I aplogize for my lack of posts. I’ve had some very serious health issues and I’m moving over to www.marcelwalker.us/blog to keep my cyberspace sanity. Thank for you patience! I will be doing a tutorial of  for this image next Thursday. I should be up and going on Monday MAY 5, so come [...]]]>

I aplogize for my lack of posts. I’ve had some very serious health issues and I’m moving over to www.marcelwalker.us/blog to keep my cyberspace sanity. Thank for you patience! I will be doing a tutorial of  for this image next Thursday. I should be up and going on Monday MAY 5, so come on by!

I have been woefully neglectful of my blogs for sometime while I’ve been finishing my portfolio for submission. I must say it is by far and way the VERY best work I have done to this date.  It is due tonight at midnight (MST) so I will back to [...]]]>  

I have been woefully neglectful of my blogs for sometime while I’ve been finishing my portfolio for submission. I must say it is by far and way the VERY best work I have done to this date.  It is due tonight at midnight (MST) so I will back to blogging here happily Monday, Wedneday and Friday. Unfortunately, due to guidelines I am not allowed to publish any of the images.  But to make it up to you this Friday, I will be offering another Freebie Action of my very own so stay tuned.

Here’s a quick little video that shows a colling lighting effect and gives some basic info about your histogram and info palette. Happy Editing!

This is a great video from Robert Vasquez from Photo Magic Productions. He simply explains, shutter speed, ISO, and depth of field. Awesome job!! His website is www.smays.com

Capture your life.

Three  simple words. Such power they offer. I know working with camera equipment and software  can be so overwhelming, but JUST take the plunge and START! Sometimes we think it’s easier not to start at all rather than bungle through and try to learn as we go. Investing time in [...]]]>  

Capture your life.

Three  simple words. Such power they offer. I know working with camera equipment and software  can be so overwhelming, but JUST take the plunge and START! Sometimes we think it’s easier not to start at all rather than bungle through and try to learn as we go. Investing time in your camera and software will be the BEST investment you will ever make. Everybody has a story to tell. This is your life, your happiness, your insanity, DOCUMENT it!

So start…just start shooting…start playing with your editing software. “Oh…” I hear from people, “I don’t have any editing software.”  Well let me tell you where to get some….for free…I’m a huge Adobe fan, a recommend Adobe Elements and Photoshop over anything else, but times are such that many of us don’t have the extra dollars we used to have so here’s a few of my favorite freebies.

Here are my top three favorite free editing software programs.

1. GIMP - Oh, how I love this program. This is the program that I started with. I’m technically somewhat retarded, so If I can do it, you can. But this is not for the faint of heart. It offers much of what Adobe Photoshop offers. However, it is free so there are issues that go along with it. BUT, for those who say, “I have Elements but would love to upgrade to the full Photoshop because of …..” Usually it’s only one feature they are looking for, well save yourselves the bucks and use GIMP instead. http://www.gimp.org/

2.Photos Pos Pro- Ok, this a program that can take you a long way in your learning process. Kick Picasa in the trash folks. One of the best features is the help tutorials that are available. Not only can you do photo editing but you can also do greeting cards, web designs, web buttons, all very simply. http://www.photopos.com

3.Photoscape- RAW, batch processing, curves and all so easy to use.  This program offers so many more features. It is easy to use, the icons and directions are simple and easy to follow with great results. http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php

And here’s a new program that I’m just itching to try, Image Exchange. I’ll give it a review after I give it a review. http://imageexchange.picscout.com/

Best of luck and happy shooting! (why does that sound so bad…) Happy Picture Taking!

Ok, here’s a shot I did from my 365 day Project. I had done some pictures earlier in the evening but I wasn’t happy with them so I decided to do a shot of this deer skull that my daughter, [...]]]> I’m giggling in my rockety computer chair pretty darn hard….Let me show you why.

Ok, here’s a shot I did from my 365 day Project. I had done some pictures earlier in the evening but I wasn’t happy with them so I decided to do a shot of this deer skull that my daughter, who was seven at the time, was particularly insistent that we bring home from a trip in central Utah. Lora, one my dearest friends, of course wholeheartedly supported the idea of hauling a dried up carcass in the back of my car (not hers). And Hot Pants, my hubby, agreed.

I can’t remember if finding the skull was before Lora shot the rattlesnake or after but it certainly was before one of my most memorable “Ambien” moments around the campfire that evening. Lora later remarked to her son, “Let that be lesson to never get high, especially in front of your friends.” Really, the comment was entirely unnecessary. Tyler, Lora’s son (now sixteen) will still to this day shake his head with a smile and ask, “Remember that time you got high?”

Prescription RX sometimes don’t kick in like you think they will and I think the fact I took another one (we were camping, the ground was hard, it was cold) but still stayed awake added to…let’s just say a fun filled night that fortunately both my children were asleep for. Lora does occasionally remark, “Oh, you’d be such a fun drunk. ” I think my Ambien moments more than compensate for the fact that I don’t drink. Anyway, we brought the deer skull home and for the last four years I’ve been wanting to snap some type of picture of it. So I did last night…before the Ambien.

Here’s a before, notice the crinkle of the paper in the back…

 Here’s what so funny (at least to me).  All I did is one run one of my fancy actions, Powder Puff (named for all those football games just for girls) and wow-ie-wow! Look how freakin’ hot it looks, I LOVE it! Actions like these are designed to run in Elements and Photoshop and are perfect those who do blogging of any type.  Check out my store for more like it!

http://www.myphotographica.com/blog/store/

I’ve embarked on the Project 365 challenge. That means for 365 days, since last week, I take one picture a day. You can read more about my motivation for such a project here here . What it really means is that I hope to force myself to finish some portfolios. Having [...]]]>  

I’ve embarked on the Project 365 challenge. That means for 365 days, since last week, I take one picture a day. You can read more about my motivation for such a project here here . What it really means is that I hope to force myself to finish some portfolios. Having you made any resolutions for the new year?  Will I really stick  with it, well so far so good… But I ask myself, do I have to post the bad pix? Do I really have to post everyday? You tell me…(not really, ok maybe somewhat really).

This is from Day 1 last week. You can keep tabs of my project on www.marcelwalker.us/blog

 Holy Buddha! This makes me want to go create more actions!  And that brings me to my great topic of the day, Freebie [...]]]> Holy Crudola! I love this action! This action is Honey Daze and it’s available in my Classic Action Pack or in the Whole Combo Action Pack in the store. 

 Holy Buddha! This makes me want to go create more actions!  And that brings me to my great topic of the day, Freebie Friday. Right, now there are two free actions available in the store and today…I’m adding a third, Size for Web and Border! If you are a blogger this action is a must have. It will size your actions to a max width of 400 px and add a thin border.  So with one click, your image will end up just like this.

The border is a semi-transparent black so that it will go with any type of shot. You can find this action, along with other freebies and actions to purchase here..

The advantages to using actions is speed and you can use actions when you batch process (lots of images at once). But you don’t need an action to do this. You can do it yourself by going to the top left of Photoshop and do the following:
1. Image > Image Size > and type in the size you would like it to be. Make sure you have pixels selected and that the boxes at the bottom left are checked (scales styles and constrain proportions).
Next to add a border:
2. Layer>Duplicate Layer
Next go to your layers palette. If you can’t see the layers palette go to the top of Photoshop and look for the Window. Click on Layers to make it visible. It should look like this:
3. Next click on the FX and scroll down to Stroke.
4. Type in your desired pixel width and color. The position must be marked “inside” for it to be visible.
5. Last, on the duplicate layer change the opacity. In this case, the opacity is 50%.

Good luck and Happy Photoshop Editing!