Subsequent to a comment on my facebook, here are more Astir Beach Mist images from sunny Vouliagmeni:
Astir Beach Mist 3
Astir Beach Mist 4
Astir Beach Mist 5
Enjoy!
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Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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Touch up your Photos with a few clicks and transform the Astir Beach Vouliagmeni image to what I like to call now Astir Beach Mist.
Astir Beach Mist
To get to this result, 3 filters or actions have been used in Photoshop CS4.
Starting with the original image of an Astir Beach Sunset, the kaleidoscope filter by Mehdi was doing the trick to mirror and flip the image.
Astir Beach Vouliagmeni
The Kaleidoscope filter produces the following image, which needs to be cleaned with Wire Worm on 4 spots where the Kaleidoscope filter produced stains:
Astir Beach Clean
Astir Beach Clean Image
To finish the Image, we just add a simple frame using the Angels Glass Action:
Astir Beach Framed Image
This results then in the surprising image as shown on top.
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Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
Bookcovers always fascinated me… especially with my past experience with large Publishing Houses in Germany for which I did the Graphic Design for Books – meaning the entire layout, often the illustrations and absolutely everything inside … except the book cover.
The fact was that they had contracts with companies that specialized entirely in book covers… and here the only criteria was the Marketing aspect: brief… to sell the book, tons of them!
Obviously, the Internet with its avalanche of ebooks and fantastic professional graphic programs like Adobe Photoshop have drastically changed the arena and the good news is that with this change came a certain form of independence and a shift in responsibility. You no longer have to wait … if you are ready and determined, it’s now in your own hands to not only write and publish but to also create Bookcovers for your Own Books or to find someone who does it for you at an affordable price!
With Imagination, the right basic material in form of digital photos or some good web graphics, plus Photoshop and finally the right Action Script, you can do wonders in creating Bookcovers for your Own Books today, and this with a few mouse-clicks… yes, this took hard work in the past and the results weren’t always convincing, especially if this wasn’t your main area of interest.
I was inspired by the idea of going totally minimalistic and prooving that could be done with just ONE PICTURE!
'Besma Goes West' by Bianca Gubalke - 2009
Starting off with the above Digital Artwork I published just as she left the “old world”, I created the above Book Cover for our friend Besma Bashier today.
Today, Besma has finally happily settled in the USA and will – sooner or later – share her experience as an emigrant and her wise and caring guidance for others following the same route, in her own ebook. Where there is a bookcover there is – at least there could be! – an ebook!
Besma will be joining our next Ycademy Business Building Seminar at the end of this month and we are all looking forward to having her back with us again!
I am happy to announce that finally I will add the creation of Bookcovers to WP Best eShop. Any topic or theme is welcome!
It seems the offline-online circle closes . . . and I can go to the Beach!
Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.
Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
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Today just some artistic warping of an Astir Beach (Vouliagmeni) photo. Note the impressive effects on some of them and enjoy.
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Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
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You can make your pictures look great and much more personal by applying Basic Filters in Photoshop.
Yes, there are countless exciting and sometimes mind-blowing filter plugins out there, but it helps to first play around and experiment with what you already have on your Adobe Photoshop CS4; your visual observations and conclusions are then part of the experience that will help you decide very rapidly which filter you want to apply for which effect… and how strong… to which digital image or photo.
In our exercise here, I used a basic digital photo I took at Christmas: a chorus of little angels on a light sheet of silver organza on my dinner table under the golden light of the setting sun … It’s a bit nostalgic as my mom used to always put them out with a lot of love… in those happy days of my childhood…
This is the original photo – it is totally untouched, however, I added a frame with one of the Photoshop filters and I forgot to take out the text… however, loading a big picture – 1000 px wide in this case – takes me just too long with the slow connections down here in the sticks. Accordingly, I will cut down the size of the pictures that follow.
CLICK PICTURES to get them bigger in the overlay.
Now let’s look how the above picture can be manipulated and changed when applying basic filters in Photoshop – Adobe Photoshop CS4 in my case.
I would recommend you go to your Photoshop, pull in a picture you like, click “duplicate layer” to save the original background that you never touch… and then just play around as I demonstrate here with some of many many examples. Make sure you always add a new layer for each new manipulation, and if you are starting out, simply mark that layer with the filter you used, so you know until it’s under your skin.
Do this exercise so you can participate in the Photoshop Filter Challenge … read on!
I just get you going here so you can discover what appeals to YOU. It’s part of the creative process. We all have our own taste and style – you need to find your’s. But to find it and refine it it needs exercising… just as a piano player knows the keys and does his daily exercise routine – it’s no different with a magnificent instrument like… Photoshop!
The “Accented Edges” on the picture above were done with a basic Photoshop Filter. It’s just a matter of adjusting and finetuning. It’s the exact same process with everything you do. There are then smart Action Scripts that take the time and the guesswork out of the process, however, all this is already in your Photoshop Basic Filters… just hidden and ready to be discovered!
On a sidenote: just imagine… those grand painters… the Masters – they did and still do the most extraordinary Artwork without artificial filters! Go to a museum or Art Gallery and study them – there’s a lot to learn – even for exactly what we are doing here!
In fact, I will do a series on it… time permitting!
I loaded some of the picture manipulations with Photoshop Basic Filters in a Slideshow for you – some stunning effects! There are more…
Yes, there are many more filter plugins and can’t one lose oneself in kaleidoscopes? I couldn’t stop myself from adding that as the final picture; it’s an extra filter everyone following the Photoshop Ycademy Workshops has.
If you are interested to develop your skills in Web Graphic Design, I recommend Photoshop Ycademy Workshops and Seminars!
Bottom-line: for our job assignments, we need to know our tools so we can implement them in tiny dosages for specific effects – hardly noticeable… but just giving an image that special edge that makes it stand out from the rest.
This is especially important in a world of ‘perfect digital photos’ – that’s our undisputable reality today. But it’s those ‘imperfections’, those special personal notes beyond the norm and average ‘perfection’ that make good pictures excellent… just as a perfect face is far from being a beautiful face. Interesting isn’t it…
Now here’s a bit of chocolate and challenge for your exercises with Basic Photoshop Filters:
Watch the Slideshow carefully and give me the applied filter effects in the right order – and you get a super prize! There’s always just one effect applied to each picture (10/12), so no guesswork here. It’s basics… of course I work with much more… normally.
No, I won’t tell you what you get… but it will be a Surprise, it will be Personalized and it will be for your Blog!
Now how’s that?
Who’s on the go????
| Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription. |
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Affordable DVD Packaging can develop into a profitable Small Business that can easily be managed from home. Just get started. . .
Either you wrap up your own creations – maybe digital photos you have taken from your favorite topics or some family pictures that you want to share with others – or, if you’re fit on Photoshop and smart by using some spiffy and time-saving Action Scripts as we teach in Photoshop Ycademy Workshops – why not offer your skills as a professional service.
If you look at “Affordable DVD Packaging” as a Home Business, there are many possibilities… actually, the more you look the more you find!
Imagine a group of young musicians who invested their hard earned cash into recording their first CD… now they need some good commercial packaging, now they need YOU! It could be a give and take in the beginning, as you too need to find your style and become better… but that’s a fantastic and exciting opportunity to get started and – in a way – get published in the music world. If what you do appeals, there will be more clients… and that’s how business grows.
Imagine a young model in the fashion world who wants to package her presentation book in form of a DVD that can easily be sent to agencies and photographers… what a great opportunity… and for sure GOOD IMAGES to start with!
There are many applications once you start looking and really think about it… and besides, you can develop your own style and expand into other fields while being paid for it.
Unique and Affordable Packaging for CD, DVD, Ebooks and more will soon be available in my SHOP.
Writing and publishing blog posts is one thing, however, we need to monitor what our articles are doing and if and where they reach Google Top 10 positions.
As we see on the screenshot, the keyword phrase “Affordable DVD Packaging” has not too many search returns however many ads – which is indicative. We reached our target very fast with 3/10 positions on Google Top 10 – in this case with yesterday’s article, which was carried up by sites of our Semiomantics Publishing Network.
Let’s see what my second shot at that target will achieve! These days, the Formula 1 takes place on the Internet highway and I’m driving a Semiomantics XO – what’s YOUR vehicle?
For more information please go to Web Design Consulting and get top rankings fast too!
| Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription. |
In today’s madly media oriented virtual world it’s important to integrate good quality pictures and images into our Websites and Blogs, ideally based on our own digital photography and/or Graphic Artwork.
Within that context and with improving Internet streaming and connectivities even down here in the sticks in South Africa, the ‘packaging’ of anything we present gains in importance. Just as in the ‘real’ world… the ‘look’ is what counts most. This means that we as Web Designers and Graphic Artists have to adapt our skills to be Presenting Web Design Graphics in a professional and appealing way.
Presenting Web Design Graphics can be done the long and more elaborate way – depending obviously on the effect you wish to achieve as some are really just done in a few mouse clicks if you know the brilliant tools in your Adobe Photoshop CS4 – but for those who want to present their photos and images in a clean and pleasant manner without having to dig through complex Photoshop Tutorials, there is a smart way saving lots of time: Actions or Action Scripts.
Well, it’s what today’s Pro’s use anyway… as time is money and why reinvent the wheel?
In my Photoshop Series on “How to Create a Reflection” in September 2009, I introduced you to the more complex route – although this one was easy enough.
In the above example I simply used an Action Script to create a Reflection. This example is a simple one and I would say I personally would do it just as fast the ‘normal’ route, however, when it comes to automating hundreds of steps for items we don’t necessarily do every single day… WOW! this is just Magic!
One point I want to emphasize though: we always need good material to work with – sharp big photos, good quality images. It’s jsut a rule and not to be disputed.
In yesterday’s Photoshop Ycademy Workshops we looked into additional Action Scripts and did some .
One important point to remember was to not change the image size until at the end. Don’t even try this! I did… and had a beautiful product at the end of Step 1 – however, there was no way to render it!
Why did this happen?
I had a specific picture in mind, however, as the Artwork I wanted to integrate – Dali Through My Eyes – was of much smaller size than what was dictated by the Action Script, I just decreased its size so I had a perfect fit! Well, so thought I !!!
But that made the rendering via the Action Script impossible and, seeing that I cannot enlargen my original Artwork without losing pixels and quality, I have to abandon the idea alltogether. Yeah… any Actions Pro may have a laugh here… but this is part of the learning curve and we will get there!
Of course, I could do it in the ‘old’ way – however… as we approach different markets now – including Printing – , we need BIG pictures of HIGH quality. It requires a different way of thinking and planning… and it’s very exciting!
For the time being, I tested another Action in terms of a Cast Shadow on that well intended DVD Cover… and, of course… that attractive reflection :)
In tonight’s Photoshop Ycademy Workshop we will look into ways of dealing with Portraits and Landscapes – so look into your image folders and have some good, big pictures ready to be ‘manipulated’ for better presentation within your websites and blogs.
And to answer your question: YES! I am and have always been a fan of that great Surrealist painter… Salvadore Dali!
| Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription. |
| Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription. |
"Improvisation Dali" by Bianca Gubalke
| Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription. |
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WP Best eShop is the brand-new Online Store featuring exclusive Bianca Gubalke Products and Personalized Web Design & Publishing Services.
WP Best eShop is built on a Semiomantics Script and currently under web development, following the almost completed setup of our new Bianca Gubalke Consulting Blog.
We will be announcing when WP Best eShop is ready and available to the public. Meanwhile, you are welcome to get in touch with me via the Contact Form on http://biancagubalke.com .
Keep an eye on our developments with WP Best eShop and contact me here or at Web Design Consulting whenever there’s something specific you might be interested in!
| Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription. |
This page is wiki editable click here to edit this page.
