Get me for a full day of personalised Photoshop tuition

Hey all,

I have finally got my S#%t into gear and decided it was high time to post once again. To kick my year off, I have heavily discounted my one-on-one tutorials to photographers in Sydney only. I may offer the service interstate, however, Sydney it is for now.

It is a fully personalised service, which means that together with you, we will work out the content so you learn what you need and want!

If you would like more info, please feel free to email me at info@pixelpurity.com.au.

Tip for the wordpressers…you can share with a friend!

Blog Posts

Hey all,
Sorry for the lack of attention to my blog. Due to my ex-wedding photography, I have been flat chat finalising albums for the remaining wedding clients we have. It has been crazy here at studio. Will be back after Christmas with some very exciting news on Pixel Purity

A big hug and well wishes to all for this festive season

Simple Shapes

Just a quicky…simple image taken of some reeds in the water during charity golf day. Sometimes the simplest images can create interesting shapes. Not show stopping but nice.

Nikon D3
70mm-200 f2.8 VR Nikkor lens
F5.6 @ 1/1600
ISO 400

The powers that be

Thought I would share this image with you all because I liked the imagery. I was shooting a charity golf day with my good mate Antonio who was helping me out and while driving in the cart from hole to hole, I saw this image ahead of us. Tony stopped the cart and I snapped this shot. I loved the shape similarity between the power lines and the tree. It is a little reminder that although we can create power, the real power is mother nature.

It is a 3 image stitch and has a simple treatment with dodging and burning in various spots and of course sepia toning. Nothing fancy, however I really liked the message.

Nikon D3
28-70mm f2.8 Nikkor lens
F5.6 @ 1/1250
ISO 400

 

Un-complicated portraits that work!

I  have changed my shooting style for portraits lately and thought I would give you a little insight because until recently I was big on studio shoots with everything controlled including the lighting. I now shoot almost solely with diffused natural light (partly because my D3 lets me…ISO…ISO…ISO).

To ensure we have the light, we book our portraits in the brightest parts of the day. This gives us the best chance of light without worrying about sun direction and if it rains, I will fill with a little off camera or bounced flash (very rare though). With outdoor shoots, we book them either early morning or late afternoon.

With the permission of the parents, I have posted the shot of the lounge room for you to see what I was working with and a couple of the shots. I simply turned the lounge around and used one of my black materials as a background for the baby and used the red lounge as a background for the girl. We stayed indoors today due to the heat.

When shooting portraits, I always carry…
Different coloured pieces of material for backdrops (stay in the car unless needed)
My flash unit (used with remote trigger or flexy cable)
Reflector
Clicker for getting there attention

These shots were shot at 1600 ISO (cause I can with my D3) at between f2.8 & f4.0 at 1/125.

I picked these 3 just as a sample. They are as shot except for a little colour/tonal adjustment in photoshop with a total of 6min spent for all three shots.

Remember that more often than not, simple is better. These are not award winning portraits, however, they a simple and clients love and appreciate them because it is something they can’t do. They last shot is how I would finish it as a fine art piece with a texture that I shot in Italy. This took another 4min!

Doggy

Just a quirky shot I got in Firenze as we were looking for taxi to take us the the Da Vinci lookout…I think!
Looks like a seriously high maintenance dog!

Nikon D3
28-70mm f2.8 Nikkor lens
F9 @ 1/125
ISO 400

Piazza San Marco and him

This is an 11 image stitch with people in the shot…moving people. The software is so good these days that it even works out where people should and should not be. The begger was shot separately to ensure the building and him were sharp.

Nikon D3
28-70mm f2.8 Nikkor lens
F4.5 @ 1/40
ISO 3200

The final piece has two textures oner it and some noise to break it up a little.

 

3 Points to get the best file possible

1. If you want the highest possible quality from your final prints, you MUST work in 16bit and with smart objects.
2. Always work in your cameras native resolution and once you have finished the print, you can re-size if necessary.
3. Sharpening and noise addition should only be applied once you have re-sized to final print size.

If anyone is interested in a video tutorial on the above, please express your interest here on the blog or by email at daniel@pixelpurity.com.au.

Daniel

Doors

This was just a typical door at Tivoli Vecchio. Every door I went passed, was an amazing, unique piece. I have warmed, increased contrast and added a texture to frame it. Attached is also a screen capture of the layers I created to finish this print. Even simple images like these can be broken up into small pieces and finished like a fine art piece. No actions/preset in the world can do this!

Single capture on my D3
28-70mm Nikor F2.8
ISO 400
f4.0 @ 1/250th

L&P Photoshop Workshop Nov 2009

Thanks to all the participants of the Photoshop workshop at L&P Digital. We went through a lot of tips and techniques and the students walked away with a lot more than they bargained for. I get so much enjoyment out of teaching others and passing on my knowledge. I look forward to many more workshops next year.

Thank you to L&P for all their support with this workshop and in particular to Andrew Sala who put in a super effort.

If any of you are in the market for any photographic equipment, please give L&P a call. They have great products and awesome support.