Photo Shoot with Matt

Photo Shoot with Chloe

Latest Wallpaper Additions

Here's an update on our downloadable wallpapers.

This image was taken at the Amari Vogue Resort, Krabi, Thailand:



This one here was taken at Bamboo Island (near Phi Phi Island), Thailand. It's an HDR image of three different exposures, and the sky color has been altered with Photoshop:



For more information on the image locations please check out our Panoramio account. There you can see the photos in Google Earth.


The last one was taken at a photo shoot with Maya, who previously worked with runway diva J. Alexander, who's also a judge for America's Next Top Model. You can view more photos of Maya in our photo portfolio.



Download these and many more wallpapers here.

Photo Shoot with Maya

Here are some pictures from the latest photo shoot with Maya. There's a great location near Ekkamai BTS station with various spots and wall colors--photographer's paradise ;)

glossyart.net Revamped

For some time already I've had the impression that our page was a little too plain and pale. That's why I changed the design to something grungy, which also fits my favorite picture of Anthony in the decayed restroom (the cigarette in his hand has now been censored).

In order to complete the revamp process, we also designed a new logo.

Oh, and in case you want to show your affection to us you can now become a fan on Facebook ;)


Mike

Better Black and White Photos with Channels

Sometimes the best things are already there, waiting to be discovered ;)

In this tutorial I will demonstrate how you can use Photoshop to extract a channel from a picture for better black and white conversion.

This is my original shot:


The first thing you have to do is open the channels window by clicking on the 'Channels' tab (next to the 'Layers' tab in the layers window or Window > Channels). As you can see, in an RGB image we have the red, green, and blue channel:


All you have to do now is choose the one you like the most (in my case I prefer the green channel) and click on it.

Next, convert the image to grayscale (Image > Mode > Grayscale), otherwise you won't be able to save it as a black-and-white image.

Finally, you might want to increase the contrast a little. You can do so by duplicating the layer (click on the 'Layers' tab or Window > Layers, right-click on the background layer > duplicate layer) and choosing the 'soft light' blending mode from the drop-down menu:


If the contrast is now too much, you can gradually decrease the opacity of the duplicated layer until you get the desired effect. My final result looks now like this:


Now it's your turn--see the world in black and white!

How to Take Great Cat Photos

Cats are known for their laziness. However, this very treat poses a great challenge for a photographer--how can you take an interesting shot of such a lazy subject? And how can you capture the cat's cuteness without making the picture look like a random snapshot? In short, how can you create something special? Let's find out.

1. First rule: Do not place the cat in the center of the image. Or positive: Place the main object off-center. Since cats are usually lazy and still objects, placing it in the center like in the example image on the left makes the picture look static and boring. (Other flaws in this image: the shadows in the cat's face are distracting. Moreover, the cat's eyes are almost closed and the background doesn't look artsy either.)
However, you can place the cat in the center if you want to accentuate symmetry.

Just to see the difference, here's a shot where the cat's head is placed off-center:





2. Make it special by capturing something special. Although it may look cute, a sleeping cat is nothing special. However, with the right surroundings, props and lighting you can make it even look mystical:





Additionally, it pays off to watch out for reflections:





3. Go down to the cat's eye level. Most cat pictures are taken from the perspective of the human eye, which looks boring. It's better to take the picture from the cat's eye level--or from the prey's perspective, as you can see here (although it's still not perfect because the cat is slightly blurry while the background is sharp):




4. Choose the right depth of field (i.e. the area that's sharp). The picture above has a wide depth of field, which means that everything from the cat to the background is sharp--but this also means that the picture includes a lot of distracting surroundings. In contrast to that, take a look at these examples of a narrow depth of field:







All these images focus solely on the cat by blurring the background and foreground, thus leaving out unnecessary distractions while including just the right amount of surroundings. You can narrow the depth of field by using a low f-stop number (i.e. open up the aperture) and/or a large zoom factor.


5. Focus on details. Similar to portraits of human beings, taking a detailed shot can spice things up, as you can see here:





6. Try black and white. Black and white colors make a photo of a kitten appear more intimate and emotive:




7. Catch the cat in action. Even the laziest cat will jump once in a while (if not, a popping balloon will help). If it does, be ready to catch the action.



Read more about action photography here (under "The Right Timing").


8. Take the photo with a special camera. This one is certainly special (and this last tip not to be taken too seriously):