Stuck In Customs

A QUICK UPDATE: This crazy deal ends on the 13th of February (TOMORROW) when the bundle returns to $99. So if you want to grab this price, it’s pretty much now or never! And remember, the FILES will remain available for download for the foreseeable future. It’s a pretty huge download for the whole pack, so no need to rush to grab them when you buy. They’re hosted at Amazon and will remain active and waiting for you. 🙂

A year or so ago I bundled all of my existing store content (presets, video tutorials, ebooks, etc) into one mega bundle for a ridiculously low price. I’ve now updated that with my new 2024 presets and for a limited time, in some crazy reverse logic sort of way, lowered the price further! So, for a short time you can get pretty much everything I’ve ever released on the store for just $24.99 HERE… and yes, it’s both new preset packs that are now included. One for Lightroom Classic and one for Luminar Neo! Have Fun!

Ever wondered what happens when humans unlock ancient crystal harmonization secrets? Meet the Jewel Fairies, once ordinary people who transformed into radiant beings of light and power through their bond with mystical crystals. Each fairy, from Seraphine Emberveil with her fiery ruby powers to Eluna Solvex, a topaz-bonded astronomer who sees everything (yes, even the color smarnk), carries a unique story of transformation, abilities, and a touch of cosmic humor.

Curious to meet all the fairies, uncover their backstories, and learn their amazing abilities?

I used a combination of Midjourney for the images, Luma for the animation, and ChatGPT for some ideas around the descriptions and backstory ideas. The audio was created in Suno with their v4 AI.

Midjourney Sample Image Prompt:

Create an ethereal and fantastical jewel fairy, a humanoid figure adorned with intricate patterns of gemstones, crystals, and metallic textures. The fairy’s body is an elegant fusion of organic and crystalline elements, with radiant wings resembling stained glass or intricately carved gems, glowing softly with vibrant hues. The setting is a luminous, otherworldly realm filled with sparkling, bioluminescent plants, shimmering particles in the air, and a soft, dreamlike light. The fairy’s expression is serene and wise, with glowing eyes that reflect the colors of their unique crystal bond (ruby, sapphire, emerald, etc.). The overall style is highly detailed, surreal, and magical, emphasizing the fairy’s connection to nature, light, and energy.

Grab Them Before They’re Gone Forever.

Here’s a pretty wild offer for you…

I’ve spent a number of years building a massive library of photography presets, video tutorials and eBooks and more which sell for well over $750 if added together. Now, for a short time, you can get all of them in one mega bundle for just $24.99 (the normal-ish price for one preset pack). After a limited time, this will rise to $49.99 and then maybe after that they’ll all disappear from the store forever. So get them while you can!

As always I’ll be throwing in my RAW files with the tutorials so you can follow along and also bundled in there are things like my high-res textures which you can use as you please for post-processing. Maybe you’ll find a few surprises in there too. So, check out the link for a detailed rundown of the contents before they disappear forever.

Well, it’s still a wild ride on this AiVATAR project! You can come see more at our website at Aivatar.io if you wanna try to figure out what the heck is going on. If you’re a Passport Member then you’ll see a little behind-the-scenes status report!

An AiVATAR Update

I reference a few things in today’s behind-the-curtain video. Here they are!

OpenSea
Rarity
Discord

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Paris Passport Monday!

Hey all you awesome Passport Members will get access to a new how-to video, just like every Sunday… or in this case, Monday. Today you’ll see my fairly extreme edit of this photo from Paris near the Louvre. Enjoy!

The Making Of

In today’s video, you’ll see me do a rather aggressive HDR treatment and then do some final alignment in Photoshop.

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Daily Photo – Tunnels of Paris

I took this around midnight one evening while I was meandering around Paris. It’s really such a beautiful city to get lost in. Here’s a hot tip, btw. A lot of times. these photos will come out quite “orange” so it’s good to set your camera’s white balance to Tungsten to push the colors back into the cooler area.

Tunnels of Paris

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2012-03-15 20:58:37
• CameraNIKON D800
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time4
• Aperture5.6
• ISO200
• Focal Length24.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Passport Sunday Great Wall Challenge

Today’s photo has a little how-to if you are a Passport Sunday Member. If you are, then you’ll get this video in addition to hundreds of others.

The Making Of

In today’s video, you’ll see how I used HDR and LUTs to really make the wall stand out. Later, in Photoshop, I get rid of a lot of distractions… and as a bonus, you can hear about our harrowing night we spent inside one of those towers!

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Daily Photo – The Great Wall into Infinity

Here’s a pretty good perspective of the Great Wall in one of the more mountainous sections. How they built this, I have no idea. They say that there are tons of dead Chinese workers that are actually buried in the wall as they died from the harsh conditions. Somehow, knowing how China works (especially in the olden days), I would not be surprised by this at all.

The Great Wall into Infinity

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-06 17:08:24
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/800
• Aperture11
• ISO250
• Focal Length53.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias-2

Machine Elf 97 – The Seeding

Here’s the latest visual meditation based on the idea of seeding yourself and the universe while listening to a beautiful meditation from Mooji. I’m both a meditation nerd and a math nerd. As far as the math nerd goes, this is a combination of two different fractals in a hybrid. The fluid dynamics are thanks to the Surfmulti algorithm hybridized with one of the core mendelian formulas. Okay, nerd talk over. Enjoy the meditation… Wait till you see it in VR along with our dozens of other visual meditations!

Passport Sunday Reminder

It’s another Sunday, so another video unlock day for Passport Members! You’ll see today how and why I used three RAW files to make this image in Aurora HDR.

Improving the Dark Hill

In today’s video, you’ll see how I use Smart Tone to pull up some shadows and why I used RAW photos.

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Daily Photo – The Rolling Hills of Gisborne

Man, New Zealand has about 100,000 of these perfect hills with nice reflections. It’s so overwhelming that sometimes you don’t know where to aim your camera. But that makes it kinda cool too… a challenge to find the best of the best.

The Rolling Hills of Gisborne

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2020-07-24 07:42:38
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/1600
• Aperture4
• ISO100
• Focal Length46.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Passport Sunday Edit Day

If you’re one of our awesome Passport Members then you’ll get a fun, quick, and easy tutorial that shows how I made today’s photo.

Uniqlo Processing

Today I do a pretty extreme treatment with a little overexposure trick at the end to make all the people feel a little more surreal. (Also, we’ve made a few changes to the site this week and a couple of people reported issues playing the last Passport video. If you are affected by this email [email protected] and he’ll sort you out with a link until we fix the prob. 🙂 )

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Daily Photo – The UNIQLO Store

One thing is for sure about Asian megacities: They really know how to make some cool-looking shopping areas. The lights always call for some sweet sweet night photography. Also, I am pretty much usually the only one out there taking photos. People must be wondering what the hell I am doing. They would come up and ask, but they are too polite. Also, they don’t speak the same language.

The UNIQLO Store

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-11 01:59:47
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/5
• Aperture3.2
• ISO320
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Passport Sunday How-To

If you’re a Passport Member then today you’ll get to see how I made the daily photo. This is one of my shorter videos, but you can see how easy it is to create a photo with this look.

The Making Of

In today’s video, you’ll see I do a fairly extreme HDR treatment, but I think this photo deserves that. I feel quite lucky that the moon was out and in the right place!

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Daily Photo – Dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in Thailand

On my first night here, they prepared an amazing dinner for me upon arrival. I was really lucky the moon was out and was so bright. This is one of my favorite situations for HDR where there is a mix of natural and artifical light.

Dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in Thailand

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-28 00:41:24
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time5
• Aperture6.3
• ISO250
• Focal Length18.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Passport Sunday Workflow Sesh!

If you’re a Passport Member then today you’ll see a little behind-the-scenes of how I handle my SmugMug workflow and how that feeds into the blog. Enjoy!

My SmugMug Workflow!

I made a fun video that shows my process for uploading photos and how I decide what comes up next on the blog. I’m not sure this is the best workflow in the world, but it works for me!

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