4th Digital Workshop – 2nd February 2010
Geoff Robinson opened this two part evening with Hints and Tips for producing a competition winning image - in this case Rust-ic Charm, the Best Print in the 2010 Exhibition. The image was of the head and shoulders of a lady superimposed onto a rust background. Geoff took us through the steps and decisions involved in the process. Rusty metal was an interesting image providing a variety of random shapes and colours, which could be augmented in Photoshop. He further illustrated the technique by showing a variety of other such combined images, many of which had produced successful results in open competitions. The basic technique involved use of various blending modes together with varying opacities. He continued by showing how to get various Sepia effects, and how to lighten parts of a picture with the various Photoshop tools. Geoff agreed to put notes about his presentation onto the WEB for members.
Martin Currie took as his subject the Publishing of one’s books of images using the software provided by BLURB on www.blurb.com. He started using this system about a year ago and was pleased to find that the software had been considerably improved over the year. He took us through the various stages involved and considered the costs. He thought these costs were quite reasonable compared with trying to do it all oneself. Apparently one can have a private book or a public book: in the latter case others can order your book, but you are allowed to state the commission you want. If no book was ordered within 15 days the book is removed from the WEB. Martin had brought along book samples for people to judge the quality. and it transpired that others (eg Tony Redford ) had also used this service to good effect.
Bill Chadband proposed a vote of thanks to the two presenters.. He thought he had mastered Photoshop six years ago, but Adobe kept adding bits, so he was still trying to catch up. Geoff’s presentation was part of Bill’s continuing to catch up. He observed that Geoff had been using the Rust background as an alternative to the blurred (or out of focus background). It was just another example of the fact that knowing the rules was not sufficient – one needed the artist’s vision to succeed, as Geoff’s continued competition success demonstrated.
The book publishing was new to Bill, but he could see the great merit in having such a coffee table book, instead of inviting friends to look at the computer screen. Bill had that very morning discovered that Jon Allanson had been producing his own books for some time, but could see the great advantage of using the Blurb.com approach to simplify the process. The audience applauded both presenters for another enjoyable and informative evening.