Tutorial: Cloud 9

• Difficulty: Medium (Basic photoshop 2019 skill required)

• The application used: Photoshop 2019 and Pixaloop

• Time spent: 45 minutes

Visual art has no definite rule to follow and go by as it is very subjective. It entirely depends on person to person how it wishes to see the image and how to go about. After a lot of trial and error, I have come to mine and often I follow the path the reverse way. This very image Cloud 9 (just thought to steal the name) is composed of a landscape image I captured on my way to Goa, India and later added the moving elements in Pixaloop.

If you ask me what is Pixaloop? It is a fun application which let you give a moving or living element in your still photograph. This application comes with fun sky replacement themes, moving elements like clouds, animals to many more and few other gickmicks. The best part with the pro-version is it keeps updating itself with many more elements from time to time.

• Available for both Apple and Andriod users, pro-version against standard fees giving you lifetime access.

• The application doesn't give you rights to use it for professional/commercial purposes.

I have to admit being a commercial photographer I need to go through a lot and lots of work to seek inspiration and Pinterest, Instagram and google have been my best mentor so far. With thousands of talented people to follow and seek understanding from there is nothing much space left for a block to happen in mind yet it does from time to time. My way of going about has been traditional so far and I love re-enacting what others have done yet I keep a few elements true to myself. My advertising venture is not always straight forward and often I am asked to show what I can do and visualize more than the ordinary. Manipulation and surrealism do go by side and I love doing both.

So let's get started!

STEP 1: For the given tutorial I have used a panoramic landscape with a vast grassland and an open sky (merged in photoshop). I have edited the image in terms of colour correction, contrast and eventually thought to remove a few elements like clouds and a tree positioned at the right of the image. Just wanted to remove few distractions. I used a combination of spot healing, a clone stamp tool and content-aware in photoshop.

STEP 2: I found the sky little uneven in terms of the horizon, hence decided to even it out. Using the clone stamp tool with low opacity (10% is my personal preference) gives a smooth gradation. It helps to avoid any kind of patches.

It is indeed a simple concept, a plain canvas for the elements to stand out and give a dimension to the image. Again my composition is pretty straight forward and I love keeping things simple for the viewer to enjoy in most of my cases. I do love layering things and keeping certain conscious and subconscious elements which let people stare a little more and they eventually discover things one by one making it more engaging.

A fun aspect is always a good way to go about when doing surrealism. People love playing games and solving the mystery, it makes them look smart and people love being called smart.

• I edit an image at 16bit at 300dpi. The dimension of the given image is 7645 by 5285 pixels. This part is completely subjective to your end-users and where you are going to publish it. I primarily kept it for my personal website and Instagram. Pixaloop doesn't restrain you with dimension. I love this part of the application!

STEP 3: To fill the empty space of my extended composition, I selected a part of the sky and stretched it to the top. You can feel free to use a clone stamp tool to do the same.

COMPOSITION TIP: I wanted the moving element in the middle of the sky, for the cloud to have enough breathing space around. It is always a good idea to think about the final image you have in mind.

STEP 4: Coming to the fun part and where I start my surreal journey, using a wrapping tool in photoshop I decided to give a convex feel to the grassland, you can very well do the opposite. Just keep it wacky and fun.

STEP 5: Everyone loves filters and the vintage feel. Pixaloop though has a new feature to do the same but I am not exactly convinced as it makes the images pretty pixilated hence I love the manual control photoshop gives. Colour correction, Vibrance and the selective colour is a great tool to add a feel to the image.

I have shared my calculations and feel free to copy it or tweak it as per your need. There is no rule to follow the above in the given direction, it's quite a lot of permutation and combination and it entirely depends what you think looks good, add value and mood to the image.

COMPOSITION TIP: A warm tone like yellow, orange and red is always about happiness and cool tones like blue and grey give a gloomy feeling.

I give a bit of sharpening and export my image suited for web and keep it within a range of 2500 pixels wide or 3mb in file size max, for the mobile processor to work over it without hanging on. Avoid uploading a heavy file to prevent the application from crashing.

STEP 6: As the application is mobile-based you need to transfer the image to your mobile, I own a Pixel2 and I upload my images in Photos (cloud storage). Post that I opened the image in Pixaloop. To start with I go to the sky menu of the app and for the given image I decided to use Dancing Aurora with Horizon: 77 and Opacity: 100. Feel free to tweak as per the image. A smooth transition is all that you should look for.

STEP 7: I just love fooling around with the application. Jokes apart, I knew it has a new element of clouds and it fitted perfectly to my landscape. I always have this love for animals especially the not so usual for many and thought to use a frog for it to be lost in the grassland under the sky with majestic aurora and stars. Placed the frog as per a suitable perspective yet easy to notice. I added the cloud at the centre and made it large enough to dominate the image. To add a little of drama I added some lightning. The steps are pretty much after a lot of combinations from the available list. You should feel free to create your own version. The elements have options like dimension and opacity. Play until you like to your liking.

STEP 8: Gadgets have their own colour profile and it depends on the brand of your phone hence you may find the colour a little off, what you saw on your computer screen. I was happy with the composition, yet found the image a little off in terms of colour gradation. Corrected the needed in the application. See image for calculations.

STEP 9: The application gives enough flexibility regarding the export option and I prefer keeping it at the highest resolution possible for any future needs and record. You can choose to tweak it as per your need. I personally love keeping the dimension intact, Duration around 18 seconds and quality 2k.

Woah! You have it done it so far fantastically and I hope you enjoyed the process. I loved creating this image and sharing the journey with you. There is nothing more that gives me contentment than creating something fresh and learning something new.

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Hii, I am Shovona Karmakar, a freelance commercial photographer, presently based out of Mumbai, India. As an artist, freelancer, and businesswoman, money, and creativity always intrigue me and I am passionate enough to share my knowledge with others too.

To note: My tutorials are mine from my own experience.

I am open for any portrait, corporate, food, product | people photography related queries/services, or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

#coronaindia #mumbaiphotographer #femalephotographer #portraitphotographer #commercialphotographer #freelancecommercialphotographer #tutorial #pixaloop #cinemagraph #movingimages

Freelance

The word freelance according to google "A Basic Definition. Essentially, a freelance job is one where a person works for themselves, rather than for a company. While freelancers do take on contract work for companies and organizations, they are ultimately self-employed"

Freelancing is a lifestyle, is a life choice that you have as a side hustle or a full-time job. Everything you do is building up for yourself hence it is a selfish act yet it has many benefits.

I have mentioned various articles over my blog regarding freelancing, how to go about it, and what to expect. As a freelancer, I see the world, the people around me a little more critically than many seeking a job may think and see. My life is nothing to do with security and I have to have the social contentment in me every day with a mere line of

Things happens for good!

Everyone has its own journey to be one and it is worth reading and observe everyone possible and learn the things we can as down the line the situations are not newborn yet it recycles from one person to another.

Photography and product styling remain my primary source of income and rest is on the way to an exploration of finding the target audience who will like to hire me and help me pay my bills. Here I do not exactly wish to talk about freelancing and how to go about it rather there are many things I learned a little faster than else.

An adult and growing up to be an adult is a choice and I chose to be a child who is curious as long as possible. I have realized how being an adult is a trap and how being a child leads to a better world. A child, in general, doesn't look for perfection and adapts anyone unless it hurts. A child is more venerable and open to get molded and re-shaped. A child leads to discovery very new to itself.

Then why are we asked to grow up and how well it is important?

There is a difference between growing up and being a child and they are pretty broad lined.

As a grown-up, we are expected to understand things and be careful with our words. We are expected to earn and be compassionate and less venerable to being emotional and anxious. We are more aware of the rights and less aware of the very subconscious mind. Having the content attitude is a sign of being an adult for many and we choose to be choosy with the kind of people we should be with and shape our lives. We find being sad and low as a sign of being weak and less worthy to be with and successful people to be the ones you should look up to.

We complicate ourselves more than ever. We behave as a complicated being yet calling self the simplest and minimalistic of all just because we are not ambitious and we don't let our mind wander madly.

You have to understand if things are crazy in your head and you see it exist then it was always a part of being a human.

A child, on the contrary, is new to the world and everyday it tends to evolve, biologically it goes through a cycle of being a human, being a specie which is advanced and more mobile than anyone else. It discovers everything cause it is new to it, every word it says and everything it sees is new to it and the cycle will continue unless it is forced to be a grownup.

Very recently I have been rejected by someone I potentially saw as one worth to be a partner. I was exploring you see and my past has not been kind enough to me and it floats upon the surface the moment I find someone finally understanding me and giving me time to let them know the best part of me being me but it seems it was too late. The person was looking for a quick fix and he moved on and I eventually kept thinking that he will be back.

I let myself be venerable and I am thankful for it coz I wouldn't have been productive the way I am now just to overcome the feeling of being abandoned all over again. As a child, I rant, I take chances and I let people come into my life and I rest my trust in them easily. I let myself mold the way one wants me to and on the way, I discover the best of me.

Now with everything possible said what is the connection of everything above with being a freelancer, and the answer is simple it all depends on you and just you how you shape your freelancing career. There is the right way to be content and do things that work and keep life as safe as possible. There is another right way to let your child be alive to discover every possibility to raise your bar and aspect of your skill and talent. Be complicated, be difficult, be moody and keep ranting about things but at the end make sure you discover for better tomorrow.

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Hii, I am Shovona, a freelance commercial photographer who resides in the economic hub of India, Mumbai. As an artist, freelancer, and businesswoman, money, and creativity always intrigue me and I am passionate enough to share my knowledge with others too.

Feel free to contact me for any portrait, corporate, food, product photography related queries, or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

#coronaindia #mumbaiphotographer #femalephotographer #portraitphotographer #commercialphotographer #freelancecommercialphotographer

I almost committed suicide.

There is no death with no disease. Wow! I just made it up... But why to score your death if it is coming anyway?

There are few things as a freelancer we tend to practice for the death of our own career and there are ways to avoid it. There is something we have to deal with no prior experience is to deal with new people and understand human behavior and gauge the best possible among the many. Every day I get calls from an average of 5 people looking for my services and there are days when none of them turns into anything potential client and it is totally fine. What is not fine is to lose a potential opportunity. Very recently the Indian economy was effected post its overnight decision of demonetization in 2017 and it took a year for many freelancers including myself to recover. As I looked back I saw a few things I took as a final call for my better tomorrow and I am here to share the secret with you.

Creating art may not seem very relatable to you with being commercial but they both are intertwined except the kind of attitude you carry. Either you change yourself or hire, it is totally up to you.

When I looked back into the years when I just started my career being a freelancer in 2014, I was approached by people looking for talent at a cheap price, well I cribbed for the lack of budget clients carry but self-authentication to be a professional worth the bucks was not well signed by many and then I took up the job at the price they offered me, I still thank myself I did coz every experience matter and you tend to start somewhere in your career. The big bang theory exists but it's not all in one indeed it is an amalgamation of many. I ended up with a beautiful portfolio carrying various portraits and products which lead me to get my very first international client The Morningstar based out of Chicago, USA.

It is not important to earn the highest in every project, gaining credibility is indeed a currency one needs to earn and invest in itself for better opportunities tomorrow

The biggest problem is to understand and dissolve it in our mind is everything comes gradually, I have been rejected by many talent agencies for not fitting into the bill they are looking for and many agreed to make me a part for a sum I am still not able to afford it.

I do say No! to too many of my clients for the amount they offer against various factors of lack of enough to feed my assistant's effort to the inability to hire the equipment I require and more. I have negotiated enough to gauge the best they have to shed for the project. I have come to terms finally where I have made a style of myself the way I wish to work for better outcomes cause now I have things at stake.

Nature is the best example to relate to if and when we seek answers to all the worries and queries and doubts we have in and out. Evolution as a word is going to stick to you for the rest of your life and I have evolved enough to come to terms with the way I wish to work. It is been 6 years where I have done everything possible at my best to understand the circumstances I work the best and I work from my heart to give the best I can and I have committed to my clients. They come to me post seeing what I have done so far and where I have been me at the optimum as a photographer and professional artist.

I have a crew which helps me to work at ease, I have a production assistant which figures the things which I am not supposed to and I have a co-mate which brings the best out of my images, my stakes are high, my work experience has expanded, I believe in customer experience and indeed the productivity one is approaching me for. If one can't bear the minimum of what I need I can't take the risk to give an outcome I can't commit to.

I highly encourage everyone to take a risk and do things that are beyound your comfort zone and I myself practice it in every way possible. I have shot 1000s of images in a day to just 10 in a day and it took a while to understand what I do best and how I do best in what circumstances.

For anyone having a work style and aesthetic style is two different aspects relatable to each other and it takes years of being under pressure to be a diamond to define your worth.

Once you know and feel you have taken enough, step up and stick to your working style.

As an artist, we have a mind with thousands of things wandering around in and out and we either go speechless, talk endlessly or talk our heart out and as a professional, we need to train ourselves. Train not to stop wondering but to calculate the way we let other people know what we think and how we think and what we have to offer. Early in my career, I tended to crib a lot and talk endlessly and I still do in and over meetings with clients and people in general and I regret the big time when I self realize, over the years I have been open to criticism and words people around me looking out for best for me, have told me to follow and It has helped me a lot eventually but the child within does error from time to time and I have stopped taking control over it.

Stop talking before they stop listening to you

is a mantra I came across a book (The art of creative thinking) and I found it very amusing. I have been invited to many local and national conferences and they invited me to talk and talk the heart out, well I have had to brief it up as much as possible due to the same mantra above. When it comes to the meeting I tend to practice listening more and talk the least and it has worked the best for me. Listening holds more capacity to engage with our audience than talking to them and many called it a scientific way of human dominance in a way they tend to depend on you.

The very exchange of words turning into a potential transaction is a study every freelancer needs to do and evolve accordingly.

The death of a freelancer comes with the haste, jealousy, anxious mind and ever over the top self affiliation attitude. As a freelancer one needs to lead itself along the lines of evolution everyone goes through and has gone through and will go through. The attitude of settling down too soon in your career makes you stagnant. Fear of working out of the comfort zone doesn't bring anything new out of you. The hunger doesn't need a la carte to raise the symphony rather simplicity has given birth to many la carte.

I have seen many photographers going off the track due to the lack of passion and vision and exposure of what good work is.

The eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue every sense needs to get trained and needs to get fooled more than getting the right answers. Aspiration and inspiration are at the tip of your hand, how you practice are what makes you who you are.

I hold and no hold any guarantee for a miracle to happen in your life and yet the insurance is in your efforts and attitude you behold. We and I can learn from what others have for us to give away.

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Hii, I am Shovona, a freelance commercial photographer who resides in the economic hub of India, Mumbai. As an artist, freelancer and a businesswoman, money, and creativity always intrigue me and I am passionate enough to share my knowledge with others too.

Feel free to contact me for any portrait, corporate, food, product photography related queries or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

#coronaindia #mumbaiphotographer #femalephotographer #portraitphotographer #commercialphotographer #freelancecommercialphotographer