Apple Aperture 2
March 20, 2008
There are 3 things Apple want you to know about Aperture 2. It’s fast, it’s high quality and it’s integrated. I’m going to look at each of these in turn and then finish up by telling you some things I don’t like about it. I figure you can read glowing tributes about it everywhere so I’m going to declare it my job to tell you where they could improve it.
This review is going to assume you know what Aperture is and why you might want it. If you don’t then either wait for our Aperture vs Lightroom shootout or see Apple’s website.
Create a cool panorama with your photos
March 20, 2008
Creating a huge panorama from several shots may seem inaccessible to many people. However, the assembly of several photographs into one huge one is extremely simple, thanks to the software AutoStitch.
Even if your photos don’t overlap perfectly or the lighting is different or there are other discrepancies, AutoStitch will have a go at making the best of them and can easily create a convincing panorama. Read more
Which file format to use for your photos?
March 5, 2008
There are three formats mainly used in digital photography: JPEG, TIFF and RAW format. It is not necessarily easy to know which is better, each one has its advantages and disadvantages. You want to emphasize the quality of the image, its portability, to allow freedom for retouching? Depending on your needs and your equipment, a particular file format will be best suited. It’s up to you to find the right one - we’ll help. Read more
A Polaroid stack
February 12, 2008
This is a great presentation technique you can use to show off your photos on a website, make fun prints or even use as your desktop wallpaper.
We’re going to go from a plain ordinary picture to one that looks like stack of Polaroids you might find in the bottom of a drawer. You can use it for any pictures you like but it’s particularly appropriate for Valentine’s day. Take a quick snap, spruce it up with a little Photoshoppery and print it out as a gift for your loved one.
There are quite a few steps but every one of them is easy and if you follow them through then you’ll get a great look at the end.
Adding texture to pictures
February 12, 2008
Adding textures to sketches has proven to be an invaluable technique in the fashion design industry since the introduction of Photoshop. Rather than having to physically produce a prototype garment to see how certain fabrics may look (or worse still, imagining how it would appear) designers can scan in their sketches and in a few minutes add several different fabric textures. But this is not the only use the technique can be applied to; anyone can add any pattern or texture to any photo they desire. Read more
Transforming a photo by drawing
February 12, 2008
There’s a story that photography was invented for people who couldn’t draw. Suppose like me you are not gifted in drawing and you want to “draw” a picture? No need to resort to tracing paper: using free and commercial software, you can easily transform a photo into a very convincing drawing. These programs allow you to rework and refine the thickness and intensity of the line of a pencil.
To turn a photo into drawing, we will use commercial software Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, which is one of the best for the general public.
Photoshop Elements allows you to easily transform a photo by drawing applying some filters. Note that this tutorial will also work perfectly with “full” Photoshop thoguh some of the menus have different names. Read more
Create a mosaic of photographs
February 6, 2008
You’ve do doubt already seen those cool photographs created starting from an assembly of hundreds f smaller images. These mosaics put aside the singularity of each photograph for, with the proper perspective, composing an image close to reality.To create such mosaics, you first of all need a large enough collection of images. Each colour of the image that you wish to compose must be indeed found in an image which you have.
Then, a free software as AndreaMosaic will do all the hard work of choosing and assembling your photographs to give your final image. The result is convincing and makes it possible to give almost a second life to all your photographs! Read more
HDR for beginners
January 23, 2008
High Dynamic Range.
What is it?
Well if we look at low dynamic range (LDR) first, we can then determine what is HDR.
LDR is the typical range that is recorded by most digital sensor and film. It is generally accepted to be between 6 and 9 stops.
The human eye is capable of seeing something like 10-14stops. So often what happens when we take a photograph and look at the resulting image – it’s not what we remember. The foreground is darker than we thought, and the sky is not blue. The camera has recorded the information it can see.
High Dynamic Range, or HDR has become a term for a photographic technique to expand the range of tonal values in an image.
Hydra. HDR just got cool. And cheap.
January 22, 2008
There’s no doubt that HDR is a huge buzz at the moment. As a quick catchup it’s a method of expanding the tonal range of images captured by your digital camera - the theory is you use software to overcome hardware limitations that stop you capturing scenes as you remember them. It also makes for pretty cool pictures.
There’s been a slew of software to do this recently from the big daddy that is Photomatix to hobby applications written for specific applications. Most of them are reasonably hard to get your head round and tend to look pretty clunky. Not any more. HDR just got gorgeous - and cheap!
Spice up your images with curves
January 21, 2008
So, you’ve been somewhere amazing and taken some great photos, but the sky seems a bit dreary and the colours are too dull. This happens to everyone and can make what should be a cherished memory into a frustrating photo. But not to worry, with this tutorial you’ll not only be able to apply what you will learn about ‘Curves’ to improve your image, but understand what it actually does so you can use it in the future.
