Calibrate and recover a Maximum of Data

The purpose of this exercise is not to reach a final result but to prepare the image for editing and post-editing. When calibrating, we try to correct systematic shortcomings of our camera. When we edit, we try to drive a maximum of data out of our image, namely because the camera delivers jpeg files which compress away quite some data of which some can be recovered.

Once we have the best possible set of data, we can apply filters and presets with a foreseeable result.

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler

The Original

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler original

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler original

Edited Version

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler edited

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler edited

BW Version

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler edited bw

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler edited bw

Post-edited Version

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler post-edited

Photo © 2010 Ute Schaedler post-edited

Enjoy!

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke

A somewhat more difficult sample in the sense that this image is not ideal for calibrating because of the color range and because it’s zoomed (114 mm in 35 mm equivalent). The image is therefore not at maximum sharpness or detail.

However, it’s a nice bird, worthwhile to spend some time on :-).

The Original

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke as shot

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke as shot

Edited Version

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke edited

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke edited

Edited Version 2

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke edited 2

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke edited 2

Edited Version 3

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke edited 3

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke edited 3

Post-edited Version

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke post-edited

Photo © 2010 Bianca Gubalke post-edited

No comment, let the yellow bird tweet!

More later.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Destinations Expo 2010 with Monkey Valley Resort

This year’s first Travel Expo 2010 in Cape Town – the Destinations Expo 2010 – sees unique Travel and Holiday Destination Monkey Valley Resort in Noordhoek Cape Town, South Africa, well prepared with a smashing online presentation that gives visitors, travellers and holiday makers an exact insight into what kind of holiday accommodation and things to do await them for the investment of their holiday budget: paradise!

This fine digital photo by renowned New York photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner David Turnley was taken during his exclusive Photography Workshop at Monkey Valley Resort in December 2009.

Destinations Expo 2010 with Monkey Valley Resort

Find out more about the eco-friendly holiday destination just 30 minutes out of Cape Town at Destinations Expo 2010 with Monkey Valley Resort on Semiomantics Evolution!

CLICK HERE for a smashing sneak-preview on YouTube!  With slow lines, download first, then watch and listen to the beautiful music…

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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• Noordhoek Cape Town
• Destinations Expo 2010 Highlight
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• Alan Marriott at Monkey Valley Resort

Travel Expo 2010 Cape Town

Monkey Valley Resort at Travel Expo 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa!

Travel Expo 2010 Cape Town

The Travel Expo 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa – also called the “Destinations Expo” takes place from today, 19th to Sunday 22nd August 2010.

This exhibition is a major South African platform to present your Tourism business – be it a holiday resort, a lodge, Hotel, B&B or any form of Accommodation or whatever place or destination where travellers visiting can go and stay or spend a holiday -  to both Trade and Consumer… to both the local trade and the overseas and international traveller.

Monkey Valley Resort at Travel Expo 2010 in Cape Town

Monkey Valley Resort presents itself at the Travel Expo 2010 in Cape Town with a smashing new online website with a difference – get a sneak-preview on the above YouTube video in High Definition – fasten seat-belts… and be assured what you see is what you get!

This new website with a difference was created by web designer Bianca Gubalke from Noordhoek, South Africa, on Semiomantics Evolution.

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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Monkey Valley News

Monkey Valley in Noordhoek, South Africa is a unique set-up in the beautiful area of Cape Town. Environment conscientious the owners and management have forged a solid reputation in South Africa’s Eco Tourism.

Monkey Valley Resort or Retreat

For some Monkey Valley may just be a future oriented resort, for others a retreat inviting to meditation, peace of mind and harmony between man and nature.

L1040725_seagull_1200

Seagull Image by Yorgo Nestoridis

New Monkey Valley Internet Presence

Recently New Monkey Valley related websites have attracted our attention. Away from the standard aseptic mass tourism oriented  08-15 websites, we have spotted a new image of Monkey Valley reflecting the atmosphere the resort is actually offering to its visitors. Large size Photographs, rendered in Flash, clips and sounds, inspirational comments and a new eye catching presentation based on high quality photography and web design are brilliantly produced by Bianca Gubalke.

Monkey Valley Resort News Trailer

The most exciting element we noticed today is an extremely well designed Monkey Valley News Trailer also produced by Bianca Gubalke.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Pz3wPRYr8

Please comment on YouTube.

Monkey Valley New Online Image

Extremely important for those who have never had the chance of staying at Monkey Valley near Cape Town, the web presence is of the utmost importance, namely if the resort can be found on Google under the most compelling keywords, important to quality, eco oriented tourists.

The more media oriented image of the Monkey Valley Resort will surely help the resort’s promotion on social network, such as facebook!

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Facebook Online Seminar by Ycademy

The Ycademy June Seminar will focus on Facebook and its potential for individual and professional promotion. This event will take place online on June 26 and 27 at Ycademy’s online Conferencing facility.

Facebook for Website Developers and Designers

Website Development and Design aim to bring content in front of a maximum of potentially interested people. An antenna to Facebook from your site is as important as Search Engine Optimization. The conceptual integration of Authority sites, Shops or Marketing pipelines with Facebook is a must.

Goals

Build an active-passive marketing machine by taking advantage of Facebook’s popular features as well as of advanced potential offered by Facebook’s API technology.

Participants will learn how to

• increase visibility on Facebook
• tweak the Facebook set-up for Search Engine Optimization
• bring external assets into Facebook
• let Facebook promote external sites for free
• save thousands of advertising Dollars by using Facebook’s advanced features
• make Facebook pages Google and Bing efficient

Active Passive Facebook Marketing

The interaction between external websites and internal Facebook Features and Application enables users to achieve high visibility without spending every day hours on Facebook. If you are a Facebook advertiser, make sure your ads lead to a sales pipeline which inspires trust and authority: this can be achieved by integrating your sales pages and shop face into Facebook. We will show you exactly how to cut or eliminate your advertising budget by taking advantage of semantic integration of your content into Facebook.

Your Shop Face on Facebook

There are different ways to link and integrate a shop to Facebook and to profit from Facebook assets to promote products and services. Have a look at the two samples below:

Shop Face on Facebook

semiomantics_page

Best Facebook Page by Semiomantics

The four icons feature on top of the page are imported from the Semiomantics shop and link to the shop’s product sales pipeline. The page is accessible from HERE.

Full Featured Flash Website integrated with Facebook

bestfacebookpage

Best Facebook Page

The page is a combination of HTML and Flash. Access from HERE.

The two above samples demonstrate that we can virtually embed any content into Facebook and let Facebook work for us.

Semiomantics Website Development and Facebook

Semiomantics websites are traditionally designed to attract high visibility in Search Engine Environments. The power of Semiomantics can be deployed equally on Facebook since from a passive marketing point of view, Facebook constitutes a similar type of environment.

What makes Semiomantics solutions unique is the fact that Semiomantics deployments act outside and within Facebook; Semiomantics developers can therefore offer integrated solutions to customers, whereas the web development concept will include Social Network Marketing and semantically optimized solutions.

The financial advantages are obvious: site development cost will drop and the advertising budget on Facebook will decrease massively.

More Information

Please contact Bianca Gubalke at bianca(at)ycademy.com.

Seminar Registration

The Seminar is limited to 10 participants due to the importance of the workshops where we work with participants individually on their personal Facebook Marketing Machine.

All materials and licenses needed for the set-up are included.

Price: $80

Ycademy Pro Discount: $50

Please register from HERE.

Follow my blog for updates and details about the agenda as well as exciting examples.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

3D Animation follows Flash

When one studies the exciting Flash features and especially Flash Components in our Ycademy Workshops and in Adobe Flash Tutorials and Manuals, it becomes clear that knowing Flash is a good foundation when looking at 3D Animation.

From my professional background as an artist and moviemaker, it becomes more and more apparant that 3D Animation follows Flash.

Bookcover Design on Semiomantics Flash Evolution

My above Bookcover Design on Semiomantics Flash Evolution was just the first step into the direction of Flash – just click the picture for the whole show – , much more has followed in the past and I am aware that Flash is essential to enhance our Web Design and offer more value to our Customers.

This is also why Flash – especially also in combination with Semiomantics Evolution – is the topic of this month’s Ycademy Seminar that will take place this coming weekend.

Please visit WP Best eShop for more information.

3D Animation follows Flash

With the optic on “3D Animation follows Flash” or how Adobe Flash and 3D Animation are related – I will be asking the big Pro’s of Autodesk and Adobe at today’s Autodesk Launch about their professional opinion, on how the two are related even while being two totally different stand-alone disciplines, what combines them and especially where they differentiate – and how learning Flash advances us on the path to understanding 3D Animation… especially when having a fair understanding of Adobe Photoshop.

I’m sure I will be meeting with my friends from Toonboom Animation as well and get some conclusive answers.

So while the storms are hurling across the mountain range with heavy rains in their wake and workers cutting up the wood of fallen trees for the Church…, while transport strikes are still causing havoc all over the city… and on top we have to deal with destructive threats… just when we all should stand as one and welcome the world to the fairest of all Cape with its famous abundance of fresh creativity, musical vibes and talents, I’m off to share that cherished atmosphere of creative independent people of all ages, full of ideas, gifted with many accomplishments and  with big dreams… sort of an offline open-source format.

Never mind the chaos outside and around… if we have a Big Dream… it expands without limits and encompasses all that is!

I will be back with news…

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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Best Cape Town Restaurants

Best Cape Town Restaurants – a beautiful, practical and mouth-watering virtual journey through one of the most spectacular places in the Western Cape – called “Paradise on Earth” by many who visited it – is almost ready after many weeks of preparation and very intense work.

Best Cape Town Restaurants

Best Cape Town Restaurants is completely built on a very basic Semiomantics Evolution Script and only needs a reduction in size concerning the Flash Movie as 8 MB are still too big for slow connections despite encoding by the new Media Encoder on Adobe CS4. Then it needs more branding and protection of course. And we want to copy it onto a CD to wipe out any connectivity problems and slow lines alltogether and thus create a brilliant marketing tool!

Which reminds me that I still have to design that one… the CD or DVD cover!

Ycademy Seminar May 2010

The Ycademy Seminar May 2010 will go into Flash and Flash encoding. All ticket holders will already be able to download a converter from Powerpoint to Flash… so get ready to flash!

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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• Ycademy Seminar on Digital Photography 2010
• Best Cape Town Restaurants
• Blog for Money
• Building Your Personal Blog
• WP Best eShop

Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 3

Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 3 focused on the installation and application basics of some brilliant presets in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom as well as some amazing Action Filters in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Peacock at Clovelly Golf Club (Detail) - Just Filters

Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 3

There’s a terrific wealth of information when it comes to Digital Photography 2010 and working along a red line as in our Ycademy Workshop is a great support and prevents us from getting lost … or rather going astray along the way!

And of course there are the absolute Masters to study, old and new – and that’s REAL Photography, digital or not! It’s where the image and the moment are captured with the eye, pasted with perfect mastery onto the best image sensor and transported to us, the stunned spectators, readers, collectors, viewers. That’s Art – and I adore it.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is the professional photographer’s modern ‘dark chamber’ for post-editing digital photos on the go and always having good results, guaranteed. Besides, it’s a fantastic organizer and management tool.

Getting good quality pictures is the first objective and it’s something that needs to become the norm for us as online publishers with websites and blogs as well, especially if we are moving towards media. After all, we are always in advertising mode… we want our websites and/or blogs to be looked at, we want them to talk to people, attract readers, have them glued to our posts, I mean pictures… and return regularly.

This is where Adobe Photoshop CS4 with its wonderfully creative tools comes in and offers us a panoply of possibilities second to none… plus Action Filters! So once the image is brought into sharpness and shape in Lightroom, I am on my way to CS4 and letting my imagination expand my skills and vice versa. After all, I am true to my purpose… and improving my photographic skills is part of my personal journey. What a great way of learning and growing while creating a picture, an image that talks, that expresses joy, mystery or simply makes us smile?

I am looking forward to today’s Workshop … and I am not sure I will get much sleep with all the exciting new tools coming our way until the Digital Photography 2010 Seminar end of April!

Digital Photography 2010 on Google

Digital Photography 2010 is a mega keyword with over 46 million search returns – and at times I’ve seen well over 52 million and took screenshots as well. We’ve pushed through with our network to Google Top 10 with my very first post, occupying ranks on page 1, 2 and 3 – I didn’t look much further.

Today I’m pleased to see my Author Blog from where all the posts originated, right there on page one on Google… another proof for the efficiency of Semiomantics Scripts and knowledgeable Editing and Publishing – and this with consistency and patience.

WP Best eShop

To purchase such a Semiomantics Script and a Professional setup please go to my SHOP HERE and choose what appeals to you or covers your need. Get in touch with me so we can discuss your requirements as each Script is customized and personalized and will only be handed over to you once proper indexed on Google following your keywords.

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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• Digital Photography 2010
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Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 2

At today’s Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 2 we will be looking into how post-editing raw, untouched pictures in Lightroom can give us better results with the Landscape and/or Portrait pictures we have been taking – in my case I took a quick landscape shot at lunch today: a peacock at Clovelly Golf Club near Noordhoek, South Africa.

Digital Photography 2010 - Workshop 2

We see the peacock in the foreground… behind it sweeping views across the really beautiful Golf Course… right across Fish Hoek a few kilometers away and up the mountains at the dizzy horizon. We were having heavy fog clouds rolling through the valley all morning, pierced now and then by magnificent light – all this is in the air… and I am looking forward to improving the background of this absolutely untouched picture.

Digital Photography 2010

Ycademy Workshops on Digital Photography 2010 provide students with a pool of knowledge that goes far beyond technical setups and practical orientation; they embed the activity of taking digital pictures within the bigger context.

Pictures have been emotion triggers since their existence, however, today – where everybody possesses a digital camera and technology has evolved to a point where everybody can take a reasonably good photo – images have become the preferred means of expression for the masses on the Internet.

Words are out – visuals are in… facilitating Communication, relationship building and ways of Expression irrespectively of most cultural backgrounds.

As such, pictures have become a new way of talking online – Internet hieroglyphics … I am tempted to call them Internet hieros . . . :)  – shaping the Media and forcing us to adapt to the fact that they are now an integral part of our online language, perhaps even ‘body-language’?… and definitely a form of pre-conditioning and ultimately of . . . mind control.

Every Picture Tells a Story

As we see on YouTube, there is a lot of popular interest in Digital Photography. Does it save us the inconvenience of having to … think? Do we translate what shoots through our minds faster by means of digital photography? I mentioned it a few days ago: a mental copy/paste?

“…Every Picture Tells a Story” – and yes… behind each picture there is a feeling, maybe a thought, a moment that wants to be expressed, a purpose, definitely something… more.

Pictures are a language and we have to find the right vocabulary to express ourselves in this language, and we have to hit the right Semantics… so that the message we send out is received and… understood. It’s an Art that is often intuitively expressed by creative people in the Fine Arts, Music, Dance, Fashion etc… or discovered in the streets…. and today? Yes today it’s happening on the Internet… on MySpace and YOuTube… where it will be discovered by spiffy marketers and then mastered in high-end Advertising where it lashes back to control us!!!

Ycademy Seminar on Digital Photography

The Ycademy Seminars on Digital Photography looks at the bigger picture, evaluates trends and teaches the right ‘language’ when it comes to online Publishing and Business Building. The next Seminar will be taking place on 24 and 25 April 2010, another step forward on the famous “Path to Profitability”.

To be continued . . .

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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• Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 1
• Digital Photography 2010
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• Digital Photography 2010
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Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 1

Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 1 went deeply into what distinguishes and differentiates digital cameras from normal cameras, what is important for us who are writing and publishing online… and what boils down to simple hype that’s good for inflating prices and exciting the camera afficinados… but should not influence us in our choice, especially when it comes to mega pixels… and given we don’t want to print but only publish and present our photos on the Internet.

Digital Photography 2010 - Workshop 1

While there are obviously differences – especially as to lens quality – etc… the fact is that if you have a 5 mega pixel camera you can produce good pictures for your Blogs on the Internet.

Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 1

Specifications that count most in normal photography apply also to digital photography:

• aperture,
• shutter speed and
• the image sensor.

As there’s a lot of confusion about Aperture and it will continuously be our focus over the next workshops, Digital Photography 2010 Workshop 1 went into this sector in more detail to explain the main function of the camera: to collect light. Depending on the diameter of the aperture – or lens opening – there’s more or less light reaching the image sensor, where the image is ‘created’.

Aperture

Aperture is important to bear in mind when going out and taking some digital pictures for Workshop 2, where we want to compare untouched Landscapes and Portraits taken by various cameras using the same presets, namely “Landscape” and “Portrait”.

The way aperture is expressed is in the form of  F-stop, for instance F2.8 or f/2.8.

What is important to remember is that the smaller the F-stop number (or f/value) the larger the aperture (lens opening). It’s like a contradiction, so we have to get used to it. The smaller in value = the larger in opening = the more light comes in and hits the image sensor!

Depth of Field

Directly related to Aperture is the Depth of Field (DOF) – meaning the distance where objects are crisp, sharp and in focus.

Landscape

If we take for instance a Landscape picture, we want a large depth of field, meaning as much sharpness as possible, from the umbrella in front of us… across the landscape and up to the distant horizon… infinity so to speak. Here we select a small aperture (F8.0 for instance). This allows us to use a slower shutter speed on a bright day.

Portrait

If we take a Portrait, we want to isolate it from the background and just focus on the face, thus shortening the depth of field. The face needs to be absolutely sharp and in focus. . . but we want the background to be in contrast to the main subject of the picture, we want it slightly blurred, i.e. out of focus. In this case we choose a large aperture ( F2.8 for instance) for a shallow depth of field. Also, I would recommend a tripod – despite all the highly praused stabilisation mechanics :) . . . and think of the shutter speed given the reality that noone stops moving!

We will discuss Aperture, Depth of Field and of course Shutter Speed in future workshops; they form the basis of what we do with our digital camera… and it’s what’s hiding behind all those automatic presets like “Landscape” and “Portrait” etc.

Presenting Digital Photography in Flash

After taking digital images, we want to find attractive ways of Presenting Digital Photography in Flash – firstly for the Workshop to compare, correct and learn – later to have a captivating Photo Album of a new kind.

All Ycademy April 2010 Seminar participants prepare NOW by setting up a new Semiomantics Evolution Script (slim version) that’s just ready for the next Workshop to be held on Monday, 12 April 2010.

Here’s my example of what is possible: Presenting Custom Bookcovers - we will be presenting Digital Photography along the same lines, with slightly different measurements on HOME.

Interested in a Flash Script like Semiomantics Evolution? Check availability in my SHOP HERE and let me know… this is all brand-new and needs introduction and guidance. But it’s brilliant and fun!

To be continued  . . .

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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• Digital Photography 2010

Digital Photography 2010

Digital Photography 2010 is the topic we are focusing on this month in our daily calls and workshops as well as in the Ycademy Seminar April 2010.

A crash course on Digital Photography demands a lot of preparation on one side … and preparedness in terms of our seminar participants following each course very attentively and executing the requested exercises – as while theory is one thing and essential for our understanding especially of technical features or sequences, it can never replace one’s own shooting experience.

Portrait of a Parrot - Untouched

What I will do over the next two weeks are short workshop resumes with possibly a personal emphasis on what interests me specifically; I say ’short’ – as nothing can replace the value of being at the daily workshops  yourself, following the teaching, testing and doing what needs to be done to learn new skills or improve them. You cannot learn to meditate without experiencing what meditation is through meditating yourself. The same applies to digital photography – or anything of real value anyway.

Please also be aware that only Workshop participants and Seminar ticket holders will have access to recordings.

Digital Photography Basics

Digital Photography Basics are fundamental for anyone’s professional visual presence on the Internet and there are only three ways of achieving this:

• BE a good photographer already
• LEARN how to create good quality digital images – or
• BUY digital photos from the many stock sources there are.

Digital Photography 2010 on Google

As we continue to monitor the performance of our Semiomantics Scripts and corresponding articles and posts on Google, here is another astonishing result of yesterday’s article regarding Digital Photography 2010 on Google – an amazing position 5 on Google Top 10 with search returns of almost 55 million :

Get your top performing Semiomantics Script and my guidance HERE.

To be continued soon . . .

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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Digital Photography 2010

Being a passionate photographer since I was a little girl, and having integrated it into my artistic work with exhibitions in Europe back in the late 80’s, I am very excited to give Digital Photography 2010 a lot of attention and focus over the next two weeks. Our Daily Workshops are ideal to fill all the gaps and shadow areas that have accumulated over the years of little or no practice or that are normal if one just uses the digital camera to take some quick shots here and there without any higher ambitions.

The fact is that we could turn almost any decent digital camera into a brilliant tool to express ourselves the way we feel it.

For the more seasoned photo afficinados: maybe it’s time to step on the brake and look at something with new eyes, like one was seeing it for the very first time. . . re-discovering it, witnessing evolution, observing the similarities as well as the differences of what we may have been used to before… or what we may have been completely overlooking as sticking to our favourite routine. . .Recall… rethink basic principles and their interpretation and practical application. Experiment. Dig deeply into that excitement that comes when we go beyond the technique and … improvise!

In Digital Photography – as with Photography in general – it’s a Dance with Light!

Digital Photography 2010

The learning never stops… and while obviously the same principles of light and shadow, black & white or color… speed… frame and composition apply – to name a few – definitely, Digital Photography 2010 is not what traditional photography was a few decades ago.

Besides, the way we organize our photographic workflow and especially the post-editing complex on our computer today will not be what we will be looking at in 5 or 10 years’ time! By then the camera itself may be obsolete and we possibly just look and paste – directly via the most sensitive sensor there is: the retina – laser-beamed onto transparent screens… where we create the picture itself – perhaps in form of a hologram – directed by the power of thoughts, of memories, of imagination – who knows? Ok… back to basics :)

Learn Digital Photography Basics at Ycademy Seminar April 2010

The Internet with its content-oriented websites and blogs has turned into a virtual showcase of images in all forms and shapes – pictures, videos, media – and it all starts with a digital photo or some graphically designed image. So that’s exactly where the starting point has to be for anyone wanting to adorn their blogs, posts, articles and of course websites with captivating good quality pictures… or who wants to take it further and sell digital photography online in a professional way.

If this resonnates with you and you own a digital camera, I can only recommend you Learn Digital Photography Basics together with us at the Ycademy Seminar April 2010 – just get in touch with me via the Contact Form and I provide you with the necessary information.

Dates: 24 and 25 April 2010 – 100% online with recordings for ticket holders only.

Ticket Price: $65 all materials included. The direct Ticket Link is HERE – but do confirm with me.

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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Bookcover Design by Bianca Gubalke

Finally, my first “Bookcover Design by Bianca Gubalke” Flash Presentation is ready, including a brief yet comprehensive video introduction – just published on YouTube.

Bookcover Design by Bianca Gubalke

The Flash Presentation itself about Bookcover Design by Bianca Gubalke you can watch by clicking on the picture that follows:

The introductory video could be shorter, but I would have to choose a different music. Here I really enjoyed creating an ‘ensemble’ of picture and sound… testing all sorts of new tools I had not worked with before. It cost me a lot of hair this Easter weekend to get to this point – and I am happy … patience and persistence pay!

However, converting the wmv file into a flashfile and loading it up to my server gave me a huge file – so I published it in YouTube which gave me the above result.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Beta

The 15 slides for the movie on Bookcover Design were all created from original digital photos and web graphics in Adobe Photoshop and then inserted in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Beta.

The graphic tools on the new Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Beta are great to work with and the more one does, the more possibilities open up.

However, I find the Audio tools are not satisfactory … or let’s say unfinished … in many ways.

It cost me a lot of nerves to find that I wouldn’t find what I was looking for – so after some hours of frustration I saved my pictures as single slides and then imported them into Windows Live Movie Maker. Perhaps there is a trick – but then it’s so well hidden I didn’t discover it… and as I exchanged thoughts on this issue with other spiffy people, the fact is that noone came to another conclusion than I did.

I had worked quite successfully on the old Windows Movie Maker and although this new one on Windows 7 looks sleek, one has to find one’s way through here as well… and having edited movies in the real world, I liked working with the timeline and the music and sound/voice lines and I am missing this here. They were so precise to work with… this is not the case here. Also, I really searched for it: but it seems I can only add one line, so here I chose public classical music.

Flash Presentations on Flash Evolution

Flash Presentations on Flash Evolution are fabulous and highly dynamic and captivating ways of introducing or presenting a product, service or just anything we wish to share on the Internet.

As I love working with media and am thrilled about our new Flash Evolution Script, creating Flash Presentations will now be offered in  WP Best eShop!

If you are interested in this fascinating new way of attracting visitors to your website or blog, and you haven’t seen the Flash Presentation on Bookcover Design yet, please do so now  HERE.

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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• Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Beta

Custom Bookcovers by Bianca Gubalke

Announcing a new custom bookcover designed by Bianca Gubalke:

Custom Bookcovers by Bianca Gubalke

The above motive was already introduced in form of some elegant DVD Packaging on Valentine’s Day 2010; here now follows the Custom Bookcover designed by Bianca Gubalke.

WP Best eShop

All new custom bookcovers will be presented in my SHOP and can be used as guidelines when ordering an attractive bookcover design for your novel, a kid’s book or any form of publication.

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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QR Code Art

QR Code Art – what the heck is that now?

Following Yorgo’s creative invitation HERE I could obviously not resist to play with the interesting code, especially as Art, Web Graphics and Web Design are all along my line – and I always wanted to create a bookcover for Semiomantics. So here is one of my quick excursions in form of a direct application – more on it see below:

QR Code Art

Besides creating the QR Code Art itself, what interested me as well was the behaviour of certain fonts I plan to use on my Noordhoek Project at the coming Ycademy Seminar this weekend.

Custom Bookcover for Semiomantics Demystified

The custom bookcover for “Semiomantics Demystified” integrates my QR Code Art Design perfectly as you see below… and yes, it just started with the simple QR Code in black and white… nothing else!

Custom Bookcovers at WP Best eShop

Custom Bookcovers are available at my SHOP HERE – and as I am and always was passionate about books and even created bookcovers by hand in the traditional French way during my years in Paris, France, and later produced Graphic Artwork for large Publishing Houses in Germany – I would be very pleased to work on any bookcover project; just get in touch with me via the Contact Form.

Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing. Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

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Book Covers for Kids Books

Book Covers for Kids Books… Childrens Book Covers… or Cool Books for Kids – whatever you name it: this topic has always been of great importance to parents who really care when it comes to the education of their youngsters. I’m especially thinking of mothers of all ages hunting for something of value for their kids or grand-kids to look at and read when it concerns Childrens Books.

Here, the first point of contact can be decisive: the Childrens Book Cover Design. Here is one of my Nostalgic Designs, which you can see more clearly in yesterday’s post HERE.

Book Covers for Kids Books on Google Top 10

As part of our daily monitoring routine, here’s what yesterday’s post on “Book Covers for Kids Books” did on Google Top 10 … and this within just a few hours and ahead of  48,8 Million search returns:

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For any Web Design or Graphic Design requirements and similar SEO results please don’t hesitate to contact us at  Web Design Consulting or go directly to my  SHOP HERE.

Microsoft Office Ycademy Seminar February 2010

Interesting how yet another circle closes… and while designing Book Covers and wrapping them up for an attractive presentation on the web is one thing, the other aspect is to prepare the Artwork for Printing.

This and many related topics will be part of the upcoming Microsoft Office Ycademy Seminar February 2010 which will mark the beginning of a new chapter of teachings giving all participants an advantage above and beyond not only most Internet users but also in setting up their Home based business in a professional high-end customer-oriented manner.

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Custom Book Cover Design

My earlier post about Book Cover Design triggered immediate feedback. Of course the two samples were smashing and I understand authors who would like to see their work wrapped up in such prestigious way.

I also understand book cover designers to get some insight about how to custom design an eye-catching book cover.

Custom Book Cover Design with Bianca Gubalke

Tomorrow night at 7 pm London time Bianca Gubalke will present a session: “Custom Book Cover Design” at Ycademy, the daily online Training at YorgoTalk.

Here is another Custom Book Cover Draft by Bianca, this time for Besma Bashier:

Custom_Book_Cover

Book Cover Designers

Don’t miss tomorrows session at Ycademy!

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Book Cover Design

Book Cover Design is a delicate matter. Bianca Gubalke from Noordhoek in South Africa applies advanced Graphic Design to Book Covers with smashing results. Book shops know: the cover sells.

Bianca designs custom covers for authors and editors.

Custom Book Cover Design

Here just two samples of Bianca’s Custom Book Cover Designs.

800birthofahero

Custom_Book Cover_Design_2

If you are looking for high quality Book Cover Design, don’t hesitate to contact Bianca HERE.

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Nostalgic Book Covers

Nostalgic Book Covers – here’s today’s next version as promised: “Birth of a Hero” . . . the story of a little boy who dreamed of becoming a soccer star. . .

Nostalgic Book Covers

As you may have noticed, I enjoy doing Nostalgic Book Covers… or rather any bookcovers. So expect more in the future!

Please visit my SHOP HERE to see the new products I add on a daily basis!

Nostalgic Bookcovers on Google

While doing the Graphic Design for Books or Bookcovers is one thing, monitoring the high performance of our websites or blogs on search engines is another.

As part of our daily routine, here is what I saw shortly after I had posted “Nostalgic Bookcovers” on Google:

Once again, Semiomantics Scripts and the Knowledge and Skill to manage and drive them properly to relevant positions and Google Top 10 rankings convince through proven facts, no hype.

Ycademy Workshops

This week’s Ycademy Workshops will focus on the preparation of the upcoming Ycademy Business Building Seminar on 27 and 28 February 2010 with a hot agenda for a completely new cycle: MS Office 2010! Beta be prepared . . .  and make sure you have a ticket in time!

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Valentine’s Day Gifts

Here’s wishing everybody a “Happy Valentine’s Day” on 14 February 2010!

While it’s a bit late to start looking into preparing more sophisticated Valentine’s Day Gifts today, it’s never too late for Valentine’s Gift Ideas that go beyond buying a red rose, a pack of funnily formed chocolates or a bottle of Schnaps!

Valentine’s Day Gifts – Elegant DVD Packaging

Why not consider some Elegant DVD Packaging for your Valentine’s Day Gifts next year? Or for any other upcoming occasion like a Birthday, Promotion, Easter…?

In my example here, I wrapped up a collection of beautiful digital pictures I took this year – my most precious moments on Noordhoek Beach South Africa 2010. I added some “unaccomplished music” that fits this spectacular high tide scenario perfectly – if you know which one I mean -  and dedicated it to “My Valentine” in the Title.

Quality is obviously always the most important criterium. Firstly of the photo or background image and of course the typography. There are free fonts and those we pay heavily for – and the difference becomes especially obvious once we leave the virtual world and go into the Printing process! I was quite pleasantly surprised how well the two free fonts came out here.

In the detail above I took a screenshot of the original Valentine’s DVD Packaging Image I created and rendered at just medium quality (40) to keep the loading speed down. It’s all part of the ongoing learning process; experience – sometimes pretty painful – and attentive observation are my best teachers… and of course I have an absolute admiration for the real “Masters” !

Just click on the images and they will open in a bigger format in the overlay… takes just a few seconds.

Valentine’s Day Gift Packaging

Valentine’s Day Gift Packaging is just another product item that will grow over time and feature in my SHOP for anyone to choose from.

I so much enjoy doing any form of Graphic Design or Digital Artwork… and letting my ideas hijack my creativity and refine my skills!

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Here I present the original and untouched image as well as a black and white version. Depending on the atmosphere, ambience or mood we want to achieve to suit the special occasion, the color can be easily adapted and changed and even manipulated or wrapped around another shape, ebook, box or jewel case for instance.

Being well equipped with the right Graphic Design Tools and the knowledge and skills taught in Photoshop Ycademy Workshops there is no limit to our imagination in pampering those we love with something personal and special – even on Valentine’s Day!

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