Hmmm. I am still trying to figure out the new brush tools in Photoshop CS5 . I have to admit, this is a real fun challenge! Techniques like this will evolve nicely into the portrait industry, I think.

I still have two spots left in my June 14th-20th Boot Camp!

In the exciting world of retail art photography, a photographer has to keep on evolving; keep on experimenting; keep on creating new looks.

Like most serious photographers, I have a truckload of old images that are really top quality, but which needed to be given a breath of new life. For ten years now I have been trying to paint my images manually, one way or another. I tried it with a paintbrush and acrylics at first. Then I tried painting oils on to my fiber darkroom prints. Finally I tried watercolor paints mixed with colored pencils. I had limited success, and ruined a lot of prints.

I have tried a couple of digital painting programs lately, and found them a bit difficult to understand. The instruction manuals still sit in a stack on my special desk, which is dedicated to unfinished projects.

As a tester for the new Adobe Photoshop CS5, I started toying around with the new mixing brush tool. You’ll find it hidden under the paint brush tool. I love it! It is pretty understandable for those artists who already have a basic grasp of Photoshop. The image below was painted relatively simply, using just two different brushes on a single layer. Boy, I am really excited to dig further into the “wet brush” settings and develop a line that will really catch some attention when printed on large stretched canvases.

This image is of a champion hula dancer named Haunani. If you have ever wanted to photograph real hula on the beach in Hawai’i, you can join me and Rick Sammon, and Juan Pons, and a dozen other pros at the Maui Photo Festival in August! Rumor has it that the famous Adobe Photoshop Evangelist Russell Preston Brown will show up again this year to give us the inside scoop on CS5.  There is nothing better than shooting a digital camera while standing barefoot in the white, tropical sands of Maui!

If you are looking for a workshop even more intimate, then check out my Tropical Island Boot Camp for Creative Photography. Russell Brown and I will spend an adventure-packed week exploring the secret spots all around the island. This will max out at 10 students,. i have two openings left at this moment. Email me for more information!

Aloha,

Randy

Oh the shame.

I know it would seem unfaithful for me to ignore my own blog in order to post photo tips on a much bigger blog…. but I have been doing that for the past couple months. Cheating on myself! The other blog is called the Digital Photography Experience, or DP Experience, for short

I was invited by internationally known photographers/instructors Rick Sammon, and Juan Pons to become a part of their growing blog community — with about 15,000 daily readers. I was whooed and honored at the prospect of being “one of them“…. know what I mean?

Well, now I am one of them, and I find that I am learning a lot just by being forced to sit down and write a 300 word photography tip once each week. It is fun, and it make me actually think about how to put my motorized picture-taking process into a logical set of words.

Now my goal is to post the same tips on both sites… sort of double-dipping with the Doritos, if you will.

This blog has been made up of many fun, personal, non-photography experiences. I love to write like this, when I find the time. I will still attempt to keep posting my more personal posts here. If I am slacking, I know Rachael will kick me in the butt and nudge me to post a blog; you know how she is! You will also start seeing a few of my tips here.

Oh! by the way, we all survived the massive 3-foot tsunami following the Chilean earthquake. It was a really great practice drill for the island, and we all shared the aloha that day as we sat for hours on the mountain. It was a huge, fun backyard party and BBQ once we saw how harmless the 4 waves were. We will be extra-ready for the next time!

Aloha, a hui hou…
~r