Morning on the bog

Early in the morning, out on the bog, waiting for the sun to come up. It was time to start down the trail and see what the forest had in store. But not before snapping a quick photo when I got there.

The Digital Juice!

Corel Painter, My Love Hate

Corel Painter has been living on my laptop and desktop for a long time now. Every version looks so dang exciting, I just can't seem to pass each one up. Painter 10 was barely useable for me, it was a heavy system hog, Corel 11 fixed all those performance issues, and now 12 is running like gravy, and many items have been removed, some streamlined, some switched.

In all fairness, even Corel suggests that Painter would ideally compliment the use of photoshop as a digital painting tool. Indeed Corel easily opens photoshop .PSD's and appropriately keeps layers and all right where they should be.

My comfort level is in Photoshop, I will admit to constantly becoming frustrated with Painter when I can't simply pop over and find opacity, shape dynamics, rotation and flow settings for the brush I am using. The settings are there, but they are labeled differently and living in different places.The stock brushes, while very organic in feel, can become irritating beyond belief when you just want a quick alteration, like a similar, but finer stroke that flows a little less. You get pulled out of the creation flow to switch brain sides while you hunt for settings. In Photoshop this is a quick adjustment, in Painter, it's more hunting around. You also have to deal with a tool box that lists items like (pencil) (markers) (pastels) (conte) etc.

The traditional artist who has not spent hours, days, and weeks in Photoshop would probably make quick work of the learning curve of Painter. I also have a personal grumbling with the "autopaint" feature that I think some take too much advantage of.

So why even use Painter 12?

Watch a couple of Android Jones videos and you will know why. Look at some of his work, and you will be running to the nearest software joint with money in hand eagerly giving it up. As soon as you open up the software with your Wacom Tablet you think,"oh yeah, this is going to be fun!"
Indeed it is VERY fun.
Painter actually uses canvas texture, it's one of the places the software shines brightly. This can be simulated in Photoshop, but Painter has the idea of drawing on paper with a texture nailed down to a science. It was important for the Corel team to match what artists wanted and were comfortable with. This software was build with traditional artists in its' heart, while Photoshop incorporated them much later and a little more awkwardly.
When you pop open the tool bar and grab (Pencil 2B) it performs exactly as you would expect a 2B pencil to do, the same with Felt tip markers, and all other tools. The tools can actually feel so extremely organic, I find it totally affecting my lines and style as I become so completely inspired and enveloped by the look and feel of the materials I am working with.
I often forget to use layers at all when I'm in painter because it accurately conveys the feeling of actually working on the surface. You can't have layers on a real world painting canvas, so I forget I CAN in Painter. Yes, it's that good at replicating the look and feel.
Open a can of turps and spear paint on your hands if you want, but it is no longer necessary.... (although turps and linseed smel soooo good!!.....open a window)
Painter 12 also added a nice feature that Photoshop has TOTALLY missed the boat on. The mirror! You can put a line on the canvas, and what you do one one side is replicated in mirror fashion on the other side or sides. That's right, you can even Kaleidoscope it with many mirror lines. When it comes to drawing faces and what not, just the single mirrored plane is worth its' weight in GOLD!
For casual sketching I find myself in Painter frequently, becoming inspired by the strokes and lines that can be created. My refinement of images seems to come through in Photoshop.

However, I think everyone should do themselves a favor and push through the learning curve of Painter. For a digital artist, it is ideal once you learn the software.  Entire Comic book / Graphic novels are being made in Painter, not to mention gallery artists and performance artists like Android Jones.

The love / hate ends with love, but it is necessary to approach it with the idea that Painter does something different than Photoshop, it is not trying to replicate or replace it.

Haunted Maine Ghost Hunting

We got invited to join New England ghost Hunters on one of their favorite haunts as Halloween approached. We gathered up all the gear two people could muster and ran off into the night to meet some new friends. We toured Parsonsfield Seminary during a staged haunted house tour before joining the investigators for the real thing.
The team knew the building well, and showed us around and pointed out the essentials of what they do and how they approach an investigation. A few EVP sessions were had, a spirit sniffing dog "Loki" was present and we became so wrapped up in filming, and getting extended exposure photos we hardly noticed the night speeding by.
I could see Colleen's eyes light up at the combining of science and spirit. Two things that are so opposing to one another that they become similar.
The Parsonsfield Seminary, or ParSem, as it is called by the locals was founded in 1832 and has a very deep history. We pieced together the following video for Saco River community Television Channel 2, enjoy.

There was a lot of history in the old Seminary building


For those who are interested in Paranormal research, here are some tools to help get you started.

Web Work to Illustrator

When the Web Slows Down
It's time for a creative to turn his / her mind to other income generators. The face of illustration has changed drastically over the years, and adding a computer to the art box has been one of my favorite changes.
Even though everyone knows an economic slow down is the time to advertise, it is sometimes hard for clients to see through the bills to get the word out to bring clients in.
While I give them a rest and let them figure out how to put all the numbers together, I have holes in my schedule that I would love to fill with per diem and freelance illustration. Children's authors, magazine publishers, and web builders can't seem to grab the short attention span of today's audience without an image. Print ready artwork has never seen days of such ease! Direct from the artist hand into a digital format, no photos, no scanning. The artist paints in pixels that immediately jump into your workflow.
Writers and creatives lifting images off of website are running the risk of copyright infringement. Those that aren't, are running the risk of seeing their same image pop up in 20 different places for 20 different products or stories.
Lets make it work!

Photos at Night

Photos at night can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes the things I see in the preview of the camera are nothing like what loads up on screen.
The fact of the matter is, there is something just worth all the hassle because you get to play with glow sticks, fire, and light up toys.
Sometimes a great photo happens just running around with a shop light, and sometimes you just need to use nothing at all.

These stints of working without a contract, just for the heck of it are some of the greatest learning experiences a photographer has, in my humble opinion. There is no expectation, no result needed at all. Just "do stuff" make a photo, and see what happens.
When it comes out good, try to remember what you just did!

I am always looking for an opportunity to make photos just for myself and the sheer joy that comes of it.
Lloyd Metcalf

Getting photos done on a budget

Getting photos of events, people and places where you might want a photographer can be cheaper than you think, and actually worth more than you might think.

For someone like myself, who makes photo only a part of what I do, it still maintains a sort of "hobby" status for me, even though I work at it semi-professionally (depending on your definition of pro).

I have even been known to work for trade of services or items on occasion just to keep the shutter snapping and to keep my eye fresh.

Why have a photographer?

Would be the question that comes to many peoples mind when they have cameras on their smart phones that are taking 8 or more megapixel images and doing more and more tricks. The fact of the matter is, there is a difference between simply snapping a photo and having a photographer actively with you and seeking out those "special moments" of whatever activity it is you are doing. Having someone available with specific DSLR settings, focal lengths, and lenses to capture images, while you are in the images, or activity.

A little piece of me wonders if people really realize how much of their lives they are missing when I see concerts  or fireworks and it is just a sea of hands holding up smartphones. People are experiencing the world, through their devices. They are watching a concert, through their phone. They are no longer watching the show, or enjoying the music because they are trying to capture something on their phone.

Set the phone down, be in life, and let a photographer capture the special moments.

A picture is worth a thousand... dollars

Many times listing items for sale require not only to get the photo of the items in the best way, but in the worst way. Details need to be photographed, and sometimes that includes the dings and scratches. Things that not only show the quality of the items for sale, but your integrity by also listing what may be wrong.

Product photography can be the difference between a few sales, and many sales when it comes to online listing. Grabbing quick snapshots with your phone or a cheap camera could mean cutting your own sales short. It could also mean lost future customers if they are not receiving what they expected.

So get in touch, maybe there is a truly affordable solution that can be worked out so I can keep my cameras warm, and you can have the prints you want to share and cherish, or use to make your fortune.

Photo Update

Making Photos
Since the last blog update, the camera gear has been updated, and and lovely new smugmug account where many of the new photos can be perused, purchased and prints ordered.
LMetcalf SmugMug Page
On the page you can find a number of locations around Maine, Gothquaboggan outing, heck even a wedding!