Making this year Christmas Message

It’s been some time since my last blog, but I have been fighting an illness, and now I am back. I thought I would end 2023 with how I made this year's Christmas message from my wife Lisa and me.

Iphone picture at Bronner’s in Frankenmuth,MI

It all starts with an idea. As I wandered the store, I liked this ornament of the two snow people. This may be this year's message. Out came my iPhone, and I took a few pictures. Next, I went into Photoshop to start the magic. First, I needed to cut it out; next was to pick a background that would work for this image. This is again done in Photoshop. Once I had the two, I had time to make a composite. After making the composite, I made some minor cleanups and color changes. Finally, I added the text. After all, it was a ready product, or at least I thought. :)

I started looking at it, and I thought, why not an animation? Once again, Adobe is to the rescue. I went into After Effect and thought I would add some animation of snow. I don’t know about you, but I think it makes it much more alive.

Now you know how I did it and what my mind thinks. Just think, it all started with an idea and a picture from the iPhone. Here is a quick look at the steps I did.

Merry Christmas, and I hope you have a great New Year. Stay tuned for 2024, for Paul J Zeinert Photography will be changing. It will be a different business model for 2024. (Stay tuned)

Vacation Time is Over

Once again, it's been some time since I posted. I took some vacation and have been busy with jobs I can't post yet. Lisa and I had a great time on vacation. We started in Coco Beach, the Hilton on the Atlantic side. It's been some time since we stayed on the Atlantic side of Florida. We headed off to the beach, and the surf was great for the surfers. I had to bring my camera down.

I headed down and used my 100-400 with a 2x adapter. I believe I was in shutter priority at 2000 and ISO in auto. I like this mode when things are bright and I want to stop motion. (like birds flying) I had fun that day. Next found out that they were going to have a rocket launch. They tried three times, but it was not my day; it did not happen. While on the beach, I played around with airplanes and, of course, the seagulls. Next was getting ready for the Cruise ship.

New Year new Changes

Well, it's 2023, and like everyone else, new changes always occur. No different for me, also. I am excited about this year. I will spend more time with my photography on Products, Headshots, Events, Travel, and Commercial. I am also looking at doing more videos. I started enjoying playing with this in 2022 and look forward to doing more in 2023. Life is a Journey

I had fun with this one in Photoshop. All of this, but the sun background is fake. When I say fake, all of the blacks are done with shapes or the use of brushes. Yes, even the backpack person is a brush. The ground is a brush. The trees were rendered in Photoshop. Photography continues to be a journey, but I love every moment. I have been so fortunate to take what started to be a hobby into a business and stay alive with even all of the photographers out there. I continue to learn about color and what makes good art, and I have used this information in my processing. I continue to educate and practice with the Adobe program and become better. You can't do it all in one day, so you might as well enjoy the trip.

2023 will be exciting for me. I plan on still posting some of the things I have been up to, but I plan on making more videos, especially some of the trips I plan for this year. So again, thank you for your following, and I hope your Journey this year is a good one.

The Birds

About 6 months ago, I purchased the Canon R-5. I love it. I have been doing people primarily, and now I had a chance to do the animal eye detection on this camera. It did not let me down.

The Dominican Republic

When I travel and walkabout, I use the Aperture Priority setting at F5.6 with an ISO of 200-400. I use this because most of the time, when I am walking, it is daytime, and I will get the speed I need. I had fun with these birds. I call it birds in love. After all, its SPRING :)

Iphone again

While attending a wedding as a participant and not the photographer. I could not help myself with my iPhone. I saw this gift and said to myself, I like that I need a picture and maybe use it sometimes. So I went around the gift and wanted to take the picture backlit.

Fun with the iPhone

When I got home, I transferred the picture to Lightroom and made some adjustments. Next went through some stock photos of a beach and came up with what you see.

I guess I am saying that the iPhone is a camera and can do things just like some of those thousands of dollars cameras. So don’t use the excuse I need an excellent camera. No, you need a camera to come up with great ideas. Have fun making art.