News and Announcements From Select Digitals...
Site last updated on 11/12/2008.
Select Digitals was created to share my interest in digital and CCD photography, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and web & graphic design. In addition, Select Digitals will chronicle my new interest in radio controlled model aircraft.
Look for news and announcements in this column as well as links to articles and other content of interest to photographers.
“How to Install and Style WordPress 2.5”. This article has just been extensively revised and updated. In the article, I describe the installation process for WordPress 2.5. I then show how to customize the default theme using new graphics and CSS styling. At the end of the article, there is a link to my new WordPress blog and additional iinformation about installing and styling the latest version of WordPress. The tips and tricks discussed in this article will also be helpful in styling WordPress 2.7 when it is released.
NEW "Create Your Own HTML and CSS Templates" How to create your own HTML and CSS templates and validate them at W3C.
NEW WordPress Blog. Select Digitals has entered the Web 2.0 Age with a new WordPress Blog. I installed the latest version of WordPress as described in "How to Install and Style WordPress 2.5." I then modified the theme. Visit the Blog to learn more about the installation and styling.
"123di: A Photographer's Library In A Box." reviews the "The 123 of digital imaging Interactive Learning Suite." 123di is a software suite written for *all* digital imagers, including Photoshop and Nikon users. 123di explains both the *why* and the *how* of the digital workflow.
If you want to advance your knowledge about digital photography and learn how to improve the quality of your images, you will certainly want to read more about
"123di: A Photographer's Library In A Box."
Select Digitals' current gallery of digital photography is Favorites. The photography gallery features nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. The many colorful images were taken in
- Belfair, Washington
- Cordova, Alaska
- Mariposa, California
- Olympic National Park, Washington
- Fort Worden, Washington
- Prineville, Oregon
- Seattle, Washington
Nearly all of the RAW digital images I take receive some processing in Photoshop and other software. One image, Licorice, is a composite image consisting of Licorice, a black Labrador Retriever, and a river scene, both taken at the Alaganik Slough Recreation Site, Cordova, Alaska. I will always remember this wonderful dog as he is portrayed in the image. Another image, Sunflower Galaxy, required specialized software for CCD image processing and is a composite of multiple images taken over five hours. See “The CCD Edge” for an introduction to CCD cameras and CCD imaging.
We are indeed lucky to be living in the Information Age. There is a wonderful abundance of books (including eBooks), magazines, and web sites dedicated to digital imaging and all of it's related topics. More information on these will be added to this site soon.
For now, I hope you enjoy Favorites
More Information...
The "More Information" column contains an index to my images, digital photography tips and tricks, articles & reports, links to relevant books & magazines, reviews, and web sites that feature digital and ccd photography content. Select Digitals can show you where you can travel in order to to capture images you will treasure forever. Finally, you can learn about my recent adventure into radio controlled model aircraft
My Gallery:
- image index Index to all gallery images.
- favorites Current Gallery.
Tips & Tricks:
- How to Create a Banner Ad With Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Two part video showing techniques I use to create banner ads.
- Optimizing Videos and Slide Shows for Small Screens. Video showing techniques I use to optimize videos and slide shows for publication on small-player screens.
- trillium composite. The trillium is considered to be the "Easter Lily of the Pacific Northwest." The composite was constructed from 5 separate images and shows trillium growth from early, pure white to crimson maturity. The background is an old moss-covered cedar log. I used Photoshop's lasso and magnetic lasso tools to extract the flower components (nothing fancy here) from their original images. I used a small amount of feathering as I cut out the components. This helped to smooth out the edges. After the components were organized on the canvas, I used some sharpening and curves to achieve the final image. The 13x19 prints I made of the composite turned out quite well. I may, at some future time, return to this project--I can't get enough of this beautiful flower.
Articles & Reports:
- “Marketing with Adobe”. This new online article describes how I recently created a web page and banner for a sales campaign. I used Adobe's Illustrator, Photoshop CS2, and Dreamweaver 8 to create the web page and banner. There are lots of images in the article along with numerous tips and tricks. For a quick overview of the process of creating the ad described in the article, you can watch a short flash presentation.
- preparing digital images for a slide show Includes lots of Photoshop tips and tricks.
- the ccd edge Introduction to ccd imaging. PDF version.
Reviews:
Recently, I discovered free online courses given at the HP Learning Center. I have completed three courses: Introduction and Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS2 and an Introduction to Adobe Illustrator. All of the courses were taught by Joanne Watkins. The Photoshop CS2 course lessons were full of information I need to create more professional looking composite images and artwork. Surprisingly, the introductory course also included a lesson on color adjustment and photo retouching, subjects that are usually covered in advanced classes. I have always wanted to learn Illustrator and the HP online course helped me get off to a good start. Below are some of the practice image and artwork assignments I completed during the courses:
- Sunset creating a reflection image,
- Flowers practice selection and mirroring,
- Sunflower With Gradient selection vignette, and gradient techniques,
- Sunflower With Pattern using patterns and borders as an image background,
- Vinca “making a picture” from an image with one flower,
- Cowbow simple image composition,
- Old Mission masking exercise,
- Yucca Plant masking and vignette,
- Roadside Wildflowers masking and vignette,
- Butterfly using masking and gradients to combine three images for a final composite.
- Mountain Landscape was created using basic drawing tools.
- Shapes and 3D. I particularly enjoyed learning how to create the flower.
- Logo using paths for the text.
- Poster the final course project.
I can strongly recommend these courses to anyone wanting to learn how to create better images and artwork.
Books & Magazines:
- 123di eBook on mastering digital photography and Adobe Photoshop. Excellent!
- outbackphoto.com Great eBooks covering, in detail, the digital workflow.
- course.com This is a terrific source for hands-on textbooks on Photoshop, and many other subjects.
- digitalphotopro Subscribe here to a magazine filled with informative articles, tips, and tricks for the digital photographer.
- layers The how-to magazine for everything Adobe.
Digital & CCD Photography Web Sites:
- dpreview.com This site is a must if you are interested in digital cameras. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter.
- luminous-landscape.com This is a comprehensive site for inspiration and practical information for the digital photographer.
- images by Tom Carrico CCD imaging information and quality astro-images.
Adventure & Travel:
- a day in seattle I captured the images for this FLASH slide show in order to show what a tourist might see during a one-day visit to Seattle, Washington. The show will start and run automatically after a moment. Please note that many of the images are pretty “raw” and have not received the care I would give to them for prints or for a slide show distribution.
- alaska adventure If you've always wanted to see and photograph wild Alaska, this site is a must--fabulous trips and fabulous guides. Watch a Video.
- five days in cordova chronicles my summer trip to Cordova, Alaska. Watch the videos in the article.
- The Newberry National Volcanic Monument might be one of Oregon's best kept secrets. Watch the video for a sample of what you can see and photograph there.
Radio Controlled Model Aircraft:
- “Radio Control Pylon Racing: Turn Left — and Fly Fast!” This article describes a pylon racing competition. The Sanderson Field RC Fliers(SFRCF) hosted a sanctioned Academy of Model Aeronautics(AMA) pylon competition on September 6 & 7, 2008. The competition was sponsored and organized by the Pylon Racers of Puget Sound(PROPS). The event was held at the SFRCF home field in Shelton, Washington.
- "SFRCF Welcomes the Public: Hands-On Flying for Future Pilots" This article has many images showing how the Sanderson Field RC Flyers (SFRCF) participated in the Port of Shelton Autumn Festival. SFRCF provided model aircraft for display and an information booth. In addition, SFRCF provided trainers and aircraft during their fly-in in order to give the public a chance to experience the thrill of flying radio controlled model aircraft.
- "Flying Over Hunter Farms" SFRCF scheduled a fly-in at Hunter Farms for Saturday, October 11, 2008. SFRCF maintains grass field at the farm. Even without the flying, I can highly recommend a trip to Hunter Farms if for no other reason than to experience the atmosphere and scenery of the Skokomish River Valley.
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