glossyart.com - blog

Got Some Questions for the PAD

2008-09-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

When you talk to the people who besiege the government house in Bangkok you hear a lot of interesting things. I want to share some of them with you and ask some questions.

My first question is, how can the PAD, a lobby, not even a party, think they have the right to take politics in their own hands the way they do? They did not question the election in 2007, and now they fight against Samak with road blocks, government house, TV station and airport raids, thus harming not only the economy (scaring away foreign investors and tourists) but also the unity of the Thai people. As far as I know, the definition of democracy is that the majority of people decide what's happening (and when I talk about people I mean all Thai people, not just the Bangkok population). It does not imply that if a minority of people is not satisfied with the government they have the right to throw them out with measures that are far from the political stage. As I pointed out in a blog entry earlier, its behavior leads to the conclusion that PAD is actually an acronym for People Against Democracy. Now I add: The PAD is on a huge and irresponsible ego-trip, not thinking about the consequences of their actions.

The PAD's goal is actually noble. "We want to root out corruption entirely, and not just get rid of Samak but of all corrupt politicians" is what one protester told me. Good idea, and good luck. My question to the PAD is: But who would you put in charge then? And what exactly is your plan?

One man told me that the pro-government protesters got 1,500 Baht to come to the rally at Sanam Luang. I'm wondering if there's any difference to the PAD giving food, water, and ice away for free at the government house compound.

A retired navy officer told me that it costs the PAD between two and three million Baht (around USD 60,000-90,000 or EUR 40,000-60,000) to keep things going. But who's paying for the supplies? It appears that one key financier is the CEO of TPI POLENE, Prachai Leophairatana, who, according to insider information, donated 250 million Baht to the PAD about two weeks ago. But did he do that to save democracy, root out corruption, or for some other noble reason? Of course not. It's all about personal gain. During Thaksin's rule he lost major parts of his company TPI. Now he only owns the concrete branch--but with Thaksin/Samak's party being cut off and Prachai-friendly people in power there would be a real chance to get his whole company back (by the way, that was also the reason why he enstablished his own party just before the election in 2007).

Another thing that makes me worried is this: The PAD says they want to protest peacefully. Indeed, if you want to enter the government building compound, your bags are searched for weapons. But how come there are people running around with golf clubs? How come roads are blocked with tires?

However, what's even worse is the fact that the government is not really better. No clear line on both sides can't be good for Thailand.

Copyright FAQ

2008-09-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

Please note: This article is based on U.S. copyright law. If you upload pictures to U.S.-based websites such as deviantART, flickr, myspace etc. this law applies to you, even if you do not live in the United States.

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>> FIRST OF ALL: IS THERE AN EASY RULE HOW I CAN MAKE SURE THAT I DON’T GET INTO TROUBLE BECAUSE OF THE COPYRIGHT?

Yes! Be original and create everything yourself. And if you use stock material or material that is free for use, always cite the source where you got the material from. If possible, provide a direct link to the material (such as stock images or brushes), not just top-level domains. It’s just like writing a paper where you have to cite your sources in detail, too. Then you should be safe.

>> OK, BEFORE I READ WHAT IS FORBIDDEN—WHAT IS ACTUALLY ALLOWED?

Basically, a lot of things are allowed if you keep them private. For example, you can download any picture you want from the Internet and play around with it, alter it, practice manipulating and drawing techniques with it, copy it and so on—as long as you do it for your personal and private use only. However, it's a whole different matter if you go public and publish the original or modified picture on the Internet. If the material you copied from the net is not free to use, you will get into trouble because of copyright infringement. “Going public” refers to everything that is done outside your home (or hard disk!).

You can, however, copy and manipulate material for public use if you got them from the public domain such as a stock photo site or if the material is really declared as free to use. BUT: Always make sure that you read the copyright notices of those websites because you can only use their material if you comply with their terms and conditions. It may be that they offer their material for non-commercial use only or that you may only use the material if you do not manipulate it, for example.

>> WHAT CAN ACTUALLY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?

“Copyright protects ‘original works of authorship’ that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device” (copyright.gov). This means that any material including pictures stored on a hard disk, CD, film etc. is protected immediately after creation. A special choreography, for example, is not protected until being filmed, for example. Other things that cannot be protected are “themes, ideas, most titles, names, catch-phrases and other short-word combinations of no real substance“ (CIPO).

>> WHEN IS MY WORK PROTECTED? DO I HAVE TO REGISTER SOMEWHERE TO PROTECT MY WORK?

No. As soon as you have created a piece, you're the owner of it and thus the owner of the copyright. In over 140 countries of the world it is not necessary to register your work in order to assert the copyright. “The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright“ (copyright.gov). Note that it depends on your country how the copyright is handled.

>> DO I HAVE TO ADD A CERTAIN SIGNATURE WHATSOEVER TO MY PICTURES TO SHOW THAT I'M THE OWNER OF THE COPYRIGHT?

In most countries, no. Usually, it’s not necessary to add a formal signature whatsoever to your pictures. However, it is recommended that you clearly show your ownership, for example by adding a (c) followed by your name and the date in a corner of your picture.
The U.S. Copyright Office: “A copyright notice is an identifier placed on copies of the work to inform the world of copyright ownership that generally consists of the symbol or word ‘copyright (or copr.),’ the name of the copyright owner, and the year of first publication, e.g., ©2003 John Doe. While use of a copyright notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection, it is now optional.”

>> PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DOMAIN WTF—ISN’T THE INTERNET A PUBLIC DOMAIN WHICH MEANS I CAN COPY ANY PICTURE I WANT?

No. If you leave the front door open, people are still not allowed to steal anything from inside your house even if they could access it easily, right? The same applies to the Internet: even if billions of people can access the Internet, the material it contains is not automatically placed in public domain. Public domain means that the material is everyone’s property. “Material found on the web may be copied freely only if the information is created by the federal government, if the copyright has expired or the copyright has been abandoned by the holder” (whatiscopyright.org). Read the copyright notices of the websites where you want to copy the picture from to make sure that you are really allowed to use it for publishing at another public website such as deviantART.com.

>> SO I CAN’T USE THE PICTURES FROM A PICTURE SEARCH ENGINE?

Right. Although picture search engines are really convenient, you are most likely to violate the copyright when you take material from them because all they do is link to other peoples’ websites and thus other peoples’ property.

>> IF I GET THE PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR TO USE HIS/HER WORK, CAN I THEN CLAIM THE COPYRIGHT FOR THIS MATERIAL?

No. The permission to use material provided by others does not make you the owner of it. Still, you have to cite the original source or the author’s name and give proper credits. Make sure you tell the public that the material you used is owned by someone else. In fact, “if you failed to properly protect someone else’s work that you are using and it turns out that someone else swiped it due to your misuse or negligence you may be subjecting yourself to a claim” (whatiscopyright.org). So, you can only claim the copyright for material that you really created yourself. For example, you take a photo and add some brushwork with brushes you downloaded from someone’s personal website. You can then add a “© 2006 Your Name” because you created the photo but you also have to add a “Brushes © Other Name” because you did not create the brushes.

>> TALKING ABOUT BRUSHES AND OTHER DOWNLOADABLES THAT ARE PROVIDED ON SOME PERSONAL WEBSITES: ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS? AFTER ALL, THE STUFF IS CLEARLY PROVIDED FOR FREE DOWNLOAD.

Depends. You should refer to the copyright notices and terms and conditions of the website you downloaded the material from. For example, you may use Photoshop brushes provided at an artist’s personal portfolio website but frequently the creators of the brushes demand that you give them the credits for their material. Otherwise you are not allowed to use them in public. For commercial use, you often have to pay a fee. So even if you may download material from a website, make sure that you comply with the conditions of using it later.

>> IF I MANIPULATE THE PICTURE OF SOMEONE ELSE SO THAT IT CHANGES COMPLETELY, DO I THEN HAVE THE COPYRIGHT FOR THIS PICTURE, WHICH IS MY WORK AFTER ALL?

No. You've already violated the copyright by copying the original picture, and by changing it you've violated the copyright one more time. Additionally, the new picture is not completely your work--obviously, the copied picture was your basis. And if you claim the new picture to be your own, you violate the copyright again, because you steal someone else's property.

In any case, if you want to use someone else's work which is protected by the copyright, you should ask the owner of the copyright for a written permission to use his work.

It's completely different with stock pictures or pictures which are explicitly marked as "free for use". Then manipulating etc. is legal, but make sure they are really free.

>>IS IT ALLOWED TO PUBLISH A DRAWING OR PAINTING WHEN ANOTHER ARTWORK HAS BEEN USED AS REFERENCE?

Similar to fan art, it depends if you use a copyrighted image as a reference. If you do, you may not publish your drawing in public. If you used a stock picture (i.e. a picture that is public domain) or a picture that you have taken yourself (i.e. you have the copyright), you can do whatever you want with your painting. Again, even if the reference picture is not your property, asking the author of the original work can enable you to use it in public if the author gives you permission. However, in such cases you still have to cite the source and give proper credits.

>> IS IT AT LEAST ALLOWED TO COPY A SMALL PART OF A PICTURE--FOR EXAMPLE THE SKY OR A TREE?

In most countries, copying small parts of images does not violate the copyright. However, since you chose this small part and consider it special, someone could indeed sue you for copyright infringement. If you want to be on the safe side, choose a free source.

>> WHAT ABOUT TAKING A PICTURE OF A MCDONALD'S SIGN--AM I VIOLATING THE LAW THERE?

Theoretically, yes. Logos and unique shapes are protected by the copyright, including that McDonald's sign, cars like a Rolls Royce, the French TGV, certain toys, Disney dolls and even the cypress on Pebble Beach or the Eiffel Tower (taken at night when its lights are on). If you then publish the picture or sell it (i.e. exploit it commercially), you're most likely to violate the law. If you want to take pictures of this kind of objects, you should at least be familiar with the laws of your country. Ask an expert.

>>DO I HAVE TO CONSIDER ANYTHING WHEN SUBMITTING FAN ART?

Indeed. Signature creation and fan art are probably the most common kinds of art that don't care about the copyright at all--simply because people believe that if everyone does it, it must be legal. However, this is wrong. Fan art by definition violates the copyright because it uses copyrighted characters as models. You may do some fan art for practice at home, for example, but as soon as you want to publish it in public, you violate the copyright. If you really want to publish your work, make sure that you have the explicit permission of the author of the characters that your work is based on. If you get the permission, you still cannot claim the characters to be your property because getting the permission to use material doesn't make you the owner of it. Therefore, you have to credit the original artist or cite the source. If you do not have the permission to use the copyrighted characters, you may not publish your picture in the Internet, sell it, enter a contest with it, or use it for any other purpose in public. Read more about this issue here.

>> WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT PICTURES. WHAT ABOUT JOURNALS AND THEIR HEADERS/OTHER GRAPHICS/CSS CODES?

Similar to using material for your picture, you must not use protected works for your profile site either. This includes protected codes as well as graphics. But of course, the page design and the graphics you created are copyrighted, too. If you want to use parts of other people's profile pages that they created themselves you have to get their permission first.

>> OK, BUT DIGITAL DATA IS TOO INSECURE AND CAN BE COPIED TOO EASILY. I REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT MY WORK IS PROTECTED.

It’s true that digital data can be copied easily, and in fact, if you have to people with the same picture it’s really hard to prove who the real creator of the picture is. Time is the key here—so who publishes the work first is also the owner of the copyright. If you think that image metadata is too insecure (after all, metadata can easily changed with a hex editor), you can burn your work on a CD, put it in an envelope, seal it and send it to yourself by postal mail. Thus, you have an official timestamp on a tangible form of your work and can prove you’re really the one who created the piece first.

Or you do it the safe way, as the Canadian Copyright Office suggests: “Since you obtain copyright automatically, you are automatically protected by law. However, it is still a good idea to register your copyright and to indicate notice of copyright on your works“ and „registration gives you a certificate that states you are the copyright owner. You can use this certificate in court to establish ownership. (The onus is on your opponent to prove that you do not own the copyright.)“ So if you really want to be safe, you can register your work at the copyright authority of your country.

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>> CAN I ASSERT THE COPYRIGHT FOR IMAGES PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNET?

Not directly, because you cannot check who has access to your website. In any case, read the policies of the webspace provider if you use free webspace, because it could be that you accept giving the copyright away.

>> CAN I BE PUNISHED IF I UPLOAD PICTURES ON THE WEB?

Yes. If your pictures violate the laws--because they're pornographic, for example--and you're bound to these laws (by submitting a picture at devaiantART, you’re bound to the laws of the U.S.), you can be sentenced. At least, the webspace provider can remove the pictures.

>> WHAT ARE ROYALTY-FREE IMAGES?

If you want to use royalty-free images, you pay a fee once and then you can use the pictures for your own--even commercial--purposes.

>> AND WHAT ABOUT STOCK IMAGES?

Stock pictures are usually free for private use. You can download them and do whatever you like with them. If you want to use stock images commercially, you frequently have to pay a fee. In any case, refer to the terms and conditions of the stock image website to check if there are any restrictions for using the stock.

>> IN THIS ARTICLE YOU QUOTED EXTERNAL SOURCES. SO YOU VIOLATED THE COPYRIGHT, RIGHT?

Not necessarily. The answer gives another quote: “The Copyright Act provides that any ’fair dealing’ with a work for purposes of private study or research, or for criticism, review or news reporting is not infringement. However, in the case of criticism, review, or news reporting, the user is required to give the source and the author’s, performer’s, sound recording maker’s or broadcaster’s name, if known“ (CIPO).

Sources and Further Information:

Canadian Intellectual Property Office: [link]

U.S. Copyright Office: [link]

What Is Copyright: [link]

Too Late for Thailand?

2008-08-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

People are camping in front of the government building, TV stations are stormed, airports are closed. What's happening in Thailand right now is pure chaos, and nobody knows what will happen next. But it reveals that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is anything but a strong leader, mainly because his hands are tied because of his very own past.

First of all, after the coup d'etat in September 2006 an election was held one year later. Samak won and became prime minister. This is called democracy, and nobody ever questioned the election. But Samak doesn't act as a strong leader or even as a prime minister who had been elected by the majority of Thais. If he would, he would have taken measures against the PAD (People's Allicance for Democracy) rally right from the start.

Since I'm a German citizen I always compare the situation in Thailand with Germany. If a group of people started a demonstration without permission by blocking roads in Berlin for several days the government would not think twice. The police would disperse the crowd (with water cannons, if necessary), and arrest the leaders of the group. After all, national security is at stake.

Now if Samak had done the same in Bangkok he would have prevented a lot of trouble. Of course, for a couple of days there would have been a clash between the protesters and the police, and maybe some people would have been injured. But Samak would have avoided the unpleasant situation the country is in now. The equation is as follows:

A couple of protesters and policemen injured (if any)
The PAD leaders and other hardcore protesters arrested
Possibly unrest for some days

against

Roads in downtown Bangkok blocked for months, thus causing unimaginable traffic jams
Schools around the government district closed for several days
The economy and stock market going down after foreign investors became too scared and sold their shares worth hundreds of millions of US dollars
A TV station hijacked (NBT)
Airports closed, thus pissing off thousands of tourists in Krabi and Phuket, causing massive damage to the country's tourism image, scaring potential tourists, which causes significant financial damage because tourism is one of Thailand's most important sources of income
Train traffic stopped due to a strike of train workers, thus pissing off even more tourists and causing even more financial damage
The government building made useless after it was taken over by the protesters
A general unstable situation where nobody knows what's actually going on or what will happen next, with people fearing bloody violence and another coup d'etat
A country basically split into half (government supporters and PAD supporters)

But why is Samak not doing anything against the PAD protests? The answer lies in his blood-dripping past. In 1976 he played a major role during the coup d'etat:

"Although in 2008 interviews with CNN and al-Jazeera Samak denied involvement in the 6 October 1976 massacre that left officially at least 46 dead, Samak insists only 1 person was left dead. Accounts from witnesses, documents and published reports clearly identify Samak as chief operator of the "Armoured Car" radio programme, an ultra-right wing broadcast that constantly expounded anti-communist and pro-right propaganda. Samak used this programme to stir up hatred against Thammasat University students, and intentionally disobeyed the Prime Minister's orders at the time to "stop creating divisiveness." In defending the return of 1973-ousted Field Marshal Praphat over the radio, Samak told listeners that students demonstrating against the dictator's return were committing suicide." (wikipedia.org)

If he sends the police and/or military in (after all, he's also defense minister) to fight the PAD, this would bring back the memories of 1976, escalate the situation and almost inevitably lead to a blood bath. So I think what he's doing now is trying to turn the public against the PAD by pointing the finger at the PAD and their actions, thus making them responsible for the country's downfall--at least that's what it looks like. He hopes that (given enough time) the problem will solve itself. And indeed, seeing how harmful its actions are to the country, it is no surprise that the PAD is losing support by the public. Indeed, it has shot itself in the foot. Maybe Samak thinks that the half that's not supporting the PAD will be able to convince the half that supports the PAD to stop their protest and go back to actual democratic measures. But that might not be so easy--after all, the PAD is not even a party; it's more like a lobby consisting mainly of members of the Thai elite who are fed up with Samak's politics and who think he's just a puppet of the old (and corrupt) PM Thaksin. Taking the issue in their own hands is therefore not democratic but anarchic.

Nevertheless, the government's passive stance is very dangerous because it divides the country into two parties. But as I said, this difficult situation could have been avoided by tackling the People Against Democracy a long time ago. Now it seems too late.

Split Toning Tutorial - The Making of "Dog Tag"

2008-08-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial I want to show you how I used split tones to create this picture:

For taking the shot I used a Canon EOS 40D with a Canon 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM lens, a large softbox, and a small spotlight (same set-up as for "Touch"). The softbox was placed right next to me and raised to about 1.80m above the ground, while the small spotlight was placed about 50cm above the ground and used to brighten up parts of the black background, thus making it dark gray. You can see the exact arrangement here:

I used the following settings:

RAW mode
Focal length: 40mm
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter speed: 1/250s
ISO: 100
White balance: 5900K

And this is the photo I took (by the way, the models are Andrea and Tara from J.I.M. Modelling Agency, Bangkok):

The best thing about this technique is that it's extremely fast and easy. The first step is double-clicking on the original raw file. By default, the Photoshop component "Camera Raw" will open the image and you'll see this screen:

The first tab, which is selected by default when you open Camera Raw, is "Basic". I changed the settings as follows:

Tint: -1
Brightness: +50
Contrast: +25

The next one is "Tone Curve":

In "paramteric" mode, I boosted the contrast with these settings:

Highlights: +43
Lights: +10
Darks: -24
Shadows: -57

In the "Detail" tab I changed the sharpening settings as follows:

Amount: +47 (all the other settings are default settings)

The next step is the actual split-toning process. I selected the "Split Toning" tab and chose a green hue for the highlights and a blue hue for the highlights. All I had to do was changing the parameters to these:

Highlights:

Hue: 101
Saturation: 58

Shadows:

Hue: 219
Saturation: 35

That's it! This is how the photo looked after processing it with Camera Raw:

The only thing I did afterward was removing the noise, smoothing the skin, and increasing the sharpness and contrast a little. All of this can be done in just one step using the Photoshop plug-in NoiseNinja. I case you don't have it yet I strongly recommend you get this plug-in because it will significantly increase the quality of your images.

After all these steps, my picture looks like this now:

Much better than the original, don't you think? ;)

Psst... check out another way of processing this image: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/08/making-of-touch.html

Making of "Touch"

2008-08-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

This article is actually a combination of two tutorials--how to set up basic lighting in the studio and how to give a portrait the glossy magazine look.

For taking the shot I used a Canon EOS 40D with a Canon 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM lens, a large softbox, and a small spotlight (same set-up as for "Dog Tag"). The softbox was placed right next to me and raised to about 1.80m above the ground, while the small spotlight was placed about 50cm above the ground and used to brighten up parts of the black background, thus making it dark gray. You can see the exact arrangement here:

I used the following settings:

RAW mode
Focal length: 55mm
Aperture: f/5
Shutter speed: 1/250s
ISO: 100
White balance: 5900K

And this is the photo I took (by the way, the models are Andrea and Tara from J.I.M. Modelling Agency, Bangkok):

Now let's get rid of the faithful skin color and change it to cool white!

The first step is to open the raw photo in Photoshop. I use Photoshop CS3 because only CameraRaw 4.5 (which works only with CS3) supports RAW files from the 40D and I don't want to disturb my workflow by converting my RAW files with the DNG converter. Anyway, doubleclicking on the RAW file will open a screen that looks like this:

(Click to enlarge)

As you can see, the colors are different from the original shot because I changed the parameters already. The image above shows how I set the parameters in the "basic" section:

Tint: -1
Blacks: +5
Brightness: +50
Contrast: +25

After that I moved on to the tone curve and changed its parameters to these:

The next step is changing the red primary and green primary parameters in the "camera calibration" section. Reducing the saturation of red and green is the secret key to shiny skin colors:

I didn't change anything else, so I just clicked on "open image" to -- well, open the image in Photoshop and do some final touch-ups. Here's the shot after applying the RAW settings:

To make it even shinier, I had Photoshop auto-adjust the levels by pressing Shift+Command+L (Windows users use Shift+Ctrl+L):

Then I removed the birthmarks and cleaned up minor skin irregularities with the spot healing brush tool (press J to activate this tool). Now the image looked like this:

The final step is using NoiseNinja for removing the noise, smoothing the skin, and increasing sharpness and contrast a bit more. All these things can be achieved by opening the NoiseNinja plugin (Filter -> PictureCode -> Noise Ninja), clicking on "profile image", and change the settings in the "filter" tab to these:

Smoothness: 14
Contrast: 15

(Click to enlarge)

If you don't have NoiseNinja I strongly recommend you get it because it will significantly increase the quality of your images, as you can see here:

That's it! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial :)

Psst... check out another way of processing this image: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/08/split-toning-tutorial-making-of-dog-tag.html

Thailand Graduate Fashion Week 2008

2008-07-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

Click here to jump to the photo gallery.

Awe-inspiring ideas are among the significant factors to move the vivacious non-stop fashion industry. In order to discover the striking and unique designs of aspiring fashion students, the Thailand Graduate Fashion Week 2008 (TGFW) was initiated. The event is held at CentralWorld, Bangkok, to offer an opportunity and a stage to countrywide BA fashion design students who graduated in 2007. Students from over 20 universities present their talent and work, e.g. Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Silpakorn, Srinakarinwirot, Kasetsart, Burapa, Rangsit, and Bangkok University (just to name a few).

The event includes the following (locations in brackets):

TGFW Academic Catwalk Shows (Theatre A and B)
Fashion Academic Showcase: Exhibition showcasing outstanding designs selected by nationwide fashion students (Atrium)
TGFW Fashion Talks: Seminars and talks by fashion veterans
Education Days: In small booths, nationwide fashion institutes present their curriculum and students' works (Eden)
TGFW 2008 Awards for the most talented students
College Flea Market (outdoor area)

Here are some impressions from the Thailand Graduate Fashion Week 2008. Click an image to open it in full view:

Education Days in the Eden area: Each university presents itself in a small booth.

Tourists enjoying a live concert. Live bands and the MET107 DJs are rocking the crowd at the Central Court zone.

Click here to view all images.

PicLens: Browse Images with Style

2008-07-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

The PicLens browser plugin is for those of you who want to browse images with style: It presents images on a shiny, endless 3D-wall, providing an immersive full-screen experience for viewing photos and videos on the supported sites and on sites that support Media RSS.

For example, you can use PicLens for amazon, Youtube, deviantART, Picasa, flickr, Photobucket, Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, hi5, all major image search engines, and many more websites.

Gone are the times when you had to hit the "next" button to go to the next page of images because PicLens loads images from the next pages automatically. You just keep on walking along the wall.

If you feel like exploring recent events PicLens with its "Discover" button slaps the latest news, sports, fashion, entertainment, and other images as well as videos, movie trailers etc. on your screen. With style, of course.

I just realized that my blog entry sounds like a praise--but there you can see how much I like this plugin! I give you an example: Google image search only displays 18 images, then I have to click the arrow button to see the next batch, which takes time. With PicLens, I basically have just one wall of images, which I can move quickly to scroll through the search results.

It also looks quite cool on deviantART when you can scroll through the masses of images with ease but unfortunately the drag and drop function (that's used for faving an image) gets lost.

Anyway, if you like images and shiny interfaces you should definitely give it a try. On their website http://www.piclens.com you will find the free plugin as well as a program to create PicLens-friendly photo galleries.

glossyart.com Wallpaper Collection

2008-07-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

All our wallpapers in one place!

Feel free to download the wallpapers and put them on your desktop but please remember that everything except private use is copyright infringement (e.g. resubmitting the images on the Internet, selling the images).

More to be added soon!

TinEye: Image Search Engine and Art Theft Detector

2008-07-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

TinEye should be interesting for people who want a powerful tool against art theft and copyright infringement because by uploading your original image or entering the URL of the image you can instantly see who has stolen your image (which some people say is also a good indicator of how famous you really are ;)).

According to the official FAQ, TinEye seems to be really promising. These are only excerpts:

What does TinEye do?

TinEye does for images what Google does for text.

Just as you are familiar with entering text in Google to find web pages that contain that text, using TinEye, you enter an image to find pages where that particular image (and modified versions of it) appears.

Can TinEye find alterations of a query image?

Yes. As long as they are alterations of the same query image, TinEye can find them and include them in your search results.

Note that search results are ordered by ‘relevance’ (i.e. how well the result images match your query image), so image alterations are typically found at the end of your search results.

What sorts of image alterations can TinEye find?

It depends upon the image, but TinEye frequently returns image results with colour adjustments, added or removed text, crops, and slight rotations. TinEye can also detect images that are part of a collage or have been blended with another image.

(Check out the whole FAQ at http://tineye.com/faq)

The only downside of this project is that it's still in beta. This means that the number of images in their database is to be expanded (although it can search 580 million images by now), and you need an invitation to sign up and use it. However, on the TinEye home page you can enter your e-mail address to request an invitation and roughly after one day you'll get one.

Taking and Processing Infrared Photos

2008-07-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial you will learn how to take and process infrared (IR) images.You probably came across some infrared photos already without noticing it and were stunned by their beauty and maybe wondering how their special appearance was achieved. Most photographers choose a blue tone for their infrared images because then they will get a winterly look but sepia tones are found as well. However, the most important characteristics of an IR shot are the white trees and plants because they reflect IR rays almost completely. Enough said now–time for some action!

1. Requirements

If you want to take infrared images you first need an IR filter and a camera that can “see” IR light. Since some cameras have a built-in filter that prevents IR rays from coming through, you have to check if your camera can see IR light by pointing a remote control to the camera (with no filter attached). If you can see the infrared LED of your remote control glow then your camera is capable of taking IR shots.

There’s a variety of IR filters available. A good standard filter is the Hoya R72 infrared filter. The “72″ indicates that it will block light of wavelengths of more than 720 nm. You can also buy a colored IR filter for better contrast in different situations but if you have Photoshop you don't really need one because all the level adjustments can be done there.

2. Taking the shot

You can hardly see anything when you look through an IR filter. Since it blocks a huge amount of light the best shots are taken in bright sunlight with the sun in your back for maximum IR reflection. But even if it’s bright, you will have to use a tripod because the exposure will be much longer than normal.

Tip: Due to the long exposure time, you should also use a remote control or the self-timer to avoid vibrations. For best results, wait until there is no wind and the leaves on the trees are not moving so that everything is sharp on the image.

I experienced that a white balance of 2500K G9 works best for my camera but different camera models might require different settings. Since the Hoya R72 IR filter is almost black it always takes some time to get a sharp image with the auto focus. Once the focus is good enough I set the camera to manual focus (to "lock" the focus) and shot several images with different exposures in RAW mode. Thus I can choose the best exposure later because the display of the camera might not show the brightness accurately. Moreover, many different exposures allow me to create an HDR image if desired.

However, if the lighting conditions are not good enough problems with the autofocus may occur. In such cases, you have to focus manually while keeping the filter attached to the lens. If you remove the filter to focus manually the photo will be slightly blurred because IR rays do not have the same focal point than visible light rays.

3. Processing the image in Photoshop

Please note: This is only one way to process an IR image. Another way can be found here: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/06/infrared-photography-tutorial.html

Your infrared image will probably have a red/magenta hue. Additionally, it may be very noisy depending on your exposure settings and camera quality. However, the noise can be fixed easily with Photoshop and also the hue is no problem. Here’s my original image:

The first step is to open the channel mixer (image > adjustments > channel mixer). Choose “Red” as the output channel and move the source channel slider of red to 0% and the slider of blue to 100%. Then choose “Blue” from the output channel menu and slide red to 100% and blue to 0%. You should get something like this:

Now it’s time to adjust the levels. Click on image > adjustments > levels (or press [Ctrl+L] and click on the “auto” button. Here’s the result of this action:

Additionally, you can adjust the levels manually. Choose the red channel in the drop-down menu and move the black slider a bit to the right (where the red slider is):

Then choose the green channel and move the sliders as indicated below:

Now it’s time to change the hue. Click on image > adjustments > hue/saturation (or press [Ctrl+U]) and check the “colorize” box on the right. Move the sliders of hue and saturation until you get a result that you like. Mine looks like this:

For reducing the noise I recommend Photoshop plugins specially designed for this job because the Photoshop noise reduction feature (despecle) is unsatisfactory. With plugins such as Noise Ninja or Neat Image you will get much better results. For the final step I also applied a bleaching filter (Red Paw Media Bleach Bypass Pro; free BleachBypass) before reducing the noise so that I got even more contrast. In the end my picture looks like this:

Link to glossyart.com

2008-07-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

If you have your own webspace and want to link to glossyart.com feel free to use these buttons. Thank you! :)

Infrared Photography Tutorial

2008-06-30T02:38:00.000-07:00

In this article I will disclose my technique of post-processing infrared images.

Rivers, lakes and trees are great spots for infrared images. Fortunately, there's a river flowing right through our village, so I don't have to walk too far to find a place like this:

The clouds and their reflections on the water looked perfect to me, so I put my camera (a Sony Alpha) on the tripod, screwed the Hoya R72 IR filter on the lens and shot away.

Tip: Due to the long exposure time, you should use a remote control or the self-timer to avoid vibrations. For best results, wait until there is no wind and the leaves on the trees are not moving.

I experienced that a white balance of 2500K G9 works best for my camera but different camera models might require different settings. Since the Hoya R72 IR filter is almost black it always takes some time to get a sharp image with the auto focus. Once the focus is good enough I set the camera to manual focus (to "lock" the focus) and shot several images with different exposures in RAW mode. Thus I can choose the best exposure later because the display of the camera might not show the brightness accurately. Moreover, many different exposures allow me to create an HDR image if desired.

When I was back home I chose this image for post-production:

The exposure seemed just right; nothing is over- or underexposed. I imported the RAW file to Photoshop without adjusting anything at first.

Then I cropped the image at the bottom to get a width/height ratio of about 1.6:1, which equals roughly the golden mean and is more eye-pleasing:

After that I had Photoshop adjust the levels automatically by pressing Shift+Ctrl+L:

Then I used the channel mixer (Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer) to get a blue hue. I chose "Red" as the output channel and moved the source channel slider of red to 0% and the slider of blue to 100%. Then I chose "Blue" from the output channel menu and slided red to 100% and blue to 0%. Afterwards the image looked like this:

Now that doesn't look too bad, does it? But still there's a lot to be done. I found the saturation a bit too much so I decreased it with the PowerRetouche Saturation plug-in (setting -90/photographic):

In order to increase the contrast by making the trees a bit whiter (they still have a magenta hue) and the sky darker I applied a red filter with the PowerRetouche Studio Black and White plug-in. The result looks like this:

Alternatively, you can experiment with the Photoshop photo filters (Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter).

However, there's still too much magenta in the trees. So I set the saturation (Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation) of magentas to -75, of reds to -70 and of blues to -50 in order to make them look more natural:

For the last step I used the dodge tool (O) and set a few highlights on the trees to make them look more plastic and whiter. With the elliptic marquee tool (feather: 100 pixels) I selected some trees to increase the contrast and to bring out the branches more. Before submitting the image to deviantART I resized it, sharpened it, and added a border so that it looks good on a computer screen.

You can view the final version here:

Wallpapers:

1280x1024:

1024x768:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me. Another IR tutorial can be found here: http://www.glossyart.com/blog/2008/07/taking-and-processing-infrared-photos.html

6 Steps to Better Photos

2008-06-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

1. Zoom in. Do not include unnecessary surroundings that distract the viewer from the main object. By using a longer focal length you can also reduce the depth of field (DoF) and blur the background, thus making the object more outstanding. An open aperture (small f-number) and/or short distance to the object also cause a narrow DoF.

2. Apply the rule of thirds/the Golden Mean. Do not place your main object right in the middle of the image unless you want your image to look static or symmetrical. Divide the image into thirds and place your subject where the lines cross to make it more dynamic. Example:

Source: photoshopnerds.com

3. Make sure the horizon is really a horizontal line. If you do not have a good reason to break this rule, a (landscape) shot with a crooked horizon will always make your photo look like a snapshot. So, take that extra second to align your camera or fix the crooked horizon with Photoshop.

4. Use the self-timer more often. Even if you take a picture with a tripod, your photo can sometimes be blurry because of the vibration when the shutter button is pressed. To avoid this, you could use a remote control or simply use the self-timer. Pro-tip for (D)SLR users: Enable mirror lock-up before the shot to eliminate vibration completely. If your shot is still blurry, just wait until the wind is gone.

5. "Orbit" your object. Just like an electron orbits an atomic nucleus you have to orbit your object and explore different perspectives. It's a simple equation: The more original the perspective, the more interesting your photo. This one goes hand in hand with step...

...6. Be creative. Do not take the same shot that hundreds of people took before you (recent trends seem to be people jumping on the beach or someone in a field with red balloons). If you just copy another image your own image does not have any impact anymore.

Scam: Picture.com and Poetry.com

2008-06-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

_{Extract: Do not buy a photo book by the International Library of Photography if you get a letter from them. All the others can disregard this article because you won't find the book in bookstores anyway lol.}

Since picture.com seems to be very popular for their contests I think a lot of people are affected by their unfair practices. Here's my story:

I received a letter from picture.com saying that the image I submitted for their photo contest has been selected as a semi-final winner and will proceed to the finals. Sounds good so far, doesn't it? But it comes even better: The letter also read that I could get my image published in a coffee-table photo book if I just sign the artist's proof and send it back to the picture.com office. And here is where the scam begins.

According to the letter the book's working title was "Endless Journeys" and would probably be published in Winter 2008. They even provided the ISBN and a brochure about the book. The price of the book would be $89.95 but I could get a discount of $20 if I pre-ordered it. Now that sounds a bit fishy because usually if you contribute to a book you will get paid and also get free samples of the book--but in this case it seems to be the other way round. Also, the price for the book is quite high.

So I searched for the ISBN on Amazon but couldn't find it. Instead I found a number of forum threads dealing with the same topic, and it seems the publisher ("International Library of Photography") will only publish the book if there are enough pre-orders. What they do is called "vanity publishing". That means the book will never be sold to the public but only to the contributors themselves. So what you pay for is a book with an uncertain delivery date, uncertain title, no public audience, and with a large number of small low-quality images per page at a ridiculous price. The equation is simple: They include a large number of images to get a large number of orders from naive artists, and they use the photo contests on their website picture.com as a decoy.

More scam: They sent me an e-mail offering a medal and a certificate but I would have to pay for it--since when do you actually have to pay for an award?

By the way, did you know that the contact address at poetry.com is the same as the one at picture.com? Same scam, different website.

New Wallpaper: "Incoming"

2008-06-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

I've been overwhelmed by the huge amount of views and faves this wallpaper has received at deviantART since I uploaded it two weeks ago. "Incoming" was taken from the 29th floor of the TPI Tower in Bangkok two weeks ago and portrays the skyline of South-East Asia's top metropolis at dusk. At this particular time the cloud formation was quite impressive, however with Photoshop I was able to make the colors even more dramatic. The key was the level auto-adjustment feature. With the elliptic marquee tool (feather setting: 50px) I selected a small part of the sky (maybe 1/6) and auto-adjusted the levels by pressing Ctrl+L. This procedure was repeated on the other parts of the sky until I got the final result (and it required a lot of trial-and-error). Power Retouche contrast and black definition plug-ins rounded up the color enhancement, while the Noise Ninja plug-in kicked some noisy ass and sharpened the image. Feel free to download the wallpaper at http://nxxos.deviantart.com/art/Incoming-88646651.

Are you a REAL Photoshop Whore?

2008-06-29T03:58:00.000-07:00

1. You go to the department store to buy new brushes because you've downloaded all the brushes from the Internet already.

2. At school, you ask if you can have that sponge tool real quick.

3. Actually, everything is a tool for you, like an eat-tool, clock tool, sleep tool, drive tool, think tool and so on. And of course, beer is your favorite blur tool.

4. You see a woman and you don't like her make-up. You think "damn she really should adjust the color settings."

5. You just can't stick to ONE Photoshop version. You use CS2 for photo manipulating, CS for painting and the old 6.0 for other purposes because it's still the best.

6. You can draw a perfectly photorealistic picture with only the pen tool (4 p--now that's what I call an alliteration :P).

7. Your number one pickup line: "Let's merge two layers."

8. Number two: "Wanna check out my new hand tool settings?"

9. You use Clearasil to "reduce the noise" on your skin.

10. You actually bought a legal copy of the program.

11. You have to vomit when you hear someone say "Corel". Now I just hope you didn't puke on your keyboard.

12. You know what ImageReady is for.

13. You wrote all the how-to tips.

14. In fact, whenever Adobe can't answer a question from a customer, they will ask you.

15. You're pissed because in Math you don't learn the calculations you really need.

16. Your eyes see the world in CMYK mode.

17. And your brain can add some filters if necessary.

18. You clear the history and wonder why your ex is still there.

19. You use a projector, because that's the only way to see your print in full view.

20. Your daughter's name is Adobe.

21. You'll probably never read this article because you're too busy with Photoshop.

Models Wanted

2008-06-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

We are currently looking for models in order to expand our portfolio. It doesn't matter if you've just started your modeling career or if you're an experienced model already. If you're over 18, live in the Bangkok metropolitan area and like to pose please feel free to send us an e-mail. You can contact us in English, Thai, or German (although English is our preferred language).

Right now we're planning a shoot at a swimming pool (bikini, no nude) in Ratburana near the Kasikorn Bank Head Office Building, however please do not hesitate to tell us if you have some other ideas in your mind.

The photo shoot will be on a TFCD (time for image CD) basis. That means neither you as the model nor us as the photographers will take any money--instead, you "pay" us with your time and we "pay" you with our photos on CD/DVD. All details (such as the amount of images that you'll get) will be written in a contract/model release. You should bring your own clothes but you do not have to bring any make-up as we will have a make-up artist at the set.

Of course, if you want you can bring an accompanying person with you.

If you have any further questions please send us an e-mail or call us at +66847337137 (English) or +66816487702 (Thai/English).

Dark Clouds over Thailand

2008-06-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

Dark clouds are over the Thai government building as the siege continues (more info and images here: [link] ). Last Friday, the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) and their supporters have successfully broken through the police lines and are now peacefully camping right in front of the fence of the compound. Thai Prime Minister Samak does not really seem to be willing to interfere. The policemen are now standing behind the fence guarding the last barricade between the people and the government building. The main stage, which is just 10 meters away from the fence, has now a roof--a sign that the siege is likely to continue for a longer time. However, the PM is still able to go in and out of the government building. Nevertheless, the situation is like a stalemate. The PM says he doesn't want to resign and the protesters want to remain peaceful. Both parties are too stubborn and I don't get the impression that anyone wants to do something constructive. In the meantime, at least the food and bandana sellers are having a great time.

Policemen are taking some rest and get crazy after seeing my camera.

Exhausted protesters and their tents.

Figures depicting former PM Thaksin, PM Samak and some other politician.

With the f-word covered by another poster, this banner becomes kinda funny...

The main stage gets a roof--looks like the protesters want to stay a while here.

A policeman guarding the government house.

Exhibition: Press Photo in Focus

2008-06-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

Until July 6th an exhibition titled "Press Photo in Focus" will be open at the Zen Event Gallery, 8th floor CentralWorld shopping mall, Bangkok.

It will feature all winning images from the World Press Photo Awards and other works that rocked the world of press photography. It will be rounded up by various workshops.

Official website: http://www.pressphotoinfocus.com/

Check out the world press photo winner gallery online: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/