More Photoshop magic

Today I want to show you something cool I did with Photoshop. I really love this program, it is a must for every photographer out there. Last year I shot our model Eddie as he sat in my class...it was a pretty decent shot;



As I looked thru my photos recently and came upon this one I realized I could improve on it a little bit. So, I opened it up in Photoshop CS4 and took Eddie out of the background and put him in a blue one. I chose blue because his shirt also has that color and it would anchor the picture better. Then I simply smoothed out his skin, and sharpened it a bit more, focusing on his eyes and cropped it a bit tighter. The result is this:



Not bad eh? Now Eddie can download it and use it for his MySpace, or give it to his mom to post on the refrigerator door...hehehe. I love Photoshop, don't you?

The Seed

Amazing that a big mighty tree can grow out of such a little seed ain't it?

The Banner

We Must Praise

If I were a drummer, I would use my cymbal
If I were a writer, I would use a pencil
I would use my voice, if I were a singer
No matter who or what we are, we must praise

If I was a doctor, I would use my research
A prolific dissertation, if I was a speaker
I would use my hands, if I were a potter
No matter who or what we are, we must praise

Let the people of God bless Him
Let it ring with love and truth
With our gifts we exalt Thee
Merciful, wonderful God
We must praise

If I were an eagle, I would use my wings
Since I'm a believer, I use everything
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord
All ye people
No matter who or what we are, we must praise

There She Stands

Steven!

100

Photography Tip #55

This is one tip I really want to stress: under NO circumstances ever relinquish your camera....ever; even if it's for "just a second". Humans are funny creatures and we always have a desire to take a closer look at things in our own hands. Inevitably someone will ask you to let them see your camera and will hold out their hands...don't give it over; a true photographer never gives up his/her camera just the way a good soldier or cop never does with his guns.



There have been countless times when a photographer has "lent" over his camera to a friend, only to have this friend accidentally drop it, get it wet, or otherwise damage it. And then what? I guarantee this friend won't pay for it..to them it's just an object. They didn't have to save to buy it. They didn't buy the accessories for it; therefore they will assume they don't have to pay you back for it. I have seen this countless times. People only value what costs them to get.

Consider your camera's monetary value. Take mine for instance:

Body: $500
Kit lens: $100
Zoom lens: $300
Memory card: $50

That's $950 total! And you want me to hand that over???? If it gets broken who's gonna pay me for it? Most people don't know the value of these things and that by breaking it you're also impacting the time it takes to replace this equipment. It's not just "oh, Ill just give him $200 and he can go to the corner store and get another one".



On the flip side...those of you who aren't photographers, never ask one to let you see their camera in your hands. If you drop it or damage it legally you have to replace it and cameras nowadays ain't cheap.

The kid from TV

I spotted this kid while watching one of my favorite shows...Law & Order: SVU. What really struck me was the size of the vein on his neck...lol. The scene called for him to cry and be upset and suddenly the vein popped.

Photography tip #72

How many times has this happened to you: at a party or get together, or on vacation you take a bunch of pictures with your digital camera, you check the pictures on the screen and they look good. But, when you transfer them to your computer you see that some if not most are not as sharp as they should be...even badly blurry! What gives???

Well, the pictures will always look nice and sharp on the camera's small screen because it is small. The pixels are close together, so it looks good. Your computer screen is bigger, so it will show the true nature of the pics. This sucks especially if you were gonna use the pics to send to grandma or to friends or to post on your blog or website...but there is hope!

All you have to do is as you look at the pictures in your camera, use the close-up feature to zoom into the picture... this helps you see whether the picture is really sharp or not.