How’s things?

Well we’re back home now after spending a superb weeks holiday down in Devon looking after our friends farm; such good fun.

So now it’s time to hit the ground running and get on with a busy time ahead but to start the week off I thought I’d share some photos from our time away; funny thing is, despite taking a load of kit with me 99% of all the photos I took were taken using my iPhone…

iPhone Photo

Throughout the week we’d been getting up early to tend to all the animals and I’d been meaning to get up extra early to take some photos because seeing the day start is something real special in Devon. It wasn’t actually until the last morning of our stay that I set the alarm for 4.30am and ventured out to photograph the Swan nesting on the island in the middle of the lake. The photograph above was taken using my iPhone whilst I sat on a bench warming up waiting for some of the mist to clear.

iPhone Photo

The panorama above showing some of the farm land was taken using the 360 App for iPhone. I posted a walk through of how it was done last week; you can check it out here [Link]

Just some of the new friends we got to hang out with during the week…

iPhone Photo

I figured after spending years of doing strict diets during my Bodybuilding days I’m allowed a little treat (or two) now…yeah I know…I’m rationalising but hey…it was bloomin’ delicious

• Cream Tea from The Captains Cabin, Beer
• Scotch Egg; in fact all the food at The George Inn, Chideock (Pub & Restaurant): Just over the border in Dorset but the best food around and great price too!
• Cheese from River Cottage Canteen, Axminster

iPhone Photo

Normally when we venture down to Devon we drop in to nearby Lyme Regis and this time was no exception…it’s kind of become a ritual but it’s such a beautiful place. If you’ve never been there it’s a must.

Bit of trivia for you…Lyme Regis is where they filmed The French Lieutenants Woman. Oh and they do the best chips (ok I admit it…they were another treat)

iPhone Photo

This shot of Merryck was again taken using my iPhone after a walk and swim in the lake, and I posted a look at how it was edited using Snapseed and Photoshop CS6 last week which you can see here [Link]

iPhone Photo

Feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have such wonderful friends in Keith & Bridget…

Oh and here’s the nesting Swan I mentioned about at the start; definitely made getting up at 4.30am worth it just to sit and watch (One of the rare shots whilst away taken with my DSLR)…

So there you go…our week away in Devon on Spillers Farm which went by far too quickly, but hey looking on the positive side of things that just means we have the the next visit to look forward to and then of course there’s the time when we relocate

That’s all from me for today so whatever you’re up to have a good one and  I’ll see you back here tomorrow,

Enjoy

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Spillers Farm: Working smallholding, Bed &  Breakfast, Self Catering Cottage and Tea Rooms [Link]

Yesterday I posted a picture taken with my iPhone on Facebook and someone commented that it looked like an oil painting; unsurprisingly this made me think of the new Oil Paint Filter in Photoshop CS6. You see the picture I originally posted hadn’t had this new filter applied so what better time to give it a whirl huh

So, here’s the original picture which was taken with my iPhone and then edited in Snapseed:

For those of you who use Snapseed, to give the picture this look I used: DETAILS to add Sharpening & Structure followed by VINTAGE Style #5

Anyway, following the comment on Facebook I then opened the picture in Photoshop CS6 and ran the Oil Paint Filter:

Click the picture to enlarge

The Oil Paint Filter is one of those filters I think I’m going to be experimenting with quite alot. Regular readers of this site will know that I like to add what I call the Cartoon Look to my images (only those I think it would suit mind you) but I’m also really liking the looks you can get with this new filter especially when experimenting with Blend Modes; I’ll keep you posted with some of the results.

Tip: As always when you’re using a filter where possible apply it as a Smart Filter for the flexibility and room for error it affords otherwise apply it to a duplicate layer and just use the opacity to control how much of the filter shows through.

Here then is the final image which I have added a frame to using the OnOne PhotoFrame 4.6 Plug In and adapted slightly:

Click the picture to enlarge

Ok that’s all from me for today so whatever you’re up to have a good one, and as always if you have any questions or comments then please feel free to make use of the comments section below, but in the mean time,

Enjoy

>Hey just a thought but if I take and edit a picture with my phone does that make it ‘Out of Phone’?

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Well to say we’re having a great time down in Sunny Devon would be an understatement. It’s kind of funny how despite not being from here how it feels like we’ve come home when we visit.

Anyway today I just wanted to touch on taking photos with my iPhone, or to be more specific…shooting panoramas on my iPhone.

You see the other day Terry White reviewed the 360 App over on his Best App Site [Link] and literally raved about the results it gave when shooting 360° Panoramas, so as is usually the case once I read one of Terry’s reviews I downloaded it from the App store and gave it a go. In short…WOW! It’s so incredibly easy to use and does a superb job of stitching the panorama together:

At this point all you’d need to do is to crop the photo so that all the blank areas are removed and you’d be finished BUT here’s where Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill comes in really handy:

Step 1: Open the Panorama in Photoshop and Duplicate It (CMD/CTRL + J)

Step 2: Select all the blank areas in the lower portion of the Panorama (I used the Lasso Tool)

Step 3: Fill the blank areas by choosing EDIT > FILL > CONTENT AWARE

To finish off the picture I made a rough selection of the blank areas in the top half of picture, again used Content Aware Fill and the picture was finished…a process that took all of 60 seconds!

You know it seems that each and every time we come away for a break I always bring my camera kit with me but invariably end up taking the majority of photos using my iPhone. But to be honest with you I’m pretty cool with that because I’ve still taken pictures and as the saying goes ‘The Best Camera is one you have with you” right?

Cameras on mobile phones are getting better all the time and although they’ll never (did I really say never?) take over our DSLR’s they do produce more than acceptable results for day to day photos and sure as eggs are eggs, the quality will continue to improve; I did see a guy yesterday though taking a picture using his iPad and very nearly drop it so I think I’ll give that a miss

Right, we’re off to spend some time in one of my fave places today (Lyme Regis) so I’ll bid you farewell for now and hope that whatever you’re up to you have a good one,

Enjoy

*360 App in iTunes [Link]
*Price: £0.69 (Available for both iPhone and iPad)

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Today I want to mention about some Apps that I use on a daily basis that help me in all kinds of ways from helping me to be more organised to showing my portfolio.

Being an Apple user the Apps I’m talking about here are for use on the iPad and iPhone however they may well be available on other devices (I haven’t checked). Saying that though there are a couple in the list that are also website based making them available to everyone, so here goes…

#1 TeuxDeux
Up until now for getting myself organised I’ve been using the ToDo App [Link] on my iPad and that’s worked great but despite my best efforts I still found myself using sticky pieces of paper to leave notes and reminders all over the place. However I’m now using the TeuxDeux which started off as a website based application and now has an accompanying iPhone App; you can use it on the iPad but it means pressing the 2x button to enlarge it.

For me TeuxDeux is near enough perfect. Sure there are some additions I’d like to see that are already in the ToDo App [Link] such as where you can set a ‘task’ to repeat on a daily basis. I used this in ToDo for reminding me about doing such things as 30 minutes of Photoshop Study and 30 minutes of Reading each day so that once I’d done it , I’d tick it off the list and it would automatically add it to the next day… and so on. I’m sure over time TeuxDeux will add more and more functionality but even now for me it’s helping enormously.

Here’s a promo video from the makers of TeuxDeux:

Teux Deux Website [Link]
Teux Deux in iTunes [Link]
Price (for App): £1.99

#2 Reeder
Part of my daily routine is to check a large number of blogs each and every morning…kind of like my morning paper

Sure there are loads of RSS Reader App’s out there and to be honest I think I’ve tried most, but the one I’m happiest with because of it’s simplistic layout is Reeder. Not much more I can say about this other than it does exactly what it’s supposed to…no fuss and no hiccups

Reeder App in iTunes [Link]
Price: £2.99

#3 1Password
It seems like everything needs to have a password these days and despite my best efforts I do (make that ‘did’) find keeping track of them all a bit of a nightmare. I used to keep a little notebook with all the usernames and passwords I’d set up but quickly realised that wasn’t the most secure way to keep a record.

Anyway my password and username nightmares are no more thanks to 1Password. I seriously couldn’t be happier with this App which keeps an encrypted record of all your usernames and passwords in a secure vault which can be accessed from your computer or device but not only that it backs up to Dropbox so that whatever you use it on is in sync.

1Password is available for Mac, Windows, iPhone/iPod, iPad and Android.

1Password in iTunes [Link]
Price: £10.49

#4 Photo Manager Pro
I’ve tried so many different Apps on my iPad for showing my Portfolio, and sure there are some great ones out there but for now at least, I’ve settled for Photo Manager Pro.

Simple in it’s design and layout and with the ability to create numerous albums and arrange photos in any order Photo Manager Pro does everything I feel I need at the moment. Sure it doesn’t allow the user to add any branding as other Apps do such as Portfolio [Link] but at the moment that’s not something I’m all that concerned about.

Photo Manager Pro in iTunes [Link]
Price: £1.99

#5 Kindle
Apart from buying books written by friends or ones that I want to keep for best, I can’t remember the last time I bought a physical book off the Amazon book store.

The ability to take all my books everywhere I go and all in one small device for me is a no brainer. I know there are folks who still like the idea of holding an actual book and that I totally understand but I just love the ability to read or refer to any of my books no matter where I am, plus by using other Apps being able to read my magazines, I totally embrace the digital book revolution

kindle App in iTunes [Link]
Price: Free

•     •     •

So there you have it…5 Apps that I can’t live without. To be honest there’s actually more I could have mentioned such as Chronicle [Link] but I thought for now I’d restrict it to 5…but what about you? Do you have any Apps that you use on a day to day basis that now you do, you actually wonder how you managed without them?

Why not share the names of some of Apps you get alot of use out of so we can all check them out so please feel free to make use of the comments section below. Maybe you’ve tried some of the Apps I’ve mentioned above and didn’t really get on with them…but why was that? Maybe you could recommend some alternatives?

As always if you have any questions or comments then again, feel free to make use of the comments section below but in the mean time,

Enjoy

 •     •     •

Ok so today I’m posting about my soon to be released iPhone App Frizoo. We’re getting really close to a release date now, in fact so close we can smell it, but before it’s released into every App Store across the world I’m asking for your help…

I’m looking for a number of people who would like to test and review what should now be the final release version of Frizoo; an app which I believe has been designed to be used by anyone regardless of age, profession, etc…

So if you’d like to help out and get hold of a copy of Frizoo before it’s officially released all I ask is that you are active on social media, have your own blog (although that’s not entirely essential) but also that you head on over and ‘Like’ the official Frizoo Facebook Page. Drop me an email to: glyn@glyndewis.com and just let me know whereabouts you’re based in the world and any links you want to share.

I’m looking for 25 reviewers/testers in total so those who receive the app will do so in an email along with details about the App including the background, what it is, what it does etc…

Thanks for your help folks and I’ll catch you soon,
Enjoy

• • •

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Now I did intend to post a complete walk-through of the recent soldier composite ‘Homeward Bound‘ today but to be honest a couple of things i needed to do have taken longer than expected and I’ve not had time. But…I will be posting it on Monday and will cover the complete lighting set up and walk-through each of the editing stages.

In the meantime though there was just a couple of things I wanted to mention…

Are you Mobile?
For about the last 2 years I’ve had a WordPress blog designed and set up using ProPhoto Blogs which I have to admit are a dream to work with, easy to use and darned good price too.

In this past week they’ve introduced quite a major upgrade to their software and as well as all the other bells and whistles they’ve now introduced one thing I’ve quickly fallen in love and that’s the ability to customise how your blog/site appears on mobile devices such as iPhone, iPads, Android etc…Whereas before the mobile version worked it was just a little on the dull side to be honest but this latest upgrade allows you to really customise the look and feel plus the new way that it deals with images means pages loads that much quicker…

Anyway on this subject checking Google Analytics lately I’m noticing that more and more visitors to the blog are doing so from mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Android; in fact proportionally more than I anticipated. Clearly making your blog/site look good and easy to navigate on mobile devices is important and as we move on into 2012 and beyond clearly it’s going to become even more so.

But what about you…Are you mobile ready? and if you are, are you noticing this same trend from your visitors?

Shout out to my mate Dave
On a completely different subject I just wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to my mate Dave Clayton affectionately known as Lord Jollybottom; the UK NAPP Evangelist, Designer extraordinaire and darned fine fellow!

Having now introduced a series of workshops and with a few other projects on the go such as putting a book together Dave has been the ‘Go to Guy’ for all my design work. I don’t quite know how he does it but no sooner have I discussed a concept with him, he’s come up with a draft which each and every time never fails to blow me away…

So keeping it short and sweet this is to say a huge THANK YOU to Dave for everything; an incredibly talented designer, a great friend and a nicer more genuine bloke you couldn’t wish to meet! Cheers Buddy

That’s all for now folks, so have a great weekend and I’ll see you here in a few days time,
Enjoy

•     •     •

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Those of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter and/or Google+ will know that I’m in the middle of having an iPhone App built. Originally called ‘Smee’ but now with a new name of ‘Frizoo‘ I’ve not actually publicised yet what the App does or indeed who it’s targeted at. Well, although today I can’t actually tell you what the App does, and believe me there is good reason for this, I can tell what it isn’t having had a number of pleas requests to tell more…

What it isn’t:

• About me or my business
• A ‘Training’ App
• A Game
• A ‘Business’ App
• Targetted at a specific group of people i.e. the App is for anyone and everyone (Adults, Kids, Business Folk, Non-Business Folk etc…)

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes and I have to send out a HUGE thanks to Alex from Analysis21 Ltd [Link] who are designing and building the App and doing an incredible job too; geez I thought I put the hours in but these guys are unstoppable and not forgetting to mention their Customer Service which has blown me away! Seriously folks if you’ve ever thought about having a mobile App built then go speak to these guys! [Link]

Anyway, back to the main reason for this post…

I’ve created a Facebook Page for the Frizoo app and that’s where I’m going to be posting regular updates on how the App is coming along, expected release date, pricing and so on, so if you’re a Facebook user why not head over to the page, click the ‘Like‘ button and keep up to date with the progress: [Link]

I’m kind of anticipating a release date sometime in October once the website has been put together along with a video and of course the testing has been done. Talking of ‘testing’ I’ll be looking for a number of people to be Beta Testers so if this is something you’d like to become involved in, feel free to make it known in the comments section below.

Right that’s all I have for today so thanks a lot for stopping by and lending me your ears for a few minutes,
Enjoy

• • •

Frizoo on Facebook [Link]
Frizoo on Twitter [Link]

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For those of you who are regular followers of this blog, I think it’d be fair to say that when it comes to artistic flair, my lighting diagrams are..ahem…’interesting’ to say the least; sure they get the information across but I’ll certainly not win any awards for my drawing skills

I asked folks a while back on Twitter if I should keep them as they are or if I should look to using some of the lighting diagram utilities that are out there, which at the time were mainly for use in Photoshop. The response was mixed..some saying that I should keep drawing them as they are because they add personality to the posts and some saying I should use the ‘corporate’ style ones…

Anyway, there’s been a lot of developments lately in the Lighting Diagram department, particularly as Apps for the iPhone and iPad and one that’s really caught my attention is “Sylights”, which I originally saw reviewed over on Terry White’s BestApp site [Link]. One thing in particular I like about “Sylights” amongst other things is that it doesn’t have the ‘corporate’ feel of other utilities but maintains that ‘drawn’ feel…

I’ve installed “Sylights”, which incidentally is FREE, on my iPad and it’s incredibly easy to use making the process of putting a lighting diagram together both quick and fun…

Once created you can keep a library of your diagrams together and also share them via email with as much or as little information attached as you like. I could go on about this great little App and do a review but rather than do that I’m going to point you again over to Terry’s fabulous BestApp Site where he’s done exactly that [Link].

Anyway, I guess what I’m saying here is…this could well be the end of my freehand drawing career,
Enjoy

Sylights: FREE on iTunes for iPad [Link] and iPhone [Link]

>Incidentally if you have an iPhone or an iPad I highly recommend subscribing to Terry’s superb sites and making them part of your daily read … BestApp Site [Link] and Terry White’s Tech Blog [Link] for all things Gadget related; both are updated on a daily basis with Terry’s unbiased ‘hands on’ reviews and updates.

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Personalising your iPad so that you can have your own individual graphic as the Home Screen background is incredibly easy to do and takes just a couple of minutes using Photoshop…

Creating your own background
The screen on the iPad measures 1024px x 768px so you wouldn’t be wrong to think that all you need to do is create a document with those exact dimensions. However, as we know the iPad screen is able to rotate so to allow for this all we need to do is to create a new document in Photoshop measuring 1024px x 1024px as shown below (note that the Resolution is 132 ppi):

In my case once I had the right sized blank document open I then placed onto it my own graphic which just happens to be the exact same background and logo that appears across my website, this blog and all other branded material:

The only important thing to remember here if you’re placing a logo into this background is that it needs to be placed centrally so that it displays correctly in both Portrait and Landscape orientation:

Setting your new graphic as the Home Screen couldn’t be easier. Once you’ve saved this document/graphic and then synced your iPad so that it appears in your Photo Albums, all you need to do is to go to SETTINGS…BRIGHTNESS & WALLPAPER

As an added extra I also made up a graphic for the ‘Lock Screen’ which was identical all except for the text identifying who the iPad belongs to and some contact information:

There are some Apps you can get such as SecureLock that  allow you to simply select an image from your Photo Albums and then add in the text. Now this App does a great job and very quickly however there were a few things I didn’t like about it which is why I’ve gone about doing this myself in Photoshop. With SecureLock I found if I used an image from within my Photo Albums it would come up too big on the screen so quite a large portion of it would be missing and also the text fitted perfectly in ‘Portrait’ orientation, but not all of it showed up if the iPad was held in ‘Landscape’ orientation.

Right, that’s all for now so I’m going to make a move and set at reducing the Turkey Mountain that still remains,
Enjoy

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1. Friday night was Mixer Night in London Town with Zack Arias, his wife Meghan, youngest son Hawke and Studio Manager Dan. We’d managed to book the basement lounge known as Bar 43 at the superb BBar, 43 Buckingham Palace Road, London thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend if you get my meaning. Anyway as expected it was a fantastic night with a great turnout of folks from all over. Unfortunately the BBar didn’t serve Zack’s beloved ‘Newcastle Brown Ale’ so he resorted to drinking Mexican Beer, incidentally in a South African themed bar in London Town; proof I guess that London is diverse if nothing else

2. Apple have released an update to iOS4 for the iPhone (now iOS4.1) which introduced amongst a whole heap of enhancements and tweeks a built in HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography facility.

I’ve not had much time to give it a good run but here’s a couple of comparison shots from Zack’s OneLight Workshop in London this past Saturday:

Admittedly it’s not going to set the Photography world on fire nor is it anywhere near as effective as proper HDR photography using your DSLR and Photoshop (or whatever you prefer) but it does seem to produce better photographs by boosting the midtones of the image. More to come…

3. The ‘Run for Alfie‘ event has had to be postponed for approximatley 1 month due to one of the runners sustaining an injury through training. I’l keep you posted with the progress there but also on the subject of the ‘Run for Alfie’ I did intend last week to be posting the ‘walk through’ videos of the editing for the final picture.; they’ll now be posted in the next few days so be sure to check back for those.

4. The Monthly Guest Feature on the blog is going full steam ahead with a superb list of folks lined up. This month I’m really excited about an upcoming interview I have in place…not mentioning any names but what this guy from Germany (hint, hint) does with Photoshop is mind blowing

5. Finally, just for a bit of fun check out this video … ‘A World Without Photoshop’ …

That’s all for now; have a great Monday and I’ll catch up with you in the week.
Enjoy

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