Emmanuel Banks | August 27, 2011
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Taking Your Own Stock Photos

For many writers, a nice way to top off a good post is with a nice photo. This adds some sort of character to the article. In addition, if the photo is relevant, it can start the path to allowing your reader get a taste of what will be mentioned in that specific article. The route most bloggers take is purchasing stock photos. This is the best way to get high quality, hard to find photos, which you can legally use. However, some stock photos can be a little hefty of a price.

Simpler the Better

When you get your mind in the mindset of Stock Photos, you usually remember that the simpler is really better. Most Stock Photos convey the message of the photo and that’s it. In this case, a white background is usually utilized. Most photography selling websites have Chroma Key backgrounds that are used in photo shoots. Using a background that doesn’t detract the audience attention from the subject is key.

Look Past The Camera

You may think, if I am trying to replace professional photos with my own photos on my website, I should have one of those expensive DSLRs. As you know from my other articles, I try to find ways where you can be an economical photographer. This is shown in no other better way than with this subject. Stock Photos usually aren’t blown up on billboards or anything where the pixels are in the thousands. They are usually accompanying an article or as a featured photo. The only opportunity where the megapixels of a DSLR will take full force is when you have to use these photos for larger backdrops. For the average Stock Photo, a regular 4 or more megapixel camera can work wonders on a lightly edited photo.

Picture Perfect

One point that keeps the illusion of a professional stock photo, well more professional, is to make sure it is as perfect as possible. While we know nothing is perfect, if you want readers to think you paid top dollar for your photo, you must make sure it’s presentable. For example, if you are taking a photo of an iPhone if your article is about the next iPhone update, make sure the phone is presentable. You should try to take off your Hello Kitty case, wipe the screen free of smudges, maybe even check out screen protectors like the company, invisibleSHIELD.

 Protection is Key

Make sure you try to protect your photos from getting stolen by readers and average search engines. If your photo is solely for viewing purposes, make sure that you delink it. This can be done in WordPress. After the photo is uploaded, clear the link that is attached to the photo in its settings. This will prevent traffic from going to this site and being able to save it, it will also prevent it from being picked up in search engines like Google Images. While watermarks may protect your images as well, they usually detract the attention from the photo. I only recommend it if the watermark is small AND the photo is large, only in that one situation.

Or, Sell Them

If, on the other hand, you want to share your Stock images for a little profit, you have many choices. You can submit your images to the multitude of Stock websites including Shutterstock and iStockPhoto; also some images get paid for stock status even on websites like Flickr. You may not get much for your first photo, however if you enter some photos regularly, you get some reputation on these sites.

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Tara Hornor | August 24, 2011
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Stunning Photos of Foggy Landscapes

I love foggy landscapes! They inspire both the insidious and the dreamy, depending upon your own imagination. It’s the extreme contrast that makes them so intriguing – like staring into a dark cave you wonder if treasure or tragedy awaits you.

This collection of some of my favorite foggy landscapes explores images that are clearly on the darker side and others that inspire a positive impression. Which ones give you chills and which have a heavenly tone?

Foggy River by Rose-Petals

Foggy Meadow Sunrise by Wallpaper-s

 

Foggy Landscape by EyeRank

 

 

Foggy Evening by Free-Desktop-Backgrounds

 

Foggy Landscape by Sidaho

 

Foggy Horse Farm by MarketWallpapers

 

Foggy by MarketWallpapers

 

Foggy Sunrise – Cades Cove by Bear Creek Rockies

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Shane Burley | August 24, 2011
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How to Use Exposure Control in Film and Video

Getting Into Digital Video Exposure

Exposure really boils down to whether or not the image handled the level of brightness that was available. This is to say if it was too bright, not bright enough, or somewhere in the middle where it was acceptable.

Over Exposed Image

Controlling that exposure, and the exposure range in which you work, is an important part of actually being a videographer capable of creating images that are acceptable for you and the medium you are producing in. To really craft these images correctly you have to initiate exposure control, which means simply a way of controlling your video equipment and situation so that the overall image exposure will fit within the realm of usability.

Under Exposed Image

Video Equipment

The first thing you have to look toward is your video equipment specifically. Look at your digital video camera over all to see what kind of images it is capable of producing. Many low end digital video cameras do not have the faculties to register images in very low or very high levels of light. Look to your lens specifically to see if you can handle the situation you are in.

Motion Blur

Since your iris diaphragm is going to be the most important place you take control over your exposure you have to think about this. Try to see if you can apply different filters to make your exposure more manageable, especially neutral density filters. Overall shutter speed is also an important aspect of this, so you should keep the possible increase or decrease of shutter speed in mind. At all times you are going to have to remember that shutter speed has a direct correlation to the frame rate of your final digital video image.  In general, the lower the shutter speed is the more motion blur will be allowed into the image.  This is because the lower the shutter speed, the longer the shutter stays open, and the longer the sensor is exposed to the image.  Do not take your shutter speed much below 1/60, which is actually a commonality between video and DSLR still photography.

Shallow Depth of Field

The aperture is going to remain your primary area for altering the exposure of the video image, but you need to keep in mind that this will also change the depth of field.  Opening up the aperture to let more light in will also shrink the depth of field, so remember how the image will end up looking and what the range of acceptable sharpness is you are going to need.

Film Stock

If you are working in film you are going to have to consider the film stock you are using. Remember that temperature balancing is central to all film stock and they are usually balanced for specific types of light. Film speed is also altered with push or pull methods, which will relate to over or under development. Understand the types of film stock you are dealing with ahead of time and make sure to do film stock tests before a major shoot.

Situational Light

Take a look at your situation and all the light sources and surfaces you will be dealing with. Until you really look closely at a give environment you will probably not see how many different reflective sources of light there are. All of these are going to eventually play a serious role. Find out if there are lights you can control and try to plan for any ambient light or natural light that may cause issues.

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Baddie | August 20, 2011
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How to Become a Tree after You Die

Spanish designer Martin Azua has come up with a design for an urn — the Bios Urn — that will allow your remains to be integrated with a seed which will grow into a tree or any kind of plant you prefer. It sounds a little morbid but it is an attractive option if you care about the environment. It is definitely better than staying on the ground with a tombstone above you.

Bios Urn

The urn is made of coconut shell, cellulose and compact peat — all of which are biodegradable materials. Human remains are placed inside the urn with a seed. It is then planted on the ground where the seed will germinate along with the remains, eventually growing into a tree. It is an awesome and poetic form of regeneration.

Bios Urn

This is one of those rare instances when death becomes a direct component of new life. If you choose to go this route, you can spend your next life as a tree, providing shade and oxygen to the rest of the world. If that’s not enough for you, maybe you can have your tree incarnation be cut down after a few decades to be turned into paper. Yes, if you so choose, you can actually become a book. It just goes to show that design is not just about aesthetics; it can also be a helpful tool in environmental protection.

Category: Meet the Designers | Tags: , ,
Emmanuel Banks | August 20, 2011
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Top Cameras for Every Budget

Photography is a hobby for me. As I grew in my hobby, my camera has always followed. It has seemed that as I grew in my hobby, I felt more willing to spend more. However, there are some individual who don’t always have the same budget as others. This means that what may be considered inexpensive for one person may not be within the budget of others. We compiled a list of some of the best cameras out there and picked the best out there for every budget.

The Easy Shooter: $100 – $200

Canon Powershot A3300 IS - The Canon Powershot A3300 IS was released in 2011. The A3300 was added to the product line, along with other cameras, as a push for Canon to provide more affordable cameras with great features for the price point. Some of the features include HD video recording, decent zoom and megapixels. That’s the reason we like this camera. For less than $200 (even less than $150 with some retailers), you get features that a couple of years ago would cost nearly double this price.

The Pro-Amateur Shooter: $300 – $500

Canon Powershot S95 - If there were a perfect point and shoot, then we would also be in a fairytale. However, the Canon Powershot S95 is near perfect. There are many individuals who have dubbed this the best point and shoot on the market today. This camera is a much-needed upgrade from the previous S90. The camera also includes great features including full manual focus and superb HD video. The photos look beautiful and are on par with more advanced shooting cameras. Just be prepared to have to keep the charger handy!

The Budget-Pro Shooter: $700 – $900

Canon EOS 60D - For the price point, the Canon EOD 60D is at the price point of under $800, the entry DSLR price for most cameras. The features however are amazing and seem to cultivate into a special device that picks up and fixes the faults of other cameras. The 60D is also a popular choice for many videographers who want amazing video quality. However, a couple of things we found interesting about the camera was that you may find yourself sometimes in awkward hand positions, the form factor isn’t perfect with the Canon EOS 60D.

The Splurge Shooter: $1000 and ⬆

Nikon D90 - No matter what your view of Nikon is, this camera is considered one of the best Nikon DSLRs on the market at the moment. This is the type of camera you’ll find yourself using solely for photography. The video quality could have been better. However, the feature is there and this camera focuses on the photography aspect. All in all, if you find yourself not taking video, this camera is something you should jump on. Other wise, if you are looking to video record on a DSLR, look somewhere else!

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Abigail Jane | August 18, 2011
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Digitally Enhance Makeup And Make Eyes Pop In Photoshop

Sometimes makeup in photos can end up looking a little dull and not as vibrant as it did in real life, in this tutorial I will show you how in a few easy steps you can enhance makeup to make it stand out and make eyes pop.

Before:

After:

1. Open up your image you want to work on in Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer, and work on the copy so you still have the original image underneath.

2. First off we will start with the dodge tool set on midtones, use a soft edge brush with exposure around 12% and start by lightening the eye whites and pupils. Then brush over the eyelids, pay more attention to where the makeup is naturally highlighted and use the dodge tool to enhance this.

3. Now we will use the burn tool on midtones, use a soft edge brush again with exposure around 12% again. Use the burn tool on a small brush to bring out the eyeliner around the eye and mascara. Use a larger brush for the eyelid and brush along the indent of the eye and under the brow. Now your make up should really start to stand out. Keep working the makeup until you are happy with it. Use a small brush and burn around the pupil edge and inside the pupil to enhance the little flecks of colour in the eye.

4. Now go back to the dodge tool but this time set it to highlights, add the highlights inside the pupil where the light would have caught the eye also add this to the eyelid with a large soft edge brush very sparingly just to bring the makeup to life that little bit more.

5. Finally add a curves adjustment layer and make the image a little lighter and little more contrasty.

And there you have it the makeup and eyes look 10x better in 5 easy steps!

Category: Adobe Tutorials, Design Tutorials, Just for Laughs, Photography, Photoshop Tutorials | Tags: , , ,
Shane Burley | August 18, 2011
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How to Make Your Video Project Appeal to Audiences

Goals

No matter what kind of final product you are hoping to achieve through digital video production, it is intended to be seen by an audience and have a certain effect on them. This is what is called a “goal oriented” production, which means you have specific things you want the audience to come away with from viewing your film. This can be a few different types of reactions, but there are three primary ways in which it is supposed to connect with your audience.  This is especially true with commercial or corporate messages, which are supposed to elicit consumer responses that you have put intention behind.

Empathy With the Tiger

Pathos

Often times when referring to base psychological responses, commercial art is reduced to using Latin terminology, mainly to correlate it to a larger artistic analysis. In this way the divisions and classifications are not regulated just to one medium. The most essential way that art, and especially cross-platform medium like video, appeals to people is emotionally, called Pathos. This is where they interpret the characters and events personally, seeing parts of their own experience reflected in the project. An effective project will stir up a certain set of emotions that the filmmaker hopes to elicit.

A Logical Response

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Category: All About Logos, Photography | Tags: ,
Shane Burley | August 16, 2011
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DVD Video Editing Tips & Techniques

Home Video Editing

Post-production software has worked, right from its early days in the feature film business, to allow for much more creative control for small home projects. Now that DVD authoring has become a standard option for those who are making home movies and editing software has become available for consumers, many of those producing home videos have some of the same features as the movie studios. Much of this home movie format is open because it doesn’t follow the narrative structure normally seen in movies, and therefore you have to decide how you want to cut it up when you are editing. Since video editing and DVD authoring often go hand in hand it is now important to look toward DVD video editing, or video editing with the specifics of the DVD format in mind. Here are a few tips for DVD video editing for your home videos.

Structure

When editing home videos for DVD authoring you will want to still try to cut together the best parts of your videos into a vague structure, though it may not be a concrete story structure. This is going to allow you to have a central Play button in your DVD menu and will be able to mock up a general theme for the various multimedia elements of the DVD interface. When you are DVD video editing in this way, you should simply try to set up beat points that may move it forward in some way, which may just be things like chronological order.

Chapter Markers

Chapter markers are one of the most important elements of DVD authoring and is going to really dictate your DVD video editing very specifically. What it does is give you a couple options, one of which is to allow for you to jump through your video and beat points that you have set. What this means when you are DVD video editing is that you should cut together the larger video so that it includes these beat points that you will then set chapter markers at when DVD authoring.

Beyond this, you can also decide to use your DVD chapter markers to select smaller videos that act independently. In this way, you can use your DVD video editing process to just cut up independent segments that will stand alone in the DVD interface. To do this you will simply be identifying and exporting these video segments, or you can use your DVD video editing to cut together mini-segments that will also stand alone in your DVD menu.

Codecs

DVD video editing really means that you are editing with DVD directly in mind, which means that there are only a few video codecs that you are going to want to work with. These are going to be video codecs that are specifically for DVD authoring and not independent video files, such as QuickTime .mov files. This should be directed by intermediate programs that bridge the video editing and DVD authoring software. In the Final Cut Studio this would be Apple’s Compressor, and would be the video compression program that bridged Final Cut Studio for video editing and DVD Studio Pro for DVD authoring. Here there will be video codec presets that are specific for DVD authoring, and you will select it by the DVD authoring purpose and not the codec name.

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