Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Is it April Fool’s day yet? Because GQ just won next year’s contest (if there was one).
In jest of all the botched jobs on other magazine covers, they decided to release this cover for the Comedy Issue with the best/worst issues! How many can you spot? I swear, I am now tempted to make one just for fun!
If you just updated to Photoshop CC 2018, you may have noticed a small purple line that follows your brush around, and until you figure what it is, you may be frustrated by it. Retoucher Pratik Naik put out a great video explaining exactly what this purple line is.
Turns out this purple line is an indication of a feature called smoothing that is turned on. Smoothing makes your brush strokes… well…. smoother.
There are quite a bit of options on that tool and the video does a great job of breaking them down.
[What Is That Purple Line On My Brush Tool In Photoshop CC2018? | Pratik Naik]
I make a lot of screen recordings that I need to edit quickly. With someone who doesn’t have a lot of video experience, I did my best to learn the basics of Premiere. Being that it was a foreign program, there wasn’t much familiarity. About the same time, I came across this video from Scott Kelby that showed me it was possible to edit video in Photoshop. It has most of the basic tools you’d need, and you use adjustment layers for grading!
I admit, the first time I saw these images I though they were fake. Someone probably added their clothes on as a joke. But when I realized the context and saw the source of the images, it made sense. The fact that the execution was bad made it hilarious. Accommodate
“Bikinis and mini-skirts may be commonplace in the Western world, but the Middle-East is a slightly different story. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran enforce strict modesty laws on women in keeping with Islamic tradition, and prohibit any skin other than the face and hands from showing. These restrictions even apply to Britney and Madonna, as it turns out.” – Bored Panda
There is a problem we all face as creatives in one way or another, and that is either being too hard on ourselves, or too happy about our own work that we take critique very personally. Both of these sides are toxic and they aren’t the essential zone we need to be in to promote and nurture growth with our work and our lives.
Over the last eight years, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know photographers who I have seen become very successful. I met them on their journey and they asked for my help in improving their retouching through one on one consultations. I noticed a trend among those that made it during our time spent together, and it wasn’t just the relentless drive they had in order to succeed, but the exceptional balance of knowing their worth while also being aware that they had room to grow.
I really dislike it when photographers aren’t treated with respect for their time and talent. It happens way too often sadly.
Justin Rosenberg recently fell into this situation. He was recently approached by a media personality that wanted to take advantage of her position. The funny part is that she had less online engagement than he did so there was legitimately no value to the over-inflated claims produced in the beginning.
The conversation below is exactly how NOT to approach a photographer when you want someone to produce content for you.
I initially refused to believe it when this photo came across my feed. My eyes aren’t broken! I can see they’re strawberries, and they’re definitely red. They have to be trolling us with this image, right?
I immediately took it into Photoshop and used my color picker because I just had to prove myself that my eyes aren’t deceiving me.
This Valentine’s day, I got a little present from my love, Wacom. It was the brand new Intuos Pro!
They refreshed the product line this year so I got a chance to check it out. Surprisingly, I found the update to really tighten up on a lot of areas. I didn’t have to do a review, but I actually felt it should be done since they improved this product in a lot of ways. If you’ve been wondering about it, this is for you.
I owe Adobe most of my life. Without them, I would honestly not be where I am today, being able to do what I love every single day! Over the years, it has also gone through a multitude of changes. Since my life is tied directly to Photoshop, I pay very close attention to them!
The Adobe subscription model has been one of those interesting changes. When it was first announced, it was met with push-back from the community. Eventually, we all (mostly) obliged and jumped in. What benefits would we get? Would this push for more innovative updates for creatives? Would an uptick in reliable income make developers more relaxed in coming up with new features?
I always say that if you want to see creativity, ask a photographer the various ways potential clients will respond back to rate requests. I decided to turn that into reality!
I asked photographers the worst stories they had with potential clients responding back after being asked what their rates were. I promised to keep the responses anonymous so they could let loose. Sadly, it happens to even some of the best photographers.
The point of this is to make you realize that you’re not alone. It’s a part of the industry. I think in time, it gets easier to handle knowing that it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with you, but how awful people can be sometimes. And hopefully, by sharing this, people will know that it’s really not cool to act like this!
I decided to collect the *best* (of the worst) 35 responses and here they are below:
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
