Image Processing How To
Article: 4 Fundamental Photoshop Skills
Photoshop and other sophisticated image-editing applications can be overwhelming at first. The surest way to get comfortable working with them is to begin by mastering a few of the techniques you'll use most often. Once you've achieved some success...
Article: A Cloning Primer
No matter how hard you try to keep everything looking good in the picture area, sooner or later something creeps in that doesn't belong. Visual trash creates a distraction from your subject and your composition. It keeps you from enjoying your photo...
Article: Bordering On The Edge
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...
Article: Classic Black & White
In an over saturated world, the elegant, timeless appeal of black-and-white is in its simplicity. To get frame-worthy results, with a beautiful range of tones, you don’t have to be a student of the Zone System—but you do need to start with a proper...
Article: Color Saturation: Getting It Right
While black-and-white photography has enjoyed a rebirth of interest, color is still how the world appears and is mostly photographed. Yet colors you see and experience often don't quite translate to the picture you compose. We also sometimes want to...
Article: Creative Photo Projects
Taking, organizing and perfecting your images is a good start, but the best part of photography is getting the "Wow!" from friends and family when you share your shots. Online services and software are making it easier than ever for even casual...
Article: Digital Workflow In 20 Easy Steps
When I think about my days in the darkroom, I realized I achieved consistently good results when I methodically followed specific steps. With traditional printing, even a small variation in time, temperature or chemistry could make a significant...
Article: Double-Process RAW
One of the big challenges of photography has always been how to best capture the tonalities and brightness of the real world. Every film, every sensor (and its processor) will interpret it slightly differently. This Article Features Photo ZoomOne...
Article: Double-Process RAW For Better Tonality
One problem photographers have always faced is the fact that no medium yet invented can capture the tonal range our eyes can see. Film can't get close to recording the brightness range of light that the human eye can perceive. This holds true for...
Article: Essential Processing Techniques
No matter what camera model you shoot with or file type you capture with, every image needs a little work before it's ready to show. Three key adjustments—exposure, color and sharpening—should be the foundation of your digital darkroom work. The app...
Article: Fast Efex
The trouble with creativity in Photoshop—going beyond the basics to more imaginative, artistic changes—is knowing where to start. The possibilities are almost endless and therein lies the rub. That's where Photoshop plug-ins like Nik Color Efex Pro 3...
Article: How To Process A RAW File
RAW files are gaining interest among all photographers for good reason. In part, they hold a mystique as the "pro's format," which isn't completely true, as many pros also shoot JPEG. RAW files are notable for their processing potential to help you...
Article: Jumpstart Layers
The use of Layers is consistently the most feared part of Photoshop. I've had photographers tell me that they just can't deal with Layers, and I know very good photographers who do excellent Photoshop work, but still believe they "aren't ready for...
Article: Jumpstart Photoshop
If asked to list the most intimidating parts of digital photography, a large number of photographers would include Adobe Photoshop. Without question, it's the premiere image-processing software on the market, but its high price matches its learning...
Article: Keep The Noise Down In Your Digital Images
Noise, the digital equivalent of film grain, can be a challenge to overcome. It appears as an irregular, sand-like texture that, if small, is essentially invisible; if large, it can be unsightly and a distraction from your image. Noise can have color...
Article: Knockout Color!
Good color in pictures is subjective. Some people like pictures that pop with saturated hues, while others prefer pictures more subdued. What's more, we see colors differently at different times of day—even our mood affects how we see colors. In this...
Article: Layers 101
Imagine software that allows you to substantially adjust part of your photo, yet also lets you go back to that adjustment when you change your mind. Imagine what it would be like to be able to make changes to your image that were never permanent so...
Article: Must-Know Image Enhancements
Photoshop and most other digital-imaging programs offer you many options for image enhancements. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can change, improve and rescue (to a degree) your images. These programs also can help you create works of art. Here,...
Article: New Breed Photo Software
Apple and Adobe have developed new approaches to image processing that strip away deep menus and focus on the typical digital workflow, from importing to output, and placing the tools needed for common digital darkroom work in easy reach. This...
Article: Perfect Combination
Adobe Photoshop CS3 offers many new features, including those found in the new Adobe Camera Raw, that help us enhance and save (to a point) our exposures. From an exposure standpoint, two of the most amazing features in the latest version of Photoshop...
Article: Photoshop Actions And Batch Processing
I frequently hear photographers talk about maximizing their time behind a camera and minimizing their time at the computer. It's not the creative postproduction that these photographers want to avoid—it's the digital drudgery that can consume so much o...
Article: Photoshop CS3
That's right, Photoshop fans—and Elements users who are considering moving up to Photoshop—the latest version of the world's most powerful image-editing program has just gotten better, big time! Read on, and you'll see why it's indeed faster (great for...
Article: Photoshop Faster
I think most photographers have a somewhat love-hate relationship with Photoshop. It's a great program, to be sure, and it offers the most comprehensive and expandable set of tools for photographers. But on the other hand, it takes time to learn and...
Article: Pro Tips: Demystifying Image Resizing
Depending on how we want to use an image, we often need to create new copies at different resolutions. You might be making your image smaller for use on the web or increasing the resolution to make a larger print. This Article Features Photo Zoom...
Article: Quick Fix: Add A Creative Touch To Your Pictures
We all strive for pictures that look unique, artistic and creative. That goes for when they're framed and hung on a wall, when they're posted on the web, and maybe even when they're published in a book or magazine article. One creative idea is to add...
Article: Quick Fix: Adventures In Aperture
I made this image during my trip to Carnevale in Venice, Italy, this year. Sure, the model is terrific, and the location, an 800-year-old palace, is fantastic. From a technical standpoint, the image is super-sharp, the lighting is flattering and well...
Article: Quick Fix: Favorite Plug-Ins
Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, in addition to other digital image-editing programs, offer photographers many filters and adjustments to expand their creative horizons. The creative process can be enhanced further by using plug-ins. This Article...
Article: Quick Fix: Fire In The Sky
We all love watching sunsets, looking at pictures of sunsets and, of course, photographing sunsets! The warm colors—deep shades of red, orange and yellow—evoke feelings of peace and tranquility and a sense of awe at nature's wonders. This Article...
Article: Quick Fix: From Flat To Fab
This is a bad news/good news story—one with a happy ending. This past November, I had the opportunity to travel to the bottom of the world to photograph emperor penguins. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. I planned this trip to Antarctica f...
Article: Quick Fix: Hot Ice And Snow
This column is about how to use the digital darkroom to transform a straight-out-of-the-camera shot into the image you envisioned when you pressed the shutter-release button. First, I'll share some techniques for working in a high-contrast...
