The wonderful world of Layers was the topic at hand for week 2 of The Art of Compositing. In addition to manipulating Layers, we blew some minds talking about Smart Objects. Smart Objects are a really fantastic way to maintain the integrity and editability of your elements as you create your own composites. Keep in mind that they are memory intensive. So if you only have 1 Gig of RAM and you are working on a 50 Layer, 30×40″, 300dpi image, it may be time to upgrade to that shiny new Mac. The second half of the class was spent on Blend Modes. Please take the time to go through these on some of your own photos so that you have a firm grasp of how they work. Next week, Layer Masks and Adjustment Layers…Sweet!

Someone (I don’t remember who) didn’t believe that the Annie Leibovitz photo below of Helen Mirren and Judi Dench was a composite.



Well, here’s the info, straight from Annie’s wonderful book At Work. “The picture of Hellen Mirren and Judi Dench in the car was made in two different places. It was fun directing Judi Dench to act like she was talking to someone who wasn’t actually there. She was saying, “You bitch. How could you have done this to me? Why did you do that to me?” And she had that look. If we had been using film, we would have to stitch two frames together, but since we were shooting digitally, we built the final picture in the computer.” I love Annie’s work. Say what you want, she’s an amazing artist.

LINKS
Erwin Olaf
Erik Johannson
Calvin Hollywood

Last night was week one of my brand new class, The Web for Photographers (Photo77). I’m very excited about teaching this class and am really looking forward to seeing all of your work as the term progresses. Week one was basically an overview of the Web and some of the terminology and concepts that we will be building on (just for fun…try to use “DOCTYPE” in a conversation!). Aside from a few bandwidth related issues, we took a look and some really bad design, as well as some very nice design. This short design review is something that I will continue in each session. It’s a great way to not only see other people’s work, but it also gets us thinking about how you might like to approach your own website or blog as we move through the term. Remember, if you have questions or comments, feel free to email me or find me on Facebook or Twitter and let me know what’s on your mind. Below are the links to the sites we looked at (or attempted to look at). Now, just do the work!

LINKS
Assassin’s Creed 2
Working Element
Reserved
Ride Oregon
The new Ford Mustang
Jeremy Cowart
Timothy Hogan
Andrew Gransden Photography
Charles Miller

Week one of Photoshop – The Art of Compositing (Remixed) was an unexpected surprise. I’ve not yet had a day class and really didn’t know what to expect. To my surprise, the Gallery was packed! We had a few technical hiccups, but I think it’s going to be a really fun class. Great group and much enthusiasm, so thank you to all who came out. However, we WILL NOT be meeting in the Gallery any longer. About a third of the class are Mac users (as am I), so thanks to Alan and the fantastic staff, we will now be meeting in Room 1 (the main lab) in the main building. Sorry for the inconvenience, but Room 1 has both Mac and PC and they are networked, allowing us to share the course files a little easier. The Gallery will soon be available as a lab during Monday afternoons. Next week, we’re jumping into the wonderful world of Layers. Stay tuned.

NOTE: I’ll bring this week’s PDF version of the intro presentation next week for those who would like a copy of it.

LINKS
http://www.sxc.hu/ – Get your free account for stock photography

It’s been nearly two weeks since my Mother passed away and honestly I’m still numb most days. Her death has left such a void where a heart used to be that I still don’t think it’s fully sunk in. Three weeks ago we were having dinner at her house, then a trip to the hospital and nine days later she was gone. I’ve been told that it’s a blessing that she “went so quick”, but honestly I don’t know. I mean sure, it’s better than the alternative of suffering for months or even years, but she still suffered. She suffered the indignity of a horrible, dehumanizing disease. She suffered the pain of loved ones watching her as she lay helpless to do anything but drift away. I’ve been trying to inject some semblance of normalcy in to my now broken routines by taking on new projects and working on the curriculum for my two (perhaps three) upcoming classes. My friends have been wonderful too, propping me up when I need it as well as letting me collapse when I need that too. It’s actually strange, but the overwhelming sadness has, at times, been punctuated by feelings of hopefulness, for lack of a better word. I know that, in time, I will begin to heal and no longer focus solely on the sadness of losing my best friend, but rather how lucky I am to have spent 42 years with the most loving, selfless and compassionate person I’ve ever known. Until then, I’m merely a buoy bobbing along, riding out the highs and lows, hoping for calmer seas.