by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, graphic design, people photography, photography, photography education
Self assignments.
Love ’em!
Tlaquepaque our local Sedona Mexican Shopping Village and gathering center, put on a very colorful event in honor of the Day of the Dead AKA Dia de Muertos.
Here’s the first line of explanation from Wikipedia… “Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.”
It’s a very colorful event. People dress in costume, actors perform, musicians play, sky dancers fly and artisans display. In short a photographer’s paradise. I met a lovely lady who was costumed as a Catrina which is one of the most popular figures from the celebration. She entranced me so I gave myself the assignment of making her the centerpiece of art based on some of the images I made during my visit.
Pash Galbavy, dressed as a Catrina, as the focus of one of my Dia de Muertos art images…
When I asked Pash if she would mind my making her image she said, “No problem!” then began to move like a model… With good reason! She is an artist in her own right. (learn more about Pash at unmaskit.com and artofpash.com)
Using multiple images from the day and some of my texture files I worked with Adobe Photoshop creating layer after layer utilizing blend modes and masks to combine images in many ways to get to the result you see above.
Look for more ‘self-assignments’ from this ‘busman’s holiday’ at Tlaquepaque in future posts here at Successful Photographer.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – What are you working on to stretch your photography skills??
by successfulbob | black & white, fine art portrait, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography, photography education
As I was having lunch in Durango, Colorado I noticed the animation of our bartender. I explained that I was a photographer on a busman’s holiday and would she mind posing and giving me a few different expressions? She agreed. I had an image pop into my head that is like something below.
This is in process. Thoughts??
Adding some clouds…
Black and white version.
Feedback invited. Working title is ‘Three faces of Libby’.
Image captured with the Lumix GX7 and the 35-100mm f2.8 Vario lens. It’s a very compact camera that is not intimidating to those who you wish to be subjects on the fly…
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Using a watercolor photo treatment that looks right was very difficult in the past. Most automated WC actions look like they had are done by a machine. I have a feeling that getting all the subtle nuances inherent in watercolor into a math equation would be amazingly difficult. It’s still not easy even when you do it by individual strokes.
Enter England’s Tom Shelbourne. He has developed a watercolor palette for Photoshop CS6 and CC that can move you way down the road to having more realistic watercolor techniques at your fingertips. You can go to Russell Brown’s website and download it for free. It takes you step by step, inch by inch (OK Layer by Layer) through a technique that helps you with the line drawing, setting up brushes and the opacity for laying down washes and getting more detail oriented as each layer is completed. This is NOT a push button watercolor system, but it will move your imagery much further in a realistic direction. Watch a video explanation of the WC Palette here.
If you like what you see there but feel the limitations you can go to Tim’s web site The Artists Quarter and Tim Has tutorials that take you even deeper into creating fine watercolor art with unlimited variations. I bought his watercolor tutorial ‘Fast and Loose’ and it really opens up the creativity and possibilities!
I wanted to create a tribute as a thank you for the Code Talkers service performed during WW2.
Bill Toledo – WW2 Navajo Code Talker in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Here is the original photo I started with of a Navajo Code Talker taken with the Panasonic Lumix GX7. I wasn’t able to get Bill to a cleaner background but we did move under an overhang so I could get some better light on his face for depth with a bit more shadow. You can see it’s a busy background. Fortunately, when creating paintings you have the option of only showing what you wish to show.
Digital Watercolor of Bill using some of Tim Shebourne’s techniques
Here’s the same photo after spending some time working with a few more of Tim’s techniques. I haven’t finished the tutorial yet so I know there’s even more realism down the road in creating Fine Art Watercolors with my photography as a base. I highly recommend you check out Tim’s tutorials if you want to have realistic digital watercolor as part of your offerings.
Another watercolor version combining a US flag to help tell the story.
The images are created in honor of the Navajo Code Talkers service to our country, but I would like for you to take time to remember all of our veterans, living and fallen during this Memorial Day. As General George Patton said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, landscape photography, musician photography, photography, photography education
Chills! They wandered up and down my spine when I saw this video.
This presentation is based on images from the Professional Photographers of America Loan and General collections from the International Print Competition 2013. Awards were presented at the convention held in Phoenix this past week. I proud to have several images included…
When you watch this video crank up the music and make sure you go full screen for the most impact!
In this competition I entered two print cases of four images each. In total I received three general collection merits and four Loan Collection images. I’m proud to be in PPA and a member since 1998 to continue to pursue exellence in imaging so my clients get the very best I can offer. As far as I am concerned when you stop learning your imaging skills start to deteriorate.
by successfulbob | fine art portrait, photography, photography education
One of my fine art photography clients came to me with a photo of a recently deceased restaurant owner from his favorite restaurant in Prescott, Arizona. He wants to create a gift of a framed art portrait printed on canvas to hang in a place of honor to remind patrons of the vibrant, fun host he was.
Here’s the challenge. The photo was a snapshot taken with on camera flash with a busy background. Take this image and turn it into a 40 inch canvas. Challenge accepted! I used my ‘Photo-Synthesis’ technique to create this art piece. First I isolated the subject from the background using various selection tools and placed him on his own layer. Then using the stamp tool I moved the catch lights in his eyes to set the direction of light. Painted some shadows using the soft light layer mode using a soft black brush to add some shadows to his face to add some depth and dimension. Because it’s an Italian restaurant I selected several textures captured from walls in Europe and blended them together using Adobe Photoshop in various blend modes. Added some painting techniques I’ve been studying and toned the image to a warm reddish golden color. The art portrait has not been through final tweaks and possible color changes that my art patron can ask for if he desires, but I thought it was far enough along for me to share with you.
Here’s the before and after… You decide. Success??
Art Portrait created by Bob Coates Photography from snapshot.
To see more art images from Bob Coates Photography check out this web site. If you would like to talk about a me coming to speak to your photography group about these techniqes or other photography education programs give me a shout. If you have enough members my expenses may be picked up by Panasonic as I am a Lumix Luminary.
