Yeah, I know, I've been the slacker blogger lately- now you can see why!

We got the keys to start work on our new space at the start of February- after about a year of the owner's renovations to the building itself. So, for the past four months, my amazing brother Jeremy (designer/builder) has been working tirelessly to create this masterpiece. He did all the work except for the electrical. Jeni did almost all the painting (walls and floors) and had the vision of the final look and feel of the space- love her!! I did all the cleanup:) and did some of the planning with the city and others involved. I would've loved to be down there every day working too but Stef and I have had to keep the biz going back at the office.

A shot I made last night outside looking in.Jeni and Jeremy finished the floors last night- so cool!
The front area.
The shooting area:


The production room:
The consultation area:
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Written By T. Michael Testi

Most people know of Bryan Peterson's 2004 bestselling book Understanding Exposure in which he explores in detail the relationship of aperture, shutter speed, and how to achieve successful exposures in difficult situations. In his new companion volume, Understanding Shutter Speed, he takes on one of those aspects in depth: shutter speed.

Unless working with still life, every moment offers up the movement of a subject. How that subject is captured brings the moment back to us. In every situation there will be a number of ways to capture that image. The goal of Understanding Shutter Speed is to give you the knowledge to make the best choice. The book 160 pages and is contained in five chapters.

"Shutter Speed Facts & Myths" begins by explaining that within most picture-taking situations you have six possible combinations of f-stops and shutter speeds that will result in correct exposures. This does not mean that each will take the same image, but rather will result in six quality images, each with a different look and feel to it. Also discussed is the affect of ISO on images and how it applies to action photos.

"Fast and Moderate Speeds" examines how to freeze action and how shutter speed affects what you see in an image. Here the author takes you through a number of shutter speeds from 1/100 to 1/1000 and shows you what they really mean in relation to your picture.

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Author: Rich Goldman

Digital illustration is big business these days. A quick look at roadside billboards, club flyers or magazine covers should be enough to convince anyone that the art of the digital designer has never been in higher demand, and its popularity just keeps on growing.

But defining exactly what digital illustration is proves tricky. We all know what the words mean, yet the myriad of ways in which illustration can be applied makes it one of the most versatile of the creative arts and as such, it's pretty difficult to pin down.

With a strong creative vision and the right software, concepts can be articulated in limitless ways; each style opening new doors for expression. The one crucial skill that ties it all together is the need for some innate artistic ability. You don't need to be a virtuoso with a pencil to be good at computer art, but there's no doubt that most professional illustrators are proficient with traditional art techniques.

The basics of image structure are the same across mediums, after all, and with software increasingly able to mimic traditional drawing methods, the transition to digital has become almost seamless. Let's take a closer look at the main branches of digital illustration and discover a little more about how the experts put them together.

Vector art: It's no great accident that vector illustration is currently one of the trendiest and easily recognisable of the digital art disciplines.

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