Tag Archives: Photography

Blurb

Last weekend, during my trip to San Francisco, I hit my 10,000th photo on my new camera. File numbering wrapped around back to 0000. To mark the occasion, I started going through my archives, and picking out my favorites. As if a sign, I saw on the new flickr homepage a link to blurb. Aha! Something I can do with them other than a slideshow! Its a shame to take all these high-res 10MP (and in some cases, 300MP+) photos and just use small 600px versions on the web.

So this week, I’ve been working on a layout for a book, of my 80 or so favorite images from my first 10,000. I plan to have the book finished next week sometime, so I’ll have my proof in a couple weeks. I’m not sure if this is the kind of thing I’m going to try and sell, or what yet.

I’ve been published!

…sort of!
This photo taken at Beals Point, Lake Folsom was included in a recent Sacramento City Guide for schmapp.com under Marine Excursions.
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6 Million People

The 6 Million People project at Flickr is collecting pictures of 6 million people, one portrait at a time. The photo pool stands a tribute to the 6 million Jewish people and millions of others who died during the Nazi Holocaust.

Its worth keeping the awareness up, especially since there are those who still deny its occurrence. Every week, they feature a particular portrait photographer in Spotlight 7, and let me tell you, there is some awesome stuff there! If nothing else, it makes for good inspiration when thinking of something to do with your photography.

Check them out!

Miniature Fauxtography

Faking tilt-shift photos might not be as fun as getting a lensbaby and doing it through the lens, but its easier, and gives a little more control over the final output. The basic principle is straightforward, tilt and shift the focal plane to produce a very sharp dof, not parallel to the camera.

The process is really very simple in photoshop CS and above.

  1. Boost the contrast and saturation with your favorite method a little.
  2. Start the Quick mask tool, and use the Gradient tool to make the mask. The reflected gradient option that looks like a cylinder works best. Draw a perpendicular line from the area you want in focus, away to the edge of the photo.
  3. Exit Quick mask, and apply a Filter > Blur > Lens Blur.
  4. Deselect, then apply finishing touches to the saturation until it has the right look.

WARNING: The process can get addicting!

More at Tilt-Shift Photography

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