One of the questions I get a lot is why do your photos look better than mine when we are standing next to each other? Well there are whole semesters on composition and style but here are some quick tips on getting a better image.

The main one is that for landscape photos you want to give them a sense of depth. Having something in the foreground, middle ground and background will give the impression of real depth. Without some of these features you end up with a much more flat looking image. Place a rock, tree, or flowers in the foreground so that the mountains in the background seem much further away. Some photographers will even frame their images with overhanging branches from a tree or shoot through an archway or window.

Time of day can also be important for not only setting the mood but better contrast and lighting. Early morning or afternoon has the sun close to the horizon which will give you deep shadows for texture and tone.  Also you might find that early morning will also give you a much less cluttered images as only a few brave souls will get up that early.

Move your feet, sounds simple but how many time have you seen (or been guilty of) walking up on a landscape or building and just snapping one shot. After if you got the shot why bother with getting a few more? Well two reasons, one is that bare piece of ground you are standing on will give you the exact same shot as hundreds or thousands before you. It is said that if you go to Yosemite Park and view the famous Yosemite water falls  you can find where Ansel Adams photographed these iconic falls. Just look down for the three holes in the ground where thousands of photographers have placed their tripods in the exact same spot. Now I am not saying not to get that iconic shot but move around and get a number of other photos too. Who knows you might even come up with your own vision of the landscape that is pretty good too. Also do not be afraid to move or zoom the focal length of the lens for different looks. Yes wide angle is the norm for landscapes but who says that you can’t zoom in too.

Speaking of moving your feet don’t get too comfortable. So many times we look for the easy shot. Start walking around and really seeing the area you want to photograph.  Drive down the road a little more. Walk up the hill and turn around, there might be something interesting behind you too.  Don’t just stop to smell the roses but photograph them too.

Finally if you are photo geek with more than one lens in your bag why not challenge yourself.  Take one lens and just shoot with it for an hour or two. Got a zoom lens, rack it all the way out and don’t move it, move your feet to get a different look.

One last bit wisdom from a National Geographic photographer I know. If you are complaining that you can’t find anything interesting to photograph then go and stand in front something more interesting. Take your camera to areas that will offer more visual and exciting photographs. Get up early and drive out to some of those vistas you like and see what they look like just as the sun comes up. Get on a plane and go to countries that don’t speak English for a different point of view. Or at the very least pretend you are a tourist. Look at the land you are in as if you are seeing for the first time. You might be surprise at what you will see.

So of course I piped in with answer that works for not only making backgrounds black but will work for making them White or if you use a Green Screen (and/or Blue) and want a simple way to drop it out without selecting. Impossible you say, that is what they said about my experiments with bed sheets and jumping off the roof.

Here is the simple example I will name Mary in front of a gray background. Now in real life you should have a well lighted and posed subject but this is just a quick tip.

First thing you do is create a new layer under your image layer which will become the background. If you image layer is still labeled Background you will need to click and drag the little lock to the trash or double click on the name to change it. Then you make a new layer and place it under the image layer.

Fill this layer with any Color you want or even a new image for a background. For this tip I made a simple graduate of black to white.

Here is the trick for selections with no selections. Double click on the image layer to bring up the Layers Properties menu box. Some may know this as the Special Effects box but it can be so much more. At the bottom of the Layer Effect box are the Blend If Sliders.

Go to the top slider labeled This Layer. Click and Drag the black triangle on the left. As you move it to the right you will see the gray background disappear. If the transition between the subject is a little too sharp you can hold down the Alt or Option key and then click and drag on the black triangle. This will split the black triangle allowing you to move them for the best effect.

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Here is the same effect with a different background. (Pin ups anyone?)

You can do same trick with a high key background. Just create a white background under the image and from the layer proprieties move the white triangle on the right. If you start to see parts of the subject start to disappear then make a quick selection around these areas and copy them to a new layer. Double click on the copy layer and make sure the Blend if sliders are moved back to the left (or right for high key).

If you are using a Green or Blue screen you can go in and just select the background RGB values and do the same trick but this could affect skin tone if moved too far.

If you are looking to jazz up your text even more think Clipping Group. This is special trick that allows you overlay graduates or even images over letters.

To do this first create a layer of text.

That’s it, Have fun.

One of the lessons was about creating and modifying vector graphics which was really more in line with an Illustrator class than a Photoshop class. Since all of my students were photographers and had little interest in this I showed them a little about the Pen tool but what really sparked their imagination was how they can play with shapes and text. So even though there are several masters here who can create with Vector lines and shapes I thought I would share a few of tricks even an Photoshop teacher can do.

Starting with a simple Text layer with a drop shadow, stroke and inner glow you may not realize that all text is really a vector image allowing resizing without loss of resolution.

http://www.psguy2.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/text11.gif

Being a vector text you can do a simple Transform (Ctrl or Command T) to make larger or smaller along with stretching up, down, out, or in. Watching the Font size box you will see it going up and down. Very handy for fitting it into an composite where you want text to fit.

One thing you will notice is that my special effect move right along with text so I do not have to re add them again.

Along with many different square movements you can also add Warp but when it is an standard Text layer all you can do is use some of the preset Warp effects like Arc, Wave and the like from the drop down menu. There is only one Handle that you play with.

However here is tip if you want to distort or move the text even more. Convert the Text layer to Shapes. Now you can use the Convert Point Tool to drag out points or even change the shape of the text. Hold down the Ctrl or Command key to grab a point and pull it out. Click and move the extended handles of these points to modify the curve.

While as a shape you can also use the Warp command to really push around the pixels to any weird shape. You can use these commands on Shapes that Photoshop provides. Think how you can modify some of those arrows, butterflies, and strange shapes. All the time retaining the color or special effects. Plus even as a shape you can change any drop shadows, strokes or even the color.

Enjoy and have fun.

Well today with digital it seems we all have some way to take a picture whether it is with your cell phone, a simple point and shoot or an expensive digital single lens reflex (DSLR).  But just what is difference between these and what do we do with the images once we have them.

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up the digital food chain, Cell Phones. What was once just something to make calls on has morph into a personal assistant. I don’t think I have seen a cell phone in the past few months that doesn’t have a built in camera. Go to any event and you will see many people holding up their phones (most of time in your field of view) for that one time shot. This is not to say that some of the phones don’t have some pretty good cameras. Plus once you have that image you can email or send it out right away. I have even used it when I travel and rent a car. Very handy for documenting any little scratch or dent on a rental car. Never had it happen yet but many attorneys recommend that if you are in an accident to use your phone to take a ton of photos for both the police and any claims later. The problem is many phones make it very hard to get them out of the phone and on to paper. Many times you end up emailing them to yourself or using special software from the phone maker with cords to attach it to the computer. The other drawback is most of these images are very low resolution so making a print can be challenge.

Your next choice is one of the many point and shoot cameras that go from $70 to $300. These are not a bad choice for busy people as they offer higher resolution images in a handy size for purses and pockets. Many will even offer some digital video recording capability so you can leave your video camera at home. When you are ready to make prints or send them in emails just pull the camera card out and put it either into a card reader like many found on today’s computers and laptops or take directly to a major store with an in-house lab. You can even upload them directly to labs on internet for high quality prints or a location near loved ones for them to pick up. Walmart, Target, and other stores offer this service. There is one thing to keep in mind, due to the cell phone camera s many of the low end point and shoots cameras are going away. This leads us to the last type of camera which are the DSLRs.

The Digital Single Lens Reflex or DSLR cameras look like the 35mm cameras from days of yore. Some look like what were called Range Finder Cameras with a fixed lens and some just like the 33mm film cameras where you can use many different types of lenses like a wide angle for landscape photography and telephotos or long lenses for objects or people far away. Most of these cameras offer high resolution images that make wonderful prints. Of course all of this means the price goes up for these models. I have seen prices starting at $600 and going up to $21,000 (yes that is not a misprint, $21,000 for a camera and that is without a lens). These cameras also offer many different camera modes for everything from fast moving sports, artful portraits,and close ups of flowers and insects. You also have more control over the camera so that inner artist can get the just the right type of image for the local camera contest or a large print for the living room.

Now if all of this seems a little much for just taking a picture or if you think you will just wait for next latest and greatest improvement in digital imaging all I can say is this. Think about the last time you were somewhere really beautiful, breath taking, or a once in a lifetime event and wish you had a camera. The best image is one that you can share and the best camera is one you have with you.

Jump ahead to the fifties and a studio owner and wedding photographer named Montie Zucker saw that so many wedding photographers were in the market and they were all doing the same thing. Standing the bridal party at the front of the church and snapping a few shots. He decided that since he had invested in studio lights and backgrounds why not take them to church and set up in an empty Sunday School room and shoot some really nice portraits of everyone and charge for more prints. Many wedding shooter pooh pooh this idea. Who is going pay upwards of few hundred dollars for these type of photos. [i]What Happen, the birth of classy posed wedding images at a premium price.[/i]

Following that there were a few jumps in wedding photography. Bill Stockwell’s Misty Wedding Images (Vaseline smeared on the lens filter. Double Exposures where brides and groom somehow ended up in a Brandy Sniffer. Rocky Gunn came along with a background in the Movies introduced location wedding images and of course the seventies with Journalistic and Storybook coverage.

In all this there were some standing back and saying that change is bad. However it was those who looked at this and adapted who moved the art forward. Is it any different now in this age of digital?

This will look like a green square or a green camera that turns any camera into a full auto point and shoot. No worrying about lighting or movement, just aim it and push the button. This is a very useful setting when you want to get an image no matter what else is happening.  However if you really want to have more control over the look of the image there are a few other settings that will give you that control but still are semi-automatic. Depending on what you are shooting the camera can give your artistic soul more than a quick snap shot.

All of these will be on the side of the dial with the little icons or Program Mode so you won’t have to worry about too much tech stuff. The Camera has these Program Modes set up to add more control over special camera settings for things like sharper images or even a blurry background for that special look.

First icon we will look at is the one that looks like a couple of mountains with a little circle over them. This is called the Landscape Mode which is a setting for taking those landscape shots of fields, meadows, mountains or the Grand Canyon. What happens when you turn the dial to this mode is the camera will think you want an image where everything is in focus. Those flowers in the foreground, that tree about thirty yards away and the mountains in the background. To do this the camera will give you an F stop or Aperture (in photography they are the same thing, just two different names) which allows for a large depth of field or area in focus. However to do this the camera will also slow down the shutter speed to allow more light to come in for a good exposure.  This is because the F stop is controlled by an iris inside of the lens that makes a small hole which gives you that great depth of field. It is the same thing that happens when your eye’s iris closes to a very small hole in bright light. This smaller hole means less light comes in so the camera will use a slower shutter speed or allows the shutter to stay open longer for more light to come in. A slower shutter speed also means there could be camera shake. This is why you will see other photographers out taking landscape photos using a tripod. The tripod gives a very sturdy surface so there is no camera shake. But if you don’t have a tripod handy a fence post or even a handy rock or car will work. Some photographers sometimes carry a small beanbag in their camera bag. Just place it on a rough surface and put the camera on top of it so there will be no camera movement.

Another handy mode is called the Sports or Action setting. It will look like somebody running or dashing along. It is used for images that have a lot of movement in them like soccer, baseball, or football. If you have tried to capture your kid using the Auto mode you know that sometimes the shots will be burry. This is because the Auto mode doesn’t care if the subject is moving only that you have a good exposure. Depending on how much light is out there the camera might think a slower shutter speed is needed for a good exposure. This Sport or Action mode makes the camera use a faster shutter speed and to change something else for the good exposure. The results are sharper action shots plus because of the faster shutter speed you are able to hold the camera and not worry about a tripod.

The last mode I will share with you is the one with the person’s head or Portrait Mode. One of the reasons we have cameras are so we can make pictures of those we love. What happens is sometimes when we take these pictures there is so much going on all around and behind them that we can’t see their faces clearly. This mode allows us to focus on the person but can make the background blurry so all the attention is on our subject. It does this with the F Stop but instead of a large depth of field it gives a very shallow depth of field or area of focus.

There is trick to make this work. You will need to fill the frame with your subject so you see them from just over their head to their belt buckle or bottom of the ribcage. It is best if you zoom your lens in to do this as it will make the background even blurrier. If you try to get whole person from the top of the head to their shoes then you may not see the blurry background effect.

So while there are many more settings on that dial these are just the few that will allow you get even better photos from your shiny, new digital camera. Our camera classes can show you what those other settings mean and how to get complete control over that new camera. See you there.

We started our road trip in Colorado waking up to a snowfall of six to eight inches. Climbing into the four wheel drive SUV we set off to New Mexico where we usually stay at a hotel in Albuquerque which is the halfway point in our travels. It took us three hours to drive the 100 miles to south Denver and another two hours to go the second 100 miles. A couple of hours later we were able to leave the state and drive into New Mexico.  We were relieved to see that Interstate 25 was clear even with this same storm moving into the state. Just some light snowflakes drifting down which did not even warrant us turning on the windshield wipers. Settled in our room my wife and daughter went out to get some dinner. I stayed in the room and turned on the TV for some background noise while I used the very slow internet.

While trying to catch up on important world events (Oh Garfield, will you never learn) I heard the TV screech an important news update. I looked up and saw local weather guy looking very worried and pointing at a cloud covered state map and talking about road closings. I went to the window and looked out expecting to see a blizzard. Nothing, no snow just some guy in a pair of shorts walking back to his room with a bucket of ice. I then go to another website about New Mexico Road Conditions (www.NMroadsandbaitshops.org) and see that the state is closing not just country roads but the interstates too. Interstate 40 was closed on both sides of Albuquerque along with I-25 too. Once again I go to the window and just see some kids walking their panting dog who needed a drink of water before getting back to their room. Still no snow???

My wife gets back with dinner and I tell her that they are closing the roads due to the heavy snow blowing in. She looks at me wondering if I fell out of bed again and hit my head. “There is no snow out there and the temp is only 40 degrees. Maybe something is happening in the east but it is clear skies out there.” Another News break comes on and the weatherman, now looking even more serious, (He has taken off his jacket and loosened his tie!) warning of heavy snow and more road closures. Of course this information is important enough to break into one of the twenty different CSI programs but not important enough to give us any real news. Just vague reports of snow hitting the ground and cars pulling off the road with drivers running away screaming into the night.

When the news comes on of course the top story is about the weather with special graphics about what they are now calling a Christmas Snowstorm. The news couple first throws it to the special action weather team out in the field. Reporters who drew the short straws are standing outside in parkas with a few snowflakes falling around them.

News Couple Female with the perky smile: “We first go to our Action Weather Snow bunny Buffy out on Interstate 40 and the Louisiana exit to the east of Albuquerque that is the only uphill section of road in the state.”

Buffy: “Thanks Alice, I am out here by the interstate where the state has closed the freeway due to a least nine snowflakes that have landed on the roadway and as per the official statement “They did not melt”. Local hotels are filling up with stranding motorists mostly mumbling “Are they all crazy in this state.” Back to you.”

News Couple Male looking very concerned by not smiling: “We will now check with our Action News Special Reports reporter Dave Manly on the west side with another report on this very important story. Dave just where are you right now?”

Dave Manly: “Thanks Bob, I am reporting from inside my home because the police have closed my driveway due to what looks like snow falling in front of the street light. Though it appears to be hitting the ground and becoming liquid.”

News Couple Male: “Sounds serious, stay safe Dave, we are all praying for you here at the station. Now over to our Action News Weather guy Barry Overkill.” (At this point the graphic comes on again but now there is more video of cars buried under snow with New York plates and polar bears wandering the frozen tundra. It is now being called The Blizzard of 2011.)

Barry: Thanks Bob, as you can see from the Doppler 2000 that a major snow storm has blown in from the north (Darn that Colorado) covering most of the state causing road closures and weather conditions much like the end of time. Now you might notice that over Albuquerque we do have (and I am not making this up) a Snow Hole over the city. This clear area is keeping the snow out of the city but it is really falling throughout the state. (To show this Snow Hole he holds up his hands around the empty spot over the city)

News Couple Female now understanding just how serious the lead story is and she is no longer smiling: “Well, we will just have to keep an eye on this weather thing. (Smiling again) So let’s go over and check on sports with Biff Gross.”

Biff Gross hoarding canned goods under his news desk: “What difference does it make, we are all going to die!!! Back to you Bob.”

News Couple Male now smiling from not paying attention to the sports guy: “Thanks Biff got to love those fighting New Mexico some kind of sport team. (Looking into the camera again not smiling) Now before we will go back to Barry Overkill in the Action Weather Center this just in. The state has cancelled all schools due to this serious snowstorm. Wait, I am getting something else from the Control room, schools were closed anyway due to the Christmas Holidays. Now I have just been handed this, the state has canceled Christmas because that was only thing left to close. Over to you Barry.”

Barry now with a three day growth of beard: “Thanks Bob, we just updated our Doppler 2000 radar to Super Doppler 8000 radar to get a better look at the Snow Hole over Albuquerque. As you see the sky over Albuquerque is still clear with no snowfall predicted for the city. We will be keeping on top this so keep your TV on all night just in case this Snow Hole (now trademarked) should close.”

My wife and I still could not believe all this having driven down from Colorado where six inches of snow is called a late spring thaw. We went to bed thinking that by morning it would all be melted and we should be able to continue our trip. Waking up and looking outside there is a very light dusting of snow on the parking lot with kids trying to make snowballs that don’t turn into a powdery mess when they toss them. I call my wife over to see but by the time she gets there it has melted.

We check the internet and see that sections of Interstate 40 are still closed just outside of Albuquerque going toward Arizona but there are open sections too. She suggests an alternate route that would meet up with the Interstate on the other side of the closing but I think a more southern route down Interstate 25 and then over on US 60 which goes into Phoenix would be better because 1. Being more southern it should be warmer IE clear and 2.The maps are showing that it was still open all the way. Heading south we are making good time on clear freeways when we come to the town of Belen, New Mexico. It has three exits and only closed off one of the exits with a cop car however they closed the whole town so you can’t go around and get back on the freeway south of the town. Cars are lining the streets just sitting there waiting for the freeway to open again. We can see the freeway and the road is clear except for a very small white section with areas of the blacktop showing through.

We turn around and head back up to take my wife’s suggestion of the workaround to join I-25. The road is open but does have a covering of snow on it. Just a few cars and trucks on it and we make it to the Interstate just fine. New Mexico drivers are still fearful of this white stuff so the freeway speed is about 20 miles a hour where in Colorado we would be using our winter driving skills and travel at 40 mph just like we do in Parking lots. We do make it out of the state, eventually and had a very nice Christmas with a quick trip back.

Driving back I did want to check the local news to see if there were any more reports of Snow Holes in the state. The only thing on the news was that due to the trauma of snowfall their Action Sports reporter Biff Gross has taken to roaming the news room with reams of paper stapled to his body and chewing on his leg for nourishment. Back to you Bob.

First a little background, in the days of yore when we were using Black and White film if we wanted a little more control over the contrast of the image we reached into our camera bags for some solid color lens filters. These filters would fit over the front of the lens and used with black and white film increased the contrast look by filtering out colors and making them more dark or lighter areas of the color landscape

With digital editing we can apply these filters to any images with the new Adjustment layer in newer versions cleverly called Black and White. A panel of sliders that cover not just the RGB colors but also CMY colors can give great control because they will increase or decrease these colors in the image. Changing the position of the slider from left to right will make these colors lighter or darker. In Photoshop we have even more control by clicking on the little hand with the arrow in the fingertip. This allows us to move over the image and by clicking and dragging left and right will lighten or darken the colors in that area so we don’t have to guess. Plus if the color is a combination of two colors both will adjusted as you watch both sliders move. If you like simplicity there are standard photo filters in a drop down menu so you can one click for custom looks. Filters like Red (great for landscapes) or Green (great for people). Another great feature is custom presets where if you come up with your own secret sauce of a black and white look and save it for one click apply.

Photoshop Elements users also have a special tool for Black and White but it is not an Adjustment layer but is found under the Enhance menu as Convert to Black and White. However before you go to this you should either make a copy of the file or add a copy of your Background layer to the image. Drag the image to the new layer icon (little square with the corner turned up) or the key board shortcut of Ctrl J (Command J for Mac). The Enhance feature works only on an image layer and if you don’t have a copy you will lose your color image. So make the copy then go to Enhance>Convert to Black and White.

The new panel will show both a before and after look. Plus you have a lot of presets like Portraits, Landscapes and even Newspaper. I have to say these settings are really good and that the Newspaper preset is good for those images that need to go to the local paper. Gives a very good contrast that reproduces well. It doesn’t have as many sliders as Photoshop but even just the RGB sliders do a good job of contrast control.

As with both adjustments being done on separate layers you can get that faded color look by reducing the opacity of the layer allowing the colors to start fade in. If you add a Layer Mask you can even paint in spot colors from the color image under the Black and White layer. This is a common effect used to death in wedding images and greeting cards.

If you have a single layer image skip down to step 2 after you added a copy image layer(Ctrl J or dragging the image layer to the new layer icon at the bottom of the layer pallet.)

1. A new image layer is needed for the effect to work well. If you are working with a lot of layers go to the top of the stack, click on the top layer then do this Keyboard shortcut of Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E (Mac Command + Shift + Option + E) which will create a merge image of all the layers on a new top layer.

2. Change the layer mode of the new image layer to Luminosity. This will protect the colors and allow for the controlling effect of the Sharpen/Defog. Do this before moving onto the UnSharp mask stage.

3. On a copyed/Merged layer image of the Background image go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask and enter what will seem to be higher than needed settings but it will make sense soon. Enter in settings like 100/25/1 and yes it will look oversharpen but that is OK.

4. Go to Edit>Fade (which will say Fade Unsharp mask. This command applies to any filter you just ran.) Here pull the slider to the left to fade the oversharpen effect to just what you need to the image. Luminosity will protect the colors and reduce any halo effect.

If you like this make it an Action for both Sharpen and Defog. Be sure to place a stop at the Fade Command so you can make adjustments.

Bonus Tip for CS4 and CS5 users…If you want to be able to go back at any time and readjust the sharpen settings use Smart Filters.

1. Change the copied/Merged layer to a Smart Object, Select the layer and go to the Layer Menu (Right Click on the Layer) and convert it a Smart Object.

2. Go to the Filters and do the High Settings. This will create a Smart Filter under your copied/Merged layer. Make sure at this point your C/M layer is in Luminosity mode and just fade the Opacity of the Layer to taste. You can always click on the Smart Filter layers at anytime and still change the settings. Plus if you want the Smart Filter comes with a Layer Mask so if you want to only have some parts of the image sharp and some not just paint with the Brush Tool and Black.