Flash Workshops by Ycademy: Is the Time Right?

The Ycademy Flash Workshops starting Monday, May 10, 2010 will provide all participants with the unique opportunity to acquire basic and advanced knowledge of Flash.  Is the Time right for you to move on and to take your web site development and web design capabilities to the next level?

Ycademy Evolution

For years Ycademy has helped people to develop online skills, covering from Computer to Marketing and to Website Development and Hosting knowledge. Converting knowledge to profit and editing to successful publishing remains our goal.

In fact, Ycademy has started as an online learning center for YORGOO Subscribers, where newbies and advanced online Marketers have met and then continued to interact to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Today, Ycademy Pros have acquired a high level of know-how and can be proud to develop for their customers some of the best performing websites on the entire internet also due to the high performance semantic publishing frameworks from Semiomantics. Time has come to take advantages of more media focused publishing methods. For this reason we enter a new educational cycle starting with Flash, to move on to video clip and animated 3 D production and to the development of Applications for Desktop and Mobile Devices.

If Semiomantics calls its latest script ‘Evolution’, it is because Evolution is the first 100% Flash Framework tuned by Semiomantics and because Flash constitutes a necessary evolution to access advanced online publishing technologies. Accordingly we call the new Ycademy Cycle ‘Evolution’ as well.

What’s the Excitement all about?

It’s about being able to explore new horizons together and to share knowledge for the benefit of the entire team and ultimately of our customers. Moving to advanced editing enables us finally to express our creativity in new ways and to build rich and interactive content, making our publications more interesting.

In view of our upcoming new business project for which we seek the support and sponsorship of Microsoft, our traditional battle-cry is more true than ever:

Together we are unbeatable!

PS: The above Flash Clock will be our first little Flash project this coming week.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Border collies are known as herding dogs, especially sheep. They are excellent watch dogs, love children and they are often described as the most intelligent dogs.

According to some information, a border collie had learned 1,022 words – reacting to them when spoken! Watching our inventive hooligan’s non-stop activities all day long it doesn’t surprise me… and tons of exercise and mental stimulation they definitely need, and this on an ongoing basis. It’s really a continuous dialogue – and a very endearing one as Holly has a very attentive and loving nature.

With one of her eyes being a clear blue – due to heterochromia (multi-colored eyes) – she catches everyone’s attention anyway!

Actually, Holly from Noordhoek lives in Cape Holly Road as you can see here, taken early this morning before our walk up into the Silvermine Mountains:

She will always make sure I follow and comes back to see that I’m fine – that’s just her nature:

Definitely lots of space to run – :

That’s our favorite morning run… tanking fresh air and energies before getting back to the computer and… Web Design with Passion!

Adobe Flash Workshops and Seminar by Ycademy

A  new important Ycademy development cycle will start next week: Adobe Flash will be the focus for the next 3 weeks and beyond as the case may be.

The Ycademy May Seminar, which will take place on May 29 and 30, 2010 will concentrate on practical flash application and template modification accessible to people who have followed the flash cycle as well as for participants who have no clue about flash coding: we will work along two parallel workflows, one focused on flash editing, the second on xml editing.

Photo Yorgo Nestoridis

Flash Animated Photo Album

Here is our ambitious educational plan:

Week 1: Introduction and Graphics Creation and Animation

Week 2: Action Script 3.0, Flash Audio and Flash Video

Week 3: Interactive Flash, Project Editing and Publishing

The Great Ycademy Flash Seminar

The Program of the Seminar will be released shortly, however we already know that the Seminar will focus on productivity and using Flash to increase our service level for the benefit of our customers. Namely we will develop and implement flash based products and add them to our product range.

Pre-requisites

This cycle is for participants who have Flash CS4 or CS5 installed or who will install it shortly. The Trial Version available at Adobe will do for the time of the cycle. Please contact Bianca for more information and the best way of equipping your computer with the software.

It is recommended to follow all daily calls as from Monday, May 10, 2010 to acquire the basics; the calls will be recorded. Recordings are available for free to Ycademy Pros, and they are included in the Seminar ticket available shortly.

The Ycademy Flash Cycle is accessible to beginners and there is no need to have any special knowledge. Basic Photoshop knowledge is an asset but not necessary.

Note

The Ycademy Flash Cycle is the most Cost and Time effective way to take our online Web Design and Site Development business to the next level. Join Ycademy Pro and take advantage of permanent updates and cutting edge of technology made available to interested ordinary people wanting to do extraordinary things.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Pizzanello’s in George in the Western Cape offers a Lunch and Take Away specials on their mouth watering pizza’s until 15 June 2012.

Pizzanello’s Restaurant and Action Bar in George serves mouth watering pastas and pizza’s, handmade the traditional way with fresh dough made on the premises and baked to perfection in special pizza ovens.

Villa Chante in Dana Bay near Mossel Bay offers visitors weekend special offers on their self catering accommodation.

Villa Chante in Dana Bay near Mossel Bay in the Garden Route of South Africa offers self catering accommodation ideal for family gatherings, business trips and weekend holidays. Villa Chanté is situated in the Dana Bay Conservancy approximately 9km from Mossel Bay. Various fully equipped self catering units accommodating from 2 to 10 persons are available.

Digital Portrait Photography Workshop

After the Tuesday session we will continue tonight to deal with Digital Portrait Photography.

After a quick flash-back on How to shoot Portraits, we will deal with post editing portraits in Photoshop.

The workshop will follow a step by step workflow for quick editing and then look into more detailed post editing with Photoshop.

yi2bw2

YorgoMan and JonnyBoy

Here some literature for reference:

Download

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Kempston Car Rental in George on the Garden Route is one of the countrywide branches of the Kempston Group in South Africa. They have a well established fleet of vehicles, offer professional service and competitive rates.  As they say at Kempston: Personal, Professional, All Day, Every Day!

Whether you travel for business or are going on vacation Kempston has just the car for you. The fleet of vehicles for hire includes various bakkies, 4×4’s, mid range and economical cars. Explore the Garden Route at your own pace in the comfort of your own rental car.

Kempston offer a car rental service in the Garden Route towns of George, Mossel Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Oudtshoorn. Vehicles can also be delivered to other towns in the Garden Route between Swellendam, Tsitsikamma and Beaufort West. Kempston also have a branch in East London.  Airport deliveries can also be arranged.

Digital Portrait Photography Ycademy

A specialty in Digital Photography is Portrait Photography. After our Digital Photography Seminar in April we will deal this week with Digital Portrait Photography at our daily calls at 8 pm London Time at yorGOtalk.

One of the most interesting subjects in Photography is the human being and thee are basically two approaches of picturing people and they depend on the main question:

What’s the Story behind a Digital Portrait

In other terms: what is the result you want to achieve, the story you want to tell, the moment you want to ban. A good photographer is a great story teller. And here is the point: you can write a comedy or a drama, neutral descriptions or flattering phrases.

216682144_5c8f04511e

Digital Portrait Photography 1

In photography it’s the same as in music: a great theme can be declined as Rap, Hip Hopp, Blues, Rock, R & B and so on.

At our calls, we will look at some options as listed below.

Portrait Photography option 1

You want to capture a face, a story engraved into a face by life. The means: work with sharper contrasts, harder light and so on to enhance the details of the expression, skin, texture. Emphasize nature.

Portrait Photography option 2

You want to provide a favorable look, a flattering picture; your goal is to become the preferred son in law of your mother in law. Work with the powder box, softening, soft light and soft shadows. Strip off a few pounds and make the skin smooth by applying the baby bum filter :-). Wedding photography is using many of the same techniques we use here, just that there you may add  even more glow and glitter.

greekface

Digital Portrait Photography 2

Portrait Photography option 3

You need a formal portrait, for example for a CV or Business related picture. The work starts with dressing up the subject and choosing the right pose. Get the best out of the subject and do only minor retouching, in any case your post editing should not exaggerate the enhancements to the point where even a mother would not recognize her son.

Portrait Photography option 4

Children and Pets. The main problem is that you need to keep them in front of your lens; the best recipe is to keep them busy instead of keeping them still for 10 minutes with a ‘Cheese’ burned into their face and a Colgate smile as if you had glued their mouth angles to their ears. Just keep them busy and … shoot.

Portraiture and Lighting

There are three main technical tools involved in the production of a good portrait.

First, the Light! Even with an average or low-end cam you can shoot for a decent result for as long as your light is right.

Second: a good Photo Editing program for your post editing tasks.

Third, a camera, whereas the two above mentioned tools will compensate for a big deal of your cam’s eventual shortfalls.

Mephisto

Digital Portrait Photography 3

The most important Elements

The most important elements are: your Subject and YOU or rather: You and your Subject and the way you perceive it, and the way you translate your perception into a portrait. A portrait is successful when people who know the subject say: this is exactly the way he or she is. Or, under option 2 if your mother in law thinks you are a great photographer or when your just married couple and their families go WOW on your shots.

In other words: you must read the subject and you must be aware of the goal you want to achieve. Based on your reading and goal you plan your Portrait and you start imagining the lighting, the angle, the pose, the camera settings and so on. It’s a mental process which leads to the actual shooting.

More at tonight’s call.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

The George Lodge in George offers a winter special on accommodation. Stay for three nights or more and get a 10% discount on your accommodation in George at the George Lodge.

These rates exclude the following services available at the George Lodge, these services are available to guests at additional cost:

Affordable DVD Packaging

Affordable DVD Packaging was – amongst others – the topic of yesterday’s exciting Photoshop Ycademy Workshop and great Web Graphics Tutorial.

Affordable DVD Packaging

Is there a way for affordable DVD Packaging?

Well, there is the long way to elaborate all this in hundreds of little steps on Photoshop – that’s what I’ve learned and practised over quite a while based on studying the early Adobe Photoshop Bible 5 – and then there is today’s fast and spiffy way by using Actions or Action Scripts, where basically the whole process is extremely compressed into automatic processes with occasional ’stops’ to insert personalized data like a title, a name, a copyright… that deliver astonishing end products.

These Action Scripts allow even people who are no artists and who don’t intend to go that route… but who have equipped themselves properly with Photoshop and who wish to present their photos and images on Blogs and Websites in a professional and appealing way… to produce great results for say CD wrappers, attractive DVD Jewel cases and many other forms of packaging.

Of course, this is only possible because some professional Graphic Designer has gone the whole route of many little steps to create an Action Script – that basically recorded all these complex steps and wrapped it all up in a PRO Action product at a price or gives it away for ‘free’. Suddenly, anyone can get an eye-catching result at one or two mouse clicks. What’s important here is to find the real good actions between the many thousands out there on the Internet… but for this we have:

Photoshop Ycademy

Whenever working professionally, it is important to be properly equipped.

A good tool may have its price, but it’s all worth it as it saves us time and – if we know how to use it – it definitely gives us an edge over the competition.

Those Photoshop Ycademy Workshop participants who wish to reach the top – and with it a highly sophisticated clientele – have to continuously invest in high quality tools and their knowledge and skills to use them. However, this will allow them to focus on Productivity, get better results and have more music in their PayPal account at the end of the day.

Read more…

• Top Performance in Sports
• Jelly
• Pink Flamingos
• Web Design Consulting
• Top Performance in Sports

At the George Lodge International comfort, convenience and hospitality come together. This is a place where work and vacation, activities and relaxation is in perfect harmony. This stylish guest house in George is perfect for your family vacation and corporate business travels. The lodge is a short drive from the George Airport, guests have easy access to the towns commercial sector, restaurants and numerous historical landmarks and attractions.

George Lodge International offers a variety of fully serviced accommodation with all the amenities you would expect. With 22 bedrooms, made up of double rooms, twin rooms, family rooms, and 3 self- catering rooms you will surely find the type of accommodation to suit your requirements. For group purposes, the rooms can be changed to accommodate your requirements. Our complimentary breakfast consists of a delicious Continental buffet followed by a cooked breakfast option.

The George Lodge International also offers various value added packages, golf tours and a shuttle service. Take advantage of our value added packages where your getaway can include anything from breakfast in bed to a pampered day in a spa.

The Geneva Pharmacy in George on the Garden Route of South Africa now stocks a weight loss product that really works. The product has been available from the pharmacy for a while now and a many clients are very satisfied with the results they get from using this product.

Depending on your exact need there are various options in this doctor formulated weight loss product range. Products include a multi action fiber formula, a natural appetite suppressant, a thermo antioxidant blend and an advanced thermogenic formula. Visit the Geneva Pharmacy in George for more information and to buy your SLIMMBETTi products.

Victoria Bay Lodge is situated halfway between George and Wilderness on the picturesque Southern Cape Coast and offers comfortable self catering accommodation. The lodge is only 7km from George and 1,5 km from the Victoria Bay beach. Victoria Bay is one of the most famous beaches in the vicinity for safe bathing and is ideal for angling and a challenge to top surfers. There are also natural paddling pools amongst the rocks where children can spend many happy hours playing.

Enjoy home comforts and reasonable prices of the self catering chalets at this lodge in Victoria Bay. Various 4 and 8 bed chalets are available. The chalets offer a homely atmosphere and are crisp, clean and welcoming. The chalets are large and airy with ample cupboard space, modern and neatly furnished. Each chalet has its own carport and barbecue/braai facilities.

This holiday resort near the Victoria Bay beach is the ideal place to stay during your visit to the Garden Route. Besides the comfortable accommodation and lush gardens the lodge offers large under roof “Lapa” where guests can socialize and braai during unsettled weather conditions. There are also a fully equipped Laundromat and ironing facilities. For relaxation enjoy a game of Putt-Putt, Table-tennis or Darts.

Children under 2 years – Free

Let your Digital Photo Camera shoot HD Video Clips

Exploring the world of Digital Photography and your Digital Photo Camera in particular, you may notice the Video Function on your Cam.

Most recent Digital Compact Cameras render good quality footage, many provide even HD quality.

basket-cover-600

Vouliagmeni Basket Ball

Check it out on YouTube: I was surprised about the quality even in full screen mode: Click HERE.

Run a Video test with your Digital Photo Camera

1. Check if your Camera is able to shoot Video

My credit card size Leica C-Lux 3 has a video function.

2. Shoot a few seconds of footage.

3. Download to your PC

My Cam renders HD in QuickTime .mov format.

4. Edit video with Windows Live Movie Maker

I have added a Cover Picture and an image at the end.

5. Upload to YouTube

Enjoy and share.

Note: While the Leica rendered a 8 MB file, Windows Live Movie Maker returned a 21 MB file and the YouTube flash .flv is a small 650 kb. YouTube HD comes in MP4 with 4.6 MB. The .3gp format for Mobile Phones is as small as 179 kb – accordingly the quality is lower.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Building Apps for mobile devices becomes crucial for online success as an increasing number of web users shift to mobile devices and as the usage stats of mobile users has already passed web usage by desktop and lap-top users in many countries.

The Ycademy May Seminar will focus on App Building namely on:

Two days are a short time to become familiar with programming language and developer kits. For this reason we will be using what we believe are the two most powerful App building software packs available for Windows to build and test our Apps.

Participants can test also some of the apps directly on their mobile device.

The seminar will take place on May 26 –27, 2012 from 1 p.m. till 9 p.m. London Time on each day.

Seminar tickets are available with the usual discounts; get your discount code from bianca(at)ycademy.com.

More details during our calls and mails from Bianca.

Click to Get your Ticket

Related posts:Ycademy Online Seminar January 2012Ycademy Online Seminar Apri 2012Ycademy Online Seminar December 12–13, 2009Ycademy Online Seminar March 2011Ycademy Online Seminar May 2011

Once you know how to instal fonts on CS5 on 64bit it’s real easy!

As I had saved all my professional fonts in a folder that I had imported into a font folder on my new system, all I need to do is find the ttf file (standing for true type font) or the otf file (standing for open type font), right-click and ‘instal’.

That’s it! Go check the fonts on your Photoshop… and if it’s open, you may have to close it first and reopen it. All will be there and ready for you to use and design great stuff!

And to answer the question of where the fonts actually go now, it’s under “Appearance & Personalization” in the Control Panel. Normally, you download fonts as a zip file that you want to unzip and then navigate to the files as per above.

Where do you find many great fonts for free download?

Simply go to dafont.com and select what you like.

Once you work really professionally with fonts and especially if you prepare material for printing – say for a customer -, consider to select and buy a good font. While it may be costly in the beginning, it will pay off over time and simply gives you the professional look.

Remember: even on the internet you get what you pay for.

Install Windows 7 64-bit on a second Hard-drive

It took justa bout 30 Minutes to do a custom install of Windows 7 Ultimate on my machine. To save time I did not reformat the disk, I just installed a clean Windows 7 64-bit. Remember, on my disk C I am running my Win 7 32-bit and I wanted to add a 64-bit version on the same machine. (See my previous post.)

Windows 7 64-bit  install

I selected to install the 64-bit version with all the updates and upgrades suggested by Microsoft.

This means that during the whole install procedure, the computer remains online and does the job. Brilliant!

Adobe Master Collection

Once my Windows in place, I installed my Adobe CS5 Master Collection:

cs5

CS5

Under all programs I find now:

adobe

Adobe CS5

Note: there are two Photoshop entries, the 32-bit and the 64-bit version. Also After Effects and Premier Pro come up as CS5 (64-bit) versions.

I will now install other pgrams I need such as an FTP client and a text editor (PSPad) and media related programs to make this 64-bit fly.

See you tonight at the call where we will discuss this operation. Login from yorGOtalk.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Run Win 7 32-bit and 64-bit on the same Machine

Recently I installed a new hard-drive on my machine to which I loaded a second Operating System Windows 7 32-bit. The idea was to improve performance, namely when working with graphic and media related programs, such as Photoshop, Flash or After Effects.

To keep my Windows light and fast, I decided not to install any security updates nor any security related programs, such as Essentials, a Firewall or Antivirus. The performance is smashing compared to my main Win 7 which is patched with all available updates. My Adobe programs run faster smoother and it’s a pleasure combining media programs and Live Conferencing on the same screen.

Windows-7-Ultimate

Windows 7

When Adobe recently announced the release of its CS5, I noticed that two of my preferred programs will run on 64-bit architecture only: After Effects CS5 and Premier Pro CS5 that is. These two programs need quite some punch and better RAM handling.

So, here I am, frustrated and wondering how to deal with the situation, knowing that not all my programs will run on 32-bit Win7.

Run 2 Windows OS on the same Machine

For years I have been running multiple Operating systems on the same machine. The main reason was to be able to access files and folders in case of a failure of my main Windows OS. There was never a problem with multiple installs, be it on different hard-drives or on separate partitions on the same hard-drive.

The Question now is: is it possible to run Win7 64-bit on the same machine where there is a Win7 32-bit installed.

Googling my way through the question, I found, that under certain circumstances there is no reason why this idea should not work.

I will share my experience here on my blog in two or three posts.

Can my computer run Win7 64-bit?

This is the first important question. 64-bit operating systems require a processor with a 64-bit architecture. Most recent machines should be equipped with a compatible processor. Also, 64-bit is efficient as from 4 GB RAM installed.

Windows7 64-bit can make use of up to 192 GB RAM; now that’s what I call speed!

During my research I learned surprisingly that a 32-bit system cannot use use more than 3 GB of RAM: why the heck to manufacturers and shops sell 4 GB RAM with 32-bit Operating Systems?

To figure out whether your System is 64-bit capable, go:

1. Start and type into the search field:  ”Performance Information and Tools”

2. There click on:  ”View and Print Detailed Performance and System Information”

3. Under ‘System’, check if your System is 64-bit capable.

Here my screenshot with a mark for easy reading:

performance-information-and-tools

Performance Information and Tools

My computer is 2 years old; at that time I bought about the fastest gaming features available here in Greece, namely a good graphics card and 4 GB RAM. I like gaming computers since their layout is speed oriented, namely for graphics and other media.

As you can see from the above, my PC is 64-bit capable.

Are my installed Programs Win7 64-bit Compatible?

To find out I download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft.

Here is what it returns under the 64-bit tab:

win7-upgrade-advisor

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

The main info is: I need to do a clean new Windows installation (Custom) and reinstall all my programs.

As I am  already running Win 7 32-bit, there should not be a major problem with programs, but the Windows Compatibility Center will give more in depth information if needed.

Install Windows 7  64-bit

To make my life easier, I will back-up my documents and files on another hard-drive. Then I will reformat the hard-drive and install Windows 7 64-bit in a clean environment.

Join tonight’s call at yorGOtalk where we will run corresponding tests and advise on upgrading.

Look forward to the next episode of this journey.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

5 Tips to take Pictures of Cars

When you take shots of a car it’s like taking pictures of anything: if you like cars, you will probably do better. A car lover will see these details and lines, a simple photo technician will just not get a grip on. It’s a bit like focusing on Cindy Crawford’s eyes and neglecting all the other eye-tearing shapes. Which brings us right to the subject of tonight’s Ycademy call.

Look at the subject from different angles

Maserati 8CTF Indianapolis 1939

Maserati 1939 Indianapolis

Search for the design elements which make the car unique. In a time when all cars tend to look the same and where the best picture of a new Chevy looks as annoying as a Tata, we need to search for the highlights in the design. The mass produced Japanese, European and American cars are frankly no fun and there is not much to take pictures of that will knock you off the driver’s seat. The best you can do with them is to use them for further treatment and as a base for interesting trash graphics.

I have never understood why the masses have to drive such ugly cars and why the car companies reserve good design to the high end production, if at all.

So, sneak around your car, bend and stretch and find the best angles to shoot some flattering shots, sensual shots, aggressive shots, shots with a soul and a body: don’t forget, the car has also a rear, which may be as so often, the better part of the model.

Look for interesting Details

The excitement is where there is beauty, great design, interesting shapes and details. Sports Cars are still a great playground, at least on the higher end, and then of course classic cars. But on most any car you will find some detail of interest and be it just the most ugly heck spoiler on a Japanese Ferrari imitation from the 80s (remember that Honda, huh?).

Indi Maserati 1939

Create Focus with your Camera Settings

I like to shoot with priority on Aperture to work with depth of field in order to create focus; you can try as well to use macro settings for small details, namely on a small model car as featured here. It’s a matter of taking several shots and then selecting the best result. But in general, you should do better getting off the A and P modes on your Digital Camera.

The first picture above was zoomed, the two underneath work with depth of field.

Create Focus by Post-Editing

The result is better but not satisfactory: more focus can be added, first by taking better shots (you have to become a better photographer …) or by creating focus when post-editing. There is nothing wrong with post-editing, in fact, it enables you to make up for the lack of your camera’s quality (the best excuse) or for your lack of photographic knowledge (much less flattering for you and therefore not recommended …).

Now that we have established that the Nikons,Canons, Sonys and Leicas out there are not as brilliant products as marketing lead us to believe when the sales rep pulled us over the table, we breathe better and can now look for Companies which make money out of the technical failures of the Camera Manufacturers: Adobe has set industry standards in this field and their survival depends largely on the lousy camera quality (as I said, it’s the best excuse!).

The problem with Adobe, and Photoshop in particular is it’s low tech interface which requires a compass and a world map to find your way through the forest of settings nobody can learn in one lifetime (… Hinduism is a viable option). So finally here are your choices: become a Hindu Guru or learn how to take better pictures.

We cannot take better pictures, since the camera manufacturers do a lousy job. Hinduism is a difficult option for a Steak Tartar freak.

What else is there?

Luckily there are many more photography aficionados in the same case as you (and I) and they were there before us. These smart spirits have overcome the problem by creating things called Photoshop Actions and Plug-ins, Filters and Presets for Lightroom.

These guys of whom nobody knows the names, deserve highest respect and esteem, if not a legacy like the unknown soldier. These are the heroes who make our lives easier and due to whom our religious integrity is no longer threatened by Adobe and indirectly by the negligent Camera Manufacturers.

Let’s add some Creative Blur, Zoom or Pane effects to our masterpiece. A difficult job with a low end digital camera but a piece of cake for a good PS Action!

Maserati Detail

Your imagination is the limit and you will have to decide how far you want to push the tweaking; however, you should know that in fashion photography the most outrageous morphing is stretching Cindy’s legs and worse on better parts. So, don’t be ashamed to express your dream world as do the pros (the dream being most of the time the cash in the kitty called the fruit of empathy, huh.).

Indi 1939 Marerati

By the way… instead of blurring the car you could use spinning blur on the wheels while keeping the car in focus – the feel of motion.

Narrow Framing

Namely for details, frame as close as you can to obtain the highest amount of data possible; it will make your post-editing easier. If you take a pic of a car in its natural environment, make sure that the viewer’s eye is not sidetracked by the background or other distracting or dominant items:

Maserati BW

Maserati bb

I hope these 5 tips will help to get better results. I will share with those present my PS Blur Action at tonight’s Ycademy Workshop at 8 pm London Time.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.