Although photo editing programs nowadays seem to have all the basic (and advance!) editing tools a man needs, you have to keep in mind that not all the tools you see on the interface are beneficial. One of which is the cropping tool.
Before you start cropping all your images, you have to ask yourself, “Will the photo look better if I crop it?” If you answered no, then don’t. Sometimes, cropping results to a “cramped” photo. You have to keep in mind the nature of the photo’s subject. Sports photographers, for example, seldom use this tool because they feel the need of their photos to “breathe”. The action is not focused on the ball (in basketball for example) only but all the players surrounding the offensive player are vital.
Photo taken from http://www.unionsemester.org
Having one of the latest and best digital camera’s money can buy, one would surely have the annoying experience of having their pictures cropped, a missing head there, a half body there, why. Well, having the best camera and the latest ones assures that you get more pixels onto each image. The term mega-pixel means millions of pixels per image meaning the number of picture units. Imagine a 1 mega-pixel image to have 1 million dots of colors that makes up the whole image. Going further back, if you have ever been curious of the way your LCD screen or CRT TV works, get a magnifying glass and you get down to the individual pixels that makes up each and every image. the term RGB means the whole color spectrum is represented by red-green-blue, dots, varying their intensity gives you the many colors of the spectrum. All that comes down to millions of pixels or image units, the higher the number the finer the image. Read the rest of this entry » »
Black and white still has a sense of mystery and beauty where the subject and shadows play to make one heck of a picture that can last for years. Life in black in white used to be the norm and the style does have a strong following of staunch supporters. One problem facing this art is that there are almost no more developers who use the age-old method of developing prints, replaced by automated robots that nowadays do the printing. One thing black and white developing had of the old days was longevity, which resisted water and lasted years. Read the rest of this entry » »
For newbies to photediting ang manipulation, here are the few basic steps you need to get familiar with:
the cropping icon
1. Cropping. This refers to removing only the part of the picture you want. Even the most basic programs like paint have them. The icon with the rectangular broken lines or the square with the extended sides stands for the cropping tool.
2. Rotating. For photos taken vertically. Even the Windows photoviewer gives the option to rotate counterclockwise or clockwise.
3. Resizing. This is where you make the picture smaller – which is what you should do when you’re only using them for the web. High resolution images are only useful if you want to print them in large formats.
4. Enhancing brightness and contrast.
This is a bit trickier, but once you find the adjustment bar in whatever software you’re using, you can darken or lighten pictures at you liesure.
If you’re as big as a Google fan as myself then you should really try out Picasa. Although it just came out of Beta version a few months ago, it seems to be doing well. Not only does it organize your photos, it also edits them! There’s some news regarding this new app:
Today, we’re adding an even higher degree of control — the ability to share only with specific individuals. This is the most restrictive sharing setting, and it requires recipients to have (or sign up for) a Picasa Web Albums account. As such, it’s a bit more work than the well-balanced convenience of unlisted albums, but if you’re looking for exceptionally tight control over exactly who can see specific photo albums in your collection, give this feature a spin.
Image source: www.mizjain.org
For photo-sharing, online-classifieds and other community-driven websites determined to monetise their photo inventory, Pixenate™ offers influential photo-editing tools that foster creativity and stimulate purchases of custom photo products. Pixenate is a self-hosted solution which means it is software you can install on your own webserver. Pixenate is fully customizable so you can change any aspect of Pixenate’s appearance to suit your own website’s unique identity. Pixenate comes with a powerful fully-documented API so you can also change it’s behaviour if you so wish. Pixenate’s appearance can be changed by adapting any one of the many Themes (or skins) which are provided. Pixenate requires no browser plugins or additional downloads for your users so they can quickly get creative with their photos.
Pixenate makes photo-centric websites more helpful by embedding simple photo-editing directly in your website. Pixenate increases repeat visits to your website and makes photo-centric websites stickier. Your users may already use your website for uploading, storing, sharing or printing photos. Adding Pixenate to your website allows your users to edit those photos too. Whether it’s social networking, photo merchandising or online classifieds, people want to show their photos in the best possible light. Pixenate helps non-experts get the most out of their photos by providing powerful but simple-to-use photo-editing tools.
Pixenate is mainly well suited for photo-merchandising websites and offers powerful tools for cropping and overlaying photos on to product templates such as cards, calendars and mugs.
7. So, you have no idea when to shoot horizontally and vertically? If you have been practicing with your camera for quite some time now, deciding how to shoot will come naturally. However, if you’re just starting, you have to keep in mind that should the subject’s height be higher than the width, you have to shoot vertically.
8. Are you guilty of saying “cheese!” every time you click your camera? You might want to change your style. Saying “cheese” sometimes forces the people to smile so big that it looks awkward.
9. Look around you. Is there a glass surface at your subject’s back? If you see one, then better shift your position if you plan to use the flash. You wouldn’t want light reflecting back, don’t you?
Photo taken from http://www.flickr.com
4. No matter what, you have to know the features of your camera. Experiment if you need to. If it’s an analog camera, splurge on films. It is best if you know what your gadget’s edge is.
5. Do not be afraid to move. Move in closer to your subject if you feel that you’re too far. Also, do not trust much on zooms. There are times that the zoom blurs out the photo, so again, make sure you know your camera’s features.
6. For you to have that masterpiece like photo, refrain from putting your subject in the center of your photo. Aside from the fact that it’s boring, you will make your subject look like a pole in the picture.
Photo taken from http://thefuntimesguide.com
Some people do get amused with fantastic pictures to a point that they want to try things out. They want to see how they will fair with shooting their own photos, if they have the knack for it. But before you start shooting, keep in mind these things:
1. You have to be particular about the background. Photos with unnecessary objects floating around the subject are not really nice to look at (not unless that object has a purpose).
2. If you have the chance to shoot outside, then, by all means, do. Nothing beats the sun as your light source. A person’s skin color also looks natural when outside (compared to the inside shot, wherein various shadows and skin discoloration may appear).
3. Even if you’re outside, always remember to use the flash. The sun can create various shadows on your subject, so use the flash to counter it.
Photo taken from http://ant.sillydog.org
7. Manual cameras (analog) do require for your expertise when shooting photos. However, if you feel that your photos are quite dark or too bright for you to see the subject, then you can make some adjustments using your choice of photo editing program.
8. If you intend to share your photos, you should first take note the purpose of sharing. If you are posting those online for the public’s view (and hopefully, for a photography expert to see), you might want to increase the resolution of the pictures.
9. When you try to import your photos, it is best if you edit all the file names for easy access. I bet you’ll have a hard time remembering file names such as “226456485424.jpg”.
Photo taken from http://www.tasi.ac.uk