Lensbaby Muse Photography

Posted on February 7, 2012 by SheetzBlogger

Lens baby muse photographThanks to my brother, I received the Lensbaby Muse camera lens as a Christmas present. This past weekend I got the chance to try out my new lens and see how it fit with my photographic style on my Canon 5D mark II.

At first, I was skeptical about the idea of adding such a serious amount of blur and tilt shift to every photo that was shot through the lens. However, after using it, I think it will serve a useful purpose within my photography services.

I used the Lensbaby Muse to shoot the first half of Surfrider Foundation annual party on South Padre Island, Texas. Volunteering my time and equipment to document the event, I felt that it was an appropriate time to pull it out and give it a first go. As a result, I snapped some fairly artistic photographs of the event, which I think captured a unique style of the overall occasion. After obtaining a series of shots of the band, crowd, and objects, I decided to switch back the my regular 50mm lens to allow for some normal – not so blurry images.

In conclusion, I will have much use for the Lensbaby Muse camera lens in the future. It produces a unique image, great for within certain circumstances. It was slightly difficult to handle, as it requires both hands to focus manually and obtain the desired amount of tilt shift, but overall is a fun new tool that has a lot of potential.

Thanks John!

Lensbaby Muse Photograph Examples

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Letterpress Business Cards

Posted on February 2, 2012 by SheetzBlogger

Sheetz Desig Business CardsOver the holidays I received my new letterpress business cards for the Sheetz Design business. After considerable research about which company to go with, I decided on The United States Business Card Company based in the New Jersey. I spoke with a fellow named Richard throughout the entire process, and he was the reason I chose to support them. Being the owner and operator of the letterpress, Richard was fast to respond to all inquiries and happily guided me through the entire process, which was new to me.

In the end, I ordered 500 quantity two-sided business cards on 110# Crane’s Lettra paper. The front showcases my business information and branding, and the back has a simple ghosted logo impression. I greatly enjoy the letterpress look, and hope to someday be able to gain access to a machine for myself, as there is an incredible amount of creativity that can be obtained with the process.

The United States Business Card Company
Studio @ 540 39th Street #33
Union City, NJ 07087
Tel. 201-863-8776
www.usbcards.net

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New Web Design Movement

Posted on November 16, 2011 by SheetzBlogger

The New Web Design Movement is the future of website design and development. Website have only been in existence for 20 years. 20 years! That is a minuscule amount of time. Imagine the developments that we are on the verge of as we speak.

Therefore, I am not saying that we are in the age of the “New Web Design Movement”. Because I don’t think we are. Nothing to date has profoundly changed the way in which we design websites, and I don’t know how long it could be before there is. All I know is that web design is still quite bound by the constraints in which we view it. Sure websites are fantastic sources of information, user interaction, and business, but looking into the future, there will surely be a radical transformation that will occur in the industry.

Web pages? browser compatibility issues? and limited font choice? These are basic problems that all web designers are looking forward to reaching the end of.  Even typography made huge leaps at the beginning of the 20th century with the “New Typographic Movement“, where graphic design broke it free of traditional constraints of symmetry and structure. And that was close to 100 years ago. Today those are issues which web design hasn’t yet overcome. But how long did it take typography to reach that transformation? Several thousand years. Exactly.

I continue to have the greatest respect and belief in web design; that it too will see a significant change for the greater good. When it happens, perhaps they will adopt the term “New Web Design Movement”, or perhaps not, but that is what I am calling it. See you here.

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New Website and Blog Have Begun

Posted on August 30, 2011 by SheetzBlogger

Sheetz Design LogoI am writing this post as I am amidst building my entire website Sheetz Design. After months of planning, sketching, organizing my portfolio, and researching, I have begun the large job of constructing the site that this blog is attached to. It will include many sections that will cover all of my design portfolio, services and other factions of my business. I do take pride in putting my hard work out for everyone to see and understand. So I hope you enjoy!

The main reason for the website is to organize my portfolio into a easy to view online portal. In effort to apply to multiple graduate programs for a Master of Fine Arts by the end of 2011, I realized that a well put-together website would be integral to acceptance at a higher education establishment. I have tried a few times before to build my personal portfolio website, but to little avail. Things to held me back were: not having my portfolio  at the level that satisfied me, and not having the web design skills to effectively showcase my skills to the end user. However, after working for several years now as a full-time web designer and manager, I have developed the appropriate skills (or at least good enough) to build a good site while at the same time polishing my designs and creativity in all categories!

I began building the site in March of this year, and I am writing this first post in the end of August. It has taken me 6 months to get my site to a 60% – which includes construction, image manipulation and uploading, but not yet the content that goes along. I would say that 40% of my website remains to be completed because I need to sit down and write everyday about each and every portfolio piece, in order to inform the public of its meaning; as well as add unique content to my site, so you can find it online! I have been working hard daily, in the morning before work, to move the process along. Working 9am – 5pm; 5 days a week (sometimes 6) does not leave much time to work on personal work. In effort to finish the site before applications start, I have been waking up 2 hours early to get it completed.

The purpose of the blog will be to display the content and images that I come up with that are less formal, and don’t quite fit into the organized categories within the main website. You will see sketching, notes and other resources that help me organize my thoughts in order to improve my website www.sheetzdesign.com. Stay tuned for upcoming posts in which I talk about subjects that I thought of while building the site. Unfortunately, I am too busy simply finishing the mass of work necessary to finalize my site currently, but soon you will see me delve into the subjects below (and others) in phase two…

  1. .htaccess code
  2. Creating the Sheetz Design Logo
  3. Advanced saving of jpgs for web
  4. Content, and why its important
  5. Thoughts on web site information design
  6. Meta data and its importance to not only Google, but the web viewer
  7. Good ways to implement SEO function and form in web content
  8. Computer files and organization
  9. Bracketing photos on digital cameras for HDR
  10. Canvas photography prints from Walmart
  11. Canon 5d mark II and photography
  12. Sketching with pens that make you look better than you are
  13. Graduate programs that I found and like
  14. MFA/MBA
  15. Making PayPal an effective web store
  16. Google Analytics – visual representation of SEO work
  17. Why I like JQuery but not opposed to other JavaScript platforms

 

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