Sorry about the lack of updates for last week’s classes. I’ve been swamped working on some new projects, including the very cool (and very big) update to Faded & Blurred. The 2.0 update is going to be very, very cool. No exact launch date yet, but Frank, Nikki, Paul and I are working hard to launch before the end of the year. Look for an announcement on the Faded & Blurred site soon.

Photo 55
World of Digital is still one of my favorite classes this semester. Week 7, we talked about exposure. Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual. We also took a look at some processing techniques in Lightroom. Week 8 will be all about video, including creating “fusion” slide shows.

Photo 139
In the Art of Compositing, we started the “Singularity” movie poster. Have you worked on it? We also took a look at a great technique for building lightning strikes and energy bolts. If you missed it, or just want a refresher, take a look at my video tutorial.

Photo 77
The Web for Photographers is proving to be a tough one, but you guys are awesome for sticking it out. In week 7, we dove a little deeper into CSS. I can definitely see the lights coming on for you and I think several of you will be building your own sites before the end of the semester. Stick with it. HTML and CSS are a bitch to learn, but they are necessary if you intend to build your own site or do any customization to pre-built templates or themes. Several sites out there to help you including:

Web Appers
W3 Schools

Here’s a great list of sites to help you learn HTML and CSS: http://sixrevisions.com/css/20_websites_learn_master_css/

That’s it for the wrap up. Now, just do the work!

A very cool show opened last night at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in LA. Curated by Kent Williams, The Human Eclectic explores the question “What is becoming of the ‘us’ – the ‘each of us’?”

From the show:
Maybe it’s our detachment from the reality of mass human destruction, or the invited dehumanization of our existence through computers and online interactions. It could be our growing desensitization to cruelty, to violence and to suffering through the television invasion. Whatever it is, it appears we have stopped celebrating, or even acknowledging, the very thing that defines our entire race – our humanity. We are offering it up, as though sacrificially, to the machines we create and worship.

Because of this almost inevitable crisis of self, we find it important again, maybe now more than ever in the history of art making, to cling to our most basic possession – the human form. Call it a quiet revolution – the lone artist embracing the representation of man again – slowly and deliberately turning himself back around to look at himself again. Through the idiosyncratic self, the artists in this show collectively identify the masses: the every man, the other men, the always woman and the sometimes child – their existences, their truths, their triumphs and their failures. These artists remind us that we, the family of man, must not allow ourselves to disappear.

The show runs through November 7, and features work by a number of artists, including: Peter Liashkov, Barron Storey, Jon J Muth, Kent Williams, Aaron Smith, Dean Karr, Mari Inukai, Chris Anthony, Jennifer Poon, Jason Shawn Alexander, Kevin Llewellyn, Sara Escamilla.

Gallery Info

Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 South La Brea Avenue
(in the Art 170 Building),
Los Angeles, California 90036
323.933.4408
Contact person: Merry Karnowsky
E-mail:
mkgallery@att.net
Website:
http://www.mkgallery.com
Gallery hours:
Tuesday – Saturday, 12-6pm

Here’s a technique for removing unwanted color cast using a targeted Adjustment Layer.

Photo55
We talked about creativity in photography and how to “find the shot”. We took a look at some of the work of brilliant Australian wedding photographer Jerry Ghionis. Jerry is a master at posing and dramatic lighting, using very little gear. If you liked what you saw, don’t forget that you can attend a very special Jerry Ghionis all-day workshop for only $100.00, courtesy of the folks at fotografosdecorazon.com. Tix for the event are available on their site or at jerryghionisinla.com. One of the questions in class was about using the SmugMug plugin for Lightroom. Rather than post a tutorial, we’ll go over the installation and usage next time in class.

Photo139
In The Art of Compositing, we started assembling the “Zen Road” image and took a more detailed look at using Smart Objects in our composites. The key to working with Smart Objects is to remember this: edits made to a Smart Object in the document layer palette are non-destructive BUT, if you double-click the Smart Object and edit it directly (you’ll see the “.psb” file extension in the tab title bar), those changes are permanent because you are editing the source object, NOT the Smart Object (virtual copy). This week, we’re continuing on with Zen Road and also taking a look at how to create our own dirty pictures.
You can read a brief primer on using Smart Objects in Photoshop CS4 HERE.

Photo77
Fantastic session in The Web for Photographers. Those who came out, give yourselves a pat on the back. You’re learning some tough stuff and we got through quite a bit. We got an entire page layed out, sized and prepared for images using HTML and CSS. Very well done. The great thing about learning a bit of CSS is that it prepares you to customize not only your own sites, but also your blogs, such as Wordpress and Blogger. This week, we’ll get those images in and add some more pages to our dev site.
There are a number of sites online to help you learn web development, but one that I read quite a bit is Web Appers. They offer a ton of information on development, plugins, components and all sorts of cool bits of code to customize and use in your own projects.

Thank you everyone for continuing to come out each week.