Making ‘Fairy Tales’
This time round, I tried to take more screenshots
Getting the different pieces:
I had this from a trip to the Etosha National Park earlier this year:
Plus some stock-photography:
Masking and positioning
There are different ways you can get this step done. You could use the pen-tool too for example. I just chose to brush out parts I didn't need.
Preparing the background
Converted the image to black & white:
Added some clouds - just because I can 
And came up with this...
Putting it together
This was the hardest step really. I try to re-draw light in the image and try to draw the attention of the viewer to certain areas of the picture
The mask resulted in some hard-edges, so I gaussian blurred it a little
Added noise:
And gave it a cyan-tint
Some magic
I used a couple of brushes to make this
The final image
And a little bit of tweaking later...
Surrealism “Propaganda”
I had this idea for a couple of days and finally decided to do it yesterday. This was the process (very very roughly)
Step 1: Getting the initial photos
This is the embarassing part. You'll look silly almost no matter what - trying to get a self-portrait in a suitable position that you envision. A camera on tripod, remote control and bounce-flash later though (thanks, I like my bedsheets too):
Got some stock-photography from Pierre on DeviantArt
Step 2: Putting the 2 together
I had to give the photo a bit more room at the top, so I photoshopped some more wall there. With composites, sometimes I'll mask out the individual parts as precisely as I can initially and save the respective masks in my channels. In this case, I put them together first and then masked it all together. I think that's a mistake and I should have masked the subject first (me) then masked the television. Could have saved myself quite a bit of time afterwards.
Step 3: Magic
OK, so I skipped a lot of steps - my bad - I didn't take any screenshots. I was too busy wondering "how the hell am I going to get this to blend". I guess there's always a point in these highly-processed photos where I say "I should stop right now, this is just not working", but I keep on going because it's taken so much effort already. Eventually, there's a point where I say "oh, I might have something here". I suppose that makes it all the more rewarding in the end.
I use a lot of different filters and textures and try to burn-and-dodge a lot.
Step 4: Colouring and painting light
I hate masking and I love "painting-light" and manipulating it. I think that if I actually loved masking, I could have some really amazing work.
At this point, I also did a bit of liquifying and stretched/distorted parts of the photo.
Almost 3 hours later, this was the final shot:
Canon releases 40D Firmware-update
You can download the firmware here - EOS 40D Firmware Update Version 1.1.1
- Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera’s LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient.
- Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes an Err 06 Self Cleaning Sensor malfunction to appear on the camera’s LCD monitor and LCD data panel, even when the Self Cleaning Sensor Unit is operating normally. This message may appear depending on the timing of when the camera is switch to the ON position.
- Fixes a malfunction that prevents correct colors from being printed when direct printing. RAW images captured using the camera’s custom Picture Styles (Emerald, etc.), which have been downloaded from Canon’s Web site and registered under User Def. 2 or User Def. 3.
- Modifies the level of subject brightness that causes the AF-assist beam to fire when using an external Speedlite.
- Enables an external flash connected to the camera’s synchro terminal to fire even when the camera’s built-in flash is popped up.
- Version 1.1.1 firmware is for EOS 40D cameras with firmware up to Version 1.1.0. If the camera’s firmware is already Version 1.1.1, it is not necessary to update the firmware.
Photo Retouching – Before and After
Below is a before-and-after comparison of a photo I've been working on retouching:
Took me almost an hour and a half to do, but it was completely worth it in the end.
Will post the photo to Flickr later on today.
UPDATE:
Finding new photos on Flickr (almost effortlessly)
There are multiple ways of finding/exploring/discovering new great photos on Flickr - joining interesting groups, adding tons of contacts, or visiting Flickr-Explore.
I feel like Flickr-Explore has the same people in it all the time (with exceptions here-and-there). Basically, if you're a Flickr celebrity and have a couple thousand people following your photos, you stand a good chance of getting a photo of your "cute" cat or a "artistic" white-wall on Explore.
There are lots of little-known users that have great photos. One way I try to find these people is by looking at what people are "Fave"-ing. You can dig even deeper by picking a couple of those faves, then looking at their personal faves, and so-on.
While doing this the other day, I noticed that Flickr allows you to subscribe to someone's fave-feed. First browse to the user's favorites:
Then click on the feed link below the faves:
Next, subscribe to the feed in an RSS reader (like Google Reader, Netvibes or Outlook)
If you subscribe to a couple of these feeds, you'll have other people doing the hard-work of finding photos for you. This works especially well if you subscribe to people that are on Flickr all the time, but Fave photos relatively selectively.
Yes, it is a lazy approach - but it's just another way of making the most out of Flickr.
Getting your own paparazzo
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Using information provided earlier about their weekly routine, the photographer will arrive on the scene, and unseen, take shots of the subject. The subject will be photographed walking through the streets, going about their daily business. Without posing and artifice, the camera captures only the natural beauty of the person.”