As well as a passion for photography, I also have to admit to having a passion for photo editing too. Mainly however I do try to keep the editing reasonably true to the original image as seen, and just bring out some extra hidden details.

There are always occasions though when I like to get a bit more creative, as is the case here…

The original shot was mine, but unfortunately I can’t take credit for the night sky… as much as I’d love to… You will find a brief explanation on how I achieved this final result HERE…

I have become increasingly reliant upon Adobe Lightroom to manage my photo shoots and perform basic edits.  Lately I acquired the Nik Complete Collection for Lightroom, having previously used Nik Color Efex Pro and Viveza in Photoshop.  Wow, it’s made a big difference in my workflow.  I now find myself doing much more work in Lightroom and sometimes not even really needing to go to Photoshop, even for final touchups.

This video demonstrates how quick and easy it is to take a problem photograph and spruce it up right in Ligthroom, with the help of Nik Viveza, which is my favorite of their plugins.

Imagine that you are a wedding photographer and are preparing a large batch of images for the happy couple to review.  Bring everything into Lightroom, sort and select candidates…then have the firepower to make those candidates look very good very quickly.  With Viveza, I can do things I would normally do using masking techniques in Photoshop.  Sure, I may not have pinpoint control over everything, as in Photoshop; but, again, in many cases this combo will work very well and, most importantly, save a bunch of time.  And I can do it using the mouse, not a tablet.

I am not a huge fan of plugins, but I have to confess that I do like the Nik stuff…very high quality and their software does pretty minimal pixel damage.  Awesome.

So here’s the quick video.  It’s sped up…but in real time I had to spend only a couple minutes of my life turning an underexposed self-portrait into something usable.

From July to December of this year, I have been volunteering my time at the Municipal Photo Archive of the city of New York. Michael Lorenzini, Curator of Photography, was my co-panelist at an American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) presentation earlier this year (see related post). I originally approached him to see if I could help him in some way to improve the Archive’s visibility and use among professional photo researchers and photo editors.

Some of my tasks included:
Formulating and designing an easy-to-use fee schedule so the Archive’s users and customers can easily refer to image pricing and terms of use.
Redesigning the existing website with a proposed e-commerce functionality to enable online image purchasing/licensing.
Editing the Archive’s Works Progress Administration database (in Microsoft Access) for inclusion into a new LUNA Insight platform.
Providing feedback and insight regarding the needs of professional picture buyers.

It was a rewarding period during which I was able to apply my insights into the stock photography industry, while simultaneously gaining hands-on experience in a photo archive.

To date, none of these projects have yet been implemented, so more information is to come. The photo collection at the Municipal Archives is unique and beautiful, and Michael’s efforts in launching the new online platform is truly commendable.

When shopping for a digital camera, there are a few things that you should consider. It is not only to get the cheapest digital camera or the model with the most functions. Check out my list and than go and find the right camera model for your special purposes.

Size
Small is beautiful. Todays digital cameras are sometimes so small, that they fit into the breast pocket of your shirt easily and are still fully featured so you get the most out of the camera in almost every situation.

very good for snapshots as well as for most photographic challenges with these models. They offer a trough the lens view finder, which gives you a correct impression of the jpg format (higher compression results in smaller files, but in lower picture quality). Now, I wish you good luck with shopping for a new digital camera.

camera cameras body. and These than cameras the compared difference to in traditional lower SLR in (Single view Lens can Reflex) easily this be circumstance a leads good to luck get with compatible the lenses lcd.

for Bridge and cameras than increases go from and thrid presents party a manufactures longer that trip. they Below fit table on lists a the spare happy one smile or of big the fingers. lack In of this photos case that it they can fit better on compensate traditional the cameras same increases that from you year will to take the picture, the mirror is moved away, the shutter to take the picture (e.g. sharpness, focus, light). Some more advanced models also use the small LCD screen on the market.

The viewfinder is located in the upper left corner of the average person. Disadvadvantages are the fixed lenses, the lack of influence you can take on the back panel of the camera positioned like on traditional cameras and as the memory chip allows. Pics that turned out to be low quality can easily be discarded and again you have room on your morning run or the happy smile of your shirt easily and are still fully featured so you get the cheapest digital camera is useful when you want to do more serious work.

Think about taking pictures where the internal flash is disabled and you work with longer shutter speeds. A heavier camera is used for doing portraits or close-up work. The lenses are interchangebel and you sometimes even get compatible lenses from thrid party manufactures that are of similar quality, but lower in price. The picture is reflected into the viewfinder via a mirror (this is why its called reflex). When you release the shutter button. System there are many different kinds of cameras on the market today.

It works very similar to traditional SLR cameras, but using the digital cameras compared to traditional ones is that the picture of a wonderful sunrise when your are on your morning run or the happy smile of your kids when you want to do more serious work. Think about taking pictures where the internal flash or could not work the tiny buttons to select the diverse functions, a modern digital camera works very similar to traditional SLR cameras, but using the jpg-format: Resolution \ Quality_____Best_____Good_____Standard 6 mpixel – 1536×1024___106______173_________271 The above quality rating is based on the markiet today.

The consumer has the choice between an ever increasing number of photos that fit on a 128 MB memory card to take the picture, the mirror is moved away, the shutter curtains open and the light is directly sent to the CCD chip in the camera with a good zoom factor. Ranging from wide angle to telephoto, you can shoot as many pictures as the resolution of the jpg format (higher compression results in smaller files, but in lower picture quality). Now, I wish you good luck with shopping for a digital camera, there are a few things that you can shoot as many pictures as the resolution of the camera (seen from the rear) and presents a picture that is slightly offset to what the he usual wants compact to digital get process compatible instead lenses of for brands, and but for in most a simple nightmare system for on most traditional photographic SLR parameters (Single and Lens find Reflex) the this fingers type could of not similar practical quality, and but for mainly your his life.

type But of too display small is telephoto moved lens away, view the finder, mirror which is gives easier you to want take, to regardles an of object, your the life.

Anyone who has read my various postings already knows I’m not right in the head. I’m “special” as my colleagues across the pond might say. I have a variety of hang-ups about photography, my abilities as related to photography, and in particular of the creative process that can be explored via software.

So why is it I love my iPhone and its camera?

Let’s be honest: as a camera it is mediocre at best. Granted, the 3GS model does bring larger sized images than did the 3G model, but I’m not certain there was any appreciable increase in the quality of the images. I could list all the flaws in the camera built in to this device, but what would be the point? Describing it as “mediocre” probably sums it up well enough.

Yet I find it completely irrelevant. I love using it. I love snapping pictures anytime and anywhere. This does not come as a surprise as I have often noted how much more I love being actually behind the camera as opposed to in front of the computer monitor, labouring with the process of editing, etc. And so I snap, and snap and snap every single day. Some I simply share via e-mail with family and/or friends, while other images are simply for my enjoyment.

But I have also found a strong and pleasant feeling that comes with playing around with my images via the numerous photo editing apps I have downloaded and installed on my iPhone. At this moment in time I have five different apps, each of which is solely dedicated to editing the images I take with my iPhone. I actually have a few other image-related apps, but they aren’t related to actually editing images.

Anyway….

I enjoy messing around with these apps in ways I have yet to be excited by the likes of Photoshop Elements. And I find this weird. Elements is such a powerful piece of software with the capabilities and abilities to do so many things, yet I have not embraced them. No doubt this is due, in no small part, to my lack of creativity. When I see my images I do not ’see’ what I might do with them other than to correct exposure, add some contrast, etc.

Yet, I look quite forward to massaging my iPhone images through any of the various apps I have installed, preferring Photogene and Best Camera the most thus far. Why? Maybe it’s because I can do this…

I have been pondering this question for the past few weeks after I noticed how much I enjoyed working with my images on my phone. About the only reason I can offer is that these apps are really pretty basic and don’t actually require me to be creative, but instead to simply be satisfied with the results.

Most of the apps installed offer preset effects which are applied to your image. Best Camera ups the ante by allowing the user to layer more than one effect, which I’ve made use of one more than one occasion. Perhaps it is this simplicity, this “Don’t worry your head about it Forkie….we’ll suss it all for ya,” that I like, prefer and need?

Whatever is the reasoning, the opening splash screen for the Best Camera app states “The Best Camera Is the One That’s With You,” and they are spot on. I may love my 40D and Rebel XTi (400D), and I may lust for the Canon 7D, but I’ll be damned if my iPhone really isn’t the best camera sometimes…because it’s always with me in ways the others cannot.

Given the task of illustrating home design color trends for the upcoming year, Market Editor Keri VonDrak, Photographer Martin Crabb and Art Director Peggy Gadway once again produced the visuals for an engaging and brilliant story. I did the color trend research, chose the palettes and designed the pages.

A few front-page images for whgmag.com, Washington Home and Garden magazine’s Web site.

We take a look at what the cute Tuzki can do to your photos.

App Name: TuzkiSnap

by Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, Inc.

Price: Free (20/12/2010)

Reviewed on: 20/12/2010

Platform: OS 3.1.2

Device: iPhone 3GS

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

You may not recognised the name Tuzki from the start, but I am sure you have seen its cute emoticons around. Tuzki is this adorable bunny that has helped convey  many emotions for IM users around the world.

So what does Tuzki have to offer to the Apple app store?

TuzkiSnap is an app that allows users to enhance their photographs with  the help of the comical Tuzki.

Having seen many animated gifs of Tuzki, it is kind of weird to see it in static forms. But moving or not, this bunny remains as expressive as ever.

For a free app, TuzkiSnap can rival most of the photo editing apps out there, even those paid ones.

Once you have opened the app, you can choose to take a photo or edit one that is already in your photo album.

There are a host of things that you can do within the app. You can add a frame, add a stamp (items, Tuzki and accessories) and add  text (both handwritten or text in different fonts and colours).

When you are done editing your photo, you can choose to share it with your friends through email or Facebook after you have saved it.

The apps utilises the multi-touch, so you can enlarge or shrink your picture, stamps or text by dragging them open or close. It also allows you to rotate the objects by simply turning them with your fingers.

The feature I liked most, is the free hand function. This allows you to write and draw on your photos as you like. There is no limit to what this can do, your imagination and creativity are the only restrictions here.

The whole interface is impressive in that it is really user friendly. I was able to execute whatever I wanted to with ease.The only difficulty I have was in shrinking objects. Once an object reaches a certain size, it becomes hard to further minimise them. I don’t know whether that is because I have large fingers but it would be nice if you can zoom in and out of the photo to work on a specific area.

There is one neat feature of the app that remains hidden from me until I chanced upon it in a user comment on the internet. While in the photo editing interface, you can generate random Tuzki artwork onto the photo by shaking your device. The good and bad about this is that the artworks that are generated are not available as stamps. Which means that you can be surprised by which cute Tuzki you get with each shake. However, this also means that if you are looking for a specific Tuzki, you would have to shake the device until you managed to get it.

*For the festive season, TuzkiSnap recently released an update which features Christmas theme objects. It would be neat if similar updates would be introduced for other occasions too.

Summary

The Good

• Easy to use interface
• Vast customisation options (objects, text fonts, sizes and colours)
• Free hand function that let you draw or write whatever you want
• Shake features that randomly generates objects
• Special festive objects for Christmas

The Bad

• Minimising objects may be slightly challenging at small scale
• Tuzki objects are plenty but still does not feel enough

What could have been…

I have little complains about this app, but if anything, like I mentioned, it would be good if you can zoom in and out of a photo to work on a specific area, especially considering the screen size of an iPhone/iPod Touch. Also, I would love to have those hidden objects, generated only through shakes, to be available for selection as well.

Final Rating:

Closing Comment:

TuzkiSnap is really a steal. It is probably one of the best free photo-editing apps out there. The amount of features available and its general ease of use make this one of the must-haves if you are into this type of photo editing.

Adobe released updates for their photo editing software, has announced three new software updates. While Lightroom 2.6 is a free upgrade for users running Lightroom 2 or higher, the Camera 5.6 is free for current Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements 8, or Premiere Elements 8 users, and finally the DNG update is free for all users.

While these updates were originally posted as trial updates for community testing, the final versions offer added RAW file support for 20 popular camera models including the Nikon D3s, Canon EOS 7D, and Leaf Aptus II 5, as well as DNG support for Leica M9 and Ricoh GXR camera models. Furthermore the updates also bring additional camera support for Panasonic FZ38, Sony A500, Sony A550 and Canon EOS 1D Mark IV models.

OK, I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Mostly because I’m exhausted from not getting enough sleep this week and then not being able to catch up on sleep this weekend.

I was down at a Christmas party in Richmond this weekend and one of my friends made a side comment about not being able to make her photos brighter. I figure if she was curious how to do it, then there are probably plenty of other people wondering as well.

I know it took me a while to get it figured out at first.

There are three main ways to get more light into your photos (i.e. make them brighter) without using a flash or some other outside light.

All of them have their pros and cons, so it helps to know what they are and practice until you’re comfortable in different situations. They’re all pretty simple in concept

1 Lengthen the shutter speed

The longer the shutter is open the more light it allows to reach the camera’s sensor.

Think of it like a window in the winter. The longer you leave a window cracked open, the colder the house will get.

However, the downside to having a slower shutter speed is that you have to hold the camera still as long as the shutter is open. So the longer the shutter is open, the longer the camera has to stay in one spot.

Thankfully, some smart person decided to invent the tripod.

2 Widen the Aperture

The wider the shutter opens the more the light can come in .

Again, back to the window explanation. The wider you open your window the faster the cold air will come in.

The downside to having a larger aperture is that less of the image will be in focus at one time. So small f-stop numbers won’t be good for taking group photos. Or landscape shots.

However, it is great for drawing the viewer’s attention to the subject that is in focus. It also allows for you to have a faster shutter speed so you don’t have to hold the camera still quite as long.

You can also combine longer shutter speeds and a larger aperture to get even brighter photos. The house is going to get colder if you leave that window wide open for a couple of minutes instead of a couple of seconds.

3 Raise the ISO level

Raising the ISO level is essentially making your camera sensor more sensitive to light. Therefore, the higher the ISO levels, the brighter the photo will be.

The main trade-off with raising the ISO level is a little more obvious on this one. The higher the ISO level is the more noise will be in the photo. It will be brighter, but it won’t be as sharp. This begins to get really evident the higher you go.

One use of a higher ISO level would be if you wanted to make a really grungy looking black and white photo. Especially if you want that tough look. Either that or you’re just going for something different and interesting.

Like I said, it can be tricky to get these all figured out. So go out and experiment. Try using your camera in Shutter Priority mode (S). Try it in Aperture Priority mode (A). Try it in Manual Mode Sometimes refered to as Program Mode (M) or (B).

Try mixing and matching to see what you like. Different situations are going to need different settings. And the only way to get used to using those different settings will be to practice.

Did you ever had a task to recreate a certain logo that involves text?  I know this is an easy task.  But what if you don’t have the resources like the font used for a Logo?  Chances are, your first instinct is to find the closest possible match for the logo.  And that work is really a pain in the eye.  Imagine searching the whole internet for that single font!

The best solution for that kind of problem is head over to Myfonts.com.  They have this unique tool which you can upload an image of a logo text and they will provide the closest possible match for you.

Result

See the results?  Not a bad match isn’t it?  I must say that this website is essential to every logo (re)creator in the planet.

website: http://www.myfonts.com/

Have you ever wondered what it was like to fly most of the way down the coast at the crack of dawn? For the most part it’s not very fun because you’re up several hours before you want to be. Not only that, but you have to be functioning on top of that.

However, you’re in for a real treat when you get up above the clouds. Talk about a light show.

I had planned on sleeping on my flight to Atlanta before connecting to Tucson, but I had not idea what I was going to see out that little porthole.

Click the link below to view photos from the flight.

Gallery: DULLES TO HOTLANTA

A modeling agency wanted to see how well I could enhance a photo, they sent me this one. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it off. After all the enhancements were complete, we both were pleased.

I learn something new every time I work on an image. I used to wonder how photo retouchers could make the models skin so smooth and it still have the texture of the skin. My photoshop book gave instructions to use the blur tool….not. That is definately not the way to go. Here is what you do.

Use your clone tool to remove all bumps and blemishes. When that is complete, find an area on the skin that has a good tone. Sample that area with the dropper. Then select the brush. Set the opacity between 12 and 20. Set the flow at around 25 to 30. Choose the brush size that is comfortable for you then go for it. Make sure you distribute an even tone through out.

This needs to be said first – THIS IS NOT ME!

This is a very good friend of mine, my high-school classmate, the greatest girl ever, Miz B.

I love her very, very much and there are tons of gorgeous memories that will never be left behind.

Recently I have noticed this original picture on her Facebook profile.

And it’d left a lasting thought in my mind.

Although I liked the picture I had this feeling that there was something missing.

I liked their poses and the expressions in their eyes (the contentment in hers and every existing feeling in his).

And I liked the tree branch…

But wait, what about that gray film covering the whole picture?

Could I do something about that?

Although I am not a professional I am deep in love with photography …

… so I opened the picture in my photo editing software called GIMP (which is free, by the way, and it is very similar to Photoshop).

First, I decided to adjust the contrast …

You ugly gray film – BE GONE!

This is one of my most favorite tricks – ramping up the contrast.

It makes photos look so much more professional.

OK, the white dress is a bit overexposed now, but I think it transfers the picture out into the artistic dimension.

Ha!

Then I thought that the pic could use a bit more color …

So I went to “Hue-Saturation”, chose “Colors” and lifted the green up to 40 and the yellow to 29 …

It made the day look sunnier than it really was.

It wasn’t sunny at all actually.

What about a bit more sharpness (“Filters” -> “Enhance” -> “Unsharp Mask”)?

Yeah, that has helped, just compare their faces or the flowers.

At this point I thought that the pic could be a bit lighter.

So I clicked “Colors” -> “Color Curves” and lifted the curve a bit.

Who likes dark pictures?

Not us!

And now onto the skin.

I used the “Smudge Tool” here (you can find it on the left panel).

With the tool opacity reduced a bit, I smudged their foreheads (have you noticed the strange looking vein-like thing on her forehead?), cheeks, her neck and his hands to remove all the unnecessary shadows or wrinkles.

Nobody needs those.

I think it’s made her look  much prettier.

And him too – he’s lost much of that scared expression.

(And I added a bit more color here again to make it a tad more lively.)

And now, what if we put them into even more focus.

Have you ever heard of darkened edges?

I love them!

Make a new layer (“Layer” -> “New Layer”) and fill it with black.

Then add a white layer mask (“Layer” -> “Mask” -> “Add Layer Mask”).

With the mask chosen (clicked), click the “Ellipse Select Tool” on the left panel and create the ellipse.

Now fill the selection with black (with the “Bucket Fill Tool” from the left panel).

This sounds pretty crazy, doesn’t it?

I myself don’t know what exactly I am doing here right now, but it just works somehow.

I clicked “Select” -> “None”.

And since I wanted the layer to look a bit blurred I clicked “Filters” -> “Blur” -> “Gaussian Blur” and blurred the layer.

Then I used this powerful thing called the “Layer Opacity” (upper part of the right panel) which basically allows you to faint the effect you’ve just created on your new layer.

I reduced it from 100% to 44 %.

Well, I think this could be just enough for today.

And here it is before again …

…

… and after.

Before and After.

(Miz B loved it – she said she looked much prettier in the new picture and it all looked very much 3D.)

The End

Keychain watch I made for my stepdad

Christmas is just around the corner and I’m almost done shopping for the kids…correction, almost out of money to spend on the kids! I still have to buy for my (ex)stepson and my…well, you know.  My ex-husband/current guy, whatever.  It’s awkward, I guess I still don’t know what to call him.

I joined an awesome site that offers FREE photo gifts and got all the other adult gifts done in one sitting!  Join here! I spent a total of 34$ for shipping and handling and ordered a two-sided pillow for my daughter (one side is Edward, the other is Jacob! lol), a keychain watch for my stepdad, calendars for the grandmas, a watch for my brother, a keychain for my marmee (My kids call their great-grandma “Marmee.”) and for my sister-in-law, and a money clip watch for my dad.  Whew.  It was more fun and much easier than hitting the mall, that’s for sure!  I love giving personalized gifts, I hate shopping, and I never pass up a chance for FREE stuff!  They have so many gifts to choose from: purses, mousepads, ornaments, umbrellas…even a flip lighter (Zippo style), cigarette case, and flask!  They also offer photo printing; when you sign up you get 600 free 4×6 prints and 600 free 5×7’s! In addition to the FREE gift items, they also offer lots of great discounts.  And if you follow my link, so graciously provided many times throughout this post you will be eligible for even more great free stuff!

Here are the current special discount offers:

Here’s the link again, just in case you missed it! www.artscow.com/?Ref=723974

So I get lots of inquiries on flickr and other places where I post my pictures on how much ‘photoshopping’ (terrible verb by the way, Photoshop doesn’t exist on my chosen platform) I do if any, and people want to know what software I use and all that. So: rather than repeat myself every other day, I am just going to write a detailed account of my workflow here, and link folks who ask directly to it.

When it comes to hardware, it’s pretty simple. I built my photo editing and main desktop rig myself. A few main stats:

• AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+
• 4x 1GB 800 MHz DDR RAM for a total of 4096MB memory
• 3x Hitachi HDP72505 500GB SATA HDD for a total of 1.5 terabytes of disk space

I have it running dual-head and have two identical Acer 20″ flat screen LCD monitors. As far as camera gear, I have a Nikon D40 body, and a Nikon D90 body. For more info on my camera gear please see the about page, there is more info on lenses and all that.

On the software side of things, I should mention that I don’t run Windows, no, not Mac either. I’m one of those crazy software hippies that use Linux. This has, of course, shaped my digital photographic workflow to a large extent, as most commercial software available to Windows and Mac users is not available to me. To be perfectly clear, I am just fine with that fact as I much prefer to use open source software if it is available.

So: say I’ve been out for a long hard day of shooting. I should mention here that I always shoot RAW format, in my case, producing Nikon’s ‘.nef’ files. Upon returning home the first thing I do is import all my files to my photo organizing software of choice: digikam. My directory structure goes like this -> ‘Raw Photos’ -> ‘year’ -> ‘month’ -> ‘day’. If I was shooting with both bodies, each will get its own directory suffixed with the body model. So pictures I shot on December 4, 2009 look like this:


My Albums/Raw Photos/2009/12/2009-12-04-D40/
My Albums/Raw Photos/2009/12/2009-12-04-D90/


I put the full date in the last directory name as the full path is not always visible, and I find the exact date to be useful information. I will immediately tag all photos in digikam with the geographic location of the shots, and with any other tags which may apply. Now I will begin with my inspection and culling of all the shots. I will ’star’ any exceptional shots, and delete the obvious duds. All others, which make up the large majority, remain status-quo.

Next, after deleting the crap and identifying the pictures I wish to publish to flickr, I open my RAW editor, Raw Therapee. When I first started shooting RAW, I tried both Raw Therapee and UFRaw. Nothing wrong with UFRaw really, I just prefered Raw Therapee, so I standardized on it. You would do well to try both if you are looking for a RAW editor.

Above is a screenshot showing a typical view of Raw Therapee. Now as for actual editing, there’s a few things I do by default, and you can see from the capture on the left side that I have saved them as a preset called “Darren’s Default”. Basically it is only two things, and increase in contrast, and an increase in saturation (Raw Therapee calls this ‘color boost’). If the photo in question has some poorly exposed areas, I will try to lighten them using the ‘Highlights and Shadow’ tool in the ‘Exposure’ tab. Generally a small tweak here will lighten up the dark areas nicely. I find you don’t want to be too heavy-handed here, as it will make the photos a bit too tacky and HDRish. Yes, I have been guilty of this a few times. For some long exposures I will also do a white balance adjust at this point, for example, if street lights are creating an ugly orange/yellow cast on the photo.

That’s it for Raw Therapee. At this point I save the picture as a 16 bit TIFF file straight into the same directory in digikam that the RAW file came from.

So digikam has a few handy editing features built right in. At this point I will open the TIFF file for (lossless) editing. I use digikam to perform any black & white conversions and crops. I also use it to straighten the horizon if I flubbed it in camera. Obviously the previous steps only apply to a few photos. At this point however, almost every photo I take gets run through an unsharp mask. If the picture requires more drastic editing at this point such as cloning or selective desaturation (very few do) I would open the TIFF file with The Gimp at this point, and save back into digikam when finished.

So now I save each TIFF file I intend to publish to flickr as an 8-bit JPG to save on space and bandwidth. Here’s a screenshot of digikam, with the main window filtered to show only JPG files ready for upload to flickr:

So that’s about it. I use FlickrUploadr which is built right into digikam to upload my pics to flickr. This is also where they get resized to 1600px on the long side. I wish I didn’t have to do this but I was finding it took way to long to upload the original sizes. Perhaps if I ever get a superfast OC3 internet connection I may reconsider this

To recap, the large majority of my shots, probably about 85% of them only have the following ‘photoshopping’ done to them:

1. increase contrast
2. increase saturation
3. unsharp mask

That’s it!

So, CameraBag Desktop for Windows was released. I already use it for my iPhone pics and love some efects like Helga, Lolo, Colorcross. Now I can edit photos taken with other cameras I have directly in the computer. It’s cool! It’s not expensive. I played with it a bit applying some effects to some of my photos taken with 5D and I must confess that I found it a little bit strange, because afterall, the photos were looking like my iPhone photos! I’ll try to use it more this week and look at the photos at their actual size to see the details andcheck if the quality of the photos are good. If they’re not, I’ll keep using only the app for iPhone. I’ll see.

A blog post looks appealing when you have photos in it.  Just like the photo on the left side.  It tries to inform the reader (or at least trigger it curiosity) what the post is all about.

But what if you don’t have a bunch of photos available for posting? And  your camera is broken.  You can head to this site SXC.HU.  SXC means Stock Exchange.

It is a place where all those people like photographers, artists, designers etc. generously publish their to the public with out profit intentions.  Take note that there are some authors which requires you to at least notify them before you can use their work.

I’ve been using this site for all my works, from simple photo editing to multi-slide presentations.  It has a wide variety of images that you can use and modify.   So all my thumbs are up for this site!

Here are a few examples: