April 8, 2012 by Brad.

We Photoshop users (or Adobe Creative Suite users in general) come to rely on our keyboard shortcuts. They become so engrained that it can be quite disconcerting when one or more of these keyboard shortcuts inexplicably stops working or begins to do something completely different. And it can be downright exasperating if you can’t figure out what’s going on. This has recently happened to me, twice, so perhaps I can help.
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Posted in InDesign, Photoshop, Brad's rants, Windows 7, Digital Art-ifacts | Print | No Comments »

April 6, 2012 by Brad.

Workshop Night

The LCC is hosting another “Workshop Night” so be sure to bring your cameras. This time the topics are:

• Choosing and using lenses: what are the different types and when to use each one.
• Understanding pixels, resolution and resizing: what all this means and how to do it right.

AGM 

Following the meeting, the club will have its Annual General Meeting and election of executive officers for 2012-13. There will also be some important by-law changes on the agenda. If you are a club member, please plan to attend. If you are a member and you haven’t received the notices for the AGM, please contact Sean Sherstone (president) right away.

NOTE: This year, all five executive positions will be open and we need to fill these positions to keep the club alive. It is very important that you start thinking about nominating either yourself or someone you feel would be a good candidate for a position on the executive for the 2012-2013 club year.

Date: April 24, 2012

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Hardwick Hall, High Street at 3rd Avenue in Ladysmith, BC.

Everyone is welcome. Non-members pay a $5 drop-in fee. The LCC invites new members, novice to pro. For more info, visit the club’s web site.

Posted in Ladysmith Camera Club | Print | No Comments »

April 6, 2012 by Brad.

I heartily recommend the weekly Photoshop User TV video podcast for anyone with an interest in digital photography, image editing or illustration. Photoshop User TV is hosted by the original three Photoshop Guys: Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski and Dave Cross, who have become something of icons in the digital photography business, considering their books routinely hit #1 status on Amazon.com and their workshops are wildly popular.

Obviously the program focuses on Adobe Photoshop, but it does occasionally spill over to Lightroom and Illustrator, as well as camera technique and equipment. But mostly it is Photoshop. Done with such humour and style, that it has lasted since 2005 and is still going strong. The 300th episode is still available to download or view online.

Cool Photoshop Tip

Cory Barker, who joined the Photoshop Guys later and also hosts another great Photoshop site (Planet Photoshop), tends to have the coolest image design tips and tutorials on the program. In the 300th episode, Cory shows how to “age” a texture into a photo in a few easy steps. I won’t repeat the tutorial here…but I encourage you to watch the program instead.

Cheers!

Brad

Posted in Photoshop, Photography, Digital Art-ifacts | Print | No Comments »

November 26, 2011 by Brad.

Greetings! Due to travel and Christmas, Turning Point Arts will be closed during certain days in December.

December 2 to 6

Brad will be visiting family in Ontario for a few days in early December. Therefore, the digital design and printing side of Turning Point Arts will be closed from Friday December 2 to Tuesday December 6 inclusive. Brad will be back in the studio on Wednesday December 7 at 11:00 am.

While Brad’s away, Peggy will keep the Turning Point Arts showroom gallery and pottery studios open regular hours, except Tuesday December 6, when Peggy will be working that day our other outlet, The Pottery Store in Chemainus. Everyone knows that we own The Pottery Store, right?

December 22 to 31

We’ll be closing everything down at Turning Point Arts for a much needed hiatus from Thursday December 22 through Saturday December 31 inclusive. Regular Turning Point Arts hours will resume on Tuesday January 3, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks so much for your support, friendship and business in 2011. We look forward to seeing and working with everyone again in 2012.

Posted in Events, News, General | Print | No Comments »

September 7, 2011 by Brad.

Doug Gilbert: Photography and Art (Sept. 27)

Our guest speaker this month is well-known photobased artist and photographer extraordinaire Doug Gilbert from Metchosin, BC. Doug will present his multimedia show “Photography and Art” which is certain to entertain, captivate and inspire everyone.

September 21, 2011 at 7:00pm, in Hardwick Hall, High Street at 3rd Avenue in Ladysmith. Locator map. Everyone is welcome. There is a $5 drop-in fee for non-members. LCC invites new members, novice to pro. For more info on the club, visit the web site www.ladysmithcameraclub.com.

Mid-Island Photo Expo 2011 (Deadline: Sept. 23)

The 2nd Annual Mid-Island Photo Expo is in full swing. This competition is open to photographers of all skill levels on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The entry fee is only $15 per image. This year MIPE will select the 80 top scoring digital submissions to go into the print Exhibition and Sale, from which 8 winners will be chosen in two categories: i) Colour and ii) Black and White.

The deadline for digital submissions is September 23, 2011. The fee is only $15 per image and the gallery commission (for pieces sold during the Exhibition and Sale) is only 20%, so there is absolutely no reason why YOU shouldn’t be in this great competition. Get all the details here.

Doug Routley to give keynote at MIPE 2011 opening

Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan, is not only providing sponsorship for MIPE 2011, he has graciously accepted our invitation to be the keynote speaker at the gala opening and awards ceremony on November 5. Everyone is welcome to attend the opening at the Ladysmith Waterfront Art Gallery. There will be music, refreshments and of course, great photography to admire and take home.

Posted in Ladysmith Camera Club, Events, News | Print | No Comments »

August 21, 2011 by Brad.

Our presentation this month is “Photographing Madagascar”, part 2 of the very popular presentation by eco-photographer Norma Lupton. August 23, 2011 at 7:00pm, in Hardwick Hall, High Street at 3rd Avenue in Ladysmith. Everyone welcome. Non-members $5 drop-in fee. LCC invites new members, novice to pro. For more info on the club, visit the web site www.ladysmithcameraclub.com.

This month, the Ladysmith Camera Club launched the 2nd Annual Mid-Island Photo Expo, open to all photographers on Vancouver Island (and surrounding Gulf Islands). This year MIPE will select the 80 top scoring digital submissions to go into the print Exhibition and Sale, from which 8 winners will be chosen in two categories: i) Colour and ii) Black and White.

The deadline for digital submissions is September 23, 2011. The fee is only $15 per image and the gallery commission (for pieces sold during the Exhibition and Sale) is only 20%, so there is absolutely no reason why YOU shouldn’t be in this great competition. Get all the details at www.ladysmithcameraclub.com.

Posted in Ladysmith Camera Club | Print | No Comments »

March 29, 2011 by Brad.

For the last several weeks, I have been attending an excellent series of free live webinars on using Dreamweaver CS5 for design and styling web pages using CSS.

CSS is the modern standard for laying out and styling web pages and everyone who is involved in the design of web sites needs to know about CSS. However, there can be a daunting learning curve.

That’s where Myra Rhodes and Everyone’s E-Learning Inc. come to the rescue. Myra has prepared a complete set of online interactive Dreamweaver training lessons that you can purchase as a package or you can buy through a monthly subscription through her web site.

But here’s the best part:

Myra has recently upgraded the package for Dreamweaver CS5 and she is presenting the newly revised lessons in a series of free live webinars every Tuesday at 11am Pacific time. You can sign up for these through her web site.

Myra has a very cheerful, friendly teaching style that makes learning the material a breeze. The complexities of CSS and Dreamweaver dissolve away with Myra’s concise, easy-to-learn units.

I highly recommend Myra Rhodes and Everyone’s E-Learning Inc. for Dreamweaver training.

Posted in Web design, Digital Art-ifacts | Print | 2 Comments »

March 27, 2011 by Brad.

Aloha! We recently spent a few days on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Marriott Beach Resort on Anaeho’omalu Bay ( 19°54′57.97″N 155°53′20.17″W).

There is a very nice group of beaches along the south shore of the bay that afford a roughly 60 degree panoramic view of the entire bay, including the resort. I decided to capture this view in a sequence of photos to create a panoramic image. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Photoshop, Photography, Digital Art-ifacts | Print | 1 Comment »

March 15, 2011 by Brad.

Every once in awhile someone sends me a favourite, special image from Facebook or some other web site or blog and they ask me to make an enlargement print. They are often surprised or disappointed when I have to inform them that this is unlikely to work, despite how amazingly good the image might appear on their laptop or cell phone.

If you have read part 1 of this series, you’ll know that I can produce amazingly good enlargement prints from a 12 MP, 10 MP or even an 8 MP camera file. So why won’t the Facebook image work? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Photography, Printing | Print | 1 Comment »

March 7, 2011 by Brad.

In part 1 of this series, I answered the very important question “How many pixels do you need?” to get the best prints at Turning Point Arts. In that article, I explained why it is unnecessary, and in fact undesirable, to resize or up-sample your image before submitting it to me for printing. This leads to the question of how best to sharpen your image if you plan to have it printed at Turning Point Arts.

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Posted in Photography, Printing | Print | 1 Comment »