Every 4th of July, my wife looks forward to going to see a public display of fireworks in San Francisco. Unfortunately, it rained all day this year and then the public display was cancelled. I didn’t want to disappoint her. But there was nothing I could do. Or… Right! I launched Adobe Photoshop CS2. In a matter of 5 minutes or so, I developed fireworks in the nightly sky.

The following tutorial shows steps to create a fireworks display in the sky. The photo used in this tutorial comes from PD Photo. Continue reading →

Last weekend, my wife and I went to a restaurant. After staying there for about an hour or so, we were pretty much ready to leave. That’s when a sudden argument broke out at a few tables away. A guy was furious because there was no ice in his glass. A waitress said that they ran out of ice. And there was nothing she could do. Obviously, the guy was sweating quite a bit, which perhaps fueled his anger. My wife whispered “Honey, do something… You have your MacBook with you, don’t you.” My MacBook? Oh, yeah… So I went under our table and launched Adobe Photoshop CS2. Within several minutes, I created a few chunks of ice in his glass. “There you go!” I passed the glass to him. He had his cold drink without a breath and quickly left.

The following tutorial shows steps to create chunks of ice in a glass with Adobe Photoshop CS2. The photo used in this tutorial comes from Webshots. Continue reading →

About a month ago, somebody called while my wife and I were sleeping. It was 2 o’clock in the morning. He said he was from Orange County, California. And he said he had an urgent job to be done. I asked him what kind of job he was talking about. He just said that I had to go there.

Next day, he invited me to a small baseball field. Some kids were playing baseball. I tried to initiate a conversation. Once I said, “So what would you like us to do?” But the guy wasn’t listening. Those kids were his. He was cheering them, coaching them and encouraging them. Parent… Then he goes, “if you were their dad, would you want them to play at a field where grass is completely stepped on and dead?” So I answered, “That wouldn’t bother me.” Then I saw his eyes in rage. He said “I want my kids to grow up with green. I want you to do something with this flat grass.” And I said “Umm… We aren’t really gardeners. We are just a group of Mac lovers.” Then he kept talking and giving me a lecture. Well, I had to do something to get away from this situation. So I launched Adobe Photoshop CS2 on my MacBook. In a matter of several minutes, kids were standing on greener grass.

The following tutorial shows steps to create a custom brush and fill empty space with grass, using Adobe Photoshop CS2. The photo used in this tutorial comes from Webshots. Continue reading →