My GPS Camera Phone

In an effort to learn the inner workings of Photoshop, I joined a new Flickr group called Second Shotz. It’s a group run by two great photographers, Chica from Photo Projectz and Drew from The BenSpark. Some members are new to Photoshop, others quite experienced, but none of them are arrogant and condescending. It’s a good group of people willing to learn from each other.

From the group description:

This group has been created to let you take and edit a “Straight out of the Camera” image. Edit it as you see fit and upload it back to the group. Each week a new image will be posted by the moderators. You will have one week to do your best on the image and upload them to the group. The top three images each week will be featured in blog posts on Photo Projectz http://photo-projectz.blogspot.com/ and The BenSpark http://www.benspark.com.

For me, this is more than just playing in Photoshop. It’s about learning Photoshop.

I often find myself balking at having to create anything in Photoshop, leaning toward Illustrator instead. I’ve always been partial to vector (points and lines), but I’m discovering that there’s a whole lot more to raster (pixels) than I give it credit. This group has already helped me learn more in two weeks by simply having fun instead of forcing myself through boring training videos or tutorials with no reward at the end.

I’ve posted a Flickr widget of the group in the sidebar if you’re interested in viewing or joining. There’s already been some great entries and I can guarantee that there’s more to come.

Bologna for Sale = Lolcats Breeding Ground
Dan recently posted a wonderful collection of strange eBay auctions. One that caught my eye was the “SMILEY FACE ON THE BOLOGNA” auction. As the description states:

I WAS FRYING IT IN THE PAN AND FLIPPED IT AND TO MY SUPRISE IT WAS SMILING AT ME!!

I WAS AMAZED TO SEE IT!!

I AM STORING IT IN THE FRIDGE IN A ZIPLOC BAG!!

An incredible story, definitely worthy of capitalized, bold type and double exclamation marks. I am shocked that there have been no bids (at the time of this writing). How can you go wrong on a slice of fried bologna – with a smiley face – for only fifty cents?

Instead of satisfying my craving for a hunk of aged and processed meat-by-product loaf, I decided to indulge in an Internet phenomenon. I created a lolcat. Enjoy. I know Stephen will.

Recognition
Two more fab awards have been bestowed upon me and it’s about time I am forever grateful for them.

First, an award from the blogger formerly known as BMG Mom, now known as Soapbox Mom. The Smile Stone Award is neat because it’s one she started and I’m one of the first recipients, along with:

Jim at The Busy Dad Blog
Deb at Missives from Suburbia
Dan at Cafe Leone
Lotus at Sarcastic Mom
Piper at Bliss in Bloom
Ann at A Nice Place in the Sun
Kim at Jogging in Circles
Momo at MomoFali’s
Tara at If Mom Says Ok
Chuck at D is for Dad
Ellen at Positive Communication.

If you’re subscribed to BMGmom’s feed, make sure you switch over to her new one.

In addition to the mega link love I’ve been getting from Dan, he passed on Monday Morning Power’s Winning Attitude Award . It’s fitting because I like winning and I have an attitude. Thanks, Dan!

Entrecard, Flickr and Tumblr
I recently discovered another photo web site via Entrecard, called SDuffy Photography. Wouldn’t you know it, the day I find him, he’s running a camera phone contest on Flickr. The prizes (from his site):

Best user-submitted cameraphone photo: $100 Amazon gift certificate
Best tip: $50 Amazon gift certificate

This project will close March 12, 2008 at 8pm. The winners will be posted by March 15th both here and in the Flickr group.

Enter now or at least go visit his site. If you’re nice, he might even link back.

As for Entrecard, it’s really opened up my site to many new visitors. Yes, a lot of the traffic is from card-droppers, but some stick around. It’s worth checking out if you haven’t yet. If you’re looking to advertise, try me out – I’m cheap and your ad will run above the fold. I approve most ads, as long as they’re semi-relevant and not spammy. Give me a try, you know you want to.

Tumblr has been a great thing for me because I can e-mail raw camera phone photos directly for posting. Yes, I could do this here as well, but this site is more polished. My Tumblr blog, un.cropped, is just the opposite and it allows me to post more general stuff that doesn’t really fit here. If you’ve got a blog on Tumblr, let me know and I’ll follow you!

I’ve got more news, but it will have to wait until the next Blitzkrieg Friday. Will it be next week or the one after that? Subscribe to my feed if you haven’t and you’ll know exactly when it goes down. Until then, I’ve got some more lolcats to create.