Cameras-n- Stuff

I am finally hosting a blog!

Dabbled in writing a few posts at WordPress, but now it is official.

My goal is to share news and insight into the world of digital cameras and photography help in the form of training and/or tutorials to make better pictures.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed at the top of the page, or go to the Digital-Photographic-Resources home page and sign up for the newsletter.

Check out this picture of some cows in a field. I may have fooled you, or you may have guessed that the cows are not real.

I used Photoshop to “cut out” the cows from a picture taken at a friend’s house. I then resized them and placed them into the field.

Finally, I used Picnik, a free online editing program, to put the vingette and frame around the photo.

Other free online applications include GIMP and Picasa. but I really like the user friendly interface of Picnik.

Here is another example. I took this family photo, added some brightness and contrast, as well as the polaroid-type frame. Looks a lot better, doesn’t it?

I did this in about 2 minutes.

One of the things I like about Picnik is that you don’t even have to register to start editing your photos, and there is no program to download. Just upload your photo and start editing. When done, save it back onto your own computer.

The free sites also have the option of saving and sharing your images on their server.

Having your own version of Photoshop, or some other powerful editing software certainly gives you more options, but the movement toward editing online is taking on momentum. Give it a try.

For more software options, check the Software Choices page.

I love photo processing software!

I use Photoshop CS4.

Hey, did you know you can get Photoshop products for 80% below retail at the Adobe Education Store. — That is if you are an educator or a secondary student? Just thought you might be interested. (That’s the only way I could do it.)

Otherwise, I would use Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate
(Full $99.99 $59.99 )

OK, so I came across this new plugin for Photoshop (and it’s not just a plugin – there is a stand alone version if you don’t have Photoshop.) It’s called Green Screen Wizard.

Have your heard of Chroma Key processing? It’s been used in video for years. Like when the weather dude is standing in front of the weather map, but he really isn’t. Instead, he is in front of a green screen, and they can superimpose his body in front of the weather map.

It’s really funny when he wears a green tie, and you can see the weather map where the tie is.

Well, the makers of Green Screen Wizard have taken this chroma key concept and created software that is for photographers.

It is a great product, making the process sooo much better than “cutting” out your model and “pasting” him or her into a new background. I have done this so many times, and it takes quite a bit of skill and time to do it right. Even then, it may look like unnatural.

Here’s one I did using the cut and paste method. It’s my granddaughter standing in the doorway of a 10″ tall Lincoln Log house. Took me probably an hour.

However, now all I need to do is put the subject in front of a green (or blue) screen, shoot the photo and process the image with Green Screen Wizard. The makers have used a formula that actually integrates the two images together so it does not look pasted.

I suggest you give it a try. You can download a free demo of Green Screen Wizard to try it out before committing your hard earned cash.

Of course, you will need a screen. Green Screen Wizard also has a screen you can buy (surprise!), but I have checked prices, and theirs is actually cheaper than any I could find on Amazon or the photo sales sites.

Oh, did I mention that this is NOT just a plugin for Photoshop. You can get the software as a stand alone application, too.

Read my real review HERE. There is much more information and some great sample photos.