No Photoshop!
Images were taken at the FJ Westcott booth at Photoshop World 2014 in Atlanta. For more information on the amazing lights Westcott offers check out their site http://fjwestcott.com/
Today is National Philanthropy Day! Today above all other days people will be asking you to donate. People tend to hesitate when it comes to monetary donations cause lets face it money is tight. Being a creative I find my self in a unique position to offer something more. Sure I could afford $10 or even donate blood ( all very important ), but what if I could create something that would raise hundreds if not thousands for a group or individual in need?
I find this story difficult to talk about or even brag about because I don’t want to take the attention away from the people who need it. But I think if I share this experience it might inspire others to offer their highly valuable talents to others and make a bigger impact than you could even imagine.
About 4 months ago I saw a post on facebook by Melissa Wiggins the mother of Cannon who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. She went on to describe an idea she had for a t-shirt that would help spread the word about the lack of funding and medical advancements in childhood cancers (read the disgusting facts here). I could have liked the post, maybe even shared it and felt like I did my part. Instead I thought I would offer my talents and design the shirt. I reached out to Melissa made a few suggestions and I was soon contacted by Melissa’s friend Ashley who was helping the family.
We soon connected on the phone, and as a team we created a t-shirt that has sold over 1500 units raising well over $15,000 to directly benefit Cannon while opening eyes and raising awareness for other children fighting this way to common disease. We used a crowd-funding t-shirt site called Teespring to sell the shirts. This made it so there was ZERO out of pocket cost and risk for the family.
Lets break it down real quick. I charge my design clients $75 per hr for design. Cannon’s shirt took me a total of 3 hrs from design, edits, and launch. I could have donated $225 dollars to the Wiggins and they would have been beyond appreciative, but instead I took it a step further, aimed a bit high and raised more than any of us ever expected.
The point of this way to long post is that you can make a difference no matter what your talent is. There are people who could benefit from your skills with very little effort.
Thank you for reading and if you would like to find out more about Cannon please visit his page and spread the word!
Oh to be young again! It’s crazy how we spend so much of our life wanting to be bigger and older, and then the rest of our lives wanting to be young again.
This video was captured in one day with my son. I feel it truly captures the joy and imagination us adults have misplaced. Please comment and let me know your thoughts!
The other day I was talking with a fellow designer and the conversation came up a few times about how much I missed drawing with paper and pencil. As the conversation continued we both agreed that the software we used on our computers made traditional drawing less efficient and therefore making the practice impractical in our line of work.
As the iPad and other tablets became more affordable the users started to see a turn towards a hybrid of tech meets traditional art. Add a nice stylus to your tablet’s accessories and now you have a digital sketch book that can play music, provide inspiration, and share your creations from anywhere!
I tend to do most of my sketching when I travel and I am forced to be seated with my safety belt on at 24k feet in the air. I have tried just about every sketch, drawing, or note taking app out there and I find that most of them have great qualities and practical uses depending on the situation and the intended end application.
Adobe Ideas offers something that none of the other apps have offered. Every project you save is uploaded to your cloud service and can be downloaded as a PDF that is 100% editable in Adobe Illustrator or imported as a smart object into Photoshop. This app drops an A bomb of creative possibilities on any project (A- Bomb…Get it…Adobe…bomb…Nevermind)!
1. Import one of your photos into Adobe Ideas, create a new layer and sketch away! Turn off the original photo and save your awesomeness! Export the PDF from Creative Cloud and import the PDF into Photoshop as a smart object right on top of the original photo.
2. Logo Design! Sketch your logo ideas, export, import into Illustrator!
3. Story boards for video shoots, photo ideas, or lighting setups!
4. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!! Talk is cheap! Share your ideas visually!
Here are a few things I have made in Adobe Ideas so far! I can assure you this app is a valuable asset that needs to be integrated into your workflow regardless of your profession!
A few years back when I purchased my house, our agent kept saying “Location is everything!” or “Location, Location, Location”. At the time I just shrugged it off as quirky catchphrases that they required all real estate agents to know. But as I dove deeper into photography and started shooting more sessions outside the comforts of the studio I couldn’t help but think of those sayings.
If you spend time coming up with an idea, why would you stop short with the location? It would seem that coming up with a shoot location would be easy with google maps or driving around wasting gas to find the perfect setting for your vision, but it’s not that cut and dry. Truth be told, you are not a location scout and who has time to drive around aimlessly?
I can’t tell you where I first discovered this amazing resource, but I am sure glad I did! The locations on Road trippers are not your normal tourist attractions and they promote a wandurlust mentality to explore this amazing country (AKA AMAZING LOCATIONS). You can map out an entire trip to get the most out of your travels. The site makes the destination secondary and makes the true adventure the journey.
Well…Duh! Location Location, Location! Why spend the time and gas looking for cool locations when there is this amazing site is jam packed with curated GOLD! Search your location for anything (ie. natural spring, beaches, abandon metal hospitals), and you will find amazing off the wall locations for your next photo shoot! They also have a section called “Featured Guides” where locations are collected by themes. Lets say your a huge Ferris Bueller’s Day off fan (If not…please click here), and you want to visit every location in the movie…well RoadTrippers has the itinerary right here! Or you can click here and see other Geek Town guides! featuring locations from the Goonies!!!
Okay enough with the reading! Go out there and experience the USA you have been missing! Bring your camera, bring a model, and bring Road Trippers!
RoadTrippers on Facebook
Walking around the local flea market just outside of Mt. Dora, FL. I thought I would take my new D600 a spin. After the sun started to set I headed over to good old Sanford, FL to maybe capture the protests, but no one was there!! So I took pictures of the sun setting on the St. Johns river.
There are very few places in the state of Florida that I enjoy. But a few months ago, my wife and I were asked to shoot a wedding in Key West. I thought I was going to fly into yet another Florida city and instantly be bombarded with tourist attractions. Although there are the typical gift shops, Key West posses a charm that I thought FL was incapable of achieving. The rich history and the desire to preserve it really shines as you walk around the island. Every turn the island provided something interesting to photograph. We only stayed for a few days, so I think a Key West trip in the future is needed to capture the true beauty of this rare FL treasure.
This is a great tutorial from Sara Kiesling. She breaks down a very simple and effective way to touch up skin with out over blurring or smoothing. I went ahead and created an action for two steps in her tutorial that will save time (Download here). You will still need to follow the tutorial and remove blemishes, but the action will get you to that point faster. Take a look and be sure to visit Sara Kiesling’s site and check out her work!
Rich has been asked to be a featured artists and display his work at next months RAW showcase in downtown Orlando! This will be his first showcase EVER! He has been working really hard on bigger and better ideas for 2013, and what a great opportunity for us to show you that work! Show your support and join us in this showcase!
Arron's Leak Detection holiday card shoot!
Fitness photography has been an interest of mine for a while now. I thought it would be a great way to mix my style of portrait photography with the intense movements and expressions of serous workouts and training. The owners and trainers at Fitness Xperts in Altamonte Springs, Florida were happy to help me out, and provided me with some amazing opportunities to mix my style with theirs! Here is a small sample of the results. These were all shot with a two light set up.
Just recently had to take a trip up north for business and decided that instead of just playing angry birds on my iPad I would give drawing on my iPad a try. I downloaded an app a while back called “Paper”, and always just used it to doodle at best. This time I was going to try my hand at some actual highlights, shadows, and some blending.
The good thing about this app is how basic it is. It only gives you a hand full of colors, and a few different brushes. One of the downsides to this app is there is no zoom. So this mean all the detail has to be obtained zoomed out. This is where my Bamboo stylus from Wacom comes in handy. The stylus has a rubber bulb tip that allows you to have some levels of sensitivity. Here are the few things I made while 36,000 feet above earth! Had to buy replacement tips for the stylus cause I wore out the tip. At the end I added a few screen grabs from the app to show you the options.
Not exactly sure why I was on a fish kick but it just seemed to be what was forming on the paper…I mean iPad!
Nothing says “I love you,” like a Zombie ridden honeymoon, with heads exploding, and body parts dragging…right? Well, it does for our married couple Alex and Bill McCoy. Professional make-up artists by day, and Zombie hunters by night, this couple has an affinity for the supernatural. After spending their early married years as lead makeup artists for Europa parks Horror Nights, the couple wanted to make their “Trash the Dress” session even more memorable than ever. With the help of our inspired and talented couple, friends and volunteers, we were able to create this amazing rendition of the walking dead—breathing new “life” into the phrase “Till death do us part.”