Otto's Baltic (Barktic?) Porter

Though it's not quite ready yet, My first attempt at a Baltic Porter taste pretty good. It will be the first of many batches.

When I racked the beer into the secondary fermenter, it tasted pretty alcoholic (it's about 8% ABV) and I was worried the roasted character wouldn't be strong enough. So...I threw in more hops. I'm pretty sure your not supposed to dry hop a Baltic Porter, so I only added a half once of Glacier and a half once of Cascade (homegrown!) hops. I think it was a good call. This beer has a unique spiciness, almost like liquorice that I've never had in any of the other brews. I'm not sure where this came from (Saaz hops?), but I like it.

Prost, Otto dog!

Mesmerized by a big lumpy guy

A conversation with my 4 year old just before bed.

Quinn, please put your jammies on

Quinn picks up some lego characters.

Quinn, put your jammies on and we will have time to read a story

Quinn picks up plastic bat, shoves lego character in mouth.

Quinn, listen. Your teacher says we need to work on focus. We need to teach you to pay attention and listen to what we are saying

Quinn: But daddy, sometimes i'm memorized.

What?

Quinn: Sometimes i see things and I'm memorized and can't quit.

Do you mean mesmerized?

Quinn: Yes, mesmerized - I can't stop looking. Like that one time we saw the big lumpy guy, and we followed him.

At this point I'm confused. Then I remember an incident in Poland while we were out taking a walk.

You mean the big lumpy guy we saw in Poland?

Quinn: Yes, We saw him and we followed him and he led us to the dragon parade.

And it's all true. We were out on our way to the castle on a Sunday afternoon in Krakow, Poland when we saw a the oddly dressed creature above just walking buy. Mesmerized by the odd attire we followed him until we lost him in the crowds. At this point we started to notice all the folks just standing about and I realized they were all waiting. So we stopped and waited too. A while later the big lumpy guy returned with a few other characters. He led an entire parade of dragon floats. It was one of the unplanned occurances that was so unexpected and perfect.

The big lumpy guy had memorized us right into a dragon parade.

Adobe Bridge Overview

I use Adobe Bridge to transfer, batch rename, keyword, and organize my files. In this tutorial, I show some of these basic uses for Bridge.

Back to the Dark Side.

I did it. I purchased a point and shoot camera. And I think I like it.

My DSLR will still be my camera, but this little thing will be with me always. And it's shockproof, waterproof to 16 feet, and just to reiterate - SHOCKPROOF. And no, I am not the klutziest person in the world, but I do have a four year old (Just turned four today!) and he likes to shoot pictures too. So now, when daddy is shooting pictures and he asks to use my camera, we can shoot pictures together.

What kind of camera is it? How are the images? Here is an image from day 1:

Quinn at Taco Mac

Not so bad for low light and a moving subject. I was actually hoping for some blur (so I killed the flash) and it captures Quinn's Taco Mac craziness. The noise would show up in any low-light situation.

I'm pretty happy with the camera so far. The camera is a 16 megapixel Panasonic Lumix TS20. The lens isn't great, but some sacrifices had to be made to keep the body watertight. In fact, there is a very similar Lumix with a Leica lens that has a much better zoom (and was selling for less - only $140.00) but the real reason I bought the THIS camera was for it's (presumed) durability. But another advantage was the 25mm wide angle lens. Most point and shoots seem to stop at about 28mm if your lucky. This gives the user some great depth and a pretty awesomely wide angle of view.

This camera is definitely coming with us to Europe this summer.

The Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop

The fifth in a five part series. I look at the Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop. We complete the composite image "A Hard Days Work for the Mighty Quinn."

The other videos in this series include:
1. Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
2. Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop
3. Using Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
4. Alpha Channels in Adobe Photoshop Explained
5. The Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop [current selection]

Alpha Channels in Adobe Photoshop

The fourth in a five part series. Jeff Murphy looks at the use of Alpha Channels and the gradient tool to create a gradated edge on a selection. Jeff gets some help from his son Quinn.

The other videos in this series include:
1. Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
2. Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop
3. Using Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
4. Alpha Channels in Adobe Photoshop Explained [current selection]
5. The Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop

Using Blending Modes in Photoshop

The third in a five part series. I look at the use of layer blending modes as I begin to create a composite image that looks much like an old albumen print. Jeff gets some help from his son Quinn, Quinn's friend Katie, and his most excellent wife.

This is a follow up to the more in-depth tutorial on Blending Modes: http://youtu.be/FxwHplcidGk

The other videos in this series include:
1. Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
2. Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop
3. Using Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop: A Review [current selection]
4. Alpha Channels in Adobe Photoshop Explained
5. The Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop

Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop

The second in a five part series. Jeff Murphy demonstrates the use of adjustment layers as he begins to create a composite image that looks much like an old albumen print.

The other videos in this series include:
1. Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
2. Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop [current selection]
3. Using Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
4. Alpha Channels in Adobe Photoshop Explained
5. The Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop

Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop: A Review

The first in a five part series. Jeff Murphy gives an overview of the selection tools as he begins to create a composite image that looks much like an old albumen print. A more detailed explanation of the selection tools can be seen in the video Selection Basics in Adobe Photoshop

The other videos in this series include:
1. Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop: A Review [current selection]
2. Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop
3. Using Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop: A Review
4. Alpha Channels in Adobe Photoshop Explained
5. The Path Tools in Adobe Photoshop

Using the Clone Stamp Tool in Adobe Photoshop

A demonstration of the Clone Stamp Tool in Adobe Photoshop CS5.5. I'm using the image Vulture © 2012 for this demonstration.

Using Transformation Tools in Adobe Photoshop

Quinn and Jeff talk fixed gear bikes and transformation tools in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Layers and Layer Mask Basics

Quinn helps Jeff work with layers and layer masks in Adobe Photoshop.

Smart Objects in Photoshop

This tutorial explores the use of Smart Objects in Adobe Photoshop. We place a camera RAW file and also convert a layer to a smart object.

Masking and Refining Edges in Adobe Photoshop

Jeff Murphy demonstrates the selection tools and the Refine Edge Dialogue box. He is using a really hot model.

Using the Liquify Filter in Photoshop

Jeff has some fun with Barley-Rox and the Liquify Filter in Adobe Photoshop.

Retouching tools in Adobe Photoshop

A demonstration of some of the common retouching tools in Adobe Photoshop.

Making selections in Adobe Photoshop

A demonstration of how to use the selection tools, Quick Mask mode, and Refine Edge window in Adobe Photoshop.

Blending Modes in Photoshop

Digital media artist Jeff Murphy explores blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop.
The example work Raft is © 2012 by Jeff Murphy.

Using Camera Raw Files

in this video, we look at using the camera RAW file format. Thanks to 3-year old Quinn Freeman Murphy for the shoot. It's a rough lighting situation and daddy still hasn't had his coffee.

Raft

New panorama:

It's entitled raft and I am really pleased with how this came out. The bird was given to me by my neighbor, the raft came together with twigs from the yard, and the water environment was composed from creek bordering our property. The raft was photographed with the bird skeleton floating in a deep blue water table (this is shared equally between our son and our dog Barley-Rox who despite being a sixty-pound boxer, can still find a way to lay down in the table).

I started this off with the intent of showing my students that they could be creative with their current panorama project in digital photography class. The panorama doesn't need to be typical in the sense that the the photographer needs to complete a 360 degree rotation in pictures. Moving some objects around a bit in Photoshop can work as well. This work was composed of four images covering about 160 degrees.

Like the other works in this series, I will print the image out on cloth and adhere it to a plywood frame. It is then coated with multiple layers of wax.

Trike Strike Irish Red Ale

Here is my latest beer label:

Tragically, I have the ingredients but no time as of yet to actually make the beer. My need for creative Christmas presents got the label underway ( It makes a good T-shirt ). So hopefully, the beer will be good enough to deserve the label. It will be a mix of Maris Otter Malt, some caramel malt, flaked oats, golden naked oats, and well, I haven't quite decided on the hops. I have some home grown Willamette, so they will probably be tossed in there.

I originally was excited to call this Fixed Gear Version 1 Irish Ale as I thought the tricycle - well, it truly is the original fixed gear cycle. But then I saw that there already is a fixed gear red ale. Really? And a pretty uninspired design concept. Theirs had a chainring. wow. Mine says ride. POW!

Of course, putting a trike on a beer probably wouldn't fly in the commercial world. It would be like putting a cartoon camel on cigarettes or something (oh wait, that's been done).

Trike Strike Irish Red Juice anyone?

Fire Chief.

Fire Chief, what does it need?

It somehow feels unfinished. Perhaps it needs to be broken down a bit more? Maybe some sort of charcoal overlay? After all, charcoal is just burnt wood, right? Or did I just get to carried away with the ladders. Maybe a stronger foreground  object? Arrgaaahhh.

Barley Pillow

Once again, Barley-Rox serves as the object of Quinn's attention. For most of the dozen or so pictures I snapped, Barley tries, as she often does, to just ignore it all. But, when Quinn decided he wanted to be Thor and pulled out his hammer, someone got worried.

Thor's Hammer © Jeff Murphy, 2012

Quinn enjoyed these photographs so much that he decided to take his own. So, here is Quinn's very first DSLR picture:

Quinn's First DSLR Picture © Quinn Freeman Murphy, 2012

Not so bad for the low tungsten lighting. Just a few months ago the camera was jsut to heavy and awkward for him.

Awkward. That spells funny.

Chorus. Is it done yet?

When I was in Graduate school at the University of Florida, I remember Jerry Uelsmann saying that if he used computers for his work, he would never no when he's done. He preferred the limitations of the darkroom (though limitations is probably the wrong word her - maybe framework?). I've been thinking about that a lot as I've been working on the image Chorus for what seems like forever.

Chorus, © Jeff Murphy 2012

 I was initially drawn to the tree scabs and the way they appeared like open mouths shouting or singing. So they have been a constant. The waves and water were more problematic. Despite the churning water and foam, I seemed to lack the dynamism I thought would be inherent in waves. Also, after the first few versions, where I struggled with placement of the basic elements, I realized I needed a focal point beyond the chorus of tree scabs.

Enter the anatomical structures. These were fabricated from individual diagrams - I couldn't tell you what they are were, but you could probably guess some of the elements. These felt like the remains of on old pier where the deck has long since washed away. I placed these anatomical constructions in a row to mimic this idea (the work is in part about how time buries things).

So I thought it was finished. Then I pulled it out again. Then I put it away. I realized I still didn't have te focal point I was looking for. So I reworked it again. Enter bird skeleton (curiously, as I was taking a break from the computer, my neighbor came by with another bird skeleton he had found at his church). Now it's really done. I think. I'm just going to go ahead and archive the file with my other slides so I won't be tempted.