Who Are You? We Forgot.

Ahh so this is the blog, would you be prepared to answer questions on Thornberry on why this blog has been so rubbish the last few months. Tape starts rolling......

So Thornberry where you been?

around!

Around, eh? Where?

Everywhere, you see i have been doing some other stuff.

What other than running Splitting Pixels to you full capacity!?, Remember you are under blogger oath.

Okay, Okay, I'm easily broken. Something had to give, I lost my job and worked damned hard, harder than you can ever imagine to get a new one. Something had to give.....the forum and the blog was that option.

So why now choose to comeback?

Because life is back at a good place and I have started putting my time back i am passionate about.

So why so passionate?

Because this forum was really my brainchild, although it is now shared with others.

Surely it must be more than that.

This forum was created because the forum i was with i believed stopped creative juices flowing and I was steamrollered into buying the owners products.

I got tired of it and thought i could do better.

How?

One we don't push products on our members, everyone shares information freely.

We have created sections for more members to join, we have both a digital art section and a photography section including people giving each other advice etc.

We are now sponsored by NAPP, Susi Lawson and Doug Boutwell and What the Duck with more to come. People are believing in us. I think other people should do, by giving us a look.

You will hear more about our sponsors soon.

So are you planning to do this blog more often.

I hope so, I intend to. I won't make any more promises, so i don't have to go through this intregation again!

But aren't you questioning yourself, talking to yourself is a sign of madness you know!?

I know but the flying pigs are great.

So what in the future for Splitting Pixels.

Becoming bigger and better, helping more people, sharing more information, hoping people walk away knowing a little more about photography and photoshop.

Will we do this again?

Soon!

Tape stops!

by Thornberry

Adobe CS4 - Stonehenge, I'm just learning CS3!

Well Adobe didn't hang about, already starting on CS4 - hopefully this is a long process, rather than a short one, give us all a chance to learn CS3.

More details can be found below:

http://www.nirmaltv.com/2008/03/05/adobe-photoshop-cs4-stonehenge-leaked/

by Thornberry

Featured Forum Member - Vern H aka nonrev

Vern H aka nonrev in forum tongue is one of our photographers of the forum, The two pictures below are ones that i really like, and hope that you do too.

Two very different photos.

Vern has kindly given a background below the pics. Thanks Vern.








I am 64 years old. I do not plan on retirement for another 6 years. I have my own business as a manufacturers representative in the plastic industry.

I was born and raised in Barrington, RI. In 1963 I went into the U.S. Air Force, where I served for 11 and ½ years. My tour of duty took me to England, Germany and Italy. My first tour was at RAF Chicksands in Bedfordshire om 1964. Whilst there I dated a little German girl. In 1965 I was transferred to Germany where I met and dated a little English girl who eventually became my wife.

In 1968 I was assigned to San Vito Air Station Italy. After 30 months of duty there I was transferred back to RAF Chicksands. I stayed there until 1974 at which time I took a overseas discharged and stayed in England working for Emgas in Northampton.

My interest in photography began in 1964 when I went to RAF Chicksands. I bought a Kodak Instamatic. Just taking the normal tourist pictures. During the early 70's I bought my first SLR. It was a Petri. I had four lenses, 28mm, 55mm, 135mm and a 400mm. That is when I started to develop an interest in photography.

Around 1973 my wife got in touch with her cousin, Pat Dalton. Pat was well into photography and introduced me to developing my own film and pictures, BW. My interest really deepened at that time. My wife bought me a small Russian enlarger, trays, the whole darkroom setup and I was off and running.

We returned to the US in 1979 and I continued to take and develop my own work. I finally bought my first Nikon at that time. Well as the family grew I had to back off doing a lot of photography. I did just the odd motocross pictures and family vacations.

About five or six years ago I purchased my first digital camera. I used it for a company I owned. Shortly there after I bought my Nikon D70 and have been shooting digital ever since then. I gave my film camera to my oldest grand daughter, who is now majoring in photography at a college in Wisconsin.

Although I love shooting RAW, manual, I do long for the film days. Maybe some day digital will equal film but at the moment it has a way to go. However, with the price of BW film I will stay with digital. My love is also with Black and White.

Regards,

Vern H.

Race for First Place - JohnW already there?

Amazing things, blogs, they stay open until you enter your next information without deleting everything and having to start again. - A game catch up below. JohnW has run into a lead that isn't reachable but we will do the main congrats after Week 52, but JohnW hasnt had it all his own way over the past 6 weeks.

Now over 110 members this all builds up for next years competition.....Maybe it will be even tougher.

All Videos are below:

Game 48 - Winner: Pavel



Game 47 - Winner: JohnW



Game 46 - Winner: Ronnie



Game 45 - Winner: Pavel



Game 44 - Winner: Rebecca

A Little Praise Goes a Long Way

Just a quick thankyou to Scott Deardorff for giving Splitting Pixels a mention during the opening class of his new smudging workshop at www.digitalartacademy.com.

Maybe proof that we are all doing something right in our fledgling forum. For those who do not know Scott please take a look at http://www.pbase.com/sdfp and be prepared to be inspired. Scott thankyou for the plug its greatly appreciated as we strive to attract new members.


Many Thanks


by Neal

Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Books Volume 1 and 2 Review

I thought i would post a review regarding Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Book Volume 2 but i feel it should be done as a package as i think they go hand in hand.

For someone who literally picked a camera magazine, then bought some more, then bought a camera because he wanted to create images that told a story, that people would look at and say they would hang it on their wall, these books go somewhere to helping you do that.

If you want a technical book that helps you learn the complete works on how your camera works, then maybe this isn't the books for you.

I wanted a book that taught me how to shoot, to help me improve upon my passion and i do feel these books do exactly that. However if you are a beginner like me then you need Vol 1 before Vol 2 because i think the 1st volume is the foundation course where as Vol 2 takes it up a notch through to a more advanced part.

I did read a review where they didn't like Scott Kelby's layout of books, i actually like it, and he doesn't treat you like an idiot, it is simple and clear to the point with a bit of humour carrying through the book.

Vol 1 is sort of my little bible, Scott takes you from complete scratch through different sorts of photography, Wedding, Portrait, Landscape and Sports for example, breaking them down into small sections. You do not have to follow the whole book either, just pick out the bits relevant to you. I really love it, he also doesn't neglect the people who might not be able to afford the the Flash Unit, he caters for everyone and gives people a chance to be a photographer.

Vol 2 picks up where 1 left off, although he moves slightly into more the conditions surrounding the condition of the shot along with more tips.

All in all two excellent books and they are small enough to carry in your camera bag too.

by Thornberry

From the Galleries - Rebecca O'Quin

Smudging, What's that? I hear you cry.

Well this may give you an idea, now i haven't even tried it yet, but when you see what i am about to show you, well lets just show the pictures then you decide.





Amazed yet, no! then sign up to the forum, head to Image Galleries, then click on Rebecca's Gallery, not only is she an artist, she is a photographer, and both brilliant ways and probably one of the most honest people to match, how far she takes her talent will not surprise anyone, just as long as she remembers us humble forumers LOL

News and Views

I'd thought i'd add a few things i have found with everyone.

• In this months Digital Camera Magazine, Tim Wallace shows you how he gets his amazing car shots, through photography and Adobe Photoshop. We have already featured him, well here is his website again - http://www.ambientlife.co.uk/
• I think i have come across the coolest and jaw dropping website i have seen in a long time, it just fits, and i really like his effect, considering he has taught himself, makes it even better, check him out Michael Jordon, not the basketballer. You can see it here
• I will be posting a review on Scott Kelby's Digital photography books tomorrow.

Have a good day.

by Thornberry

Featured Forum Member - Freddie

I introduce you to Freddie, who i like to call an out of the box gamer, he always does something different, looks at things in a more transparent way to other members. I thought i was the out of box thinking but Freddie takes to another level.

I was so pleased when he joined us because i thought we had lost him and why not have the talent under one Splitting Pixels roof. The only thing is all this talent = less chance for me to win.

I attach a photo of Freddie's earlier on efforts in the forum. Mixing comedy and art, love it.







Now for the background piece from Freddie himself.

I'm 54rs old and worked in various jobs in the building trade for most of my adult life, but due to various circumstances I now spend most of my time at home caring for my brother and stepfather. I'm 'born & bred' in Fulham, West London and live midway between the 2 football grounds of Fulham FC & Chelsea FC, I support the former in football, but my real sporting passion is International Rugby.

I've had computers since the days of the Sinclair Spectrum and then moved on to the first 'affordable' Amstrad,( How I wished I'd started with a Mac ) I first got into Photoshop when Elements V1 came bundled with something I purchased and then soon discovered the 'joys' of photo manipulation when I managed to place a cutout of 2 drunken fatblokes ( me & a Friend ) into a picture of a famous England Rugby celebration, the picture still hangs on my wall, & I was hooked,

Now that I have more time at the computer I enjoy the 'challenge' of Photoshop, thinking of an idea and then working out how to do it, and for me,t he weekly & monthly games at Splitting Pixels have been the ideal place to learn and improve.Although using Photoshop can at times be frustrating, the more time you put into learning & trying different things the less frustrating & more enjoyable it becomes.

Finally if your a regular in the games, thank you, "your a good bunch" if you haven't joined in yet come & join us, it's fun.

by Thornberry

Game Catch Up, It Gets Better!!!! I Win One, Finally!!!

After a long period being ill and then Christmas and New Year, something had to give and I'm afraid it was the blog! I apologise now, honest i do.

I have opened up the blog to other members of the forum, thanks to Freddie for his 'remember to back up' story, hopefully we will see a more diverse chat coming from the forum.

Onto the games, Thinking all my bribes over the weeks would pay off it has taken to game 41 for me to win a game (however two or three of the main challengers were missing) i like to think that i still might of won, hey who am i kidding, i wouldn't have done. A win is still a win though, so I'm gonna take it, run with it, and never give it back. I did, though next week as my standards dropped again, ah well back to doing what i do best, the admin side of things.

Winners will be above the videos, enjoy the watching i did.

Game 43: Winners - JohnW, Rebecca



Game 42: Winner - Neal



Game 41: Winner - Tom



Game 40: Winner - Pavel



Game 39: Winners - Ronnie, JohnW



Game 38: Winner - JohnW



Game 37: Winner - JohnW



Game 36: Winner - Dee Dee




As you can see the images are really getting better with everyone pushing everyone on again. You may see JohnW's name up there quite a few times, alas the same cannot be said for him, everyone was in to win and he came up trumps, well done John.

Sorry for the lack of blogging again, i promise to try harder from now on.

by Thornberry

How organized are You ?

How organized are you ?, me I try hard but it never seems to work out !

I'm an avid (some might say compulsive) collector of fonts & clip-art, I've got discs & discs of it. It used to be quite organized, I have 2 discear 'pop up' discholders, they hold 100 discs each & as long as you remember to keep the index up to date they work very well.
The problem started when the second one was starting to reach capacity and I needed a new one. I came across an advert for a 'Datasafe' an electronic disc holder that holds 150 discs, connects to the computer via USB and you can access your disc via the keyboard, a 'miracle' , just what I needed, Not cheap, £80 or £90 if I remember correctly but seemed to worth it to get things sorted out, it could sit on my desk and everything would be close at hand.

Several days later it duly arrived, I thought they must have delivered the wrong parcel, a small dog could sleep in the box !, My fault I rarely read the full spec on anything & when you think about it something that holds 150 discs, plus a motor and controls won't be small, its actually about 35x35x20 cm. OK first problem. where to put it, haven't got that amount of room on my desk ( & it's a big desk ) so I completely reorganize everything & fit it in.
Install the software & away we go, Empty 1 discholder and start to fill the new one, takes a bit of time as I type all the info into the software but Wow, you tap a key on the keyboard the machine 'whirrs' & the correct disc pops out the front.

Everything works well for a couple of months. filling up the original holders again, getting more disks all the time & carefully noting down whats wherein my new software.
I'm sure you've guessed what happens next ?

Major computer problems , corrupted database & now close to 400 discs that could be anywhere, Did I mention that one of my other problems is not labeling discs that I make myself?

One day I'll get round to sorting them all out again , looking around the room as I write this there are 9 separate piles of discs plus the 3 discholders,
and this time I'll keep a printed copy as well !!!!!!!!

Freddie

Happy New Year One and All

I know it is late in year to wish everyone happy new year but to hell with it!

Happy New Year

Have some fireworks!