Photoshop it is!

A wild flower, taken after the rain in San Diego with my Canon macro lens. Notice the color "pop" and clarity between the before and after pictures.

MJ's picture taken at Cowles mountain, San Diego, CA. Notice the color of the flesh, the blue eyes and clarity between the before and after pictures.

I used to be a big advocate of not "touching" up photos. Aren't picture suppose to capture the "moment?" Why tweak it? Isn't that why we buy expensive camera's (well some of us do). Alas, the truth is, the instrument, made my a human, can only do so much. I was convinced (by people and reading forums) that one does not have to lose the true essence of a picture by "touching" up in Photoshop. So I took up the task of proving it to myself that a picture can still remain the same yet different -- maybe even better!!!

For both the pictures, I merely adjusted the "levels" and "Hue/Saturation" in Photoshop. I then sharpened the image to gain the clarity. With just these minor adjustments, the difference in the before and after picture are just amazing! I may have just becoming a convert after seeing the results!

So what do you think of the before and after results? Feel free to leave comments! Got better ideas? Share them please.

On to learning more about Photoshop via online tutorial ...

Do I love dogs?

The answer is YES! I love dogs. I am a dog person. I love dogs more than cats! Simple.

These are various shots I took of the different dogs I encountered in the last few months.

Artist

Atop Cowles Mountain where Dzu relaxed with his sketch book.

A Jaguar tribe Peruvian artist from the Amazon jungles, created a "roof" to cover this head!

Pat signing his art work at an art gallery in LA.

Once an artist, always an artist! Artists come in all forms and shapes. What comes to my mind are as follows:

• The closet artists: Ones who are real artist at heart but are slaves to the corporate world and have obligations that tie them down. I purely blame it on capitalism.
• The vagabond artists: Those that just do their thing and don't care where and what they do [it may include not taking care of themselves], as long as they are submerged in their art).
• The con-artists: Ones that think they are artists but really are not. Simply put: "con" artists in all forms.
• The realist artists: The ones who are realist. Duh! (OK I can't think of something smug or crass to say).
• The idealist artists: Ones that think that the only way to become the next Frazzeta is to follow the traditional route of doing art ALL the time. Hello ... McFly ...
• The confidence-deprived artists: Those that feel that their art is truck loads of crappola. Sadly, I must say, many fall into this. I don't know whether to call this confidence deprivation or modesty.
• The socially-challenged artists: Those that are shy and phenomenal artist but please don't put them in social settings -- they can't handle the heat!
• The normal artists: I realize that "normal" is a subjective word but according to my definition, these are folks who do their art with passion, live a balanced life, enjoy life, especially with an artistic goggles, do other things that are not art, etc. (Biasness aside, Congrats Dzu and Pat -- You guys fall into this category) :)

And the list continues ... (I'll update this as I find definitions pop into my head OR can YOU think of any? Please do share!)

But they all have one thing that unite them together -- the love for art and the creativity that transpires from it. No matter who they are and what they do, they do it with passion and provide an interpretation of the life that surrounds us. Imagine what a drab this world would be if we had no artists.

Art a way of life. I am far from being called an artist (if putting this blog together qualifies me as an artist, then I may have a chance). I have seem some of the most hard working people come from the art world, yet very few are recognized for their talents. Is it the way of nature or is it capitalism or is it something else? Should you be a dead artist to be recognized?

I saw this sign outside a gallery that said, "Life is art". I would like to add to that, the following: "Life is art and art is life" If only the value of such art and artists are understood in today's times. I have hopes for all your artists out there. One day.

Disclaimer

All the contents of this blog are not intended to offend any artists. Its just my personal opinion said out loud. If it has offended anyone, I apologize in advance.

brain-eye fart

The main premise of this blog is to add pictures (and add some blurb) but I am currently finding it hard to post new material on this blog, hence, the title "brain-eye" fart. Why? Plainly put, I don't have new pictures to post! I have been tinkering with the new canon macro lens but I have not been happy with the results. I also have to admit that I have not been diligent about taking many shots. Period. When I did fidget with it, I often found that many of my shots were blurry or out of of focus or just horrid. Its highly likely that it is a newbie-user error but still. So I did what I usually don't do. I did some research online! At first, I was slammed with the plethora of information that was available out there but then I took a deep breath and started to sort though the links, one at a time. Granted, I spent no more than 1 hour on this, I did manage to find a forum where people provided various tid bits. This post on "Macro Pro's" was quite interesting. I learned various technical ideas from other. I even saw some of their web posts and it looks fabulous -- almost too unreal! Well, thats a start. For one, I can start trying out those recommendations. Now, that's a goal to "shoot" for.

Canon macro lens

None of these pictures posted here are touched up in Photoshop. Now thats an blog for later -- show the "pre and post photoshop" of a pic!

"Bee" on the Mission hill trails in San Diego. Zoom into the pictures to see the antenna and eyes!

Early morning shot of a flower in the garden. Notice the dew on the petals.

Indian Bamboo flute.
MJ, a natural at this.

Common household item --Keyboard.

Western, full silver dismantled flute.

The skinny "Bee" (not a wasp as mentioned before), basking in the balcony. Check out the details in the wings (zoom in the pic)

Ah, the classic eye shot ...

Stamen and Stigma of a Hibiscus flower. Details are amazing!

Torn leaf!

The uber micro bug on a hibiscus petal.

The smug look of LM!

I finally got my Xmas present! Its the Canon's EF 100mm f/2.8 lens, also commonly called as the "macro lens". I am obsessed with it now! I can't seem to stop wanting to take close-up shots. I am still learning to use the lens but boy does it take some great pictures. I particularly liked the bug shots. Watch out you bugs out there, there is a stalker on the prowl.

I am queen

I have never known of an actual person/animal that is treated like a queen. Maggie, our 2 year old yellow lab would be the first. The brown couch you see is specifically reserved for her and only for her. She has her various eccentric poses she lies down in. I managed to capture a couple during my winter visit back home. Thanks to my mom, she gets better treatment than most grand kids do, let alone dogs!

White Xmas

Road to Alyeska skii resort in Girdwood, Alaska (40 min drive from Anchorage). Snow boarding sucks when temperatures are -20F and the snow conditions are hard packed ice!

Cheney Lake, Anchorage, Alaska during winter (See blog "Before and After" for the same view during other seasons).

Walk pathway near our house in Anchorage.

Small stream near the walkway by our house in Anchorage.

The blue skies of Anchorage in winter. Yes, we do see Sun, but just for a few hours.

Firstly, Happy New Year to everyone. Its been a while since I last posted anything and the main reason being, I was romanced!. Mr Flu decided to pay a visit and before I knew it, he romanced me for a good 4 weeks. I am finally free from his debonair charms and am feeling better.

Now to the actual blog posting. I spent the Xmas and New Years eve in Anchorage, Alaska. One would think I am crazy to go from sunny, 60F SoCal weather to -10F Anchorage weather, but there is something about the white snow. Its peaceful, quite, pretty, and SUPER cold! Temperature constantly remained in the single and double negative digits the whole time I was there. I say, its good to have changes, be it weather related. Its good for ones soul!

Here are some pictures taken of Anchorage, Alaska during the peak months of winter. Pictures were taken with my hand-held Canon 700 series camera. These pictures do no justice to the real deal but its better than nothing.