Archive for the 'On Art' Category
Veritas Vignette before and after #2
The ideas behind the Veritas Vignette overlay package is that predictable is boring…
Perfect is unnatural….
And the vignette shapes in the downloadable texture package will help you add that slight organic twist for a sense of the mysterious, the organic - to your images. Here’s a before:
Here’s an after:
The Vignette not only darkens, but also lightens certain areas of the frame that help your composition.
Here’s a few more images from my recent wedding that use the vignettes:
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you will what you imagine
Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.
George Bernard Shaw
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Tectonic Shift: Meditation for creativity - music soundtrack
I start each day by meditation and I use for a soundtrack Tectonic Shift by Delirium as part of my trigger (preview, listen, and buy with this link).
Have you heard of a trigger yet? Start off by reading this post to increase your understanding.
Tectonic shift is a crescendo that helps me focus my mind, calm my heart and set me on an even - but excited tone for the day. No matter what is going on around me - headphones on and I go to that place.
You can have some fun exploring my favorite tracks for meditation with this Amazon player.
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a series of NO’s
…a series of NO….to get to the yes of success…
“I’ve worked out of a series of no’s. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no’s force me to the “yes.” I have a white background. I have the person I’m interested in and the thing that happens between us.”
Richard Avedon, 1994
When No becomes yes
you have understood the Tao
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Small softbox on location
Continuing my explanations from the gear I use - today again the small softbox:
So I was out on an engagement shoot and had done all the normal stuff and wanted a little something extra…
But the simple daylight angle was not very flattering and the busy environment of the playground rope piece made for a very messy image - cool - but a little too messy - what could I do quickly to improve the impact of my couple in the space…
Here I am climbing around searching for the right perspective….
Read on to see the final shot and read about my camera settings making it….
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Studio 360: Stew on the creative life
I first heard about the musical Passing Strange on Studio 360 and I can’t wait to take Liesl to see in in NY. Liesl really loves the stage and was raised on musicals. You can get an MP3 download of the interview on the Studio 360 page.
Studio 360 has been a favorite hour on my iPod for at least 3 years that helps keep my creative side informed in a thoughtful and entertaining way - thanks Kurt!
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Crouching tiger - hidden dragon Photoshop Skills
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Youtube version is available here<
If you can’t hear it here’s the transcript:
I can tell you have studied the technique, but you have misunderstood quite a bit.
You need real training with someone who can teach you right.
You’d like to be my master but who knows if you have the skill
You are right Li Mu Bai means skill, even this sword here stand for skill
But it is all really a state of mind.
Don’t talk like a monk just cause you’re in a temple…..
(he disadvantages her three times without unsheathing his sword)
Real skill comes without effort.
No Growth without help
Action is reaction
No passon without restraint
Know your limits
Now give yourself up, and find yourself reborn.
There is a quick lesson for you, just for a start.
(completely disarmed his opponent with a minimum of moves)
If you’ve yet to see this Martial arts filmic masterpiece, get a copy of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” now.
Or just view a couple more photo shop tutorials to stay sharp.
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JoeyL Tutorial Review - Behind the Scenes
JoeyL Tutorial Review - Behind the Scenes | An American Peyote Scribble
Well, if you haven’t been ‘up’ on a recent internet fad, there was a buz about a Photographer calling himself Joey L…..he was interviewed glowingly by Strobist, and self produced a tutorial DVD to teach others how he produces his shoot. Just so you’re informed on the pop culture behind this review. I’m about to review this review in talking about the creative process….
“This is the first Photoshop tutorial I’ve ever bought, and it was purchased for the following reason: I’ve become comfortable with the basics of Photoshop, using the clone tool for basic corrections, levels and saturation control for various tonal adjustments. Basically using those tools to enhance the feeling I wanted to communicate with the images taken using my cameras. I’ve been looking for a learning package to help me take things to the next level and to expand beyond the basics of enhancing an image and start using Photoshop as a tool to create a specific visual impact with my digital images – beyond what can be accomplished with cameras and basic lighting.”
Now that’s a good reason to get yourself a PhotoShop tutorial. Maybe it’s just cause this guy’s a climber, but he’s definitely articulate and intelligent.
” Did the JoeyL DVD contribute in the aim of fulfilling my creative desires? “
That’s a great question, I sometimes find the same desires in my life as I’m hard pressed for creative time when business tasks take up 90% of my day.
” The creative process was a main draw when I finally sent my credit card info for the DVD, knowing full well that $249 was just dropped electronically. In my opinion a description of the creative process is probably the weak point of the tutorials. “
An American Peyote was disappointed by the DVD - and while I feel for Joey, I’m not surprised that the creativity mark was missed. Why?
While Joey the photographer certainly has a style - it’s a level 6 style - one that is recognizable and marketable. The current trend is in love with anything dark, or low key a little bit pictoral. A style is repeatable, and marketable in a DVD, and powerful enough to convince an intelligent person to spend $249, but real creativity is almost too hard to see. Real creativity hides among the interaction between a self and a medium ….like in Tao 33.
Creativity is a process.
A process of pouring out oneself into a medium: for understanding, for expression, for communication, for documentation.
Technique is a gateway to open up the flow of creativity.
“During the lessons Mr. Lawrence talks through his thinking process in adding various layers and how to do different adjustments. Adding layers and blending and the use of manipulating shadows and adding light to images is well explained. This is exactly what I was looking for, since it shows you how to enhance lighting effects in Photoshop which were absent or difficult to produce in reality.”
But to learn creativity, one must learn to be open.
Evidently the reviewer did open up after watching the video again a few times “In this capacity I’m very happy with my decision to drop $249 on the JoeyL DVD tutorial and would do so again.”
One day I’ll have a DVD worth spending $300 on, that will leave it’s customers open, educated and inspired. But creativity is never something that can be bought, only something that can be initiated or opened as I impact you, or you draw from the universe. I wish a creative blessing for my climber friend, and that JoeyL learns to communicate what wells within him. So let this review remind you as you’re tempted to buy the latest DVD, to instead go out and watch the sun set, feel the grass in your toes or hug your daughter. Open up to the flow, instead of spend your cashflow.
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- Creativity , Inspiration , On Art , Photoshop , Reviews , Tutorials , Workshop
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Header #1: Metaphysical explanation
Please join me in a meditation on ancient Hebrew scripture:
Genesis 1
The Beginning
- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
- And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
- God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
- God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Well, where to start with all that.
First do you have any potential biases? Have you ever considered the truth contained in Hebrew scriptures? If you can find truth in the oldest spiritual text on the planet - then you might have a chance with a lens too. Clear your mind of any haze of skepticism and find the essence of these scriptures and how they may effect you.
Vs. 1 is an intro - kinda set’s the stage with the most important summary of all. Connect with God and you’ll connect with creativity itself, more on that later.
Vs. 2 - can you actually conceptualize nothingness? Try it - oops - no you can’t do that, because you exist - I kinda see this verse along those lines. A little gotcha joke, that teaches a lesson. Quantum physics is now just learning and informing us that the mind creates the universe……another very tricky catch22, that we all find the answer to when we die.
Vs. 3 - Ok so we’ve tackled some pretty major philosophical hurdles, what’s next? Well we know a few things about light now in the Twenty First century. We admit to knowing less about God so let’s put it together. E=mc2 is the best explanation that we have so far. It’s no such thing as why - but a very nice how. Energy, can become matter if it’s moving fast/slow enough. Pretty cool so Genesis has it right, God created ‘light’ and there was matter all nice and tidy in His one substance. Those ancient people knew a bit of something about reality didn’t they! they just communicate it differently than we do.
Now let’s draw some parallels that are important for our craft. God’s first creation he used for our primary interface with the world. I don’t mean to Kinda tricky how he did that eh? We are created to interact with the light. Ponder the multidimensional wonder of that thought for a while since you’ve now realized that light gives us information, as well as creates the substance we inhabit.
But wait, I have to burst that wonderful thought bubble to break in that we don’t actually interact with the light anymore - we interact with the darkness. Yep, you’re responding to the darkness around you. The darkness tells you where your keyboard is; the darkness tells you where the subject in your viewfinder is; the darkness defines color and shape in your photographic prints. The study of visual perception has been around since the Greeks were able to guess that light came into our eyes, and the first photography book that really opened up my mind to understand the intricacy of how we see was Perception and Imaging by Richard Zakias. It is always my first recommendation for those seeking to study photography and understand building a photograph with visual elements.
So here you begin to understand the levels upon which I developed the concept and the motivation for this site - to Make Light Real
As another perspective on light as a key to metaphsyics, you can watch this clip by Bob Proctor
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