A Realistic Photoshop Composite for Yankee Magazine

I was contacted by the art director at Yankee Magazine asking me to illustrate a feature for their 80th anniversary issue. The subject: “Inventions and Ingenuity from New England”. Nancy had seen several of my Photoshop montages over time, and believed that my style would be ideal the project. She especially liked my “Telling History” piece, a realistic montage project I’d done for the Baltimore Sun. I accepted the assignment knowing I’d enjoy another challenge of creating a illustrative visual using historic images. … more >>

The Story Behind Photographing “The Buddha of Borobudur”

This is the story of my favorite and most collected images: “The Buddha of Borobudur“. I’m often asked about the location of this unusual place, and also how I made this image. I’ll describe my personal process, the gear I used and my Photoshop technique. I’ve learned from photographic travels that my best images come when I manage the excitement that could otherwise occupy my senses. When I have attempted to capture the quiet essence of … more >>

Season’s Greetings!

Season’s Greetings to all of you, and thanks for following “Notes From a Creative Soul”. I look forward to a year of growth, creativity and adventures. Hope to see you at an upcoming Meetup, presentation or workshop! If  enough of you would like to know how this greeting card was made using Photoshop, comment below and I’ll schedule it as an upcoming post.

Adventures and Tips From a Weekend Photo Safari

Cal Academy African Antelope

There I was, finally alone in the wilds on a photo safari.  Barely off the plane, I met the others in my group and we drove through the busy streets and markets to find some photogenic wildlife. Two hours into our tour, we huddled together, checked our cameras and stared across steamy African wetlands and grasslands. Suddenly, a territorial bull Antelope surprised me on the grassy hillock, staring me down from just yards away. My heart … more >>

My Photoshop Process : A Revealing Collaboration

Duggan's book DJ spread on Sky 6k

Recently, I received a little gift— a chance to slow down, reflect on my favorite creative Pho­toshop tech­niques and recall how my artistic style emerged from grade-school experiments.

This collaboration began with an email from artist/author/instructor Seán Duggan. We had met a few summers ago while both teaching Photography and Photoshop at Maine Media Workshops, and revealed that we admired each others’ work. In his email, he asked if I would like to con­tribute to “Pho­toshop Masking and Com­positing”, a new Pho­toshop book he was co-writing with digital artists Katrin Eismann and James Porto.

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The Creative Photographer: Composition and Design

Composition and Design are as important in a successful photograph as are light, subject, story and timing. Looking for inspiration outside of your medium is often the key to learning something new. I believe that crossing mediums helps strengthen the random access of ideas that is key to our natural creative process. It’s a bit like loading your conceptual quiver the way a painter loads the palette.

Improving Winter Scenes with Lightroom 4

Sage, Snow, Sky

“I’ve just returned from back country skiing in Yellowstone National Park. I shot some images of snowy landscapes that need careful processing to bring out the beauty of the snow and features. Lightroom 4 can do it with ease.” Whiter whites: If skiing in fluffy pristine snow wasn’t enough excitement, Adobe just released the completed Lightroom 4, which has many features I’ve been wishing for. One of my favorites is that now there are separate sliders to … more >>

A Pre-visualization Collage Technique in Photoshop

          “Making a Photoshop collage is a defined yet flexible process.” One can approach this with complete spontaneity, like a child with a crayon, or with a methodical approach as seen here. For client work, I first create a sketch, then once approved, I begin to create or search for my existing visual elements. This technique is called ‘Pre-Visualization’, because one must first think of what one wants to create. It’s a … more >>