Knowledge

There is a lot of awesome information around on the net, granted there is also a lot of trash, and sifting through what is good and what is bad can be time consuming.

Now I know a lot of people ask me to write tutorials or to do video tutorials, and yes I might start doing them in the future. But I want to start doing workshops more first and see how that goes. I am very aware that online tutorials and knowledge is a good way to do business, get your message across a vast amount of people and you get the knowledge in one place where its easily accessible without having to retell the story every time someone asks for it.

As a start to sharing my photoshop knowledge and information I’d like to start with pointing you to an already established set of online tools ready for you to discover. These are in my opinion very resourceful and good tutorials with an ever-growing database of information for you to read and do, and I’ve found them quite informative and inspirational.

First of there is www.phlearn.com , run by Aaron Nace and his team, it’s a daily videoblog concerning Photography and Photoshop tips and tricks. Not just howto’s and button explanation, but also insights and thoughts. The video’s are fun to watch and very insightfull. There is also the option to go Pro with the Phlearn Pro video’s which are longer vids where a specific topic and project is dissected and you get to see an image being created from start to finish. At a cost of €19,99 and half price on release day it’s very well spent money

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/phlearn

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Phlearn

 

 

The second awesome site is SurrealPSD.com its a Photoshop tutorial website dedicated to the art of photo manipulation. With a tight focus on creative techniques, the site pays particular homage to Horror, Sci Fi and Fantasy themes and aims to provide guidance to Digital Artists of every level.

SurrealPSD was founded by Conzpiracy Digital Arts, a photoshop specialist with 15 years experience designing for print media. This site and it’s contents was his Major Practical Project for the final year of his degree.

A good and resourceful written tutorial site with good insights in tools and techniques and regular updates.

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/surrealpsd

deviantart: http://conzpiracy.deviantart.com/

 

Third and last link is to www.Ctrl-Paint.com While it is not a tutorial site with as you might be used to, its an awesome resource for learning digital painting. Run and recorded by Matt Kohr, it breaks down the whole idea of digital painting into little excersises and insights delving more into the why things work approach. A good way to spend time if you have to wait for a large photoshop file to save. Regularly updated and a good learning tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s ofcourse even more knowledge around but I’ve wanted to spotlight these three awesome sites as they are inspirational and helpfull to me personally.

If you have some good resources of your own do share them here in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m in a book

I got contacted by Romany WG a while ago if I was interested in being featured in a book alongside 49 other photographers from all around the globe. I’m featured next to some other amazing artist I admire like Vik, Danielle T, Matijn, Midnight, Miss Aniela and many more

The book finally got finished and he already has a first print to show everyine. I’m hoping to get mine as soon as possible.

you can even own one yourself, so get it now and get it here

 

 

Altered Images: New Visionaries in 21st Century Photography

They used to say that ‘the camera never lies’. The next generation may find that difficult to believe. Photography has come full circle, from the 19th century obsession with realism, to the 21st century addiction to hyper-reality. Opportunities for artists have multiplied just as the problems have proliferated.

As ever, theory runs to catch up with practice. The images collected here put strain on the old definitions and demand new ones.

What are they? Well, they are not, strictly speaking photographs anymore.

New territory needs new maps.

50 contributing photographers from 18 different countries.

Book Released: Late October.

First Workshop

Hey people,

I haven’t been writing much, nor have I been creating as much either. There are several reasons for that, but at the moment the most time and energy consuming part is that I bought a house!! A whole house to call mine and ours, we can’t wait to move, but ofcourse there are a lot of hurdles to take before we can actually call it home. All our effort, time and energy is focused on making it happen so creativity is put to a minimum. (EDIT: I’ve found that the best way for my mind to relax and not worry about the house is actually by creating and photoshopping)

And during this hectic schedule I am also flying over to Montreal Canada to visit the awesome Ben von Wong. A while ago he asked me if I would consider doing a Photoshop workshop  at some point, and I immediately said yes! After a few months of planning we agreed on a weekend consisting of a 1 and a 2 day workshop. To be held in the first weekend of September.

The workshop will focus on the visual effects you’re used to seeing in my works. I’ll be talking Fire and Magic, Brushes and Textures and people will be able to see and learn how I approach a piece.

I’m very excited about this opportunity as I will not only be giving out my well-kept recipes for awesomeness, but I will also meet a some amazing people. If all goes well I will consider doing more workshops in the future (yes, also some more closer to home)

after the trip

So my London trip was fun. I decided not to take any gear with me except my iPhone and iPad, and my latest zoom-lens for my iPhone. It was quite nice not too cary around a lot of stuff and be concerned during travel that my bag would get stolen.

Not having my SLR with me meant I didn’t have to to haul it along, with that accompanying lenses and I wouldn’t have to spend time editing, selecting and uploading them afterwards. The iPhone4 is an amazingly good companion to have around when urban exploring. It’s fast, has a lot of cool apps, and uploading and sharing experiences are instant and uptodate. If my phone ever got stolen, the images I uploaded would have been saved on the net and the experience of the trip would be “slightly” intact.

I never had the feeling that I missed my SLR at any time, and made my shots with what I had. I don’t feel that my shots are less good in regards to the subjects. Me being an edit-freak I would have probably spent a whole week, editing my SLR RAW files to get the mood I was after and would do so to about half the trip, at which point my attention span would have been depleted and I’d quit the editing as a whole, leaving the trip shots on my hardrive for “later” use…so after all I’m quite pleased using the iPhone as my main capturing device.

I would take out my SLR and equipment if I set out to shoot high-res textures and pre-thought shots of landmarks and architecture, but would require me to travel alone or with accompanying photographers. As I was doing the trip with my family, you just can’t go around looking for shots, and keep an eye on them as well.

Doing the tourist route I did notice an annoying feature of people. Standing in the crowds at Buckingham Palace to get a glimpse of the guards people would push each other aside to get a shot without noticing anyone around them. They just had to get that shot, as if their life depended on it. It’s this kind of tourist behaviour that puts me off, and yes I too try and get a shot, but I never try to be in the way of anyone, or be a nuisance.

Even though the iPhone4 has a 5MP camera with an adequate resolution I did opt to use instagram as my main editing and uploading tool. it’s a little program that makes square pics and there’s a list of filters to choose from. And it has a good sharing option for Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr etc. Even though it uses a native resolution of 612×612 pixels, it has all the tools in one app to make it a live-snapshot-on-the-go app for me.

I also experimented with Panoramatic to try my hand at some panorama’s which turned out quite decent (not 100% perfect) It even has an auto function where you just move around and it snaps the required shots. It’s a bit slow, but if you take your time it works little wonders.

If you go around shooting pics with an iPhone I do recommend to pack a few external chargers as your battery will drain quickly when using apps like Panoramatic. I had the Gum Pro from JustMobile which pack quite some power and charges your iPhone quickly, just don’t forget to charge it too

One of my favorite iPhonographers around are Sion Fullana, and his partner Anton Kawasaki so have a look at their work to see some amazing cool pics.

Have fun shooting!

Gear Up

toys

Last week I had my second band shoot on location and I spent a few days beforehand thinking about scenario’s and what I could encounter during the shoot. I cautiously packed my camera bag with everything I thought I would need, and then some, as you can’t know what will happen. I did check beforehand if there where power outlets for charging stations and whatnot, but I had no idea about the location.

So of I went with a bag full of tricks and had a great day shooting and listening to the awesome band members make music. After the day was done I realized I didn’t even use half of my arsenal in my bag to make it all work.I stuck with a few basics, like my camera (of course), my flash, triggers and my gorilla pod to mount the flash on. The rest was just circumstantial. Now every photographer will tell me that those extra batteries, a chargers, lenses, extra SD cards, a backup flash and trigger, some cloth, lens cleaners, rope, a knife, pens, a little notebook, my iPad, cables of the sort etc are bare essentials. And I agree in part to it, but it got me thinking.

Having a lot of gear does open up a lot of possibilities if you can master it, but does it make you a better image maker? When I started my photography ventures, like my 365, I started of with an old Minolta 3Megapixel camera from 2001, which had a manual setting that I could play and learn from. For the most part of my first 365 I only had that camera, my computer and Photoshop. I upgraded to my Canon 450D a little later in the year and after I shifted my production time to evenings I realized I needed some better light.
Now two years later my arsenal has grown slightly, adding an off camera flash, an umbrella, some new lenses and a lot of extra accessories to my bag. And if I have my way I could let it grow even more.
But what I always keep in mind is the story I’m trying to tell, the idea behind the image. I try to let my purchases be dictated by my storytelling, by my idea’s and not because it’s a cool thing to have, or that my life is worthless without it.

It’s a shift in vision, as I am a real gadget freak and I’m quite a technical guy. But for my art I try to make the tech work towards my vision, and not let it dictate my work. It’s hard making the balance work. The band shoot was a good example of overdoing it, as I’m sure it would have worked just fine with a little less gear. I shouldn’t have listened to my inner self, who was trying to convince me that if I didn’t take this or that with me, the shoot would fail.

As for my upcoming trip to London, I was already packing all my gear, which usually ends up being my whole hand luggage. But I decided to not bring anything and rely on just my iPhone and iPad to make my trip of a week work just as well. It will give me peace of mind, not to think about dragging the stuff around. and it will push me creatively to make do with the stuff I have, which is always the best way to go.

The Power Of Self

I’ve probably spammed everyone on Facebook already and will probably do so again at a later time, but I’ve entered the Artist Wanted – The Power Of Self” competition again this year, and included some of my selfportraits for the competition. All I need from you is to cast your vote and tell your friends too! I could win a whole year expenses paid and I’d be enormously gratefull.

And do consider yourself to enter as well, I’ll gladly return my vote!

Here’s the link

Thank You!!