Kristan Franco Graphic Designs and Web Resources

The very basic image-editing program I knew when I found out that I love sketching and designing was MS-Paint! Of course, it would help a lot if you learn a higher program aside from the very basic brush and drag feature of MS-Paint to fully expand your skills in image-editing.

Until...

Certain softwares were created to suffice the needs of the on-growing skills of a designer. Photoshop and Corel Draw arrive in the scene. Since some of us could not afford purchasing software like these, unless you maximize the use of torrent sites, software publishers created an online extension of image-editing software. Bookmark these sites now:

Photoshop Online - Adobe's online photoshop. Focuses on image optimizing tools such as cropping, red-eye reduction and resizing.

Two years ago, i've been an active user of Friendster. I was a top user of the social network. I can even recall how I gain a thousand of friends with the social network, joined interest-related groups. I even became a poser of a celebrity. Shh.

As a photography hobbyist, joining photography-related workshops and photo-walks is a great way to develop one's skills. Composition and proper lightings, these are one of the very basic learnings a hobbyist must understand in order to come up with variety of good shots.

Photography has been my hobby since my junior years in high school. Since this hobby is quite expensive to pursue, owning DSLR cameras and use of certain gadgets should be the very foundation.

I borrowed an Olympus E-500 from Orman Manansala, author of Ganda Ever So Much, to suffice my needs in shooting. I only got a handy-dandy digicam so far. My first official photography workshop happened last December 21,2009 at The Farm, Koronadal. That was my first time in The Farm.

Jojie Alcantara's workshop lasted for 8 hours. The event was jampacked by SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers. Bloggers from Koronadal city and General Santos were there, most of us bagged cameras. The SOCCSKSARGEN Blogger's Christmas party was also held that afternoon.

In summary, what we all learned in composing photographs:

1.) Consider Rule of Thirds
2.) See for patterns
3.) Leading lines
4.) Perspectives
5.) The Worm's eye-view (shooting from the bottom)
6.) The Bird's eye-view (shooting from the top)
7.) Reflections
8.) Details
9.) Horizons
10.) The foreground, subject, and background.

Try visiting The Farm now at Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City. In case of events like these, better call them at 083-228-1888.

I spent a day and moment of my Christmas break just to relax from school stuffs. Since most of us decided to visit Gumasa, I joined in. Gumasa just fits the word wonderful.

Gumasa is a barangay in Glan, Saranggani province widely known for it's belt of white sand beaches. For people who prefer peaceful ambience, then the 3-kilometer stretch of white sand in Gumasa suits you best.

HOW TO GET THERE:

Our starting point is from Gensan, and negotiated the driver's price to lead us directly into Gumasa.

For people who want certain stops, look for a public van which is mainly heading for Glan terminal. Vans are found beside Gensan's bus terminal, Bulaong. Arriving in Glan's terminal, approximately 40 minutes, go see jeepneys heading for Gumasa, or ride motorcycles, widely known as habal-habal in native dialect.

BEST THINGS TO DO IN GUMASA BEACH:

1.) Play beach volleyball. Trust me, it's really fun diving in the sand just to save the ball.
2.) For overnight stays, consider a bonfire party! It is really good to sizzle up a cold night in Gumasa trough bonfire.
3.) Play Frisbee. Since the place is silent, few people visit the place unlike the other famous beaches, you'd definitely indulge into playing physical activities in Gumasa.
4.) Stroll around the white sand stretch. Walking along the seashore with friends is a good way of relaxation.
5.) Take photographs. This is the best way to preserve your memories with Gumasa. Click the shutter!
6.) Visit the small caves. Along the stretch of the beach, small caves meet you at the edge. It willbe fun dipping into their dark shades. Just be cautious.
7.) Meet people. It is really a fun thing to do when you talk to a person residing in that place. Talk with them.
8.) Somersault and dive into the waters. It would be a fun thing to do. Splash into the waters of Gumasa and find yourself staring at the blue sky.

I'll visit Gumasa again! Hopefully!

Click the photo to enlarge. Hover cursor to display captions.

If you are new to Xara 3D, then better read my post about the software, and it's simple yet cool features.

This wallpaper is the first wallpaper I created out of Xara 3D's 3D text effect with Photshop CS4 as enhancement. Learning the basics is a must.

Retro 3D Text Wallpaper:

If you are a interested in 3D animation and rendering, then Xara 3D by Xara suits you. The program broadens its features to beginners and pros. In fact, it is very easy to use.

With certain combination of additional programs, particularly Adobe Photoshop, graphic designers sizzle up the textures and text effects of the 3d made by Xara 3D. The program showcases features for 3d logos, buttons, and text animation. Another good thing about this program, it is very light, the installation size is approximately 25 MB.

Here are some cool output from Xara 3D with the enhancement of Photoshop:

Basic animations:

In every software, there are always pros and cons, here are some overview for Xara 3D...

Pros:

Basic tools
User-friendly environment
Smooth output
Anti-aliased
Very smooth program
Low-cost

Con/s:

The main con of this software is that, you'll have to be exposed in other enhancing program such as Photoshop, Flash, and Illustrator because this software is limited only to its main features such as 3d, lightning, and animating. If you are a digital art practitioner, you'll eventually enhance the output through Photoshop, etc. YOU NEED CREATIVITY.

If you want to download Xara 3D, click here. For you to test out the software, they offer 15-day trial, and then you could go for the full version by purchasing it.

Get started now, and be creative!

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