Category: Photoshop

Jeff Gatesman has been using Adobe Photoshop since version 3. This is a collection of thoughts and ideas coming from that long line of experience.

The Most Talented People In The World

I am honored to have been interviewed recently for the blog, The Most Talented People In The World. The blog, which is run by Jennifer Stoots, dares to ask, in a fast-paced, digitally dependent world, is there still a need for classic, analog ideas and education?

Few professions are dependent on a single concept or tool; while it is important to be able to work with and incorporate new technology, success in many areas still relies on a working knowledge of historical precedents, creativity and, above all, hands-on experience.

In her blog, Stoots seeks out and interviews various professionals in the arts and sciences who all have one similar and undeniable trait. They all exist and work in the digital world, but began their careers and have experience doing their same job under a completely different set of circumstances–before the job was dependent on microprocessors, digital chips and sensors. Before social networks, when you had to rely on experience and abilities over apps and computer programs. I am proud to be a small part of this project because I believe in Stoots’ mission, that you need to be educated in what you are doing, not just how to use a program that accomplishes a task. Because ultimately any knowledge base is built on generations of people before us, but an app is only as good as the programmer behind it.

Drum Head composite
Drum Head

For me, todays real-world example in photography of this phenomenon is truly apparent in the multitudes of plugins and actions that are readily available for Photoshop. Some of them are true additions to a program that has been around for a very long time, but as I’ve been working with the program since version 3 (that would be 1994!), I notice that most of the bundles available today, do things that are easily accomplished within Photoshop itself. All the hard-earned money you pay for those shortcuts doesn’t get you anything more than you already have and in some cases, limits the control you need to make the end product truly your own.

Head Shots

Hot Head
Hot Head

In Hollywood everyone is looking for the perfect headshot: an image actors use to market themselves and/or their looks to producers who may be angling to cast someone in a production. This is a very subjective area of photography. Every agent has their own opinion or idea of how their “client” should look in a headshot. Some photographers say it is a scam. I had an inspiration to create some of my own, with a little playful angle.

Drum Head
Drum Head

The Commander In Chief Plays Soccer

Did you ever just want to shout something out loud?. This is number one of a two-parter, and I got the idea for this image some time ago and just decided to put it together. Take whatever meaning you want from it, in fact I would like to hear what other people get from it, for my part I’m a very-few-words kind of guy. Maybe that’s why I make images.

I actually didn’t take any of the photos used in this composite, even though I had planned to in my original concept, but I did license them from iStockPhoto. I don’t know if I would ever offer licenses to my work through royalty free sites, but if it works for other photographers, more power to them. I do believe strongly in paying for intellectual property and frown on the practice of grabbing images off the web, especially when they are copyrighted, as are all of the images on this web site.

The are more composite images coming, and I am going to add a whole page of them to my online portfolio, so keep looking here for more updates and cool images. Now I have to go outside and take photos of the black helicopters that keep circling my house…