The Graphic Mac

Rolling hills and vales, enchanting areas of woodland, rugged shorelines and a dappled spring meadow can all become the most obvious of subjects for the landscape shooter, often yielding strongly emotive and awe-inspiring results.

Shooting landscapes is all about the setup (a little HDR treatment works sometimes, too!)

The recipe for success however is less obvious. Unless of course you read this great article at Digital Photography School on photographing the perfect landscape.

Enter the era of affordable stock, and user-contributed photo sites. With digital camera prices reaching all-time lows, and the quality more than adequate, the average person can provide some very good shots. There are now hundreds of sites on the web that offer fantastic photography for little to no cost.

Some fantastic sites for affordable photography

I’ve put together a brief list of some of my favorites below, check them all out. READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE.

Alien Skin Software, one of my favorite Photoshop plug-in vendors, has released Exposure 3, the newest version of their photography effects plug-in. With this latest version, Exposure grows beyond just film simulation, and dives into being a creativity tool with the addition of Lo-Fi and vintage effects for your images.

Exposure brings all of the creative tools of film photography to the world of digital, such as discontinued films, dark room tricks, and lo-fi camera quirks. New in version 3 are vintage looks like Technicolor movie film and old Kodachrome that are distressed with dust, scratches, and vignettes to complete the illusion of age. Lo-Fi cameras like Holga and Lomo are simulated with lens blur, warped vignettes, and funky colors from cross processing.

Exposure 3's infrared simulation provides an ethereal glow

The most significant new features in Exposure 3 are:

• 64-bit support for Photoshop CS5 on both Macintosh and Windows
• Tight Lightroom® integration that does not require Photoshop
• Aging effects and vintage films such as Technicolor and old Kodachrome
• Simulation of Lo-Fi toy camera photography
• Hundreds of new settings in all categories, including more films, color toning, and aging
• User interface improvements such as a much faster preview and hover help

Exposure 3's Lo-Fi toy camera effects have been greatly expanded

Exposure 3 sells for $249. Owners of any version of Exposure may upgrade for $99. Online or physical delivery is available through the Alien Skin website. Free upgrades will be automatically sent to purchasers of Exposure 2 who purchased in April 2010 or later. Exposure 3 works with Photoshop CS3 or later, Lightroom 2 or later, and Photoshop Elements 7 or later.

If you have the need for them, you’re more than welcome to use these high-resolution photos of the most spectacular ice cream sundae I’ve ever had in my life in any way you see fit. If you use it on a website, I would love a credit link back to the Flickr page. I received several email requests for the image after it appeared in my design inspiration post last week.

Click image to go to download page - choose Original Size

Click image to go to download page - choose Original Size

Click image to go to download page - choose Original Size

The images are released under the Creative Commons Attribution license, and the original size download is approximately 3264 x 2448 pixels – plenty large enough for commercial printing.

On a recent vacation with my wife, I snapped nearly 1,000 photos – most of which will be of absolutely no interest to you whatsoever. But I did manage to (for some strange reason) collect 46 photos of signs in San Francisco, as well as a few from Alcatraz island.

46 random signs in San Francisco - for no apparent reason

Feel free to download and use these images in your work if you have a use for them. If you use them on the Web I would appreciate a link back to this article, but it isn’t a requirement.

All the images are stored on Flickr, and are approximately 3,400 x 2,300 pixels at 72dpi (approximately 11.5 x 7.5 inches at 300dpi), so they’ll work for commercial print if you so desire. Just click the photo you wish to download, then click the “All Sizes” button above the photo to choose the size image you want.

A few years ago I wrote a brief article explaining how to use Flickr images for free in your design work via the Create Commons License search feature on Flickr.

While I touched on the basics of Creative Commons licensing, I didn’t really go into any great detail. In this day and age, everyone has a digital camera – and everyone is sharing their photos. Without getting into the whole “you get what you pay for” argument, many designers are finding that not only is hiring a professional photographer not necessary for much of their work, but even using stock photography sites is less of a necessity nowadays. Photos using the Creative Commons license allow for personal and/or commercial use with little restriction. Not only that, but it’s a great way to gain exposure for your photo work.

Digital Photography School has a great intro to Creative Commons Licensing for photographers that covers the basics. For more detailed information, you can read the Creative Commons FAQ. You can also get a quick description of each license here.

Pets fill very quickly their place in our hearts and families and we enjoy having their pictures framed on our desk or wall! However taking pictures of your best friend is not always easy. Pets, unlike humans, do not understand what we are trying to do and won’t just pose for the camera!

Photo by José Luna @ Flickr