The State of WFL: Long time, yes?

Sorry to neglect those who care to invade my life in such a way as to actually read these posts, but I've been busy..

..trying to be a stressed as little as possible.

I've been working on misc. projects for fun, and sometimes profit, but not a whole lot of public works. I've been playing a lot of guitar, working with friends on wardrobe consultations, and just enjoying life. I don't take enough time for that.

I have a gorgeous girlfriend, just so everybody is aware. I plan on taking pictures of her sometime.

The pinup calendar may be cancelled. I'm having a hard time working with some of my primary models, so I'm thinking that it may be a bust. I'll still do some pinup shots, but am no longer working towards the goal of a full calendar.

T-shirt designs have been coming, and I've got another one in the works themed similarly to this one I recently did.

I got an iPod touch for my birthday, and I'm very pleased with the device. There are a few things that still irk me about the tech, but it's better than any PDA I've owned (that's including the Palm TX).

Future works planned: I'll hopefully be showing off soon my latest contract web design, some new t-shirts, some new art, some pinup stuff, a new single (neoclassical shred - you can catch a glimpse of me improving over the orchestral part here), and whatever else I feel like cranking out. I may redesign classicwfl.com again soon after I finish the contract design.

That's all.

More on Windows 7, new projects.

So, I've been working under Windows 7 for a while. Overall, I like it, but I've found one issue that's a minor nuisance.

When using Photoshop 6, combinations of modifier keys (shift, alt, and ctrl) can cause some hassle, especially when masking. I haven't isolated the exact problem yet, but just be aware of it. The problem more than likely will translate to newer versions, too. Haven't given Illustrator CS2 much testing yet (no opportunity to), but once I do, I'll be sure to share my results. Reason 3, aside from the icon rendering issue mentioned previously, seems to be working fine. No word on Cooledit Pro 1.2, but the basic functions work.

I'm working on redoing an old piece titled, "We Carry our Chains With Us". Some of my older fans may remember it; I discontinued it a while back after my style dramatically changed and had developed my technique to a little more refined state. This one will be a photomanipulation. Not sure if I'll offer prints of it; may just keep it a digital piece, because the original shot wasn't that great of a quality, and I didn't shoot in in RAW.

Hoping to pick up a new design contract here that'll either pay for a new camera, or a resonator (Republic Guitar's Resolian, a parlor-size metal body resonator). I'll probably go for the camera, because I'd like to pick up a 10-12mp with a better lens kit. I love my Olympus, but it's got a few issues, and 8mp is a little limiting for me. I'd like to get a little more detail out of my 16x20 prints, and the extra res will be good for my stock shots. The purple fringing in certain lighting on subjects gets old, and masking is a PITA when having to correct it. I'm looking at a few Nikons, because I've always liked the quality produced. Ideally, I'd like something that handles higher ISOs better; I want to do more night time shots with live subjects, but with my guerilla style, the ISO limitations on my Olympus EVOLT E300 just don't sit well. Recommendations are welcome.

Doing a freebie logo design for a local business, too. It'll be a bit of a rush job, but I'll be sure to post the proofs here once I get it done in the next couple of days, as well as the final. I wouldn't normally take on a freebie job, but I'm friends with the owners, and could use a good logo design project.

The State of WFL: Tastes like entertainment.

I'm sitting here at my favorite bar, having just finished a burger, and decided I was overdue for one of these. Free, encrypted wifi FTW, thanks for Rumor Has It.

I'm shooting the first pinup calendar set Monday. I'll release the individual shots in a variety of formats - prints of each will be available, as well as desktop wallpapers, so your desktop will be able to match your favorite calendar girl.

Planning the calendar has been tenuous (sitting here trying to come up with sets that possess the right blend of aesthetics and eroticism is a little difficult), but worthwhile. I'll be doing video of a few sets, so fans can get an idea of how we do these shots. For those of you who keep asking: No, I don't need an assistant. I've got one photography student whom I'll allow attendance of one or two sets, but otherwise, I don't really need an assistant.

I shot some engagement photos recently. Here's a sample of one:

And another:

I'll be offering such services officially in the near future. I love shooting stuff like this in a lomo style, and figure it would be a nice alternative to what's normally offered in my area. I still do a few traditional shots (for family and wedding announcements in newspapers), but for the most part, I'm shooting the fun stuff. If you're interested and in the Hannibal area, hit me up. We'll set up a schedule and get it done, and I'll try to keep the rates cheap.

If anybody has a good suggestion for printers, please, do tell.

I've been using the Windows 7 RC for a few days, and enjoy it quite a bit. The UI is a much welcome improvement, even if somewhat subtle. It's fairly fast, too. I've only found a few minor quirks, and oddly enough, it's with the newer software I use. Cooledit Pro 1.2 (which I use for my multitrack recording, and have used for 6 or 7 yeras) and Photoshop 6 run flawlessly, while Illustrator CS2 forces W7 to switch to Aero Basic. It's a (relatively) smooth transition, but still a nuisance. Reason 3.0 also has a rendering issue with the icons above the piano roll, but nothing show-stopping, and it runs without a hitch thus far. More extended testing will be necessary, and if I have any issues with my regular production software, I'll be sure to let everybody here know.

Thank you, drive through.

Confessions of a Newspaper Graphic Designer Pt 3: When to give in

Sometimes, you've got to say "good enough", and move on.

Actually, you'll be saying that a lot - especially with the current economic state - given the nature of the newspaper design industry. You'll be heavily pressed for time, and resources are limited. Odds are, you are going with one of the lower-budget stock art resources (either free, or relatively cheap), which means, typically, lower quality of options (or fewer options in general). If you haven't read my previous posts on the subject, you can forget spending time hiring photographers or designing your own vector artwork; that's for the major design firms, not you. You've got a time crunch, and I'll try and keep this exposition brief so you can get back to it.

The most important factor is always time; you can't spend more than an hour, typically, designing one ad from start to finish, and if you can, then you aren't getting enough advertisers to support your product and staff. There are 2 important things to do in order to help speed up the process overall, assuming you have design experience; frequently look at ad designs of major studios for layout ideas (outside of work - you aren't getting paid for that stuff, son/hon), and go with your gut and use the first idea that comes to mind. That's even assuming you are afforded the luxury of layout conception, of course; the customer or sales rep may have something else in mind, which may or may not speed up the process.

Another thing to do is actually typically a big no-no in the major design world. You wouldn't (and shouldn't) do this for your art, but in this world, you've been shorted quite a bit. It's easy to play the starving artist and create your own stuff (assuming, you know, that you actually have talent), but here you have bosses, sales reps, and customers breathing down your neck wanting it now.

I'm referring to designing your ad around a piece of stock material or whatever is supplied by the client. Not ideal, I know, but if you can get inspired by a cool stock photo, then go for it. Some of my best works in the newspaper industry have come about this way, and more importantly, have worked very well for the client. You aren't working in the newspaper industry for artistic integrity (or integrity in general), so suck it up and get it done, son (or hon).

Hopefully this gives you a little more insight into the world of newspaper graphic design. Keep your head up; it's high stress, low pay, and you'll always feel like you're selling your soul. Still, there are those times where you really feel like you are supporting the dissemination of information, and it's a resume builder, if you are of that sort.

A tutorial for quick, striking B&W digital photos

When I first pursued photography, it was on the 35mm film medium.  We shot black & white, typically ISO 400 in my Photography I class.  Good times were had, and the output was pleasing (even though it was a real PITA developing everything by hand myself in the darkroom - poor eyesight is NOT conducive to such activities).  Eventually, I ventured into the world of digital, which was certainly a more comfortable medium for me given my background in photo manipulation and digital art that preceded it.  Still, there was one area that I was somewhat lost on.. Producing strong black and white images.

I've been using this method for a while now, and thought that it would be prudent to share.  Note that a lot of this is very determinate on the source image, and also requires a good eye while processing and some decent experience.  There are 2 variable points here that will require you to make your own judgements.  Also, this tutorial is designed to focus on still casually viewable images, but sometimes the results can be funky (in a good way), depending on choices you make at the start of the tutorial.  That being said, lets get started.

Grab the source image from my free stock collection over at sxc.hu.

First, we'll need to make it grayscale.  We aren't going to just convert the base image, though; we're actually going to pick the red, green, or blue channel, and convert just it to grayscale.  So, navigate over to the channels tab (should be with the layers tab), and click on the "Red" channel.

Note that the channel tab is where you can actually create something more unique, should you choose a different channel.  Feel free to experiment.  Typically, with fair skinned human subjects, the red channel will be ideal.

Anyway, after selecting the appropriate channel, you'll need to convert it to grayscale and discard the layers.  Just go to Image -> Mode -> Grayscale, and if it burps something about discarding the other channels, just say yes.

In some cases, we can just stop here and be done with it, but we're going to do a little more work with this one.  These steps will be especially important for producing prints intended to be sold as art.

First, we'll need to do some level adjustment.  Go to Image -> Adjust -> Levels, and tweak the sliders right below the Histogram.  Depending on the original colors in the image, you may only need to adjust the middle slider, like I have here:

Once again, this will require some play depending on your desired results.  In our case, we're only working to reduce a little bit of the noise and create some subtle contrast between the subject and background before this next step, which is going to be useful for images such as this one.

Our lovely lady here is a little soft around the face; if we were doing 1980s glam photography at Walmart, that would be fine, and we'd probably soften it a little more.  Since we're trying to be up-to-date professionals and creative types, we're going to try to reduce that a bit.

Go to Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask.  For this image, see below for a reference:

Here's another situation that'll require attention depending on the source image.  The big factors will be the existing detail in the source image (and channel), and the resolution.  You'll have to use your own judgement on this one.

Basically, we're done.  I decided to take it a bit further, though, and added a subtle amount of vignetting.  That's easily accomplished by utilizing the elliptical selection tool, and selecting an area in the photo as seen here:

Create a new layer for the vignetting, and go to Select -> Inverse, Select -> Feather, enter "100" for this image (depending on resolution), and fill the area with black.  For this image, I set the blending mode for the layer to "Soft Light", but if you want something stronger, you can use Overlay or Multiply.

That brings us to the result (click for a full view).

So, that's your quick and easy guide to nice black & white images.  Just remember, subtlety is still your friend; don't forget to use restraint, and always make sure that the source image is as good as you can get it.  This isn't a crutch to compensate for bad photography, but another method of expression.  Even the photo in this tutorial is less than ideal; we would be better off with more lighting in the original (I had to increase the exposure through RAW processing).