Photo Tutor

I Love Photoshop But Sometimes It Hurts Me

 Photoshop is synonymous with photo processing software for image enhancement and manipulation.  Talk to any photographer that uses it and they will sing its praises.  Even though I work with it every day and have four or five thick books on how it works I know just a small portion of the program.   Trying to sift through the mass of information and learn some important basics is frustrating to anyone who is first exposed to it. 

What are the important basics?  Where do I begin?

     One of the most important processes to learn in Photoshop is nondestructive adjustments.  As with all that we love, sometimes if we are not careful we will get hurt.  As the Photoshop program improves destructive adjustments are being improved or eliminated.  If you don’t have Photoshop and have opted for free image software like Picasa or The Gimp, realize they are free because they do not support nondestructive processing.  Everything you do in these programs progressively damages your digital image.  To an untrained eye they may not be that noticeable but when the histogram is

Rapelje Elevators

 

Welcome Spring.  It has been a loooong winter for us in Red Lodge and any sign of Spring in this neck of the woods has us filled with joy.  We love the winters here but sometimes it just doesn't know when enough is enough!  Just now daffodils and tulips are blooming even though some parts of the country are in the upper 90's.

Me and Tracy like to get away from the gallery once in a while and just drive~ somewhere, anywhere, it doesn't really matter.  We decided to head to Molt and Rapelje Montana to take in the (sights).

What's so strikingly beautiful about this part of the world is the quality of the space around you.  Small towns with very few houses, but lots of silos, and grain elevators and lots of space in between.  The kind of space that makes you feel everything is alright because we can breathe here.  It's quiet except for the birds chattering and the creaking of the old windmills churning with each slight gust of wind.  It's very healing to visit these places where everything feels connected, worn, and comfortable and try to capture those feelings through my photographs.

It amazes me to this day how excited I feel to still take a photograph even though I have been doing it for many decades. Each outing feels fresh and new and there's always something new to discover. 

This image is one I took of one of the elevators in Rapelje.  The weathered wood was so beautiful and the composition of the geometric shapes in the image really caught my eye.

It  doesn't matter where you live there is ALWAYS beauty just waiting to be discovered by your camera and shared with others.  Just get out there and start looking. 

So It's Time To Buy A New Camera

    As the weather becomes more comfortable to venture outdoors, the grass is green, and the flowers are blossoming everywhere, some of us are starting to get the photo bug.  If our current camera is not quite up to our expectations or we lag behind in the technology it might be time to think of upgrading.  With so many different types of cameras, features, and prices how can one know that they are getting what they want and need?
     The first question to ask yourself is what kind of pictures do I like to take?  If you currently use your cell phone and are satisfied with it then stop reading.  If you don’t see yourself having the time or desire to learn much about photography and your images consist of snapshots then most point and shoot cameras that were made in the last few years will be fine.  Try to get one with a built in flash, which will help in low light situations, and one that will take a short movie, for recording stupid things your teenager does that you can use against them later.  These cameras usually take excellent photographs but the file format (jpeg) used to record the images doesn’t process well with image software.  Also remember that they are made to take average types of images.  You probably won’t be able to safely zoom up close to that grizzly in the park or focus as close to that flower as you like.  These cameras may have limited options for creativity but everything is set up to safeguard against most camera shooting mistakes and for general shooting they produce excellent images.  These cameras cost $150-$350 and, for the price, are way better than anything made five years ago.
     If the lag time in shooting with point and shoot cameras is starting to bug you and you have started taking your camera off “auto” to gain more control over your images then a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera might be your choice.  These cameras have removable lenses so you can use

Please Quiet Your Noisy Photographs~ISO Settings

There are SO many international symbols and acronyms used in photography.  In the last couple of articles I've tried to explain what some of those letters and symbols are on your camera dial. 
    
This month I'd like to explain what some other letters mean.  ISO is a standard of film speed

or sensor sensitivity.  The ISO numbers give us understanding of how much light will be needed to make our exposure.
     
Us older photographers may remember setting the ASA or DIN on our film speed dial back when all there was were film cameras.  ISO is an acronym for International Standards Organization, ASA is the Standards American Association, and DIN, mostly used in Europe, was Deutsch Index Number. 
    
We bought our film according to the kind of photography we would be doing. 

A slow speed film with a ASA/ISO of say 50 or 100 was good for photographs when there was plenty

I Used to Take Pictures Now I Create Files. What's With These Files???

     Switching from film to digital capture requires a whole new look at one's photographic knowledge.  I used to create an image by using light to excite the silver halide crystals on a cellulose film.  There were certain films I like better than others.  Now I capture 1's and 0's on a digital sensor and store the images on a memory card. 
     If you look at your QUALITY menu you see some letters that really have no meaning other than in photography.  These are options of different types of files.  Your image can be recorded on your memory card in any of these file formats.  You might think of this as using one type of film on some images and then switching to another for some other shots.  As with anything there are better types of files for one application and others for another application.  It also has to do with how much time you want to spend doctoring up an image and what you want the quality of that image to be. 

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT FILE TYPES THAT CAN BE RECORDED ON YOUR MEMORY CARD
Basic point and shoot cameras may have less options and very expensive DSLR's may have a few more.

JPEG fine
JPEG normal
JPEG basic
TIFF 8 bit
TIFF 16 bit
RAW
DNG

RAW +JPEG fine

RAW+JPEG normal

RAW + JPEG basic

When selecting these formats the camera will record a RAW fine and a JPEG file at the same time

To make sense of what these different files mean I will give the PROS and CONS of each:

Letters and Shooting Modes

The trouble with tools is getting the most out of them.  It helps to learn how to use them properly.  A hammer is pretty simple to get a hang of, but how many of us really know how to program our VCR?  I'm dating myself here.  Even though I can remember a day before VCRs, I do have a DVD player and I'd go as far as to say I know how to burn a DVD too.  So this month I thought I'd explain some of those letters on the dial on top your camera.   Even though I'm one of the few men that reads a camera manual, I know that most people don't get very far in theirs.   It's not very interesting reading and the language is down right dry.  So I'm going to try and help you out here.

Which Icons Do You Choose?

                       Old Abandoned Farmhouse Doorknob
                                         by Gene Rodman

Last month I talked a little about the letters used in the shooting modes of automatic cameras. 

Shooting modes are how the camera sets the aperture and shutter speed by the photographer's preferences for a properly exposed photograph. 

It is possible to have many different exposures that will all properly expose a photograph. 

For example, if you set your lens to let in a lot of light and use a fast shutter speed, it could be the same exposure as setting your lens to let in a little bit of light and use a slower shutter speed. 

Both will result in a properly exposed photograph and the camera takes care of it for you.  So why should I care how I set my camera if it is designed to give me a good exposure no matter how I set it?

Because....

9 Tips for Creating Great Family Portraits

As I mentioned in last week's letter I had spent Christmas in Southern Wyoming in a beautiful log cabin nestled in the mountains.

My sister and her husband own the cabin and invited us to spend Christmas there with all their kids and grandkids.  It is located near Elk Mountain and is very secluded among 300 acres of lodge pole pines and aspens.  Last Fall we spent a week there and traveled all around the area photographing the beautiful aspen groves.  I'll talk about photographing Fall colors in another issue soon.

This trip was special because we got to spend time with my niece and nephew and my great niece and nephew.  It has been at least 5 years since we last saw each other which was also the last time they had their portraits taken.  It's astonishing how much everyone has changed, how the family has grown to include new spouses, and how the topics of conversation are so different now that they have graduated from college and are now responsible "Adults".

One day it was too cold and snowy to go outside so we decided to spend part of the day creating family portraits.  We did the whole family first, then separated the couples and did them individually.  It was the first time my nephew and his girlfriend of 3 years have ever had their portrait taken.  Afterward I had everyone pick their favorites so I could take them home and work on them.  As I also mentioned in my last letter I was going to let you in on some ways to get the best family portraits. So here are a few things to consider:

Understanding Color Channels

After reading a photography article last month I got a thought from something they touched on.  Sometimes I need to hear the same thing told five times or more by different people before something sinks in.  I remember having a difficult time understanding how the color photography thing ever happened.  This is a perfect example of not knowing the technology but still being able to use it. 

Now my simple mind can understand black and white photography because it is just varying degrees of white or lack of white made when light excites little granules of silver.  I guess I could understand how there could be different dyes on film that responded to different colors of reflected light but how can a digital photograph be in color?  I mean isn't a digital photograph just a bunch of 1's and 0's?  How is it possible to get a colored 1 or 0? 

 

It is a good thing that there are smarter people figuring these things out than me. 

Well, just like in film photography there are red, green, and blue dye couplers in the color film emulsion, there are red, green, and blue channels in digital photography.  The digital sensor has an array of red, green, and blue specific sensors that record varying brightness of each color.  Each different color is recorded on your memory card much like different colors are recorded on the dyes in the film emulsion.
 

So here's the kicker~ ....

Learning to See (and other hints on photography)

Now that summer is upon us and everyone is out taking pictures I thought I'd give everyone a few things to think about when you put your camera up to your eye and are about to squeeze the shutter.  Most of us see something pretty and without much thought start snapping away.  I am always looking for pictures but knowing when there's an image that's unique takes a little practice.  This month's photo is one I saw immediately but had to use different lenses until I got the right shot. 

Here's a Few Tips on Helping You to Hone Your Photography Images.

Anyone who has read any of my previous articles knows that I believe all good photographers carry and use a tripod.  If you are going to take the trouble to set up a tripod you are also going to be putting a little more effort into your photography.  The extra weight will keep you younger longer and they make good weapons against big brown furry things.

I'm often concerned with depth of field which means I use small apertures that don't let much light into the camera.  I have to use longer shutter speeds for a proper exposure to make up for the loss of light.  A tripod holds the camera so you can study the scene you have chosen and see things you might not have noticed moving the camera around by hand.

After you have started studying what you are going to photograph, you identify what it is that made you set up your tripod in the first place.  There was something in your proposed picture that caught your eye. 

What is it and what do you want to say about it? 

• Is there anyway to isolate it to give it some attention and use it to make your picture unique? ..