My Digital Photography Blog

When you think about it — Don Gurewitz is one of those rare photographers that is not classically trained but instead, he is actually self-taught.  Not only is he one of those photographers that truly has an eye for certain things but he is one photographer that I have fallen for … come on, this pictures speaks volumes!

Don Gurewitz has received award after award for this work and it has to be said that this picture alone is one of my favorites!  Personally, I love the way that he captured the island, the water and of course the ship … it’s breathtaking in every form.

If you want talent and raw power, Don Gurewitz  is the photographer to provide it to you – seriously!

Photoshop is very complex with many different ways to alter a photo or image as well as to create a new image that has been created 100% in your mind. There are a great many tools and resources that can assist in creating these images. To begin creating your own image, begin with opening the Photoshop application and starting a new file. For this lesson, we are going to create a specific image in order to ensure you have fully understood this photoshop tutorial.

First, create new file. Select the following size of the image: Height 800 Pixels, Weight 600 Pixels. This will create a small area to work with in which we will be creating a whole new image. Choose a white background so we will end up with a blank white layer within a small window. From this point, the possibilities are endless and we will begin to create our very own image.

On the right side, there are three tabs: Edit, Create, and Share. You will click on the Create tab to bring up a new menu that provides new tools to add effects to your image. Click on artwork to bring up a host of background images. Choose Animal Fur Pink and drag it to the blank layer in the middle of the screen. In a second or two, the image will show up providing a pink furry background.

The next step is to go back to those three tabs we discussed before and select the Edit tab. From this point you are able to edit your initial image. You will then click on Layer in the tool bar to bring down the Layer menu, select New and then Layer. Click on the Gradient tool and choose Radial gradient effects which will produce a darker center with a lighter surrounding. Next, go to the right hand side bar again and further below than the three tabs you should be familiar with now will list each layer. Make sure the layer you are working on is highlighted and further up select Dissolve and change opacity to 9%. This will create the look of glittery marble somewhat. This is our background.

The next step is to start yet another new layer. This layer will be a duplicate layer, so either choose Layer via copy from the Layer menu, press Ctrl+J, or right click the layer and click duplicate. This will create an identical layer to work with. On this layer go to Edit in the tool bar – not the sidebar, the tool bar at the top—and click on Layer fill. This will allow you to fill the layer with another color. Choose dark blue as your foreground color and you will see that your image has changed slightly now holding a dark blue hue. Next use the Cookie Cutter tool and select the butterfly from the menu at the top. Draw this butterfly in the middle of the layer and you will see the image is much smoother than the surrounding areas. Not a major image, but something new to get used to Photoshop.

When I think about fashion photography, there is not just one photographer that comes to mind – however, we are going to focus on just one today and that is Dirk Franke.  This particular photographer has been working on fashion and advertising assignments for quite some time now and this add right here just proves that this guy reeks of talent!

I absolutely love this photo and I think that Dirk Franke was on to something when he took this.  Not only does it look breathtaking from every single angle, but I can tell you for sure that this model would not look half as good if Dirk Franke did not capture the beauty.

1992 is when Dirk Franke started in the fashion photography arena and he is actually based in Miami.  Great, great picture and fantastic photographer!  Great job Dirk Franke!

In this blog, we have covered a lot of different photographers and all of them have been great but I do not think that all of them live up to the beauty – the incredible talent and the overall appeal that David Hills brings to the table.  Not only is this Washington DC photographer one of the best in the field but he is so versatile as well!

Although the marine, boats and fishing are what David Hills does mainly, this guy also does editorial magazines as well as advertising and annual reports – all of which look breathtakingly beautiful in their own right.

So if you are looking for some beautiful photography, David Hills is the man of the hour!

If you have a special shutterbug in your life, then a camera can make a great present for the upcoming holiday season. However, you have to be careful, to make sure you get what they really want.

What do they tend to take pictures of, how do they tend to use their camera? Some people are all about photos, some people prefer videos; how important are zoom ranges, are interchangeable lenses important?

If the recipient likes a lot of options, keep that in mind, but if he or she prefers a simpler camera, then try not to get something with all the bells and whistlers.

A camera is a very personal gift. You can’t go out and buy a bright purple camera just because the photographer in your life likes purple — and don’t get the latest camera Ashton’s hawking just because your shutterbug thinks he’s cute.

Let’s have a little talk about Janis Litavnieks – this is a photographer that is absolutely one of the best out there.  I have to say that Janis Litavnieks is one of the most diverse photographers out there right now and this picture is just one example of thwat she can do.  Janis Litavnieks is a photographer that can shoot anything from portraits to fashion to landscapes as well as inside and outside of water.

She also loves to shoot movable and unmovable things as well as things in the air.  Personally I absolutely love Janis Litavnieks and I think that this photographer is going places.  Janis Litavnieks also has photos with istockphoto as well as GettyImages – which you know are the best.

I give credit for this photo to photographers.com and I have to say that they did a fantastic job with this one!

I have just fallen in love, without question. I came across this photograph in looking up digital photographers and photography, and had to find out its origins.

I found it at the web site www.SandroPhoto.com, for the photographer Sandro. There are a lot of really stunning pieces there, so I encourage you all to hop over and take a look around there.

This particular picture is just so provocative to me. It is daring and challenging, fatalistic but not hopeless. It is like you are about to be invited to a game of three bullet Russian Roulette that you are absolutely sure you are going to win.

And I believe it, when I look at this photo. I believe that I will win … and that I will then want to play again and again.

Okay. This guy is absolutely, unquestionably, unarguably, positively, utterly, without a doubt awesome. And yes, all of that was necessary to fully describe his awesomeness, thank you very much.

I will stand right here and say (or sit right here and type, as the case may be) that Patrick Costanilla is without question one of the most talented, innovative photographers I have come across in a very, very long time.

As the man himself says, when you put him behind the lens of a camera, look out for the explosion, because it is definitely coming!

A girl with flower petals.  Cliche, right?  Sure, if you just consider the profusion of such pictures littering the pages of Deviant Art and even MySpace, but here, it is absolutely avant garde.  The juxtaposition of color, the chiaroscuro — it all comes together to create something so stunning is it practically a visual orgasm!

I very recently — and by “recently,” what I actually mean is “today” — discovered the photography of Sharon McAulay, who is based out of Spain, and I have fallen in love.

As you can see on her personal web site, this digital photographer has a lot of talent and it is all completely versatile.  From portraits to landscapes to the random and unexpected, she has a fine touch with all the subjects of her pictures, bringing beauty out of things in which you may not expect to see it, and heightening the beauty which already exists within beautiful things.

Both of those are rare and truly special gifts in anyone, especially a photographer who has the power to bring their visions to other people.  Sharon McAulay possesses both, which is an even more precious rarity, and definitely one worth noting.

So, folks, let’s have a chat about a brand – brand new photographer that has been doing it for a while but that I just discovered.  Peter Duffy is the name and to be quite frank, he is awesome!  While this might just look like a cookie falling into milk, it is really hard to capture that on film and I think that Peter does a really good job.

This is a guy that actually became a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer for the State of Connecticut and honestly – he switched careers.  He started doing photography while he was a funeral director; however photography seemed to his passion.

Duffy has done so many different things and has traveled all over the world and he actually is a master of commercial photography and ad design, which is what I personally love.  You should see him!