Photography

  • How to Transform Your Photos into Classical Oil Paintings

    December 3, 2010 Art, Photography, Tips & Tutorials Write Comment

    By Lew Bedell

    I remember a few months ago a particular piece of art making its way through production here at Artistic Photo Canvas that caught everyone's eye and created something of a buzz. It was a digital “fine art” painting that was beautiful, contemporary, and truly striking. We knew the artist was exceptionally gifted. What we didn’t know at the time was that the origin of the piece was a digital photograph.

    The photographer/artist that created “Chiara Bride” (shown here) – which, incidentally, made for a truly stunning stretched canvas print – was Melissa Gallo. It turns out that we’d unknowingly created something of a mutual admiration society because Melissa called our offices a few weeks ago to let us know that she was just blown away by the customer service she recieved and the quality of our work compared to other labs she’d tried. She was thrilled to have found both a medium and a vendor that finally showed her work it in it’s best light.

    I later learned that Melissa was creating a webinar to teach her photo painting techniques to others. As you might imagine, I’ve seen a huge number of “photo paintings,” but I've never seen anyone who’s work so resembles a “real” oil painting. In fact, until Melissa told me, I had no clue that her art was the result of digitally painting photographs. I was on board for this webinar. I'm really looking forward to seeing exactly how she does it. I told her I would definitely give her webinar a plug on our blog. (It would really be a joy to see more digital art of that calibre coming through APC!)

    Melissa’s webinar, “Turn Your Photo into a Classical Oil Painting,” will be hosted by Marathon Press and conducted live on December 7, 2010 from 8PM - 9PM Eastern. The cost is $34.00. Purchasers of the webinar will have permanent access to the taped version to review again and again. Click here to see more of Melissa’s photo paintings. After seeing the the exceptional results she achieves with her approach, I think you’ll agree that this webinar sounds like a great investment.

    I asked Melissa if she’d share her thoughts with our readers about the trend of transforming photos into paintings and her upcoming webinar…

    What is your experience with traditional painting and what attracted you to the digital medium?

    “I was a paperback romance illustrator for 22 years-back in the day when there were no computers! Using acrylics, I worked in a very tight realistic style. It was tedious and hard work. A painting would take me a month to complete, working with a brush that came to a point of one single hair. I could not make mistakes-what I put down on canvas was final and there was no “undo.” By the time my last child was born and I had put my husband through veterinary school with my work, I was ready to quit. I had had it! I vowed I would never paint again! Then several years ago I fell into photography and started a photography business. One day, while flipping through a Photoshop magazine, I saw what I thought to be a traditionally painted oil painting, that they claimed had been done digitally. That painting transformed me. I couldn't believe it and I had to find out how it was done. I delved first in Photoshop and then found Corel Painter – and I was hooked! It was SO wonderfully easy and fun – and mistakes could be done away with the tap of a key.”

    How would you describe the differences between “autopaint” and “filter” techniques and a “true” digital painting for photographs?

    “There is a TREMENDOUS difference between auto painting/filter techniques and true painting! First of all, I do not like auto painting at all! You are not doing the painting – the computer is. This is not what we are trying to achieve. Instead, we are hoping to facilitate the art of painting using the computer. When we paint, our brains interpret what we are seeing based on our own physiological makeup and all of our experience. If you leave it to the computer, then the computer will do the interpreting for you – without the element of human emotion. That is why a painting can be so moving and magical – it is not “generated” – it is thought over, fought over and imbued with our feelings… Why would you leave your painting process to anyone – or anything – else? I want to demonstrate how we use a photograph as a basis only for our painting – but then take off from there.”

    What types of photographs make good candidates for digital painting?

    Continue reading →

  • Urbex: Positively No Admittance?

    November 30, 2010 Photography, Tips & Tutorials Write Comment

    “And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight
    So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, Hey! What gives you the right?”
    – Five Man Electrical Band

    Urbex HDR photography 1 copyright Bob Lussier

    By Bob Lussier, Photographer

    One of my favorite genres of photography is Urban Exploration (Urbex). I love shooting and viewing images of old forgotten places and urban decay.

    My corner of the world was built in the 19th century along the Merrimack River in Massachusetts. It was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in America. In its wake it left behind, seemingly, countless old mill buildings that have been struggling for over half a century to find new purpose.

    The majority of my Urbex work has centered around these historic treasures, prompting several of my regular readers to ask, “how do you get access?”

    I’ve threatened all of the questioners with a blog post on the issue, so I’m thrilled to write this one for Artistic Photo Canvas.

    Urbex HDR photography 2, copyright Bob Lussier

    Is it Urbex if you have permission?

    In its strictest sense, Urbex evokes images of skulking through the dark, hopping fences and dodging security guards, all in the name of adventure and capturing awesomely gorgeous and gritty images. But that’s breaking and entering and that is illegal. I would NEVER do such a thing (cough, cough).

    With all due respect to the 5 Man Electrical Band, trespassing is trespassing. There is risk in ignoring the “No Trespassing” signs. While getting past them legally may not bring out your photographic Indiana Jones, it will certainly lead to a stress-free shoot. It will also help build your reputation and open more doors for you. I mean that in a very literal sense.

    My initial foray into the mills lead to additional introductions and additional photo shoots.

    Urbex HDR Photography 3, copyright Bob Lussier

    Find the owner.

    Finding property owners can require a bit of detective work. Leverage your own contacts in town. Chances are you know someone who knows someone who is associated with the property. Contact the local historical society. Is the property for sale? If so, contact the real estate agent. Diligence pays off here.

    Urbex HDR Photography 4, copyright Bob Lussier

    Just ask.

    When you find the owner, just ask. You may be surprised at people’s willingness to allow you to shoot their property.

    My buildings, the mills (yes, I consider them mine), were begging to be photographed in HDR. News of the pending demolition of a set of smokestacks and boiler house at the old Wood Mill site in Lawrence, MA prompted me to contact the developer. After a couple of emails and a game of phone tag, I was introduced to the developer’s project manager. He was receptive to my request and helped clear the way.

    Urbex HDR Photography 5, copyright Bob Lussier
    Continue reading →

  • Dave Cross and crew film at APC

    November 2, 2010 Art, Photography Write Comment

    Renowned Photoshop expert and trainer Dave Cross was at Artistic Photo Canvas recently with a video crew filming part of his new class, Photo Painting Basics.

    In the class that just went live at Kelby Training, Dave teaches a simple method of turning a photo into a painting – including demonstrating how the technique can be automated.

    At the end of the class there's a brief tour of the APC production process showing one of the images used in the class being turned into a gallery wrapped canvas print.

    More information on the class can be found here.

    Dave Cross from Kelby Training films his new photo painting class at Artistic Photo Canvas

    Video

  • APC Bookshelf: Composition Digital Field Guide

    October 27, 2010 Contests & Giveaways, Photography Write Comment

    In his latest book – Composition Digital Field Guide – author and San Diego-based photographer, Alan Hess, shares his knowledge of photo basics for the frustrated novice wanting a better image.

    Covering a tremendous array of topics, Alan breaks down the basics of composition, explaining the rule of thirds, use of color and cropping, even tips on achieving better exposures and color balance.

    For those of you feeling a bit overwhelmed by the world of digital photography, this field guide will not only help you understand the basic functions of your SLR in order to get better shots, but also help you get a bit more creative in order to achieve dynamic and striking compositions.

    Alan conveys the importance of thoughtfully considering your subjects and environment while executing specific techniques in order to get those shots you've always wanted but couldn't seem to capture.

    With chapters including Symmetry and Balance, Light and Exposure, and How to Use the Gray Card and Color Checker (cards included in the book), Composition Digital Field Guide is – surprise – about much more than composition. It's a great read and camera bag accessory for anyone looking for a some handy tips and information.

    WIN a copy of Composition Digital Field Guide – signed by the author!

    Artistic Photo Canvas – Alan Hess' preferred lab for lifelike prints on canvas – has four signed copies of Composition Digital Field Guide to give away to readers of The Photo Canvas Blog!

    For your chance to win, just post a comment below. We'll draw one random winner each day between Wednesday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. Be sure to use a valid email address when posting your comment – it won't appear on the blog – so we can contact you if you're a winner! Good luck!

    – Camille Pyatte, Team APC

    DAILY WINNERS:

    Wednesday, October 27: Michael Kells – Congratulations!
    Thursday, October 28: Angie K – Congratulations!
    Friday, October 29: John Tammaro – Congratulations!
    Saturday, October 30 – Don McGurrin – Congratulations!

  • Photographing National Parks

    October 5, 2010 Contests & Giveaways, Photography Write Comment

    Some of the most stunning photos printed on canvas by APC are shot within our national parks. And our customers tell us that one of the easiest ways to find and capture the iconic scenes that make each park so special is to simply follow the advice of photographers who've toiled for years scouting the perfect locations.

    Thousands of photographers have contributed to the printed books and shooting manuals that for decades have served so well as guides for pros and amateurs who want to follow their leads into the wilds of the park system. Now, however, a new breed of photographers is creating robust electronic guides that carry the promise of lightening our loads during the hunt for the perfect shot.

    The creators of the iFotoGuides for iPhone and iPad have already introduced three park-specific apps that are fulfilling that promise – with more in development. Now, shooters trekking to Arhes, Yosemite and Grand Canyon National Parks can arm themselves with a few megs of data on a device they already carry, swapping out the weighty printed materials for an extra camera body or lens – or the extra provisions that will enable them to venture further than their encumbered fellow shooters.

    Each app includes vital park information, interactive maps, photo locations, sunrise and sunset tables, stunning image galleries by renowned expert photographers, and even information on dining, lodging and other nearby services – in short, all of the information you need to make the most of your photo tour of each park. These guides won't weigh you down by one ounce, and the iFotoGuide apps set you back only $4.99 each – way less than those heavy printed guidebooks.
    Continue reading →

  • APC HDR Walkshop Photo Contest Winners

    September 27, 2010 Contests & Giveaways, Events, Photography Write Comment

    After a weekend of image evaluating and score tabulating by a panel of HDR experts and enthusiasts, we're excited to announce the winners of our first HDR Walkshop Photo Contest!

    The APC HDR Walkshop with Brian Matiash at Photoshop World Las Vegas, held earlier this month, was universally praised as a good time and a great learning experience. About 30 walkers joined Brian, co-leader Jacob Lucas, and the crew from Artistic Photo Canvas for a walking photo workshop in Old Las Vegas focused on high dynamic range photography.

    Fremont Street Experience – a flashy, neon-lit entertainment district oozing with character and texture – is the destination for millions of tourists and locals. It was the perfect locale for capturing brackets, which our walkers post-processed into a fantastic batch of HDR goodness that's now on display in this colorful, full-size slideshow version of the APC HDR Walkshop Photo Contest group pool on Flickr – where you can see and enjoy all of the entries.

    Many entries represented walkers' first foray into HDR bracketing and post-processing. We were roundly impressed with the quality of the entry pool overall, and especially the efforts and results of the participants for whom, less than a month ago, HDR was but a tantalizing concept.

    Choosing winners was a truly difficult task. Every judge – including Brian, Jacob, RC Concepcion (Educator and curriculum developer for NAPP, co-host of Layers TV, writer for Photoshop User Magazine & Layers Magazine, and HDR expert) and Lew Bedell and Bob Melson (co-founders of APC, sponsor of the HDR Walkshop) – brought their own judging criteria to the table – with opinions as diverse as the body of work that is classified as HDR. The winning images represent the convergences of those varied tastes and sensibilities.

    So – with heartfelt thanks and kudos to every walker – here are your winning entries…

    1st Place: "Fremont Street Vegas" by Toni Vaughan

    Toni's image showcases a nice balance of HDR processing. It's strong without being over-the-top, bringing out all of the rich textures of the scene. The composition is very appealing in its skewed angle and the way that it only shows a portion of the Fremont Street 'Las Vegas' sign.

    Toni will receive a Custom 32" x 48" Gallery Wrapped Canvas featuring her winning image courtesy of Artistic Photo Canvas.

    2nd Pace: "The Dark End of the Street" by William Beem

    William did a really nice job of capturing the full dynamic range of the scene. He recovered most of the detail that would normally have been blown out in the neon and lit signs. The textures brought out of the pavement were also fantastic.

    William will receive a Custom 24" x 36" Gallery Wrapped Canvas featuring his winning image courtesy of Artistic Photo Canvas.

    3rd Place (tie): "Fremont East" by Damien Jemison

    Damien had a very strong composition, showcasing the Fremont Street Experience front and center. He did a great job of leading the eye through the frame and supported it with some great HDR processing.

    Damien will receive a Custom 12" x 18" Gallery Wrapped Canvas featuring his winning image courtesy of Artistic Photo Canvas.

    3rd Place (tie): "Retouched HDR Photowalk - Vegas" by Dave Clayton

    Dave presented a nice juxtaposition of urban structures interwoven with the natural elements of palm trees and shrubbery. His HDR processing was clean and subtle. David also operated with a significant handicap due to the limitations of his camera, but worked through them quite admirably to get the brackets that he needed for tone-mapping.

    Dave will receive a Custom 12" x 18" Gallery Wrapped Canvas featuring his winning image courtesy of Artistic Photo Canvas.

    Congratulations contest winners! We can't wait to see these great HDR images printed on canvas!

    We hope every registered participant of the APC HDR Walkshop at Photoshop World Las Vegas feels like a winner too. We all enjoyed the interactive, expert HDR instruction, the camaraderie, the after-party. And every walker scored an APC "My photos ROCK on canvas" t-shirt and an APC gift card. We hope those cards will be put to use bringing many more of the HDR images entered in the contest to life on canvas.

    Soon, we'll be posting a wrap-up of the entire Walkshop event in photos – and showing off more of the judges favorites. (Subscribe to The Photo Canvas Blog RSS feed in your favorite reader or bookmark us to follow the action!)

    We welcome your comments below – and we're sure the contest participants will also appreciate and enjoy reading any comments and kudos you care to share with them on Flickr.

  • Win a David duChemin Iceland print on canvas

    September 12, 2010 Contests & Giveaways, Deals, Photography Write Comment

    Today (Sunday, September 12, 2010) is the last day to be entered into renowned world and humanitarian photographer David duChemin's drawing to win a 20" x 30" gallery wrapped canvas print of "Vast" – one of the remarkable images captured during his recent trek to Iceland.


    Your chance to win is a bonus with the purchase of David's latest eBook "Iceland: A Monograph." An awe-inspiring and enlightening 65-page exploration of images and techniques, "Iceland: A Monograph" is part of duChemin's The Print & The Process Series, designed "to discuss the process of creation in a way that pulls the curtain back on techniques."

    To read more about "Iceland: A Monograph," as well as purchase the eBook for just $4.00 (20% discount from the regular price of $5.00 also expires today) – and receive an automatic entry into the drawing for his breathtaking print of "Vast" – please visit this link at David duChemin's website.

  • HDR Best Practices Guide – Part III: Post Processing

    September 8, 2010 Photography, Tips & Tutorials Write Comment

    On the heels of Photoshop World Las Vegas and our successful first-ever conference event – APC's HDR Walkshop with Brian Matiash – the timing couldn't be better to share with you the final chapter in Brian's phenomenal HDR Best Practices Guide. Get ready to learn from a master… and enjoy!

    By Brian Matiash, Photographer

    We’ve had quite the journey thus far.  By now, you have rocked it out in the field and captured some fantastic brackets. You’ve also nailed down your image management process, ensuring that you know exactly which images you will be tone-mapping. This leaves us with our final phase. The last stop. I admit it's bold to say that every digital image you take will see some sort of technical refinement but it’s the truth. Barring strict photojournalistic ethics, just about every image you share, in one way or another, will be refined to taste.

    Copyright Brian Matiash

    The term most commonly used to describe this refining phase is called ‘Post Processing’. It’s also typically referred to simply as ‘Post’, as will be the case for the rest of this Guide. The craftsmanship of your final results rests squarely on your ability to utilize and navigate through the tools that you have at your disposal. In most cases, people usually make core adjustments to an image: the exposure level, contrast, and saturation. HDR imaging brings it to a whole new level because before you can even start adjusting any of those values, you first have to derive your tone-mapped image.

    If you think about it, your brackets are the paint on your easel. The quality of these brackets will directly affect the color and quality of what you can paint with.  Hopefully, the first two parts of this Best Practices Guide have helped ensure you get the best possible brackets. An optimal series of brackets will contain detail ranging from the highlight areas (typically found in the darkest bracket images) through the mid-tones (the normal exposures) and onto the shadows (the brightest bracket images). Reviewing these brackets while still in the field is integral to ensure that you get the correct details in all of your exposures before leaving the scene.

    You’ve seen me use the term ‘tone-mapping’ here and you’ve likely read it on other websites.  For the sake of thoroughness, let me quickly and loosely define the term as it is a critical step in the HDR process.  In actuality, just about every LCD and printer that you are currently using cannot accurately display all of the data in an HDR image. There is simply too much information in the highlight and shadow areas for your screen to output. To mitigate that limitation, algorithms have been created to ‘tone-map’ the HDR image into a range that your screen and printer can handle. This process of scaling the HDR image down is done at a pixel-by-pixel level and, as a result, you really want to make sure that the pixels found in all of your brackets contain enough exposure detail so that the entire scene is represented accurately.

    Continue reading →

  • HDR Best Practices Guide – Part II: Image Management

    August 13, 2010 Photography, Tips & Tutorials Write Comment

    By Brian Matiash, Photographer

    So, you finished reading HDR Best Practices Guide - Part I: In The Field, and went out for a shoot. You had all of your wits and your gear about you when you set up your tripod and fired off those lovely brackets. You’ve got the raw materials (fine, pun partially intended) and now it’s time to refine them into something truly beautiful.

    My original intent for Part II of this HDR Best Practices Guide was to delve into the actual tone-mapping and post processing steps around HDR. But, I felt that I would totally be glossing over an extremely important part of the whole HDR photography lifecycle by ignoring Image Management. So, I decided to devote Part II of this Guide to this topic because a clean home is a happy home. Part III will nose dive into the goodness of Photomatix, Photoshop, and everything in between.

    I could write a whole book on the importance of image management. Many people already have. Your images are your primary, precious resources. As such, they have to be properly cataloged and inventoried so that you know exactly what you are looking for, how to find it, and how to deal with it.  Image Management is critical when you’re simply dealing with single images. Imagine what happens when you’re dealing with several brackets per HDR image. Here are some ‘Best Practices’ that I religiously follow to help prevent myself from losing sanity over my abyss of brackets.

    Copyright 2010 by Brian Matiash

    Best Practice #1: Create/Maintain/Live By Your Rules

    Think of self-imposed rules and what they really are. Boil it down and they are sanity checks and benchmarks that, when adhered to, help foster a healthy and functional working environment. The creation of these rules must be accompanied with a commitment and resolve to stick to them.  Get in the habit of ignoring them and you may as well not create them at all.

    Continue reading →

  • APC's HDR “Walkshop” with Brian Matiash at Photoshop World

    August 3, 2010 Contests & Giveaways, Events, Photography Write Comment

    At Artistic Photo Canvas, we love that we’re able to keep our finger on the lively pulse of the photography community. We know that HDR photography is much more than just the “Hot Topic du jour.” We see all of the wonderful detail and tone in the images that our customers share online and – best of all – we get to see, on a regular basis, that HDR images make for some truly amazing looking canvas prints.

    That is why we are excited to announce APC’s very first HDR “Walkshop” … a walking workshop to be led by our good friend and renowned HDR Photographer, Brian Matiash. Brian's skills and expertise in the realm of HDR photography are highly regarded – as are his mentoring abilities in sharing the nuanced shooting techniques and post-processing mastery he’s known for.

    APC’s HDR Walkshop will take place next month during the Photoshop World Conference & Tech Expo in Las Vegas. For those of you that don’t already know, Photoshop World is the world’s largest Photoshop convention. The skills that are learned… the friends that are made… the good times (and the Expo deals) that are had… are legendary.

    This September will mark APC’s sixth PSW Expo – where we have the great pleasure of meeting in person so many of our amazingly gifted customers. We wanted to organize something special for our friends at the show this time – and we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about sponsoring this event. Working with Brian has been incredible. His passion for photography and HDR and teaching are contagious.

    If you're able to go, we can pretty much guarantee two things: You’re going to learn a lot about HDR photography. And you are going to have a really good time doing it!

    The official registration page has all of the details about the Walkshop – and the extra goodies we have in store for you. Head on over and check it out for yourself by clicking the banner below. We can’t wait to see you in Vegas. And we can’t wait to see the awesome HDR images that you create!

    APC's HDR Walkshop with Brian Matiash at Photoshop World Las Vegas

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