Welcome to the 74th issue of the Digital Darkroom

Hi {FirstName} {OPENEDEMAILMARKER}

Lots of fantastic news to report. First, there's still time to take part in the two-day, 2-for-1 Website Super Sale. That's two years for the price of one! Our Deluxe and Pro BetterPholios are great ways to show - or sell - your photography, but you have to hurry, since this awesome sale ends tonight. See the ad below, or check out this page...

Good news about BetterPhoto's online photography school too: Our upcoming sessions begin June 3rd (4-week courses) and July 1st (8-week courses). In one of our classes, you'll have fun and learn a lot - without the expense of an on-location workshop. Plus, these courses offer personal interaction with top professionals. Learn more about our online school...

In this issue of Digital Darkroom, don't miss Jim Zuckerman's excellent article on Photoshop: "When Enough Depth of Field Isn't Possible". Plus, we have an excellent Before-and-After feature, and a number of inspiring - and educational - 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: Tuesday, May 19, 2009

• Featured Photo: The look out
• Featured Article: When Enough Depth of Field Isn't Possible - by Jim Zuckerman
• Digital Before and After
• New Photo Discussion 1: Along the Canal
• New Photo Discussion 2: Flightscape
• New Photo Discussion 3: Bloom
• New Photo Discussion 4: Ghost Rider 2
• New Photo Discussion 5: Drops
• New Photo Discussion 6: Parrocchia di San Salvador
• The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

Featured Photo: The look out

The look out taken downtown Portland, Ore,used topaz adjust © Jan Eklof Nikon D300 Digital...

Featured Article: When Enough Depth of Field Isn't Possible - by Jim Zuckerman
"Too often the laws of optics conspire against us photographers, and to get what we want artistically we have to outsmart these annoying limitations," writes BP instructor Jim Zuckerman in a blog from his Pro BetterPholio (www.corporatefineart.com). For capturing a beautiful leopard in Kenya, he shot two separate images - each with a different focusing point - and then combined them in Photoshop to get the perfect Depth of Field. The result, he says, "looks like what I saw with my eyes"! Learn how Jim Z did it...
Read more...
 

Digital Before and After

Little House on the Prairie This was done with Dynamic Auto-Painter from MediaChance. You owe it to yourself to download their free trial offer and watch this program run--it is fascinating! I selected one of my photos, selected the Benson type artist and let it run for six minutes (about 30,000 strokes) while I drank my morning orange juice. No artistic skill needed!! The trial offer marks the results with text along the bottom but the program sells for just $35 to get rid of the text. Sure beats trying to smudge my photos :0)

Original photo used

Last Day of Super Sale - Huge Savings on Deluxe/Pro Websites!

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Seattle & NYC Summits: Give Your Photography a Creative Boost!

New Photo Discussions

New Photo Discussion 1: Along the Canal Along the Canal Nikon D300, 28-300 mm lens at 170 mm, ISO 500, 1/40 s. at f/16. The Bollenstreek, The Netherlands. In Photoshop: Palette Knife and Find Edges filters, displacement mapping for frame. © Kay Beausoleil KayBeausoleilPhotography.... Nikon D300 Digital... Dutch symbols... this is a wonderful image. I wish I knew what displacement mapping is! - Michelle Alton See Michelle's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:Thanks, Michelle! Here's what I did for the frame after copying the image to a new layer: (1) made the canvas 1" wider all around; (2) made a new layer under the copy, filling the background with white; (3) with copy (top) layer active, pressed Ctrl/Thumbnail to load it as a selection, then pressed Add Layer Mask icon and clicked on the new mask; (3) from Filter menu: Distort/Displace, and I used 20/20 for values - then OK, then in the dialog box chose Frosted Glass from my Program Files\Adobe\ Adobe PhotoshopCS3\Presets\ Textures files. Ta-da. Sorry you asked? :) - Kay Beausoleil See Kay's Basic BetterPholio™ Visit KayBeausoleilPhotography.com - Kay's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 2: Flightscape Flightscape © Bill Miller Canon EOS 30D Digi... Great shot Bill. Great timing as well. - Sheryl Salisbury See Sheryl's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:Great capture and lighting. - Teresa Brooks Visit tessbrooksphotography.com - Teresa's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Thanks for your comments. There was a lot of processing involved with this one. I used Photomatix and Adobe Camera RAW to create an HDR image from multiple exposures of a single frame. This allowed me to brighten and bring out detail in the birds without washing out the sunset colors. This process resulted in quite a lot of noise, which was addressed with ACR and Photoshop. - Bill Miller See Bill's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 3: Bloom Bloom More fun in the Digital Darkroom Colorwork and Texture applied in PS Layers. Thanks for looking :) © Jennifer L. Alder Canon EOS 50D Digi... A lovely floral! - Tiia Vissak See Tiia's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:What a gorgeous floral Jen, great colours and effects. Lovely PS work. - Lynne Morris See Lynne's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 2:A real work of art, Jen - wonderful colors and effects, and that vertical comp adds to the flowing feeling of the image. - Mary K. Robison See Mary's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 4: Ghost Rider 2 Ghost Rider 2 I have received many emails asking me how my lighting effects was done on my Ghost Rider2. I used Mystical Lights by FX. For the head lights, I used the lightcaster effect. Afer using the spotlight effect to darken the entire scene, I then painted lights with the light brush to highlight and bring back detail in the surrounding scene. Many have asked how it can be done for street lamps. In CS2,3 or 4 if you go to filter select/render...spotlight you can also darken the scene and put a glow in the lamps. This is where playing can be so much fun. Again thank you for all your kind words and support when visiting my gallery. © Kaye Burazin Canon EOS 5D Digit... It's Alive!! This is awesome, Kaye! Really well done! - Rod Partington See Rod's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 5: Drops drops With Paint Daubs filter applied in CS4 © Martha R. Mazon Panasonic Lumix DM... Cool colors, effects & framing! - Tiia Vissak See Tiia's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:Awesome color and effects! Love it!! - Jodi Zimmer See Jodi's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 6: Parrocchia di San Salvador Parrocchia di San Salvador Venice, Itlay Canon 10-22mm lens @ 10mm, ISO 250, F8.0, 1/50 sec. ( UV filter) The original Canon RAW image file was converted and adjusted with Adobe Lightroom Additional adjustments were preformed with Corel Paint Shop Pro and NIK Viveza plug-in I used Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 to create the painted looking effect. In the final stage I layered on a textured image and erased various portions. (Opacity @ 65%) Category: DD © Les Rhoades Canon EOS 50D Digi... Wonderful, Les, and I love all the DDR work involved. GREAT JOB!!! - Laura E. Swan See Laura's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:Gorgeous image and effects, Les! - Stefania Barbier See Stefania's Basic BetterPholio™ Visit Stefania-barbier.com - Stefania's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Beautiful capture and great effects, Les!! Great work!! - Kerry Hill See Kerry's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 3:You've taken FULL advantage of this terrific angle, Les. It's a sparkling gem! - Michelle Alton See Michelle's Basic 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