Thanks for such in interesting comment. I stopped by your blog and read your poetry, fantastic! I also started with Photoshop back in the days before Adobe acquired Macromedia. The great thing about Photoshop is that all the basic functions and interface remains the same, and the new features are never obtrusive and easily understood.

CS4 with its new OpenGL features are so fantastic that it would be difficult to go back to earlier versions. I’ve become totally reliant on the ease that I can get around the screen, especially with features like the H birds eye view, and flick panning, rotate canvas, etc. Also the new Mask Panel is indespensable that mask edges can be easily adjusted after creating them.

I’ve not yet explored Flash CS4 or After Effects … way too little time in a day. I’ve got my hands full with Illustrator and Photoshop, then my next conquest will be InDesign.

Cheers,

Gale Franey

I did reply 2 times to both email addresses you sent me. This is what I replied in those emails:

Hi Natalie,

I was brought up in Ontario, Canada and afterwards moved to
Vancouver on Canada’s west coast.

I began doing digital art in 2001. I had bought a digital camera,
one of the first on the market, a Fuji 6800 (with Karl Ziess lens).
It was 3.3 megapixels, which was considered good at that time.
I then bought a book on digital photography that had a CD in
the back of it that included a Photo editing software. I began
experimenting with digital manipulation. Then I discovered
Photoshop and began learning it. I bought training videos from
Total Training by Deke McClelland (that teach technical skills
but not the art). On my own I began to experiment with art
compositions and soon I was hooked.

I did digital art as a hobby until the end of 2006 when the building
where I was working was closed for refurbishing. I decided to go
to college for a year and take a graphics and new media course.
The course I took was called New Media and Web Development,
which focused more on web based graphics, video, sound applications,
etc. Courses included Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, After Effects,
Motion, DVD Studio Pro, ProTools, Final Cut Pro, etc. It also included
graphics, color, typography, color management, javascript, PHP,
MySQL, ASP, Dreamweaver, and other related subjects.

I’ve worked on a series of children’s books and personalized cards.
I do my digital art with Photoshop and digital imagery.

You can see more of my art on my main website: http://www.thegraphicgroove.com
and on my blog: http://www.galefraney.wordpress.com

Cheers,

Gale Franey

Natalia
Bogota-Colombia

Magically I stumbled upon your wonderful art just as one would stumble upon a crinkle in the fabric that separates our world from the faery realm. I am writing to you today, bc I would very much like to see if you would impart your talents in my world. My lovely boyfriend and I just recently got engaged. Our own story is a rather magical one, none in small part because he is himself a magician, but more because of our firm awareness of the Faery realm, the realm of myths and legends, which seem to play out in our own lives. I will email you tomorrow the letter I wrote one day in Oct of 2005 to a soul mate that I had not found at that point, though I had speant 30 years searching, which was magically responded to the very next day, by Jason. Ours really is a story of reckless hope and boundless love.

Saying that, we are in the midst of planning our wedding, of sending out engagement announcements etc etc. Of course, everything we do for our wedding will be mystical and steeped in lore and wonder. Would it be remotely possible to have you help us do our announcements, invites, etc? How would we do this, as we live in Nevada? What are your rates? Could we bribe you with tea and cookies?

Perhaps too, one day, you might fancy assisting us with the book we are currently compiling of the many letters and poems and bits and baubles of writing that passed between us which we intend to publish by November… to give others hope that what we believe, hope, dream comes true.

Looking forward to your reply. And thank you. For your Art. It is … divine.

Tiffany, aka Twilight.
Ph 1-702-595-2516 E twilight7@mac.com
(Jason ph 1-702-292-2473, e magicmax7@yahoo.com)

Thanks so much. Good to hear that you are back into photography and Photoshop !