How To: Image Processing

Despite the special features of today’s digital cameras, many photographers have found the results from camera to print disappointing. Certainly, it’s essential to calibrate your monitor and run tests with your printer, but that’s not enough if the blacks of a photo aren’t set correctly. I’ve seen poor prints from photographers puzzled by the fact that they did all the necessary calibration and “matched” the monitor, and still had lackluster results. I’ve even been surprised to find this problem from top pros who are now shooting with digital cameras.

Creating a print is the ultimate goal for a photographer. From the moment the shutter is released, it’s the image on paper that each photographer likely has in mind when the scene is captured on the camera’s CCD or film. Yet the creativity involved in making the image in-camera doesn’t have to end when it comes time to output that final photograph.

Photographers know that wide-angle lenses sometimes cause distortion. Straight lines appear curved, especially if they’re close to the edges of the frame. Sometimes, the effect is desirable, and other times, it’s not.

Black-and-white photography still mostly comes from black-and-white film, and remains a viable, challenging way to photograph. For best results in the computer, scan from the black-and-white or color negative; then, depending on how your scanner works, remove the color in your image-processing program. You also can shoot black-and-white directly with many digital cameras.