Oct 1, 2012
Featured | Regina Pagles
Calvin Hollywood - German digital artist and photographer.
I first discovered Calvin when he appeared a a guest poster on Scott Kelby's Blog.
His English DVD training 'Calvinize' is amazing and I credit a lot of my techniques to him. He includes the skin retouching technique learned from Natalia Taffarel in this ‘Calvinize’ training. You can also find his classes offered on Kelby Training as well as his YouTube Channel. Most of his videos on YouTube are in German, but there are some in English as well, and they are worth seeking out!
‘Calvinize’
http://www.calvinhollywood-blog.com/trainingtutorials/
Guest Blog Post on Scott Kelby’s ‘Photoshop Insider’
http://scottkelby.com/2010/its-guest-blog-wednesday-featuring-calvin-hollywood/
Calvin Hollywood Photoshop Tutorial Part 1 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr12ZfPK2co&list=FLyQ2LOGDb6TSb5nUmbOfQJQ&index=26&feature=plpp_video
Calvin Hollywood Photoshop Tutorial Part 2 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWem0wzj0w4&list=FLyQ2LOGDb6TSb5nUmbOfQJQ&index=31&feature=plpp_video
Calvin Hollywood Photoshop Tutorial Part 3 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8V_M5sJntM&list=FLyQ2LOGDb6TSb5nUmbOfQJQ&index=25&feature=plpp_video
Calvin Hollywood Photoshop Tutorial Part 4 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwyci9FTDss&list=FLyQ2LOGDb6TSb5nUmbOfQJQ&index=24&feature=plpp_video
Joel Grimes - I love Joel Grimes. I devour every word that comes from his mouth. He is such an inspiration and is so generous with his knowledge. [Framed] Network teamed up with Joel and aired weekly videos on the lighting set ups Joel uses to attain his images. There is so much information packed into those 20 minute videos. Joel also has classes offered on Kelby Training and amazing videos on YouTube.
‘Lit Up’ on the [Framed Network]
http://framednetwork.com/episodes/litup1-15/
Joel Grimes - BEHIND THE SCENES - Dorion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM1aaCGLvV4
Joel Grimes - BEHIND THE SCENES - Hope Solo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujr8OUhAs8
Joel Grimes - BEHIND THE SCENES - Lauren
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPL0eWyLTJI
Joel Grimes - BEHIND THE SCENES - Aimee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQPkb2240ZY&list=FLyQ2LOGDb6TSb5nUmbOfQJQ&index=14&feature=plpp_video
Peter Hurley - You have to experience Peter in action to truly appreciate him and what he has to offer. He will drill home the importance of interacting with the person in front of your camera and he is a true master, so you learn from the best. I love this guy and you will, too!
‘Art Behind The Headshot’ Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIhn8C1HqCI&list=FLyQ2LOGDb6TSb5nUmbOfQJQ&index=26&feature=plpp_video
Guest Blog Post on Scott Kelby’s ‘Photoshop Insider’
http://scottkelby.com/2012/its-guest-blog-wednesday-featuring-peter-hurley/
Natalia Taffarel - High end digital retoucher from Argentina. A real pro. I have her DVD, it’s 11.5 hours of advanced beauty retouching techniques. A little over my head, but worth it for the stuff that’s not. This is where I learned how to retouch skin. Her technique is awesome, especially at retaining pore structure.
‘Beauty and Hair Retouching High End Techniques’ DVD
http://www.digitalphotoshopretouching.com/order-retouching-dvd/retouching-tutorials-dvd-2
Sue Bryce - What can I say about Sue Bryce. Watch her on CreativeLIVE and see for yourself. A master at posing, she transforms average Janes into supermodels before your eyes, with just a simple pose. If only I could remember to apply a fraction of the advice I’ve learned from her...
‘Glamour Photography’ course on CreativeLIVE
http://www.creativelive.com/courses/glamour-photography-sue-bryce
‘Inside The Glamour Studio’ course on CreativeLIVE
http://www.creativelive.com/courses/shoot-with-sue-bryce
Amy Dresser - An amazing digital retoucher, famous for her retouching on images by Jill Greenberg. I learned quite a bit from watching her ‘Pointy Man’ tutorial on RetouchPRO. Worth the $15.00 if you have 2.5 hrs. to spend in front of the computer. You only have 3 days to watch it before it expires. Covers her ‘Carve’ technique that is a big part of her style.
Amy Dresser Rentals page on RetouchPro
http://www.retouchpro.com/index.php?page=adrentals2
Amy Dresser’s retouching on Jill Greenbergs’ images
http://www.art.jillgreenberg.com/tagged/end-times
And lastly, I cannot forget to mention Scott Kelby, whom I have learned so much from over the years. He has generously offered so much of his knowledge, in the form of books, tutorials, workshops, seminars, etc. Also the main force behind Photoshop World and if you’ve never been, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It was at Photoshop World that I won that contest, sponsored by Westcott, that got me started in Portraiture.
Kelby Training
http://kelbytraining.com/
NAPP - Free shipping at B&H and Adorama, if you join - SO worth it!
http://photoshopuser.com/
Photoshop World
http://photoshopworld.com/
Scott’s Blog, ‘Photoshop Insider’
http://scottkelby.com/
Let me finish with a quote from Joel Grimes:
"Hard work will out perform talent any day of the week"
With hard work, patience and perseverance, it is possible to realize your personal or professional goals, even if you are slow, lack memory, have no imagination and possess very little natural artistic vision. I am proof. Most importantly, impress yourself... an audience will follow.
Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/reginapagles/
Portfolio Website http://reginapaglesphotography.com
500px http://500px.com/reginapagles
Blog http://reginapagles.com/
NAPP http://members.photoshopuser.com/shineylewis/portfolio/
Google+ https://plus.google.com/109556244641607065276/posts
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/shineylewis/
Arthur Chang | Session Share
Who: Tran and Adam - both dentists who met in school. They live in Walnut Creek, CA, and really like the outdoors and beaches.
What: Wedding preparations.
Where: Laguna Beach, CA.
Photographer: [http://photography.artchang.com/] Arthur was born in South Carolina and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His passion for photography took form in 2004 in the beauty around Santa Barbara California, where he graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a B.S. in Computer Science. When he wasn't coding, he was taking photos. His photography since 2004 has been very photo journalistic and he approaches any type of photography with the focus on telling a story. He has organized many "photo walks" (at least one a week), and started a group based around Flickr called the San Francisco Bay Area Shooters (SFBAS). Soon he branched out into the photography communities of Google+, 500px, and Instagram. Chang says "Photography for me will be forever a learning experience, and I'm always looking for new challenges and stories to tell".
Meet Julian | 20 Year Old Pro
I'm Julian Navarette, of Julian N. Photography. I am a Fine Art Lifestyle Photographer and this is my story :)
I am 20 years old. I Live In Odessa Texas, a small town in west Texas. I am owner and photographer for Julian N. Photography and I have been in business professionally going on 4 years.
My interest in photography started when I was very young. My mother was a hobbyist photographer and loved taking photos. I picked up the love from her. My whole family is naturally artistic. My brothers are artists as well, and it seems to runs in our blood.
Early on, I got my hands on any camera I could get, disposable cameras, tiny web cam cameras, digital cameras; you name it. I was young so I couldn't afford a fancy camera, but I managed with what I could find.
I remember snapping my first photos on my mothers 35 mm Pentax film camera. I also used her old Kodak camera until I finally got my first nice camera from eBay. I was excited because I could edit photos directly on the camera. That's when I discovered photo manipulation. I played with every photo software that was free. I was impressed early on with how you can touch up photos with software. I started taking photos everywhere and anywhere. I always practiced on myself and on my best friend and brothers, and I started applying filters to the images, and posting them on Myspace. I wanted to have a cool looking Myspace page, so I always tried to take a cool new profile photo to go with it. I got immediate feedback from friends and family, but I didn't think anything of it. My mother told me I had an eye for photography, though it was just something that I loved to do and didn't really think about it until my first “photoshoot”.
I was in Junior high when my best friend’s cousin was graduating. She knew I liked photography and that I had a camera, so she called me and asked if I could take some quick photos for her graduation invites. After submitting our order to the photo lab, we were told to come back in about an hour. When we came back to pick up our photos, the employee told us that we couldn't, because its against copyright to print professional photos without a release. My eyes grew big and I had a big smile on my face as I told the employee that I was the photographer. I think thats when I first realized that I actually had something going for me.
I started my photography business and became an avid photographer when I was 17 years old and I was in my Senior year of high school.
I had a technology class my senior year, it was animation and design, we learned advanced software called Maya Autodesk, the same complex software that was used to create the movie Avatar and Toy Story. Towards the end of the semester we had a course on photoshop. I was excited because I would finally learn how to use photoshop and know how to edit photos more professionally.
After a few weeks of assignments my teacher told the class that we would have the chance to take a photoshop certification test and if we passed we would be Adobe CS4 certified. I had my twin brother in the class with me and he passed the test and i failed it. I was so jealous and mad when the teacher told me I would have to retest (might I add that they charge you to take the test every time). This was the test I studied very hard for, and I believe on my 2nd or 3rd try, I passed.
I had a technology class my senior year, it was animation and design, we learned advanced software called Maya Autodesk, the same complex software that was used to create the movie Avatar and Toy Story. Towards the end of the semester we had a course on photoshop. I was excited because I would finally learn how to use photoshop and know how to edit photos more professionally.
After a few weeks of assignments my teacher told the class that we would have the chance to take a photoshop certification test and if we passed we would be Adobe CS4 certified. I had my twin brother in the class with me and he passed the test and i failed it. I was so jealous and mad when the teacher told me I would have to retest (might I add that they charge you to take the test every time). This was the test I studied very hard for, and I believe on my 2nd or 3rd try, I passed.
I am a photography and technology geek so I liked learning everything. I built my business and my clientele completely around Facebook, it was the best way of getting in touch with people and the cheapest, well,... because it was free. Most of my clients have come from Facebook and a lot of my client base grew from a word-of-mouth client base. I had a Facebook page and started to get likes on it, when i got to 100 "fans" I had a free photoshoot giveaway to clients, my page grew from there. After about 400 likes I hosted a Valentine contest for a free photo session, from that session my likes grew from 400 to over 1,000. To me, offering a free session was worth it because it helped me grow my client base and get my name out there. After a while my name was reaching out in town and in the photography community, I was thrilled. It did take some time but as I went I began developing my own style and kept to it. Now I only shoot what I love and I get clients specifically who like the kind of work that I do. About 4,271 "likes" later I got noticed by the local newspaper (I was 19 yrs. old). I was also featured in other known photographer blogs. Now i am at over 5,300+ Facebook likes and I cant help but thank everyone for the support that they've given me.
Now, almost 3 years later, my good friend Jennifer Guiley and I have a studio together, and I run my own successful photography business!
I shoot in the evenings for all my sessions during the best light that many know as golden hour. I shoot with Canon 5d mark ii (now mark iii) and use mostly 50 or 85 mm focal length. I Start in Camera Raw and do adjustments in ACR and then I open in photoshop. I do any retouching and then add sharpening and contrast. I use curves adjustment layers, as well as levels, color fills and gradients to get my achieved look, finishing off by adding a texture and sharpening.
-Julian
May 30, 2012
Making the Best of Travel Photography~ Even When the Travel Isn't for Photography
By Joel Olives
I'm not a travel photographer by trade. Actually, I’m not even a photographer by trade. I do, however, love the art of photography and I shoot as much as I can. I consider photography an extremely advanced hobby. It’s a wonderful solace in the world of chaotically analytical technology which I call my nine to five. I love the escape it provides.
That nine to five requires me to travel occasionally, and when I do, I seize every opportunity I can to shoot the area. A curious caveat to that is while I’m often whisked off to interesting places, the nine to five often becomes fourteen hour work days. I’m amidst these places unable to do what I love, catching every sunrise and sunset. I believe in persistence though and make the most out of whatever conditions allow me to shoot.
Tip number 1: Do not dismiss a
sunset just because there are no clouds in the sky. A couple months ago, I was in San Diego for
two weeks. The sky was a gorgeous blue
and the sun was shimmering nearly every day.
There was scarcely a cloud to be found.
Opportunities presented themselves to shoot two sunsets on two weekend
days while I was there.
That’s tip number 2: plan many compositions ahead of time. There are a myriad of beautiful images to be captured during any sunset with a good preplanned composition. I’ve seen many photographers pick their spot and leave their tripod anchored there for an entire sunset. I believe this is an opportunity lost for multiple memorable shots. I’ll usually plan for a half dozen unique compositions during any single sunset.
I was blessed that the weather forecast was wrong that evening (That never happens, right?). As soon as golden hour started, a few clouds rolled across the horizon and in to view and created a wonderful orange canvas. I captured 6 different compositions that night that I was very pleased with.
The other weekend was quite the opposite. The forecast called for scattered clouds. I
was excited, hoping for a beautiful sunset.
I chose Sunset Cliffs this time, but the weather did not cooperate. It turned a very dull gray overcast. Don’t be discouraged by bad conditions. Shoot anyway.
Photographers love overcast days for portraits and macros. For dramatic landscapes, most would choose a
different day. When your schedule is set
and time is limited, that’s simply not an option.
A final tip: It’s really helped me knowing what various
lighting conditions do to color tone and contrast. While the differences are visible, it’s
helped me to formulate, in my mind, what those differences are. Overcast is much warmer than direct sunlight,
it has a way of bringing out the natural warmth of objects in a way camera
white balance doesn’t. The lower contrast
in those situations allows for you to see fine details that aren’t present on
other lighting conditions.
Read more >>
I'm not a travel photographer by trade. Actually, I’m not even a photographer by trade. I do, however, love the art of photography and I shoot as much as I can. I consider photography an extremely advanced hobby. It’s a wonderful solace in the world of chaotically analytical technology which I call my nine to five. I love the escape it provides.
That nine to five requires me to travel occasionally, and when I do, I seize every opportunity I can to shoot the area. A curious caveat to that is while I’m often whisked off to interesting places, the nine to five often becomes fourteen hour work days. I’m amidst these places unable to do what I love, catching every sunrise and sunset. I believe in persistence though and make the most out of whatever conditions allow me to shoot.
I’ve read a lot of professional photographers that have
written that it’s all about that special light that occurs so infrequently that
it must be sought out, relished and thoroughly documented through the
lens. That isn’t my experience. I say, “Document that bad light, take
multiple exposures, blend them in Photoshop, and recreate the scene you saw in
your mind’s eye.” Perfect light doesn’t
happen when you’re on the road working fourteen hour days.
Here are a few tips from what I’ve learned in my
travels.
The first weekend opportunity featured an all-day powder
blue sky. It was cloudless… perfect
weather for non-photographers. I planned
ahead online and knew I wanted to go to the La Jolla Cove to shoot the tide
pools.
When I arrived, there was a curious lack of other
photographers. The forecast let them
know that it would be sun, sun, sun and more sun with no chance of interesting
color in the sky. I setup my tripod and
settled on multiple compositions anyway.That’s tip number 2: plan many compositions ahead of time. There are a myriad of beautiful images to be captured during any sunset with a good preplanned composition. I’ve seen many photographers pick their spot and leave their tripod anchored there for an entire sunset. I believe this is an opportunity lost for multiple memorable shots. I’ll usually plan for a half dozen unique compositions during any single sunset.
I was blessed that the weather forecast was wrong that evening (That never happens, right?). As soon as golden hour started, a few clouds rolled across the horizon and in to view and created a wonderful orange canvas. I captured 6 different compositions that night that I was very pleased with.
With my analysis on overcast conditions in mind, I focused
my compositions around the small details in the tide pools. The sky added ambiance to the shots, but they
were really about what was under the water.
What I came back with from that night are now some of my favorite
seascapes.
In the age of digital cameras, your number exposures aren’t
limited by the cost of film. I hope that
you’ll embrace every bad lighting condition, shoot frequently, and learn how to
use adverse conditions to your advantage.
If you do, I believe you may just have some beautiful photos in your
portfolio that would have otherwise been missed.
~~~
Joel Olives is a Houston, TX based technologist with a passion for Photography. His photographic passions include dramatic landscape, cityscape, and nature photography. His work has been featured in many publications including national publications like Forbes and regional publications like Woodlands Living. He creates textures for photographers, does interactive web design, enjoys writing classical music and enjoys blogging. He shoots with Nikon gear. You can learn more about Joel at http://www.joelolives.com/.
DC in Black and White
by Samantha Jane
I was unsure of what to expect from DC, aside from a lot of walking. I feel very privileged to have been visiting and touring during what they call a Veterans Flight. This is when they bring in Vets from all of the wars and take them around to all of the memorials. It is a very humbling experience recognizing those men that fought and died for our freedom, but to share that experience with men who were there, it took it to a whole other level. I was humbled beyond measure.
http://www.samanthajaneimages.smugmug.com/
Read more >>
I was unsure of what to expect from DC, aside from a lot of walking. I feel very privileged to have been visiting and touring during what they call a Veterans Flight. This is when they bring in Vets from all of the wars and take them around to all of the memorials. It is a very humbling experience recognizing those men that fought and died for our freedom, but to share that experience with men who were there, it took it to a whole other level. I was humbled beyond measure.
As I toured DC for the weekend, the one place I wanted to visit was the Holocaust Museum. I knew it would be a difficult and a lot to take in, but the message I would receive while in the museum was one I had not expected. I received word that my best friend had taken his own life. He had served two tours in Iraq, and the pain from those tours had finally won. Here I was in our nations capital, touring and paying respects to our fallen soldiers, and at home I had lost my soldier.
Freedom is not free. We lose our friends, brothers, husbands and children in battle. Sometimes it is in battle, other times it is after the battle they fight once they return home. Whether it is seeing the sadness in a fellow soldiers eyes at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, or the pain in a mother and fathers eyes as they burry their son, there is one thing that remains - they shall never be forgotten. They have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
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