Here are more tips on photo-taking ethics. As I’ve said in previous posts, you just can’t go shooting at random people with your camera! I shall attempt in giving a few tips on how to be polite when taking photographs especially of people when you’re in one of your globe trotting adventures!
Now, read carefully. Before photographing children, it is best if you ask permission from an adult. Better if the child’s parent is present. Probably too bothersome but this is a very delicate situation, and you need to treat it as such. There are varying child pornography laws in different countries and you can never be too careful lest you be accused of taking perverse pictures of children. Foreigners are considered suspicious entities, remember that. I have a photographer friend who carries release forms wherever he goes to avoid hassle – that’s how careful he is.
There are still ethics involved in taking pictures especially those of unknown subjects in of different cultures while traveling n another country. You can�t just go shooting at random people with your camera! In this series of posts, I shall attempt in giving a few tips on how to be polite when taking photos.
When in Rome� it�s a clich�, an old saying but nevertheless true. It doesn�t mean that because you�re a guest in a strange country, you are already excused from social faux pas. Personally, I find it essential to do a little research on the culture of the people of the country I�m visiting. Sometimes, I even learn a few (guidebook) phrases in their language. A little understanding endears me to people and it also keeps me from getting into very uncomfortable situations. And don�t you think that if you know your subject better culturally, then you tend to have a better perception of it aesthetically? Haha, maybe it�s just me talking but this one never fails me.
There are a lot of software applications available in the market today that feature premier photo editing. However, if you do not know what program to buy amid the wide selection of photo editing programs and it only makes “choosing the best” seem to the be the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life, then you might want to try some of the free online photo editing websites that promise superb photo editing. Almost all of these online photo editing websites have user friendly interfaces, allowing the newbie and the professionals as well, editing freedom to do whatever they want with their photos. These sites also have the basic tools one needs for creating masterpieces.
Let’s take a break from editing and focus on picture taking. Whether you are an amateur or professional photographer, there are still ethics involved in taking pictures especially those of unknown subjects in of different cultures while traveling n another country. You can’t just go shooting at random people with your camera! In this series of posts, I shall attempt in giving a few tips on how to be polite when taking photos.
Always ask permission. If a person or a small group of people are the main subjects of your photo, it is best to politely ask for permission. It depends though on the situation. Sometimes a mere smile and a simple gesture to your camera is enough but there are times that you really have to be verbal about it. Most people are actually accommodating but if someone says no, then just thank them despite of it and move on. Try to be sensitive about the vibes people give off as sometimes there are those who say yes but do it out of politeness. If you’re taking a picture of that encompasses a very large group like a parade, you don’t have to ask permission. This time, you can get away with clicking on!
Since this will be my first post on using filters for photo editing, I figured I�ll just give an intro about it first. Filters (usually found in the menu bar of your favorite photo editor) are artistic and creative applications that can be utilized on certain or all parts of an image to achieve certain effects. It can change the texture of an image. It can make an image appear as if rendered on paper. It can distort an image. It doesn�t matter whether you�re a beginner in image editing. My advice is to explore the filter tools of your image editor and you�ll find endless ways of unleashing your creativity.
First, open your photo an any image editing program. Next, open your background image that will serve as your background. Select the whole image and copy it to the clipboard. Go back to your photo. Using the Magic Wand tool on your tool palette. Next, click on the washed out parts of your photo. Now click Edit on the menu bar then Paste into and your background will be placed as a new layer into the selected area of your photo. You may now tweak the background or the foreground as you wish. Dont forget to save the edited photo after youre done.
There is one easy way to turn a photo in color into a classic black-and-white. Although I must warn you that there is limited control for the final image by doing the process that I will describe here.
Open your image editor. Click on Image on the menu bar. Then click on Mode. Then click on Grayscale. Lastly, click OK. And that�s it. Like I said, control is limited with regards to the black and white features of the photo. Though what you can do is to adjust the brightness of the photo.
Ahh� this is my favorite editing tool. There was a time when I had to put texts in graphics for this graphic novel gig I did before. Anyway, this editing tool is easily spotted in the tool palette as they are represented by the letter A or the letter T. I simply click on the tool icon and click on the photo where a cursor will appear. I then type in the text, adjusting the font and size as I wish. I just click on the Move tool if I want to re-position the text.
Vector is a term used in a graphic design. Its original context is SVG which stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. Scalable means even if you try to resize it, be it smaller or larger, the quality of the image or the pixels, will not be affected or deteriorated. It will still be the same, compared to Bitmap, that when you resize it, the quality is subjected to change resulting to blurry image. Vector is applicable to Logo designs and the like because if in case you needed to resize them for future use, you are completely able to do so. The quality will remain intact. The drawback in using vector is that it is not as fine as bitmap images or photographs do. Because vectors contain selectable regions only, meaning it is limited. In vector, the other detail such as fineness or color is not enriched or vivid compared to bitmap. Though you can manually achieve it, it will require you to go on pixel by pixel editing.
If we want to enhance an image by editing there are countless ways on how to do it. This is what we call as Post-Processing. What’s next are some basic , frequently used steps to manipulate and process digital images. Just a reminder, work on a replica of an original image so if in any case you mess up, just make another copy of the original and do the editing again.
If you wish to display a photo on a website, you need to enhance it a little further. It’s good not to over do the editing, since the photo may look unnatural and it can lose some detail. You always have the “undo” command if you don’t like the change you made.