Lucas T. Digman » Techniques

My Work Made It Into a Gallery!

Luke — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:58:15 +0000

The owner of Broadway Jewelry & Visual Arts, a new gallery in Rochester, approached me recently and asked if I’d like display some of my work there. This was unexpected but came at a great time considering the new image transfer technique I have been working on where I transform my original photography into canvas based mixed-media art. It’s a fun process with very pleasing results.

The digitally captured image is reversed before being printed on standard-weight paper with a high quality laserjet printer. Using acrylic gel medium, water, time, and effort, the image is transfered from the paper to the gallery-wrapped canvas. The process of removing the paper pulp by hand is what creates the distress markings and makes each image completely unique; no two pieces will come out the same. Once the image is transferred and dry, I apply additional acrylic gel to create texture; this also adds a strong layer of protection to the piece. I finish off by signing the back, then installing the canvas into the custom floater frame.

These pieces, sized 8×10 or 11×14, are a result of this process:

I brought a few samples in to show and before too long my work was officially consigned and on display. You can find my canvas work along with prints and notecards for sale at Broadway Jewelry & Visual Arts in Rochester, MN. It’s a great shop and he’s got a lot of talented artists – I’m humbled to be included among them.

Go check it out and support local art!

HDR with Photomatix

Luke — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:53:21 +0000

I’ve been experimenting with a number of high dynamic range (HDR) post processing tools to add some visual interest to my images. I tried using the native tone mapping tools in Photoshop CS4 with marginal success before testing out a program available through the Mac app store called HDR Darkroom, which made things easier but offered little in the way of quality. I finally decided to buy the Photomatix tone mapping plugin for Photoshop CS4 and, so far, it’s been working great.

I suspect I’ll be favoring HDR for black & white work just for the depth it adds to an image…and B&W is my favorite- but color is fun too.

Here are two images I processed using the Photmatix plugin:

Metallic B&W workflow

Luke — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:51:33 +0000

In a recent post I shared a photo created using a Photoshop technique I learned from a now forgotten YouTube user. I’ve made a short video explaining the technique I’m using and refining to get that older metallic print look. Here are a few of the photos I’ve created using the technique – you’ll find the video after those…

And here is the video (the first 13 seconds are blank..sorry!:

Replicating the Metallic Black and White Look

Luke — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:11:52 +0000

This past weekend it stormed around these parts, pretty bad – and somehow that’s now turned into oppressive heat. Luckily the storms didn’t last long and afterwards I decided to head out as the sun fell and capture a few images of the retreating storm clouds. I’m never inspired by a clear sky – it’s the clouds that make it, and storms make great clouds.

I managed to snap a few decent photos, two of which I developed into black and white images with a look similar to the older metallic black and white prints.

I am really happy with the result of these first attempts and will refine the technique as time goes on. I learned the basics while browsing the many Photoshop CS4 tutorials out there – can’t remember which YouTube user it was but if you’re interested in the process, let me know and I can certainly tell you what I know.

These are available in my Landscapes Gallery and available as Note Cards.

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Improved Shooting with the Puffer

Luke — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:59:28 +0000

I don’t usually shoot with my camera’s on-board flash because, well, it’s terrible, like any on-board flash; but mostly because I shoot landscapes where flash (any flash) isn’t useful. I have, however, been experimenting more with flash photography since I bought the Puffer, by Gary Fong.

The Puffer is a simple diffuser for your camera’s on-board flash. It is designed to soften and disperse the light, which reduces the harshness of the light and shadows on and around your subject. I’ve been really impressed with it so far and has made the on-board flash viable for those shots that could use some fill.

The Puffer is obviously no replacement for a shoe mounted flash – something I’ll be investing in soon – but it certainly gets the job done in the meantime.

Check out some other shots of the Puffer and other accessories on Gary Fong’s website. He’s also got accessories for point-and-shoots….