montygm

I have decided after much thought to cease uploading any more free stocks. I am continuously finding my work advertised on websites without my permission and against my terms of use, and I am fed up with trolls that continuously abuse the system and have no care or thought for other people's hard work and time. I appreciate the few that do respect the rules and thank you for all your support over the years. I am also sorry to do this but unfortunately the abuse of terms needs to stop.

I am always happy when artists here on DA can use my humble stock for their artworks. It is always nice to be able to see it going to good use.

I only wish for a couple of small things...If you download work ( not just from me but also from others ) it is good manners to at least add a short comment in the box below it. It only takes a few seconds to say "thanks". It really irks me off to see so many artists with virtually hundreds of downloads on a single item and not one person could be bothered to thank them for it. This is just plain bad manners in my opinion and makes me want to cease doing downloads completely. Try and think about the artist and how long it took for them to make that piece so you can have (Free ) to enjoy.

Also Credit back when you have used it.

Regards,
Grace.

Hi guys,

Just wondering if any one else is having this problem...When I upload a photo on DA I get a blank thumbnail with question mark in the middle and no picture on it...but when I click on the thumbnail the image does show up as normal size. I have re-named file, re-saved it on a different canvas and have re-uploaded it again and it is still the same. I know of another DA artist who has also had the same thing happen to them. Does any one know what is causing this? I don't think the file is corrupt.

Also just wondering what every one else thinks about the new "Submit" page. I don't know if I missed something last night when uploading but looks like you cannot do multiple uploads any more. Personally I am not too impressed with it. Seems to be slower and when I go to type the info regarding "key words" it does not seem to remember exactly what I typed in previously.

Regards, Grace.

Hi Guys!

Just a bit of a ramble today regarding software.

Photo editing software can be such an expensive investment especially when you like to tinker around a bit with different effects on your photos. Buying the right one can also be a huge headache as well!  As I have recently found out. Apart from Photoshop which will do most of what is necessary, on the odd occasion I find the need and desire to do something a little different to my photos. Be it adding the odd grungy border, texture or just adding a little "oomph" to sometimes standard pictures. Having bought "Topaz" a while ago now, I have been reasonably happy with a few of it's bundled features. I find the ND filter, UV filter and vignette effects a few of the ones I tend to use the most. Sometimes you have a sky that is slightly lacking in detail and using the ND filter saves so much time  
than going into Photoshop. It is also rather effective at doing so as you can specify to which side of the photo frame and the intensity and width you wish to add to the effect and it does a rather good job at it. Many of the features in it are best used in moderation...as the saying goes " less is more" can be quite right in these editing software packages. Probably the most disappointing feature I have found with most of these editing effects software bundles that you can buy is that they tend to emphasise the grain quite a bit on the photo once you add the desired effect. On a small photo it may not be too noticeable but when enlarged the grain can be quite visible and annoying. The B/W filter was also rather disappointing in the Topaz bundle as it produced the most unpleasant noise of all. Which is one of the reasons I had purchased the "Nik" Complete Collection bundle after reading some good reviews from previous users. The "Silver Effex" plug in is a great addition to the collection, I have been very happy with the quality of the B/W effects available on this suite, it offers the best B/W toning and detail without gaining unwanted grain in the process. It gives me better B/W than what I have been getting with just using Photoshop on it's own. One thing that I wasn't too impressed was the HDR plug in on the Nik suite, thought the effects were rather over the top and way too grainy once again! Did download the trail version of "Photomatix" HDR and in many case I thought this did a much better job at handling the shadows than Nik, Photoshop or Topaz in that matter. Unfortunately when using the noise reduction with Photomatix the end result can be a significantly "softer" photo. Not using the noise reduction results in a very grainy photo. Nik produced the sharpest but tended to look a little too contrasty and darker in the shadows. Photomatix was more balanced tonally and well exposed but at the expense of losing sharpness. It was a bit of a catch 22 with both these companies. Each had some good benefits but neither delivered the complete package in quality what I was hoping for.

Will test a few more photos out and see what happens.

Cheers, Grace.

Hi there,

Just recently purchased "Auto FX Mystical Lighting Software" and was wondering if any one else here uses it and what they think of it. I have only tinkered around on it a couple of times so far and must say I found it a "little bit" lack lustre for the price I just paid for it. I have been wanting to add a bit of mood and ambience to some of my shots and am not too sure I am going to get the desired result with this software some how. Your input on this topic would be great to hear from. Also if any one knows on other good lighting software it would be great to hear from you also.

On a cheery note, Spring is just around the corner and sunshine is starting to warm up the last month of winter. Yipeee. I feel like I can finally come out of hibernation.

Cheers and all the best,
Grace.