Welcome to the 96th issue of the Digital Darkroom

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The next online photography school session is coming up fast, but if you enroll now, you'll be able to get started today with an early lesson! Check out BetterPhoto's schedule of interactive 4-week online courses, which begin April 6th. Too soon? See our 8-week online photo classes, which start on May 4th. Also check out our specific listing of Photoshop courses. ... In this issue of Digital Darkroom, be sure to check out instructor Deborah Sandidge's excellent Featured Article ("Tell twice the story with a reflection..."), as well as the Featured Photo, Before and After series, and some very photo discussions.

That's it for this month. Have fun with Photoshop!

Kerry Drager

Newsletter Editor

Where is Jim Miotke? Follow BetterPhoto's founder and president on Twitter - BetterPhotoJim

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 23, 2011

• Featured Photo: Escape
• Featured Article: Tell twice the story with a reflection...
• Digital Before and After
• New Photo Discussion 1: Flaming Petals
• New Photo Discussion 2: Glider
• New Photo Discussion 3: abandoned
• New Photo Discussion 4: Smile
• New Photo Discussion 5: S N O W
• The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

Featured Photo: Escape

Escape This is a composite of two images. I shot the background at the Verde River in Scottsdale, AZ and the horse and rider is Stefanie Maas of Cave Creek, AZ on her gorgeous new mount, Rohan. He is a Friesian gelding and so beautiful and gentle. I added a couple of texture layers and lots of hours extracting and editing :) © Jean E. Hildebrant Canon EOS Digital ...

Featured Article: Tell twice the story with a reflection...
Read how BetterPhoto instructor Deborah Sandidge converted a bird and shore to silhouettes, and then had additional fun with the image in Photoshop. The result is an awesome photo, and Deb shares her thoughts and technique!
http://insights.betterphoto.com/2011/03/creative-photography-tell-twice-the-story-with-a-reflection-.html
Read more...
 

Digital Before and After

Luminous Landscape # 2 Olive Oil on Water image - this is a "after and before" example - see the original below. I took the green sphere and added a gradient to it, and then took another oil image and pasted it into a separate layer. I moved the image in the 2nd layer until the "sun" was in the lower right corner, and then erased the rest of that layer. Canon 100 macro, F11, 1/60th sec, Canon 580 EX II I have a writeup (Microsoft Word format) on Oil on Water available to anyone interested. Just drop me a BPMail and leave your address, and I will email the article to you.

Original

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New Photo Discussions

New Photo Discussion 1: Flaming Petals Flaming Petals I combined 5 exposures of these nearly gone tulips in Photomatix...Nikon 18-200 lens on a tripod, 52mm, F16, ISO 200. Taken in window light with white cardboard reflectors and a diffuser, against a dark green fabric background. Adjusted in Lightroom 3 and CS3. I used the texturizer filter to make the background more uniform and repaired the torn edges on two petals. I used the Topaz Simplify 2 filter on another version, but like this one just as well. © Judith MacArthur Nikon D300 Digital... Really beautiful, and nice work. I would have no idea how to do any of this. - Susan Weisensel See Susan's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:Great job with the editing for a beautiful result. Gorgeous color! - Dianna Murphy See Dianna's Basic BetterPholio™ Visit diannamurphyphotography.com - Dianna's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Thanks for the nice comments, Ladies. Susan, nothing I did here is difficult. Combining the 5 exposures is automatically handled in Photomatix (or Nik HDR, (I tried both) but for this image, I preferred the way Photomatix dealt with the highlights on the petals) and then you can play with various sliders to tweak the result. I did some selecting/layers/masking in CS3 to separate the flowers from the background and used the clone tool to build back the torn part of two petals with bits of other undamaged petal edges that matched the missing curvature. I probably could have come close to this result with just one exposure, but I was curious to see what the HDR software would do. I enjoy playing with my photos in the computer, but it certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea. - Judith MacArthur See Judith's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 2: Glider Glider 1/500th sec. @ f/5.6 with a Canon 400 f/5.6. Tweaked with PS/Flood Filter and LR for crop/blur. This photo was a capture at the Venice Rookery,Fl. © Wayne T. Fisk Canon EOS 7D Digit... "Wow" on a great photograph! This illustrates the use of the Flood Filter very well! - Deborah Sandidge See Deborah Sandidge's Basic BetterPholio™ Take an Online PhotoCourse™ with Deborah Sandidge: 4-Week Short Course: Digital Infrared Photography 4-Week Short Course: Photoshop: Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art Response 1:This is really gorgeous Wayne! Congratulations on your finalist!!! - Donna Pagakis See Donna's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 3: abandoned abandoned One more photo of a house in Belize. Changed out sky, used saturation, find edges filter, overlay layers, solid layer, combination of two photos and erasing shack at 50%. You can view the untouched photo here:>abandoned untouched © Sherran Andersen Canon Powershot S2... great tones, details and composition! - Tiia Vissak See Tiia's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:Congratulations Sherran, great finalist! - Rolando Rosito See Rolando's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 4: Smile Smile I shot this using an Alien Bee B800 strobe fired into a bounce umbrella directly overhead. I also used a second Alien Bee B800 with a socked beauty dish, camera front. I used "Got 2 B Glued" hair gel for my hair (it makes the reflected light pop a bit). I wore a black turtleneck and used a black muslin drop for the background. RAW file processed in Lightroom. Touch up and digital enhancement were done in Photoshop. The brushes I used for the smoke effect can be downloaded from www.deviantart.com. - Digital Darkroom - © Mark Dodge Canon EOS 5D Mark ... Brilliant! :-) - Alexandra Hankova See Alexandra's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 1:You got to smile at this. Spectacular work, Mark. Your next winner. - Tammy M. Anderson See Tammy's Basic BetterPholio™ Visit countryimpressions.net - Tammy's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Love the beard Mark :-) The FX and your masterful technique is the best yet! Like Tammy said a real winner! Happy Valentines Day :-D - Julianne Bradford See Julianne's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 3:Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your comments and encouragement. This was a fun project for me :o) - Mark Dodge See Mark's Basic BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 5: S N O W S N O W applied snow in PSCS2/painted the pink stripe on her hat so it would match (was red/green) :) NIK Brilliance/warmth/smart blur/USM Thanks for Looking :) Have a great Sunday!! © Datha Y. Thompson Canon EOS 10D Digi... Brilliant work, Datha...love the vivid colors and joy she seems to have in the snow! - Patricia A. Coblentz See Patricia's Basic BetterPholio™ Visit patricia-coblentz-photography.com - Patricia's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 1:Love it - makes me happy! - Katarina Mansson See Katarina's Basic BetterPholio™ Response 2:Colors are terrific, Datha, and so is your work. I love this! - Nikki McDonald See Nikki'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