BEEN A WHILE - I KNOW BUT...

I know it has been a while since the last post but I will do my best to make it up to you with a cool new push to the world of 3D. Sounds odd I know but after some convincing it started to shoe some cool possibilities especially with the technique I have discovered. I will not only share this technique with you but will also provide a link to the newest 3D images I have been working on. Stay tuned for my next post and in the meantime you could get a pair of magent/grenn style 3D glasses, nothing fancy just the cardboard style will work. This way when I post the images and you are ready to embark and give the technique a try, you can see the results. After all if you cannot then what is the point.
Cheers

INTRODUCING - ALEX UNCAPHER

Alex Uncapher is a former student at CDIA and quite the visionary. Where most students struggle with coming up with creative insights or curious points of view, this is where Alex lives. Check out this months issue of After Capture magazine for the full scoop.

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HERE WE GO - HDR STEP 1

I have posted the first movie in a series of overviews dealing with my techniques in HDR.  Please stay tuned for the full DVD on the topic of HDR due to be released in March 2009.

THOSE WACKY BLEND MODES!

I was thinking about who or how I could explain in logical or not so logical terms, the 25 blend modes in Photoshop.  They are frequently used when working at an advanced level of Photoshop and warrant some understanding to grasp how and when to put them in play.  Deke McClelland just posted this video that really does a wonderful job in explaining those frustrating but very necessary blend modes.  Enjoy!

HDR Teaser (part2b)

In this clip, Chris talks about how exporting through Lightroom get additional option when interfacing with Photomatix.  Sometimes they are not useful but it is always good to have more option.

HDR - Teaser (part 2)

In this part 2 of the HDR teaser series, Chris Alvanas walks through the details of working with Lightroom as an application that can export to Photomatix for generating an HDR image and ultimately providing tone mapping.

HDR - Teaser (part 1)

In this tutorial Chris Alvanas walk us through the basics of how and why HDR works, when to se it and overview what the basic purpose and effect HDR has on digital photography.

Books and Things

For those of looking for something to put on your Christmas list,

here are a few items I would recommend for post production work

in the way of Retouching and HDR.

• Black & White Mastery, John Paul Caponigro
  
• HDR Mastery, Ben Wilmore
  
• Restoration & Retouching(3rd edition), Katrin Eisman
  
• HDRi Handbook, Christian Bloch
  

The "Edge" of HDR

High Dynamic Range imagery has gotten a bit of a bad rap of late.  Image makers have labelled it with this edgy, illustrative and non-photographic look.  Although it depends on your taste on whether or not this "look" appeals to you or not, it is certainly NOT was HDR is all about.

In fact it is so much more!  Expanding the dynamic range of any given scene has been something photographers have struggled with or some time and once you get a better understanding of what "real" HDR is, you will soon realize that the game has just changed.  That's right - the possibilities are virtually endless.  It has so many applications and creative options and is by no means "push button".  It requires an understanding of what is really going on to get those incredible images.  Images that have no "label", they are just wonderful to look at and are indescribably unique.

Here is a tutorial I recently published through After Capture magazine and even though my taste may not mirror you as a reader, hopefully you wil get a better understanding of what happens behind the scenes.