Blog Posts

OREGON AND WASHINGTON SURF GUIDES

1/13/2018

There are a couple of epic spots on the Oregon and Washington coast lines that have some amazing waves. I will hopefully one day get some amazing shots. These are not the spectacular images as the waves were pretty wimpy.

The image below is at Shore Acres in Southern Oregon. The waves were not very big this day but for a first time viewer it was pretty awesome.

Coos Bay Surf Report and Forecast

Another wonderful location is Cape Disappointment in Southwestern Washington. Again the waves were just beginning to grow in size and then the sunset.

https://magicseaweed.com/Long-Beach-Surf-Report/311/

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HOW TO CREATE AN ORB!

11/19/2016

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Not every image will make a good orb. Flowers make a great orb as they are colorful and their petals and stems make the orb interesting.

After you open the image in Photoshop crop it to a square. See image below:

After cropping click on Filter >Distort>Polar Coordinates. Making sure it is Polar to Rectangular. Then click Okay.

Not to worry when you see a very weird image. The next step will correct that.

Now click on Image>Image Rotation>Flip Canvas Vertical. There are no actual steadfast rules. You could always skip the flip if you like. Below is what the image now looks like.

Now to get an orb. Click on Filter Distort Polar Coordinates. Do make sure you switch back to Rectangular to Polar. Then click Okay. Make any adjustments like adding Vibrance and sharpening. I also rotated mine clockwise as I didn't like it on it's side. See the image at the top of the Blog post for my finished image:

Couple of things to keep in mind. If you didn't crop your picture to a square it won't be an orb. If you leave the image wider than it is tall it will be an oval. Remember as I said above there are no rules in this. Just play around and have fun.

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HIGH KEY LOOK ON FLOWER IMAGES

12/27/2015

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1) Select a RAW image of a flower with varying colors from light to vivid. I had chosen this image of a lavender and white dahlia. The original unedited images is below. And here are the initial settings in Lightroom.

2) Then using the Exposure Slider in Lightroom Develop slide it to the right to lighten the image. Then export this image to Photoshop.

3) Continue using the step (#2) above increasing the exposure in somewhat equal increments until you have at least 5 to 10 images exported to Adobe Bridge. The last image should be close to white.

4) In Adobe Bridge you should now have all of these images that you exported from Lightroom. Select all of these images by clicking on the 1st image. While holding the shift button scroll to the last image and click on it (this is the method for a PC, sorry....I'm not sure what the method is for a MAC).

5) Click on Tools, which will open up a drop down box. Click on Photoshop which will then open up a fly out box to the right. Click on Load files into Photoshop Layers. This will open all of the images as layers in Photoshop. Once there you will need to make sure the lightest image is at the bottom and the order will be incremental to the top with the darkest.
6) Add a mask to each layer. On each mask on a PC do a Ctrl I to invert the white mask to a black mask. Once there is a black mask on each layer your image will become transparent and your Photoshop screen will look like this below.

7) Starting with the 2nd layer from the top right click on the layer mask and disable it. This will make the image reappear because the mask is no longer hiding the image. Using a soft small white brush at an opacity of about 30 begin brushing around the vibrant colors of the flower and any areas you want to expose. Your layer pallet will look like this below.

8) Right click the mask in Layer #2 to enable it. Then continue the steps from step #7 above until all the layers have been brushed to reveal the vibrant colors.
9) Flatten the layers and make any additional final edits. I used the plugin OnOne to add a bit of clarity and white vignette that further whiten the edges. Plus I played with the colors a bit in Photoshop CS5 using the Hues slider in the layer adjustment Hues and Saturation.

Hope this helps everyone and would love to see your results.

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QUICK & SIMPLE--HOW TO ADD TEXT LIKE THIS TO YOUR IMAGE

7/19/2015

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These are instructions are primarily for a PC but I did include the options for those MAC users.

Using the Text Tool and using Edwardian Script add the text to your image. You can use any text or color you wish and once you have the text added use the Move tool to place it where you want.

Now create a new blank layer either from the Layers drop down or from the Layers Pallet by selecting the Create Layer Icon. Then using the Rectangular Marquee Tool click and drag out a thin wide rectangle from side to side on the image over the top of the text. Press the letter D, then X to set your Foreground color to white and then press Alt-Back-Space (MAC: Option-Delete) to fill the selection with white. Press Ctrl-D (MAC: Command D) to Deselect.

The text is not visible until you drag the Blank Layer with the white bar below the Text Layer. Then the text will be visible because it is above the white layer. Your layers will now look like this below, lower the opacity of Layer 1 to your liking and you will have a finished product like the image at the top of this tutorial.
Pretty simple, huh?

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Wild Horse Images

1/3/2015

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One of my favorite things to photograph are wild horses such as these two stallions. You can see more of my wild horse images along with many others taken by other photographers by clicking on the link below. My images will be on the third row from the top.
Enjoy!
wild horse art

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WASHINGTON STATE HORSE EXPO IS COMING SOON!

2/9/2014

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Jupiter

In a very short couple of days this beautiful friesian along with the entire BlackPearl Friesian Dance Troupe will be performing and bringing joy to a great many people at the Washington State Horse Expo. I do hope you are able to make it to the Clark County Fairgrounds at 17402 NE Delfel Rd. in Ridgefield, WA on any of the 3 days starting on the day of love, Feb. 14, 2014. There will be many other great performers and beautiful horses at this event.
For more information please check out their website:
http://www.wastatehorseexpo.com/

Gala

I have had the pleasure of knowing the wonderful people of BlackPearl Friesian Dance Troupe for several years.
I've watched their evolution and growth and have luckily been allowed to photograph their journey.
The one thing that has been a constant is the artistry and talent of both the riders and their horses.
Make sure to catch one of their performances. They are great!

Tito

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OUR LIPIZZAN IMAGE FEATURED ON COVER OF USLF NEWS

11/16/2013

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I am very excited to have had one of my images featured on the cover of United States Lipizzan Federation Fall 2013 magazine. This is Favory Toscana 18 which I had the honor to photograph in 2012 at White Horse Vale in Goldendale, Washington. He is one glorious Lipizzan stallion.
If you are an equine fan and especially a fan of this rare, beautiful breed take a few minutes to check out these websites:
http://www.uslipizzan.org/
http://whv-lipizzans.com/
And if you notice the top banner of the USLF website you will see another of our photos featured. This is Aramis, another wonderful lipizzan from White Horse Vale which I photographed at another shoot.

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DISCOUNT SPECIAL BEGINS TODAY!

11/9/2013

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Fine Art America is the premier online marketplace for purchasing fine art originals and prints.  It is also the easiest way to discover new artists and art galleries and to stay connected to your local art scene!   Visit our gallery site at wes-and-dotty-weber.fineartamerica.com

Looking for some early Christmas gifts? Or just want a WesDotPhotography print on your wall? Now is the time!

I know the shopping season can be very hectic so I'm starting my annual Christmas discount early so you can get a jump on things. So starting today, November 9th, 2013 I am running my annual Christmas discount at our Fine Art America website.

By entering the code XZZUGV the first 30 buyers will receive a 20% discount off our markup.   The base materials e.g. frames, mats, stretched canvas, etc. will not be included in this discount offer.

If you would ever like to see many more of our images 'Like' our page on Facebook by following this link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/WesDotPhotography/183908382540

Thanks so much for your continued support.

Dotty & Wes
wes-and-dotty-weber.fineartamerica.com

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Preparing Copyrighted Images for Social Media

7/18/2013

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This is the Scripts screen that I use to copyright several portrait oriented images at once to post to social media. This screen is located under the File tab in Photoshop.

1) Open one or several images that are all of the same format. For this example we will open up several portrait images from Adobe Bridge. To open several completed JPEG images click on each image holding the Ctrl button down. This will select each image. Then either click enter or right click on one of the selected images and then select 'Open in Adobe Photoshop'. All images will appear in Photoshop with the active image in the preview area of your screen and all others in the tabs above the preview. That is if you have your Photoshop screen set up as I do.
See screen print below for an example of two images opened. You won't see both images on the screen but will know there are 2 open by the image titles on the top bar.

2)   Using the Copyright brush tool you created in the prior Blog post on the image click where you wish it to be.

3)   Click on each image by selecting the 'un-highlighted' image tab to make the next image active and run the 'Copyright Portrait' action. Do this for each portrait image you have opened in Photoshop.

4)   When all images have the Copyright Symbols added and arranged to your liking you are ready to re-size the images and make them ready to add to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, your website or share online. Here are the steps:

5)   Click on 'File' at the top left hand size of your screen. This will open the drop downs.

6)   Click on 'Scripts' towards the bottom of the list which will bring out a 'flyout' box.

7)   In this 'flyout' box, click on 'Images Processor'. The box that will appear next is the same as the screen print at the top of this blog post. The items to pay attention to are:

1) Select the images to process. I use the 'Use Open Images' button as I want the images I've just copyrighted to be processed.
2) Select location to save processed images. I use the 'Save in Same Location' button as I like the copyrighted images to be saved in the same location as the original. A new folder will be created in this folder called 'JPEG'.

3) File Type. This has several options.
As I save these images as JPEGs I use that file type by checking the 'Save as JPEG' box,
I set the quality at 12. If you are concerned about theft you can use a lower number. This will make the image size small enough that if someone does try to print from this it will be pixallated if printed in a large print.
Check the 'Convert to Profile to sRGB' box. This is the best profile for the internet to keep colors from shifting.
Check the 'Resize to Fit' box. This box is crucial to resizing the images to portrait, landscape or square format. For Portrait use W: 687 px H: 1024 px
Use all the prior steps for Landscape images with the exception of changing to W: 1024 px H: 687 px
The same for a square format image except change to W: 1024 px H: 1024 px
4) Preferences. You can add Copyright Info which would embed into the images by typing that into the box and click on the 'Include ICC Profile' box if you wish.
Click on 'Run' at the upper right hand area of this box. Each image that has been selected will process and re-sized images will populate into the new created 'JPEG' folder within the original folder.
CRUCIAL LAST STEP: All the images that you have just processed will remain in Photoshop. In 'File' select 'Close All'. As you close each file make sure you do not 'save'. You do not want to have your originals stamped and re-sized.

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OUR PHOTOS FEATURED AT FIRST THURSDAY ART GALLERY

6/7/2013

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Last night we were honored to attend this wonderful event at Pacifica Senior Living that is home to 60 of our photos. It was a fun evening with many new and long time friends & family along with a table filled with delicious appetizers. Plus some awesome music was supplied by Nate Botsford. Rounding out the evening three lucky attendees left with a raffle prize of a 12x18 framed print of one of the images hanging in the hallways of this beautiful senior living home.

We are very pleased to know our images are making the lives of the residents and their loved one who visit a little brighter each day. It is very touching to know we are a part of giving these hallways a warm, home-like feel. This is one of the nicest homes that truly cares for the health, happiness and care for our seniors. If you are now or ever in the need for a home for your aging loved ones this is a place well worth looking into.

Wes and I would like to thanks Dana, Executive Director and Kristi, Community Relations Coordinator at Pacifica Senior Living, as well as Anne from Encore Senior Living for making this evening happen. We also thanks all the employee of the community who made this event enjoyable for all.

Dotty & Wes

Please visit Pacifica Senior Living website at this link: http://www.pacificaportland.com/

You can also visit the management company, Encore Senior Living website using this link: http://www.encoresl.com/

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Our Flickr Photos

Author

Name:
Wes & Dotty Weber

Occupation:
Photographers at Heart

Favorite Camera:
Canon 5DMarkIII and Canon 7DMarkII

Favorite Subjects:
Absolutely everything.

Favorite Vacation Spot:
Everywhere we’ve been has it’s own special beauty and some places like Yellowstone National Park and the Desert Southwest can be unlike anywhere else. But to name a favorite is hard as we’ve not seen everything, yet.

Personal Motto:
"Everywhere you look is a great image if you look closely”

OREGON AND WASHINGTON SURF GUIDES

HOW TO CREATE AN ORB!

HIGH KEY LOOK ON FLOWER IMAGES

1) Select a RAW image of a flower with varying colors from light to vivid. I had chosen this image of a lavender and white dahlia. The original unedited images is below. And here are the initial settings in Lightroom.

2) Then using the Exposure Slider in Lightroom Develop slide it to the right to lighten the image. Then export this image to Photoshop.

3) Continue using the step (#2) above increasing the exposure in somewhat equal increments until you have at least 5 to 10 images exported to Adobe Bridge. The last image should be close to white.

QUICK & SIMPLE--HOW TO ADD TEXT LIKE THIS TO YOUR IMAGE

Wild Horse Images

One of my favorite things to photograph are wild horses such as these two stallions. You can see more of my wild horse images along with many others taken by other photographers by clicking on the link below. My images will be on the third row from the top.
Enjoy!
wild horse art

WASHINGTON STATE HORSE EXPO IS COMING SOON!

OUR LIPIZZAN IMAGE FEATURED ON COVER OF USLF NEWS

DISCOUNT SPECIAL BEGINS TODAY!

Preparing Copyrighted Images for Social Media

OUR PHOTOS FEATURED AT FIRST THURSDAY ART GALLERY

Our Flickr Photos

Author

Archives

Categories

1) Select a RAW image of a flower with varying colors from light to vivid. I had chosen this image of a lavender and white dahlia. The original unedited images is below. And here are the initial settings in Lightroom.

2) Then using the Exposure Slider in Lightroom Develop slide it to the right to lighten the image. Then export this image to Photoshop.

3) Continue using the step (#2) above increasing the exposure in somewhat equal increments until you have at least 5 to 10 images exported to Adobe Bridge. The last image should be close to white.

One of my favorite things to photograph are wild horses such as these two stallions. You can see more of my wild horse images along with many others taken by other photographers by clicking on the link below. My images will be on the third row from the top. Enjoy!wild horse art

Our Flickr Photos

Author

Archives

Categories

One of my favorite things to photograph are wild horses such as these two stallions. You can see more of my wild horse images along with many others taken by other photographers by clicking on the link below. My images will be on the third row from the top.
Enjoy!
wild horse art