eyePhotograph

Procrastination… taken to a whole new level!

2010-04-25T19:04:00.000+04:00

Well... I admit that I'm a procrastinator and you can tell from the time in between my posts.

I almost procrastinate about everything even when adding my watermark.

When adding my watermark on to my photos.. I don't know if you guys fell the same, but... I hate it when I have to type in my nickname over and over again or everytime I finish post processing a photo.

Therefore, I made my watermark a brush! yup a brush... now adding my watermark is only a click away. =)

So fellow procrastinators, all you have to do now is stop procrastinating for a minute and learn how to make your watermark a brush all in three simple steps ;) then you'll have your watermark handy.

P.S. of course you can make a brush out of any design or words you like, it doesn't have to be a watermark. But, because I use my watermark often, I made it a brush to make things easier for me.

Now follow my baby steps =*>

First

start a new background (File -> new OR Ctrl+N) and set the "Background Contents" to "Transparent" and set the size to whatever you like.

A new window will appear with a transparent background.

Second

1- Create a new layer
2- Set the color to black (it has to be BLACK!)
3- Then type your watermark or whatever in the box by clicking on the "T" icon on the tool box

Third

Once you finish:
1- Go to "Edit" on the main menu bar then "Define Brush Preset..."
a small window will pop up asking you to name the brush... name it whatever =P (I named mine eyePhotograph)

That it! now you're done.

Now if you want to use it...:
1- Click on the brush icon on the tool box

2- ... and do the following (click on the small arrow to open the brushes box then click on the small arrow on the top right hand side to open your brush sets on your brushes box)

You'll find your brush there just click on it and use it on a new white background... and you can change the colors of your brush ofcourse..

Hope you found this useful ;)

Refreshed

2010-03-15T13:43:00.000+04:00

That's how I feel after I returned from Malaysia =).

My sister and brother decided to go there for a week to take a break from daily routine, and as you know I just graduated so I don't have classes this semester to attend =P, so I went. This trip is all I needed to start a new chapter in my life, practical life. It was hot, rainy, and fun!. There were many places to visit and take pictures of. The country is very multi-cultural. Malay, Indian, Chinese, and people from other nationals as well live together harmoniously, it really amazed me =). But, the couples and honeymooners were all over the place! =/ kinda made me think why did I come with my siblings lol. Yeah, I was kind of envious.

Well I took pictures there but all of them were only snapshots because they (bro and sis) didn't wait for me to take a decent one =/ so some of them might look shaky, however, I think they are good enough to share them with you guys =P.

And of course full viewing pictures is the best, so click to enlarge. =)

Black, White, and Color!

2010-01-17T11:26:00.000+04:00

Well yes! you can combine colors with black and white and I'll show you how ;P

As usual I was messing around with Photoshop and found this easy way to create a colored undertone to black and white images.

So... Let's get started! =D

First

This is the original image:

1- The first step is to duplicate the background layer and that's by going to "Layer" => "Duplicate Layer..."=> "Ok"... or by simply draging the layer to the small button next to the trash button on the buttom right side.

P.S. you can change the layer's name if you wish =)

Second

2- Desaturate the second layer or the "background copy" layer to make it black and white.

...and the image will look like this after that.

Third (Optional)

In this step I change the curves alittle to add a slight contrast to the image. However, if you're happy with your current image without adding contrast then you can skip this step.

But if you would like to do it then the first thing to do is to..

3- duplicate the "background copy" layer or the desaturated layer.

Then go to "image" => "adjustments" => "curves..."

Fourth

This is the step where we add the color we want to the image.

4- we add a fill layer

... and in the next window we pick the undertone color we want.

Then change the "opacity" to a relatively low percentage. Here, I chose 12%

Next, change the color blend mode to "overlay"

And the end result will turn out like this...

That's one way to create a colored undertone to your black and white images. Try this tutorial by using different colors to your image like I did. =)

Here I used pink.

... and green

I hope you guys liked it =)

P.S. I got an A on my capstone project *woot* =P. I'm graduating!

Back! ... and brb!

2009-12-22T00:27:00.004+04:00

Hi all, or at least those who still read my blog. *ashamed*

It has been around two months since my last post. I know I mentioned on the " I was in... " post that I'll be away for a couple of months in order to work on my graduation project or thesis, but I thought I might be able to come back earlier but that took all my time =( .

However, I have good news! =D I'm DONE with that project *woot*. Oh my god! the day I turned it in, I felt like... like... that that was the biggest achievement I did in my whole life! lol XD. I had so many sleepless nights working alone on it since I wasn't working with a group, and that's what added to my achievement feeling that I did everything on my own. Well, I can't be that ungrateful and say everything =\, my professor helped me a great deal, so... thank you professor. =)

Bad news =\! hmmm where do I start?! lol. Well, the charger of my laptop where I keep all my photos in has burnt so I can't charge and start up my laptop unless I order one which is bad because all my photos that I took recently are hostages now in that laptop =\. Second, I did turn it my graduation project, but I still have almost two weeks to finish my last course.

So, Good news again! lol XD. January 7th will be my official last day in University, then I'll graduate *woot woot*.

Anyway, I shall be back soon, and because I missed photography for a while now I created a DeviantArt account to share my photos because Flickr is banned in my country =|. Once I get done with univeristy stuff I shall be back with more tutorials ;).

"yda" I feel like disappointing you because you asked me not to stop giving tips and tutorials here, however I did stop for a while... sorry... but as I said I'll be back. =)

Bokeh it up!

2009-10-20T03:49:00.000+04:00

I'm back again with an easy and simple tutorial on how to add bokeh to your photography. =) I had to take a break from my studies anyway. ;P

So, bokeh is a Japanese word that means "blur". You can read more about it here.

Many photographers like to take bokeh pictures and make bokeh stocks that other photographers would like to add to their photos as well as amateurs would like to. ;)

Therefore, I'm teaching you how to apply them on your photos... it's really easy =D and I see that it adds glamour and sometimes cuteness to the photos.

First

- Download some bokeh stocks that you prefer.

I can help you with that ;) here are some links for some bokeh stocks I liked from devianart

[1] / [2] / [3] / [4] / [5]

Second

- Open the photo that you would like to add the bokeh to...
I'll use this one for example

Third

- Open the bokeh picture that you would like to add and place it on your photo

I used this one from deviantart member "regularjane"

[Optional] to have a control over where you want the spots to be on your photo try to resize, tilt, flip, rotate the bokeh picture till you think it's perfect (go to Edit > Transform > "and you'll have many options that will help you position the picture correctly")

Fourth

- Change the blending mode to "Screen"

and the photo will come out like this

Fifth

- Change the Opacity
because sometimes the bokeh has a very strong effect on the photo therefore you can decrease it alittle bit.

THAT'S IT =D !

Try adding bokeh to your photographs I'm sure you'll like it =)

and if you did, please link me up so I would see your work =D

Have Fun!

Cupcake Night

2009-10-14T01:22:00.000+04:00

It was after mid-night when I took these pictures. I couldn't sleep so I went to the kitchen to eat something (a good way to gain weight =P) and found 2 plain cupcakes. I ate one and when I was about to eat the second one I thought to myself why not take pictures of it.. it looks cute and I have nothing to do anyway. =)

These are only 6 pictures tho I took more than that but it's ok it happens all the time, you take lots of pictures of something but you only like 1 or 2. It doesn't only happen to amateurs but to pro photographers too.
you just remember to say "eyePhotograph". =)

A new born flickr account!

2009-10-04T02:05:00.001+04:00

Because sometimes I just feel like I want to share my pictures without having to write anything or give a tutorial, I decided to create a flickr account to showcase my photography. =)

It doesn't mean that I'll leave blogger =P I'll keep sharing tips and tutorials here of course.

Pay a visit whenever u feel .. hmmmm .. like you have nothing else to do! =P

flickr

I was in...

2009-09-30T02:52:00.005+04:00

...again.

I'm sorry for not posting for a while. I was in Dubai to take a breather before I get really busy with my graduation research that will take most of my time. Yup! I'll graduate this semester... hopefully =P. I'll hold a bachelor degree of business sciences with both concentrations Accounting and Marketing =). However, I'll make sure to check on the blog every now and then and read your comments of course. ;). So, I'm sorry to say that I won't be posting much in the near future, or at least these couple of months tho I have many ideas and tutorials I'd like to share with you, but the time will come sooner or later. ;)

So... I didn't get to take lots of pictures there but I managed to take few random pictures. I Hope you like them. =)

Rule of Thirds

2009-09-11T04:46:00.017+04:00

… is a composition principle used to achieve well balanced and interesting photos.

Now that you are trying to improve your photography and stop being a regular person who points and shoots and make their subjects always in the centre, then it’s time to learn this principle. =)

I know there are many websites that explain this rule more in depth; however I’m just trying here to get you started and take your hand and guide you to improve your photography by simplifying explanations of photography principles, or in other words how I simplified them to myself when I first started photography, because I know many amateurs would like to improve but don’t know where to start. =)

So, rule of thirds is simply breaking the image down into thirds (vertically and horizontally) or 9 parts.

Placing your subjects in the intersections of the lines or along them will make your image look more balanced and would communicate with your audience more naturally.

In addition, you can place your subject or your point of interest along any third as well to make your image look interesting.

As you’re taking pictures try and imagine these lines to know where to place your subject to achieve a perfect composition. If you can’t imagine then it’s OK =) DSLR cameras have a function which enables you to view the grid on your LCD screen to ease this task for you ;).

(Google images)

I’m not asking you here to stop placing your subject in the centre of the image or the image would look awkward if you did so. However, you have to get the right angle to make centre images look interesting. =)

Practice this rule EVERYTIME you hold your camera to take pictures.
And remember to say “eyePhotograph” (^^,)

Photoshop Tutorials Giveaways!

2009-09-01T00:34:00.016+04:00

I went through lots of post processing tutorials when I was just learning about it. Many were useful and would give you a pro kind of touch. However, I didn't like how long or sometimes complicated the process seems. I failed to remember the steps when I wanted to implement a certain tutorial later on. Therefore, I try here to give you the simplest, easiest, and shortest ways for post processing.

I found tutorials that I think are really easy and great, and short too ;). In these tutorials you'll get to learn many effects I'm SURE any amateur would want to learn and maybe implement to their photos.

Here are the links =)

But remember! you don't have to follow the exact same steps that any tutorial teaches you to do, even the ones I post here ;P. For example, if you felt that your photo looks just fine or you've achieved the result you want in step 3 or 4 or whatever of any tutorial you are trying to implement then it's OK to stop right there. Plus, you don't have to memorize the steps... just explore the application, try out its tools, and create your own style! =D

I'm still working on improving my post processing skills myself and trying to create different moods and use different colors too. Once I come up with a new easy and short tutorial or technique I'll make sure to share it here ;) ... you just remember to say "eyePhotograph" (^^,)

This made my day =)

2009-08-20T23:46:00.009+04:00

Few days ago I was googling myself (I know you guys do it too =P). I wasn't only searching "eyePhotograph", but also my previous studio name "Chocolatino Photography".

There was one youtube result that draw my attention, because my nickname was there although I'm not a youtube member to upload anything there, so I was like... there must be someone else!.

Then OMG! =D there was someone who used my photos to create one nice video with a nice background song too, I downloaded the song and have been listening to it ever since haha, and oh the description! just made my day. (^-^)

I know it's a small simple work, but GOD! it made me happy for DAYS!. hehehe

Thank you ngan1312 for liking my photography, making such a nice video, and for crediting me too =).

Here's the LINK

Thank you... Stranger

2009-08-12T03:12:00.014+04:00

I have always complained about not having people who would model for me except for my nephews and nieces ofcourse. Alot of people told me to ask family or friends to help me with that so I did. However, most of them didn't appreciate being photographed or if they agreed they wouldn't allow me to post up the photos.

So, one day I was in one of the malls in Dubai. There were hats displayed and sold on a rotunda for the next day's horse racing event. As I was there taking pictures, I saw a lady in a little black dress trying a hat on, so I assumed that she is one of the retail ladies as most of them dressed the same and by wearing one of the hats she is marketing her merchandise.

Crossed fingered, I walked towards her intending to ask her to pose for the amateur me, expecting rejection.

"Ofcourse!" she said, with a big wide smile too! =D

I couldn't believe it at first and was feeling nervous as thrill prevented me from concentrating! haha. but that truly made my day. =)

Then asked me if the hat looks good on her in which I answered it is.

"Then, I think I will buy it" she said, and I was like =O! haha

She turned out to be a customer. She went to buy it and disappeared while I was taking some more photos. I didn't even get to know her name, my first real model's name, but I know what to call her... beautiful stranger. =)

Action by night-fate (deviantart)

Here my nephew who was following me around got to try one of the hats on. He liked it at first and was happy being photographed with it. then he took the hat off saying that it's for girls and he is a boy! haha... too late Zayed =P

Oh!... my sweet tooth XD

2009-07-31T17:02:00.024+04:00

As I blog about photography you might think that most websites and blogs I browse are about photography too... well... WRONG! =P

I LOVE going through cakes, cupcakes (especially cupcakes), macaroon, and dessert blogs. They are sooo sweet! XD and mouth watering too.

I'm specifically a follower of Bakerella , Cakespy , and Cupcakes Take The Cake blogs. They NEVER fail to make me crave for sweets especially cupcakes, which makes me sad as there are no cupcake shops where I live to order from and get my sweet tooth dirty! =\

I like baking, but I don't do that often. I'm just lazy =P... and I'm more into eating than baking, but I can't complain, I like it that way. XD

Action by manicho (deviantart)

my Birthday cake =D

And here are few stuff I baked =D

I baked those after mid-night =P I like to bake when no one is around!

And finally a cross-stitched cupcake that I made =D

All roads lead to Rome

2009-07-20T22:43:00.030+04:00

I don't know if you know this saying or not but it means that it doesn't matter what road you choose to drive through, a long road or a shortcut, as long as you know that it's going to take you to the destination you want, or there are many ways to arrive to your destination.

Same goes to Photoshop. There are many ways to adjust one element on the photo like lighting or contrast, for example. There's no right or wrong way when it comes to editing photos, what's most important is that you achieve the outcome your want.

Therefore, I came up with my own way of brightening photos. I'll show you the steps, but I will not give you figures of the degree of the change you need to make in each step as each photo is different and have been taken in different lighting conditions. So, I'll leave that up to you. You try and find what's best for your photograph. =)

So, here's an original photo I took... looks dark huh?

First:
1- Open your Photoshop application =P
2- Open the photo and duplicate it
3- Go to "image" from your main menu bar
4- Then "adjustments"
5- Then "Levels..."

As I said will not tell you how much you need to change because that depends on your photographs, however, I'll show you the tools on how to brighten them and the changes I have made to this photo.

So, the Levels window will look like this

Then I did this:

Then the photo came out like this:

Simple huh? =P I'll try to keep it that way =D

Second:
1- Again... "image" => "adjustments" => "Shadow/Highlight..."

Then that's how it will appear:

You do this:

The photo?:

Third:
1- "image" => "adjustments" => "Hue/Saturation..."

Change the Lightness:

Back to the photo:

Fourth:
1- "image" => "adjustments" => "Brightness/Contrast..."

Then:

Photo:

Fifth:
1- "image" => "adjustments" => "Hue/Saturation..."

Sixth:
1- Duplicate the "Background copy" layer
2- Overlay => decrease opacity

THERE! =D
Of course there easier ways to brighten your photo like:
1- Adjust Levels
2- Adjust Brightness from the "Brightness/Contrast..." window
3- Adjust the contrast

I tried that and that how the photo looked like (Left hand side)

I prefer the first way as the colors look more lively, tho I know it is kind of a long way to brighten your photo but as long as we're going to Rome, right? =P as long as we achieve the outcome we want, and that's how I wanted the photo to look like .

Here's another example using the first method

Shopping spree in Dubai!

2009-07-12T23:51:00.029+04:00

Click to enlarge

One hella shopping spree I did in there! lol. I'm kind of broke now and it's not the middle of the month yet! *sigh* I'll manage to live the rest of this month with the few bills I've got, but I've got to say that it was worth it! =D

I didn't plan to go there as I have to work and finish my internship this summer, but I took few days off thinking that it's going to be a good opportunity to go to other place and practice photography there. I had to email my internship adviser that I have to take days off "due to family circumstances", I kind of wanted the email to sound serious so she would let me go, and she did! =D

There, I went to a Japanese restaurant where the kitchen is open and you can see everything going on there. I was looking around and taking pictures. There was one Asian man who was arranging sushi on a plate and smiling to me, so I approached him and asked if he's Japanese, he said he's not but the chief is. Before I know it he called the Japanese chief to talk to me. I took two Japanese course only... more than 6 months ago? or maybe more. I couldn't remember everything I've learnt. However, I managed to talk to him (tho most was I said was in English) and he was very nice and outgoing. It was a nice experience. (first photo below) =)

I got to try out my 70-300mm lens that came with my DSLR (Nikon D60) as a gift when I first bought it, that I never got to try before. I LOVED this lens. You can take pictures of far subjects and make them look as if they were right in front of you, and you get to focus manually which gives you control of what you want to focus on.

So, if you're going to Dubai don't forget to bring your sun block cream as the sun could be burning, an empty stomach as there are lots of restaurants you should try out, and of course extra cash. =P

Let's get started! =D

2009-07-02T23:41:00.013+04:00

Click to enlarge

I know many amateurs that have DSLR cameras but don't know how to use it to its potential. I'm not saying that I know everything, but I did learn few things about it after reading the camera's manual in addition to many, MANY photography articles as well. It was alot of reading to do and most of them were very detailed. I do like details but as an amateur who doesn't study photography, it was too much to understand *information overload*. Therefore, I figured that my dear fellow amateurs would want to learn too but in a less complicated way, so here I'll try to explain them in the most simple way possible, so bear with me. =)

I'll start with ISO (which is a function that exists in DSLR cameras), so what is it? It is the sensetivety of the camera's image sensor to light. the number of the ISO varies between 100, 200, 600, 800, and 1600 (depends on the camera). The higher the ISO number, the more sensetive the sensor becomes to light in the surrounding environment and vice versa.

You can set the ISO depending on the degree of lighting available or exposed to your subject. set a low ISO when the environment is well lit (i.e.100-200). Set it to a higher number (i.e. 400-600) when the environment is dim. Finally, if it was dark set the ISO to its highest, then the sensor will be very sensetive to the smallest ray of light available. However, one side-effect of too ligh ISO is that it will make the photo looks grainy, therefore try to keep it relatively low.

THERE! =D ... that's mainly it...

However, ISO affects shutter speed as well.
To keep it simple, the higher the ISO, the faster the shutter speed becomes and vice versa.
Here's an illustration
:

ISO 100

ISO 400

ISO 1600

As I increase the ISO you'll notice that the water is becoming more defined and the photo is becoming grainier.

So, grab your camera and try to shoot one subject with different ISO's and with different lightings too.

Happy Shooting! =)

So what...?!

2009-06-27T18:31:00.015+04:00

Click to enlarge

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs" ~ Ansel Adams

You won't believe how many people hold the their cameras in the wrong way, yet they capture beautiful pictures with nice compositions too.

There's nothing wrong with learning it the right way as it increases stability and make the chances of taking shaky photos lesser but if you feel more comfortable holding it the way you do, then so be it.

Just hold it the way you like and click away. =D

And remember to say "eye photograph" =)

Action by night-fate (deviantart)

Action by Princess_of_Shadows (deviantart)

Add some action to your photography =P

2009-06-22T01:26:00.037+04:00

Action by night-fate (deviantart)

Click to enlarge

No one can deny the power of photoshop on photography. You can adjust the lighting, contrast, colors, brighten dark photos or dim bright photos, and create different moods for your photographs. It is the first aid for perfect shots that have been taken in the most unfavorable conditions.

Many photographers know how to deal with this powerful application. However, many other people don't know how to use it to its potential to bring out the best of the photo, and to be honest I'm one of those people. =P

However, thanks to many photoshop users for creating something called "actions" that could help us in adjusting many elements in the photo and add some spice and flavor to it. *yeah... I'm kind of hungry now lol*. I usually adjust few more things after I apply the action like increase the contrast or the brightness or something. There are many beautiful downloadable actions available on the internet that could help you create a certain mood to your photos.

Try and download some of these actions, open the photo you want, and then press the Play button! =D

Action by night-fate (deviantart)

Action by Princess_of_Shadows (deviantart)
Action by night-fate (deviantart)

Action by manicho (deviantart)

Here I Am!

2009-06-21T16:51:00.019+04:00

Action by manicho (deviantart)

YAY! Finally I start this blog. I thought about it a lot before making my mind to actually create it. As an amateur in photography, I didn’t have much confidence in my photography, and always thought that it will never be as good as other photographers’ work, however, after browsing other photography blogs and forums I noticed that I’m not the only one who feels that way.

My dear fellow amateurs =) it’s OK! It’s ok to feel that way. It’s a good thing actually. That should push you to try to improve yourselves, create your own style of photography, but not give up on your hobby.

We usually, if not always, compare our photography with the photography of other professional photographers which causes our self-esteem to drop. When I thought about it, I figured that when we do that… it’s like comparing a painting of an art graduate and a painting of a 1st grader. Not the best example but you get the meaning. =P

So, here I showcase my photography, share my knowledge with you, and make you feel good about your photography if you thought that yours is better than mine. =P
However, whenever you feel down about your work, remember to say…
“eye Photograph” =)

P.S: English is not my first language so you might notice some grammar mistakes and stuff... so yeah try and ignore that. lol =P