Art Of Photography

The effects you can achieve today with editing software are beyond what professional photographers years ago thought possible. Now is a time when there are no limitations on editing images- everything is possible and creativity is the only requirement to make outstanding pictures. There are thousands of programs that help us improve the photographs we take, but none have the respect of the professional and amateur community as Adobe Photoshop. The software is so closely linked with altering images that the term ‘to Photoshop’ has come to mean ‘to enhance pictures’.

Do you want a picture of you, your family and a giraffe all dancing on the surface of Pluto? With Photoshop, anything you want is possible. With practice, you can make the vision of your wildest imagination come true. Effects that took large budgets and studios to create are now easy to produce with the click of a button.

Photoshop is also useful for taking things out of the picture that you don’t want. Glaring physical flaws like skin blemishes can be removed to improve the image, and it is even possible to remove entire objects or figures that you want out of the image. Photoshop is so refined that it will be impossible to tell if your images have been enhanced at all.

Photoshop is essential for anyone interested in photography in today’s digital world. The software is just as important and wide-spread as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint in the media industry. You may feel pressure to learn how to use the software, but the resources are easily available to anyone due to the popularity of the program. A lot of people know how to use Photoshop, so if you know anyone in college or high school, ask them if they could teach you.

The birth of Photoshop was in 1989 by the Knoll brothers. The software was being developed for their own use at the time, but the sophistication of the software made it clear that there was a market for Photoshop. They soon founded Adobe and began selling the program in 1990.

Adobe is a great success story of the internet. Adobe’s presence dominates the internet, and there are few computers that do not have some form of Adobe software for example. The free Adobe Reader is as common as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Everyone is aware of these programs, and the PDF reader is yet another instance in which Adobe has taken over a section of the online industry.

To become familiar with Photoshop, the best thing to do is to find a copy to experiment with. Chances are a friend of yours has it, so play around with the program until you get used to the interface. If your friend knows how to use Photoshop, he or she can show you and teach you faster than most online tutorials can. Take care though, because once you see the amazing things Photoshop can do, you will become a fan forever.

Downloading a copy for your own use will make it easier to practice using Photoshop. You can get a free trial version, but it will have limited features. The best thing to do is to buy a full version from Adobe as then you don’t have to worry anymore and can concentrate on learning how to use the product. Photoshop is used so much, that it makes sense buying a copy. Once you own a copy, you may find that you spend hours experimenting and exploring the features. While this is a great way to get used to the features, specific learning in a Photoshop class can improve your learning curve and make you understand Photoshop faster.

When you master the software, there is no limit to what you can do. Just imagine any concept and you will be able to translate it into an image in no time. Keep experimenting, and remember to have fun!

1. Surf around the Web. Look at images at magazines, papers, on-line galleries and you’ll find a wealth of ideas. Try the Gallery at shotaddict.com. Want more - go to flickr.com and look through tones of creative shots. Another useful source is VFXY, it displays recent posts from various photo blogs.

2. Learn the ‘visual language’. Visit Art Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions that have photography shows. Learn art history from Antiquity to the Present and discover how highly creative people developed methods for expressing light and color.

3. Plan a trip to a local zoo. Zoos have loads of interesting things to shoot and animals are always photogenic.

4. Shoot with style. Pick anything around the house and shoot it just to see how it turns out. You’ll see that how you shoot something is far more important than what. With digital cameras, there’s no excuse not to!

5. Learn about art history. Visit art exhibitions featuring photography and discover how different people have portrayed the world. Reading about photography will put your work in context.

6. Watch movies. Movies can be extremely innovative in experimenting with lighting and concepts. So learn from them. After all, movies are just lots of photographs shown in quick succession.

7. Shoot boring things. Take a look around you in a whole new way. Make an effort to shoot things that you would never consider shooting. A bottle. A phone. A lamp. Anything, just shoot it in lots of different ways and see what comes out.

8. Carry your camera everywhere. Take at least one photo a day so you can keep a record of your life in a whole new way.

9. Shoot in different conditions. Shoot at different times of day for different lighting effects and atmosphere. Shoot in different weather for subtle changes of tone.

10. Take a photo a day and see your life in a whole new way. Remember that a camera that you don’t have with you is a camera that’s not going to take any pictures. So try to have your camera on you as often as possible.

A wedding is such a special time, most couples want it photographed professionally. After all, hopefully it is a once in a lifetime event so preserving it right is important! Some couples prefer to have their wedding pictures taken in a church or home or hall where the weather is not a factor. Others want the backdrop to depict the beauty of nature and, perhaps, their own personal interests as well.

If you want outdoor pictures of your wedding and live in the Virginia Beach area, then you are in luck. This area of far eastern Virginia has such a variety of possibilities that just about any couple would be satisfied with the choices.

People living in the Virginia Beach area have probably developed a love for its multitude of beaches. Located right on the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the area borders both the Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. This means miles of beaches, such as Baylake Beach, North Virginia Beach, and Sandbridge Beach provide plenty of places for a wedding party to get some classic shots against the ocean. Other backdrops might include piers and sand dunes.

Of course, with the ocean comes lighthouses, twelve in this area. Many of these make a pristine scene behind the couple. For example, the Cape Henry Lighthouse was originally built in 1792 but replaced in 1881 due to structural problems. Nevertheless, both are still standing at the corner of bay and ocean, awaiting their photograph behind the happy couple.

Lynnhaven Bay and Lake Smith reservoir intersect the city, leaving miles of forested dead end roads and secluded waterfront homes. Some of these homeowners are glad to allow a couple to have their wedding pictures taken in their yard.

City parks in Virginia Beach also make a lovely place for wedding pictures. If you are not familiar with the area, ask the Chamber of Commerce or your photographer which are the most popular. If you are planning a spring wedding, consider the dazzling beauty of the flowering fruit trees at Brookdale Farm. You might even like to match your wedding colors with the blossoms!

Those desiring to incorporate the historicity of Virginia Beach into their pictures might consider two buildings. Lynnhaven House was built in 1725 by Francis Thelaball II. It still looks the same today and even has people there during tourist season, dressed in period costumes. The Old Coast Guard Station is a100 year-old building on the beach. It would blend the beach and history into one backdrop.

These ideas are only to get your imagination working; it is certainly not a complete list. Perhaps they encourage you to think beyond the safe weather locations indoors to include Virginia Beach itself in the record of your special day.

Selecting Colors from an Image Quickly To take a color from your image and turn it into the foreground color Press I to activate the Eyedropper Tool and then click on any color in your image. To take that color and turn it into the background color, press the ALT Key and click on any color in your image.

Change Brush Tip Sizes Quickly With any brush selected you can press the Right Bracket Key “]” to increase the size of the brush tip, or Press the Left Bracket Key “[” to decrease the size of the brush tip.

The Move Tool & the Arrow Keys Getting in the habit of activating the Move Tool through the keyboard is a timesaver; you can do this using the shortcut, “V”. Once you have the Move Tool activated you can use the keyboard arrow keys to push a layer or selection in 1 pixel increments. You can speed things up by pressing the Shift key along with the arrow key to nudge in 10 pixel increments.

Hide Your Palettes To hide all your visible palettes you can press the tab key. You can bring them all back again by once again pressing the Tab key. To hide all visible palettes with the exception of the toolbar press Shift+Tab.

Zooming In & Zooming Out To zoom in Press Command and the plus sign “+” (PC: Control and the plus sign). To zoom out Press Command and the minus sign “-” (PC: Control and the minus sign).

Navigating In Magnified Images If you are magnifying your image using the zoom tool and lose your bearings you can jump quickly to specific views using the following shortcuts: To change the view to the top left hand corner of your screen or image press the Home Key. You will want to press the End Key to set the view to the bottom right hand corner of your image. To move the view down one full screen view press the Page Down Key. Press CTRL+Page Down (Mac: Command +Page Down) to move the screen view one full screen to the right. Press CTRL+Page Up (Mac: Command +Page Up) to move the screen view one full screen to the left.

Selecting Just the Pixels in a Layer One easy way to highlight an object that is contained on a transparent layer is to press the Control Key (Mac: Command key) and then click on the layer that contains the object in the Layers Palette. Doing it this way ensures that only the visible pixels will be highlighted.

Tile Images for Better Visibility When you simultaneously open a bunch of files in Photoshop they automatically cascade, and it can be difficult to select individual windows within all the overlapping files. To eliminate this problem choose Window> Arrange> Tile and all of your open files will rearrange themselves to be visible all at once. When you’re ready to close the windows you don’t have to spend time closing them individually, instead use the Close All shortcut Control+Option+W (Mac: Command+Alt+W).

Getting Rid Of The Welcome Screen - And Bringing It Back When first launching Photoshop CS you’ll see a Welcome Screen that has links to some Tutorials, some Tips and Tricks, and a set of Color Management Help Files. After a while you might want to get rid of this screen. There’s a check box at the bottom you can select to hide the screen at startup. If you change your mind later and decide you’d like to investigate the tutorials and other goodies, you can temporarily bring the screen back by going under the Help menu and choosing Welcome Screen.

Cycle Through All Of Your Open Documents Sometimes you’ll want to find one of your open documents that is hidden, but navigating using the Window menu won’t help because you can’t recall the name of the file. Instead press Control-Tab repeatedly (MAC and PC) to cycle through all of your open documents.

Share and store your live photos while saving time, money and effort. You can now take advantage of the BEST photo compression program available on the market today! You will find you can quickly and easily combine any number of photographs into highly-compressed, easy to e-mail photos; even albums and great slide shows that can be viewed from any computer without having to install any helper software including Love2Photo itself!

Now you can feel the admiration from your family and friends when they get these quick-loading albums that they can view and print directly from the Web or local media with just a simple mouse click. And the great thing is they can be on any computer! This process makes it easy for people to concentrate on the beauty of your photographs and not become frustrated in trying to open them.

Easily protect your albums with a password, extract photos, organize pictures by date and name, add descriptions, and more with this great software!

You’ll save time sending, copying, backing-up and moving photos thanks to Love2Photo’s compression capabilities. And your friends and family will save time downloading your albums or viewing them online.

Often you will find that emailing huge photo files often end up exceeding your email providers file size limits and the image never gets to its destination. Avoid the disappointment of not being able to share your greatest photographs with others simply because of limited message size.

With a simple click of your mouse Love2Photo automatically compresses photos, automatically selecting the best compression routine to fit email size restrictions.

Love2Photo Helps Your PC Run Faster Too! It’s a fact that the more files you have in the system the slower your computer runs. With thousand of files you need to run frequent disk checks and de-fragmentation routines just to keep the system alive. With Love2Photo you’ll be able to compress thousands of image files into compact one-file albums. Your PC will thank you!

And you can easily give this software as a gift motivating friends to send you hot photo whenever they have one. Just select the Gift option when you order Love2Photo.

The use of a frame can turn an otherwise plain picture into a pleasing one. Usually a foreground element is used to create the frame. Examples are an overhanging tree branch, a window frame, a door, arches, a fence, rows of trees, etc.

Generally frames are used to isolate the main subject of your photograph and create a visually interesting composition. The idea behind framing your photograph is to give your picture depth. There will be times you may choose to keep the detail of the frame (as in a wall, fence or branch), or you may choose to let the frame go completely dark (as in a window frame).

When you are composing a shot, keep your eyes open to foreground (and sometimes, even middle or background) objects that can be used as a natural frame. You may need to physically back up a bit, kneel down for a more pleasant composition, or zoom in to include your subject within your chosen frame.

You can use image editing software to creating framing after the fact by combining two or more pictures. There are some very dramatic effects which can be accomplished this way and you are truly only limited by your imagination.

A word of caution is necessary here, however. While there is nothing wrong with combining different images to create a separate one, please be very careful about employing artificial frames on identifiable scenes and landscapes.

As an extreme example, don’t frame the Statue of Liberty by the St. Louis Arch. Unless your purpose is to create dissonance within your viewers’ minds, that picture will just look strange.

So, the next time you are ready to take your shot, look around and see if there is an object nearby that you can use as a natural frame. I recommend that you try to take a picture without the frame, and another one with the frame, and then compare the two. Chances are, you will like the one with the frame better!

I have a baby dragon; how do I know if it’s MLP (i.e. Spike, UK Princess Pony dragon)?
I have seen a few different vinyl baby dragons mistaken for the three known versions of G1 Spike and the six Princess Pony dragons. Note that, unlike ponies, NONE of these MLP dragons have ANY Hasbro markings. However, they do come in only one mold, are all approx. 2 inches tall, and have no hair (unlike most others that have been seen).You can only get foil Superstar specific cards, like I Am The Game, Tree Of Woe, etc. (Note premium foils like Puppies! Puppies! cannot be retrieved as they are Superstar specific foils.

Who is the Twilight Princess?
The creator’s said the title is both “obvious” and “yet creative”. Obviously, nobody knows who or what the Twilight Princess is, but it has been hinted that it is NOT Zelda.

Can I represent other titles if I win a Princess preliminary title?
Depends, this decision will be at the preliminary directors discretion and *prior approval must be obtained from the director before doing so! (*Please refer to the preliminary pageant application/paperwork or consult the director)The nickname was coined by Lemonbugg, who once wrote a haiku calling me the Princess of Pop Culture. It stuck.The Princess party is our newest party. Each girl will have a choice of special princess pottery(cup, bowl, plate, frame,plaque-selection may be limited)to paint. After painting a princess craft will be completed. Pink plates, napkins and forks will be supplied and finally we will hand out loot bags. All girls will get a tiara and loot bag.

Are you really a princess?
No, I am not really a princess. I have always had a “thing” for princesses (my parents used to joke that when I was little, I did a lot of insisting that my “real” parents, the king and queen, were going to come get me soon) so I stuck a princess in the book just for kicks.and VOILA! The Princess Diaries was born.

How do your Princess/pirate birthday parties work?
The Princess party is our newest party. Each girl will have a choice of special princess pottery(cup, bowl, plate, frame,plaque-selection may be limited)to paint. After painting a princess craft will be completed. Pink plates, napkins and forks will be supplied and finally we will hand out loot bags. All girls will get a tiara and loot bag. Cost is $23.75/person. Add $1.50 per person for a choice of the frame and add $1.50 per person for embellishing a frame or a plaque.No, I am not really a princess.

How do your Princess/pirate birthday parties work?
The Princess party is our newest party. Each girl will have a choice of special princess pottery(cup, bowl, plate, frame,plaque-selection may be limited)to paint. After painting a princess craft will be completed. Pink plates, napkins and forks will be supplied and finally we will hand out loot bags. All girls will get a tiara and loot bag. Cost is $23.75/person. Add $1.50 per person for a choice of the frame and add $1.50 per person for embellishing a frame or a plaque.Ten full-length volumes. Forever Princess, Princess Diaries 10, in December 2008, will be the last regularly scheduled book. Although I may write about Princess Mia again, I don’t have any more contracted books about her at this time.

Have you ever tried making use of a frame in your photography? Incorporating a frame into a picture can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. A foreground element is usually used to create the frame. Examples of this can be found in tree branches, a window frame, a fence, rows of trees, a door and many more.

A frame serves to isolate your main subject and create an interesting composition. Oftentimes, it’s the feeling of depth you’re after. You may choose to keep the detail of the frame (as in a wall, fence or branch), or let the frame go completely dark (as in a window frame).

When you are composing a shot, keep your eyes open to foreground (and sometimes, even middle or background) objects that can be used as a natural frame. You may need to physically back up a bit, kneel down for a more pleasant composition, or zoom in to include your subject within your chosen frame.

You can also add a frame to your photograph once taken also. Using image editing software, you can combine elements of two or more photographs into one, creating striking results.

However, a word of caution is necessary here. Though there is nothing wrong with combining different images to create another one, be very careful about employing artificial frames on recognizable scenes and landscapes.

As an extreme example, don’t frame the Washington Monument with the Great Wall of China. Unless your goal is to create dissonance within your viewers’ minds, a picture with an intense difference will only come across as strange.

So, before you take that shot next time, look around and see if there is an object that you can use as a natural frame. Take a picture without the frame, and another one with the frame, and compare. Betcha, you’ll like the one with the frame better!

Do you need some inspiration to take interesting photos? Are you under the impression that you have to travel to a faraway place in order to photograph something intriguing or beautiful? Well, you don’t even need to leave your house! Here are some tips for taking stunning photos anywhere.

1. First look around you to find where light and shadow interact. If you break up the word, photography actually means “light writing.” How does light look as it comes through the window? Find objects that create different shadows. Have fun photographing the reflection of water in a glass on your kitchen table.

2. Take close up photos to abstract the content of your photo. You can distort an image or make it more interesting by getting closer or changing the angle of the camera. Macro or fish eye lenses are fun to play with. Take the time to look at fruit or flowers up close; the amount of detail is astounding.

3. Find patterns. Pattern is all around us, but generally overlooked. Don’t be afraid to photograph monotony if the color or texture is interesting.

4. Look at your surroundings from a different perspective. Get on the floor or stand on something tall.

5. Try different aperture and shutter speed settings. A small aperture will create a blurred background (shallow depth of field), and a big aperture will bring more of the background into focus (large depth of field). With a tripod, use slow shutter speeds in low lighting to create different effects. If you want to freeze motion, you will want to use a fast shutter speed.

6. Take self-portraits. What defines you? How do you want to be portrayed in a photograph? Do you necessarily have to be in the photo for it to be a self-portrait?

Now you should be inspired to photograph anything, anywhere. Our surroundings are fascinating. Look at the world around you with an open mind because it is so magnificent. Most of us take our surroundings for granted, but there is endless beauty.

Digital photography is the latest trend in the photo industry. It is considered to be the easiest way to take a snapshot and enhance its overall features. Basically, digital photography is the art of taking pictures without the need for film. Because there’s no film involved in the process of taking pictures, you can have the convenience of taking good shots and eliminating the bad ones. It offers the easiest way of capturing good images and converting them to interesting art pieces.

Digital photography has made much advancement since the digital cameras and computers were first developed. The emergence of digital cameras has generated remarkable conveniences in the field of photography as everyone with a digital camera can take a photo, upload it to the computer and share it with friends and family.

The internet is the gateway to many digital internet services. Many companies supply services of this kind. Some services they might offer are: digital imaging, image restoration, photo retouching, and photo editing and digital enhancement. Other digital imaging services are available to fulfill the needs of all levels of photographers from beginner to expert.

More and more people are using digital cameras for the reason that it’s easy to take picture and edit it according to what you want. Who would not want a picture-perfect shot? However, we have to accept the fact that when you take pictures you don’t always achieve the best shot. This is where digital enhancement becomes useful.

What is digital enhancement you might wonder? Digital enhancement is the answer to all image quality problems. With digital enhancement, you can easily enhance the beauty of images by simply adjusting the brightness, contrast and sharpness of the picture. There is also the opportunity to improve the color balance of the picture. Resizing the image and cropping it at the same time can also be simply made.

Improving a picture can be done in many inventive ways through digital technologies. Many digital photography services are available online for anyone to take advantage of and many of these are at no cost. Other benefits if going digital are that the digital prints themselves are long lasting in comparison to their traditional predecessors. They are fade-resistant and water-proof. Another advantage of digital is that after taking the shot and the editing, printing photos is simply done with the help of the do-it-yourself printers on the market today. Photo prints printed in this way have demonstrated to be more long lasting, unlike the film-based photography.

Digital enhancement works in a way where you are given the opportunity to prepare your pictures and modify them to achieve the greatest image quality. You can do the photo enhancements using photo editing software or by utilizing the services of a professional digital photography firm. When you opt to use a photo editing software, the image is usually saved in jp or jpeg format. Then you can upload the image and send them to several websites that offer photo printing services.

Giving consideration to all these digital photography basics will bring you great options when it comes to taking pictures in its best form. Make the most of what digital technology has to offer. If you want to get quality pictures, you should utilize the digital editing and enhancement services that are available through some photo printers online. With these services at hand, picture-perfect shots are just within reach.