Adobe Photoshop: A Must Have Software for Photographers

As a professional photographer, you know that you need to take great and flawless photos of your subjects. If you donít, then you donít really deserve to be called a professional photographer and you won't profit from this kind of job as no one would want a photograph that was taken by an amateur. However, we have to admit the fact that not everyone is perfect. Even if you are a very good photographer, you are bound to make mistakes and take bad pictures.

This is why you will need Adobe Photoshop (CS..2,3,4,5). So, what is Adobe Photoshop?

First of all, you need to remember that most professional photographers today use digital cameras. I say most, because there are still a few hold outs. Film cameras are a thing of the past and digital cameras are a lot easier to use and provides better quality photographs. So, I am assuming you are already using a digital camera, and you will see that Adobe Photoshop will be able to help you a lot on your job as a professional photographer.

This is basically "the" image editing and enhancing software program that will allow you to edit and enhance the photos you take and upload from your digital camera to the computer. For example, you have to remember that no one likes the red-eye phenomenon on their photos. If you have been hired to take a picture of a kid's birthday party and you saw that the seemingly great pictures you took resulted in a red-eye phenomenon on most of the subjects, the people who hired you will not really be satisfied because of it.

Even if you are using the latest professional grade digital camera with red-eye reduction, the red-eye phenomenon will still happen whether you like it or not. With Adobe Photoshop, this is no longer a problem as it will have the red-eye detection tool which will detect the red-eye on the photos you take and get rid of it. The result is a natural looking photograph without the red-eye on the subjects.

Also, you have to remember that there are times where you will be faced with a bad lighting condition. No matter how many times you adjust your digital camera, you will still have to deal with the bad lighting condition which will ruin any photograph. Adobe Photoshop has tools that will help you deal with lighting and colour. With the adjust brightness and contrast, adjust colour intensity, and hue adjustment tools, you will be able to make dark photos in to something that looks like it was taken in the best possible environment.

As a professional photographer, you will sometimes take headshots. For this kind of job, Adobe Photoshop will make your subjects look more handsome and beautiful. How? Well, Adobe Photoshop has tools that will help enhance the skin or the face of your subject. You can remove pimples, and other imperfections from the subject's face. And, you can even make someone old look a little bit younger.

If your subject is very pale, you can add some colour on their cheeks and make them look as if they have those healthy rosy cheeks. In fact, Adobe Photoshop even has some tools that will make an obese person look as if they were a model of Victoria's Secret and vice versa. This is how powerful Adobe Photoshop is.

So, if you are a professional photographer and you are looking for a way to edit your photos to make it look flawless, then you will need Adobe Photoshop.

Red Eye and Your Digital Camera

You’ve seen the dreaded demon-eye effect that occurs when the camera flash bounces off the eye of a person or pet that you are photographing. An otherwise wonderful picture can be ruined by these retinal reflections. Technically, this is called red-eye and is caused when the pupil of your subject’s eye is wide open and the light from the camera’s flash reflects off the subjects retina. In people, the colour ends up red; in pets, the colour is often green.
Many photo editing programs include a red-eye correction filter, but this may not allow your photograph subject to appear “normal. These filters also don't always work on the green effect produced in a pet’s eyes. Photo stores sell pens that are used to clear up red-eye, but again they are not always natural-looking and do not work on the green. The best thing is to prevent the demon-eye effect from the start.
It is rare to find a digital camera that does not come with a red-eye reduction feature. This feature can be turned on or off. It is best left
"on" in all circumstances other than direct sunlight. The red-eye reduction feature works by flashing a short burst of light at your subject before you snap the picture. This burst of light causes the subject’s pupil to close and makes it less likely for the camera’s flash to reflect off the retina. This in turn reduces the chance of red-eye.
It also helps to direct the flash of your camera so it does not directly hit your subject’s eyes. Bouncing the flash off a nearby wall or other object will soften its effect and reduce the chances of this unwanted malady. Between bouncing the flash and using your digital camera’s red-eye reduction feature, your little angel, whether human or animal, will have eyes that don’t glow.
If you are using the bounce effect, it can be achieved in several ways. With a digital SLR camera and mounted flash, the flash can generally swivel to allow you to obtain the bounce effect. Another option with digital SLR's is removing the flash from your camera and handholding it. This would of course require wireless capabilities (you can view these options on-line or await my publication of wireless options in the future)
If you have a point and shoot digital camera, I would suggest a piece of white bristol board. Held in front of the flash at an angle, you will be abe to bounce the flash off of the ceiling and reduce any potential red eye effect. You may want to test a couple of shots to ensure that you are not blocking the lens or blocking the light entirely.
Good luck...getting the red out!

Getting Free Photoshop Tutorials

Adobe's Photoshop software is truly a big deal for most people. If you are a photographer or photo enthusiast, it pays to have this program loaded onto your computer in order to manipulate your photographs and present the world with true, quality art! With Photoshop at your fingertips, you can rest assured that you will get to improve those digital images you have taken long before they are printed. The result will be one more reason for you to give away (or sell) those beautiful pictures to clients, customers, family and friends.

Unfortunately, for most,it is not simply enough that you have the Photoshop program installed on your laptop or desktop computer. It is imperative that you have a basic knowledge in Photoshop to allow you to do all of the things that you want to do, as well as add the magical touches you didn't even dream of. With that little piece, my advice is...that it is very important for you to get a Photoshop tutorial.

There are several options available, such as hiring a tutor or enrolling in a program where you can learn basic or advanced Photoshop skills. You can also choose to buy one of the miriad of books that will teach you the aspects of the program. (If books are your preferred method of learning, I would recommend any of the books authored by Scott Kelby. They are easy to read and easy to follow) These are a few of the options that are open to you. All of which can have substantial costs. However, if you are frugal, you may want to follow an even better choice and get a free Photoshop tutorial. During these tutorials you will have the opportunity to develop (or hone) your skill without having to spend the extra money that's in your pocket.

There are a number of ways for you to get a free Photoshop tutorial. Be sure that you take advantage of these options...after all, "a penny saved is a penny earned"! If you can have something for free, make the most out of it.

1) Start by simply asking a friend for help with your Photoshop education

Many people are fortunate enough to have friends and relatives who are skilled in the Photoshop application. If you happen to have a friend of your own, then ask him or her to teach you basic Photoshop. Not only is this is a good way to get the free Photoshop tutorial, but most people who are skilled in Photoshop love to show off their capabilities. And besides, you can even use that extra time of learning as a bonding activity.

2) Try exploring the Photoshop program on your own.

If it happens that you can't access any friends to give the tutorials, you can explore the Photoshop program in a progressive step by step manner. Adobe provides basic tutorials with the installation. You can easily review the options for the basic tutorials. This will explain to you, how certain commands work and when to use them. You can read and review all of the instructions and the step-by-step processes. There are also editions of the Photoshop software that will actually provide tutorials using visuals. You will definitely enjoy viewing how a project is developed.

3) Try downloading trial files online

You can also get free Photoshop tutorials online. There are multiple web sites that will give help for free (like the ones at www.photoshopstar.com or http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_5652_use-adobe-photoshop.html). You can access the tutorial in PDF format or view instructional videos which will allow you to follow each step. You can also browse through the sites to find the discussion on a particular topic (http://www.planetphotoshop.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2 or http://www.flickr.com/groups/photoshopdiscussion/).

4) Never be afriad to ask for assistance online.

Adobe does provide an option for you to get help ( onlinehttp://www.adobe.com/support/photoshop/). However, you may simply find it more amazing to explore the different discussion boards and forums where other Photoshop users converge (as mentioned above). This can be an opportunity to get free Photoshop tutorials from the people who are both novice and expert alike. You can post your question and you can expect the other users to give you the advice you need.

You're not alone. Be sure to take advantage of all of the free Photoshop tutorials and learn the basic skills needed to operate the program. This way,in no time, you will be turning your "nice" images into fabulous works of "art".

Digital Zoom Versus Optical Zoom

Many point and shoot digital cameras offer both digital and optical zoom. These two often confuse the average camera buyer, until you know what you’re looking at.

Optical zoom works much like the zoom lens on a 35 mm film camera. It changes the length of your camera’s lens and draws the subject closer to you. The optical zoom keeps the quality of the picture. Digital zoom works differently. It simply takes the picture and crops it then enlarges the part that is left. It causes the quality of the photo to be reduced, sometimes greatly.

What this means in terms of output is you may have a larger view of an object with the digital zoom, but chances are your image will become unfocused. Details will become lost. It is actually best to turn off the digital zoom feature of your camera if possible. This will prevent you automatically zooming in too close as the digital zoom is often an extension of the optical.

There are a couple of things you can do if you want a closer view of a subject but want the quality of your picture to still be good. Try moving in closer when you take the picture. Often only a foot or two will do the trick. If this isn’t possible, you can set your camera to take a picture at its largest file size. This will result in a photo that can be cropped to include only your desired subject, yet allow for an image that is still clear.

Digital zoom has its place. It can be used if the only destiny of your photo is the internet. Photos online can be a much lower quality in the camera and still appear acceptable when sent through e-mail or posted on a web gallery. If your goal is printing, however, seek a camera that has a greater optical zoom and turn off the digital zoom. Your pictures will be better in the end, even if they are not as close up.

Black And White Digital Photography

There are several ways to achieve black and white digital photography. With black and white digital photography, you are bringing the end user back into a period of time when life seemed a lot simpler. Many digital cameras come equipped with a function to take these types of photos. If your digital camera does not support this function, you can still change your photographs into black and white with software programs.

You’ll want your black and white digital photography to look its best when you are finished. A technique that can help you get the best image out of your digital photograph is through image manipulation. You may find it better to convert your eight-bit colour images (which are usually jpegs) into 16-bit colours first. This is important because an 8-bit RGB can be the same as a 10-bit grayscale.

You can find information all over on the Internet to help you with your black and white digital photography. These resources can be found in everything from websites to magazines. Coloured pictures can look truly beautiful as a black and white display. You will usually have to convert your graphics, because although there are options with digital cameras, there are no true black and white digital cameras.

Correct the Colourcasts

An important part of black and white digital photography is correcting the colourcasts. These are caused by bad lighting, but you can use software such as PhotoShop Elements to make the relevant changes by using their editing applications. The Imaging Factory is also software that can help you to easily convert and fix lighting areas in your graphics to get the best look with your black and white digital photography. If you want to turn your graphics into black and white digital photography, you can step into a completely new dimension in photography. You can work through an endless array of projects right from your own computer.

10 Tips To Better Photography

Taking a good photo isn’t as hard as you may think. You don’t need the most expensive camera or years of experience, just 10 simple tips.

Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Use All Of Your Available Space

Don't be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it's ok for it to take up the whole shot with very little or no background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot


Tip 2 - Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don't see an object, see its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Don't just walk up and shoot...anybody could do that. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.


Tip 3 - Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won't turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame (unless your planned photo is art...because you can always break the rules, for art).


Tip 4 - Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colours.

Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one colour on your subject, but the contrasts between colours in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.


Tip 5 - Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up close and personal, and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can't continue to blowup a distant object.


Tip 6 - Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera's can be tricky due to shutter lag. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved on or somehow changed. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don't have this problem.


Tip 7 - Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have a better chance of getting a good shot if you take more than one photo.


Tip 8 - Continuous Shots

To pan as I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.


Tip 9 - How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical.... if done right! If not they can look horrible...really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera's can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn't know what he or she is doing.


Tip 10 - Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.