Blog

Anonymus, written the Dutch-way, was an alter ego from Daan Jaap de Birk,
who was a close-friend and colleague for many years.
He sadly passed away february 26 in 2018.

It is about time his art-works got assembled on a website,
to be shown to the rest of the world.
He is a truly unique artist, with great skills and fine humor, or just sick...
So I will be the conservator of his legacy.

Too bad his health does did not allow him to make his
(mouth-blown) gouaches anymore.
They were signed under the name;
Daan Jaap de Birk / D.J. de Birk.


Contact and info: https://www.facebook.com/LucFineArt,


LucFineArt - Weesp - the Netherlands

In the Picture

the images show the loss of life, love, respect and justice, for many years covered by
General-Economics, false promises and denial by those with political and fire-power,
Only watch Time and not the daily-news anymore..., it is actually becoming “old news”
over sad times for much too long.

The art of Looking cannot comprehend what I see today and hate to watch it.
The State of Denial has to face reality, loose the fear for one-other,
to show we are all trustworthy and accountable.

My father was strict but just, to be truthful in life and to your-self, consider myself lucky.
Living in the Netherlands is still a good life, even in pandemic times but also easy to
put out of balance, the furnish of “All is well” is easily brushed off.

I can be sailor, on autopilot and calm weather but when nature is forcing its power upon us a_ll
then it will tell by my response if I really understand the art of sailing and the weather
or risking it all on my superior assumptions.

Indifference became deadly in Europe during the second World War for
way too many people and now world-wide withholding the rights of a human-life.
Instead ignoring people nature and other “problems”, but we need to reach out to
our world and each other, we can’t live without them.

We all are born alike, naked and stupid, too bad some stay that way…

Fear is a bad councilor for advice, somehow we all will have to deal with that.
God isn’t always available but the devil of suppression is always busy.
Towering interests over money instead of people whilst we all are mankind.

Only have to hold-off Covid-19 over here, imagine
also a civic war, land-wars, famine, suppression.
Going back to the future seems the only way for trying to fix these horrors.

All I can do is raise my voice and stand firm and counter hate.
The most safe thing to watch right now is Painting by Bob Ross and try to relax some…

Be well, be safe and please stay healthy!

Luc Fine Art
Weesp
the Netherlands.

1 SELECTIONS, PATHS, MASKS, AND CHANNELS

(Based on Photoshop, but also works in other programs like The Gimp, which is a free program.)

Terms and concepts for working with selections, paths, masks, and channels.
Knowing the differences between each and also between these and layers.

The Rectangular and Elliptical Marquees are the simplest selection tools.
Click and drag in the Tools palette on the arrow in the bot-tom corner
of the Rectangular Marquee, or press Shift-M,
to change between the Elliptical and Rectangular marquee.

Before you can understand all the possibilities of how selections, paths, masks
and channels are used in Photoshop, you need to know the basic concepts.
What exactly is a selection and how do you make a selection using the Photo-edit tools?

What is a mask channel, how does a selection become a mask channel
and how do you edit a mask channel using different tools to allow you
to isolate the necessary parts of an image to achieve a particular effect?

This includes understanding what a selection feather or a mask blur is
and how these affect the edges of blended selections.
We will discuss the concept of opacity, which affects image blending,
and show you how to effectively use the Channels palette.
We will talk a bit about using paths,which are really just another form of selections.

Another basic concept you need to comprehend is that a selection
or a mask channel can also instantly become a layer mask for either a regular layer,
a fill layer, or an adjustment layer.
We will discuss how selections become layer masks in the coming parts.


The Magic Wand tool.
TIP:
Click a certain color in an image and automatically
select pixels based on that color.

Staying informed?! https://lucfineart.com/blog

Digital Enhancement for Picture-Perfect Photo Prints


Digital photography is considered to be the easiest way to take a snapshot and enhance its overall features. Basically, digital photography is the art of taking pictures without the need for film. Because there's no film involved in the process of taking pictures, you can have the convenience of taking good shots and eliminating the bad ones.

Indeed digital photography has come a long way ever since the digital cameras and computers were developed. The birth of digital cameras has produced tremendous conveniences in the world of photography where everyone with digital cameras can take a picture and upload it to the computer and share it with friends.


More and more people are using digital cameras for the reason that it's easy to take picture and edit it according to what you want. Who would not want a picture-perfect shot? However, we have to accept the fact that when you take pictures you don't always achieve the best shot. This is where digital enhancement becomes useful.

What is digital enhancement? Digital enhancement is the answer to all image quality problems. It's the best way to improve your snapshot and make it look more attractive. With digital enhancement, you can easily increase the attractiveness of images by simply adjusting the brightness, contrast and sharpness of the image. You are also given the chance to enhance the color balance of the picture. Resizing the image and cropping it at the same time can also be done with ease.

There are many innovative ways on how to improve a snapshot. All of these are made possible because of digital technology. Anyone who's into photography can take advantage of the digital photography services that are being offered online. Digital prints are long-lasting compared to the traditional photos. They are fade-resistant and water-proof. Another great advantage of digital is that everything about editing and printing photos is accomplished with the help of do-it-yourself printers. Photo prints printed in this manner are proven to last long unlike the film-based photography.

Digital enhancement works in a way where you are given the opportunity to prepare your pictures and modify them to achieve the greatest image quality. You can do the photo enhancements using photo editing software or by utilizing the services of a professional digital photography firm. When you opt to use a photo editing software, the image is usually saved in jp or jpeg format. Then you can upload the image and send them to several websites that offer photo printing services.

Giving consideration to all these digital photography basics will bring you great options when it comes to taking pictures in its best form. Make the most of what digital technology has to offer. If you want to get quality pictures, you should utilize the digital editing and enhancement services that are available through some photo printers online. With these services at hand, picture-perfect shots are just within reach.

By Luc Van de Steeg / the Duke of URL

Getting Your Groove Back.

Creative photography may be the most demanding of them all. That is because unlike commercial photography, your boss is your creative imagination and the artistic marketplace. And who knows from one week to the next what is considered artistic and what isn�t.

It isn�t just poetic license that we are using when we talk about you following your creative muse when you use your photography as an expression of your art. You can look at a hundred settings and scenes and only you can know if any have the raw materials for a great artistic piece using your camera. It�s a huge drain on your emotional system and your creative side but it is also one of the most satisfying things you can do. And if you can make a living at it, so much the better.

But one of the problems any artist has is when that muse just won�t talk to you for a while. Never mind if you have orders in or deadlines that mean that you have to be creative on a schedule. She just won�t cooperate. So we need some tricks to get around these little dry spells and ways to can coax that muse back to work.

One trick is to use the normal highs and lows of your creative side. You know that when it comes to inspiration, its either feast or famine. Sometimes the creativity explodes like a volcano and you have to pick and choose only the best stuff to work on right away. Well when that flow is exploding, take some time and get some of that inspiration recorded. An inspiration journal either on paper or on tape can be used to capture it as fast as it comes out of that side of your soul.

Now this is where you are outsmarting that muse. When the well dries up, that inspiration journal can carry you through. You can start plucking the ideas out of there and developing them. Don�t worry if you don�t �feel� creative. You can ride the momentum of your creative high to keep your work moving forward.

The other great thing about using your journal is often reading your inspiration from when things were popping in your imagination, that will prime the pump and get the fresh inspiration going again.

Above all, don�t panic when you feel your creative engines grind to a halt. Sometimes a day or so of rest will turn things around. Or go and see some artistic work done by others at the local museum. Seeing your fellow artists best work can do wonders to start the flow of ideas coming your way again.

Creative funks are as much a part of the process of creativity as the flow of ideas are. So give yourself permission to go through dry spells and don�t run yourself down about it. A trip into your archives to review your best work from the past is a great moral booster and it will help you remember that, yes, you are a creative person and, yes, you have done good work before and so, yes, you will do good work again.

The final trick is to give yourself permission to create some crap. In other words, don�t stifle the restarting of your creative mind by holding it to too high a standard of quality in every idea you get. You know from previous times of great creative flow that the good ideas come out with the bad. It doesn�t help to try to edit them as they flow. So by telling yourself, I am going to go make some bad art, that liberates your creative side to just be free to express as it wills. It could be that such a trick may be all it takes to unstop the pipe and get the creativity going again.

But it will flow again and you need to have the confidence that it will. And when it does the creative photography you start producing will be as good or better than anything you have done before.

All Rights: The Duke of URL,
E BookMan publishing.

URL Duke Info-Group LLT

Muiden -NL 2013

About Your Digital Camera Owner�s Manual.

All cameras come with an owners manual, but so few people take the time to read it.
Once they get past the basic operations, they get anxious to go out and try the camera.
Maybe all the new terms are confusing or there seems like too much information to digest.
This is understandable, but by not reading the entire manual, you limit yourself and many
cool features of your camera are never used.

Hopefully you will find the following suggestions helpful in getting the most from your digital camera.

After your first overview of the features your camera possesses, decide what you would like to explore the most.
Pick only one special feature. Read the instructions on what this feature can do and how to use it.
Don�t worry if it isn�t completely clear, that will come in time.

Now the fun part. Take your camera and start using this special feature.
Try all the different settings within this one feature.
See how your pictures change. Explore what this feature does.
Don�t stop until you know this feature inside and out
and don�t go onto the next feature until you have fully explored this one.

When you are satisfied you know the ins and outs of one special feature,
return to the owner�s manual and pick another special feature you would like to learn.
Repeat the above process with this feature, only returning to the manual when
you are satisfied you have mastered the new skill.

By working through the owner�s manual in this way, you will find it isn�t so overwhelming.
The hands-on practice of each skill will help you learn it thoroughly.
When you have covered all the cool things your camera will do, go out and enjoy them all.
You will be glad you took the time to become friends with this wonderful creation.

( RTFM? = http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=RTFM )

Want to learn Portrait Photography?- click on the button " get more information"!
One of the finest Photo Training /Study on the Internet. Well documented,
easy to understand and very nice price -See 4 yourself and enjoy making great photo's.

Signed: Luc-Photo Duke - Van de Steeg

Computers and cellular phones, mobility and microchips � these are the trademarks of the world today. We live in a world continually changed by technology. Even the arts have continually changed due to technology. Think of it: from charcoal drawings to painting to photography to digital photography, we have come a long way in the visual arts. We have used various methods in capturing life and freezing time. New technology is continually being developed to make art easier and more fun. However, you should know that the art of digital photography is not as simple as aim and shoot.

The art of digital photography needs skill in order to pull off properly. Although some people may reason out that digital photography art can always be edited, many people do not really know how much work editing can be. Oh sure, we can say that technology has reached a level wherein a person needs to do practically nothing in order to achieve a great photograph, but of course, you need to know how to use the tools properly in order to do that.

The art of digital photography, in order to be truly mastered, needs three T's: Time, talent and tactical placement of equipment. No, that's not right. You need time, talent and treasure. Just what does this mean?

1) Time:
one cannot be an instant expert in digital photography. You need to take the time to learn all about it. Even though you are some sort of prot�g� who has the talents of a genius, you actually need training to hone that talent. Remember that for all its power, a steamroller cannot be used to do the work of a hammer. There is wisdom in harnessing power properly.

Taking the time to train your self in the art of digital photography is something akin to sharpening a knife using a grindstone or forging a fine katana (that's the Japanese samurai sword) by heating it and folding it over a thousand times �it may be painful, but it is necessary to produce the best.

2) Talent:
of course, you need a bit of inherent talent in order to be truly great at the art of digital photography. You need to have an eye for the subjects that would make a great photograph. Otherwise, you will only end up being mediocre in a field that requires greatness.

Of course, the proper training can actually enhance your inherent talent and help you sharpen your skills in the art of digital photography.

3) Treasure:
as said before, you will need the proper tools in order to be successful in the art of digital photography. This means that you will need to invest a lot of cash. Although there are a lot of digital art photography equipment that can be bought at inexpensive prices, the best equipment needs some serious pocket digging. This, of course, tests your courage because there's nothing scarier to a man than having to pull out his wallet in the name of an untested interest.

Once you have invested money in the art of digital photography, there's no turning back.

The art of digital photography may seem like it requires a lot. However, in order to be truly successful in something you need love and love always requires sacrifice. You should keep that in mind.
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