The Manchester Studio Pictorial

Buddy

2007-09-22T20:12:00.001Z

Manchester Central Library entrance

2007-09-19T07:20:00.000Z

Nude

2007-07-22T23:01:00.001Z

Reclining nude

Art Gallery steps

2007-04-08T10:54:00.001Z

High Riser

2007-04-08T10:32:00.000Z

Dog face

2007-04-07T17:49:00.001Z

Dog in the park

2007-04-07T17:21:00.001Z

Saw this on another site

2007-04-05T08:30:00.000Z

Very clever face painting and photography

Night boat

2007-04-03T21:20:00.000Z

Morris Traveller classic car

2007-04-03T10:47:00.000Z

Young Boxer dog

2007-03-31T19:26:00.000Z

Manchester Central Library

2007-03-31T15:24:00.000Z

Market Street

2007-03-27T06:03:00.001Z

Adobe CS3 prices leaked

2007-03-26T20:22:00.000Z

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/software/adobe-cs3-pricing-leaked-by-amazon-247017.php

Paintwork

2007-03-26T18:50:00.001Z

Unco-operative model

2007-03-26T13:38:00.000Z

Smoke without fire

2007-03-23T13:22:00.000Z

Got my new toy today - a fog machine. What a laugh! Who would have thought you could have so much fun. I can see a bubble machine being next on the list.

A must-read for artists-in-business

2007-03-21T15:17:00.000Z

http://luminous-landscape.com/columns/Artist1.shtml
An easy article that covers the mistakes we all seem to make before we find some of the right answers.

If only it were that easy

2007-03-21T06:12:00.001Z

Meg in the Park

2007-03-18T12:34:00.001Z

Photo sequences

2007-03-17T10:52:00.001Z

Are we going to see the end of the one shot sniper, to be replaced by the digital machine gunner? Judging from this thread, http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00KMXW&tag=, it seems that more and more photographers will take the easy way out and spray and pray

Dessert

2007-03-14T17:21:00.001Z

Adolescence

2007-03-12T17:05:00.000Z

A Country Dinner

2007-03-12T13:44:00.000Z

Free Lightroom presets

2007-03-09T09:18:00.000Z

onOne Software has a set of free presets available on their website - http://downloads.ononesoftware.com/photopresets/PhotoPresets-ReleaseNotes.html

Adobe Photoshop news

2007-03-08T14:19:00.000Z

http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/launchevent/
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/ps_psext_info.html

Jill Greenberg video

2007-03-08T11:34:00.001Z

Love her or hate her, she certainly knows how to get a lot of publicity - http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2007/01/jill_greenberg_2.php

An audience is always nice - isn't it?

2007-03-07T15:24:00.000Z

Photo filter actions on video

2007-03-07T15:06:00.001Z

This site - http://www.pfisterphoto-art.com/pjddrv2show/
includes a video that show some interesting filter actions applied to already good images.
It should spark a few creative ideas of how to add the finishing touches to your own work.

Model available

2007-03-07T10:09:00.000Z

Will work for food

Ning sites

2007-03-06T11:52:00.001Z

As part of maintaining a healthy web presence, I have started two rings on ning.com, one for general photography - http://manchesterphoto.ning.com/
and one for wedding planning and services - http://brides2be.ning.com

Wallflower

2007-03-05T13:09:00.000Z

Fake Colour

2007-03-04T14:58:00.001Z

Down the Centre

2007-03-04T14:57:00.000Z

Down the canal

2007-03-04T13:53:00.000Z

Sale Waterside offices

2007-03-02T16:41:00.000Z

Sale tram station

2007-03-02T15:28:00.000Z

Skyward

2007-03-02T13:51:00.000Z

Walkies

2007-03-02T13:32:00.001Z

Swinger

2007-03-02T13:15:00.000Z

Introduction to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v.1.0

2007-03-02T12:40:00.000Z

I've been working my way through the first release of Lightroom and I think I have learnt what it is all about. I've decided I like it. I don't think it is a replacement for Photoshop, especially not CS3. However, depending on the sort of photographer you are and if you spend a lot of time making the photograph right in camera or do work like stock photography that does not want a lot of post-production, you could do without Photoshop and go straight from camera to delivery in several formats by using Lightroom alone.

These are the note points I made as I found out good points and useful features about Lightroom v.1. -

Lightroom can import files direct from the card, copy, rename and make backups in different formats and in different folders and drives, all at once
It makes very strong use of presets and templates. You can make and save templates for all sorts of situations - printing, applying settings when saving, applying edits automatically on import
Since it is database driven, it can be backed up reliably and efficiently and all the settings and effects applied do not permanently affect the original image but are saved with the file
It can make virtual collections without moving files
It has a lot of ways of filtering files by keyword, settings, rating, metadata etc.It can apply metadata templates to files and you can browse and select images by metadata
You can tag (stamp) files quickly with keywords
Keyboard shortcuts are plentiful and easy to use to speed up workflow
Views are totally adjustable and interface panels can be folded up out of sight
Files can be grouped and stacked
There are several ways of viewing images together to compare them
Virtual copies of an original image can have different looks and still be used together in groups, slideshows and prints
The Print Module lets you preview different layouts interactively, zoom, change borders and stroke borders and you can print directly from Lightroom without saving the different formats
You can save and swap your own templates and modules and it has a good range of proof and work templates to start with
You can personalise the Identity Plate to brand the Interface, watermark the proofs and prints and add information to prints
Lightroom can make slideshows quickly and use soundtracks from an Itunes library. PDF slideshows are exported without sound though.
Presets can be previewed without being applied so you can swiftly cycle through the choice
You can save snapshots
You can make changes to groups and selections of images at the same time, replacing batch work
The Dust Spot Tool is re-editable by going back to it at any time and it can be used as a clone tool
You can copy and paste Develop settings between images
You can nest collections
You can nest keywords in a hierarchy
You can organise images very quickly with filters and the thumbnail icons.

I would say that Adobe have done a good job of building a replacement for Bridge and I think that most photographers will prefer to use Lightroom just because it makes the production of deliverables so quick and easy.

Butterfly wings

2007-02-27T17:34:00.001Z

Butterfly inside the window

2007-02-27T16:53:00.000Z

I see too much of this

2007-02-27T16:14:00.000Z

My monitor screen, photographed through a reversed 50mm 1.8 on extension tubes

Snowy the white cat

2007-02-26T14:18:00.000Z

Shrine to Albert

2007-02-25T18:40:00.000Z

Street lantern

2007-02-25T18:39:00.000Z

Tram stop

2007-02-25T17:53:00.000Z

Statues

2007-02-25T17:00:00.000Z

Fountain backlit

2007-02-25T16:59:00.000Z

Scaffolding

2007-02-25T16:58:00.000Z

Street photography

2007-02-25T12:20:00.000Z

Office blocks

2007-02-24T13:41:00.002Z

Backstreets

2007-02-24T13:41:00.001Z

Manchester Architecture

2007-02-24T13:39:00.000Z

Church of England

2007-02-22T09:04:00.000Z

Manchester Cathedral

Marketing 101

2007-02-21T08:33:00.000Z

Moving to a new colour space.

2007-02-20T14:49:00.001Z

After several happy years with Adobe RGB, it is time to move all my gear to a new colour space. It was a sudden decision, brought on by new information ( the release of Adobe Lightroom v.1 - http://www.adobe.com/go/trylightroom, which uses ProPhoto as the default space ) and no reason not to move quickly. From now on, I will be using the ProPhoto RGB setting for my digital photography.
You can read a good introduction to ProPhoto on the Luminous landscape website - http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/prophoto-rgb.shtml.
I never had any complaints about Adobe RGB, it was solid, reliable and trustworthy. But I have to keep up with the times and keep my options open, which makes ProPhoto the better choice for coping with and exploiting future calibration and printing advances.

Working the search engines

2007-02-19T17:29:00.000Z

It’s hard work keeping on top of several blogs and making fresh regular online content but it pays off surprisingly quickly. We have only been pushing the re-branding as The Manchester Studio online since the end of last year. Already, we have the top place and three other listings in the Top 20. The discipline of providing fresh images means that we also have a good incentive to go out and find original photographs and to present them in interesting eye-catching ways, once we get them back in the studio.

Two new important links for digital artists

2007-02-19T07:06:00.000Z

The first is John Derry's Blog - http://pixlart.blogspot.com/
The second is the website of the new free post-production magazine from the Rangefinder publishers, AfterCapture - http://www.aftercapture.com/

Stained glass window

2007-02-18T17:07:00.000Z

from a local church.

The Manchester Evening News Building

2007-02-18T09:29:00.001Z

Taking black and white out of photography

2007-02-18T08:31:00.000Z

To the Impressionists, one of the biggest insults was to say that someone used black in their palette. I think that is a major hurdle for artists to overcome when they try to transfer painting techniques to photography and digital art. We are so used to talking about black and white photography that we forget we are talking about tones not colours. How many photographers still think that they make a photograph by setting the black and white points? If we want to reflect the look of paintings, we have to think like the original artists and remove plain white and pure black from the palette.

New building in Manchester

2007-02-17T16:17:00.000Z

Can't tell how to describe it best- Art Deco or bauhaus?

Market Street

2007-02-17T11:46:00.000Z

In the style of Gustave Caillebotte

Impressionist photograph of the fountain

2007-02-16T21:46:00.000Z

The Fountain

2007-02-16T21:20:00.000Z

Off the Drawing Board

2007-02-16T18:11:00.000Z

Impressionist/ Pointillist photograph

2007-02-15T21:32:00.000Z

When the best shot of the day is unplanned

2007-02-15T08:16:00.001Z

It was one of those days yesterday. I filled up a card with architecture shots so I could practice some new techniques on line art and Lucis style illustrations. I thought I did okay but it was depressing to see that the best image was done by accident - a misfire when I pressed the wrong button. Even worse, when I tried to replicate it on purpose, my composition was worse : (

Hive City

2007-02-13T16:18:00.000Z

Upper Altrincham

2007-02-13T14:00:00.000Z

Pick of the Crop

2007-02-12T19:20:00.000Z

Architectural illustration style photograph

2007-02-12T18:28:00.000Z

Dog in dappled light

2007-02-12T16:23:00.000Z

Birches (after Birch Wood)

2007-02-12T14:50:00.000Z

Impressionist "Shady Walk"

2007-02-11T17:22:00.000Z

The new watermark for The Manchester Studio

2007-02-10T18:40:00.000Z

I wasn't happy with the script watermark we have been using. At a legible size, it was taking up the width of most images. I have redone it to resemble a Japanese wooden stamp or seal. This fits in well with the oriental style that we have adopted to finish out current range of images and is likely to be the one that we take forward to develop in the future. I have rotated the initials to make it more abstract and to compensate for the too obvious western source.

Microsoft Vista not for Adobe?

2007-02-10T06:48:00.000Z

http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=7153 Reports that a lot of our favourite creative programmes won't run well on the new version of Windows.

Our new pet squirrel

2007-02-09T15:58:00.000Z

Corel Painter X

2007-02-08T06:39:00.001Z

It's out already. They kept that quiet. What happened to product launches?

Urban Wildlife

2007-02-07T15:41:00.000Z

The poster boy for our new clothing lines

Hand-held moon photograph

2007-02-07T08:09:00.000Z

Interesting photography weather

2007-02-07T06:26:00.000Z

We are certainly getting the full range of weather this week. Earlier we had the fog, which gave me the chance to make scores of images, which I still haven't gone through. Today the moon was so close and bright, I was able to use my 70-300mm for detail shots. Tomorrow, we are promised thick snow. At least I will have all my winter shots for next year's calendars!

Feedback welcomed

2007-02-06T14:10:00.000Z

I hate working in a vacuum. Luckily I don’t work alone so there is always someone to give their opinion on what I am up to. In business, there is no point doing work just to one’s own taste. You have to work to the taste of the buyers. Note well - the buyers - not the critics, associates, family and friends. There is no room for arrogance in work either. I can take pride in what I have made but I am not above working in a particular palette to match someone’s wallpaper! BTW that reminds me of the mis-spelling of the week: “Palletable” - work made not to one’s taste but which can be shipped to the buyers by the pallet full : )

Colour combinations.

2007-02-06T13:49:00.001Z

An interesting site that keeps an eye on what other people are doing with colour - http://www.colourlovers.com/

Beacon

2007-02-06T04:10:00.002Z

Corners

2007-02-06T04:10:00.001Z

The Fog.

2007-02-05T17:09:00.000Z

What is it about fog that is so unsettling? Is it not being able to see what is just beyond reach? And what is it about green fog that is the stuff of nightmares?

The narrow path.

2007-02-05T13:39:00.000Z

Foggy night.

2007-02-05T13:12:00.000Z

The first image from the other day, out in the fog at 5 a.m.

New series of prints in colour variations.

2007-02-04T18:51:00.000Z

The Manchester Studio imagekind link.

2007-02-03T07:57:00.000Z

http://themanchesterstudio.imagekind.com/pictorial

My new gallery on imagekind.com

2007-02-03T07:49:00.000Z

I will be selling higher resolution images through there in the next few days. Just look for themanchesterstudio.

Amateur Hour.

2007-02-03T07:13:00.000Z

I might have used this cartoon before but it says a lot to me about being creative in modern times. Everyone wants to be an artist. The technology is in every home now so that each person can bring out the artist in them - whether he was there or not! It just seems that we live in an age of half-baked attempts to be whatever we want, whether we have the skill or not. Even worse, people expect it to just happen without any hard work or training or experience. I hear that DIY has been replaced by GSI (Get Someone In). The reason is clearly that people are now so busy trying to be what they aren't that all their spare time is being used up not with hobbies but trying to make their hobbies pay. The saddest thing I read this week was the tale of a new father. He really believed that he was going to be able to make a part-time hobby something to support his family by - ahem - "investing" thousands of pounds in the latest equipment.
Whatever happened to leisure time and the idea of relaxing and enjoying yourself with free time?
It isn't like being creative is fun anyway! Any "job" is just that and if there aren't bits that you hate but do anyway, you are never going to be successful enough to make a living at it.

Adobe Bridge CS3

2007-02-03T07:10:00.000Z

I continue to be impressed by the latest beta. The image importer is really smooth and is now my favourite tool for this, replacing Phase One Media Reader, which shows how good it is.

Freezing fog.

2007-02-03T06:54:00.000Z

My fingers are frozen off. The dog woke me up at 5am to go out. I noticed that it was foggy and seeing as it was the first fog of the year and since I was up anyway, I put on my coat and got my camera and went to the park to get some atmospheric shots. It was cold and dark. If the fog hangs around, I will have another go in the daylight.

The Manchester Studio at No.1 on dogpile.

2007-02-02T16:36:00.000Z

Yay! After a month of hard work putting up loads of content, The Manchester Studio website ( http://www.themanchesterstudio.co.uk ) has reached the top spot on dogpile searches.

High Rise

2007-02-02T15:11:00.000Z

Bird boxes on a tree in the park.

Larger print gallery

2007-02-02T08:47:00.000Z

You can see larger versions of my favourite photographs on my deviant gallery - http://themanchesterstudio.deviantart.com/