As you know we at picture frames express love a bit of photobombing. So in our eyes Paul Yarrow is the most successful news photobomber in the UK.

Paul (aka news raider) has featured in countless news reports, appeared in parliamentary round-ups, and even been on the Antiques Roadshow.

Paul is a podgy, balding community worker from south London who has become notorious for appearing uninvited in the background of TV programmes over the past year.

The most common ‘battle gear’ of the News Raider is a beige sweater. The usual strategy is to wander around aimlessly in the background.

Paul has been know to employ props while photobombing; sometimes a phone, sometimes a newspaper and always a beige sweater…

Sources:

• Behind you! Meet Paul Yarrow – TV’s ‘news raider’ – the guardians coverage.
• Epic photobomber aka ‘News Raider’ (25 photos) – more pictures of Paul curtosy of the Berry

Enjoy and keep photobombing

The most controversial part of this match being the disallowed ‘goal’ from our very own Frank Lampard, which wrecked an already staggered level of team morale and spurred on an intense disliking of the referee (from the English fans of course).

The fact of the matter being, technology was out-ruled as a form of validation for a goal, referee’s word is final, no matter how inaccurate! This has raised talks amongst FIFA execs about the use of ‘Goal-Line Technology’ to help verify referee’s decisions and ensure a fair game.

Plenty of other sports use similar technology to validate badly judged calls and accurately review split second movements for fairness, but FIFA just don’t agree that it is in the best interest for the sport

Below we have photographs taken of the ‘no-goal’ using the goal-line tech. Judge for yourself!

GOAL!!!

Apparently not.

This terrible call from the referee sparked THE WHOLE INTERNETS* to step in and express their opinions.

*not actually ENTIRE internet.

Some, in photo form.

Brilliant use of sarcasm.

This photo was taken using a new ‘Referee Vision’ camera.

We are pretty sure the 2nd photo will be framed and hung proudly on the walls of thousands of German homes; because it’s hardly something the British are proud enough to frame. But if any of you are, be you English or German, you know where to go for your custom frames .

Until the next badly judged goal, The Picture Frames Express Team

In the form of a relatively short post featuring some brilliant surreal paintings, as in: real, hand-painted paintings! Which is a welcome break from all the digitally altered, created and manipulated stuff; though still a fascinating topic for us to cover!

A fantastic Russian-born painter specialises in just the sort of perception twisting surreal imagery that we love so much here at Picture Frames Express.

His name… Is Vladmir Kush!

We suggest clicking the paintings to open them fullsize in a new window, it’s the only way to truly admire the detail and care that has gone into creating such masterpieces!

Brilliant Metaphor.

The underlying metaphorical humor of the first image may blow over the heads of some, but the next is sure to amaze regardless!

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Sunny side up!

Fantastic idea portrayed so beautifully, wouldn’t you agree?

Its a.... Goldfish! Get it?

The wonders of metaphors in the world of art never cease to amaze!

Our final choice from V.Kush‘s famour works…

Enjoy!

Don't worry, this nearly went over our heads too!

Until our botanically-versed friend pointed out that the sails are infact: Willows.

Then it struck us…. Wind in the willows!

We hope you enjoyed looking over a few of Vladmir Kush’s works with us, he has a feature length animated DVD out covering his fascinating depictions of common metaphors and similies… A recommended watch from us!

Until next time, The Picture Frames Express Team

Fantastic illustration of several weary travellers

A beautifully illustrated pig-man.

We found the above “Pig-Man” picture to be a fantastic characterisation of the personality that this illustration portrays. An almost ‘Meat-Headed’ character if you will, drawn as a pig!

A clown character smoking in the rain

A brilliant mechanical being, out fishing!

The image above really shows off Michael Kutsche’s imagination, the mechanical suit/being shows almost realistic characteristics, that is… If it was real, we wouldn’t be surprised! The detail of his illustrations is unrivaled! Be sure to check his site for HQ/full-resolution versions and plenty more of his works!

Maybe you would consider getting some digital illustration framed by Picture Frames Express?

Until next time, The Picture Frames Express Team

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Below are some examples we think show off the brilliant nostalgic feeling that a desaturated image can draw from your thoughts!

A brilliant skyline from a'top a skyscraper in New York

See how the lack of colour draws more attention to the contrast of the light against shadow? The foreground focus draws the eye to the nearer subject of the photo; this enhances the texture of the metals and the intricacy of its design. Perfectly executed in our opinion, this image with colour would have drawn the eye away from the true focus of the image.

Brilliant portrait of 2 old cats

The image above is an absolutely fantastic example of how the contrast between light & shadow works, did you notice how your eye was drawn so much to the upper cat, that the lower one was hardly even noticeable? The work of a black & white image causes the definition between light and dark to become much clearer, naturally drawing the eye to the brighter areas of the image. The texture of the cats fur and the rust gathered on the metal all become much crisper when you take the time to look a little closer. No distracting colours to throw your gaze, just a photograph in its raw form.

A Snowy Street Scene In A City Street

This photo above describes the ‘nostalgic’ feeling of a black & white photo perfectly, though it may be primarily the way the man is dressed, the whole scene feels like a lost echo of 1950′s New York. Once again the details of the photo shine through with the crisp contrast saturation could never bring.

A checkered surface at the seafront

The image above doesn’t share the same saturation difference as all the other photographs, we think this one makes a point of the difference being hardly noticeable. A black & white checkered floor, a dull grey concrete separator blanketed in a depressing overcast sky. So even with colour, this image would still be very bland; the contrast would be almost unchanged. The parallel lines and contrasting squares provide enough natural contrast, without any after touch needed to enhance the photo.

A seafront home battling the tide

This final image really does show how a lack of saturation can totally change an image, this photograph in colour would convey the raw power of the sea as it crashes headlong into the land. Normally, there would be a huge wall of blue water, misted with a white spray. Giving the audience a feel for a strong punch of water against the land, sounds of crashing waves echoing in the brain… But this is different, it is almost quiet… The water no longer looks like a collision of great powers, but a gentle spray of colourless smoke whisking over the land. it still retains the feeling of power that a crashing wave would convey, but with no colour, it seems so much gentler.

We hope you enjoyed this short look into black & white photography, hopefully you will consider getting one framed by PictureFramesExpress!

Until next time, The Picture Frames Express Team

All of the following images featured in this post are from an amazing digital artist we stumbled over on deviantArt known as AdonisWerther. His work is a mad mash-up of digital photography and surrealism, presented in a fantastic way! To truly appreciate these works, visit his deviantArt page and view the full resolution counterparts.

Prints of these are available on devaintArt, so if you are interested: remember that no picture is complete without a custom frame from Picture Frames Express!

Our first pick from the surreal collections

A brilliant mash up of realities

Another fantastically imaginative peice!

To truly appreciate the time, effort and intricate detail in these images, check out the artists deviantArt page here – AdonisWerther for the full resolution pics and purchase prints.

Until next time, The Picture Frames Express Team.

Following with our last posts theme of digital illustration, we are going to introduce one of our new favourite artists of the digital age… Tiago Hoisel.

Hoisel is responsible for some of the greatest digital illustrations available on the web, his fantastic caricature style combined with the photo-realistic shading and lighting effects creates an almost true to life image that would dazzle the likes of Da Vinci and Donatello.

Below are a few of our choice favourites, hopefully they impress you as much as they did us!

Fantastically real adaption of a well known fictional personailty.

We think that this recreation of such a well known character should introduce you to the true power of the digital paintbrush and the unmatched ability of T.Hoisel

A wonderful recreation of Sylvester Stallone, caricatured - yet still oddly believable!

A wonderfully realistic caricature of Morgan Freeman, so close to the real thing but still so far!

Luckily for us, Hoisels ability stretches beyond the world around him and into the depths of his imagination, with fantastic results!

A brilliantly realistic office scene... With a twist!

We think it’s amazing how Hoisel can create something, from thought alone, without straying from his trademark realism and caricature style…

If you liked this post, try taking a look at some of our video posts on a digital artist called Nico Di Mattia, he specialises in a similar style of digital illustration – but his focus is around the time lapse creation of the images, more than the final product. be sure to check him out on our blog!

From all of us here at Picture Frames Express, all the best!

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As you know, we here at Picture Frames Express are strong advocates for the power Photoshop gives it’s users. It helps keep true creativity alive in this digital age, it is a brilliant source of images that are truly worth framing and hanging above the mantelpiece!

Today, we will show you a few awe inspiring digital illustrations from some of the best Photoshop artists from across the globe!

A truly surreal fantasy landscape shot, crafted from scratch!

The power of the digital paintbrush is really shown off in the shot above, the true creativity and imagination of the artist can be expressed in infinite detail and depth.

A whole new world, straight from the creative centre of the artists mind!

A highly detailed and creative digital caricature.

As you can see from the images above, if a computer savvy artist can imagine it, then he can create it! We find it brilliant how someone can take a caricatured image that would normally come across as cartoon, and add such high detail and depth that it becomes totally photorealistic!

Last but not least, our personal favourite here at Picture Frames Express… The world through the eyes of renowned digital artist – David Fuhrer. This peice is called – “Blue Moon”. We think it would look fantastic in a nice large picture frame!

But you can judge for yourself….

David Fuhrer's - 'Blue Moon'

It’s good to see that the art industry is still thriving in this new age of technology, hopefully with the release of Photoshop CS3, it may be the dawn of a new, ’21st Century Renaissance’! (Minus the frilly clothing and messy paint brushes!)

We hope you found these 4 images inspiring, maybe you could check out some of our featured Photoshop tutorials and try your hand at creating a similar peice ready for a Picture Frames Express custom frame!

Until next time, The Picture Frames Express Team!

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A dogs life in Picture Frames

After our last post about life in spring we thought we’d take a closer look at one of mans best friend, Dogs!

You’d be forgive for thinking dogs and digital photography isn’t exactly going to be ground breaking. You would of course be wrong, barking possibly (sorry)

The following video from pedigree chum is a collection of hounds filmed at 1000 frames per second and some of the expressions they manage to capture are surprisingly human.

After watching this video, complete with the chaotic crescendos and super slow-mo shots, don’t be surprised if you catch yourself throwing some dog food into your trolly on your next trip to the supermarket.

In the mean time we recommend a framed picture of your faithful companion too. (end of shameless plug)

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Vibrant pink flowers amidst a perfect sky

This picture sparks many images of summer amongst the Picture Frames Team, it’s almost as if the clouds are parting to light up the great colour in these flowers to break from the miserable greys and blacks of the recent winter. This shot really does convey the warmth of the fresh spring breeze, and the flowers carry that oh so familiar scent!

Pink blossom lighten a recently bar branch

Don’t you find that the first sign of blossom is a brilliant indicator that spring has begun! From a branch totally scarce of leaves, to a tree almost overflowing with so many vibrant petals. Some dropping of for a chance of sweeping with the breeze like a rain of brightly coloured confetti.

Spring also bring a resurgance and life to the undergrowth! With bugs, birds and all sorts of wildlife tripling their numbers.

The first ladybird of spring, an inspiring sight! A sign of things to come, with the land and air soon to be bustling with all sorts of tiny life; a good reminder to take bug spray to the next family picnic!

Beautiful refraction through water droplets hanging on blades of grass

We hope that these few pictures will inspire you to get out there and start snapping some of your own spring photos! Ready for the new picture frames you’ll be buying for this years fresh start!

From all of us here at The Picture Frames Express Team, have a lovely spring!

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