Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Wildlife photography

Wildlife photography  is devoted to capturing interesting animals in action, such as eating, fighting, or in flight. Although usually shot in the wild, game farms are also a frequent location for wildlife photography.

The techniques of wildlife photography differ greatly from those used in landscape photography. For example, in wildlife photography wide apertures are used to achieve a fast shutter speed, freeze the subject's motion, and blur the backgrounds, while landscape photographers prefer small apertures. Wildlife is also usually shot with long telephoto lenses from a great distance; the use of such telephoto lenses frequently necessitates the use of a tripod (since the longer the lens, the harder it is to handhold). Many wildlife photographers use blinds or camouflage.






 



   seal at seabrook beach - 02/14/09 - wildlife photography

seal at seabrook beach

Shiba Inu 2 - gorgeous dog - wildlife photography

Shiba Inu 2 - gorgeous dog


Ö_öh...look!someone dropped a quarter…♫ wildlife from bali ♫

wildlife from bali


an eye on you... i gotta keep movin' on♫ bali bird park

bali bird park

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Photography Blog: Light Photography by Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson

Photography Blog: Light Photography by Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson: "Amazing light and landscape artic photography by Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson, professional photographer from Hafnarfjörður, Iceland." http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/textbooks-college-textbooks/379002366/

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Human Fantasy Digital Painting

Digital painting is an emerging art form in which traditional painting techniques such as watercolor, oils, impasto, etc. are applied using digital tools by means of a computer, a digitizing tablet and stylus, and software. Traditional painting is painting with a physical medium as opposed to a more modern style like digital. Digital painting differs from other forms of digital art, particularly computer-generated art, in that it does not involve the computer rendering from a model. The artist uses painting techniques to create the digital painting directly on the computer. All digital painting programs try to mimic the use of physical media through various brushes and paint effects. Included in many programs are brushes that are digitally styled to represent the traditional style like oils, acrylics, pastels, charcoal, pen and even media such as airbrushing. There are also certain effects unique to each type of digital paint which portraying the realistic effects of say watercolor on a digital 'watercolor' painting.[1] In most digital painting programs, the user can create their own brush style using a combination of texture and shape. This ability is very important in bridging the gap between traditional and digital painting.




Digital painting thrives mostly in production art. It is most widely used in conceptual design for film, television and video games. Digital painting software such as Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, ArtRage, GIMP, and openCanvas give artists a similar environment to a physical painter: a canvas, painting tools, mixing palettes, and a multitude of color options. There are various types of digital painting, including impressionism, realism, and watercolor. There are both benefits and drawbacks of digital painting. While digital painting allows the artist the ease of working in an organized, mess-free environment, some argue there will always be more control for an artist holding a physical brush in their hand. Some artists believe there is something missing from digital painting, such as the character that is unique to every physically made object. Many artist post blogs and comment on the various differences between digitally created work and traditionally created artwork.























                                            
 
 



Adobe

Monday, December 13, 2010

Tutorial HDR en espanol

HDR TUTORIAL

HDR PHOTOGRAPHY

method



My Beautiful Reward - Laguna Beach, CA

6 exp HDR (-3 to +2) taken at f/11, Nikon D40x, tripod, Detail Enhancer method



The Stillness of Dusk - Red River, NM
6 exp HDR (+1 to -4) taken at f/22, Nikon D40x, tripod, Detail Enhancer method



Hungry Bridge - Austin, TX
5 exp HDR (+3 to -1) taken at f/13, Nikon D40x, tripod, Detail Enhancer method



The Inn and Spa at Loretto - Santa Fe, NM
4 exp HDR (-1 to -4) taken at f/22, Nikon D40x, tripod, Detail Enhancer method



Por mariejirousek

Lausanne 11



2009 Corvette Z06 with 427 LS7 Engine


2009 Corvette Z06 with 427 LS7 Engine


This Vet belongs to my boss, he is the founder of my company and just a great guy. He let me take some shots of it in the parking lot the other day.


- Nikon D60


- Sigma 10-20mm


- 3 shots on my new tripod at it's highest setting which produced just a really great angle.


Post processing technique using "farbspiel's HDR Cookbook"


- Photomatix tone mapping


- Onone focal point


- Topaz Adjusts


- Noiseware


- Several Saturation layers


- High Pass sharpening


- Levels and Curves




Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital

Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital  http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredgarvinphotos/


Palmeras

Palmeras

Parque Grande de Zaragoza  Por bardaxi


Rincones de Zaragoza 5

Quiosco de la musica, Parque Grande de Zaragoza Por bardaxi




SLIDESHOW BY teemu hanninen  


   



http://www.flickr.com/groups/hdrlandscape/pool/show/

Canon 580 Flashes.


© Dave Nitsche

Shot with 4 Canon 580 Flashes. Flash 1 directly above the fish tank with a Honl 1/4" grid and soft gel and lights the hand and splash. Flash 2 pointed at background used another 1/4" grid with a red gel creating the red spot. Flash 3 was behind (2 oclock), and above the water line at a 45 degree angle to the top of the water giving the red water surface. Flash 4 was off to the left and behind with an 1/8" grid and soft gel giving some light behind the hand. Drop, click, drop, click, repeat, repeat.

F11, 160th. Flashes set between 1/8th and 1/2 power depending on grid used and amount of light needed.



Sunday, December 12, 2010

Pin Up Art

 A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display. Pin-up girls may be glamor models, fashion models, and actresses.




The History of Pin-Up Art





Prehistoric man obviously had some degree of veneration for the female form, judging by Paleolithic sculptures of well endowed women. Anthropologists are unsure if they symbols of fertility or erotic talismans passed around by horney hunters. These Venuses served a need or the common good somehow, even if they don't follow our strict definition of pin-up...



Ancient Greeks were unashamed by modern standards in acceptance of the nude figure. The original Olympics were contested by naked athletes. Male athletes. Still, there are many examples of Hellenic Godesses, all in fashionable dishabille. The Greek Gods also had a tendency to interact with mere mortals in many carnal stories. Depictions of these sorts of encounters call for a degree of audience participation, understanding and involvement.



In Pompeii and the Roman world, erotic art was woven into the fabric of everyday life. Frank sexual depictions were found in public marketplaces, murals and sculptures. Once Christianity became the official religion of the state under Emperor Constantine in the Fourth Century, immoral 'pagan' imagry was banished and driven underground. Thus, unless you have a fetish for Mary Magdeline, the Dark Ages had begun. Beyond religious artifacts and decorative arts, there was scant representation of sacriligious pleasures of the flesh during Medieval times.







When a merchant class could support artists instead of just The Church, a new definition of feminine beauty could be commissioned. With municipal buildings and private villas to decorate in the city states of Italy, the myths and historical figures of ancient Rome provided ample material. Leda and the Swan, the birth of Venus and other fables provided convenient excuses to display comely nudes. All facets of science and secular humanism were brought to bear in creating the great body of works known as the Renaissance. Such classical values were imparted by Da Vinci (1452-1519), Michaelangelo (1475-1564), Titian (1485-1576) and others.


In Europe during the 1800s, there were movements to escape the excesses of the Baroque and Rococo periods and return to classical simplicity. Neoclassicism was formalized in Europe as an outgrowth of Academic Art and again the popular characters from the past were represented by mostly nude models, such as Paul Thurman's 'Psyche'. Orientalists could display nude alegorical figures in lush exotic settings without reproach. An odalisque, or harem concubine was a popular subject. Also in the 19th Century, Classicism was taken to an extreme by the English movement called the Pre-Raphaelites. While their strict adherence to Renaissance styles did not last long, their works were very influential on the Golden Age of Illustration.



Early American influences in magazine and print illustration include Howard Pyle (1853-1911), his Brandywine school and students such as N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945), Harvey Dunn (1884-1952), Frank Schoonover (1877-1972) and Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966). Dean Cornwell (1892-1960), John La Gatta (1894 - 1976) and Andrew Loomis (1892-1959) were also major forces in magazine and advertising illustration. The Arts and Crafts and decorative Art Nouveau movements in Europe also contributed to the artistry and styles of the times.

What good is a work of art if only a select few can view it? The middle ages offered illuminated manuscripts, available only to wealthy patrons. Even the development of printing didn't democratize illustration because of the small scale and painstaking process in producing graphics. The intersection of economics and technology would provide an improved means of distribution over the last two centuries. Lithography was invented in the end of the Eighteenth Century. The birth of photography soon after provided new techniques for printing and the adoption of the offset method at the turn of the twentieth century allowed for larger, faster and better quality print jobs. Once printed materials were available to a vast public, the Golden Age of Illustration was said to begin.



The Golden Age is conveniently placed from 1880 to 1920, although there are arguments which can take it from the end of the Civil War until World War Two. The development of economical high speed printing and an increased literacy built a tremendous audience for the only available forms of mass communications at the time: Books, papers and magazines. Publishers and later advertising agencies competed for the services of those artists, such as Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) who could generate memorable images for mass consumption, oftentimes on strict deadlines.



Following the War, the realistic end of the spectrum was consigned to photographs of varying quality. With such a glut of magazines to fill, skilled photographers and attractive models were in short supply. The art world was overtaken by the Abstract Impressionists, a style that is not condusive to the pin-up genre!


If art can be said to hold up a mirror to society, then the pin-up occupies a particular place of honor in modern art, particularly that of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Prior to that, Duchamp and dadists explored the concept of what constitutes art. A painting of a pipe, a 'fountain' made from a urinal and other works challenged the role an artist played in relation to the world around themselves.

Provocative images, particularly used in advertising, were on the blade's edge between sex and commerce. As consumerism rose, particularly after World War II, the icon of pitchwoman was particularly ripe for lampooning.



The Pop (for Popular) Art revolution had begun. Drawing on atavistic figures like Marilyn Monroe or an anonymous sex symbol, reality is processed and packaged up



Since such artists' work is exhibited in museums, galleries and coffee table books, they do not strictly pass the test for mass-produced pin-up designation. Still, their very existence proves how durable an architype the pin-up model is.


Additionally, there are several contemporary artists such as Nagel, Kacere and Koons who reassert what it is to take command of their media and use a photorealistic or painterly approach.


A pin-up girl is a woman whose physical attractiveness would entice one to place a picture of her on a wall. The term was first attested to in English in 1941; however the practice is documented back at least to the 1890s. The “pin up” images could be cut out of magazines or newspapers, or be from postcard or chromo-lithographs, and so on. Such photos often appear on calendars, which are meant to be pinned up anyway. Later, posters of “pin-up girls” were mass-produced.



Many “pin ups” were photographs of celebrities who were considered sex symbols. One of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable. Her poster was ubiquitous in the lockers of GIs during World War II. Others pin-ups were artwork, often depicting idealized versions of what some thought particularly a beautiful or attractive woman should look like. An early example of the latter type was the Gibson girl, drawn by Charles Dana Gibson. The genre also gave rise to several well-known artists specializing in the field, including Alberto Vargas and George Petty, and numerous lesser artists such as Art Frahm.



These days men can be considered “pin ups” as well and there are male equivalents of attractive and sexy actors such as Brad Pitt or numerous male models. The counterpart term to “cheesecake” is “beefcake”.


Jay Scott Pike - Vintage Pin Up Arts











Howard Connolly (1903 – 1990









Edward Runci Gallery







Alberto Vargas (1896 - 1982)



From the time Esquire first introduced America to the VargaS Girl in 1940, the name Vargas has been synonymous with pin-up and glamour art.

 


Drew Posada was a pioneering digital colourists and his rich, exotically themed pin-up art reflected his earlier comic book work.








Billy De Vorss