Sep
02
What you need:
• Laser photocopy (black & white or color)
• Gel medium or Mod Podge
• Glass & Tile primer
• White ceramic tile
• A water spray bottle
• UV-resistant clear finish
1) Begin by brushing a good amount of glass & tile primer on your
tile surface to increase transfer adhesion and let it completely dry.
2) Choose a mirror photocopy of the photo to transfer. Images with
a plenty of light areas where the mirror or tile will show through,
work best.
3) Cover the photocopy with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror or tile.
Make sure to gently smooth out any air bubbles between the image and the surface.
4) Let the transfer take place and dry for no less than 24 hours.
5) Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer. Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
6) Protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.
You can find this photo process and many others in my new book:
So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here
Posted in Image transfer, techniques ceramic tile gel medium Image transfer inkjet mod podge photo photocopy xerox
Aug
11
Texture from a mixed media collage 2
You can choose any surface for this mixed media background but I prefer wood surfaces such as artist wood panel or any type of wooden blocks.
What you need:
wood panel.
An old newspaper or pages from an old dictionary.
Gel Medium
White and black Acrylic paints
A big nail
1) Thoroughly cover the wood surface with acrylic black paint and let it completely dry.
2) Use white acrylic paint to cover over the black paint, but let the black paint show through in some areas.
3) Use a big nail or a screw or any other tool to scratch and distress the surface.
4) Using gel medium adhere a few pieces of old newspaper or old dictionary pages and lightly cover them with white paint.
Posted in Film photography, techniques, texture layer
Aug
09
Texture from a mixed media collage
What you need:
Any size canvas or hardboard panel.
An old newspaper or any designer/art paper.
Mod Podge.
Acrylic or water paints
Optional: distress ink.
Its true you can make some beautiful textures on your PC and it will probably be an easier, faster and a cleaner process. However, if you like the direct contact with the materials, you will sure
love this process.
Ok, now on to the details:
Cover the canvas panel with an old newspaper or a textured paper adhering it with Mod Podge. Make sure your work is sloppy and not smooth so there are creases and bumps to the newspaper.
Paint one thin layer of paint covering the newspaper. Wait until it’s almost dry, add a drop of water to a different color and paint another layer letting the layer beneath show through
in some places.
Cover your work of art with any clear finish; Mod Podge can be used for this purpose as well.
When it’s dry and ready you can scan it and use it as a background texture for your images.
(Another great application for this thing is to use it as a background for your photo print which you are going to frame and proudly display by your bed.)
Next: Texture from a mixed media collage 2
Posted in techniques, texture layer layer lighthouse texture
Aug
06
Texture from a book cover
The texture I used for the above picture came from the back cover of an old book which I scanned and used as a background.
I’m especially happy with it since the book cover I used here is actually one of my favorite books;
I Claudius by Robert Graves, which was printed in 1932 and probably had seen better days.
People keep asking me all the time where can they download or even buy textures from. So this is just a suggestion to show you that you can easily find your own textures if you just look around.
If you don’t know how to use layers in Photoshop there are many online tutorials to help you learn it fast. Here are just a couple:
www.ehow.com/ and http://tv.adobe.com/
Next: Texture from a mixed media collage 1
Posted in techniques, texture layer book cover layer richmond texture virginia
Aug
04
The next few posts are going to feature texture layers; how to work with them and also I’ll show you how to create your own textures.
* * * * * * *
The fastest way to add a new dimension to a picture is to open your photo editor and insert an additional layer of texture. This method is quite simple and mainly involves placing one or more layers that contain texture, on top of your original photo.
In addition to bringing a layer of depth, these textures often introduce the illusion of dust, dirt, stains and creases to the photo and create a final grungy and dramatic appearance.
The texture can be made on the computer, as many of the existing graphics software offer tools for making such textures and backgrounds. However, I find it incomparably effortless to simply scan homemade textures or even designer papers (sometimes called scrapbooking or decorated paper). Often, people prefer to use found textures such as peeling paint, leaves, fabrics, rust or scratched surface, which they capture on film (or digitally) and set as backgrounds for their images.
Whatever textures you choose for your art work, you will blend them in your photo editor on different layers so that your photo will act as the background layer. Play around with the transparency and blending mode settings to let the textures show through your photos.
When blending the textures with your photo, you can insert as many layers as you wish – don’t limit yourself to one type of texture; you can combine as many texture layers as you like for a unique edge.
The reason this technique is so effective is because people are often drawn to texture, especially when it is unexpectedly found in a two dimensional image.
Next: MAKE YOUR OWN TEXTURES
Posted in techniques, texture layer texture venice beach
May
06
One day, when I’m all grown up and have more patience, I’m going to learn how to do HDR photography. For now, I discovered that I can adjust the depth and clarity of an image in a photo editor and so create something that looks quite similar to HDR photography. It is so simple to do that there’s practically no need to provide any specific instructions. All you need to do is play around and adjust the image’s sharpness, contrast, brightness and play around with the shadow/highlights settings to bring out the depth of the image. In addition try creating layers and blending them using different blending modes.
If you insist you can download fake HDR actions for Photoshop like this one: Fake HDR by ~photoshop-stock
If you have Corel Paintshop Pro try the Clarify filter (Adjust/Brightness and Contrast/ Clarify); it will pretty much do the trick.
Posted in Best Photos, techniques fake HDR photoshop actions
Apr
21
(start with) EXTREME SCANNING
Don’t try looking up Extreme Scanning in the dictionary;
it’s just a term I came up with to describe a technique I developed (though really it develops itself) while scanning my negatives.
So this is how it’s done:
You begin with an already scratched up or neglected negative and skip the cleaning up stage of scanning (as you can tell, this is a very good method for the lazy among us). You then play with the scanner’s settings; contrast, color balance, etc.
until you like what you see and then simply scan away!
CREATIVE SCANNING
Scanning is such a pain… or is it? Well, it doesn’t have to be. You can think of scanning as a chore or move up to creative scanning.
Creative scanning is just a term to describe another cool way of cheering up the chore of scanning your negatives.
Unlike extreme scanning, which uses the scanner’s own settings, creative scanning is about using other materials as well, such as placing the negative underneath a glassine (or any other type of translucent paper) and then scanning as usual. It will create a soft painterly look. Using textured transparent paper will enhance the effect even more.
Another way of scanning creatively is scanning a print along with other objects placed on or around the image to create an interesting collage. Also, placing multi-grade filters on top of the negatives can yield an interesting effect.
And of course, if you’re really adventurous you can always combine extreme and creative scanning together.
Posted in techniques creative scanning negative scan
Apr
19
To make this effect you need a camera with a manual zoom lens and one that is capable
of taking long exposures.
Focus on the subject of your choice while keeping it in the center of your frame.
Now, zoom your lens in or out while the shutter is open and the exposure is made.
It’s a no-brainer. Even you can do it 
Posted in techniques long shutter night venice beach zoom lens
Apr
15
Keeping with the same state-of-mind as the previous post about exploring and finding inexpensive solutions in photography, I decided to try out something new. I think it was probably a year ago when Mike Connealy suggested flipping the lens in a Brownie Hawkeye.
As I have only one Brownie Hawkeye ($8 in a garage sale) and since it is the first classic camera I acquired, I was a little hesitant to flip the lens and risk damaging my beloved camera. But really it turned out to be a no brainer and low-tech enough, that even someone as non- handy as me can do it, and even do it right.
There’s a good tutorial on flipping the Hawkeye’s lens by Bill Hansen Here.
The images this modification turns out have a distinctive appearance which reminds me of the special effect created with a Lensbaby. The only difference is that the Lensbaby costs between $150-$270 while flipping the lens is free of charge!
Posted in classic cameras, techniques Brownie Hawkeye classic camera flip lens
Mar
17
I know some of you will think it’s quite strange, if not somewhat pathetic, but I’ve never witnessed a real time snowfall! Sure, I’ve visited a few lightly snow-covered parts before but somehow I always missed the actual snowfall.
This was true until last week when we drove up to Big Bear Lake, California. As we approached Arrowhead Lake, the air turned crispy fresh and the trees, just like the ground, were covered with fresh snow.
What a beautiful sight! Though I’m sure most of you have no idea what’s so fascinating about a bunch of snow on the ground, never the less I’m sure you can imagine my great delight when it began snowing in Big Bear.
I had a couple of 35mm film cameras with me but to be honest I wasn’t sure how to photograph in the snow.
Taking pictures in the snow can be a little tricky. The main reason is that the snow tends to reflect a great deal of light which fools the camera’s light meter. So you pretty much end up with a collection of underexposed blue-tinted photos of snow.
On top of it, a snowy overcast day will turn out flat monotonous images.
There’s no magic formula for shooting in the snow as there are too many variables that can influence the existing conditions though generally, opening one or two stops will prove to be a good idea. Better yet, consider bracketing for best exposure settings.
Posted in techniques arrowhead big bear lake california snow
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