Lost Aussie on the loose

A Day in New York City

Yesterday I tripped into the City to take care of a few things.  Of course the trusty camera came along for the ride.
Even though it was a bit chilly the Spring sunshine made for a wonderful day out and plenty of sights to see.

Here's a few to share .....

I also found time to catch the AIPAD show at the Park Avenue Armory.  It was interesting if a little on the "stodgy" side.  Mostly traditional photography and quite a lot of material that has been on show for the last 4 years that I have seen it.
I think some of the dealers could do with a little dose of "outside the box" to liven up the event.
Some good eye candy nonetheless and who am I to argue if boring sells for $45,000 per PRINT!!

We also stopped to have dinner at David Burke Townhouse before going home.  That definitely was NOT boring and would have to rate as one of the BEST meals I have EVER had in NYC.  Quite well worth several weeks of grocery money for the experience.  Totally and utterly delicious!

Today has been cold, wet and rainy on Long Island.  Perfect for a bunch of DIY and clean-up chores before we host and open house tomorrow.

Yep .... it's all GO!

A Little Update

"faces of eve"
Marie Otero © 2012

I know many of you are anxiously awaiting news of the next Online Class and rest assured it's on the way.  A small hiccup - as life is often want to offer in that DH has a new job and one that puts us just a tad too far away for him to commute each day.  Upshot is that as of this week our house is on the market and a move to Connecticut (or thereabouts)  is in our future.

Needless to say it adds a few more chores and things to be done - apart from photoshopping and preparing class.  So I do apologise if I am not being as timely and efficient as usual!

Hopefully you can bear with me as we chug through this transition.  I do hope to post the class details this weekend and still plan to start class around the 20th of April, 2012!!!

hugs a bunch

A Little Digital Collage

I snapped a bunch of pictures in various museums over the weekend in DC and cobbled three of them together in Photoshop for a little fun and capped the layering off with a lovely texture (pdpa FABrique texture).  Thanks for that Bonnie.

I'll be posting a tutorial on how I made the image over at LoveToPhotoshop tomorrow.

The Sketchbook Project - Update

My Sketchbook Project has now been digitized and is available for online viewing.

The easiest way to view the book is by going to the profile http://www.arthousecoop.com/users/lostaussie and then clicking on the Artwork tab.

If you take a peek, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Art Cheer

A Capitol View

I've spent the last four days soaking up conference material at Photoshop World in Washington DC.  All in all it was a fab weekend.  Some session were excellent, others rather less so but there is always a snippet or two to glean - off fellow minds as much as the presenters themselves.

In an effort to promote sales and promo events there were usually several hours each day where you could take time to walk-about DC, which I gladly did.  It rained badly only one of the days, so I strolled the National Portrait gallery to stay dry on that occassion. The rest of the days were sunny and perfect for dipping and diving in and out of the various Smithsonian buildings.

I have some great snaps of the Capitol Building, which unfortunately is presently wearing a big bandage right about her middle, even so quite stunning.

The Cherry blossoms were there, just.  The season started early and many of the trees had lost their fragrant petals and even more after the wind and rain on Saturday.  There were still a few trees to be found and photographed though.

The Washington Monument is still standing after the earthquake last year.  You can't go in and visit but it still takes a pretty picture! 
And the other two pictures are just random shots, one of a big tour bus that caught my eye and the other looking UP from a outdoor gallery at the Portrait place .... fab columns or what?

 

And  ... then a few more bits and pieces that caught my eye ...

and that ought to do it for now.

Tomorrow it's back to "work" and catching up on the long list of to-do's!

Smithsonian Inspiration

I had some great sessions at PSW today inlcuding a fab one by Joe McNally who is a gifted photographer and excellent teacher.

Completely opposed to yesterday where I cooked in 80F heat, today it was cold and rainy and wet.  A good time to check out some of the Smithsonian so inbetween class, around and about the Portrait Museum I went.

I loved the statue in the Champions gallery of this baseballer - I'm sure he's famous.  I just thought he made a great subject to paint in Photoshop!

 

Have fun and I hope your weekend is a good one! See you tomorrow!

xoxo

American Icons

Serious buildings and Cherry Blossoms always seem to epitomize Washington DC don't they?  And I was not disappointed today, I saw a little of the former and some of the latter.

The Pre-conference workshop today was a bit of a bust.  90% of the material has already been presented via various webinars on the NAPP website over the last few months and I feel rather grumpy about being diddled out of another $100.  OK if you don't pay attention to their member material, but unfair if you do.

So, I have changed strategies and will only be taking classes for my camera and photography and seek to build new learning in areas that I am not so well versed.  Speedlight here I come!

Talk to you tomorrow......

Off to here....

Tomorrow I am getting up early (ugh!!) to take the train to Washington DC where I am going to immerse myself in 4 days of Photography and Photoshop at the PSW Conference.

I'm looking forward to a full fat schedule of classes and picking up some new tips and tricks.

I'll be sure and let you know all the details when I get back....
in the meantime there's chores to be done, a bag to be packed and my camera gear to be gathered.

See you in a few days time ....

Past Their Best - Or Not?

My lovely vase of Tulips (see here) finally faded.  Reluctant to throw them away I determined that I'd wait until the last possible moment before the petals fell off to take some different photos.

Aged and frail the blooms develop a translucence that is rather nice in it's own way and I had in mind how they would look with the sun shinning through them .....

This afternoon I posed the vase in by the front door with the full afternoon sun shinning through, capturing the light (ha!) and enjoyed all the detail it exposed.

See... no reason not to keep your flowers a little longer than you might usually for they can make great art props!

A Little Photoshop Love

I'm tweaking my rather rusty video editing skills and have posted a quick tutorial over at LoveToPhotoshop.com

I so don't like editing videos on the Mac .... and have resorted back to the trusty old PC for the time being until my hair grows back and I can figure it out to my satisfaction!

:-)