Pastries the Greek way…
A few weekends ago I took a trip to Tarpon Springs, a small Greek community near Tampa. I found myself in front of Hella’s Restaurant and Bakery, waiting to try authentic Greek food for the first time of my life. I had tasted a small bit of spanakopita before, and an ethiopian-style gyro. But never had I eaten real Greek food.
My dinner for the night: beef, lamb, pita, rice, peas, tzaziki sauce, and Greek potatoes.
A view from the adjacent bakery: Notice how much bigger the Greek canollis are from the Italian ones.
I love the fresh fruit garnishes. This attention to detail distinguishes bland baking from the extraordinary.
Some of the fresh baklava on the bottom shelf is used in my favorite desert of them all– the baklava cheesecake.
That top tier of sweets in made of cheesecakes bigger than two of my heads.
Some kind of braided, almond bread. Reminds me of Jewish Challah bread, but sweeter.
Hella's dessert– the house special.
If this is what being Greek is about, then sign me up– I’m ready to be adopted.
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For the Digital Photography Aficionados…
Photoshop menu fridge magnets.
I have found the ultimate store for all you Photography junkies out there: PhotoJoJo.
I have become utterly obsessed with all their products. There’s no where else you can go to find coffee mugs shaped like Canon camera lenses. No other store has old-school film roll USBs. They have made being a design major kind of cool.
Here’s one of my favorites: their MacBook keyboard skin. Instead of letters, it indicates Photoshop shortcuts on each key. You don’t know how many hours of work this could have saved me.
MacBook keyboard skin with Photoshop menu shortcuts.
And when you’re hovering over a last minute project for the last five hours, don’t forget to sip some caffeine out of a camera lens-inspired coffee mug.
Coffee mugs designed like camera lenses.
Here’s their online store:
http://photojojo.com/store/
Check out all their funky designs, especially the burrito lens wrap. Seriously, what college student wouldn’t want one of those?
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50 Essential Tools for Every Writer…
iTunesU has currently revamped the number of available content for their collegiate audiences. There are now offering courses on everything from programming to biomedical sciences. Many of these courses come from top Ivy League schools nation-wide, for FREE.
My pick of the week must be Poynter Institute’s podcast of 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, with commentary by the book’s author, Roy Peter Clark.
At the end of last semester, my news reporting professor gave me a copy of this book, along with a reporter’s notepad. I thought it was the sweetest, most thoughtful thing any professor has ever done.
I’m glad I can now listen to this from my iPod and sharpen my editing skills, all while jogging around my neighborhood. Like a true journalist, I’m always a multi-tasker.
The download is available here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=380130686
Hope you like it. Enjoy!
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Cool Photoshop Text Effects….
This week I started exploring the vast magnitude of Photoshop tutorials online, especially ones for text effects. While trying some out, I realized something. Adding flair to your projects isn’t about copying a tutorial— it’s about playing with the numbers given, and paying attention to the little details that make a project over-the-top. I love this texture and the playful squirts of milk. Even more interesting are the few crumbs trailing the letters. Yeah, I used a tutorial as a basis for my project. But my end result was so completely different (and much better, I like to think) because I wasn’t afraid to play around with textbook settings. I knew what looked good, and I went for it. I’m really happy with my end result. I think I’ll be playing around with these tutorials for quite some time…
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Why the clone stamp tool triumphs ALL…
Restoring Rip, Tears, and Scratches in Photography:
Course: Digital Imaging Fundamentals
Date: February 2nd, 2012
Program: Photoshop CS5
Skills Learned: Clone Stamp, Spot Healing Brush
After hours of steady copying, blurring, merging, and cropping, I now know exactly how handy that clone stamp tool is— THANK YOU PHOTOSHOP! I am now a step closer to restoring that family photo for my grandmother.
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Learning color techniques on Photoshop…
Colorizing Black and White Photography:
Course: Digital Imaging Fundamentals
Date: January 17th, 2012
Program: Photoshop CS5
Skills Learned: Masks, Curves & Hue/Saturation Adjustments
Decades ago, my grandmother approached a photographer and asked him to colorize a picture of my grandfather in his air force uniform. She paid him an immense amount of money for the process, and waited months for him to finish. In the end, the “photographer” returned the photo— in black and white. He said he just couldn’t do it.
Today I get the chance to do something my grandmother couldn’t find the tools to do years ago. I never really thought learning technical things in school would serve for more than just employment purposes. But today I realized that I learn to make others happy— usually it’s a paying client, or a nagging manager/editor. But today I can make my grandmother happy— and that makes it worth all the while.
My first lesson in this tedious process was learning to colorize black and white photography. I’ve never opened up the adjustments tabs in my life, so today I learned the two basics: curves and the hue/saturation. The above project is how my week in Photoshop class turned out.
Next week’s lesson involves covering cracks, tears, rips, and holes in photographs. Then I’ll be one step closer to restoring that photograph for my grandma.
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Learning why it’s worth ALL the hard work…
This semester I’ve taken up quite a heavy course load. I haven’t gotten much sleep lately, but I’ve learned more about graphic design and journalism in the past two weeks than I have my whole life. Sometimes I get REALLY tired and frustrated, and want to give up. But then I see my work, and I remember why I want to keep doing this: for the love, for the thrill of producing good material. Plus, there’s nothing an employer loves more than seeing professional techniques.
Spring 2011 Course Load:
1. Elements of Interactive Design on Adobe Flash and Illustrator
2. Page Design for Newspapers, Web, and Magazines
3. Photoshop Fundamentals
4. Editing 1 for Journalistic Purposes
5. Informational Graphics
God, help me.Learning to let go of inhibitions, and just SHOOT…
I’ve been dying to get into photography and its meticulous mechanics for a while now. And as an aspiring journalist in a shrinking field, I know any tech work I conquer is a shot closer to getting a job. (No pun intended.) So after months of saving up, I bought my first ever DSLR- a Canon T3. Today I finally got to take it out for a spin. I knew all of three things:
1. Shoot what you know.
2. Shoot from different angles, positions, stances, and distances until you find what works.
3. Take your time, and keep trying.
I was scared of how much I didn’t know, and how bad that would hinder me. But I used my sister as an object, (knowing her for 18 years should count for something, right?) and tried my hardest to do something with barely any instruction.
This is what happened when I finally let go of my inhibitions and started shooting:
Not bad for a newbie, huh? I’m proud of my starting point, but I know I can do much better. Here’s to the many months of learning and shooting to come-
*glasses clink*
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Photojournalism at its best… Klara’s street
This is the most amazing photo blog I’ve seen in years. I was blown away. I love her unintentional photojournalism approach in narrating her European sights. Even better were the hilarious bi-polar bickerings she captioned throughout the blog. They let you in on her frustrations through different photographic approaches that most bloggers don’t like to let on. She’s smart. She’s honest. She’s GOOD. She’s definitely what I want to be when I grow up.
The year in street photography | Klara’s Street.
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Mechanical Aviation Reporting Hits Home…
As the daughter of a flight mechanic and current aviation inspector, this piece hit hard- especially the black box transcripts. This is a great article on why mechanical failures are not always to blame in crashes. Insufficient pilot training will lead to the deaths of hundreds, no matter how good of a plane you’re on.
The recovered tailfin of Air France 447 is unloaded from Brazilian Navy frigate Constituicao.
New York Times Limited-Edition Tote Bag…
So apparently, there’s a NY Times bag designed by Isaac Mizrahi?!?! I reallyyyy want this. It’s everything I could ever like, in one purse.
New York Times Limited-Edition Tote Bag, Designed by Isaac Mizrahi.
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Getting praise from a veteran journalist…
So today I walked into my News Reporting final, and found this present on my desk. After finishing my 2000 word final, I walk over to my professor, a journalist published in all the most renowned newspapers in America. He proceeded to shake my hand and say, “You have been a good student. Thank you.” For the second time this year, I felt like I did the right thing by choosing to be a journalist. I now know it’s worth all the work.
W magazine does it again…
This Dakota and Ella Fanning cover left me speechless. It’s one of the best uses of photography on a cover I’ve seen in a while. Plus, the duo looks gorgeous in this high fashion spread.
Oh, the wonders of a new blog. -_-
Learning how to use this is so complicated. -_-
