Welcome to the 48th issue of the Digital Darkroom

Hi

March has been a thrilling month for all of us at BetterPhoto.com. But with our current round of short courses well under way, we are now looking ahead to the April launch of our biggest Spring school session ever. We have a tremendous array of 8-week and 4-week online classes covering both photography and the digital darkroom. ... In this issue of Digital Darkroom, don't miss instructor Jim Zuckerman's article on Photoshop Tricks, plus an outstanding collection of photo discussions. ...

Looking Ahead: The 3rd Annual BetterPhoto Photography Conference takes place in an exciting location (Chicago, September 29th and 30th, 2007). With so many of BP's pro instructors on hand, there will be a ton of information and inspiration. And live critiques too! For conference details...

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: Wednesday, March 14, 2007

• Featured Photo: Green, Yellow and a Little Red
• Featured Article: Photoshop Tricks: Pumping Up a Landscape Scene - by Jim Zuckerman
• Digital Before and After
• New Photo Discussion 1: Parched
• New Photo Discussion 2: Anthers
• New Photo Discussion 3: Moonrise over Northern Patagonia
• New Photo Discussion 4: Three Trees
• New Photo Discussion 5: Crane
• New Photo Discussion 6: Red White and Blue 2.0
• The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

Featured Photo: Green, Yellow and a Little Red

Green, Yellow and a Little Red Nikon D100, 28-300 mm lens at 28 mm, 1/180 sec. at f/4. In Photoshop: supersaturated yellows and reds, Grain filter, massive oversharpening in USM. © Kay Beausoleil KayBeausoleilPhotography.... Nikon D100 Digital...

Featured Article: Photoshop Tricks: Pumping Up a Landscape Scene - by Jim Zuckerman
Find out how Jim Zuckerman turned a blah shot into a stunning one in his Photoshop Tricks article. Jim, by the way, teaches many excellent online courses - including Creative Techniques in Photoshop and Advanced Creative Techniques in Photoshop - right here at BetterPhoto.
Read more...
 

Digital Before and After

Night Lines Tamron 28-75mm 1:2.8 lens; f32, 16 sec, ISO 100, tripod, 7:00 p.m. Criag's Actions: Illustration Blur at 100%.

Night Lines, before

Lensbabies: Selective Focus SLR Lenses

Lensbabies – the unique, fun, useful, and affordable tool for creative photography. The award-winning Lensbabies are selective focus SLR camera lenses that bring one area of your photo into sharp focus, with that "sweet spot" surrounded by graduated blur. You can move the sweet spot anywhere in the photo by bending the lens. Available now from specialty stores, 877-536-7222, or Lensbabies.com.  Learn more...

Focus on BetterPhoto's Online Photoshop Classes

At BetterPhoto, we have a fine line of Photoshop courses for all skill levels. (Photo by Richard Lynch, who teaches Photoshop 101, From Monitor to Print, and Leveraging Layers) ... For a rundown of all course categories...  Learn more...

New Photo Discussions

New Photo Discussion 1: Parched Parched This is a colorized infrared photo taken with my old Sony DSC F707. I put the camera on a tripod and took one shot in infrared (using hoya R72 filter & ND8 filter) then took one shot in color and combined the 2 in photoshop. I also added a texture layer in PS too. © Stephanie Thibaudeau Sony Cyber-shot DS... Stephanie, again your creativity is awesome. This is so cool. I have a R72 but I have never liked the results with my Canon XT. - Randy D. Dannheim See Randy's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Incredible work! This is very cool. - Rachel McKinnie Visit rachel-mckinnie.com - Rachel's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Beautiful work! I love the look of this! Wonderful colors and comp! - Carol Teal See Carol's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:AWESOME!!! I just love this! - K Pullen See K's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 4:Thank you all so much! Hi Randy! I have an old sony DSC F707 that I use strictly for infrared because it takes really great IR photos. I will never get rid of it for that reason. lol If you ever get into infrared photography, you should get one! You can probably get them for pretty cheap now. - Stephanie Thibaudeau See Stephanie's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 2: Anthers Anthers Aperture: F7.7 Shutter: 8 ISO: 50 Stargazer Lily February 28, 2007 This image was created by copying, flipping and pasting a duplicate of the original photograph onto the opposite negative space deliberately left for this purpose. Filters applied: Caravaggio and ArtiFax (both by Xero Graphics). Colors, texture and Dry Brush in PS. © Cesar J. La Rosa Nikon Coolpix 8800... it's beautiful - Joy Rector See Joy's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Great experimentation, Cesar! I like the pastel base, as well as the shapes/patterns. Nicely done. - John Caruso See John's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2: I really like this mirrored – flipped - duplicated creation. Nice work! This looks like a great effort from you. - Les Rhoades See Les's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Joy, John and Les: Thank you. I really appreciate your comments. Working on this image was a lot of fun because I knew what I wanted it to look like even before I shot the photo. Cesar - Cesar J. La Rosa See Cesar's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 3: Moonrise over Northern Patagonia ARGE-PG-0401(DA): Moonrise over Northern Patagonia USA: (Digitally Altered/ Photo Illustration): Photoshop combined image of the full moon and the cliffs & pinnacles above Valle Encantado, Rio Limay (Argentina: Northern Patagonia) © Sean Arbabi arbabi.org 4-Week Short Course: Exposure A to Z: The Ins and Outs to Metering Miscellaneous Does... Great work, Sean. Wonderful effect! - Humayun Rizwan Response 1:Thank you, Humayun. Although the bulk of my work are straight non-manipulated images, on occasion I find one in my files that may make a nice photo illustration. I remember shooting this image in Argentina at sunset wishing there was a moon, bird, climber, etc., to add that something special to a nice image - now I have it! I decided to make it more dramatic, as opposed to realistic, having the moon a litle larger. Of course, I never attempt to market a Photoshoped image as a straight one, hence my caption. I believe it's important so students and clients understand which are true shots and which are enhanced or manipulated. Thanks again! - Sean Arbabi See Sean Arbabi's Premium BetterPholio™ Take an Online PhotoCourse™ with Sean Arbabi: 4-Week Short Course: Exposure A to Z: The Ins and Outs to Metering Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 4: Three Trees Three Trees Taken one rainy day. Converted to black and white and a few other PS tricks! © Paul E. Earl Canon EOS Digital ... It looks fantastic, Paul! - Barbara Waldoch See Barbara's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Paul, did you use the Channel Mixer in PS to convert to black and white? - Matthew A. Bamberg See Matthew Bamberg's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit Matthew Bamberg's Web Site - digitalartphotographyfordummies.blogspot.com Take an Online PhotoCourse™ with Matthew Bamberg: 4-Week Short Course: Digital Art Photography 4-Week Short Course: Photo Restoration Response 2:Yes but I also added a lighting effect. - Paul E. Earl See Paul's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Mysterious, mystic mood! Very dramatic and stunning work, Paul! Gorgeous bw! - Pat Gamwell See Pat's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 4:I like this one, Paul! That silhouette with the misty rain presents a strong photo in the monochrome. Well done. Phil - Phillip R. Connolly See Phillip's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 5: Crane Crane © Rachel Scott-Renouf Nikon D70S Digital... Wow, what a great portrait of this very regal bird! I love the total treatment. I don't know how you did the background, but it's fantastic. - Nikki A. McDonald See Nikki's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Thank you Nikki! i was suprised just how much difference changing the background made ... now I am addicted! First, I cut around the bird so I could select just the background - not an easy job. Then I gaussian blurred the selection (feathered at 5 pixels). After that, I had to clone in some of that lovely hairdo he/she has. Then, finally, I blurred around the edges so that it doesn't look like it has just been shoved onto a different background (hopefully). I am really pleased with the result, although I could have spent a little more time sorting out the feathers on the neck. It's amazing how much you learn just messing around in Photoshop! - Rachel Scott-Renouf See Rachel's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 6: Red White and Blue 2.0 Red White and Blue 2.0 An effect from Photoshop CS2. © Karamatullah Danyal Panasonic Lumix DM... Very good PS work! Which effect did you use? - Chaba Kasanitsky Response 1:love the shot! - Ellen Hodges See Ellen's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:Thanks, guys, for appreciating this shot. Chaba, I used Distort > Polar Coordinates ... and then cut the picture in half to get this effect. Danyal - Karamatullah Danyal See Karamatullah's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 3:Beautiful and creative! - Donna Pagakis See Donna's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit infinitivephoto.com - Donna's Deluxe BetterPholio™ 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