Welcoming in a New Year! 

I had a terrific 2011 full of amazing experiences. All I have to do is look back on my blog posts to see how terrific it was. I have new friends from around the world that I communicate with on a regular basis. The communication may be through wonderful social media options, email, or chat - it doesn't seem to matter how we communicate just as long as we do.

I have traveled far and away this year. Visiting many new places, sleeping in my car, staying in hotels and sleeping in friend's spare rooms. My daughter has brought me to and picked me up from the airport more times then she can count. Thanks Suzanne!

This will be the first time I celebrate the New Year away from home. Hard to image that I will be in Kathmandu, Nepal. I wonder what I did to celebrate? (I am post dating this blog so I don't know what the future brings.) I am sure it was terrific.

I will not be posting much in the next 5 weeks as I will be traveling through different parts of Asia. This is my first trip to this continent. I am excited!!! I packed light so I can move around easily. I am in good hands as my traveling companion, Mark, has traveled to many of the places we will go and is a doctor. Always good to have one nearby.

Hope to see many of you in 2012. You just never know where I will pop up next. Cheers!


This blog post was created by starting with a Hipsta capture using the Dream Canvas film of a white piece of paper. I then used Filterstorm to add the colors in the different tonalities. Next I used WordFoto. I finalized it with a simple frame in fxPhotoStudio.



The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Traveling with Lonely Planet, Noteshelf and the iPad

Did you know that there are so many ways to use your iPad beyond the photography apps! I know it is hard to imagine that this wonderful device does more than help create artistic images! But it does!

Lonely Planet PDF's combined with the app Noteshelf make a great travel Journal

While preparing for my Asian adventure I was told that I could purchase PDF's of Lonely Planet books. So I went shopping at lonelyplanet.com and discovered that for $4 each I could purchase just the chapters of the locations I was planning to visit. 

Lonely Planet PDF of the Kathmandu Valley

After downloading the PDF chapters I chose to put them in iBooks for easy referencing. 
Then I thought of a great way I could use the app Noteshelf to help pre plan even more. 
So I made a screen capture of the page I wanted to highlight. Opened Noteshelf and then imported my page. 

Images can be imported into Noteshelf

Next I highlighted, wrote notes and added fun stamps to the page. (See first page.)
I will continue to add to my notebook as I discover more places and things I want to do and see in Kathmandu. 
To have even more fun, I can add my own photographs and create a journal of my adventure as I travel. 



Have a Happy New Year everyone! May your year be full of artistic growth and fulfillment!



The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. Upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Arrived Hong Kong Airport

I made it to Hong Kong. Slept for about 7 hours on the plane. I feel really refreshed. It was a 12.5 hour flight. Flew Cathay Pacific Airlines, great planes and crew.

What I noticed first:
The pilot said it was a clear day in Hong Kong, he must be referring to above the smog layer. It is thick and ugly.

When I got off the plane I heard Christmas music. I thought it was strange for Dec 30th. Still can hear it!

Didn't get my passport stamped since I am not leaving the airport that is a bummer.

I will connect again when I can!

ProHDR
Filterstorm
Snapseed

Theme Week - Birds - The Last-Pixel Show

This weeks challenge included birds and sharing a new app as a Christmas gift to the group. Again I am amazed at the possibilities the students are exploring. So creative!

Cecily Batey Caceu

Denita Raymont 

Irene Oleksiuk

Jeff Lovinger

Tom Burnside

Vivi Hanson Sacerdote

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

A couple images of Napa Valley

Grape Press

Napa Valley Vineyard in the fall

Sign up for Napa Valley iPhone Photography Destination Workshop coming soon. Contact Harry Sandler for more information harry@harry sandler.com .


I am leaving on a jet plane, I'll be back in February again. Enjoy your New Year and remember the best is yet to come!

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

Dizzy with Post Christmas Sales

Needed to return a few things. I guess everyone else did too.

The Best Gift

It isn't always the gift that is the best present. Sometimes it is the box the gift came in. With an imagination a 5 year old boy can become a scary monster and entertain us all day.

tis the season for a Merry Holiday

tis the season for a Merry Holiday!

I hope everyone is spending time with those they love, respect and trust during this time of the year.

This Christmas is much different than those in the past for me. First of all my mom is far away traveling through the USA with her husband, currently in Texas. Second I didn't decorate my house or a tree this year - first time ever! Third I will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my daughter, Suzanne's boyfriends house with his family.

Some traditions I hope to keep: Filling of the stockings with oranges, Santa's sack appearing on Christmas morning, and going to a movie Christmas Day in my pajamas!

ProCamera

iTextorizer

Hipstamatic  Dream Canvas - so glad to have that film back!

Blender

Filterstorm

Snapseed

Impression

Panel of Trees

Add caption

A simple image made complicated. I reworked this image three times before I was happy with the concept.

Merry Christmas Eve to all! Celebrate, be safe and jolly!

ProHDR

PhotoWizard

Filterstorm

fxPhotoStudio

Blender

Napa Valley Wineries

Napa Valley with a touch of Autumn

There are about 400 Vineyards in Napa Valley I am told. The few that I visited I enjoyed very much. As I walked past this door I saw the incredible reflection. Being surprised that Northern California was still celebrating the colors of autumn, I had to stop and capture this image.

We should have more information on The Last Pixel Show spring time Napa Valley Destination Workshop in the next couple weeks. An event page on Facebook is being prepared for more information.

ProHDR

ArtistHaiku

Blender

Filterstorm

Crop'n'Frame

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Theme Week - Shadows - The Last-Pixel Show

Theme Week for Shadows produced a well done, large variety images. Enjoy!

Adriane Biondo

Elizabeth Saucier

Gaston Graf

Kathleen O'Neil Stevens

Laetitia Harnie-Coussau

Linda Schenck

Natali Prosvetova

Rad Drew

Sara McCracken

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Wonderful San Francisco Memories

What a joy it was to spend the afternoon and evening with Tom and Elinor Burnside. Not only did I get treated to wonderful meals and a Christmas concert but they toured me to some of their favorite locations in the San Francisco area. Thank you Tom and Elinor. I had a fantastic time and look forward to visiting with you both in 2012.

Napa Valley Workshop Scouting

Castello di Amorosa - December 2011

The last two days I have been scouting the Napa Valley area for great places to capture iPhone images for The Last-Pixel Show destination workshop. One of my favorite locations has been  the Castello di Amorosa.

Harry Sandler and I will be touring and teaching there during the 2012 Cabernet Season. We hope you can join us. Stay tune for more details on this and other 2012 classroom and destination workshops.

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Hipstamatic Retro Pak One and Retro Pak Two

Retro Pak Two $3.99

Retro Pak One $1.99

Ever since I had to restore my old iP4 I have not had the Dream Canvas Film and Salvador lens. So when I heard they were being offered today I bought them again. BTW they are being offered only until Sunday Dec 18th so if you want to purchase either Retro Pak do so NOW!

It is rare that it is ever necessary to buy anything twice through iTunes. My problem was I originally bought Hipstamatic with an old iTunes account and the in app purchases were on a new one.

Also on Sale for a limited time:

A special Christams discount is being offered on fxPhotoStudio for the iPhone. It is currently available for only $.99. The special Christmas price will last for a limited period during holidays.

The newest application version (FX Photo Studio 4.5) includes new text labels, iPhone 4S high resolution support and an option to submit photos to monthly contests in order to gain different prizes.

Other exciting news: FX Photo Studio for iPhone is the official application of the International Photo Show is  in New York on the December 16th - December 22nd. More than 7000 submissions were sent from all parts of the world and 150 winners are selected.  I am proud to be among the finalists; along with Harry Sandler and many past students - congrats to EVERYONE! 

Everyone is welcome to come and visit Soho Gallery in NY to enjoy best works and to choose winners of the show. Also you can visit the official site of the show to follow updates.  iPhoneography Show link.

Starry Starry Night - with help from Percolator

Twinkle Stars!

Was introduced to a couple new apps that I thought I would try out tonight. I captured this photo while in Chicago. While processing it I thought it looked a little holiday- ish with the happy twinkle stars!  I used lots of apps and processed it on my iPhone. I was actually surprised that I liked it when I saw it on my computer monitor. Sometimes I find iPhone processed images to be muddy.

ProHDR

Tonaltopia

Percolator

Artist Haiku

Blender

Filterstorm

Snapseed

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

iPhone Photography - if you can dream it, you can create it!

Times Square one year ago - discovering the possibilities

Remember the days when you had to spend $99 to update Photoshop? and then you had to spend another $99 to update each 'plug in' that you used with it? Well that has all changed, at least for those of us who use applications to process our images. In the last few weeks an amazing number of apps have had incredible updates, free of charge. It truly feels like Christmas and the true spirit of giving.

I remember a short year ago dreaming of the possibility to process my images with opacity brushes, thinking how great it would be to brush and blend this way. Now many applications have that option. Before I even imagined it, I discovered an application that could remove unwanted items similar to the Photoshop's content aware ability for a mere 99 cents. Also a short time ago, I hoped for the possibility of masking with a magic wand and the ability to use layers. Today even that is possible.

Of course there are a few things I still wish for that aren't possible - yet! More ways to make selections would be one of them. I still don't see any marching ants...lol!

I am so excited that the developers have worked hard to create applications that allow us to capture and process amazing images. The possibilities are incredible, inspiring and limitless. I would like to thank them all for helping me become a better artist because of the tools I now can carry in my pocket and will soon be traveling to far and exotic places with. I will continue to dream big, knowing that there is someone hard at work and with the ability to make my dreams come true.

Many thanks to the Photography Application developers - Happy Holidays to you!



The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.


The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Theme Week - Self Portrait

This week's theme for The Last-Pixel Show Students was Self Portraits. Below are some very creative choices that can be made. Wonderful work everyone!

Adriane Biondo

Brandie Stanley Price

Denita Raymont

Natali Provsetova

Scooter Lowrimore

Wendy Ashford

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left.

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012. upon my return I will have fascinating images from many Asian countries.

Chicago Autostitch

Keeping it simple

I had a great couple days in Chicago. Such a beautiful city! Wonderful guide! Amazing opportunities!

ProHDR

Autostitch

Snapseed

Filterstorm

The Last Pixel Show is now putting together their 2012 iPhone Photography workshop list and calendar. Please vote on the destinations you are most interested in, found on the side bar to the left. 

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable in January 2012. Upon my return I will have images from many Asian countries.

Less is More

I just love abandoned!

While in Northern Indiana came across this abandoned park. I love places like this and was thrilled that the front entrance was open, thanks to one of the gates that had fallen down. Upon entering I saw this wheelchair and knew this image was going to be my blog post. There were so many wonderful photographs to be captured here. I could have photographed here all day long.
I worked on processing this image last night in preparation to blog. I app'd it with many choices and combinations, however the image wasn't speaking to me. I wasn't happy and fell asleep frustrated. This morning I went in several different directions continuing to open this app and that app. However I felt that I was creating something different than what I wanted.
So I stepped way back and instead of 'apping' it. I used Filterstorm to make minor adjustments. I used the tools available to lead the viewers eye to the parts of the image that I wanted them to go.
So the lesson I was reminded of today is sometimes less is more.

ProHDR

Filterstorm

Antique Processed Old Barn

Some images just look better when they are processed looking like they were captured years and years ago. Maybe I was inspired by the age of the barn and the stormy clouds.

ProHDR

Old Photo Pro

Snapseed

Dynamic Light

The next iPhoneography Classes Available February 13th 2012! I will be out of the country and unavailable for most of January 2012 and will have some amazing photos when I return.

Theme Week - Selective Color

The Last-Pixel Show iPhone Photographers posted some fun Selective Color images this week. Many apps will allow you to process your image in this way.

Irene Oleksiuk

Linda Schenck

Mandolina Moon

Rinkey Boleman

Scooter Lowrimore

Goldendale Farmstead - A Happy Mistake

The Workshop is wonderful. Lots of enthusiastic students who want to absorb it all as fast as we can explain it!

Seems that some of the apps are saving the images upside down. This happy mistake is a product of that issue.

The Chair

Time for a hair cut

This image was captured a year ago. I decided to process it tonight with a blend of Artista Haiku and Dramatic Black and White.
It is a barber chair in the Eastern State Pen. I wonder if they ever strapped anyone in it to get their head shaved. Not a place I want to get my hair cut!