Underwater Digital Photography

Esteemed underwater photographers and underwater fishing enthusiasts are constantly in pursuit of the best underwater camera to achieve high quality photos with sharpness and clarity.

Traditionally, Nikon has provided the underwater photographer with superior equipment for their trade. Nikon launched its first 35mm line, the Nikonos in 1963, which was based upon the Calypso, an earlier design of Jacques Cousteau and Jean de Wouters. Nikon provided the underwater enthusiast with the ability to gain underwater photographs at great depths through a silicone o-ring system that seals out the moisture.

Nikonos cornered the market until 2001, enabling underwater photographers to reach depths of 160 feet or more. Nikon discontinued the Nikonos V body in 2001, when the company began to have difficulty with the underwater cameras as a result of leakage. While Nikon works to produce another camera to rival their earlier models and still is the leader in the industry, the competition quietly began to gain market share within the underwater camera industry.

The Nikonos camera is for the avid underwater photographer, who takes underwater photographs on a more frequent basis. The features of the camera are far more complicated, yet far more versatile. Most novice underwater photographers would be intimidated by the advanced features. The housing around these cameras are made of a plastic or epoxy.

Amphibious digital cameras are not encased in housing and are typically less complicated because the have less features, which makes it a more appealing camera for the novice underwater digital photographer.

Obviously, if the underwater photographer is a novice in his or her trade or just wants a couple of holiday snapshots the disposable digital cameras are an option that photographer can explore. The caveat to disposable cameras are the inability to capture quality shots at close range.

Some of the key elements to obtaining a good underwater photo, is ability to withstand pressure of the depths of the sea, the ability to resist the elements of freshwater and saltwater when properly maintained, shutter speed, flash (light diminishes the further you dive), zoom capabilities and resolution. There are many others; however, these are some of the more important elements to obtaining a quality underwater photograph. When purchasing a camera, keep these features in mind and purchase a camera that meets the qualifications within your skill level.

Canon is a competitor that provides the underwater photographer with quality equipment to achieve the desired image. As time progressed, digital cameras moved to the forefront of the market and gained favor over the typical SLR because of the view finding capability and the lack of film development. Canon was one of the leaders in this industry, providing the consumer with an underwater digital camera. The Canon D10 is an amphibious design. It is water proof, shock proof, and freeze proof. The Canon digital underwater camera has 12.1 mega-pixel resolution and 3x optical zoom. Though this camera has less flexibility with its zoom features, most find it a reasonable choice for the price. The Canon digital underwater camera is also equipped with scene motion detection technology and night scene technology for night and low-light underwater photography. The Canon underwater digital camera is available in the $200 – $300 dollar range.

Canon also offers a line of underwater digital camera housing covers that reach depths of 200 feet in the sea and vary in price. The prices range from $190 – $500. Housing covers for Nikon are typically more expensive.

The underwater fishing camera is also an option for those who want to record the activity of a snorkeling trip, diving trip, or just want to discover the conditions beneath the boat. Fishermen purchase the underwater fishing camera because it allows them to critique their fishing techniques and improve their ability to catch more of the desired type of fish. Additionally, the fishermen can use the camera to judge how the fish are reacting to the bait they are using on a given day. As you might imagine, this camera is great for ice fishing where the fishermen’s field of view is obscured because of the conditions. Typically, these cameras are for depths of approximately 35m. They have an incredible range of view of underwater images and LED lights used for collecting fish images.
http://www.topunderwatercamera.com

The Photoshop plug-ins which are available can help perform tasks much faster and more efficiently than performing these tasks by hand. The 3D plug-ins are used to create 3D images and type very quickly and elegantly. The color management Photoshop plug-ins can create new colors to correspond to the printer that you are using, or the monitor that you are using to create your graphics. The digital asset management plug-ins are used to organize all of the digital images that you have created so that finding the correct image is much easier than without it. The photographic ones give many different professional lens techniques that you can apply to any picture to create amazing effects.

There are a few formats for digital photography, different formats have their own advantages. For instance the jpeg format is the default format used by almost every digital camera ever made. Named after its developer, the Joint Photographic Experts Group (and pronounced “jay-peg”) this format often lets you specify both image size and compression. At the moment you capture an image in this format a processing chip in your camera manipulates it based on the camera settings you used, and then compresses it to reduce its size. The changes made to the image cannot be undone later because it’s the final, altered image that is saved in the image file. Some of the original image data is lost for good. This is a handy format because it is the most basic and commonly used.

Lossy compression (rhymes with “bossy”) can dramatically reduce file sizes. However, this process degrades images to some degree and the more they’re compressed, the more degraded they become. In many situations, such as posting images on the Web or making small to medium sized prints, the image degradation isn’t obvious. However, if you enlarge an image enough, it will show. The most common lossy file format is JPEG and many cameras let you specify how much they are compressed. For example, many cameras let you choose Fine (1:4), Normal (1:8), and Basic (1:16) compression. This is a useful feature because there is a trade-off between compression and image quality. Less compression gives you better images so you can make larger prints, but you can’t store as many images.

RAW lets you decide on most camera settings after you’ve taken the picture, not before. For example, when you shoot a JPEG image under fluorescent lights, the camera adjusts the image to remove the yellow-green tint. Any changes you make later are on top of this initial change. If you shoot the image in RAW format, the camera just captures the images as is and you decide what white balance setting to use later. You can even create different versions of an image, each with its own white balance. RAW images can be processed again at a later date when new and improved applications become available. Your original image isn’t permanently altered by today’s generation of photo-editing applications even if they don’t support non-destructive editing. You can generate alternate versions of the same RAW image. For example, many photographers will adjust highlight and shadow areas and save these versions separately. Using a photo-editing program, they then combine the two images as layers and by selectively erasing parts of the top image layer let areas of the lower image layer show through so all areas have a perfect exposure.

Folders are used to organize files on a drive. Imagine working in a photo stock agency where you’re told to find a photo of “Yosemite” only to discover that all of the photos the agency ever acquired are stored in unorganized boxes. You have to pick through everything to gather together what you want. Contrast this with an agency that uses a well-organized file cabinet with labeled hanging folders grouping related images together. For example, there might be a hanging folder labeled California National Parks. If a further breakdown is needed, labeled manila folders are inserted into any of the hanging folders-basically, folders within folders. There might be one labelled Yosemite containing images of the park. With everything labelled and organized, it’s easy to locate the images you need. The same is true of your memory cards and drives on your computer system. Both are equivalent to the empty file cabinet-plenty of storage space but no organization. The organization you need to find things on the camera’s memory device (which we discuss here) is created by the camera, but on your computer, you have to create it yourself (as you will see later).

The first four characters in an image file’s name, called free characters, can only be uppercase letters A-Z. The last four characters form a number between 0001 and 9999 and are called the file number. Canon uses the first four free characters IMG_ followed by the file number, Nikon uses DSC_, and Sony uses DSC0. Once transferred to your computer, or sometimes while transferring them, you can rename images with more descriptive names.

IPTC: Using an image management application, you can add information to an image such as keywords, a copyright notice, or a caption. The problem is that when you send the image to someone else, that information is usually not sent along because it’s stored on your computer in the database and is not part of the image file as Exif information is. (As you will see shortly, one solution to this problem is the xmp file.) To solve this problem, the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) defines a format for exchanging such information. Programs that support this standard let you add, edit, and view this information that’s embedded in a file just as Exif information is.

Editing digital photography requires perception, something what we call color perception, situational perception, and a passion for change. The basic editor requires not such a heavy set passion for photography. A little need for a better output, a few more dollars, a thirst for praise and appreciation like “hey guy! U did this – don’t tell me kind of.”

All of us wanted to become presidents at some point in time, doctors at some point in time, and at least in our early school days would have had the desire to handle the camera to take the school events. Right use of the equipment by itself equals a master in photography. The basic light adjustments, flash setting etcetera! You can open the shutter; clean the lens well free of dust that is editing.a form of digital editing. Too much of flash in the afternoon times or in bright sunlight you may land up with a blank image. There is no use of all the gestures that you made to take the photograph mimicking a professional landing up with a zero image. So getting the flash lights on is also the preliminary steps of editing digital photography.

Morphing, there are may photo morphing softwares available to morph your pictures. Have you seen in pictures, the hero; a child image may change to become the man; that is morphing, a kind of morphing. Well it is very simple you need two digital images, scan them and save to your computer. It can be your son’s photo, and your husbands photo you can morph images of your son in to his father or his grandfather, or you can morph your own self to your mother…See all it requires is a morphing software, and the images, and a few clicks away see even you are editing! Great thing! Big achievement. You will feel you are creating graphics for a fairy tale!

It is very, very important to take a good image from the digital camera for proper editing. Editing can be done for enhancement and a little touch up here and there, but when you don’t use the basic keys properly you may not land up with a digital image, you may land up with a digital graphic! See natural image with little changes is what all of us desire.

The light settings in a photograph can be adjusted with sliders, auto adjust option in the fix pane is a very effective idea. Even after you turn auto adjust you can further adjust the light settings if you are not satisfied with the output of the software! You can make your color pictures to black and white, and black and white pictures to color by adjusting the exposure mode. If you have a color photograph you can use the adjust color option in fix pane to change it to a black and white. Color picture can be changed to black and white, but the other way round may not be natural unless you are an expert editor and technically very sound!

Red eye is something that all of us come across when we take certain snaps. So, you have landed up with a phosphorous glow in your baby’s eye. Well don’t worry. Primarily there are many camcorders coming with the option of no red eye option, use that before you click. If you have already got a photo with a red eye there are very many options to eliminate it. There are many red eye remover programs that can be downloaded online if you do not have an digital camera with the option of no red eye feature!

There are many softwares available. You can download any free version of photo editors for cropping your photographs, enhancing effects, red eye elimination, recovering worn out old photos etcetera every feature will be listed in the help menu of all softwares with an easy step by step guide. The amount of time you spend, interest and dedication will put you in best lines for editing digital images. Have a happy journey through the world for colors digitalized!

Photoshop is now one of the major computer programs around. The basis of it all, however, is the photographic image. Very often the quality of the original image can get overlooked or can be considered unimportant. We hear sentences like: “Oh that’ll do – we’ll fix it later in Photoshop”. Perhaps it can, but starting off with a better photograph in the first place can save a lot of trouble later. Well begun is half done. Here is the first of a series of tips to improve basic photography. Have a strong foreground, as well as the distance, and if possible have subject matter in the foreground, the middle-distance and the far distance. Looking through an archway or standing by a tree so that the branches frame the picture will give a strong foreground and serve to give the photograph a good impression of the depth there will be in the actual scene. Other objects can be found in the country to have a similar effect, such as flowering shrubs, gates, pieces of farm machinery or perhaps a charging bull.

If you’re planning on opening up a studio to take children’s photos then you’re going to need to lease a building. It doesn’t have to be anything large but it should be in a visible part of town with a lot of other businesses. Visibility is half the battle won. Finally, you’re going to have to take lots of photos, especially if you want to build a reputation for yourself. You’ll want to put together a portfolio of your work so that you can bring it around with you. Again, this is going to depend on what field you want to get into, whether it be freelancing for a magazine, setting up your own shop, or working for somebody else, which is usually a good way to break in. The world of photography is wide open. There are many options to each aspiring photographer. So pick a game plan and stick to it. With patience and perseverance, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be.

This allows the pictures to be uploaded onto a computer for the purpose of sharing. Conversion also allows the camera to automatically allow the user to see and or delete the image as necessary. Unlike film cameras, digital cameras have a unique capability to allow someone to get just the right shot. No more closed eyes or open mouths to deal with. When thinking of choosing a digital photography camera, a person must think about just how much information they will store. Will they be an avid photographer that takes a ton of pictures? Or will their digital photography experience be limited to just a few pictures every now and then to capture those extra special moments? The special units that house the pictures can range from holding a few pictures to many. The space used will depend on what type of camera will be used.

Education is something you can never get enough of even as you get older. The curriculum is there. All the individual has to do is acquire knowledge from some of the best then apply it after finishing the course. The rewards of becoming a photographer are endless. It is up to the you whether or not you have the potential to win the Pulitzer Prize or be one of many who do this as a profession. Photography school can be a lot of fun. You should just submit the requirements then enroll in the course.

Some of you may have more options than others depending on where you live. If there are several schools in your area I highly recommend investigating the following; 1) Go over the course outline; by looking over the subject matter in the digital photography course, you will be able to check out which classes are suitable for your skill level. Some classes teach just the basics like how to work your camera. So if you’re well passed that, why not take on something a little more challenging? 2) See if there are any interesting aspects to your class. Does the class teach nothing but black and white photography? Will you be out and about in nature trying to photograph birds at six in the morning? Some of this may interest you and it also might give you a headache.

Computer skills: A good photography school needs to have courses regarding the use of computers. The field of photography is a very competitive one and you could really use some knowledge of computers. With the advent of digital photography, the need for computer literacy is more evident than ever. Scholarships It would be best if the photography school is offering some kind of financial assistance for their students. Some of the equipments in photography are not that cheap. These are just some tips on how to choose a photography school. Choosing the right school is as important as having a good view of where you want to go. The right school is the best way to get there.

Maybe you live in a city with a number of historical buildings, or near national parkland. Your town might host an annual carnival or event that is well known. Whatever your location or the size of your local area, there is bound to be something which interest people. Make it your goal to educate people about the place you come from, to show them why they should visit. The great benefit to photographing subjects that are near to you is that you have the opportunity to revisit them as often as you need to get the results you are looking for. This can help relieve some of the pressure you may feel if you were spending a limited amount of time at a location. Here you are able to shoot in varying conditions and at varying times of day to capture the many moods of your subject. Spend a morning here, an afternoon there in between other commitments and before long you will come away with a comprehensive series of images depicting your subject in various light and shade.

In Digital photography, enhancement is very helpful to help you edit your pictures. Sometimes an original looks so bad, it appears as if nothing can be done to help it. Not true! A couple commonly used enhancements are angle correction of slanted pictures and barrel and pincushion correction. The angle correction basically defines itself in the title. If the picture is slightly titled then the angle correction enhancement will help it out quite a bit. One thing the tool needs to have is anti-aliasing. Barrel and pincushion correction is used to fix slanted horizons that were caused by the camera being used to zoom up as far is could go. These enhancements are used mainly for generally annoying changes that some people wouldn’t even notice unless it was dramatic, but are useful nonetheless.

To resize or to resample, that is the question. The answer to that question is really what your editor has and what you feel like doing. Resizing is a lot simpler than re-sampling but doesn’t turn out as nice. This is because when you reduce an image with resizing a few pixels will be deleted altogether. When enlarging an image by resizing the pixels will be doubled or even tripled. This creates a fuzzy or blocky image. While re-sampling uses algorithms to either interpolate (enlarging the image by adding color to pixels) or reduce images by re-calculating all the pixels in the photo. Decent image editors will have a few algorithms for re-sampling and resizing will be an available option.

Lossy or lossless, this is the question of compression. Choosing compression formats is pretty easy; do you want the original image? Or do you want to be able to upload images to the web quickly and without worry? Lossless is for the people who want to the original, you can’t pick what size the image will end up in but there will be no loss of the original image. Basically this is for if you want to be able to view the image but not send across the web. Lossy is all about easy transportation of images. You can pick the size of the image and transferring it is extremely easy and fast. Lossy generally ends up in the format of .jpg which is the most commonly read image format across the internet. Lossless ends up often in the .png format which is the most accepted format amongst average image software. When it comes down to deciding you have to think about whether you want it to be quickly accessible or completely original.

Viewing images is just as important as editing them. In order to easily access your images your photo viewer should be able to be customized, easily to use, have photo enhancement tools, printable contact sheets, convenient for attaining pictures, be able manage EXIF data and be able to batch process images. Some good ones are Zoner Photo Stuido which is quite user friendly. Another is Photophilia which is extremely adjustable and able to batch process. Selecting a photo viewer is important, depending on what kind of computer user you are you can select a viewer that is quick and easy or complicated but has some great functions. Some handy functions are: slide show, batch processor, editor functions, and zoom factor.

When you want to you don’t have do edit a whole bunch of images at a time. Having something that will control all the changes you want made to a large amount of images. If you want the images resizes it is very easy. There are bunch of types of batch processors. Each has its ups and downs, some photo viewers even have batch software that comes with them. A good example of what you want a batch processor to is have a large amount of images in one directory ready to go. Then you tell the software what to do, e.g. 50 images that need to be resized to 100 x 50 pixels then add a watermark and compress the image to 5kb to be transferred in email. Then you tell the program to run and within the next hour your images will be all ready to go.

A handy tool to have if you don’t intend to collect thousands of pictures is a digital photo album. This is handy because you can add descriptions and make sure you get a nice looking album for people to look at. This is different from a photo view because it actually stores all the photos no matter where they are located. The program will actually go and find all your photos. This would not be recommended if you have more than 2,000 photos because if a file gets corrupted you could lose all your pictures. An online viewer would actually be useful because then after you used a batch processor you could upload them all to the site and have just as nice of an album online. In the end it is up to you whether even want an album in the first place.

Lots of questions come in everyday about different types of batch software, and other image processes here are a couple: Q: My photos have EXIF data, but no “taken date”, how can it be ? A: Basic information like the date, aperture, shutter speed etc should be written into the EXIF data of the photo by any camera. “Normally” differences between camera makes should only be with the “makernotes”. Makernotes are mostly completely different with different makes.Nevertheless some cameras seem to save EXIF data without saving the “taken date”. The user who did report the problem did send me one of his photos. While the other EXIF fields (camera name, aperture, shutter speed etc…) were present, the EXIF date fields were empty. The camera of the user is a Nikon Coolpix 880. Now I do not pretend that every Coolpix 880 shows the same problem. It may be one out of a given series, it may only be the Coolpix 880’s sold in a specific Country, it may even be that some fake (and unperfect) Coolpix 880’s have found their way to the market. Who knows? Q: I can’t find any way of getting my digital camera to work on my pc. A: With most digital cameras you get a pc software. This software is intended to be used to get the photos onto the pc and to do some other tasks too.Indeed most of these programs are not very convenient and you can easily go without ever using them. Easy ways to acquire your photos (i.e. get the photos onto the computer) are described at PC camera software or how to by-pass them to acquire photos.

The editing programs today can do wonders to images. One of the most popular programs is Adobe PhotoShop, since this editing program is one of the most sophisticated tools. Most pro photographers will use this program, since you can create websites, book covers, images, movies, and more. Adobe is also used to design manuals, graphics, commercials, fliers, and more. This particular program I miss. I lost my copy during a severe virus attack, and the downside is it costs around $1000 to $1500 to replace. Outside of lightning effects, you can also setup brick backgrounds, or whatever background you choose. If you own this program you know what I am talking about, however if you have never had the experience and can get the opportunity to try out Adobe I promise you will have loads of fun. A common misconception is that Gimp lacks many more features that Photoshop has. In fact, with the exception of features that depend on patented algorithms, Gimp is 99% on par with Photoshop in capabilities. It’s just that Photoshop users try Gimp, are immediately lost in the baroque interface, and leave in terror. Having the features doesn’t do you much good if you can’t find them! The real hanger is the user interface.

- PicaJet- A powerful but still affordable picture management and image database program, recommended for easily cataloging and searching your digital photo catalogue. PicaJet automatically imports the metadata of your photographs and indexes your pictures accordingly. The real attraction of PicaJet for digital photographers is its genuine ease of use. Picajet will assign each picture to each appropriate available category, making locating your digital photos from a hue data bank of thousands of photographs possible and without fuss. PicaJet is an ideal program for ease of printing as it automatically arranges on the assigned paper and selects the most appropriate printing options. Incredibly PicaJet also reads and plays back various video formats. Unlike most other digital photograph organizers PicaJet even allows for privacy of those personal photos or pictures you would rather not share. Like Photoshop Picajet is so rich in functions it is impossible to mention every incredible feature in just these few words. PicaJet is perhaps the best value for money of available digital picture management program.

In earlier times, you took your snapshots with your trusty old Brownie, removed the film cartridge and dropped it off at the drug store for developing. After about a week, you picked up your prints. What you got was exactly what the film was exposed to. No cropping, no sharpening, brightness or contrast adjustments were available unless you had your own film processing and print studio. With the onset of digital photography, it has become possible for everyone to learn and perform successful photo editing. There exists a plethora of digital photography software that allow differing levels of image manipulation. With a decent digital camera, a computer with a quality printer, and one of the many versions of photo editing software, you can produce stunning photographs. You can crop for closer views of your intended subject, darken or lighten the exposure, adjust the contrast, sharpen the image, change it to black and white, sepia, or grayscale. Add a good scanner and you have the ability to edit your old standard photographs. That old faded photo of you as a child can be brought back to life with a few clicks of your mouse. With the right software, you can place objects from one photograph into another. Create a montage of any person containing their pictures from birth to present. That beautiful old Ford you took a picture of at the cruise-in brings back fond memories?

When it comes to image post-production, Photoshop has given professionals and amateurs a magic wand with which to alter and improve images. Since the advent of digital photography in the 90s, Photoshop has been the standard with which photographers improve finished photo quality. Photoshop is also changing the art scene, allowing artists to create original pieces or artwork using program tools. Photoshop artwork has appeared in books, comic books, architecture designs and more notably, in special-effect films. Photoshop has become so popular that the word ‘photoshopping’ has already ingrained itself in our vocabulary. Photoshopping has actually made careers, fed media frenzy, made paparazzis happy and changed the way we see things, often literally. In pop culture, Photoshop in becomingly increasingly prevalent, appearing in almost every other photo for image-hungry consumers to devour. The irony is, Photoshop is so popular that images have to appear that they haven’t undergone tweaking in order to be declared as Photoshop-perfect.

If you are a home user or hobbyist, save your money and go with Photoshop Elements instead of Photoshop CS. It has all the features of Photoshop that you are likely to ever need. Some of the features in Photoshop CS that are not included in Photoshop Elements are: CMYK and LAB color modes, More tools and features that work with high-bit (16-bit and 32-bit) images,Combine multiple exposures to create high dynamic range (HDR) images Channels Palette, Recording custom Actions (for batch processing), Adjustments: Color Balance, Match Color, Layer Masks, Layer Comps, and Quick Mask mode, Smart Objects, Smart Guides

Sometimes, when you are editing that one picture and you need a sample of a color to show photoshop what to do the eyedropper tool is what you will need. It is an icon in toolbar and is for sampling colors from the picture in order to continue the use of the color elsewhere. Tip : To make the color selection more precise, press CapsLock on the keyboard and the Eyedropper will turn into a target so that you can collect one exact pixel of a picture. Eyedropper is a very simple and useful tool to use and will help you with your every day editing of pictures.

You can do a lot with filters, they can change the mood or tone of a photo, or they can add a completely different effect altogether. As you work with your photo you can add a yellow filter, or a black and white filter or even a sepia filter. What the sepia does is it will actually create a warmer mood for the picture by making the colors more warm. Most, if not all, photo editing program contain filter effects. If you dont have photo editing of your own, you can always try a free program such as Picasa.

One camera to watch available on the market today is the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Elph. Coming with an impressive 7.1 megapixel resolution this camera provides superior image quality.

Speed and sharpness tests proved the SD500 a top performer. Add in the enjoyable My Color feature that will most certainly please all types of users, this camera is fun.

In the looks department, the Canon PowerShot SD500 is pleasingly comfortable to hold and operate. However, it can be easy to press the tightly laid-out buttons on the back accidentally during one-handed shooting. The optical viewfinder just above the large 2-inch LCD is very nice, and maintains a fairly smooth, bright, clear image when panning.

Outside from the 7.1 megapixel ranking, the Canon PowerShot SD500 has most of the standard features of its division, including an f/2.8 to f/4.9, 7.7- to 23.1-mm (37- to 111-mm, 35mm equivalent), 3X optical zoom lens.

All the standard modes are available via the mode dial as well as through the menu system, including Playback, Auto, Manual (which lets you adjust white balance, ISO, EV compensation, and color effects), Macro, and Movie. The Movie mode lets you capture VGA video clips at 30 frames per second. Other modes available only via the menu system include Stitch Assist (for panoramas) and nine preset scene modes.

The Canon PowerShot SD500 has a very intuitive user control system. It also offers a very interesting shooting mode called My Colors. You can make blues, greens, or reds more vibrant, or lighten or darken skin tones.

The Color Accent and Color Swap choices generate some out of the ordinary effects. Color Accent lets you isolate the color of one object, while the color information for the rest of the photograph is discarded. The product might be a bright red rose in the middle of a black-and-white wedding shot.

In Color Swap mode, you choose a particular color in a scene on the LCD, and then select the color you want to swap it with. For example, you could isolate someone’s bright red T-shirt and swap it with the blue from someone’s baseball cap. You have to make your color selections before you shoot, though, so make sure you’re not going to miss the shot.

Pictures are stored in SD memory cards with the CanonPowerShot SD500. There is also a direct connection to Canon CP Printers and select BJ Printers. This basically means that you do not have to have a computer to print pictures with these printers.

The Canon PowerShot SD500 uses proprietary lithium batteries. The promoted battery life is about 160 shots with the LCD on and about 550 shots with the LCD off. You can always buy extras at you local camera store to take along with you if a long battery life is important to you or needed for the situation.

Another unusual feature is an optional DC coupler, supported via a flap on the battery/media compartment door. This lets you run the camera off AC power (via an optional adapter) while you charge the battery in the included external charger.

Overall the Canon PowerShot SD500 is a worthy contender in the market. A few faults to be found are that it has some difficulty finding the intended focusing point in Macro mode. Also in the Macro shots, the flash had a tendency to make most of the picture overexposed when used except for the lower portion of the image which would be dark due to the extended lens blocking the flash.

Another drawback is the mode dial design. Only the center (Manual) mode’s label shows as level when chosen. The other labels (Playback, Auto, Macro and Movie) are slanted when you turn the dial.

Be sure however that the Canon PowerShot SD500 is a great ultra-compact camera. From its looks to its capabilities, this camera is impressive. Then once you add on its remarkably unique features, the Canon SD500 stands out among the rest as a contender for a top seller.

Getting a photography job is very competitive but have you considered selling stock photos? Selling stock means that you contract will a stock house and upload your photos for the public to look at. Pick your best shots that are composed well and have good lighting. Those who are in need of photos buy the right to use your in their advertising or other original photography projects. Look on the net for stock photohouse for ideas. Getty Images is one that you could look into.

A stock house will specialize their images by theme. For instance some handle photos of people and others animals and even others only industrial shots. You have to find the house that you want to shoot for and contract with them.

All of us cannot be an Ansel Adams and definitely not when starting out. The equipment you choose can be your best friend or worst nightmare, depending on what you purchase. Get the best you can while still considering your budget. Olympus, Canon and Nikon carry high quality products that are dependable. Believe me, as a professional, you need to depend on your gear. If you are devoted to learning the photography trade it will be worth it.

A gadget that is super useful is a light meter. I would not buy one right away but wait for you become more capable. Even though ALL cameras have a light meter provided in them it is strongly suggested that you do not depend too heavily on it. They operate from the vantage point of the camera. They measure only the light that is falling on your subject. Learning about lighting essential is to a photographer.

Check out areas where to commonly go everyday for photo locations. Keep in mind they need to be easy to get in and out of for the subject. A bride to be will not be too thrilled with her portrait when her freelance photographer has walked her through a gully. You probably will not make money that way.

Take lessons from someone who knows. Ask for photography tips. You don’t necessarily have to go to the community college and take a group class but be willing to learn anywhere you go. Take lots of photos all the time and continue to look at them critically.

You may have to give up your copyright to be stock photographer. That means that once the photo is uploaded and or purchased whoever pays for the use of that photo can use it as many times as they want where and how they want. You have no control and make no more money. That could be ok because you are doing something that you love to do and sharing it with all the world.

The most important thing is to take pictures. Take your camera equipment everywhere you go. Don’t ever miss a chance to shoot since you need all the experience you can get. Get up for the sunrise or stay late for sunset. Light is a huge component of a photographer’s craft. Learn how to work with it. Good luck and happy shooting.

Photographs can be enhanced in many ways with Photoshop. Many times the areas of the photo that are touched up can be differentiated from their surrounding areas. You have the tools to create a nice, soft fade from the effect and effect-free areas through masking and there are many ways to achieve this. Before you add an effect to any area of the photo it is useful to add this masking to the selected areas you want to adjust. One method most commonly used is the ‘quick mask mode’. It is quick and easy to use and normally produces acceptable results.

Quick masking: In Adobe Photoshop find the button called ‘edit in quick mask mode’. It’s located near the bottom of the main tool bar and looks like a circle in a rectangle. There’s also a short-cut key: Q. Once in quick mask mode, you can select and deselect areas simply by painting them with white and black respectively, using the standard brush tool. Zoom to 100 or 200 % for best accuracy. You might want to use a soft-edged brush to avoid hard edges. Alternatively, when you’re done, exit the masking mode and go to ‘Select > Feather’ and set the feather radius to 5-10 pixels or so. A nice option is that you can set the opacity to anywhere between 0 and 100%, allowing you to apply the effect stronger or weaker in one part of the image that another.

Layer masking: Slightly more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This allows you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps in Photoshop:

1. Select ‘Windows > Layers’.

1. Choose ‘Windows > Layers’.

3. Click on the little icon in the bottom of the layer box called ‘Add layer mask’.

3. In the bottom of the layer box, click on the little icon called ‘Add layer mask’.

5. Select a gradient style from the top ‘Options’ bar (linear, radial etc.).

5. Select a gradient style from the top ‘Options’ bar (linear, radial etc.).

6. Click on your image on the point you don’t want to change, dragging the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you’ve now created.

Lens-like effects: Using the same layer masking explained above, you can apply ‘Gaussian blur’ which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, a bit like if you had used a large-aperture lens. With ‘Curves’ you can make your corners darker than the center, replicating the lens effect called vignetting. In principle, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo. It will create a kind of frame that will have a ’sucking’ effect, drawing more focus to the center of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or color-saturation around your main subject, helping to divide it from the background clutter. Be creative with the many options you have available!

Lens-like effects: You can apply ‘Gaussian blur’ using the layer masking outlined above which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, as if you had used a large-aperture lens. With ‘Curves’ you can make your corners darker than the center, duplicating the lens effect called vignetting. Technically, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo, creating a sort of frame that will have a ’sucking’ effect, drawing more attention into the center of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or color-saturation around your main subject, helping to separate it from the background clutter. Be creative with the many options offered!

Soft glow effect: Great for creating a ‘romantic’ look for portraits. Follow these steps:

1. Duplicate layer.

3. Play around with the blend modes and opacity till you get what you want:

3. Adjust the blend modes and opacity till you get what you want:

‘Lighten’ or ‘Screen’ blends lightens the image instead. Good for adding high key or highlight glows.

‘Soft Light’ and ‘Overlay’ adds contrast and saturation. Especially useful for landscapes and still life photos.

Black-and-white-ish: Creates a metallic black-and-white’ish look, great for for documentary work and subdued portraits, and is achieved by setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low.

Black-and-white-ish: By setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low, you create a metallic black and white’ish look many times seen in documentaries and subdues portraits. Do this through Photoshop’s ‘layers’ to be able to most accurately adjust your setting in place.

One example: To give your image a cool green-blue color tone, first create two duplicate layers. Use ‘Edit > Fill’ to make the first one green and the second one blue. Set opacities to 30 and 60% respectively and select the ‘Multiply’ blending mode for the top (blue) layer. Adjust levels to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.

One example: To give your image a warm reddish-orange color tone make two duplicate layers first. Use ‘Edit > Fill’ to make the first one red and the second one orange. Set opacities to 30 and 60% respectively and select the ‘Multiply’ blending mode for the top (orange) layer. Tweak it in place to get it precisely as you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as explained above.

Using any of the above mentioned effects can improve your photos and make them really eye-catching. However, learning when to use them and when not to use them is just as important as learning how to use them. When to use special effects in your photos is a matter of personal taste and judgement. Use it, but don’t overdo it. Often, less is more.

In the photography of yesterday, the image captured through the camera’s lens was pretty much the final result. To alter the image after taking the photo was a practice known to few and made available to less than that. This is not the case today thanks to digital imaging. Adobe Photoshop in particular has allowed a level of image editing that is basically ‘magic’. Photoshop allows the average user not only the ability to touch up a photo, but the potential to reinvent it. Let’s take a look at some of the most basic features of Photoshop that even those new to digital editing can do.

Got an awful blemish on that photo you want to post on Facebook? Not a problem with Photoshop’s retouching tools, which can render even the most hideous acne invisible with the stroke of a few keys.

Torn or worn photos? Family heirlooms that cannot be replaced? Photoshop can take a scanned photo and retouch tears and scars, water damage and more to make the photograph like new again, even to the point of reinvigorating colors that may have faded over time. This ability is worth the price of Photoshop alone.

You will never have to have a closed eye again! So what if somebody blinked at the wrong time, with Photoshop, you can open their eyes easily.

Is their an ex in a picture that you would otherwise love? Erase them! You can remove them from your photo as if they were never there to begin with. In fact, you can remove almost any unwanted object from you photo. If only life were that easy!

Photoshop has many more features and options that can take those pictures hidden away and transform them into a treasured memory you will want to view and share with others for years to come.

Restoring old photos to former glory and retouching other photos is one of the great advances in modern photography, due in large part to Photoshop. Start learning how Adobe Photoshop can make your photos sparkle!