Author: Dan Brown..
Source: articledashboard.com
Digital photography has a lot of advantages over film photography in many areas, but one of the most useful is the final output of the image itself. With film cameras you had to rely on the processing lab to make any general adjustments needed to your photos to make them appear their best, but with digital photos you as the photographer have all the tools you need to enhance and edit your own photos right at home. Of course, how much editing you do to your photos before printing is entirely up to you and there are all kinds of preferences on photo editing from those that do almost no editing at all, to those who like to make major adjustments to almost every photo that they take. And there is plenty of middle ground in between those two extremes as well.
You can learn to make amazing enhancements to any photograph using the tools and functions available in Photoshop. The following are just a few of the improvements you can make to people pictures. Whiten stained teeth, Remove unsightly scars, Smooth age wrinkles, Clear up acne, Remove blemishes, Double chin removal, Fill in bald spots by adding hair, Open closed eyes, Remove tattoos, Hide body piercings, and even Change eye color.
Pixel parity. Never judge a digital photo without looking at the actual pixels. Image editors often squeeze the image down to the size of your screen (or, even worse, down to the size of a window on your screen). No matter how good the software is, it can’t remove a lot of pixels and still show you the same image. Your image editor should have a menu choice for “Actual Size,” “Actual Pixels” or “1:1.” Slide your chair back a few feet if you need to get a longer view when you’re looking at the actual pixels. And be sure to view your images full-screen; all good editors let you do that.
Sharpening is one of the most impressive transformations you can apply to an image since it seems to bring out image detail that was not there before. What it actually does, however, is to emphasize edges in the image and make them easier for the eye to pick out – while the visual effect is to make the image seem sharper, no new details are actually created. The first step in sharpening an image is to blur it slightly. Next, the original image and the blurred version are compared one pixel at a time. If a pixel is brighter than the blurred version it is lightened further; if a pixel is darker than the blurred version, it is darkened. The result is to increase the contrast between each pixel and its neighbors. The nature of the sharpening is influenced by the blurring radius used and the extent to which the differences between each pixel and its neighbor are exaggerated.
So what are the mechanics of this “through the lens” shot to achieve the ghosting effect? 1. Stabilize the camera – using a tripod is best, a stable surface is a second option or, a steady hand as a last resort; 2. Set number of multiple exposures you require for the frame to (N) – usually 1 to 9; 3. For the roll of film in your SLR, determine the film speed (S); 4. Reset the camera film speed (Yes, you can override the setting) to (N S) or, if not an exact match, set it to the absolute closest speed ((N S) adjustment); 5. Take your picture, depressing the shutter button for a total count equalling the number of camera exposures you set in step “2″. Example: 1. You want 6 exposures on the frame (N=6) so set the number of multiple exposures to ‘6′; 2. You’ve determined the film speed is 200 (S=200); 3. Reset the camera film speed to ‘1200′ (= 200 6); 4. Depress the shutter button 6 times (for 6 exposures). REMEMBER: Check and reset the SLR film speed and number of exposures to their original settings before continuing with your next shot. Some SLRs will automatically reset the number of exposures back to ‘1′ before advancing the film to the next frame. It’s always better to verify this.
While you can easily enough create the effect of black and white what about things like drop shadows, watermarks, bluring the background adn even soft focus your pictures. Photoshop is the perfect tool to be able to do this. Drop Shadows: This is an excellent effect to use on text, logos, and graphic art. Watermark: It is easy with Photoshop to create a custom watermark on your photos. Soft Focus: Soft focus is a popular effect used by professional photographers for years to enhance portraiture. Blur the Background: Pictures of people and other objects will really stand out when the background is blurry. Photoshop allows you to only blur certain areas of the image while leaving other areas in perfect focus. Frame: There are unlimited ways you can put frames around your photos in Photoshop.
The first thing you absolutely must do is decide what field of photography you want to get into. There is fashion photography, sports photography, glamour photography, studio photography, outdoor photography, children’s photography and the list goes on and on. The market for each of these and many other types is wide open. And with those wide open markets also comes a lot of competition. Deciding on which field you want to get into should not be based on the path of least resistance. There is no such thing. Pursue the path that you have the most passion for.
