Day: December 17, 2021

Photographs of space are usually flat, telling viewers nothing about the relative distances of stars and galaxies seen in the frame. Finnish astrophotographer J-P Metsavainio has decided to change that by creating amazing 3D conversions from his 2D photos.

“As an artist, I like to find new views of reality,” Metsavainio writes. “My models are not just guesswork — the conversion is based on real scientific data.

“For as long as I have captured images of celestial objects, I have always seen them three-dimensionally in my head. The scientific information makes my inner visions much more accurate, and the 3-D technique I have developed enables me to share those beautiful visions with others.”

Metsavainio first began planning the process of converting photos of nebulae into 3D back in 2008, and it starts with collecting scientific data about his target nebula.

Usually there is a recognizable star cluster that is responsible for ionizing the nebula. We don’t need to know its absolute location since we know its relative location. Stars ionizing the nebula have to be very close to the nebula structure itself. I usually divide up the rest of the stars by their apparent brightness, which can then be used as an indicator of their distances, brighter being closer. If true star distances are available, I use them, but most of the time my rule of thumb is sufficient. By using a scientific estimate of the distance of the Milky Way object, I can locate the correct number of stars in front of it and behind it.

Nebulae glow due to stellar radiation ionizing elements inside the gas clouds, Metsavainio explains, and the shape of each one can be estimated by looking at brightness at various parts of figure out “thickness” there.

“Many other small indicators can be found by carefully studying the image itself,” Metsavainio says. “For example, if there is a dark nebula in the image, it must be located in front of the emission one, otherwise we couldn’t see it at all.”

Using all of these data points, Metsavainio builds a skeleton model of each nebula and then uses his photos to turn each model into “a sculpture on a cosmic scale.”

You can find more of Metsavainio’s work on his website, Twitter, and Instagram.

Apple has announced the latest generation of its in-house M1 silicon, the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips that both build on the original chip and dramatically expand their power across multiple categories.

Apple says that it scaled up the performance of the original M1 to offer greater power along with what it calls industry-leading power efficiency. The CPU in M1 Pro and M1 Max delivers up to 70 percent faster CPU performance than M1 and the GPU in M1 Pro is up to two times faster than M1, while M1 Max is up to four times faster than M1.

The M1 Pro and M1 Max introduce a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture to pro systems for the first time and feature unified memory, what Apple claims is industry-leading performance per watt, top-tier power efficiency, and increased memory and bandwidth capability. M1 Pro offers up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth with support for up to 32GB of unified memory. M1 Max delivers up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth — twice that of M1 Pro and nearly six times that of M1 — and support for up to 64GB of unified memory.

Multiple times Apple pointed out that the latest PC laptops top out at 16GB of graphics memory, and the new M1 Pro and Max chips significantly outpace that. Apple says that the efficient architecture of M1 Pro and M1 Max means they deliver the same level of performance whether MacBook Pro is plugged in or using the battery. M1 Pro and M1 Max also feature enhanced media engines with dedicated ProRes accelerators specifically for pro video processing.

M1 Pro

M1 Pro uses a five-nanometer process technology with 33.7 billion transistors, which is more than double that of the M1. It features a new 10-core CPU, including eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores and is up to 70 percent faster than M1. Compared with the latest 8-core PC laptop chip, M1 Pro delivers up to 1.7 times more CPU performance at the same power level and achieves the PC chip’s peak performance using up to 70 percent less power.

M1 Pro has an up-to-16-core GPU that is up to two times faster than M1 and up to seven times faster than the integrated graphics on the latest 8-core PC laptop chip. M1 Pro can be configured with up to 32GB of fast unified memory.

M1 Max

M1 Max uses the same 10-core CPU as the M1 Pro but adds a 32-core GPU for up to four times faster graphics performance than M1. With 57 billion transistors — 70 percent more than M1 Pro and 3.5 times more than M1 — M1 Max is the largest chip Apple has ever built. It achieves these performance benchmarks while uses up to 40 percent less power: it has the performance of the highest end GPU in the largest PC laptops while using 100 watts less power.

A Complete Pro System

Apple bills both the M1 Pro and M1 Max as designed specifically for pro workflows. They feaure a 16-core Neural Engine for on-device machine learning acceleration and improved camera performance, a new display engine drives multiple external displays, additional integrated Thunderbolt 4 controllers for even more I/O bandwidth, Apple’s custom image signal processor, and Apple’s Secure Enclave.

“The Mac is now one year into its two-year transition to Apple silicon, and M1 Pro and M1 Max represent another huge step forward,” Apple says. “These are the most powerful and capable chips Apple has ever created, and together with M1, they form a family of chips that lead the industry in performance, custom technologies, and power efficiency.”

Developing…

Beneath the streets of Tbilisi lies a network of tunnels, bomb shelters, and Soviet-era chambers that many locals know nothing about. Over the past several months, photographer David Tabagari has been exploring this silent underworld with extraordinary results.

Beginning in the spring of 2021, the professional photographer began venturing into the entranceways most pedestrians pass by without noticing. Many of those unremarkable entrances lead to an underworld with a mysterious and sinister past.

Tabagari says his day job, working for Tbilisi’s City Hall, has been some help in sourcing information about where the various Soviet-era facilities exist under Tbilisi.

But Tabagari says most of his explorations come after spotting telltale ventilation grills at street level and getting information from various networks of “diggers.”

Tbilisi’s diggers are adventurous Georgians who frequent these secret underground spaces and sometimes share their discoveries in social-media groups.

Little information exists about the construction of Tbilisi’s underworld. According to local journalist and academic Emil Avdaliani, much of the underground network was built by Lavrenty Beria, the notorious chief of the Soviet secret police.

Along with fellow ethnic Georgian Josef Stalin, Beria oversaw the most savage repressions and massacres of the Soviet era.

Passageways under Tbilisi that reportedly lead from a former secret police headquarters to the city’s train station have led to speculation some tunnels were used to transport prisoners or bodies during the murderous “purges” carried out under Stalin and Beria.

In the summer of 2021, Tabagari read a rumor on online forums about a subterranean prison under central Tbilisi. After searching online and on foot, he eventually found the remains of prisoner cells beneath a former secret police station.

The site is so little-known that when he asked young teenagers playing in a courtyard, none of them had heard of the disquieting space that lay just beneath their feet.

Tabagari recalls that “there was no light in this place. It was very hard for me to stand there, where people were hurt or killed.”

“Some people used metal to scrape their names in the cells” the photographer explained. “Who knows, but I was told by some local historians that it’s possible some of the names were of people who were shot. In these cells you can see the true face of the Soviet Union.”

Other spaces below ground were built in preparation for nuclear war.

“Every big city in Georgia had underground shelters” Tabagari claims. “Even under the big factories and hospitals and government buildings, they had their own bomb shelters.”

The photographer says being inside the underground bomb shelters created a powerful reminder of the tension of the Cold War, when the world came close to erupting in nuclear conflict. “You can feel how dangerous it was,” he says.

Tabagari spoke to some diggers who entered Tbilisi’s underworld soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. They told him: “Everything inside was perfect. There was water, there was food, there were generators and air pumps. You could have stayed underground for a month.”

One of the bomb shelters Tabagari encountered beneath Tbilisi was made up of around 150 rooms. The photographer says the shelter was “like a mini city beneath a city” that could be sealed up with massive steel blast doors. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he says.

Tabaguri says the Fight Club-like rule for Tbilisi’s underworld explorers is that they must not touch anything.

Despite drawing attention to the mysterious Tbilisi underworld, Tabagari says he hopes the exact locations will remain the preserve of only the tight-knit group of local explorers.

“If these places become well-known, they will be destroyed,” Tabagari told RFE/RL. “I hope we can keep them our secret.”

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You can find more of Tabagari’s work on his Instagram.

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About the author: Amos Chapple is a Kiwi who photographs and writes for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He has been published in most major news titles around the world. You can find more of his work on his website. This article was also published on RFE/RL.

An amateur photographer wanted to showcase the picturesque potential of a lesser-known region along the western part of the Himalayas through a body of work that highlights the grand beauty of the area.

Tanay Das, based in India, works for Amazon and pursues landscape photography as a hobby. It was only in 2018 that Das got his first camera, a Nikon D5500 which he says he is still learning how to use at its full potential.

In 2019 while watching a YouTube Vlog, Das heard about the lands of Zanskar, an area in the western part of the Himalayas known as the Ladakh region. While beautiful, he says that it hasn’t been widely visited or photographed by landscape photographers.

Das made contact with landscape photography company Thescape which offers photography and filmmaking services, workshops, and tours. The company invited Das to photograph the area and join a 15-day long mountain tour.

Because of the COVID-19 disruption, Das hadn’t been able to pursue many of his planned photography trips. This meant that by the time the tour date rolled around, it was his first time capturing the western part of the Himalayas.

During the preparations for the trip, Das packed his Nikon D5500 and a choice of three lenses — Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-f/5.6, and the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-/f/6.3.

The experience of camping and shooting in such an untouched natural region was particularly memorable for Das, which he says is hard to describe and left him speechless during much of the experience.

“The primary reason could be how raw nature actually is,” he says. “The place where we were standing was more than 14,500-feet high. Standing at that kind of altitude in the middle of the night and seeing the cosmos is something absolutely mindblowing and leaves a deep impact on you.”

Following his experiences in Zanskar, Das is currently working on a project with Thescape to bring out the best of the Indian Himalayas through tours across the region. Das follows the motto of “travel, learn, and share” and hopes to inspire people to photography the beauty of the area.

More of Das’s landscape photographs can be found on his Instagram page.

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Image credits: All images by Tanay Das and used with permission.

A business card is like an identity card for professionals. It’s the key to establishing your authority and promoting your brand, work, and services no matter where you go. So finding the right modern business card template to start from is crucial.

Whether you’re attending a business event or a dinner party, you should always be able to pull your business card from your pocket and network with people and potential clients. But how would you design a professional business card if you’re not proficient in Photoshop? Using a business card template is the perfect way to get started.

In this collection, we’re featuring some of the best modern business card templates in both Photoshop and Microsoft Word formats. You can easily download, edit, and customize them however you like to design your own business card without any expert Photoshop skills.

Modern Business Card Template PSD

This stunning business card template is perfect for all kinds of professionals. Whether you’re a freelancer or corporate agency, the design of this template will fit in nicely with your brand. It comes in Photoshop and Illustrator file formats with a fully editable layout.

Event Planner Business Card Word & PSD

If you’re looking for a great business card design for an event planning business, look no further. This template features a gorgeous design with lots of creative elements to make your business card attractive. It’s available in multiple formats, including Word, PSD, AI, Apple Pages, and more.

Mytemp – Creative Business Card Template (Word, PSD)

This business card template comes with a minimalist design. It’s most suitable for creative professionals, such as artists, freelance designers, and even agencies. The template is available in PSD and Word file formats.

Vertical Business Card Template for Word

If you’re a fan of vertical business card designs, this template is perfect for you. It comes with a modern and colorful design, perfect for creatives. You can edit this template using Word or InDesign.

Startup Business Card for Word & Photoshop

A multipurpose business card template for modern startups and agencies. This template features a clean design for crafting professional-looking business cards. It also comes in multiple formats, including Word, PSD, AI, and more.

Hex – Free Business Card Template PSD

Hex is a completely minimalist business card template you download for free. It comes in a layered PSD file so you can customize the text, fonts, and colors to your preference.

Free Corporate Business Card Template PSD

This free business card template is perfect for corporate agencies and brands. It comes with a modern design with fully editable layers. You can customize the template using Photoshop.

Professional Business Card AI Template

This business card template comes with an elegant design that makes it suitable for various types of professionals. It comes in AI and EPS file formats, allowing you to easily edit the colors, fonts, and the design however you like.

Creative Business Card Illustrator Template

If you’re a designer, artist, or a freelancer, this creative illustrator template will help you craft the perfect business card for you. The template features organized layers and fully editable components that you can customize to change colors and text with a few clicks.

Studio Design Business Card Template PSD

Here we have an incredibly remarkable, and unique business card template featuring a clean, and modern design perfectly fitting to creative industries’ corporate identity projects. It comes in a print-ready format and can be fully customized in Photoshop.

Creative Business Card Template PSD

Next up we have a creatively designed business card template, available in portrait and landscape formats. It offers a colorful, and vibrant design, organized layers, free fonts, CMYK color space, and more. Get your hands on it right now!

Photography Business Card Template PSD

If you are looking to design a classy business card for your photography business, this Photoshop template will surely tempt you. It has a gorgeous design that instantly catches the eyes, 300 DPI resolution, CMYK color space, free fonts, and so many other amazing features.

Free Floral Card Template PSD

Whether you’re a florist, wedding planner, or photographer, this soothing business card template can come in very handy. Editing the template is a piece of cake; just fill in your business details, and you’re good to go. Grab it today!

Free White & Green Business Card Template PSD

Here we have a minimal and professional business card template that can be used for virtually any business under the sun. It features a modern layout, customizable in just a few easy clicks. It’s available for free for both personal and commercial purposes.

Colorful Business Card Template for Designers

This colorful business card template is most suitable for making business cards for designers and name cards for agencies. The template is easily customizable with Adobe Illustrator. And it comes in print-ready format.

Multipurpose Business Card Template

The first pick in our list is a modern business card template featuring a unique design. It comes with a multipurpose design that allows you to make business cards for all kinds of professionals from corporate executives to freelancers, designers, and more. The template can be easily customized using Photoshop.

Elegant Business Card Template

Minimalism can sometimes create the most elegant designs, just like this business card. This template is perfect for making a business card for an artist, interior designer, or a fashion designer. The best part is the template comes with organized layers, allowing you to easily edit the design to your preference. It’s also available in PSD, AI, EPS, and InDesign file formats.

Stylish Portrait Business Card Template

Featuring a mix of both modern and vintage elements, this beautiful business card template comes with a portrait layout. It features a rugged design style that makes this most suitable for crafting business cards for professionals in fashion, luxury brands, and companies.

Free Business Card PSD Template for Designers

This is a free business card template you can edit and customize using Photoshop. This template is made with designers and agencies in mind. The modern design of the template will surely help you stand out from the crowd.

Free Elegant Business Card Template PSD

Grab this free PSD template if you’re looking for a clean and simple business card design. It’s ideal for freelancers and small businesses for creating a professional business card without effort.

Minimalist Business Card Template PSD

Using a simple and minimalist design in your business card design can be a great way to show off professionalism and stand out from the crowd. This PSD template will help you achieve that goal. The business card template includes smart objects and organized layers for customizing the design more easily.

Modern Minimal Business Card Template

This creative business card comes with a dark colored design that will help highlight your contact information more effectively. The template comes with an easily customizable design allowing you to change its text and colors however you like.

Designer Business Card Template PSD

If you’re working on a business card design for an artist, illustrator, or a designer, look no further. This modern business card template will help you create a stunningly minimalist business card for creatives. It can be customized with Photoshop CS4 or higher.

Modern Business Card PSD Template

Featuring a clean and modern design, this creative business card template comes with a stylish design that will help make you stand out from the crowd. It comes in multiple formats including PSD, AI, and EPS.

Minimal Business Card PSD & AI Template

This minimal business card is ideal for creative professionals and agencies. It comes with a stylish design that organizes all the content of the business card very effectively. The template is fully editable as well.

Free Word Business Card Template

This is a simple business card design you can customize in MS Word. The template is already formatted into the Word document so you can easily print it out, even at home.

Creative Business Card Template (PSD)

If you prefer a minimalist business card design, this template is perfect for you. It features simple design that effectively highlights your brand. The template comes with organized layers and in PSD and AI file formats.

Clean & Simple Business Card Template (PSD)

This clean and simple business card template is perfect for making a business card for a creative professional or a brand. The template comes in multiple formats, including Photoshop and Illustrator formats as well.

Corporate Business Card Template

This modern business card template comes with a creative design that makes it a great choice for professionals working in corporate companies and agencies. It comes in a fully customizable PSD file featuring organized layers and a free font you can use to craft beautiful business cards.

Modern Business Card Template

A highly visual design filled with creative elements is a must when making a business card for photographers, designers, and certain other professionals. This template will help design such a creative business card with lots of visual elements. It includes image placeholders and a free font for easier editing.

Creative Brand Business Card Template

Looking to create a business card for a creative brand or an agency? Then this template will come in handy. It features a beautiful and creative design that will help make your brand stand out from the crowd. The template comes as a fully organized PSD and it’s easy to customize as well.

Simple Business Card Template (Word)

Who said you can’t design great business card templates in Microsoft Word? This minimal and creative business card template is great for quickly printing out a simple business card. It’s available in PSD, AI, and EPS file formats as well.

Clean Business Card Template (Word)

Another professional business card template that comes in Word and InDesign formats. This template features a simple design that’s suitable for making corporate and agency business cards. It can be easily customized to your preference as well.

Colorful Business Card Template

This template will help you design a creative business card to complete your brand identity. It comes with a unique design that gives you enough space to include contact information as well as an image. You can customize the template using Photoshop and Illustrator as well.

Corporate Business Card PSD

Even though this business card template is designed specifically for corporate businesses, the design can be used to create other types of creative business cards as well. The template uses a free font an easily customizable design.

Modern Vertical Business Card

A modern business card template for creative professionals. This template comes with a verticle layout and a unique design that can be used to create both square and rounded corner business cards. The template is available in print-ready format and in a layered PSD file.

Rounded Modern Business Card Template

Filled with lots of colors and shapes, this beautiful business card will allow you to create designs for professionals in both corporate and creative industries. The template can be customized with Photoshop and supports square and rounded corner cards.

Creative Modern Business Card

Another modern template you can use to make business cards for freelancers, designers, and many other types of creative professionals. The template comes in a layered PSD file with lots of editable elements.

Luxury Business Card PSD

This beautiful business card template features a design filled with creative elements, making it most suitable for luxury designer brands and agencies. The PSD template is fully customizable and comes in print-ready format.

Luxury Brand Business Card Template

An elegant business card template made specifically for professionals working in luxury brands, businesses, and hotels. The template features a unique and stylish design that’ll look great in gold foil print. The template is customizable with Photoshop.

Minimal Business Card Template (Word)

This template is available in 3 different formats including Photoshop, Microsoft Word, and InDesign. It comes with a clean design where you can effectively showcase your professionalism and brand at the same time.

Basic Business Card Template (Word)

Sometimes the most basic designs can also be considered more authentic. Just like this Word business card template that comes with a simple design without any styling, images, or additional clutter. But, if you want to add images, textures, or change colors, you can do so as well.

Choosing the right font for your business card design is also important. Have a look in our best fonts for business cards collection to find a great font for your design.