my day at photo school

last sunday, Ro and i went to a free photo class at a photo/design school in shibuya. they are recruiting for the april start school year, and if i had the time and the money, i would LOVE to go. but, in the meantime, the studio photo shooting, free lunch (sweet!) and afternoon photoshop lesson will have to tide me over.

 i spent a lot of time in photoshop erasing the dust that had collected on this plastic ice cream cone.  i love how the background looks slightly purple and the ice cream almost looks real!

i hardly touched this pellegrino in photoshop (believe it or not!) but learned a sneaky trick to make things look like they're floating.  probably not easily reproduced without spending a chunk of money, i love this photo since it's something i couldn't do on my own. 

i spent a lot of time in photoshop on this one too.  the original photo had a very small depth of field, but i made the front cherries even blurrier in editing.  these are plastic too, and while the stems look it, the cherries, at first glance, look pretty tasty!


the whole thing made me want

a. time and money to go to photo school
(neither of which will be happening ANY time soon, since it's expensive, and i'd need a job just to be able to pay tuition.)

b. a new camera
(though i LOVE my IXY whatever number it is. i've had it for a couple years and it takes great macro shots, so it keeps me happy.)

c. a new computer
(my 13" mac powerbook G4 - no longer made - computer sounds like it's about to take off. that, or just self combust without notice. it gets overwhelmed when i run itunes, firefox and my photo editing software at the same time and the reaction time becomes 3-10 times longer than what it "should" be.)

and

d. photoshop
(i currently use Gimp, a free download software, which isn't bad, but photoshop was so easy and user friendly. i was drooling.)


but, i did pick up some ideas and tips on how to set up lighting and then take "commercial photos," which is pretty much what i've been taking (trying to take?) of my sewing creations, so hopefully those photos will benefit from my day at photo school.