Welcome to the 29th issue of the Digital Darkroom

Hi

So many fantastic goings-on at BetterPhoto, it's hard to know where to start! First off, our online school schedule for fall is going to be awesome ... our very best ever! New courses include Jon Canfield's Camera RAW Processing and Color Management for Digital Photography, Michael Frye's The Digital Landscape, Charlie Borland's Beginners Guide to Strobe Lighting, and George Schaub's Using Your Digital SLR. Plus, there are dozens of other classes, including many involving Photoshop. Check out our entire lineup at:
http://www.betterphoto.com/online-photography-courses.asp

Also, the first annual BetterPhoto Summit is just weeks away - September 10th and 11th in Seattle - and it's going to be a fun-filled and inspiring weekend. Among the many terrific talks by our talented team of instructors is one involving Photoshop expert Ben Willmore, who will share his tips and thoughts on CS2. For specifics, visit:
http://www.betterphoto.com/summit.asp

In this issue of Digital Darkroom, don't miss instructor Robin Nichols' excellent article, "Basic Digital Camera Shooting Techniques", the Featured Photo, the Before and After, and yet another inspirational - and informational - collection of Photo Discussions.

To read the online version of the Digital Darkroom at our Web site, visit http://www.betterphoto.com/digitalpics/

Have a great month!
Jim Miotke
http://www.betterphoto.com/MG.asp?ID=124

In This Issue: Thursday, August 18, 2005

• Featured Photo: "Red"y for Business
• Featured Article: Basic Digital Camera Shooting Techniques ... by Robin Nichols
• Digital Before and After
• New Photo Discussion 1: Moon Shot
• New Photo Discussion 2: Goldfish
• New Photo Discussion 3: Love is in the Air
• New Photo Discussion 4: Off To Wonderland
• New Photo Discussion 5: Liquified
• New Photo Discussion 6: The Way We See It
• New Photo Discussion 7: 1940 Buick Special
• New Photo Discussion 8: Cool Cat
• New Photo Discussion 9: DigiLily IV
• New Photo Discussion 10: Stormy Summer Day
• New Photo Discussion 11: Musician
• The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

Featured Photo: "Red"y for Business

"Red"y for Business aperture f10; shutter 1/500; ISO 400 I removed the grass behind the wall and brought in the swimming pool water from my hotel. I used the paint bucket with light gray to cover the overexposed concrete floor. I used layers with fresco at 70% on color dodge. This is for Carla and Roger! © Vicki Hunt Canon EOS Digital ...

Featured Article: Basic Digital Camera Shooting Techniques ... by Robin Nichols
Always choose the best-quality camera settings, advises instructor/author Robin Nichols. Never compromise on quality, because you’ll probably regret it later. For instance, in his new article, Robin points out why high JPEG compression translates into low quality, and why low JPEG compression equals good quality. Robin, by the way, also teaches a terrific online course right here at BetterPhoto: Bare Bones Digital Photography

To read Robin's article, "Basic Digital Camera Shooting Techniques", visit:
Read more...
 

Digital Before and After

Early Evening Along the Rhine in Germany. Shot taken in 1993. I turned the lights on in the house using a colorized layer of yellow with a layer mask and set the opactiy to 65%

Original Photo

BetterPhoto Summit: Ben Willmore on CS2 ... and Many Other Great Programs!

New Photo Discussions

New Photo Discussion 1: Moon Shot © Bill Brown Minolta Maxxum 400... This is awesome, how did you get such a good shot of the moon like that? GOOD WORK! - Terri D. Hughes Response 1:Thanks, Terri. The moon image was taken through a 10-inch reflecting telescope. I adjusted the contrast and levels some in PS to bring out the detail before adding it to the original photo. Thanks for your interest! - Bill Brown Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 2: Goldfish Goldfish Photoshop CS2: Flood + Flexify © Evy Johansen Olympus Camedia C-... OMG! There's no end to your creativity, Evy!!! Everyday something unique and different!! Love your work on this image! Really splendid!! - Sanjay Pindiyath (SJ) See Sanjay's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:I agree with Sanjay, Evy - fantastic! - Karen Engelbreth See Karen's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:Evy, you are so clever with these compositions!! This is FANTASTIC!! - Paul E. Earl See Paul's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Great work as usual, Evy! I love your creativity and execution. - Rob Bishop See Rob's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 3: Love is in the Air Love is in the Air Hand Colored in Photoshop Elements 3.0. © Cynthia L. Wanyonyi Canon EOS 350D (Di... I know you said you hand-colored in Photoshop Elements 3.0 but I was wondering how exactly you did it. I also have PSE 3.0 and just can't figure out how to hand-color in it. It looks great, I love it. Thanks! - Tina Edwards Response 1:Hi Tina :). I am so glad you like the picture. It's so easy! 1. Open the first photo you want to hand-color. 2. Outline the part you want to remain in color, using either the lasso or magic wand. 3. Ctrl J (for PC) or Apple J (for MAC) to add a layer with just the part that you outlined. 4. Go back to the original photo and "remove color" (under "Enhance Photo"). 5. VOILA! You have a hand-colored portrait. I have learned everything I know about Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 from Scott Kelby's "The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers". It is a great tool for your e-library. P.S. If you decide to save it as a totally different file (I recommend that so you still have the original to play around with), either flatten the image or Merge Visible Layers (CTRL/Apple E) and save. Enjoy :). - Cynthia L. Wanyonyi Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 4: Off To Wonderland Off To Wonderland Applied dreamy filter to the shot and then history brushed the car back in. © Carolyn Fletcher PickYourShots.com Sony Cyber-shot DS... What a beautiful car!! Love the effects too!! - Paul E. Earl See Paul's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Nice image, Carolyn. - Donald K. Cherry See Donald's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:Excellent work, Carolyn. Has a surreal effect. - Paul Michko See Paul's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Hmm ... looks like another WINNER to me, Carolyn!! Outstanding capture and treatment!! - Sanjay Pindiyath (SJ) See Sanjay's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 5: Liquified Liquified Do you know what this was before it was liquified? © Karen Talasco Nikon D70 Digital ... I would guess some marbles ... sure turned out to be a cool abstract regardless of what it started as!! - Marcie Fowler See Marcie's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Karen, Wonderful looking star pattern image. Awesome colors and liquified image. - Kerby Pfrangle See Kerby's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:Looks like a vase that had swirls all over it? LOL .. Whatever it was it is now a gorgeous abstract! - Laura Clay-Ballard See Laura 's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Thanks, Laura. Marcie was correct. It's a bunch of marbles. I applied the liquify affect, in PS Elements, to each marble with an outward stroke. - Karen Talasco See Karen 's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 6: The Way We See It The Way We See It My camera(s). Me. Allies. :0) This photo came about because my Mom said she wanted a picture of me in my new hat. So, I decided to take a pic facing the mirror & then got creative. I added the Dramatic filter in Virtual Photographer, cropped some and flipped the image horizontal so Canon would read the right way. © Lori Fisher Canon EOS 20D Digi... I really like this, a great self portrait! - Barbara J. See Barbara's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Wonderful self-portrait, Lori!! - Goshka Grabowska See Goshka 's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:A wonderful and creative SP, Lori!! Well done!! Nice hat, too, by the way!! - Marcie Fowler See Marcie's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Yes, this is a wonderful self portrait. - Dr Silly See Dr Silly's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 4:Very creative work, Lori! Beautiful self-portrait indeed!! - Jenny Bosmans See Jenny's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 5:Thank you Barbara, Goshka, Marcie (& for the hat comp!), Dr. Silly (I love that!), and Jenny for your comments on this!! :0) - Lori Fisher See Lori's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 7: 1940 Buick Special 1940 Buick Special 1940 Buick Special - Background is a 'pencilized' version of the car. © Robert Hambley rlhambleyphotography.com Canon EOS 20D Digi... This is a great image. I just started taking photos of these vintage cars and it's so much fun. You did a great job with the effects. - Mary Timman See Mary's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Greetings, Thanks, Mary! I appreciate the comments! It is so much fun playing in Photoshop, and with the cool cars, just more so! Thanks, Robert - Robert Hambley Visit rlhambleyphotography.com - Robert's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 8: Cool Cat Cool Cat My cat wearing my boa. Added sunglasses with Microsoft Digital Image Pro Disc 1. Then tinted them purple with MGI PhotoSuite 4. Edit out white spots, plus cloned feathers at the top right. Original taken in Feb. 2005 in my bathroom. Exposure auto fixed. © Theresa Marie Jones Medion MD9700 Digi... LOL! What a very cute shot, Theresa! - Tammy Scott See Tammy's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Fantastic capture, Theresa. That is a lot of Photoshop work that you did and it turned out wonderful. - Kay E. Mahoney See Kay's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:Great cat portrait, Theresa! The purple makes her look very royal! - Barbara J. See Barbara's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:What a diva! A lot of fun. Great work! - Jennifer M. Surrena-MacDonald See Jennifer's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 4:Tammy, Kay, Barbara and Jennifer, "THANK YOU" for your cool comments! - Theresa Marie Jones See Theresa's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 9: DigiLily IV DigiLily IV Original photo taken after rain during sunrise on June 28th with the CD500. The edit was very simple, I simply adjusted curves until I got the pyschedelic look I was after. The original color was one very bright (almost neon) orange. © Rachel Shreckengast Sony Mavica CD500 ... Rachel, The colors on this are outstanding. Wonderful contrast colors. Love the feel to this image. Great PS work. Kerby - Kerby Pfrangle See Kerby's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Kerby, Thank you so much! This photo kept begging me to make it brighter, more colorful, and more psychedelic. I need to visit your gallery again soon (and am positive there will be some lovely photos to drool over!). Best, Rachel - Rachel Shreckengast See Rachel's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 10: Stormy Summer Day Stormy Summer Day 1/320 sec at F8, EV-1.7 (metered for sky). Nikkor 35-70mm. © Heather K. McFarland Nikon D1X Digital ... Beautiful image. I love old barns and this one is really neat. The sky really sets everything off. - Mary Timman See Mary's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Hey Heather. I truly like this picture, especially the colors. Did you work with it in any software? How did you get the foreground to be so well-exposed? I find that when I meter for the sky, in these situations, my foreground is underexposed most of the time. Thanks so much for your time and good luck in the contest! - Anahelena Natera Response 2:Thank you, Mary and Anahelena! Yes, I did work this image in post-processing. When metering for the sky, your foreground will be underexposed. But it's the only way to get the sky exposed correctly. There are several ways to then process the image. 1) You can take two exposures, one for the sky and one for the foreground, and combine them in post processing. 2) If you shoot RAW ... you can convert the RAW file in two passes. One as you took it with the sky exposed correctly. Then process it again to increase the exposure to get the foreground correct. Then you can combine them using a variety of methods in post processing (you can do a search on the Internet for methods of combining to exposures). 3) Or you can just work with the original image in which the sky was exposed correctly. Then using your masking tools, select just the foreground (which is what I did), then using curves tool adjust the foreground until you get it exposed correctly. You will have to feather your selection and sometimes blend along the selection line so that your masking edges are not visible! - Heather K. McFarland See Heather's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:fantastic image. - Joy Rector See Joy's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 4:Just beautiful - Vendla Stockdale See Vendla's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 5:Beautiful image and great post processing work. Thanks for sharing. - Serena Pierce See Serena's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 11: Musician Musician street jazz festival, Toronto © Piotr M. Organa Nikon D70S Digital... Excellent composition and treatment on a very difficult shot ... Stage lights can be problematic, and you overcame them nicely! ccc - Candice C. Calhoun See Candice's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit cccphotoart.com - Candice's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 1:Cool shot and effects, Piotr! - Terry L. Ellis See Terry's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit terryellisphotography.com - Terry's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Very creative and cool ... - Joyce T. ONeil Response 3:Wow, thanks for those kind comments - Candice, Terry and Joyce! This one and my two previous posts are handheld shots, done at about 9:30 p.m., treated with PS contrast/brightness. Unpredictable technique but a lot of fun. - Piotr M. Organa Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

• Browse more photo discussions at BetterPhoto.com
• Start your own discussion on any photo in the Galleries
• Read archived issues of the Digital Darkroom