Titles:

Dead Flowers

Civil War Moment

Peaceful Grove

Art Show is on!

These are some of the images available at

Dina's Exclusively Yours at the Sierra Vista Mall

in Clovis (next to Gottschalks).

There is still time to shop!

Titles:

Paul Newman

Juan Montoya

Red # 22

Photographic images can be the most

beautiful display of nature or events

recorded over time.

How to make a white Christmas tree

into a green one.

a photoshop tutorial

Open image.

adjust brightness/contrast on both images

to + 11.

Click OK. Save as tree 1.

Adjust color balance to more green.
shadows +90, midtones +45
Brightness: -20, Contrast: +21
click OK.
Save as tree 2.

Make sure both images are open.

Move the green tree image over to the white tree image.

Change new layer blending mode to overlay.

Reduce opacity to +53.

Use history brush to paint over the window panes

and tree in background in the upper right-hand corner.

Flatten image. Save as mytree (jpeg format).

That's it.

Try this yourself with your Christmas tree.

You can make your own Christmas cards!

Enjoy.

Guess who's driving in Nascar in 2007?

The man on the right (dressed in black) is

Juan Pablo Montoya. Yes, in Nascar!

The guy on the left is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Juan drove in Formula 1 for a five and a half years.

He also won an Indy 500!

Get ready for next year!

Montoya during an interview for

the Toyota Grand Prix at

Laguna Seca Raceway.

Having a creative Christmas!

The image shown above was shot on spec

for a possible assignment.

Nice to sit down after shopping and coffee and

kick out a few wild holiday images.

Boilers at CSU Fresno

This was a shot I took for a presentation
involving media research.

Best places to shop in Fresno:

1.) Macys. Always a good choice for clothes! They also have

items for the kitchen, home accesories, watches and gift cards.

665 E. Shaw, 4888 N. Fresno st. 228-3333

2.) Barnes & Noble. Books, music and more books!

7849 N. Blackstone 437-0484

3.) Best Buy. Electronics, laptops, cameras and cell phones!

7550 N. Blackstone 446-0195

4.) Cheesecake Factory. When you're tired of shopping and need a break to eat.

There cheesecake is the best! 639 E. Shaw 228-1400

Have a safe Christmas!

A Tribute to the Best Energy Drink

in the World!

This little powerhouse drink now comes in

two sizes! You can now get a 12 ounce can

in case the smaller one isn't enough.

Cool.

The Red Bull in now my morning coffee!

Yes, Red Bull gives you wings!

www.redbull.com

"We don't make photos with cameras.

We make them with our ideas, brains and hearts."

-Arnold Newman

The 2006 greeting card collection!

What a cool thing the Adobe Bridge is! You can make a contact sheet from

a specified folder or open files.

Pictured above is the 2006 collection of

fine images and graphic art available at $3.95 each

or five at $15(must be of same image).

Images are printed on glossy cardstock

and include envelope. The name of the image

is on the back of each card.

For further info or to order,

e-mail James at: shutterbug043@yahoo.com.

Governor Schwarzenegger visits CSUF campus

Schwarzenegger is greeted enthusiastically as he shakes

hands with Fritz Grupe.

___________________________________________________________

The Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley met at the satalite student union

today to discuss in detail a plan to improve our highways and schools in the

central valley. There was a surprise visit from Governor Arnold

Schwarzenegger. The governor started this partnership in June of 2005.

Sunne Wright-McPeak is the governors secretary for business, transportation and housing. She is also chair for the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. In a short interview, she gave me an overview to get me up to speed. "First, he will be talking about general obligation bonds 1a through 1e. Second, why those bond measures are important to the valley, and third, he also has a plan for the San Joaquin Valley."

"No other government has put as much attention and care into the valley," adds Wright-McPeak.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Governor explains in detail the improvements that are going to

take place in the San Joaquin Valley.

______________________________________________________________________________

So The governor laid it out:

He has created 17,300 jobs.

Highway 99 is the only highway to get a billion dollars to be fixed.

There is 10.4 billion for schools. "That will enable tens

of thousands of new classrooms. We will also build

career education facilities," said Schwarzenegger.

"There is a 2.4 billion dollar package set aside

for affordable housing," he added.

There's a 4.1 billion dollar package to fix our levees.

"Our system is 100 years old," said Schwarzenegger.

"They are more vulnerable than the ones in New Orleans," he added.

Levees: 71 sites

Population: 37 million.

Of course it's a great idea. It's one that will work.

____________________________________________

Fresno Mayor Alan Autry

Acknowledging a moment of applause.

The Governor shaking hands with students on the campus.

The Fine Arts show was a success! A large part of becoming, or

rebecoming well known is getting out there! The greeting cards were

well received. Thanks to all who showed up. I will hopefully soon

have images up for sale, so keep checking back.

Half Dome in Yosemite, a classic view.

A Visit to Yosemite Valley

and Mono Lake.

Mono Lake with tufa at the end of the day.

Travel notes:

The key idea was to look for something

different. There were a lot of familiar

sights, so shooting both was a good idea

since all I had in my collection were slides

and prints. The last time I was here was six years ago

I could spend a week here with all the places

to photograph. Off the beaten path is the way to go. Since

I only had one day, there was only so much you can do.

Ground cover plants can be interesting and cool when converted

to black and white. you always have room

in photoshop to improvise.

Always pack food when traveling long distances.

Mono Lake was cool. After the sun went down,

the light had changed and out came the camera

one more time. Dramatic!

Always pair up. It's more fun and good company.

I want to thank my chauffer(humor).

I definately want to go back to

yosemite in fall, and winter.

Music choices for the trip were Al DeMiola,

David Sandborn, Miles Davis, Lionel Hampton,

Craig Chacqiso, Spyrogyra, Santana

and Eric Clapton.

Ambassador Joseph Wilson speaks

at the 2006 Roger Tatarian

Journalism Symposium.

Joseph Wilson, former U.S. Ambassador in Iraq spoke

to a large crowd Friday about his experiences in Iraq

and with the Bush Administration.

"In Bosnia, there was not one death of an american," states Wilson.

He adds:

"In Iraq, there was no system in place...We are involved

in somebody elses civil war."

The detail of his experiences are in the book: The Politics of Truth.

Carroll & Graf, New York(450 pages).

Individuals ask the ambassador questions

during the symposium.

Art show announcement.

ArtHop and Blue Moon Gallery will sponser

an outdoor show featuring several

different artists. (Yes, I will be there.)

This show will include paintings and photographs.

Location: North Point Center at

Palm & Herndon from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

October 21st

all are welcome!

A self portrait of Annie Liebovitz on the

cover of Newsweek. (Oct. 2nd)

She's photographed celebrities and

famous people, even the president of

the United States. Her

new book is out:

A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005.

What was I doing all that time?

Honing my craft!

Give me a hundred miles of flatland at 100 plus miles per hour!

I want freedom! Absolute freedom! That's it.

The other side of the coin?

Tied down to the negative and unable

or unwilling to get out of it.

Lazy.

Always look to the positive! There is always a way out of a problem.

Don't forget to strap in(safety issue) and put on your helmet!

Tribute to September 11, 2001

Five years ago, I was in Oroville on a photoshoot. The weather
was warm and air quality fair due to wildfires nearby. I was in
the hotel lobby having coffee when some guy came in and said
that a plane flew into one of the towers in New York. I thought
he was drunk! So I walk back to my room and slightly curious...
turned on the news. He was right! And I was in shock! I stood
there 30 minutes watching as another plane flew into the other
tower. More shock! Prayers went out to the ones that died. At
work the radio and TVs were on all day. I can't believe I photo-
graphed 18 families that day. Take a moment to reflect...that we
are so blessed in life.

These are some of the great books I've read over

the summer. The easiest one is

"How To Wow" which gets you familiar

with Photoshop CS2. "Speed Clinic" helps

you streamline your digital workflow.

"Photoshop Lab Color" is for the really

serious and advanced photoshop professionals!

It is very technical and shows you things you can't

normally do in RGB or CMYK.

Of course, there are more books to

choose from...go to your local bookstore.

You can even look for the magazine

PhotoshopUser!

This years conference was great!

More On The Photoshop Conference & Expo!

Question and answer time with

the model after a lighting demonstration.

Photographers ask an instructor questions

after a session.

Viva Las Vegas!

Photoshop World Conference & Expo

Sept. 6-9, 2006

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino

Las Vegas, NV

The 2006 conference is here!

There are over 60 seminars that range from

what's new in Photoshop to shooting in camera raw.

Also offered: improving your digital workflow, shooting

in black & white, photoshop & illustrator together

as well as retouching images, camera raw and the Adobe bridge.

It is a wealth of information with some of the

top professionals in the country!

Join us! For more info, go to:

www.photoshopworld.com

Mandalay Bay Resort

On Creating Graphic Art...Part 2

A short time ago i saw a student culmination

at a local university

involving words, color and typestyle. These

creations had 9 squares and ideas and

statements, catchphrases actually, that

tied everything together. They were really

cool! My favorite one had used black and gray

as the background color. Pictured above

is my attempt at capturing this on a simpler scale.

The theme is evident. If it makes you hungry...

that's the power of advertising!

guru at work!
Ken McCoy of the Ken McCoy Entertainment Report multitasking...
E-mailing photos to London, England!

0730061809.jpg

Originally uploaded by shutterbug043.

Bbq fun!

Chicken and Pinapple!

James Ranells

A Music project I was working on.

A long planned idea involving a variety of musical instruments

being photographed was finally completed.

This is a great creative effort that could be used for

education, advertisiing or stock.

there's a lot to be said about the lines, shape

form and color of an instrument. Visualization to completion

is a satisfying feeling. So if you're reading this and

you have your own project...(could be animals or

old barns), you want to shoot, plan it out, keep

it simple and execute!

For Film lovers: Try Fujichrome Provia slide film!

For Digital Enthusiasts: Shoot in Jpeg quality: high or

camera raw(a whole nother thing)!

Save in Adobe Photoshop.

Thanks to Patricks Music for access.

Patricks Music is located at: 769 E. Barstow

in Fresno.

Buy an instrument!

Lessons available!

Congratulations to Scott Gorczyca, Realtor for the Daniel Company

for being the latest client of Captured Image Photography.

Check out Scott's new website: www.scottgorczyca.com.

The Daniel Company is located at 1186 W. Shaw,ste. 103, Fresno.

Ph. #: 228-1628. Call if you have any questions!

Looking Cool!

Gottschalks Fashion Show

Benefiting Valley Childrens Hospital

It was a success and a lot of fun!

ESPN's Dan Patrick at the First Annual

Espy's awards in Fresno on July 29th.

On Global Warming

The above illustration represents the global

warming controversy and was essentially

created before I saw the movie "An Inconvenient Truth."

Movies aren't just for entertainment...They're

for learning as well. Former Vice-President Al Gore gives

us a presentation of what's to come if we don't

take care of our planet.

Our resources are dwindling and we have a bigger

population than twenty years ago. Changes have to be made.

Gore presents a lot of statistics. He's done his research!

He does not rant and rave with empty jargon, he makes

a powerful point in a calm manner.

Ask yourself: What happens when a large chunk (about

one-third) of the artic circle melts into the sea?

The oceans water level raises ten to twenty feet!

what happens to the cities and people living

on the coast? You know the answer. They get flooded.

we are already seeing signs of erratic behavior

of the weather. Hurricanes. Floods. Drought.

My recommendation: Go see the movie.

Then be prepared to make a difference!

Photoshop Project: On using photomerge

A Tutorial

How do you get two halves of a house to

fit in one picture?

right side

Left side

Got to File/automate/photomerge.

This is what you get:

Click on right half of photo...a red border appears.

Click on perspective box (in settings), the image

adjusts itself to parallel the perspective.

Almost done. There is still one one more thing

to do. Go to free transform:perspective and bring

the right corner down till the perspective is visually correct.

Click the move tool to apply transformation.

Great photo! for fun, you can use the paint bucket tool

with the color of your choice and fill in the blank space.

Mario Andretti

Mr. Andretti made a special appearance in Clovis on

Monday, June 12th in support of Good Guys Tires and Firestone.

The legendary Mario has won the Indy 500

in 1969 and a Formula One championship

as well.

The artist by one of his favorites...

Part of a group scrutinizing the collection.

A successful show opening!

"James' show is inspiring!" said attendants who

viewed the collection of photographs on the

2nd floor of Fresno City Hall.

The show is in three parts: scenery,

photographic illustration and

Champ Car racing drivers. It's

a must see! The show will be on

display until June 30th.

Ongoing show for June!

May 20, 2006

Ron & Rene

Happy Trails!

In Honor of Senator Poochigian

Senator Chuck Poochigian(center) recievcing

the Lincoln award at a banquet .