A REALLY good PODCAST!

A REALLY GOOD POSCAST [or two]!

I'm a visual communicator. I got edjuhmacated in the 1980's, when the nom-de-mode was graphic designer. I'll admit that graphic designer  has a certain 'cachet' about it that 'visual communicator' seems to lack.  It somehow implies a discipline that is more purely visual, with less dependency or regard for the mass-communicative (and also 'marketing' goal-based) properties of the field.

That being said, for my undergrad we had two solid years of fine-arts curriculum. So perhaps Graphic Designer is a more appropriate name for what I am. 

I was fortunate enough to attend college when they had a gaggle of Bauhaus instructors– one of my professors actually met Gropius, and another had been a product/disciple of the Black Mountain School. This for the price of a public university education!

So there is certainly a thread of the fine artist that runs through my soul.

You can imagine my joy when, on an afternoon car trip, I got to hear this podcast.
I highly encourage you to check it out.

and in the same vein…

I heard this podcast about the disagreeable relationship between Gropius (the Bauhaus founder) and the wife of Lazlo Moholy-Nagy.

I guess all your creative heroes die.
I learned the truth about Hitchcock a couple of years ago, and now Manet and Gropius join him in the realm of being "merely human." If someone finds some stuff on Hopper,  I will probably sink into a depression.

[link will take you to the article page, click in the "play" triangle in the upper lefthand part of the photo for  the podcast.]

TIPS ON "INSTAGRAM-ing"

Here are some tips on creating Instagram photos.
A lot of photographers are increasing their use of mobile phones in photography (some are even using them exclusively)… and with the new features [controlling f-stop appearance, dof effects, and virtual shutterspeeds] the phone-direct-to-Instagram route is as popular as ever. While a camera is  shown here, you can certainly use the principles with almost anything.

IMPROVING INSTAGRAM PHOTOS on the Photoblogger

YOUR FIRST HOME PHOTO STUDIO

Photography can be expensive…but it doesn't necessarily have to be.
If your a pro, you more than likely need pro equipment—and it ain't cheap.
BUT
if you are an amateur, or a part-timer (maybe a graphic designer who does a handful of product shots and the odd headshot or two here and there;-) you can set up your studio with some "McGyver" ingenuity and a few bucks.

There are tons of "photo-teacher-celebrities" now on Youtube, Vimeo, and Dailymotion who have some great ideas of how to start. I personally have enjoyed the "stick-n-stones" photo studio guy, Joe Edelman with his T-8 fluorescent (pseudo kinoflo) track panels [and later LED ones btw], and many, many others.

I personally have discovered the joy of reading labels. For example, not any fluorescent tubes can be used! T8 fluorescent tubes (with their higher refresh rate, 85 or better CRI rating, and daylight color-balance  of 5800 -6200K) are best.

The SLANTED LENS offered this one up a while ago, but with several students asking how to get by "on-the-cheap,"  I think it bears re-examining.

F-stoppers article on "HOW TO CRITIQUE"

Anyone who has ever taught a class (or taken one for that matter) can feel the pain of a poor critique.

There is always the one student who "likes it," or "just doesn't like it," without any clarification as to what specifically they are identifying, and as to whether it is a personal preference or an overriding technical or compositional error.

Then there is the other who is worried about being perceived as "the jerk," preferring to identify every single piece as worthy of hanging in the MET… whether that is the case or not.

You often have to give guidelines for critiques, and this article by F-Stoppers' Mark Bowers focuses primarily on photography, but much of it rings true throughout all visual art.

iPHONE-ography?

The following is a blog post from ERIC KIM. In it, he makes some compelling arguments about iPHONE/Smartphone photography (after all… the best camera is the one that you always have on you) while mixing in some common sense photography foundations, and advice on how to achieve those foundations in a smartphone sphere.

He also sells products (workshops and literature), but I think the free stuff on this site is incredibly useful for budding iPhone-photographers.

While I'll readily admit that the commercial market may not be ready for product shots done on a smartphone (save for viral marketing/social media campaign types of things), in the fine-arts sphere, It is no less valid than any other form of image production.

With entire group shows at fine arts galleries across the world, and even full-length movies being done on smartphones (and tablets), why resist the technological marvel that you likely have on you at all times. It certainly exceeds many of my early cameras.

Business Card Inspiration

As an instructor, I post quite a lot of this type of site— the "inspiration sites." I love the craft of designing a business card, and often the examples I refer to  take the format of the business card to completely new dimensions: stainless steel cards, cards printed on wood, innovative shapes, and incredible folding forms.

Every so often though, I like the more restrained. The reality of being a designer is that the vast majority of clients aren't amenable to spending a small fortune to print on custom fabricated fiber-glass and aluminum cards using specially formulated ink. The parameters of the pragmatic job also require occasional external inspiration.

Here's a site that focuses on that.

http://design4users.com/2016/08/03/d4u-inspiration-business-card-as-an-art/

10 Powerful Photoshop Techniques every Photographer Should Know

I recently came across this video on a Photography site that I frequent (Petapixel). Its provocatively entitled "10 Powerful Photoshop Techniques every Photographer Should Know."
Many times (as Petapixel contributor DL Cade states) these articles are a bit of a letdown. I found a few of the approaches in this video pretty interesting and not too basic nor too difficult.

Its worth a view on a lazy weekend, and at 36 minutes long it covers several topics.

1. Face Aware Liquify Filters | 0:53
2. Color Lookup Tables | 4:30
3. Transform a Selection | 8:07
4. Frequency Separation | 9:03
5. Calculations for Selecting Hair | 15:06
6. Selective Sharpening w/ High Pass | 20:46
7. Color Range on Live Mask | 24:12
8. Curves | 27:21
9. Combine Adjustment Layers with Blend Modes | 29:50
10. Camera RAW filter on anything (Use Dehaze for interesting contrast) | 32:28

of course, this is a sample for a product that the video's authors (Tutvid) are hawking for a small fee...but I don't mind the free teasers that these places toss to us every so often. Enjoy.

Ever want to take a Stanford Course in Digital Photography…for FREE?

Marc LeVoy, a Google employee and "visiting" lecturer at Stanford, recently put a free copy of his University Course online via Google Sites, for FREE ACCESS. While it may lack some of the full lecture support (a good deal of it, however, is in Video format via YOUTUBE) it is pretty much the Stanford Undergrad course he delivered.

Check it out here.

TYPOGRAPHY from the APPLE WWDC

Every so often, the powers that be at Mac have a HUUUGE get together in the form of their Worldwide Developer Conference. While it could be argued that this is a conference primarily for Apple Partners (especially their developers), they have incredibly informative and educational seminars and presentations.

Not that the practical type user thinks about the issues of TYPOGRAPHY in their everyday work life—but those in any graphic communication discipline ought to.

While this presentation goes near the half-hour mark, it includes an incredibly rich introduction to basic TYPOGRAPHY as it is used practically within applications. If you are at all curious about the discipline of typography, and are willing to listen to this introduction, you'll be rewarded with a very good basic introduction to typography (with a bit of application development and the integrated usage of fonts in the mix.

Check it out
[click image for link]

Going Mirrorless

I am switching to a mirrorless camera. I'm doing it with baby-steps (entry-level APSC size…although the full frame is only a few hundred extra, outside of ISO and CROP, the difference are becoming less impactful for basic image quality, and I can always upgrade).

There is, however, a learning curve with this. I find I am much more comfortable shooting with a traditional DSLR--even though the resolution and IQ are lower on them—I don't yet feel comfortable shooting (and it shows at this point). I find that the images I shoot with the DSLR look like I am more comfortable. It's hard to articulate fully, since its not just one thing (composition, technical, etc.) but things look a little stiff and safe.

There is SOOOO MUCH to learn...The menus (and sub menus, and sub-sub-menus, and hidden menus; and of course the options and sub-options for all) are dizzying. The fact that the lenses take a bit of getting use to, as well as the exciting prospect of using old lenses from a variety of manufacturers on the camera and using "assisted manual focusing" are also part of the curve.

But I KNOW that the payoff is very real. The advantages will be well worth the growing pains.

We (the human animal) love the familiar, and often have an initial fear, suspicion, or confusion associated with the new. When we move to a new location, when we get a new car, or new television (etc.) with sooo many new and unfamiliar features, we need time to assimilate.

So I will continue watching videos and reading up on the new technology. I will ignore the part of me that tries to push me backwards technologically, and push forward and embrace the new (while maintaining an objective viewpoint about those items that are not necessarily better).

Kinda like life, no?