Top tips for perfect photo suite 7

For quite a while now I have been using Perfect Photo Suite 7, to edit my photos along side Lightroom 5. I must say that it is quite a workflow. Here are my 5 top features in perfect photo 7.

Image Print Edit & Calibration

The main reason for calibrating your monitor or display is so they represent a true colour match to what was taken and what should be printed out. In todays digital world image quality and the crispness and colours from an image are everything. 

Composite Selfie

You may think that you need photoshop to create the grungy edgy creative portraits, well im here to let you know that is not the case. In this blog there is a video on how i created this composite using Adobe Lightroom and OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 7.

Product Review: Giottos MLT9 Tripod

Product Name: Giottos MTL9 Tripod

Assignment number 35 Self Portrait

If any of you have taken part in the assignment, you will know here at pictography we have a little competition, who can make the best photo within the month. This months assignment is to create a self portrait. A few months a go i had a go at making a copy of the Dexter poster, I had a lot of fun and it was a really good way learn the software I'm using. In this case the image is a little advanced so I used photoshop 

Book Review. Beyond the lens by Robert Rodriguez

Beyond the lens by Robert Rodriguez Jr.

Adobe Cloud - Now Subscription based - What are your thoughts?

 Adobe Cloud - Now Subscription based

The only thing that getting blogged or vlogged about in the photography community is regarding Adobe's move to stop selling software off the shelf and to sell via their own portal "Creative Cloud" which went live April '13 and in the coming months if you want to use Elements, Lightroom or Photoshop then you will have to pay a subscription fee.

Velcro Strap on you Flash

Customising your flashes is a great way to speed up your efficiency when you’re shooting. My personal favourite is putting a Velcro strap around the top of the flash so you can attach and swap extras easily. In this blog there is a video about how I use the Velcro strap with a neat tip to securer the strap to your flash.

Costume Vignettes

A image to me is never finished until add a vignette, but what's the point of just sticking with the standard edge burn. Using this technique you can make the image darker in any part you wish bringing the focus to your subject. But why stop there try adding a slight blur and using the same mask to give it a unique look.

Image Prosser in Photoshop

In the Adobe Creative Suite there are some features that doesn't really get the use it deserves. In this blog I'm going to go through the Image Processor.

Google Plus Group

We are now on Google + and i must say the extra features that G+ offer are night and day from that of FB, A group just like FB but with sub categories like, photo critique, Nikon area, Canon area, events and so on, Also when you display or view a image on the right hand side it shows the EXIF data. Google plus has aim this all the Photographer. Google plus is a very visual social site its like FB but with Pintrest built in.

So as you can see from the image you can view all the new threads or comments via the All posts on the left or if you only want to post or read what in the Nikon section then you just need to click on that and away you go. Facebook are missing a trick with their own groups and by upgrading new groups in FB but not existing groups is a real pain in the ass.

So from now on we will be running the 2 groups on Facebook, The Facebook Page and the newly added GOOGLE+ Group which is Awsome :)

So to come join us you can click the link Below here or you can click the menu at the top to take you to any of our groups or pages.
Google+ Group

Inspire Me

New to 2013 we bring you the inspire me series. The Inspire Me series will be full of different websites, Photographers, Photo sets, and anything we can bring you that will inspire you to get out making amazing images.

At first this will be a little about the inspiration along side links where you can find all about it. if we can get people reading and sharing the posts we can then incorporate images form photographers along with comments or interviews that will hopefully inspire you more and more.

 

Edit: Downhill Biker

I know I have been away for a while but i had a bit of free time so i thought i would go though and edit a photo i took this will show you the basic steps i take to edit a image with the software Adobe Lightroom

 

 

Thanks for reading Ade Attwood

 

Dodging and Burning in photoshop

In photoshop there are so many ways to do things. Just because someone does it different to you, doesn't mean that different is wrong. It's just different. As long as both ways end up with the same result. In this blog we're going to go through the dodging and burning technique that I use.

Our Sponsors

Here are our Sponsors of Pictography

1ClickPrint.com

The discount code for your group is photopro2012

To use it please go here: www.1clickprint.com/canvasoffer

The code give you access to A3, A2 and A1 canvas and much reduced prices and also 20% off all other sizes. We'd be more than happy to donate a canvas print every other month to your group.

Almost a Year

It's almost a year to the day that Pictography was born as an idea and then created in the form of the Facebook Group. I initially started off with "The Camphotopix Group" i guess my own fan group but after a few months i realized this was not me it might work for Jared Polin (The Fro) or Dom Bower but for now that was just not me i did not feel comfortably being center stage like that. So after joining group after group and page after page forum after forum i noticed the same pattern that there was no fun no community in most or they were trying to sell you the latest EBook, T shirt or gadget.  I looked around for someone to help me grow and build this community this person was found on youtube Carl Gibson Photo, after a few months we got our first Volunteer Admin Will "Wandom" Gardiner and then later on with Thomas Migot for a brief time and so we built the group up with assignments, youtube tutorials and a photography spreecast show that got the members and ourselves talking and chilling out with the likes of Adam Lerner, Jessica Lark, Micheal Zelbel & Tammy Nguyen Le to name a few.

Always in the beginning i had a 3 or 5 year plan what direction i wanted the group to go and what i wanted it to become and its fitting into place allot quicker than i thought, The group has had a good first year we have had our share of issues and a few rotten apples but with any popular growing group these things will always happen people get jealous and want to ruin it for the rest or they go off and try and emulate what we are doing at Pictography but the simple fact is they cant they either don't have the drive, foresight & fortitude  and don't realize how much time and commitment running a group is never mind the fact we do it for FUN and get no MONEY from this what so ever but spend several hours a week if not more answering emails &  pm's from members, contacting potential sponsors and also special guest for the photography show and then other admin task like the competitions the list is endless lol.

We are the trailblazers
We have created the Pictography Page this will allow us to get a better feel of what the group wants and that we can showcase our members work, special offers and not to forget our sponsors, with a page we can get stats on whats trending what people are reading and these are the things that sponsors want to see.

The Pictography Blog
This is just an extension of the group which will showcase members, blog posts, interesting things that's going on in the world of photography, Youtube section, you can also watch the latest spreecast shows from the blog. There is so much more getting added.

So why not stick with a group
Member don't need to like the page or read the blog posts if they just want to use the group then that's great we are happy they are there learning, teaching and sharing there work.

Whats next
The next steps we will be looking at either a website and a forum, a members section, galleries. I want to pull the best bits from several places and make it a hub a community for online live learning tutorials. with spreecast shows, Stuff like creative live do but on a smaller scale, the forum like the fro's but suited to what we need and work, a members section for galleries there are ideas everywhere but for now we are just having fun, there is allot of work to get done now that we have the group, page and blog to maintain.

Thanks to all who have helped and to all our members for a great year and cant wait till next year.

Here are some of the Pictography Banners through the course of the first year. 

One of the first banners we had before the new group layout.

The first new banner designs

Our first Competition Winner, Each winner now gets their images displayed

 We will also have a "Team" at last to Admin, Moderate and maintain the blog, group & page

 These guys n gals are as follows.

The Pictography Group Admin Team

Cameron Pollock

Carl Gibson

Simon McGarry

The Pictography Page Team

Cameron Pollock 

Carl Gibson 

Simon McGarry 

Thomas Migot 

Christopher Skin-photography Ward 

Adrian Attwood

The Pictography Blog Team

Cameron Pollock

Christopher Skin-photography Ward

Adrian Attwood