Fantasy, fiction, surreal, conceptual, composite, Photoshop… call them what you will. I call them artistic and creative.

Photography in itself is artistic and creative, but using a photo (or photos) for a derivative work is no less appealing to me. I’m actually envious of people who can combine images or add to photos and create something completely new — I can’t do it… and I probably never will.

Jerry Uelsmann has been a favorite of mine for a long time because of his ability to combine images and produce fantastic works of art (and he does it old school — none of that digital stuff). If you’ve never seen his work, go look NOW.

Here are a few others kicking around Flickr, trying their hand at this type of thing. Great stuff in my opinion, and all very different styles and techniques.

photo credit: Rayani Melo

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

photo credit: kaneda99

photo credit: movimente

photo credit: paul+photos=moody

photo credit: Stephen Poff

photo credit: neeZhom

photo credit: pulpmojo

photo credit: Poe Tatum

photo credit: Bill Gracey

photo credit: ViaMoi

photo credit: Mara ~earth light~

photo credit: Desirée Delgado

photo credit: Zoriah

photo credit: !borghetti

… oh wait, that last one isn’t a fantasy — you thought it was though, didn’t ya? I’d freak out if I caught something like that by chance.

If your digital camera has a hot shoe, it can accept an external flash. Here are five compelling reasons to use one.

On the last roundup, I asked if we should kill the feature and just post single news-worthy items as they come in. We had a mixed response, and I’m still finding a middle ground I can manage to keep up with. So I posted a few in the news section of the site and I’m posting the remainder here. I did notice that the single posts had many more clicks to the source than these roundups do, and I even got an email from one of the featured bloggers making note of this.

So I think (for now) I’ll keep doing the roundups on a bi-weekly basis, but I’ll also be tossing out a few news-worthy items throughout the week when I find them. I don’t want to flood the posting schedule with a bunch of link posts, but I’d also like to highlight the really good stuff in a more timely manner. So here’s the “rest of the best” that I didn’t get around to featuring these last two weeks.

• Warning: 10 Deadly Post Processing Sins
  digital Photography School
• LightMeter iPhone App by Ambertation Review
  Figital Revolution
• Sports Photography – How Most Pros Work
  Picture Correct
• Photographer Showcase – Wayne Martin Belger
  The Photo Argus
• 8 Tips for Holga “Newbies”
  The Holga Darkroom
• 5 Tips for Reselling Your Camera
  PetaPixel
• 10 Reasons GIMP is Better Than Photoshop
  Light Stalking
• Holga at the Movies (Almost)
  Holga Blog
• Holgas, Polaroids & Pinholes: Lush Low-Tech Photography
  Web Urbanist
• Visualising studio lighting
  Photocritic
• 8 Predictions on the Future of Photography
  Light Stalking
• Helpful Photography Cheat Sheets to Make Your Life Easier
  The Photo Argus
• C-41 developed in household items, recipe, instructions
  Flickr
• Easy Release Streamlines Model Releases
  PetaPixel
• Print Developing Equipment List
  Feeling Negative?

I get a listing of weekly specials from Adorama each week, but I’ve never posted them for some reason. Note that these are affiliate links (which help support this site), and I’m not saying anything about these items other than the fact that they’re on sale this week. Do your own research and purchase responsibly.

Also, is this type of “weekly specials” post useful for any of you? I’m not generally a bargain hunter, but I know some of you might be!

Tamron 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 DI-II LD Macro Ultra Compact Auto Focus Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS Digital SLRs – USA Warranty
Save $14.96
Regular Price $164.95
Sale Price $149.99

Pacific Image PrimeFilm 3600U, 35mm Film Scanner with 3600dpi, USB Interface
Save 41%
Regular Price $169.95
Sale Price $99.95
Free Shipping

Samsung DualView TL220 12.2 MP Digital Point & Shoot Camera with 27mm Wide Angle Lens, 4.6x Optical Zoom, 3″ LCD Screen, Blue
Sale Price $224.95
Limited time only
Free Shipping

Samsung DualView TL220 12.2 MP Digital Point & Shoot Camera with 27mm Wide Angle Lens, 4.6x Optical Zoom, 3″ LCD Screen, Red
Sale Price $224.95
Limited time only
Free Shipping

Westinghouse DPF-0804 8″ Digital Frame, 4:3 Aspect, 800×600 Resolution, 128MB Internal Memory, with One Ebony and One Wood Grain Frame
Sale Price $49
Free Shipping

Olympus FE-4000 12MP Digital Camera, 4x Optical Zoom, 4x Digital Zoom, 2.7″ LCD Screen – Magenta
Save 17%
Regular Price $119.95
Sale Price $99.95
Free Shipping

It’s Friday and I’m heading up north to shoot my sister-in-law’s wedding. Wish me luck
Anyway, I figured I’d close out the week with a few crop tool tips.

• Press R to get to the Crop Tool. It works even if you’re in the Library module.
• Press A to toggle between constraining/not constraining to the aspect ratio
• Press Cmd-Shift-R (PC: Ctrl-Shift-R) to reset your crop all together.
• If you’ve changed the Aspect Ratio on a previous photo then press the letter S to set that same aspect ratio for the next photo.
• And finally, a really cool way to crop is to go into Crop mode. Then press the letter L twice to go into Lights Out mode. Now you have your photo in crop mode with none of the clutter of the interface. Press L again to get out of Lights Out mode.

Happy cropping and have a great weekend.