Sunset with Expression and Emotion

[dropcap1]A[/dropcap1]gios is located in North Evia, just a few kilometers from the famous thermal sources of Edipsos. The below pictures from Agios have been shot in July 2010. The images from Astir Beach are from August 2010.

[frame_left]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/agios-sunset-L1020376-410.jpg[/frame_left]Evia located north of Attica; it’s the second largest Greek island after Crete. The best known place in North Evia is Edipsos. The curative thermal springs have been known for thousands of years; from the old Greeks to the Romans and more recently to Sir Winston Churchill, Onassis and many other well known personalities.

Shooting Sunset Photos

Sunsets are a beautiful natural spectacle. The ever changing light conditions under the declining sun offer great photographic opportunities and challenges.

Everybody can take sunset pictures, it’s not all that difficult: just point your digital camera and shoot … the automatic settings will do the rest. If you want however take a more stunning sunset, the one that knocks even an ice-bear out of his socks, then you may consider some of the following aspects and try them out.

Light and Colors

In order to take a smashing picture, you need dust and or clouds. The red and orange colors result from micro-particles in the air. [highlight2]Dust[/highlight2] can come from anywhere, pollution helps to break light, smoke, fog and so on. A second element for great effects are [highlight2]Clouds[/highlight2].

[frame_right]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/sunset-in-agios-L1020017-410.jpg[/frame_right]Clouds add structure, interesting light effects and in as much as I am concerned, I prefer the cloudy sky to the straight gradients resulting from a cloudless and dust-free atmosphere.

The Horizon

Look at your scenery and decide what’s more important to you: the sky of the foreground. The more beautiful your sky the more of it you want to ban on your photo. In general it’s of good advise to follow the rule of thirds.

The first image above features two horizons: one in the foreground and one in the back-ground. The foreground horizon is placed about on the lower third line, while the back-ground horizon is at the boring 50% level. The sun is on the first third line from the left.

The second photo focuses clearly on the sky. The horizon is just below the one third line from the bottom.[frame_left]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/susnset-agios-L1020014-cut-300.jpg[/frame_left]

Applying the rule of thirds will help to focus on the essential aspects of the sunset and adds tension to the image. Of course there are always exceptions and you may find yourself in a situation where the totally balanced and centered approach will reflect tranquility and desired harmony; as usual, it will depend on the story you want to tell.

The Composition

The sunset is spectacular and usually it becomes more spectacular if it’s seen in an interesting context. The foreground is what often gives the special touch” a few palm trees, a jetty, a bridge, people or most any object which adds a scale to your picture.

For the purpose of this post I add a photo from Kavouri beach in Vouliagmeni, where the focus is on the busy foreground.[frame_right]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/vouliagmeni-beach-2.jpg[/frame_right]

Your creativity is the limit.

It seems to be a commonly accepted rule, that foregrounds are represented as dark silhouettes, herefore your flash should be set to “off”. In some cases however it may be interesting to capture some reflections from a foreground, such as the ones you can see on the cars parked at Kavouri Beach or the small reflections from the town in the foreground of the first image from Agios above. [highlight2]Context matters and adds expression[/highlight2].

The Frame

This is part of your composition. Experiment with the frame; make it wider or narrower depending on the story you want to tell. It’s better to frame when you take the picture than to cut the image in Photoshop or any other image editor. If you use zoom, make sure to remain within the range of your optical zoom and don’t use the digital zoom to preserve a maximum of quality, data and image size.

[frame_left]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/agios-sunset-sea-L1020375-410.jpg[/frame_left]

In Agios I thought there was an interesting frame focusing on the sea, separating the island of Evia from the main land (Attica).

The image is full of harmony, smooth gradients and tints around the golden reflection of the sunset in the sea. The sky is of no importance here; it’s all a matter of light and tints in for my taste, very nice proportions.

The Exposure

This is probably the most important and also most difficult issue, namely with digital cameras. In automatic settings, digital cameras most often use matrix metering which is reflected by an average exposure and results in under-exposed photos. The issue is due to the huge extremes between highlights and shadows. [frame_right]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/sunset-in-agios-410-L1020373.jpg[/frame_right]

For best results, it’s recommended to use a a metering device and meter the two extremes as well as the environmental light and average in function of the priority set by your composition and the story you want to tell.

The best advise is: just experiment! There is never just one right exposure as different exposures will produce great results, however the effects are different. Again, it’s a matter of what you wish to express with your picture.

Professionals use bracketing and so may you. Most digital cameras have a bracketing function; when you shoot,the cam will take 3 pictures: one as per automatic or manually set metering, one with one F-stop higher and one with a F-stop lower. Say you take the picture at 1/60 s at f/8, the cam will take a shot at these settings, then one at 1/60s at f/5.6 and one at 1/60 s at f/11. You will then be able to select the most expressive shot.

[frame_left]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/astir-beach-sunset-410-L1060315.jpg[/frame_left] [frame_right]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/astir-1060456-410.jpg[/frame_right]

The trouble is in the highlights. Digital cameras’ sensors are very sensitive to light. The danger consists thus in overexposure of highlights which boils down to a reduced dynamic range in the light areas of your picture (lack of gradients, texture and structure).Your digital camera may have a iHighlight function,which may remedy or different presets for the white balance.

Sunset pictures as well as night photos are interesting subjects for HDR photography: shoot multiple shots from your tripod at different settings and mash them up in Photoshop with the HDR feature. The trick may help as the extreme light zones and the extreme darks may your camera cause to think for you (and that you definitely don’t want …) and select either priority. The camera’s choice will most often result in a loss of dynamic range throughout the spectrum, namely if you are shooting with a lower end point and shoot cam.

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[frame_left]http://yorgonestoridis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/bianca.jpg[/frame_left]

Digital Photography Ycademy

This month’s Ycademy calls will deal with digital photography and on improving our quality as photographers and photo editors

Also we are working on Digital Photography with the purpose of building a high quality Stock Photo and Media Portfolio which will serve the needs of many a website developer as well as graphic designers in the need of new, fresh, unique and exclusive media content.

Our daily calls start at 8 pm London time (GMT +1) and they take place at our easy to use online live conferencing center.

For more info and joining Ycademy, contact [highlight1]Bianca Gubalke[/highlight1]  directly from here:

[contactform email=bianca@ycademy.com]

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This category will feature some of Yorgo’s work as applied to customer sites as well as services and products provided.

Implement your Flash Showcase

Once your script is cleaned out and reduced to what you actually need as described yesterday and as done at last night’s Ycademy call, we can implement our project.

Prepare your upload

Before uploading you may already edit the index.html file and add the title of your site as well as the font as the case may be.

Also you can edit style.css to define link colors and other details if needed.

You may also want to edit your site logo:

Ideally the logo file is a transparent PNG image which in this case can be rather wide since we have just a few menu items. The bottom border of the logo is in line with the bottom of the menu items; therefore it is indicated to use capitals for the site header and align them with the bottom of the PNG file.

Example:

logo

Semiomantics Header

For better visibility I have added a background layer on the above. The dimensions are 592 x 60 pixels.

Upload and start populating Semiomantics Evolution

Before uploading the evolution folder you may want to rename it to the folder name it should take on the server; if you upload the site to the domain root (public_html) then you just load the content of the evolution folder without the folder itself.

Once uploaded you may want to start adding a background image (photo of graphic); I have loaded just a background pattern:

screen2

Background

For this project I keep a uniform background throughout the whole site; however i would be nice as well to create a nice graphic grunge or photographic background.

Edit menu.xml

Edit menu.xml from your xml folder: define the menu item titles and backgrounds as well as the copyright notice in the footer.

Populate your image gallery (about)

I start now by adding images to my showroom. In fact I am using for this project a showroom gallery instead of the about page: I will oad there graphic images representing my bullet list and then add text to the image legends.

screen3

About Semiomantics

The images are created in photoshop in 2 versions: jpg and transparent png. I load both versions to select later the images to keep – may be a mix of jpg and png images. To create the images I just created two layer sizes: 400 x 600 px and 800 x 600 px. Important: the images must be 600 px high. I drop my messages into the pictures using some grungy Times font and using background colors based on my usual color scheme.

The idea here is to use a gallery to replace the About page by graphically representing the main message I want to deliver and allowing for more information attached to each image. (This way of proceeding is not in line with the terms of the contest!)

Populate your Showcase or Portfolio

For the show case I selected screen-shots of websites I have designed and built for Semiomantics. I have selected 30 screen-shots to see the effect and to measure loading time. I will trim this down later and make a representative selection out of the lot. There are also others I may want to add …:-).

screen4

Semiomantics Showcase

The screen-shots are mega sizes from 100 kb to over 400 kb, whereas they will be adjusted for faster loading. I am testing flash compression and loading them as swf files which is one of the advantages of this gallery script.

A legend will be associated with each screen-shot; each image is based on a Semiomantics script type or module and can therefore be linked to a category or product in the semiomantics shop.

My recommendation: try to keep the image size as compact as possible for fast loading: ideally below 100 kb per image.

More later.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Microsoft Office 2010 PowerPoint

Yesterday’s Ycademy online workshop focused on Microsoft Office 2010 – PowerPoint. The Goal was to create a small slide show and to convert it into multiple formats, such as images or movies.

Here below a sample.

PowerPoint 2010 Slides

Slide1

Slide 1

Slide2

Slide

Slide3

Slide 3

Slide4

Slide 4

Slide5

Slide 5

Slide6

Slide 6

Slide7

Slide 7

Slide8

Slide 8

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics

The series of post initiated by this post is about editing an elegant WordPress powered Website. The idea is to create a symbiosis between the most powerful scripts from Semiomantics and Elegant web design with high class editing functions.

The result will be a blog for users who want to dispose of advanced editing features allowing for high quality presentation, such as top brands or individuals with a taste for beauty, luxury and lifestyle.

For the purpose of the exercise we will call the theme Semiomantics Elegance.

The Semiomantics Engine

Over the years we have developed add-on scripts and modifications to the WorfdPress backbone which have proven to be unbeatable when it comes to high visibility and performance on Google Top 10. While at the beginning Semiomantics signed blogs did not make many concessions to beauty, recent developments have produced smashing websites while preserving the exceptional power of Semiomantics.

global-screen

Global Sports US

The site for Global Sports US above is an example for styled design on a Semiomantics XO framework.

Also we are progressing on making Flash features “readable” by Google. The Semiomantics Flash Project, called Evolution is the best proof:

evolution-screen1

Semiomantics Evolution in Flash

evolution-screen2

Semiomantics Evolution in Flash 2

Semiomantics Evolution Sites can be viewed in Full-screen mode for an astonishing surfing experience.

Elegant WordPress

There are quite a number of brilliant CSS based WordPress Theme Designs out there and it is worth while to use such designs as a base for further development and customization. However, as style sheets cannot be protected, there is always a high possibility of being copied, except when it comes to unique functions for advanced performance and editing.

On the base of the WP Best Consultant design and layout, we have created the new project for Elegant WordPress at Semiomantics.

screenshot1

Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics

The present series of posts will detail the advanced editing and publishing features of Semiomantics Elegance.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics

The series of post initiated by this post is about editing an elegant WordPress powered Website. The idea is to create a symbiosis between the most powerful scripts from Semiomantics and Elegant web design with high class editing functions.

The result will be a blog for users who want to dispose of advanced editing features allowing for high quality presentation, such as top brands or individuals with a taste for beauty, luxury and lifestyle.

For the purpose of the exercise we will call the theme Semiomantics Elegance.

The Semiomantics Engine

Over the years we have developed add-on scripts and modifications to the  WorfdPress backbone which have proven to be unbeatable when it comes to high visibility and performance on Google Top 10. While at the beginning Semiomantics signed blogs did not make many concessions to beauty, recent developments have produced smashing websites while preserving the exceptional power of Semiomantics.

global-screen

Global Sports US

The site for Global Sports US above is an example for styled design on a Semiomantics XO framework.

Also we are progressing on making Flash features  “readable” by Google. The Semiomantics Flash Project, called Evolution is the best proof:

evolution-screen1

Semiomantics Evolution in Flash

evolution-screen2

Semiomantics Evolution in Flash 2

Semiomantics Evolution Sites can be viewed in Full-screen mode for an astonishing surfing experience.

Elegant WordPress

There are quite a number of brilliant CSS based WordPress Theme Designs out there and it is worth while to use such designs as a base for further development and customization. However, as style sheets cannot be protected, there is always a high possibility of being copied, except when it comes to unique functions for advanced performance and editing.

On the base of the WP Best Consultant design and layout, we have created the new project for Elegant WordPress at Semiomantics.

screenshot1

Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics

The present series of posts will detail the advanced editing and publishing features of Semiomantics Elegance.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics

The series of post initiated by this post is about editing an elegant WordPress powered Website. The idea is to create a symbiosis between the most powerful scripts from Semiomantics and Elegant web design with high class editing functions.

The result will be a blog for users who want to dispose of advanced editing features allowing for high quality presentation, such as top brands or individuals with a taste for beauty, luxury and lifestyle.

For the purpose of the exercise we will call the theme Semiomantics Elegance.

The Semiomantics Engine

Over the years we have developed add-on scripts and modifications to the  WorfdPress backbone which have proven to be unbeatable when it comes to high visibility and performance on Google Top 10. While at the beginning Semiomantics signed blogs did not make many concessions to beauty, recent developments have produced smashing websites while preserving the exceptional power of Semiomantics.

global-screen

Global Sports US

The site for Global Sports US above is an example for styled design on a Semiomantics XO framework.

Also we are progressing on making Flash features  “readable” by Google. The Semiomantics Flash Project, called Evolution is the best proof:

evolution-screen1

Semiomantics Evolution in Flash

evolution-screen2

Semiomantics Evolution in Flash 2

Semiomantics Evolution Sites can be viewed in Full-screen mode for an astonishing surfing experience.

Elegant WordPress

There are quite a number of brilliant CSS based WordPress Theme Designs out there and it is worth while to use such designs as a base for further development and customization. However, as style sheets cannot be protected, there is always a high possibility of being copied, except when it comes to unique functions for advanced performance and editing.

On the base of the WP Best Consultant design and layout, we have created the new project for Elegant WordPress at Semiomantics.

screenshot1

Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics

The present series of posts will detail the advanced editing and publishing features of Semiomantics Elegance.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Microsoft Office 2010 PowerPoint

Yesterday’s Ycademy online workshop focused on Microsoft Office 2010 – PowerPoint. The Goal was to create a small slide show and to convert it into multiple formats, such as images or movies.

Here below a sample.

PowerPoint 2010 Slides

Slide1

Slide 1

Slide2

Slide

Slide3

Slide 3

Slide4

Slide 4

Slide5

Slide 5

Slide6

Slide 6

Slide7

Slide 7

Slide8

Slide 8

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.

Yorgo Design

This is a test post for the display of a gallery of works by Yorgo Design.

Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics. If you enjoyed reading the above, please consider following future tips and strategies by RSS reader, Email delivery, or Kindle subscription.