Photoshop

Best of the Philippines Part 2: Travel and Experiences

by Sarah Novak on March 29, 2011

Bohol Beach Club

This is my second and final installation of ‘Best of the Philippines’ where I sum up all I’ve learned in the last 21 months of living here.  I know you’ll put it to good use and I encourage you to pass it along to other ‘newbies’ in town.  Click here if you missed the first installment, Best of the Philippines Part 1: Food and Services.  Thanks for your continued readership – I love writing for you!

Enjoy, Sarah

Travel

Best 3 Day Weekend Getaway = Bohol (Must Sees: Bee Farm, Chocolate Hills)

CLICK HERE FOR MY BOHOL PHOTO GALLERIES: Gallery 1, Gallery 2

 

Batanes

Most Undiscovered Gem = Batanes

CLICK HERE FOR MY BATANES PHOTO GALLERY

 

Boracay

Most Beautiful Beach = Boracay

CLICK HERE FOR MY BORACAY PHOTO GALLERIES: Gallery 1, Gallery 2

 

Swimming with the Whale Sharks at Donsol

Most Unique Experience = Swimming with the Whale Sharks, Donsol

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF US SWIMMING WITH THE WHALE SHARKS

CLICK HERE FOR MY DONSOL PHOTO GALLERY

 

Swimming with the Dolphins at Subic's Ocean Adventure

Best Experience with Animals = Ocean Adventure in Subic

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF US SWIMMING WITH THE DOLPHINS AT OCEAN ADVENTURE PARK

 

Hidden Valley Springs Laguna

Best Day Trip = Hidden Valley Springs

 

Sanctuario de San Pablo

Best Overnight Trip = San Pablo (Villa Escudero, Sanctuario de San Pablo, Ugu Bigyan’s Pottery Garden, Sulyap Cafe)

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF SAN PABLO

 

Coco Beach Resort

Best First Trip (Before You have a Car) = Coco Beach (They will pick you up at the Diamond Hotel by van)

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF COCO BEACH

Best Historical Site = Corregidor

Best Food Excursion = Tagaytay (Antonio’s, Sonia’s Garden, Bag of Beans)

 

Tondo Dump Manila

Most Life-changing Experience: Tour of Tondo with the Philippine Community Fund

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY PHOTOS OF THE TONDO TRASH DUMP WHERE 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE

Products & Experiences

Best Place to Buy Pearls = Greenhills/Dam Good Stuff

 

Pearls from Jawahir's Shop at Greenhills

Favorite Greenhills Pearl Vendors =

  • Jawahir (stand 71) for strings of pearls
  • Taslimah (stall H) for pearls combined with silver

 

My Custom Chaise from CMG Rattan

Favorite Chaise Lounge Maker = CMG Rattan

3rd Floor Furniture Bazaar, Market Market.  Good for custom made rattan and abaca furniture.  Reliable and reasonable, Tel (+632)3850654 Mobile: (+63)09157570022

 

Market Shopping at Divisoria

Best Bargains = Divisoria (Note: Take a veteran with you – lots of pickpockets and hard to navigate)

 

AWCP Bazaar

Best Bazaar = USEC Bazaar AND the AWCP Bazaar

Best Place to Get Filipino Handicrafts = Kultura

 

Ugu Bigyan's Pottery Garden

Best Pottery = Ugu Bigyan’s Pottery Garden

 

Graduation from Basic Photography

Best Photography Class for Beginners = PhotoWorld Manila’s Basic Photography

Best Photoshop Class for Beginners = De La Salle’s Photoshop Short Course

 

Live Karaoke at Nicotina's

Best LIVE Karaoke with a Band = Nicotina’s Garden Pavilion

Best Videoke = Redbox

Best Sunset = Roxas Boulevard Boardwalk

Best Calm Oasis Where You Can Forget You’re in Manila = The American Cemetery

Most Unique Golf Course = Intramuros Golf Course

 

A Mausoleum at the Chinese Cemetery

Most Fascinating Outing = The Chinoy Cemetery Tour

Best Gym = Fitness First

 

Greenbelt Mall

Best Mall = Greenbelt

 

Friendship Home

Favorite Places to Volunteer:

Best Movie Theatre: IMAX Mall of Asia

 

Director's Club at Mall of Asia

Most Unique Movie Experience: Director’s Club Mall of Asia

Best Hospital Ambiance = St. Luke’s

Best Hospital Care = Makati Med

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Photoshop Day 2: Masks, Borders and Color Correction

by Sarah Novak on February 21, 2011

Can I just say that I am thoroughly enjoying my Photoshop Class and all the cool new tricks I can apply to my photos.  And no, I do not consider that ‘cheating’, it is merely ENHANCING the beauty of the shot.  You’ve still got to get the shot in the first place – now you can just have more artistic freedom with it on the back end!

My only complaint with the class so far is that it is 4 TEN HOUR DAYS.  Seriously, that is way too long for this pregnant girl to pay attention.  I’m ready to nap by 11:30.  In fact, I tried hunting down a couch over the lunch break last week, but didn’t have any success… :(

Here are a few of the useful things I learned how to do this week:

Adding a Shadow to a Person

Sarah: Before Color Correction and Smoothing

Sarah: After Color Correction and Smoothing (please note the baby-smooth skin, added eyelashes, and brightened eyes)

Adding Borders using the Mask Tool, Brushes and the Color Matching Tool

Designing Shapes Using Fun Brushes and the Free Transform Tool

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Photoshop Day 1: Layers, Masks and Brushes, Oh My!

by Sarah Novak on February 12, 2011

Hi all- please forgive the lack of posts this week.  I have felt like absolute crap and needed to use all my available energy to drag my butt to a 10 hour Photoshop class on Friday and an 8 hour Advanced Photography on Saturday (which I didn’t make it all the way through).  I am loving all the learning, just wish my body would be more cooperative.

For other Manila folks who are interested in design or computer classes, check out De La Salle’s great selection of Continuing Education Classes.  They start the class as soon as they have 6 interested individuals, so enrollment is ongoing throughout the year.  And now, a peek at a few of the skills I learned in Photoshop class this week:

Technique 1: Using Text to Mask a Photo

Technique 2: Repairing Old Photos & Coloring Them

Original Image

After Repair and Color

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