Already

Yesterday on Scott Kelby's blog was a guest post by photographer, teacher, and now author David duChemin about the why and not the how of photography. Here is the link.

duChemin hit the mark regarding where photography is and where it should be going. The how as he refers to is covered in volumes of information on books, DVD, internet tutorials. All good stuff but we need to keep a balanced focus on why we want all this information.

I have to agree with his thoughts. Here we have an set of manufacturers upping raising the bar every six months or so. It is all good and cool stuff but there is one problem. Just as a woodworkers tool is the best in the world, unless a craftsman is working it, the end result is not necessarily pleasing. This could be looked at in a different light (pun intended). When does a snapshot become a photograph and not just a picture. As good as cameras are getting at photo styles, I believe it still takes the hand (and eye) of a skilled craftsman to tweak an image into a true piece of art.

The tech train is an easy one to ride for sure. Especially when building a business. What brand, type of lighting, software, training, and platform are all big questions that have to be answered. There are plenty of answers out there to these questions but are they the correct ones? It can be hard to know the why when you don't know the how except to say it is a driving desire to work with your eyes and creative mind.

To answer the why we can look at what motivates us to shoot. Check it out tomorrow.

Cya... Doug 

Equipment That Works

This is the battery grip for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR. It will house two Lithium-Ion batteries or a pack of six AA batteries. This makes it nice if I am ever out where I can not charge the Lithiums and can pick up some AA's. If you are unfamiliar with a battery grip it not only allows you to hold the camera in a portrait orientation, there are shutter speed, AF/AE lock and focus point election right on the grip. Your thumb can still reach the aperture dial albeit just a little further than in the landscape orientation.

Honestly I have never shot with a camera with a battery grip and I found it a bit awkward this past weekend on two different shoots. I can definitely see the advantages of having the grip though. First there is the battery part of two batteries for twice the duration of shooting. The inherent problem is that there is now twice the battery cost. The other benefit is that of stability. Holding the camera as you would in a normal landscape mode allows a better grip on the camera. This is most handy when I shoot Joe McNally style. And what is that you ask... It has to do with focusing with your left or right eye. In my case I am able to use either eye without any problem. Here is the YouTube video if your are interested.

Of course what is a camera without a means to mount it to a tri-pod. As I have the Really Right Stuff BH-40 LR II ball head mounted to an Enduro carbon fiber tri-pod I needed to pick up an L-bracket for the 5D2. The head an bracket are shown below.

The really cool thing about a ball head and quick release mount with an L-bracket is that changing orientation is just one motion away. Open the clamp, flip the camera, and close the clamp and its done. Sweet! The downer news its this stuff is a bit pricey when you think of what it is made out of. Not saying its not strong and well built, but it is aluminum after all. I consider it one of those areas where you pay for it once and you will have it for a long time.

I have had this set-up on my 40D and it is outstanding so I am looking forward to using this set-up on the 5D2.

I gotta get going so have a great day... Doug

Kelbytraining

A couple of weeks ago I signed up with Kelbytraining to hone my skills in photography and anything Adobe. As a NAPP member I got a discount and I must tell you, Scott Kelby (image below and right) has put together an absolutely brilliant team of professionals. These folks have assembled a mass of online video shorts that hand hold you through various aspects of photography, photo editing, and other software in the Adobe suite line-up.

I could list the many instructors in the group but it would be easier if you just clicked over to the site to check it out for yourself. Here is the link to check out all the available classes. If you are a serious photographer or amateur. There is an investment in the training. It is $199 per year or $19.99 per month, and if you are a NAPP member it is better than that. The deal is, you can watch as many videos as many times as you like during that period. After you see the list of classes and the wealth of information presented, it's a bargain.

For a more economical solution but one that is filled with really good tips for improving your shooting, take a click over to a site that is sponsored by Nikon. It is called Looking Good In Pictures and is hosted by Carson Kressley. Kudos' for a camera manufacturer to actually promote a skill set that they sell a product for.

Hey, I've got to be running down to Orlando today so I'll see you later.

Doug

Make-Up Blog

Well this may not be a bonus blog but more of a Thursday make-up posting. Yesterday I was hitting some sites that I have taken notes about while listening to podcast during my many airline flights. Podcast are my airline survival tool.

Anyhow I was over at Ken Rockwell's blog. There is a plethora of 411 at his site. One of the funniest items were the "Seven Levels of Photographer". It is hilarious only because we all fit into one or two of these categories. Sorry but no admission of guild here. You can go to the article by clicking here.

While I was at Ken's site he had an excellent evaluation of the new Canon 5D Mk II. I am really stoked to get my hands on this jewel of technology. I know I have posted on it before but let me have my moment of enjoyment. Some of the images are shown below.

Here is a look at the well endowed to LCD panel. The original 5D had a Custom position on the mode dial but brought all three (C1, C2, and C3) originally introduced on the 40D.

The back panel above is going to be a little cumbersome for 40D shooters (yours truly) because the button are on the side rather than the bottom and they are not in the same order. Oh well.

The very cool cutaway image gives a glimpse under the hood of this little baby.

Back when I purchased my original XTi, for some reason I started investing in really good lenses. The L series Canon lenses are some of the highest quality DSLR lenses made. As I moved to the 40D, I did purchase it with a "kit lens" if you can call an EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS lens a kit lens. After the XTi was repaired, that lens found a semi-permanent home. As far as the 5D MkII is concerned, at present I do not need to pick up another lens. I am definitely looking forward to early December.

Take care all... Doug

Cool Tools

Smart people are really amazing. They somehow find the time to put together thoughts and processes that make life easier for everyone else. For some reason Adobe has chosen to keep one of the most useful tools from the hands of the Photoshop Elements user. This would be the layer mask. Now there is a work around in Elements (see the shot below) that creates a clipping mask that is simply a static levels adjustment layer.

Ok... So here comes the smoke and mirrors. I was looking over the twenty five or so blogs I peruse on a daily basis and stumbled on this wonderful tool on ProphotoLife's blog. The layer mask is actually located on another site (which seams to be a clearing house if cool tools), here is the link.

What you end up with after following the directions of the installation of the effect is the screen capture above. The white/black box (highlighted in yellow above). Simply activate the layer you want the mask applied to and double click on the layer mask effect. In order to see the mask selection in the effects pallet, "Show All" must be selected in the effects option window.

At that point you can paint on the mask with black to conceal the effect or leave it white to reveal the effect. Just like Elements heavy hitting brother Cs4.

I took a real quick example in the two images below and the result is the same with either of the two processes above (work around or layer mask). I mad an adjustment in using the Shadow/Highlights adjustment tool then using the mask to leave the water and sky alone.

Before (above) and after (below)

Well... It may not have been the best example but you get the idea (I hope). Anyhow, someone had to sit down and think really hard on how to code an effect for this to happen. Thank you Sue Chastain (oh smart one) for giving this to the Elements community.

That's going to do it for today. 

Cya... Doug

NAPP... Just Do It!

In a continuing effort to put up a post at least once per day I have decided to pre-blog this coming week. If I find time I may get a [p]411 Live Update but I would not hold your breath.

For this morning though I am going to recommend to anyone who is not a member, but uses Photoshop in any meaningful way to join the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

The folks in this association are just outstanding. I have never seen a group of individuals who are in such a competitive industry so willing to share their secret, tips, and tricks of their profession. It really speaks highly of their character. I must really credit this global attitude of warmth to one person. None other than the biological father of NAPP... Scott Kelby. While I do not know Scott personally, I have been to one of his presentations on Lightroom and have been keeping up with his blog for the past year. From every outward appearance, I can say he is one of the most genuine down to earth people. Besides he really really enjoys what he is doing. Be it photographing food, portraits, or landscapes, to conducting medium size (300-400) seminars or being on top of the world at Photoshop World Expo twice a year. He puts the Energizer bunny to shame.

Continuing with the NAPP - Photoshop - Kelby praise-athon, I look forward each week to the funny, entertaining, enlightening, and educational 30 minute video podcast that is PhotoshopUserTV. These guys genuinely have a good time on screen and I am very thankful that while they are broadcasted on the Fox Business Network they have been able to keep that light and free spirited banter alive on the broadcast. I just which they were not so time constrained. Oh well.. Such is progress.

Anyhow, like I was saying if you use Photoshop the $99 annual membership to NAPP is well worth the investment in your creative portfolio. If it were just the discounts it would be convincing enough. There is also a magazine that just blows the competition away when it comes to technical guidance (step by step). One more thing, as a member if you have any photographic, photo software, or digital photo editing questions that arise there is a plethora of information to answer you questions. If you can not find it you can ask and in a very short time someone will respond with a very informed answer to you question.

Ok... I'll nock it off. Just go check them out and you will not be sorry.

Cya (live) later this week... Doug

More HONL

Today is not going to be much but I forgot to get this in yesterday. The Honlphoto guys also sell a gel kit that is fantastic. As you can see from the image above the gels have a strip of Velcro attached to them and they just press onto the attaching strip that is already on the speedlite.

Color Correction: 

• Cinegel Quarter Blue (1/4 CTB) 
  
• Cinegel Tough 1/2 PlusGreen 
  
• Cinegel Tough 1/4 PlusGreen 
  
• Cinegel Roscosun CTO 
  
• Cinegel Roscosun 1/2 CTO 
  
• Cinegel Roscosun 1/4 CTO 
  
• Cinegel Roscosun 3/4 CTO 

Effects: 

• Roscolux Primary Blue 
  
• Roscolux Moss Green 
  
• Roscolux Light Red
  

I am really looking forward to using the little gem's Aha... gels.

Cya... Doug

More Cool Toys

Here is some cool gear that will allow you to make more and possibly better use of those all to scary speedlites. These devices from Honlphoto (Honl is the guys name) go on you speedlite in a flash (take the pun however you want). There is a strip that has a rubber no slip material on one side and a bunch of Velcro on the rest of it. This strip wraps around your speedlite and allows you t attach the devices via Velcro.

In the photo above the first image is the speedlite with the strap attached, BTW there is no sticky stuff here so don't worry. The second image is an 8" snoot that wraps around the attachment strip and Velcro's together to make the round snoot. What is neat about this is that it can be stored flat. I have a Pelican Case that stores my two 580 EX II's and the transmitter, and now the Honl stuff goes on top.

Anyhow, the third image is calls a grid. The one I picked up is the 1/4" grid. It has a couple of straps that attache it to the strap on the speedlite. It goes on really really quick. It is a little bulkier that the snoot but I think it gives a little better and more consistent performance than the snoot.

The above three images are a test I made with the Honl light modifiers. There were all shot with an EF 50 mm f1.4 USM lens at about eight feet from the wall. I manually focused as it was sending the AF up a tree with nothing to grab onto. Each had the flash go off and was set at 1/250 exposure with a f/2.8 aperture. The first image is the straight flash, the second had the snoot, and the third was the 1/4" grid.

All in all each of the modifiers has there strengths. I think the snoot can be closed down some. It all depends on how you bring the Velcro together. The grid though is just flat cool looking.

Take care... Doug

Sunday Bonus Blog

Hey all, I have some down time while watching Deadliest Catch (I'm hooked) in my hotel room and thought I'd get this post up. Today was spent running around Ohio and Indiana with a couple of Hawker 800XP's. I took this shot above as we were walking back out to the planes after having lunch. Mike (pictured) and I each had two students and blasted off from Columbus earlier and did a leg to Ft Wayne IN, then on to Toledo OH and finally down to Mansfield OH. It was a really beautiful day for flying but I noticed one thing which is unfortunate. A few years ago we did a lot more in aircraft training and Sundays spall airplanes would pack the airspace around MFD. Today there were very few aircraft in the air or on the ground. I can only imagine this is due to the very high cost of gas today.

After lunch we reversed the route with the second student. This is a little old school when it comes to Jet training as there is a serious cost factor not only in the cost of aircraft for training but for the aircraft to be available and out of revenue flying. Normally the students accomplish all what they need to do in the simulator except when there is a scheduling issue with either the sim or an available company instructor. In that case, the pilots come to Columbus and we spend three days with them completing their training.

Mike is not only and outstanding pilot, he is a spectacular guitar player. If you are interested in visiting his website click here.

Thanks for visiting and check back tomorrow... Doug

Bonus Blog Saturday

Hey ye bloggers and bloggets. I have decided it is ok to post on Saturday under the following condition. First is that I am on the road and second that I am not too tired wore out from five days of flying. So these days will be titled Bonus Blog Saturday.

Here is an image that was taken the other day when we were in Las Vegas NV and is titled Jet Bridge Boneyard.

Normally when an aircraft is flown beyond its service limits the final destination is often an isolated spot in the desert. These locations are called aircraft "Bone Yards" representing a dead resting place for an aircraft to gracefully disappear into isolation.

Taken with my Canon G9 and was shot RAW in Manual at ISO 100 at 1/640 second exposure with an f/3.5 aperture at 18.9 mm. I processed the RAW file in Adobe Camera Raw using some recovery, and tweaking the blacks to get rid of the haze. Once in Photoshop I used Corey Barkers Borders Under a Minute technique to get the edgy border look. The really cool thing a is that it works in Elements too.

Friday Wrap-Up

Well we made it to Chicago to pick-up the sister-in-law. Got back about 1:30 this morning and slept in for a while. Last Saturday was opening night at the race track and I was at a wedding reception so I will have to redeem myself tomorrow and get some images up on the blog on Monday.

Thought I would just quickly share here some of the blogs I routinely visit (read almost every day) and enjoy.

Scott Kelby - Kelby's blog is both informative and entertaining with a level of sarcasm that only Scott has. He blogs M-F and is focussed around Adobe Products and Nikon shooting. Scott is the President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals but is really low key about it which I really admire about the guy.

David Ziser - David Ziser posts M-F to his blog called Digital Protalk, and is primarily a wedding photographer in the Cincinnati OH area. He posts some really fantastic images along with short how-to video clips. Thursday's he puts out a series of business tips that are filled with good information.

Terry White - Terry is from the Detroit area and posts to his Terry White's Tech Blog and as the name indicated is all about technology. 

Dave Kloskowski - Lightroom Killer Tips is his Blog and there is soooo much good and cool stuff about Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom (the official name) that is is a must see for any lightroom user. Or if you are thinking about it visit his blog and pick up some of the cool stuff light room can do for your photography.

Dave Cross - Dave puts on a small blog that many times has a little video of the day of him talking to his Mac and putting it up on the blog. This is a unique approach to blogging but if it save him time, I'm all over that.

Ben Willmoore - The Where is Ben blog is exactly what it says. Ben lives out f a huge RV bus and travels the country. Kind of a sweet Gypsy life. He also has a website called Best of Ben that has some his really impressive HDR photography.

Moose Petterson - Moose News is the blog Peterson writes and has some really spectacular wildlife images. He operates out of the Manmoth Lake CA area so the landscapes are just phenomenal.

John Nack - Deep from the bowls of the Adobe organization, this is a blog that holds the latest releasable 411 on anything Adobe. His posts are frequent enough to consider it a daily blog.

Jason David Moore - Jason's blog is daily with one day a week being dedicated to the P&P Weekly, this is a weekly summary of other bloggers in the photo and Photoshop arena.

Gary Fong - Here is a blog that is filled with informative tools on using your gear. Gary has a good run of informational videos to enhance your photograph skills.

Becker - The [b] School Blog is painless, light, and very informative. Becker is a wedding photographer in California and produces short video clips that are just a collection of jewels on maintaining and growing you photography business. He will be putting on a more serious [b] School later this year but fro right now, these little clips will be classics some day.

Joe McNally - One hugely successful photographer and started his blog in January. Wow... I have something in common with Joe. Our photogr... well, ok. we both started blogging in January. Anyhow, Joes blog is stuffed with really great photography.

Well buy time I run through these blogs and the associated rabbit trails that my ADD mind is willing to take, it can be a length process. But enjoyable. In doing so you see into the mind of these fine professionals and get a sense of the type of dedicated individuals they are and the really crazy and time crunched life they must lead.

So that's it fro a wrap-up. Have a great weekend.

Doug

#1 of a Kelby Top 5

A while back I purchased this little device and it is the absolute best for daylight chimping. Little did I know that it was number one on the "Top 5" list of Scott's Top Five List for Everything under the category of "Five accessories I recommend for Outdoor Photographers"

With one of the goofiest looking logo's going, Hoodman manufactures the Loupe. The company goes way back in the movie industry for providing those black hoods that would go over camera and cameraman so he could see the image and get the settings right. Well it would look a little odd to throw a black cloth over ones head to check the LCD on the back of a modern DSLR.

But that is exactly what you do with the Hoodman Loupe. Except the part about throwing the black cloth over the head. This little device pictured above resides around you neck while shooting and then you just place it over the LCD as pictured below to view the screen as though you were in a dark room. The really sweet deal about this device is that there are optics built in that allow you to adjust the focus.

There is a bunch of other really cool items over at Hoodman. They have some UDMA CF cards, Right Angle Viewers for those very low altitude photogs. I picked up a couple packs of the LCD skins and they do a great job of protecting the LCD. Got one on both my DSLR and the G9 that I travel with.

If you are interested you can click here for the Hoodman site or B&H has it for $64.95 which is five bucks less than buying it directly from the manufacturer... Go figure.

Hey... I've gotta go as we have a busy day tomorrow so TTFN.

Doug

What a Wonderful Monday

Today was a really really nice day in West Michigan. Just a gorgeous spring day with temps in the upper 60's. While I had been playing a little catch up on the office work there were two wheels in the garage that were calling my name to be uncovered.

Ok, so we did not go up to the Mackinaw Bridge... We did go out for a nice late afternoon cruise (65 mi) and stopped in Saugatuck, MI for an early dinner. I ˙ad only started the bike once over t˙e winter and the volts were down to about 9VDC. I gave it a try anyhow and it fired on the first turn over. So I sat there soaking in the potato... potato... potato beat that the Harley-Davidson V-Twin engine puts out.

My daughter and husband were in over the weekend for a wedding of a good friend of ours so we were able to enjoy some time with them as well. As far as the wedding I have a new interest in attending these events. It is called watch and learn form the sidelines. We are not into Weddings at the moment but I have no doubt we will go in that direction in the next couple of years.

The photographer was shooting with a 5D and what looked like a 30D or possibly a 40D as a second body. I think he had a 40-70 L lens and a 70-200 L on the smaller body which would make sense to get the farther reach with the 200 and 1.6 cropped sensor. 

Without going into the gory details I was asked to get some shots of the bride for someone who could not attend the ceremony. As a good friend of course I agreed. The problem was I did not want to bring my gear and look like I was ripping off the guy hired to do the wedding. So all I could really do was bring my G9 with me and look like an over interested fan of the couple. This would be my stealth approach to getting some shots.

* * *  WARNING  * * *   WARNING  * * *  WARNING  * * *

Somewhere in the G9 manual must be a statement about not shooting in low light with this camera. I will offer Canon the following scale of acceptable low light performance:

ISO    Noise Ratio     Esthetic Rating

100        NR     Cant See Anything

200        10%     Still way to dark

400        40%      Can make out images if exposed long 

                               enough

800        60%      Really kind of sucky in noise

1600      ???      You might just as well shoot through 

                               a screen

Now for the good news. I jump online and surf over to Noise Ninja by Picture Code and download their version 2.1.1 and install it as a plug-in to PS but I also picked up the stand alone version so I would not have to fire up CS3 just to hack at a jpeg file.

It would have been really ugly if I had to tweak a whole bunch of these photos but with a little on the fly action I was able to automate most of the process. What was really cool thou is that when run in CS3 as a filter it can be used as a Smart Filter. Click on the Noise Ninja sub-layer and you jump right back into the plug-in. Really Sweat!

The image about is the shot from the camera if you can see the noise. After the magic of Noise Ninja the image below was revealed.

I just gotta tell-ya, this is a really fine product. Anyone who has a point and shoot and tries to get low light pictures to turn our is in dire need of this application. It was like $79 bucks for license   codes for the plug-in and stand alone version. This really is amazing. I have not figured it out yet but I know there are downloadable profiles for various cameras which would lead on to believe this could be a much more automated system than I had done today.

Here is the link again if you are interested: Noise Ninja

With all that said and done It's time for some sleep.

Cya...Doug

If You Are In Columbus OH...

The plane has been broken for the last couple of days so we have been sitting around not doing much of anything. I cane report on two entertainment items though. First Leatherheads was Ok... It was funny and all in a goofy kind of way but I am not sure how the facts actually played out. But yes it was entertaining and clean. Not a bad way to blow off a couple of hours. Second is the HBO mini-series on John Adams. I just got done watching the five hour series and was just drawn into the whole period of our unique experiment we call the United States of America. It was really done well and while I will hold out on the historic truth (my wife is the historian), it all played out well. I was planning on doing some work on the peekfoto.com site but could not take myself away from the series.

Before we went to see Leatherheads we stopped by a photography store in Columbus that I had not been to in the years I have been coming here. That is Midwest Photo Exchange. They have a descent presents on the web but I have just not had the occasion to visit the store.

I must tell you it is no a swanked out retail photography store. In fact it was reminiscent of a hobby shop. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was really great there, but after being out at B&H and the organization that they present, Midwest does not come close. They appeared to have very competitive pricing on many of their products, the 5D was going for $2,195 and the 40D was at $1,295, both with L lenses which I can not bring myself to call a kit lens.

Anyhow, If you are anywhere near downtown Columbus it is worth a ride up High Street through the Short North, Past the OSU Campus to there store. The address is 3313 N. High St. Columbus, OH. (616) 261-1264. If you want to jump over to their website click here.

That's about all for this week. Have great weekend and I'll be back on Monday.

Doug

Photo Mecca

One last post before the lights go out.

I have climbed the Mountain, I have crossed the Sea, I have crawled on my belly (big) and I have made it to the promised land. I am standing at the corner of 34th Street and 9th Avenue. That's right baby... B&H Photo and Video, the photographic Mecca of all NAAP members (for the free shipping). Three floors of audio, video, and photographic products. When we reached the second floor where all the photographic stuff was my wife said I had this gleaming stare in my eyes, I remember the moment more of being a child walking into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory for the first time. I could have floated though each isle for the entire day. But we were there for Chris and Sandy, they were actually looking for a new point and shoot so that is what we did. 

As seen in the image below there is a down side to going to B&H even if it is on Easter Sunday. The crowd while calm and polite was absolutely massive. We were standing in line about number 8 or 9 when one of the workers called out to the crowd "English only" and bam! we were at the counter being help by a very nice gentleman by the name of Sam.

I did manage to got over to a lens counter and throw on a couple of Canon lenses to try them out but ended up not buying a thing. It was kind of ironic to be taking an event picture in a Camera store. But then again I was in tourist mode in New York.

Catch ya later... Doug

Way Cool Instruction

This took about two hours out of my life but it was way worth the time and effort. It is a training DVD that you run while you have Photoshop open and you can follow along, leaning the techniques of one of the masters at Photoshop.

The DVD is called Welcome to OZ and is produced by Vincent Versace. He has a very zen fashion to his technique. One of the tid-bits I brought out of the lesson was that believable improbabilities are believable while improbably believability's are not. fortunately his instruction in PS technique is a little less obscure. Very interesting guy though.

The first image below is what the lesson starts out with and through many layers and adjustment layers you end up revealing a much different but stunning image.

At one point Versace talks about editing in Photoshop. To the point that you should never complete one process unless it leave the image looking better than it was. Such as the image above is a nice image but each step of the way created a better image.

The image above is the one that I came up with using implementing the Versace techniques while the image below is the final Versace image. One not I must say is that in the instructional portion Versace used a plug-in to degrease the blue color cast after using his color trueing technique. I did not have this plug-in but got around it by using the color balance as an adjustment layer and finally merging the two layers when I had the right tone effect.

To get more information on Versace's instructional video click here. You will find other photo-artists such as John Paul Capenigro, R. Mac Holbert, and Lee Varis on the Acme Educational site also.

It is definitely worth the time, effort, and expense to enhance you Photoshop muscle.

Cya Monday... Doug