Web Profiles

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."--Aristotle

PanosFX (www.panosfx.com) is one of my favorite websites offering high-quality inexpensive and free software. I have often written about Panos Efstathiadis in my Digital Innovations column and although I've never met this talented Greek graphic artist/designer, he was kind enough to create a Movie Film Action for me that he also offers free to members (that's free, too) of his website. His latest freeware is a Black & White Conversion and Image Desaturation Photoshop Action that provides more control for monochrome conversion and image desaturation than Photoshop's own Desaturate and Grayscale commands. This Action uses advanced techniques to produce the best monochrome conversion I've ever used. If you have a favorite site that offers free and useful imaging software, please send me an e-mail with its name and URL to editorial@shutterbug.com. I'll feature the most interesting sites in an upcoming installment of Web Profiles.

© 2007, Panos Efstathiadis, All Rights Reserved

www.louiscantillo.com
I first saw Louis Cantillo's photographs at an outdoor art show in Grand Junction, Colorado, and was struck by an inviting quality that made me feel like I could walk through them and into his world. This characteristic of Cantillo's work pervades his large wall prints and many of the images found on his website. The work is collected into five Photo Galleries, although this heading also includes information on the location of brick and mortar galleries that showcase his prints.

The "Panoramics" gallery includes the kind of breathtaking landscape images many photographers aspire to, but only a few have the patience or talent to produce epic works such as "The Watch Tower," which features a view overlooking the Grand Canyon's South Rim. As much as I like the more conventional landscape images in his "Scenics" gallery, "Abstracts" contains much more interesting photographs, including "Windswept" made in Antelope Canyon, Arizona. The "New Images" collection contains some of Cantillo's latest images but don't miss his Lord of the Rings "Low Tide" made at an Abbey in Saint-Mont-Michele, France. This is an example of the kind of travel photography that elevates the entire genre.

His "Doors & Windows" gallery includes Cantillo's signature style of image-making and is filled with dramatic images dripping with color in a way that photographs usually don't. Images appearing here were made in the American Southwest, Mexico, Italy, and yes, Greece. As exciting as these images appear on the site, seeing them live and large is a truly emotional experience.

© 2007, Louis Cantillo, All Rights Reserved

www.upcloseanddara.com
Dara Yarosh's photography is as fresh as her site's design and her photographs are collected in two galleries: "Color Photographs" and "Black And White Photography." Yarosh's color images are not easily categorized but are filled with close-up and often-amusing photographs of animals, including "Kango King," but maybe that's because I think kangaroos are funny. Navigation within and between galleries is hard to describe and can be confusing, but have a care and click away--you'll figure it out. Her monochrome imagery, including high-contrast litho-like prints and what appears to be infrared photographs ("Cross Country" is an example and it's not what you might think), provides a dramatic contrast to her color work. This gallery includes elements of street photography combined with landscape images that again refuse to be stuffed into a traditional photographic pigeonhole.