Blog

Back to MacWorld from February.  One of the highlights was attending the Photoshop 20th anniversary presentation.  It was hosted by David Biedny, who is an author, expert, and top educator (he’s on the right).   The event included Jerry Harris, who was the co-author of PixelPaint and responsible for the “brushing engine” in Photoshop 7 (he’s in the center).  Also joining was Russell Brown, who is senior creative director of Adobe and always a fabulous, albeit zany, instructor.  It was informative seeing the evolution of the program and lots of laughs.

Photoshop 1.o.  Wow!  It’s so young.  Who would think it would evolve into what it is today.  I cannot fathom where it will be in another 20 years.

Back at the show.  And there He is, larger than life, showing off the next great thing.  And, wow, is it!

Nothing makes an Englishman happier than football (soccer to us in the US) and more proud than seeing England showing on the ad.

Some shots from around the area.

Next up we went to the deYoung Museum at the Golden Gate Park to primarily see the “Amish Abstractions” show, an exhibit of 48 quilts from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown.

Photography was not allowed inside the exhibit, but the guard was okay with this one.  The quilts ranged in all sizes and were made during the period of the 1880s through the 1940s.  Living in central NJ, I visited Amish country in Pennsylvania many times.  Thus, the quilts were all very familiar.  However, seeing them in a museum setting was quite inspiring.  I can only imagine what the makers of the quilts would have thought having their work being display at an art museum.  Very cool.  The show runs through June 6th, and more information about it is here.

You are allowed to photograph other works in the museum.  This piece stopped me in my tracks.   It’s called “Hovor II” by El Anatsui and was made in 2004.  It is made with woven aluminum bottle cops and copper wire.  It’s amazing to look at and the color seems to change with every direction.

A close up.

Outside of the museum, there is a wall filled with names of various museum benefactors.  I loved how the sunlight and reflections were playing with the surface.

After leaving the museum, we hailed a cab to take us to the Marin County side of the Golden Gate.  The sun was starting to set, and I had always wanted to take some pictures from that high up area.  The cab driver drove us up, and I took the above photo through his front window.

We made it, and the lighting was great.  We both took a lot of photos.

It was a popular spot for photographers, and tripods were lined up in many areas.

One person was being photographed doing various yoga poses while standing on a stump.  I couldn’t resist snapping off a couple pictures.

I did a digital painting of the above image that I hope ends up in an art quilt.  If nothing else, I’ll print it on watercolor paper.

Of course the big thing when you’re driven up to take pictures is realizing that there are no taxis to bring you back down, so we made the hike …

and walked under the bridge to get to the other side.

Resting before the trek back.

It was a very pretty sunset.

This image includes some layer blends to give it a bit more drama.  Generally there are many people walking on the bridge.  This evening there were only a few.

Eventually we made it to the other side of this magical area.

Wondering why my phone is sitting in a bag of rice?

Whenever I’m wearing jeans, I tend to slip my phone into my back pocket.  It fits great and is always handy.  More than once while in the bathroom, my phone fell out of the pocket.  Each time it fell out, I told myself I was lucky it only feel on the floor.

Last week I was in San Francisco for MacWorld.  Jeans were my staple item of clothing, and my phone stayed in my back pocket.  Until it was suddenly out of my pocket.  What happened you wonder?  Think porcelain throne. And in a nano-second my hand was in that water plucking out the phone.  I immediately dried it off, held my breath, and turned it on.  Nothing.  Total darkness.  I then plugged it in.  Still dead.  I used a blow dryer on it.  Still dead.  The Apple store was nearby.  At worst, I could buy a new phone.  But I really didn’t want to buy another, especially with rumors of a new model coming in June.

When I told Derry, my business and MacWorld partner, he immediately started searching the Internet for possible cures.  He read me several stories of woe.  Phones being dropped in the tub.  Phones going through the wash cycle.  Phones falling into a swimming pool. Most common were stories like mine – phones falling into a toilet.  We went through several different sites and read various stories and fixes.  Common to all was allowing the phone to completely dry however you can — that includes using a blow dryer or a heater.  There were also stories of leaving the phone in a bag of rice.  One person, whose phone went through an entire wash cycle, actually resuscitated his phone after it was in a bag of rice for a week.

That evening I left the phone on the grill of the baseboard heater.  In the morning when I went to retrieve the phone, I didn’t see it.  It fell and wedged itself into a very tight area of the heater.  Using a butter knife and patience, I got the phone got.  I plugged the phone in.  There was the Apple logo, and it was starting up.  I felt excitement.  But then the logo faded to darkness and my excitement drained.

Next up, finding rice. Being in San Francisco, the Rice-A-Roni town, we knew we could quickly find a bag of rice.  The first corner store we popped into, we immediately found rice.  We put the phone in the bag of rice, shoved it onto the grill of the baseboard heater, and left it there all day and night.  In the morning, I took the phone out of the bag.  Here’s a tip:  If you ever need to get rice to rescue your  phone, get the long grain kind so that you’re not using tweezers to pick out little pieces that manage to wedge itself into the connectors.

Success!

Once the rice was removed, I plugged it in and turned it on.  There was the Apple logo.  I waited.  It started up.  Wow!  I made some phone calls.  It worked.  Very happily, I returned the phone to the back pocket of my jeans.  Throughout the day I’d take it out, turn it on, and exhale as it kept working.  Return the phone to the back pocket of my jeans, you wonder?  Did I not learn anything?  Thus far, I’m being careful.  However, a hip little phone bag is most likely in my future.

Today was another day of informative and inspiring sessions.  The first was with Lesa King was taught “graphic secrets for creatives using Photoshop.” She is the authos of Photoshop CS4, The Missing Manual, published by O’Reilly.

The next was with Deke McClelland.  Deke is considered one of the top Photoshop “guru’s” – along with Scott Kelby and some others popular in NAPP circles.  His session was on Photoshop CS4, going over the new features that make an upgrade worth the money.  He also has several published titles with O’Reilly.

The final session was a panel discussion called “digital art pioneers and trendsetters.”  Above is Jeremy Sutton (and me) next to an incredible painting he did of Barack Obama called “The Speech.”  He also signed a smaller version of the art for me (which I’m thrilled about).  Jeremy’s artwork is very recognizable with its vivid colors and bold brush style, and he’s a clear master of his digital tools, with Corel’s Painter program being a favorite.  If you’d like to obtain a limited edition poster of “The Speech,” visit his site here.

Jeremy was born in London (received a degree in physics from Cambridge) and now lives in San Francisco.  He teaches classes on using Corel.  While I’ve not taken any of his long workshops, I have taken some of his shorter sessions.  If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend a class with him.  He teaches with gusto and treats everyone with with a sincere interest in who they are and how what he teaches may be beneficial.  He also loves dancing and will often treat the class with a soft shoe should there be the time.

The panel was hosted by Rob MacDonald who is the project manage for Corel Corp.  Included was Bruce Dorn, Andrew Jones, Jason Manly, and Fay Sirkis.  Each are incredible artists creating jaw-dropping work.

If the work wasn’t enough, my eyes widened when I saw the Wacom tablet belonging to Andrew Jones (shown above standing).  He added a guitar strap to his tablet, and he modified it to musically respond to his pen stylus stroke.  He does digital live paintings at concerts (he also has, among other things, worked for George Lucas at Industrial Light and Magic and has his art is on the cover of Corel Painter X).

Each artist shared how they got involved in working in a digital media, what trends they see, and they addressed the misconception that digital art isn’t real art.  That discussion focused on how we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift and how with each shift comes questions and doubt from others.  Bruce discussed how traditional galleries have always been behind the times when showing artwork.  Faye gave a quick but fascinating overview of art throughout various stages in history and how technology played a role in the tools used for the creation of art.   She explained, for example, how Vermeer (born 1632) used a “camera obscura,” a lens-like device that helped produce perspective.  The chain of events continued to today’s use of digital tools.

They weren’t suggesting that traditional media is going away, but rather than there is a powerful array of digital tools that artists can use.  And, just because you have digital tools doesn’t mean you are instantly an artist.  They weren’t talking about using various filter recipes to create one look or another look, they were talking about using the tools as a way to further your passion and to authentically create — no different than using a charcoal or a machine stitch.

I was absolutely awestruck by the artwork they shared, and I left the session feeling very energized and very good that my work is taking the direction it is.  It is exciting to witness how digital technology is changing our world and how we incorporate it into our artwork.

Tomorrow is the last day of the show … more to follow …

Another day at MacWorld.  I took three sessions.  The first was from Ben Chen, a photographer from Southern California, on “DVD montage on the go.”  It focused on creating a “live DVD” primarily for wedding photography.  He spoke about the need for an excellent digital assistant who would be one step behind the photographer.  Once the photographer was finished in one area, for example, shooting the bride getting ready, the assistant would collect those cards, import the photos into the computer, and begin sorting them.  The goal was at the end of the night there would be a DVD to present at the reception.  Part of the class covered workflow, preparing things ahead of time – such as the music and graphics – and so on. While this isn’t for me, there was one tidbit of information I found extremely useful:  The issue of music and copyright.  Obviously using someone’s music is a copyright violation. But, get this: If you publish something with YouTube using a particularly piece of music, you immediately get an email from them stating that you are using so and so’s piece of copyrighted music. Then it extends permission to use this music.  In turn, you allow others to view and republish your video clip.  This is under something called “Universal Music Group and YouTube Forge Strategic Partnership” which came into effect October 2006.   Thus, if you first publish on YouTube, you can then republish on your website without fear of copyright infringement.  Excellent to know!

I took a session with Derrick Story on working more efficiently in Photoshop CS4.  It was geared to photographers, with tips on importing, sorting, cataloging, correcting (if needed), and, eventually working in Photoshop, if needed.  Another words, it took full advantage of Camera Raw and Bridge.  I’m fluent with both so this session was much better suited for my needs.  A great thing to learn in this was that metadata (copyright information) is no longer stripped in the Save for Web function.

On the show floor, many others were giving shorter sessions.  Bert Monroy, was at the Peachpit booth.  I’ve taken many classes with him over the years and highly recommend him.  He does the most incredible artwork using Photoshop and Illustrator as his tools.  He’s light years ahead of anything I’m capable of, but he is incredibly inspiring.

I then took a session with Rick Smolan, Harold David, Derrick Story, and Amit Gupta.  It was the best session of the bunch, covering “the state of the art of digital photography” with each speaker talking about his take on things.  Rick Smolan (that’s him on the left – bad photo, I know) spoke about his “Day in the Life” series of books.  He approached some 35 publishers who all turned down his idea.  Eventually a publisher accepted his idea, and some several million copies later, the series continues.

Derrick Story talked about various hardware.  Many people often ask what’s a good small camera to use rather for those times when you don’t want to carry around a heavy DSLR. He answered:  The Canon G9, the Canon G10, and the Panasonic LX3.  They shoot RAW, decent video,and  each has a good lens.  The caveat is that the ISO shouldn’t go over 400 because of excess noise.  Good to know.

Harold Davis talked about trends.  He sees two: The ISO in DSLRs being so high that flash will no longer be used except for special effects (I’m a fan of fill flash and don’t plan on giving flash up anytime soon <g>); and photography being merged into a new art through combining digital photography and manipulation.  However, many of us quilt makers and mixed media artists already know the power of digital tools!  Amit Gupta from Photojojo talked about some of his favorite finds.  I liked the bottle cap tripod and the white balance lens cap.  Fun stuff.

In the middle of sessions, there is a huge area in the West building to relax.

Moscone at night … tomorrow is another day with more classes.  I’m particularly looking forward to another panel session with digital artists.

Today MacWorld officially opens.  This is the first year in probably some 8 years that I haven’t gotten myself up at some silly early time to stand in a long, long line waiting for Steven Jobs to deliver his keynote speech.  My decision wasn’t based on Jobs’ decision to skip this year’s show but rather because  – despite the excitement – the wait has become longer and longer over the years, meaning one needs to get up earlier and earlier.   I have seen various artists perform at the end of the shows – John Mayer twice, Randy Newman, – and I am sorry that I missed listening to Tony Bennett who performed this year.  But, so it goes!

After having a nice sleep, I arrived when the show opened.  It was crowded, but not nearly as much as I expected.  Although, again, because of being within the masses crunched in during past keynote speeches, any walking space seems unusual.

You gotta love all of those apps!

Crowds are always around the Apple theatre to learn all about the latest and greatest.  These include iLife ’09 — including  many improvements  such as face recognition in iPhoto (don’t care about), music lessons in GarageBank (very cool), and video stabilization in iMovie — and improvements to iWork ’09.  Great news to music lovers is the “new standard” on iTunes – DRM free music.  Then there is the release of the 17″ MacBook Pro, called “the most powerful Mac notebook ever” with a battery boasting 8 hours of use on a single charge.  You can learn all about these things by visiting Apple’s website.

More tomorrow …

Back at the Moscone Center, Derry and I picked up our various conference materials, downloaded the show catalog onto our respective iPods to schedule what we’re doing when, talked with various people, had a late lunch, and then ventured out into the City to wander around and take photos.

I love this statue, with its three hands and multiple feet.  I took several photos of it.  This should work its way into something I do — collaged in, I suspect.

At San Francisco MOMA.

A building on the walk to the Moscone (it’s a mostly gray-sky day).

Closer.

Even with the gray day, there is plenty of color.

We walked to the Ferry Building and took pictures of the Bay Bridge.  My favorite was taken across the street, with the bridge in reflection within another reflection of the metal sculpture near the Embarcadero.

Because the weather wasn’t the best, we decided to walk around the Embarcadero.

There are all types of interesting angles, buildings, and lighting nearly everywhere I looked.

The rainy evening continues.

Taken from inside the Embarcadero.  Using a long zoom the picture picked up a lot of blue which was fine by me.

I’ve been playing around a lot with this image.  I’m hoping it finds its way into a new piece.

There’s a fabulous tiled floor and spiral staircases.  I took plenty photos of both, something else that may end up in a quilt or digital art piece of some kind.

We took the cable car back.  Look at the steepness of those hills!

Tomorrow is the keynote and the show officially begins!

Derry and I have arrived in San Francisco to attend MacWorld.  It’s our yearly trek and we tend to arrive earlier than the show’s start because of better airfare rates.  These photos are nothing great, just some snapshots of the start of our journey.

After our long flight, we’ve arrived.  It was an excellent flight, and we watched several episodes of a UK series called “Survivors” on the iPod.

It was a clear evening.

Making our trek to the Moscone Center.

2009.  Still surprises me.  When I saw first saw the signs my thought was “2009?  Aren’t they jumping the gun a bit advertising for next year.”  Than, daaaa … I realized it IS 2009.

Since it’s on the way back …

There were beautiful holiday decorations in the shopping center.

The ceiling.

With the weather in the 50s and clear, we decided to walk …

and walk …

and walk …

and walk.  The hills are always such a workout!

There was a blimp hovering about, but I found this creepy.

What goes up …

(some Photoshop effects)

Must go down.

Eventually we made it to the Wharf area where we had to eat at an In-N-Out, a burger place that I love.  I wish this chain would open in NJ, namely within a brief driving distance (walking would be better yet)  from my home.

After all of that walking, it was time to take the cable car back up to our suites in the Nob Hill area.

It’s out of focus, but I did take it from a moving cable car.

Tomorrow we’re off to the show.

Another January, another MacWorld in San Francisco.
Here are some of the highlights …

One of the beautiful views from the plane window.

Arriving in the San Francisco area.

The Golden Gate Bridge is way out there on the horizon.
It was a beautiful, peaceful sunset.
This image looked better to me cropped.

Beautiful downtown San Francisco

San Francisco’s MOMA

We waited in a crazy long line to listen to
Steve Jobs give his keynote speech.

It’s crazy crowded to the point it’s has to be some kind of hazard.

A bunch of Macintosh fanatics. <g>

After the keynote and into the show.

Derry with the latest, the MacBook Air. It’s very sleek, very slim, very cool. Yet I don’t see it in my future any time soon. I need lots of ports to connect lots of things. The word is that the MacBook Pro will be upgraded at the end of February.

I had to get my hands on one, too. I love the keyboard. My fingernails always manage to scrap the letters off the the MacBook Pro keyboards. The Mac Air keyboard seems to be nail proof.

A bit crowded.

David Pogue in action.

Back in town … reflections

Our First Amendment rights in action.

It’s Mac party time.

Back on Powell Street.

Down at the Pier

Enjoying the sunset …

I love the Golden Gate Bridge. This is one of many I’ve taken of the bridge.
Not the best, not the worst. One day, I’ll post more, including our walk across it.