Category: General Blog Post

Sale on Becoming and Artist and a Photo from Me

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, MarylandLeave a comment

Sale on Becoming An Artist – Season 1

 

If you have thought about getting the complete series and waiting for it to go on sale, well here it is.

You can now get the complete series at 30% off.

Get your copy here before the sale is gone

Click on the link to get all the details on what is included and information about the series.

 

The Color before the Storm

 

I haven’t had much of a chance to go out and take pictures recently and I have yet to process those that I have taken. This one I did get to take quickly near my home.

There was a storm rolling in with very dark and gloomy clouds right around sunset. I didn’t think we would get any sunset, but then I looked out and saw this.  Ran to get the camera and get a quick snapshot before it disappeared.

And disappear it did not long after this photo.

 

The brief sunset before the storm came through.
#becominganartist #sale #latestphoto

Things don’t always go as planned

On By Mark DoddIn Carroll County, General Blog Post, HampsteadLeave a comment

Sometimes things don’t always go as planned, but that doesn’t mean the pictures you end up with are not worth keeping.

 

Recently I went out on two different days with hope to take some breathtaking sunset photography.

On the first trip, I just wanted to get the sunset on a recently cut farmers field. This turned out to be a dud as far as my plans went. First, the sunset did not look like it was going to be that great so I didn’t head out to the location. About 10 mins after I had planned on leaving, the sun broke through the clouds and the start of a spectacular sunset was on its way.

I got into the car and rush to the location I was thinking about. Even though it was only a few miles from where I was, by the time I got there and got my camera equipment setup, the best part of the sunset had gone. I was bummed, but I was still determined to get some photos while I was there so it would not be a wasted trip.

I looked around and saw that the farmer’s combine was parked nearby and that the cab’s window was facing in the direction of what was left of the sunset. I immediately ran over and set up my tripod and started taking pictures. I usually try to do HDR photo’s which require taking a series of shots at different exposures which get combined later on my computer with Aurora HDR Pro to produce the final picture.

Here is one of the pictures I ended up capturing. It was not the red sky and the farm field that I had planned on, but I made the best of what was available to me.

 

Sunset Reflection in the cab of a combine Things don't always go as planned article
Sunset Reflection in the cab of a combine after a long day on the job.

 

This shot was a result of the HDR process by combining the 3 shots shot at -2,0,+2 exposures and using Aurora HDR Pro to process the combined shots into the final you see above.

Now on to another trip where my HDR Process failed me

Continue reading “Things don’t always go as planned” →

Aurora HDR Next Release Announced

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog PostLeave a comment

Aurora HDR 2017

Welcome to Aurora HDR 2017

 

Aurora HDR Next Release Announced today. Aurora HDR is the world’s most powerful HDR software made exclusively for Mac. If you are waiting for Aurora HDR for Windows  make sure to sign up and click the radio button for “I use PC” so you get notified of the Aurora HDR for Windows release at a future date.

 

Pre-orders for Aurora HDR 2017 will start September 14th, with the official release launch on September 29th for the Mac Version. Windows users, still sign up and get notified about Aurora HDR for Windows, it is coming, just not September 29th.

 

 Sign up Here to get notified when pre-ordering starts and any updates on the Aurora HDR 2017 release.

 

Summary of a few of the Aurora HDR 2017 Features and Improvements.

  • New Batch Processing
  • New Tools, including polarize filter and radial masking tool
  • New presets by Trey Ratcliff and other recognized pros
  • Updated tone-mapping and bracket merging technology for more realistic looking HDR images

This is just the shortlist. There will be over 20 key improvements and new features in this release.

 

Sign Up NOW to get notified of the additional features Aurora HDR 2017

 

Aurora HDR Next Release Announced Upgrades and Pricing

  • Current users of Aurora HDR Pro can upgrade to Aurora HDR 2017 at a special pre-order price of $49
  • Current users of the standard version of Aurora HDR can upgrade to Aurora HDR 2017 at a special pre-order upgrade price of $69
  • New customers can pre-order Aurora HDR 2017 for $89
  • Pre-order customers will also receive special bonuses that and announced soon. As soon as I”m notified of what they are I’ll post it here.

 

Sign up Here to get notified when pre-ordering starts and any updates on the Aurora HDR 2017 release.

 

#AuroraHDR #AuroraHDR2017 #AuroraHDRPro #AuroraHDRProUpgrade #AuroraHDRUpgrade #NewRelease #nextreleaseofAuroraHDR #Macphun #AuroraHDRWindows

 

Some Photography Slang

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog PostLeave a comment

Photography slang that you may already know or should know.

 

I’m not much on acronyms or slang but I found the following article interesting and even a little amusing so I though I would share. Hope is either informative or gives you a smile at what some of them mean.

 

Click here to see the 10 slang words every photographer should know

 

Recently I’ve found myself having writers block or not able to think of a good subject to write about during the week. So I’ve decided that I will share some things that I’ve found that I think you might enjoy or benefit from. I’m far from an expert on everything related to photography, so if I find a site or article that I either benefited from or I think you could benefit from I’ll create a post and include a link to it.

Happy 4th of July

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog PostLeave a comment

Happy 4th of July to Everyone.

I hope you have a good day and get out there and get some great shots of the fireworks in your area.

And just a reminder, the

Macphuns' Shooting Fireworks Bundle

is still available to help you out with improving those fireworks shots that you will get or  just got.

 

Getting a website created and online in no time with Bluehost

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, Reviews, TutorialsLeave a comment

So you are thinking of creating a website and not sure where to go and how long it will take, I have a quick and easy solution for you with Bluehost, my hosting provider.

These days I think everyone is in the website hosting business and there are many providers you can choose from, but I know Bluehost can can get your website up and online in no time.

Wither you are a techie and like to do everything yourself or someone who just wants to get online and not worry about the details, Bluehost has solutions for you.

So how do you get started…

Before you even go to Bluehost, I would recommend that you do a little pre planning.

Things to think about:

  1. Your domain name. Come up with a list of domain names that you might want to use. I would come up with at least 3 and order them in preferred order. There is always a chance that the name you want is already taken so you want to have your 2nd and 3rd choices ready to go.
  2. Think about the type of site you want to have. This is anything from a blog to a just a e-commerce store. Bluehost has options for any type of site that you want and I believe WordPress can accommodate most types, but if you need a specialized type of site, they have various options for those as well.
  3. Know you budget. Like every hosting site there are a ton of options from the low-end shared hosting to dedicated servers just for you site. You can always start at the shared hosting option and move up the options list to the dedicated server as needed. Also, you can get more for your money using the introductory pricing if you get multiple years of service up front. This is what I did and it has saved me a lot over my initial sign-up period
  4. Think about your content. This mainly comes in for the Basic and Plus shared hosting options as there is a limit on server space. If you site is going to be heavy on images or videos that are stored on your site you may have to go with the Pro shared site option to start as it has unmetered storage space

Knowing these things will help you deciding which of the multitude of services that Bluehost can offer that you will need to start with.

Now that you have done your pre-planned. Lets go through the steps of getting you online and up in running.

Continue reading “Getting a website created and online in no time with Bluehost” →

Get Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC

On By Mark DoddIn Current Offers/Promotions, General Blog PostLeave a comment

Adobe has a special Creative Cloud set just for photographers for just $9.99/month

So to get Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC click on the image below.

 

Adobe_PSLR_Affiliate_Bnnr_728x90_r1

 

They do offer Educational pricing on the full Creative Cloud set of applications, but for Photography Creative Cloud the pricing is the same for everyone. If you are interested in the full Creative Cloud set of applications, click the image above, then click on the Student and Teachers tab to see how to get All the Apps at Educational pricing.

The Creative Cloud subscriptions include all application updates as long as your subscription is active.

#lightroom #photoshop #PhotographyCC #Adobe #CreativeCloud

 

Review of Becoming An Artist Season 1

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, ReviewsLeave a comment

Becoming An Artist Season 1 with Trey Ratcliff of StuckinCustoms.com

Preface

First I must say I do my best to be unbiased in all my reviews, but in this case I must disclose that I’ve been following Trey Ratcliff for years and as such I”m am a big fan so this review might be a little unintentionally biased. I’ve followed him for so long that I seen changes in his website, changes in his photography equipment, and the ever evolving changes and improvements in his photography. I’ve seen him go from a one person show to a multi artist show, to a worldwide show, and now to Facebook live. I’ve seen his business constantly expanding with new and exciting products and adventures. I also had the pleasure of meeting him in person on a photo walk he and the Stuck in Customs crew did last year in Philadelphia and Washington DC. If you want to see what that was like visit tour.treyratcliff.com

That said, let’s get to the review.

Becoming an Artist Series 1 is comprised of 15 episodes. Each episode is about 30 mins long and divided into two sections. In the first section of each episode you hear Trey tell personal stories such as a bit of his life history, how he became a photographer in his 30’s, and some of the things that inspire him in his photography and art. I believe he does this to give you a sense of where he’s coming from, how he sees the world, and what affects this has on his photography. There is some dialog just about art in general and how other art can help influence or inspire your photography. He will discuss the picture(s) he is taking at that time, why he choose to take that picture, and some tips about the picture including composition, color, light, and inspiration.

In the second section of each episode you get transported to Trey’s Studio in Queenstown New Zealand, where he will show you his editing techniques on some of the photos he took during the previous section using various tools from PhotoMatix, Lightroom,  Photoshop, and other tools like Autopano Giga for his panorama’s. He shows you basic techniques up to some very advanced techniques.

Episodes have interesting titles like

  • Episode 1 – The Accidental Creation of Me
  • Episode 6 – Writing a Failed Novel
  • Episode 10 – A Reccy to Chernobyl
  • Episode 14 – A Street Fight in Morocco

So you can see this is not your typical tutorial series.

This series was created before Aurora HDR came out, so for this season he doesn’t use his new tool, Aurora HDR Pro, which he co-developed with Macphun software.

In addition to the video series Trey has created a Facebook group “Becoming and Artist – Trey Ratcliff’s Funky Lounge” where you can post your own work and interact with fellow artists.

Continue reading “Review of Becoming An Artist Season 1” →

For my Aurora HDR fans, New Presets for Aurora HDR Pro from Trey

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog PostLeave a comment

For my Aurora HDR fans, the co-creator of Aurora HDR, Trey Ratcliff, has just release a new addition to the program.

Trey’s Expansion Preset Pack for Aurora HDR 2017

The expansion pack includes 25 Presets, 2 Tutorial Videos, and 20 Sample Images that you can use to practice with Aurora HDR 2017 and his new presets.

You can get this expansion pack from

The Expansion Pack at the Stuck in Customs Store

Dont’ forget you can get 10% off of most products at the Stuck in Customs store using the Coupon Code: MDP10. Since this product was just released I’m not sure if the code works yet for this product, but it is good for many of the other items in the Stuck in Customs store. Best advise is to pick what you would like, add it to your cart, and enter the Coupon Code: MDP10 and the site will let you know.

 

Here is his quick tutorial/intro to the Expansion pack.

 

If the video doesn’t load for some reason, click The Expansion Pack at the Stuck in Customs Store and the video is in the Product Description.

The expansion pack is only available from Stuck in Customs.

#AuroraHDR2017 #AuroraHDR2017ExpansionPack #Aurora2017ExpansionPack #StuckinCustoms #Addons #Presets

 

Maryland Preakness Hot Air Balloon Festival

On By Mark DoddIn General Blog Post, Preakness, Turf Valley1 Comment

A recent purchase of a 30.000″ x 13.750″ print of Balloon Glow by a buyer from Baltimore, MD reminded me that the Maryland Preakness Hot Air Balloon Festival is just around the corner.

First, I want to thank them for their purchase and I’m always grateful to anyone for purchasing my work.

The above picture is the one they selected. A wide shot of the Balloon Glow that they hold on 2 nights of the festival.

If you have never been to the Preakness Hot Air Balloon Festival I would recommend going. It is a fun event and is family-friendly. You can get Balloon rides and walk inside one of the balloons.  If you can only go one day, I would go on one of the days that they do the Balloon Glow, pictured above. It is rather amazing to see all the Balloons lit up. Be aware that when they are all firing their flames to illuminate their balloon it is rather loud

Here is a small selection of photographs I’ve taken at this festival in earlier years.

For details about the event, Visit The Preakness® Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival Page

#preakness #Balloon #festival #hotairballoon