New Additions

Below are the newly added images in my Dreamy Nature Collection, these are now all available to buy in various formats on my Red Bubble Site.

Wix.com - Flash Websites for the Non-Technical

In all honesty I am not usually a fan of Flash based websites, for one they usually take too long to load and secondly, in some cases they tend to be more gimmick over content. That said they can be very attractive and what I am a fan of, is free stuff on the web. So if you are looking to create a Flash website and know nothing about Flash, here is a superb place to start.

Wix.com offers a free service to build and host your flash website. No technical skills required, (currently running in Beta), there are a selection of very appealing templates to choose from and the interface is extremely user friendly. With the free account your site will include ad banners for Wix, but you can upgrade to Premium at anytime, which opens up a range of extra features including unlimited pages, using your own domain and removing the ads.

I decided to give it a go, with a view to using mine as a mini portfolio and platform to link to my online store at Red Bubble check it out here and see what you think.

Adding Textures in Photoshop

I really enjoy enhancing my images by adding textures, nearly all the images in my 'Canada's Atlantic Provinces' book have had textures added to give them a more story book/vintage feel. My ongoing 'Dreamy Nature' collection are also texutured lightly to create a slightly softer feel to them.

I have put together an easy 6 step tutorial that you might like to follow if you are new to textures. Also included with the tutorial is a free texture created by me and used in the the example image here. I would be most grateful if you use the texture if you would credit me and kindly link back to this blog so that others can use it too. Click here to download the zipped file.

If you are feeling more adventurous and fancy having a go at creating your own textures from scatch in Photoshop, then here's a great little tutorial for making paper textures.

New Additions

Below are the newly added images in my Dreamy Nature Collection, these are now all available to buy in various formats on my Red Bubble Site.

Just for fun I have again compiled a few of my favourites again into a group which I think might look good hung together.

MediaFire

Just came across MediaFire, a very handy little site for storing and sharing all your media files across the web, you can direct link to files for others to download. It's very user friendly and offers a free account option or a paid Pro account option with extra features. Definitely worth a look.

Glorious Nature Art Overlays and Textures

If you fancy enhancing your nature shots with some seriously attractive overlays and textures then you might be interested in checking out Susan Gary's Glorious Nature Blog. On the right here is a sample image of what is included in the collection.

Some beautiful examples of work created using these overlays and textures can also be found the the Flickr Glorious Nature Group.

Light, Camera and Actions!

I have just acquired Bärbel's PS/PSE Actions and I have to say I think they are fantastic! There are three sets to choose from:

B's XPro 10 Variations
B's CrossColours
B's B&W Splittone

I chose the XPro 10 Variations which come with 14 extra colour overlays all of which are all highly customizable to your own individual taste.

They are all compatible with Photoshop 7 - CS4 and Photoshop Elements 5, 6 and 7 and come with an installation PDF.

Below you can see of some of the XPro settings applied, the original is on the left. Click on the image to see a larger version.

If you are interested and want to see more please visit Bärbel's Website
Also check out other people's results in Bärbel's PS/PSE Actions Flickr Group

For those of you unfamiliar with actions, you can either install action sets like these or have a go at recording your own, here's a tutorial on how:

Photoshop Actions and You

Dreamy Nature

My new 'Dreamy Nature' set is now available to buy in different formats from my Red Bubble Site. I will be adding more over time so please do check back and keep an eye out for new additions.

My intention was to create a vibrant 'mix and match' collection that would look good when hung together as smaller groups. I hope I have succeeded! I have grouped together some of my favourites here.

Hot off the Press!

My new book 'Scenes from a Small Island' is now available to buy at Blurb. The book features a selection of my favourite images taken around the South of England, divided into 3 sections it includes rural, coastal and urban images.

Please visit my online bookstore where you can preview the first 15 pages.