LUCAS GALO

Just Dance Video

2011-10-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

This a teaser for an event on campus.

Just Dance from Lucas Galo on Vimeo.

Countdown Video

2011-10-21T13:25:00.001-07:00

Animated Countdown

Countdown from Lucas Galo on Vimeo.

Oblivious Video

2011-10-21T13:24:00.001-07:00

An animated logo for a movie production company.

Oblivious Logo from Lucas Galo on Vimeo.

Michael Commons Identity Design

2011-10-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

SEFOMA Booklet

2011-10-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is a booklet for a SEFOMA exhibition on sculptor Alexander Calder that I made for my Typography class. I used InDesign to create it. I decided to focus on what Calder is most famous for: his mobiles. My concept also emphasizes Calder’s fascination with the universe and the influenced it had on his work. I used Gothic Century because I think its shape reflects Calder’s style, and the primary colors also reflects his art.

Laptop Initiative Webpage

2011-10-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

Laptop Initiative Webpage

POTS Brochure

2011-10-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

These are just a couple of spreads from an informational brochure about the decline of landlines.

More Maddy

2011-10-21T11:03:00.001-07:00

Cassandre Poster

2011-10-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Poster for an exhibition on A.M. Cassadre

Logos

2011-10-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

1 - Grand Tetons Frozen Custard Company
2 - Toxic - Graphic Design
3 - Leve - Women's Shoes Store
4 - Quoted - Blog
5 - Clay Diffrient - Web Developer

Legendary Battles Card Game

2011-10-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Legendary Battles consists of 50 cards with illustrations of mythological creatures.

Maddy

2011-03-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Pregnant Ashley and Travis

2011-03-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Found Alphabeth

2011-02-28T07:08:00.000-08:00

The assignment was to create an alphabet using everyday objects. I chose to use glow sticks. I shaped the glow sticks to form specific letters and taped them to a table. The photographs were taken in total darkness with the camera set to a very low shutter speed, which keeps the lenses open for longer and making it possible to capture light. The hardest part besides shaping the sticks was to hold the camera still for several seconds. Once all the pictures were taken I put them together in Photoshop.

Symbol Collection

2011-02-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Each one of the symbols above represents a compound word. The purpose of this project was to communicate fast and effectively with the simplest image possible, creating a sort of icon that represents the word. I believe this will help me in the creation of logos. The symbols were created in Illustrator.

Producr Redesign

2011-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

For my Advanced Visual Media Class I redesigned the package for Bigelow's Cozy Chamomile Tea. The problem I found with the original package is that it uses bright yellow and green which in my opinion communicates something like lemon-lime rather than chamomile. The original also uses a variety of typefaces, making the design look cluttered. My new design is simple and modern which I believe will appeal to the target audience (middle-aged females.) It will attract new costumers while still being recognizable to those who already use it.

Artery Poster

2011-02-26T07:10:00.000-08:00

This poster started out with an assignment in which I had to design a visually appealing composition using only solid, black and white geometrical shapes. Once that was done, I had to transform it into a poster, replacing the shapes with text and images. I created the shapes in Illustrator using the pen and shapes tools and then used Photoshop tools such brushes and masks to add textures and actually create the poster. Only little changes where necessary to turn it into a poster, proving that the black/white composition was actually pretty strong. I wanted the poster to have a mix of grunge and urban styles that still resembled the first black and white composition.

Mermaid Illustration

2011-02-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

Bryanna & Seth's Wedding

2010-09-01T16:12:00.001-07:00

Scanography

2010-07-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Blue Necklace

Colorful necklace

Tacks

Collage

Jewelry

Colorful necklace 2

Green apple

This assignment was very interesting. I used to think that a scanner was just for flat stuff, but I soon realized that I can scan anything and it looks really cool. To get the black background you need the room to be dark, but since I couldn't turn off the lights in the lab, I put a trash can over it. There was still a little bit of light showing in the picture, so I fixed it with a levels adjustment layer in Photoshop.

Fine Art Template

2010-06-20T23:50:00.001-07:00

Hibiscus (edited)

Hibiscus - Rexburg, ID, 6/10/2010, mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/5000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Fruit (edited)

Fruit -Rexburg, ID, 4/23/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/600, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7

This fine art template is an easy and effective way of displaying photographs. I created a new white document and drew a black rectangle. I duplicated my rectangle four times (5 total.) Then I added the picture I wanted to display and created a clipping mask. The final touch was adding text. I tried changing the color of the background layer. One picture looked better with white and the other one with black, but I could alos have used a different color from the picture.

Photolusion

2010-06-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Edited Photoluison - Heavenly

Temple - Rexburg, ID, 5/14/2010, mid-afternoon - f/5.6, 10/2500, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Clouds 1 - Rexburg, ID, 6/1/2010, mid-afternoon - f/9, 10/4000, ISO 80, Sony DSC-H20

Clouds 2 - Rexburg, ID, 6/1/2010, mid-afternoon - f/8, 10/10000, ISO 80, Sony DSC-H20

Photolusion straight - Technology - Rexburg, ID, 6/19/2010, afternoon - f/3.2, 10/80, ISO 200, Sony DSC-H7 - exposure adjustment

Photolusions are very interesting, but require some thinking to come up with a good idea and make it work. The first photolusion is a blend of 3 pictures. I used masks to hide part of the temple and the clouds to make it look like the temple is floating on the clouds. I also changed the contrast and color of the picture. The second photolusion is just one photo. I had a picture of a hand in my computer and by placing my hand behind the laptop it looks like my hand is inside of it. I took this picture of myself using a tripod and self timer.

Border Effects

2010-06-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Bryanna & Seth 1 - Rexburg, ID, 6/11/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/800, ISO 100, DSC-H50 - photo filter, flare and airbrushing

Bryanna & Seth 2 - Rexburg, ID, 6/11/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/300, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - smart filter

Bryanna & Seth 3 - Rexburg, ID, 6/11/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/800, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - curves, flare and airbrushing

Bryanna and Seth liked the portraits that I posted here and asked me to take their engagement pictures. I added a border to three of my favorite photos from that photo shoot.
The double fade border is done by masking two rectangles and adding blur.
For the brush-on effect I created a textured yellowish layer and placed the background layer on top of it. I added a black mask layer and brought back parts of the pictures using special brushes.
The Sprayed edge effect is achieved by applying a quick mask to a rectangle and then applying sprayed stroke to it.

Night and lights

2010-06-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

Abstract lights 1 - Rexburg, ID, 6/4/2010, early morning - f/3.5, 100/10, ISO 100, Sony DSC H-20

Abstract lights 2 - Rexburg, ID, 5/14/2010, night - f/3.2, 10/50, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Rexburg, ID, 6/4/2010, early morning - f/3.5, 70/10, ISO 100 Sony DSC-H20

Temple - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, early morning -f/2.7, 10/60, ISO 125, Sony DSC-H50

Gringos - Rexburg, ID, 5/14/2010, night - f/5, 10/50, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

This assignment was a ton of fun. The abstract lights are the ones I like the most and the ones I had the most fun with. To capture them I just shook my camera in front of a light source with very low shutter speed . I used glow sticks and party lights for the first one and the second one is the lights from "Gringos." For "Lucas" I taped glow sticks to a table on the shape of the letters. I used a tripod for the photo of the temple and turned it into black and white. For "Gringos" I should have used a tripod but I didn't have one, so I held my breath and tried to be still. I think it came out pretty sharp though.

Photo Journal Template

2010-06-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

Since I am a graphic design major and that is supposedly what I do best, I created my own template. The idea was to have a cork board like the one I have in my room. I placed some rectangular shapes on the cork board image and gave them a stroke and drop shadow. To add the pictures I simply placed them on top of the layer with the rectangular shape I wanted and created a clipping mask. I found a convenient PNG file online of a thumbtack, which gave it the final touch.

Week of Photos

2010-06-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday: Dandelion - Rexburg, ID, 6/1/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/2500, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H20

Wednesday: Jessica - Rexburg, ID, 6/2/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/2000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Portrait enhancements

Thursday: Motorcycle - Rexburg, ID, 6/3/2010, mid-afternoon - f/8, 10/2000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H20 - Sharpness and burn

Friday: Abstract lights - Rexburg, ID, 6/4/2010, night - f/3.5, 100/10, ISO 100, Sony DSC -H20

Saturday: Spori - Rexburg, ID, 6/5/2010, mid-afternoon - f/5.6, 10/5000, ISO 100, DSC-H50 - HDR

Sunday: Flower - Rexburg, ID, 6/6/2010, mid-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/2000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Monday: M&Ms - Rexburg, ID 6/7/2010, morning - f/2.7, 10/60, ISO 400, Sony DSC-H50

Taking a picture every day was a bit of a challenge, because I wanted to have something good every day, but I didn't have that much time. Not having the option to go back and take more shots if I wasn't satisfied forced me to really concentrate in doing the very best I could. It was an opportunity to look around and find beauty in everyday life. It also a chance to explore some of the skills I've learned so far, such as macro, portrait enhancements, HDR, and light painting with camera motion (I will explain how I did this one next week).

Portraits

2010-05-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Camila - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/800, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7 - Sharpness, photo filer and airbrhising

Camila and purple flowers - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/1250, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7 - Sharpness and airbrushing

Just Friends - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/60, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness adjustment, airbrushing, vignette and replaced color

Daviana - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/1250, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness, vignette

Christina - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/200, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness, vignette and airbrushing

Cade Studying - Rexburg, ID, 5/26/2010, Late-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/50, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7 - Blur and airbrushing

I really love taking portrait pictures. It gives me artistic freedom, because I can make my subject (the model) change position or express different emotions. You just can't do that when you're photographing a landscape for example. Most of these were taken in aperture priority mode with relatively low number and slightly zoomed in. I particularly like the bokeh in the first picture of Camila. I changed some colors in the group picture to have them all match. I think that a little airbrushing is a must for every portrait, especially close-ups. My favorite part is watching the reaction of the models when they see the final product.

Portrait Enhancements

2010-05-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Camila and Cherry Blossoms (edited)

Camila and Cherry Blossoms - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late Afternnon - f/2.7, 10/3200, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7

Camila by the fence (edited)

Camila by the fence - Rexburg, ID, 5/27/2010, Late-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/4000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H7

Jamie 2 (edited)

Jamie 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.8, 10/10000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Couple - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 10/400, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Portraits take a long time to edit because there are so many details to enhance, but it's worth it. I enhanced all of my portraits by airbrushing the skin, whitening teeth, sharpening eyes, etc. The best way I found to sharpen is by using high pass. It makes a lot of difference. I changed the color on Camila's shirt, but because there are so many colors I had to do the process a couple times. I matched the picture of Jamie with the color in the picture of the couple. It was originally too dark, so I changed some of the settings in the match color box until I got something I liked.

Luminosity Effect

2010-05-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Kristen at the Hotel (edited)

Kristen at the hotel - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, early afternoon - f/3.2, 10/600, ISO 100, Sony DSC - H50

Before I started following the tutorial to create this affect I applied some portrait enhancement techniques to the picture, which made it look less grainy, and gave it sharper details. I follow the tutorial until the part where it said to lock the transparency layer. It didn't work, but then I unlocked it again and I was able to do what I had to. I played with the gradient settings for a while until I got something I liked. I added the text and set the blending mode to soft light.

Bannack/Dubois Extras

2010-05-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Left for Mosquitos - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/3.2, 10/8000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Strange Metal Instrument - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/3.5, 10/400, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Cemetery Fence - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Late-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/4000, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Hotel Stairs - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/200, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Warehouse - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Restroom - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Early-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/130, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50

Reversed Shallow Depth

2010-05-23T15:25:00.002-07:00

Hole in the Wall 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/7.1, 10/250, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Hole in the Wall 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/5, 10/200, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Untitled 1 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/130, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Untitled 2 - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/130, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H5

To reverse the focal point I just focused on different spots, pressed the shutter button half way and then moved the camera to get the same composition.

Motion Blur/Freeze

2010-05-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

Hotel Guests - Bannack, MT, early afternoon - f/2.7, 80/10, ISO 125 - Sony DSC - H50

Ghost Self-portrait - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 80/10, ISO 80 - Sony DSC-H2

The Killer - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, mid-afternoon - f/8, 50/10, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Rain - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 10/5000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

What happens in Rexburg stays in Rexburg - Rexburg, ID, 5/24/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/5000, ISO 100 Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness and brightness adjustment

For motion blur we took a bunch of "ghost" pictures. It was really hard at first to figure out the right setting, but once we got it down it was a lot of fun. I found that setting the aperture to 8" gave me the best result. Then my subject would stand in front of the camera and move quickly as the camera captured only the background for the remaining time. For my ghost self-portrait, I switched positions halfway through.
When I came home from Bannack and looked at the pictures I took for motion freeze I decide that I didn't really like any of them, so I went out and took some more shots. It was raining so I took some pictures of the water coming down the roof at my apartment. I also asked some friends to help me take the "jumping" picture. They were a little too excited about that... The higher the number of the shutter-speed, the easier it is to to do it, but then the picture might come out really dark.

HDR

2010-05-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

Yellow Truck (HDR)

Yellow Truck - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early afternoon - f/3.5, 10/8000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Cemetery (HDR)

Cemetery - Somewhere in Montana, 5/21/2010, Late afternoon - f/2.7, 10/16000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Doctors House Living Room (HDR)

Doctors House Living Room 1 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/200, ISO 100 DSC-H50

Doctors House Living Room 2 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/400, ISO 100 DSC-H50

Doctors House Living Room 3 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100 DSC-H50

Doctors House Living Room 4 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/50, ISO 100 DSC-H50

Doctors House Living Room 5 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/25, ISO 100 DSC-H50

Doctors House Kitchen

Doctors House Kitchen 1 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/200 - Sony DSC-H50

Doctors House Kitchen 2 - Bannack, Mo, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/400 - Sony DSC-H50

Doctors House Kitchen 3 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/100 - Sony DSC-H50

Doctors House Kitchen 4 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/50 - Sony DSC-H50

Doctors House Kitchen 5 - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/25 - Sony DSC-H50

HDR is pretty much the coolest thing ever. I tried editing a single Jpeg file and 5 shots with different exposures. Obviously, 5 shots give you a better result than just one. Ultra-contrast worked the best with my pictures, and I increased the vivid colors and dramatic light quite a bit.

Macro Blends

2010-05-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

Magic Chef (edited)

Magic Chef - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Early afternoon - f/3.5, 10/130, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Rusty Texture, Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100 - Sony DSC - H50

Jar (edited)

Jar - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/150, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Tree Texture, Rexburg, ID, 4/23/2010, mid-afternoon - f/2.7, 10/500, ISO 100, DSC -H7

Bud Cap (edited)

Bud Cap - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50

Cracked Concrete - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/3.5, 10/250, ISO 320 - Sony DSC - H50

I'm glad we stopped at that abandoned warehouse in Dubois on the way to Bannack. I got great textures and macros there and it was a good warm up for Bannack.
I blended these pictures by changing the blending mode to overlay and I also masked parts of the textures.

Portraits (Banack Trip)

2010-05-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

Jamie - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/3.2, 10/5000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50 - Color adjustment, vignette and airbrush technique

Erica - Bannack, MT, 5/21/2010, Mid-afternoon - f/2.8, 10/400, ISO 80 - Sony DSC-H2 - Airbrush technique

Laura - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/12500, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50 - color and lighting adjustments, airbrush technique

Jeri - Dubois, Idaho, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/8000, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H50 - Color adjustment, vignette and airbrush technique

Kristen - Dubois, ID, 5/21/2010, Morning - f/2.7, 10/100, ISO 100, Sony DSC-H50 - Sharpness adjustment, dodge and burn and airbrush technique

How can a picture not turn out good when have such good looking models? All of these photos looked great before any edits, but I airbrushed everyone's face so they would look even more gorgeous. The airbrush technique is not hard, but you have to be careful not to do it too much, or else it looks fake. I love portraits!

Jpeg Edits with Camera Raw

2010-05-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

Chapel edited

Chapel - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010 mid-afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/4, 10/32000, ISO 160

I took this picture when the sun was really strong and it came out a little underexposed, so I wanted to brighten it a up and make the shadows not so strong. It was my first experience with camera raw and I wasn't all that impressed. Sure it is convenient, but I didn't think the results were better than what you get with Photoshop. Well, it's probably because I still don't now how to use it very well. I played with all of the different settings, and the basics were the ones that made the most difference. I liked how easy it was to a add vignette.

Panoramics

2010-05-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

The Roundabout Panoramic - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, late afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/4.5, 10/60, ISO 100 - color and saturation adjustments

The Roundabout 4 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, late afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 10/600, ISO 100

The Roundabout 3 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, late afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 10/800, ISO 100

The Roundabout 2 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, late afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 10/600, ISO 100

The Roundabout 1 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, late afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 10/1250, ISO 100

Taylor Quad Panoramic - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 1/5000, ISO 100 - color adjustment

Taylor Quad 1 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

Taylor Quad 2 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

Taylor Quad 3 - Rexburg, ID, 5/15/2010, afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 100

This week I was hoping to go on a little road trip with a friend to take panoramic pictures of some mountains. Well, that didn't work out, so I had to stretch my imagination and once again find something interesting to photograph in Rexburg. The pictures of the Taylor were the very first ones. They were kind of a test, and I didn't think they would come out very good because the sun was very strong. At the end, I decided that I really like them. I explored Rexburg riding my bike, but I didn't find anything too exciting, and the sun was just not willing to help. I took some pictures of the roundabout that I liked, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the lighting. After an entire day of bad pictures, I came back to the roundabout 20 minutes before I was supposed to return the camera and took the same pictures but with much better lighting. I took all of these in landscape mode. I was too lazy to use a tripod, but they came out just fine without it. I found that it was better when I took pictures vertically, or what you would call portrait orientation. Although you have to take more pictures, that makes the size of the picture more proportional and not so "skinny," unless the subject is far way like the Taylor building, then you would want to photograph horizontally, otherwise all you get is sky and the ground. Photoshop did a great job putting these together, but I had to do some cloning at the end.

Flexible Edits

2010-05-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Mother's day (edited) - Pallet knife smart filter

Mother's day - Rexburg, ID, 4/30/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC - H50, f/8, 10/500, ISO 100

Maddy and Wallpaper (edited) - Curves Adjustment

Maddy and wallpaper - Rexburg, ID, 4/24/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC - H7, f/2.7, 10/250, ISO 400

For the first picture I duplicated the image and placed a blank layer between both copies. I filled the blank layer with a yellowish color and used the texturize option to give it a canvas look. Then I added a pallet knife effect to the background copy. Next I option clicked on the mask button, which inverts the mask and makes the image disappear. To bring back the image, I painted it white with special brushes that look like actual paint brush strokes. To finish I set it to a lower opacity and added the text. All the effects are completely non-destructive, and I can change whatever I want as long as I save it as a psd document.

For the picture of Maddy I used the curves adjustment option. I changed the curves in all the color channels (red, blue and green) and added a yellow filled layer on top of it with very low opacity. I also added a vignette. Again, completely non-destructive and reversible.

Fauna and Flora

2010-05-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Charging squirrel - Rexburg, ID, 5/1/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC-H50, f/3.5, 10/1000, ISO 100 - sharpness adjusment

Cat lady's cat - Rexburg, ID, 5/1/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC H50, f/2.7, 10/5000, ISO 100 - sharpness adjustment

Cat close-up - Rexburg, ID, 5/1/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC - H50, f/2.7, 10/2500, ISO 100 - color and sharpness adjustment

Spring's coming! - Rexburg, ID, 4/23/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC-H7, f/2.8, 10/600, ISO 100, color adjustment and vignette

Weird flower - Rexburg, ID, 4/23/2010, mid-afternoon - Sony DSC-H7, f/2.7, 10/200, ISO 100 - sharpness and level adjustments

I didn't get a chance to go to the zoo or a farm, so I was limited to the Rexburg fauna which basically consists of squirrels and cats. I think I got some good shots though. I chased that squirrels for about half an hour and when I took this picture I thought he was getting annoyed and was ready to attack me. For my surprise it stayed still for a little bit as if it was posing. I used the zoom a little, but I was pretty close to it. The cat is actually the same cat from my past pictures. I guess she's pretty comfortable with me now, since was able to get a macro of her face. Flowers are relatively easy to photograph because if you use macro mode and get close, you can't really go wrong except for composition. I particularly like these two because the buds are just opening on the first one and the second one is just unusual and I'm not really sure if this is even a flower.

Blends and Type

2010-05-02T15:55:00.001-07:00

Sacred Music - Rexburg, ID 04/23/2010 - Sony DSC-H7 f/5, 10/600, ISO 100, sharpness adjustment, vignette, text and masks

The sound of flowers

1- Rexburg, ID 4/23/2010 - Sony DSC-H7 f/2.8, 10/300, ISO 320

2-Rexburg, ID 4/24/2010 - Sony DSC-H7 f/4, 10/2000, ISO 100

I took a bunch of pictures this week not really thinking about what I was going to do for my post. When it was time to start working on Photoshop, I looked trough my pictures over and over not knowing what to do, until I came up with this two ideas. I think they turned out pretty good after all. They sort of go together even.

The inspiration for "The sound of flowers" came from a quote I saw in the piano room at my girlfriend's apartment complex that said "Music is what feelings sound like." I was actually going to use the quote in the picture, but it felt cramped, so I decided not to. I blended the picture of the piano with the flowers because I think that if the sound of the piano could be turned into an object, it would turn into flowers. In other words, flowers and the sound of the piano evoke the same kind of emotion. Yeah, I'm not sure of that makes sense... I enlarged the picture of the flowers and set the blending mode to overlay. Then I used a mask to hide the parts I didn't want.

"Sacred music" came to me after experimenting with several text effects and many different pictures. I spent a lot of time working and I didn't like any of them. I was getting frustrated when I finally had this idea. I made two different layers of "background" text with names of church hymns. It took a while because I didn't want the words to repeat too much, so I only copied and pasted once for each layer. Then I reduced the opacity to about 40% and masked both layers to show the organ.

Color Study

2010-05-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Feeling Blue...

Old Chair - Rexburg, ID 04/30/2010 - Sony DSC-H50 f/2.6, 10/4000, ISO 100 - color and sharpness adjustment

Little Blue Garden - Rexburg, ID 04/30/2010 - Sony DSC-H50, f/2.8, 10/4000 ISO 100 - color and sharpness adjustment

Maddy - Rexburg, ID 04/24/2010 - Sony DSC -H7 f/2.7, 10/1600, ISO 100 - lighting and color adjustments

Blue Jeans - Rexburg, ID 04/30/2010 - Sony DSC H50 f/2.8, 10/100, ISO 100

Maddy' Favorites - Rexburg, ID 04/30/2010 - Sony DSC H50 f/2.7, 10/5000, ISO 400 - sharpness adjustment

Blue is my favorite color, and I'm not alone. Before I took these pictures I asked some people about their favorite color and the majority told me it was blue. The color is often associated wih masculinity, but a lot girls like blue, and not only baby blue. Most of the world is blue (sky and ocean) but it was actually harder than I thought to find interesting blue subjects to take pictures of. My favorite is the one of the chair that I found in the backyard of a house next to Porter Park. I also like the blue flowers outside the Romney Building. They were tiny, and blue flowers aren't very common. Blue is a cold color, but my girlfriend's jacket looks a lot warmer than the other pictures. It's almost purple. It's fun trying to find the limits between blue and purple, or blue and turquoise for example. Blue is always in fashion, if nothing else at least on jeans. I asked my girlfriend if she had anything blue and she gave me her BYU-I Teddy bear and a box she painted when she was 12. Cute... Blue seems to transmit tranquility and calmness. As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red and orange, blue is linked with intellect and consciousness.

Cut outs

2010-04-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

Rexburg, ID - f/2.7, 1/400 ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H7

Rexburg, ID - f/4.0, 1/250, ISO 100 - Sony DSC-H7 - dodge and burn

The easy selection tool did a good job selecting the flower because of the contrast in color. I still had to go back and fix the corners, and the polygonal lasso tool worked pretty well for me.
The little well was mainly geometric, so I used the polygonal lasso tool again and it worked just fine. I used the easy selection tool to select the rocks, but it was a little harder because the background has a similar color. I used the rectangular marquee tool to select the bottom part.
After selecting, I control-clicked and made a layer via copy.

Past pictures

2010-04-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

Click on the images to enlarge

1 - Female cat - Rexburg, ID 13/11/09 - f/2.2, 1/8, ISO 64 - Sony DSC-F828 - smart sharping, dodge and burn, dark edges.

2 - Lazy lizard - Boston, MA - smart sharping, dodge and burn.

3 - Stefan and Tycy - Rexburg, ID 11/19/09 - f/2.3, 1/30, ISo160 - Sony Cybershot - noise reduction, flair, dodge and burn, sepia filter, dark edges.

4 - Water wheel - Slat Lake City, UT 5/21/09 - f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 64 - Kodak Easyshare M1063 - Gaussian blur layer, dodge and burn.

5 - Conference center - Salt Lake City, UT 1/1/09 - f/5.6, 1/750 ISO 100 - Kodak CX6330 - Gaussian blur, saturation adjustment

6 - Male cat - Rexburg, ID 11/13/09 - f/2.8, 1/10, ISO 64 - Sony DSC-F828 - smart sharp, dark edges

7 - Gabi - Brazil 1/23/10 - f/2.8, 1/250 ISO 125 - Sony DSC-W125 - dodge and burn, red and green channels contrast adjustment, dark edges

8 - Industry - Salt Lake City Utah 5/21/09 - f/2.8, 1/160, ISO64 - Kodak Easyshare M1063 - sepia filter, dodge and burn

9 - The artist - Boston, MA 3/17/07 - f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 80 - Olympus FE-120 - dodge and burn, noise reduction, dark edges

10 - Reflecting on conference - Salt Lake City, UT 5/21/09 - f/2.8, 1/320, ISO64 - Kodak Easyshare M1063 - dodge and burn, photo filter

These pictures were taken in four different locations: Boston, Salt Lake City, Rexburg and Brazil. The ones in Boston are the oldest, and the one of my cousin Gabi the most recent. Some were taking with a simple point and shoot and some were taken with one of the nice cameras they have in the library. My favorite kind of photography is portrait pictures, because I feel like I have the most creative freedom.