Picibee is now on Instagram.

Picibee is now on Instagram. 
Follow us as we grow in the Instagram community. We "insta-gram" and "Insta-paste fun images every day to our Picibee Board. 

Hope to see you all there.
@picibee_images

WaterColor

We have been busy churning out new images such as this one for Picibee.
In the weeks to come you will find more of these images at www.picibee.com.

Composition

When composing a shot the decisions you make in terms of cropping, focal length, black & white vs. color or overall placement of the shot, are all extremely critical in creating interesting and compelling composition.

Here are a few things Picibee photographers look for in heightening the level of composition. 

-Look for and appreciate the qualities of contrasting shapes. Like "ham & egg".

-Be aware of proportions of objects and shapes & forms. Like a tall thin man and a short stocky, together they compliment and balance each other. 

-Try to find calm in chaos. This can be difficult but this is where cropping and choosing a camera point of view will play a key part.

-Don't give choices. Force the eye to take  in all the forms and to move through your design in specific way but always the way you see it.

-Try to activate the negative volume around and between your positive forms.

And in short make a unified visual statement.

RED

No other color conjures up more attention, more symbolism, more metaphors.  With a little help from some dripping blood it is both the color of life & death. It represents Love and Anger all at the same time. While it is given as a Valentines gift it is also most frequently associated with hatred, anger, aggression and war.

It is by far the most go to color when trying to get attention and when warning given. A tiny amount of Red in a sea of Non-Reds will get your attention like no other. It is selfish and yet equally selfless. When she wants your attention she will have all of it.

At Picibee, we so LOVE Red. 

Taste the difference!

Brilliant deep colors. Soft circles of dried lilac, honey, figs, and toasted nuts follow through on a lively bokehs and tangy entry to a fruity medium-to-full body with white chocolate and caramel flares.

This is how people describe Picibee's Bokehs and lens flares. Cheers.!!!

See more here:https://www.picibee.com/p/textures/bokeh-and-flares/?i=1&per_page=36

Our noodle is full of doodles of every kind.

Who knew that a doodle would work this great as a background for a shoe product shot? Picibee-that is who!!
Check out more here:https://www.picibee.com/p/textures/metallic-and-rust/?i=1&per_page=54

Speed all you want on Picibee's Open Roads.

We stop all traffic, we patch all the cracks, we fill all the pot holes but more importantly we get rid off all the traffic cops and the highway patrols, so you can speed all you want. In fact d

rive on the wrong side for all we care!
Woom, Woom…

Check out Picibee's extensive library of "open road". Drop in your CGI, Bikes, Trucks and Automobiles.

https://www.picibee.com/s?t=open+road&per_page=18

Clouds are for rainy days, Really!!!

It never fails, you shoot a beautiful scene but you loose the cloudy sky. The cloudy skies by default are always lighter and brighter than the foreground so unless you do some old fashioned photography tricks you are guaranteed to loose it. 

Well, this is when you need clouds of every kind in your library of textures and backgrounds. Just drag & drop it in over your blown out skies and spice up the mood in your shots.

Check out Picibee's library of clouds where you will find beautiful variety of God given cotton candies!!!

https://www.picibee.com/p/backgrounds/aerials-and-clouds

Red Rocks & Red Sky, Zion National Park

Patiently waiting for the right light and the right mood, planting tripods where non have ever been placed before, Picibee photographers captured the most beautiful images in and around Zion National Park in Utah. 
In the next few weeks you will find more of these wonderful creations within Picibee pages. But for now here is a tiny taste of what is to come.

Driving Fast, While Standing Perfectly Still

We gave a really bad showroom shot to our fast & furious retoucher and asked him to take it for a spin using one of Picibee's background shots. Fifteen minutes later he pulled in with this amazing shot. When we asked how he did it so quickly, he said he spent 3 minutes applying the Picibee background and the remaining 12 minutes doing simple "bodyshop" work on the car... "You know, selecting parts, feathering it, applying gaussian blur, picking another part, adding motion blur, adding noise, adding reflections from background, etc. etc… A piece of cake".

 Before and after:

Picibee’s vast library of digital photo background images cater to CGI, Retouchers and Post Production professionals, Architects & Environmental Designers and Wedding & Event Photographers.

Never Running Out Of Creativity...

At Picibee, we are constantly adding new backgrounds so that we're never running out of content and you're never running out of ideas. All Picibee, each digital photo background has been designed to be easy to apply and in most cases requires just a drag & drop and a change in blending mode. Choose from our vast library of backgrounds, canvases, textures and more. We even offer these amazing backgrounds as bundles.

Seen below the Tijuana Canvas Series on Picibee.

Artist Spotlight: The Duke

Picibee is committed to acknowledge great photographers that help shape our visual world and we fully realize that our success is directly correlated and dependent on the success of these visual artists at large. This week we spotlight: Duke Photography

If you stand back and take a long look of Duke's considerable body of work, you’ll see a theme emerge: a consistent artistic vision that has been meticulously perfected and a greatness that has been accomplished.

Duke's images have pushed the boundaries of event photography to new heights. Though he has years of experience, the energy with which he is pursuing his career gives one the feeling that he is a young photographer that has just left the gates.

His work is sheer beauty, whether it is the bride and groom or the air and atmosphere around them.

When Picibee was looking for a professional to consult we needed to look no further than Duke. Duke brought his experience and know-how in helping shape our Darkroom tools and the Backgrounds that are tailored to wedding and commercial shooters.

Lovingly Overdoing It

Just like there can be too much of a good thing with effects like Bokehs, it is also possible to deliberately (and lovingly) overdo it.

Too much of a good thing?

Overdoing an effect such as Bokehs or Flares might kill the shot and the mood. Sometimes all you need is a pinch of this and a sprinkle of that.

Picibee's Darkroom has Bokehs and Flares in a range of intensities: large & small, loud & soft.

Like the saying goes, "Use them responsibly".

More Before & Afters from The Darkroom

Playing around in Picibee's Darkroom today and creating some before & afters for your viewing pleasure.  Below is a portrait using a canvas from the Cold Press series and then another of the bride using Rembrandt from our Painter series.

Bokeh & Flares for Handcrafted Wedding Album Creation

Bokeh is caused by out of focus specular highlights when the lens is wide open and Flare happens when there are light rays skimming across into the lens when camera is pointing slightly off, but still in the direction of the light source.  The application of either of these effects can add additional interest and depth to your wedding portraits.

Picibee offers extensive Bokeh and Flares that you can use for your handcrafted wedding album to enhance and improve your images of the special day. Bokeh & Flares will amplify the visual mood of the event and glorify the moment.

Sticking the Flares Where the Sun Don't Shine

The use of Bokeh and Lens Flare effects is one of the simplest techniques to add some pizzazz to your captured photography.  Given the latest dreary weather reports in the UK, when looking through our collection for a photo to illustrate this technique, we thought it very appropriate to give some vitality to an image captured by a Picibee Photographer in London.

In the image composite below we started with an image that is not too exciting. By simply adding a Bokeh effect from the Picibee library and then playing around with different blending modes (see image notes), we get an amazingly alive image. You can experiment with these Bokehs and Flares on your portraits, landscapes, still lifes or almost any image.

Visit Picibee's Darkroom for our selection of Bokeh & Lens Flare images. They are sold as bundles or individual images.

Canvas Spotlight: Cathodesque

Within some of our Info Page techniques for applying Picibee backgrounds, such as the Subtract Blending Mode tutorial, we have used the unique Cathodesque canvas series to clearly illustrate the technique and end result. Here is an example of a beautiful bride photo from Duke Photography paired with the Cathodesque canvas.

Most of Picibee canvases can be purchased individually or as a bundle.  Below is a look at the various colors and styles available in the 10pk Cathodesque bundle:

The Darkroom is now Live

Picibee's Darkroom is now live. The Darkroom is a digital tools wonderland, it includes canvases, frames (coming soon!), edges (coming soon!), actions (coming soon!) and other photography mechanisms and effects to help you enhance your captured images.

Within our Info pages, you'll find more detailed information, tutorials and general guidance to using Picibee's Darkroom.  Our Info pages will help you better implement and use these downloaded tools.

For Wedding Photographers

It is rare that a background is a work of art but at Picibee that is exactly what we have been trying to create with every background that we offer on our website. Each background Picibee creates is so unique that it can stand on its own as a beautiful image. However, these are all available to complement your photography and play in the background. Find out more about how to apply Picibee backgrounds on our Info Page.

Picibee will offer most of these backgrounds individually or as part of a bundle at a very affordable price. We have collaborated extensively with wedding photographers such as Duke Photography, to get their input in creating backgrounds that will enhance the final portraits and photo books of the special day. Picibee backgrounds will also help hobbyist photographers to create handcrafted wedding albums and portraits that serve as a unique gift to the wedding couple.

A Taste of the Darkroom

Picibee has worked very closely with influential photographers such as Duke Photography in assessing the unmet needs of today's busiest photographers and the role Picibee can play in meeting those challenges.

One of the most challenging areas facing every professional photographer is the seemingly insurmountable cost of background and set building for a shoot. Whether in a studio or on location, creating backgrounds demands a substantial amount of time and expense. On-location, the cost involves researching, scouting, getting permits, waiting for the right natural light and, of course, lets not forget the actual cost of the shoot. In-studio there is the cost of building a set and all of the limitations that come with that set, such as storage, or dismantling and discarding. You can certainly buy already existing muslins and rolls and rolls of backgrounds but imagine the headache of continually changing from one to the next until one fits the shoot and the creative vision. Then there is also the cost involved in the purchasing and storage of this collection.

Picibee is determined to continue to deliver the most exciting, never seen before and, in some cases, never before imagined backgrounds. These backgrounds serve not only to enhance captured photography but as a cost saving mechanism.

We don't just cater to professional photographers either.  Any of this imagery can be used as a photo album background for the hobbyist photographer too.

On the Move!

Short tutorial on how to achieve a motion blur using your camera:

If you're looking to produce motion lines in your imagery, here is a short tutorial.  See the image above of London Taxis. The technique seen here is pretty much the old fashioned "pan with the camera & shoot" method. The exposure was around 1/8 second and aperture around f-22. (The aperture is not as critical, but we use that to control and bring the shutter speed to the desired setting.)

You can see the direction the camera was panning by looking at the "sharper" taxi (i.e., moving in the direction of the sharper taxi). If you move your camera at the same speed as a moving object, you'll end up getting the moving object in focus and everything that is still or moving in the opposite direction will get the "motion blur" treatment. Note: If your shutter speed is too fast then there is less motion blur and the dynamic of the image completely different (and probably not so satisfactory.)

Please check back with us as Picibee continues to add to its "Buildings in Motion" gallery under "Places" on the site. These and our other cool abstract backgrounds offer a great backdrop for product imagery and CGI needs.

The Fairest Composition of Them All

Aside from experimenting with lighting, the Picibee photographers like to play with composition. The way a subject (or subjects as seen here) is arranged can make all of the difference when presenting your unique perspective in the art of photography.

There are many things to consider when one is designing a composition for a photo. Patterns can bring a heightened visual interest to your imagery. Pattern images in photography are nothing but repetition and they are all around us; we don't have to look hard or far. You may spot an existing pattern when setting up your shot, or you may choose to create a pattern - subtle or overt - for the composition.

In this image, special attention is taken with the composition not only with the pattern and how the models are arranged in a circle but with the focus of the subjects' eyes. Each model is positioned so that they look as if they are focused on Dopey with the notable exception of Sleepy, of course, whose eyes are closed. The photo begs the question, "What is Dopey saying?" (or not saying as it were.)

At Picibee, we believe that photography should be thought provoking and that special attention to even the most minor of details, such as where the eyes are looking, can set a photo apart from the pack.

With Snow White & the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror, Picibee also wanted to get in on this fairy tale trend…but with a bit more whimsy.

Tilt & Shift

The Picibee approach to how to shoot stock photography is multi-faceted. We experiment with all different lighting, lenses, cameras, angles and other techniques in order to tap into something new and refreshing when it comes to stock.

For example, the below image was shot using just available light at ISO 200, something the team at Picibee might not have experimented with in the past. Many of our photographers always believed historically in the lowest ISO for the best detail. However, the use of a new 5D MarkIII allows for a few extra stop due to its amazing detail and low noise even at higher ISOs.

This image was shot with the beloved Canon 24mm f/3.5L Tilt-Shift lens. A lens that enables changing the plane of focus and the dynamic of the image.  For more information on perspective & distortion, see our tutorial.

Perspective and Distortion Tutorial

The human eye has the ability to correct everything it sees. This is in terms of color but also in terms of distortion. You can tilt your head up and down but the perspective in the images that you see will always remain correct and distortion free.

Unfortunately cameras don't have that ability (not yet) or at least need your help in correcting the scene and the perspective. Here is a simple way to correct the perspective to some extent and to a point where the buildings (interior or exterior) look straight and distortion-free.

If you make sure your camera is leveled from all direction (Canon 5D MarkIII has a built in level or you can purchase a camera level for less than $30.00), your images will have almost no distortion. Meaning the horizontal & vertical lines will remain leveled and straight. Your images will end up looking like they were shot with special Tilt/Shift Lens.

The image below was shot with a 24-70mm zoom lens with camera completely leveled.

Time is Precious

Unlike other royalty free photo web sites, Picibee produces imagery with style, sensitivity and above of all quality and beauty that would surpass the best of what has been available over the past few years. With other companies, it can be very tedious to find what you were hoping for and we know that in today's fast moving world, time is precious. While other sites take pride in having millions of images, we take pride that your chances of finding the image you are looking for in our very handpicked pool of beautiful images are much greater. Moreover, we think you’ll find the experience far more enjoyable and we promise we will always keep it that way for as long as we can. 

Photography That's "Mmm Mmm Good"

When we think about the Picibee perspective and approach as to how to create stock photography, a key objective is to thoroughly conceptualize in various contexts and then execute the piece so that it can be used as a supporting element, such as a background, or as the final piece.

For example, the photographer looks at this beautiful array of antique branding. The arrangement of labels by itself could certainly be used as background imagery. The decision made in post for this execution is to add visual interest with a distressed edge effect.  The image can then be re-produced at a larger scale and used as wall art.

As its name suggests, Picibee's Darkroom offers photographers unique digital tools to enhance their images.  Photographers can choose from Picibee's totally unique series of Photoshop actions as well as extensive textures and backgrounds that can be used to enhance and improve captured images.

In our Darkroom, also find never-before-seen “canvases” that can be used as backgrounds for portraits of every kind. So whether it is executive portraits, environmental portraits or any event portrait, Picibee has just the image you're looking for.  And while you're browsing the Darkroom, don't forget to check out our selection of totally unique Frames and Edges to put those finishing touches on portraits and images.

Valley of the Dolls

If the two of us know the same thing then one of us is irrelevant. – Tom Waits

Are you sick and tired of that sick and tired stock image?  We take the utmost pride in Picibee's uniquely fresh perspective and approach. Unlike other agencies, we handpick our photographers and we do not accept submissions outside this pool of amazing artists.

Picibee is determined to deliver the most creative stock images. What we produce is as diverse as the universe itself and we ensure that every image in our gallery is thoroughly conceptualized and beautifully executed. Each image can play in the background as support for the final image or stand own its own as the final piece.

Driving on the Left Hand Side!!!

Our photographer in Britain escaped the hustle and bustle of London and drove to the countryside. 
It turns out there is just as beautiful of a landscape on the left hand side as there is on the right. Who knew?!!
In the weeks to come you'll find more of these landscapes, cityscapes and all sorts of "escapes" on Picibee.com.

The Darkroom - Coming Soon!

We'll be adding more resources to the Picibee site soon - including the long-anticipated Darkroom.  As its name suggests, Picibee's Darkroom offers photographers unique digital tools to enhance their images.  Photographers can choose from Picibee's extraordinary series of Photoshop actions as well as extensive textures and backgrounds that can be used to enhance and improve captured images.

The Darkroom will have something for everyone behind a lens - from wedding shooters to at-home publishers to mom the photographer.  Browse through Photoshop actions, frames & edges, canvases, photo album background imagery, digital wedding album templates and more!

The Gift of Fantasy

A conceptual or abstract image just means that it is open to interpretation and translation. The opposite of literal. A conceptual piece is only complete with each viewer's added input; the individual eye closes the loop with its unique perspective. Because of this, an abstract image can have so many facets and personas.

With conceptual stock photography, all one needs to do is acknowledge and keep in mind all the ideas, theories and even taboos in classical and contemporary compositions and then look for or create images with lines, shapes and plains.  The mind can create amazing compositions that live in harmony and balance yet tickle our imagination.

Picibee's Wandering Eye

Go anywhere fun this weekend? We did. ;)

Go Ride A Bike

Biking in the fresh air.  As we pedal, we feel healthier and happier. It is as contagious as it is inspiring.  Happy Memorial Day weekend to all!

Love,
Picibee

Maintaining Facades

We admit it: Picibee has a penchant for facades.  Here we see a simple storefront and we like to imagine about what is behind this facade...? After all, so much of what sets Picibee apart is imagination.

Often image texture can be used as a facade in photography. Picibee offers a vast library of facades including surfaces, muslin canvases, walls and wallpapers, everyday objects, conceptual & literal images all with the common idea of supporting final image or deliverable.

“It turns out that an eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order - and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order.” -Douglas Hostadter


Until later,

Picibee

Imagery that Turns Heads

Our photographers are always asked about how to shoot stock photography. At Picibee, we look for what is missing and what is possible. In our minds, it is critical to reviewing the “big picture” (pun intended) of what imagery is available and what is possible prior to setting out to shoot any stock.  Of course we offer the norm and the expected but when we really think about relevant photos, we know we must strive to showcase the unexpected. 

As part of this journey, our handpicked pool of photographers are always thinking about the outcome; we want the actual experience of browsing through our images to be enjoyable and we take that into consideration with every click of the shutter. 

Walking by a store window, our photographer takes delight in the lifelike ladies of this shop.  

You will find Picibee is a place where one can find that out of the ordinary image. If one still wants the norm...well, we have that too.

The Ubiquity of Picibee

As one Picibee photographer travels the coasts of Europe, another stays domestic to find the uncommon in the common.  At Picibee, we love to identify pattern images in photography. Patterns are nothing but repetition and they are all around us; we don't have to look hard or far. A simple brick wall is a pattern, a tiled roof is a pattern, an egg crate is a pattern.

While Picibee brings you an assortment of the every day patterns and those that are expected, we also try to create our very own originals. At Picibee you'll find an amazing array of pattern images in photography that you would never expect nor find anywhere else.

Check out all sorts of Picibee patterns in our gallery.

Open Road

This is a shot of open road in Broadway Cotswold. Picibee has created a vast library of both rights managed and royalty free stock background photos with CGI in mind and continues to add to it. In our galleries, you’ll find a unique series of images that can be used in bringing to life your Computer Generated Images of planes, trains, automobiles or any product you can imagine. Picibee has just the background that will give that lifelike edge that your product shots deserve.

We have been adding background shots of all sorts to be used for still life images and product shots with horizon lines at different levels (or none whatsoever.)

Cheers,

Picibee

Living, Breathing Thomas Kinkade Paintings

As we view the cottages of Stanton Cotswold, it is almost as if we have jumped into a painting of the late Thomas Kinkade.  Thatched roofs and earth-toned bricks contrasted by bright and lush landscapes.  These structures are ideal subjects for Picibee's places of architectural interest.

Stanton Cotswold as shot by Picibee.

A painting by the late artist Thomas Kinkade.

Picibee (Leaps) Across the Pond

Greetings from the Queen's land...

This post kicks off Picibee's series of shots from Great Britain. From a country landscape to a gift shop, there is a wealth of traditional and untraditional beauty to capture. Walking through the cobblestone streets, we actually immerse ourselves in the distractions in order to visualize something different and fresh, yet relevant. Our secret to bringing a fresh perspective to photography can almost be described as blissful ignorance: you don't know what to look for but when you see it, you will know and it will be different...and that is the secret to this recipe.

Just loving this bird's eye perspective of the Union Jack. The flag itself is a grouping of crosses (St. George, St. Andrew and St. Patrick) creating visual interest on its own when tiled as a pattern and then juxtaposed against the ornate patterns of tea cups and crowns.  Picibee snaps its novel perspective of this grouping of novelties. More to come...

So many amazing sites to shoot; we continue to grow our gallery of most creative stock images.  


Cheers, Mate.
Picibee

Postcards from Picibee

In Bruges...


Heading back to England and its countrysides...stopped in Bruges, Belgium (also called the Venice of the North). It is amazingly beautiful here. Here is just a sample of the sights:

A perfect candidate for Picibee places gallery and our collection of scenic stock photography.


Au revoir, 
Salukes,
Auf Wiedersehen,


Picibee

An Introduction

In short: Picibee sprung from a need – a need to expedite a creative process without sacrificing relevance and artfulness.

In photography, so much time, money and resources are spent in researching, creating, building, setting up and lighting sets and backgrounds for shoots. Complex and costly set-ups have become the norm today, especially with the emergence of CGI and non-organic images that truly scream for the kind of backgrounds that give them a sense of life - a life that, just like ours, is not so perfect but beautiful in its imperfections.

There are so many companies large and small, local and foreign that offer "backgrounds" and "textures" of all kinds and have been doing so for a very, very long time. But what was very clear from the outset was that Picibee could do it so much better and do it with style, sensitivity and above of all quality and beauty that would surpass the best of what was out there.

Also obvious was the tedious nature and the amount of images one has to go through with other stock agencies to find what one is hoping to find. While other companies boast and gloat in pride on having gazillion images, the team at Picibee thinks the chances of finding the image you are looking for in our very handpicked pool of beautiful imagery are much greater and the experience far more enjoyable. We promise we will always keep it that way for as long as we can.

In the end, what really sets Picibee apart is really “relevance”. In the world of stock imagery, Picibee is based on the belief that it is not really quantity nor quality, it is how relevant the images are in respect to what is needed and called for out in the real world.

At Picibee “relevance” is the single most important consideration in producing and selecting our images.

We do this because we are Picibee.