Finally An Update!

Wassup people!!

As you can see there has been a really long hiatus since my last update...
My reason is studies!!! *rawr*
Assignments were driving me crazy!! Not to mention my homeschool work as well!!

College Assignments + Lifepac books = Sleepless nights!

Anyway...
Here I am once again!!
Finally have the time to update...

I'll try to cram 4 months worth of photos into one post...
(in case you've forgotten... click on the "click here to read more of this post" to reveal the rest of the post)

First off...
Here are some pictures that I took using a tall transparent vase and some food coloring...

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/100 seconds @ f/4.5, ISO 500

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/100 seconds @ f/5.3, ISO 500

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/8.0, ISO 320

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/8.0, ISO 400

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 400

And now for one of the main highlights of this post...
I've bought a new toy to add on to Nikki (my D90)~

*jeng jeng jeng*

It's a Nissin Speedlite Di622 (24-105mm) flashgun!

I was deciding between this and the Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 lens...
But decided to get this instead since it would be make my indoor shots look a lot better...

Here are a few more shots of the flash gun...


And here are some miscellaneous photos that I've been taking throughout the past four months...

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/506, ISO 800

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/3.8, ISO 800

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/800 seconds @ f/4.5, ISO 100, EV +0.3

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/60 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 640

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1 second @ f/22, ISO 320

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 0.7 seconds @ f/16, ISO 320

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/50 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/4000 seconds @ f/3.5, ISO 200, EV -1.3

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/1600 seconds @ f/5.0, ISO 250

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/100 seconds @ f/22, ISO 320

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/40 seconds @ f/5.3, ISO 250

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/40 seconds @ f/4.5, ISO 250

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/2000 seconds @ f/506, ISO 100

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/100 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 200

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/50 seconds @ f/4.5, ISO 400


Here are some shots taken using the reverse lens technique...


Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/50 seconds @ f/0.0, ISO 6400

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/50 seconds @ f/0.0, ISO 6400

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/20 seconds @ f/0.0, ISO 800

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/30 seconds @ f/0.0, ISO 3200

And now more the MAIN highlight of this post~

Since April 28th, 2009...
I've been taking Nikki just about anywhere I go taking pictures non-stop...
And recently on November 24th, 2009...

I've shot my 10,000th photo~!!!!

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/50 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 400

This is a pic of what Nikki looks like now~
I feel so pro now that I have a flash gun + the battery grip! XD

That's all I have for this post though I anticipated it to be much longer...
Now to just arrange for a photography outing with my kakis~
*woots!*

Ciao people!

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Photos From A Camera (no.2)

Yesterday while waiting for my dad to come pick me up from Parkson...
I decided to work on my panning shot technique...

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/60 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 100


Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/60 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/60 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/60 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/25 seconds @ f/9, ISO 100

This is probably the best panning shot I took today~ (below)
Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/30 seconds @ f/9, ISO 100

This shot was done using a multiple exposure of two different shots...
Wasn't what I quite had in mind but it works~
Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/30 seconds @ f/9, ISO 100

The rest of the pictures here are all random shots that I took earlier yesterday...

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/30 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 640
Editing done in Photoshop CS4 and Picasa3

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/60 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/10 seconds @ f/4.2, ISO 640
Editing done in Photoshop CS4

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/10 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO 640

Nikon D90 with AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, 1/8 seconds @ f/5.3, ISO 640
Editing done in Picasa3

I've got one photoshoot with my cousin coming up...
She is going to be my model~
But I have to wait for her to come back from India first...
I still have yet to arrange a date/day for the photoshoot...
Anyone wanna join us?? =]

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Quote of the day:
"Once the amateur's naive approach and humble willingness to learn fades away, the creative spirit of good photography dies with it... Every professional should remain always in his heart an amateur..."
-Alfred Eisenstaedt-

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Jules' 10 Minute Photoshop Lesson: Selective Coloring

Yo~

Wassup people~

As per my title...
I'll be starting a series of simple Photoshop lessons that you (yes, you!) can use in editing your images...

Well...
Without further ado...
Let's start the first lesson~

*note*
Enlarge the pictures to view them if needed

Today I'll be teaching you guys how to do:

Selective Coloring

This technique will help make your subject stand out more...
This is an example what a picture will look like if the selective coloring technique is applied:

Before:
After:

Looks complicated?
To be honest it's not actually...
In fact it's quite simple...
Just follow these simple steps and you should be able to do it:

1. Open your Photoshop CS3/CS4 or any other version of Photoshop.
(I'm using CS4)

2. Open your image file. (Don't need me to teach you how to open your image file right?)

3. Choose a subject that you wish to have its colors remain while the rest are in black and white. In this case mine would be the beer bottle and the cup.

4. Zoom in to an area of choice to make outlining the subject of choice easier. Hold 'Ctrl+Space Bar' and left click (hold it down as well), then drag the mouse til you see a box. (as pictured below)

5. Select the 'PEN' tool. This can be found on the toolbar on the left of the Photoshop window or you can just press 'P' on your keyboard. Also make sure that the 'Pen' tool has been selected to 'Paths' mode. (pictured below, marked by red circle)

6. Select a starting point where you want to start from by left clicking your mouse. A small square box should appear (as pictured below, marked by red circle). You will need to do this in order to select the subject.

7. Left click (don't let go of it) on a next point and drag the mouse around to get a curved line. Just left clicking alone will result in a straight line. The reason why we want to do curved lines is so that the final result won't appear rough around the corners/curved areas. Keep dragging the mouse around until you are satisfied with the outlining. (pictured below)

*note*
Read step 8 before proceeding to outline the whole subject.


8. Press and hold 'Alt' and click on the middle box. (as pictured below, marked by red circle)

Before middle box is clicked on:
After middle box is clicked:

9. Repeat step 6 and 7 until the desired subject is fully outlined. The way to tell if your subject has been fully outlined is that there are no more square boxes remaining. To fully outline your subject, just click back on the starting point where you started the outline. Make a curved line if necessary. (pictured below)

Not fully outlined subject:Fully outlined subject:
10. Right click on any part of the image and click on 'Make selection...'

11. A small window should appear on your screen now. Just change the settings (if required) to the same as the picture below and click 'Ok'.

12. Next, click on the 'Select' tab (found on the top of the Photoshop window) and click on 'Inverse' or you can just press and hold 'Shift+Ctrl+I' for the short cut.

13. Next, click on the 'Image' tab (found on the top of the Photoshop window), select 'Adjustments', and click on 'Black & White...' or press and hold 'Alt+Ctrl+Shift+B' for the shortcut. A window should appear for you to adjust as to how black or white a color should be. For me I like to use the 'Maximum Black' setting so that the subject stands out more. When you are done just click 'Ok'. (pictured below)

Window for custom black and white editing:
14. You are finished and ready to save your file~
(don't need me to teach you how to save a file right!)


Here are some examples as to when to use the selective coloring technique:

1. Distracting background

Before:
After:

Before:After:
2. Bringing the focus on to a certain subject

Before:
After:

Before:

After:

3. Pictures with colorful characters in it

Before:

After:
.................................................................................................................

There we go~
Pretty simple wasn't it?
Leave a comment if you don't understand anything...

There is another way to do this actually...
Read about it here...

That's all for today folks~
Til next time~

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Quote of the day:
"Experience is the best teacher of all... And for that, there are no guarantees that one will become an artist... Only the journey matters..."
-Harry Callahan-

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