Photography

Thumbnail image for How to Give a Photograph a Painterly Look Using Photoshop

How to Give a Photograph a Painterly Look Using Photoshop

Above is a photograph of a car that I recently took at a car show in Westchester. I’d like to give it a painterly look, so here’s how I’m going to do it. The first thing I do is open the photo in Photoshop. Then I’ll go to Shadow/Highlight. The reason I do this is [...]

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Simple Way to Get Rid of Noise using Photoshop

Above is a photo of a black cap chick that I took the other day. It was very overcast and the lighting wasn’t good at all, but I decided to take the shot anyway. It’s very grainy because I had the ISO on my camera set to 800 and the lighting conditions were poor. What [...]

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Making Black & White Photos “POP” Using Photoshop

Above, I have a photo of my neighbor’s cat. I turned it into a black and white photo, but it’s not quite right. It needs a little “pop” to make it more interesting. There are a few simple ways to do this without getting too crazy. The first way is very easy. First I’ll go [...]

Basic Rules for Better Photography

It’s one thing to take a picture, but another to take a photograph. There are some basic rules that can help you take more interesting and eye catching photographs. Once you have the basic rules down, you’ll become more observant of the photographic opportunities that are around you. This is important in creating your “eye” [...]

Thumbnail image for HDR – Using The Dynamic Photo HDR Program

HDR – Using The Dynamic Photo HDR Program

HDR

Above, I have five images exposed for HDR. That means one properly exposed image and one to two over- and under-exposed images. The images are of a tree showing off its fall foliage: Open the Dynamic Photo HDR program. You can get a free trial version on their web site. Go to the File menu [...]

White Balance While Using a Flash – Blue Photos

Ever take pictures of friends and family inside or even outside, and your photos have a blue cast while using a flash? Maybe you even got used to the color and thought that it’s just the way the camera takes the photo. Well, it is the way the camera takes the photo, until you change [...]

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Creating Lightning in an Image using Photoshop

Above, I have an image of the Portland Headlight that I already turned black and white in Photoshop. I think lightning shots look more dramatic in black and white. The first thing I do is drop the image into Photoshop. Next I go to the brush icon on the tools palette: Then I go to [...]

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Replacing a Color in Photographs Using Photoshop

Above, I have a photograph of a tulip that I had taken not too long ago. I like the color of the tulip, but for this tutorial I’ll change the color of the tulip using the Replace Color tool from the Adjustments menu in Photoshop: The first thing I’ll do is drop the image into [...]

Don’t Miss the PDN PhotoPlus Expo in New York City

It’s that time again when photographers from around the universe collect themselves and their photo gear, and head off to the PhotoPlus International Conference & Expo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in NYC. The very first time I went to the show, it was call the “PhotoExpo”. That was in 1984. I’ve gone [...]

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How to Create Motion in an Image

Above is the finished product of this tutorial. Here I have an image of some children playing soccer. I used a fast shutter speed while taking this image, to freeze the action. At this point I think I’d like to put some motion into the image: The first thing I do is drop the image [...]

Thumbnail image for Bringing Color Back into Black & White, from Original Color Photo

Bringing Color Back into Black & White, from Original Color Photo

Above is the result of this tutorial. Here’s an image that I took of a horse at Muscoot Farm in Westchester. In this example I’m going to make the image black and white and then bring the horse back to color. Now I’m going to make a copy of the background layer. So I hit [...]

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Creating a Black Background using Photoshop

Above is the final result of this tutorial. Here is a photo of a brown bear that I took at the Bronx Zoo. I think he came out interesting, but I think that the rocks in the background are a little distracting. I could blur them, or I could turn the background black. In this [...]

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How to Blur a Background to Get Rid of Distractions

Above is the result of this tutorial. Here’s an image of a butterfly that I had taken a while back. I like the way the butterfly came out but I’m not happy with the rest of the image. The leaf on the left keeps catching my eye and the overall feel of the image is [...]

Portrait Tips

With every portrait, the main focus is the subject. To keep the main focus on the subject, you’ll need to get in close. Having too much distraction in the background takes away from your subject, be it a person or animal or a flower. For example, not too long ago I went to a Civil [...]

Websites Aren’t What They Used to Be – Try SmugMug!

Six years ago I started a website showing my photography. It wasn’t easy. My husband had to program the site. He designed it and then put my images onto it. I always felt the need to redesign the site, but it was a lot of work for my husband, who was already bogged down with [...]

Don’t be Afraid to Take Pictures in Bad Lighting

It was a very overcast day. It was actually pretty dark, and it was getting ready to rain. I saw a nuthatch on a branch, so I decided to shoot, anyway. I put my camera on a high ISO of 640, and the F stop was 5.6. I had nothing to lose. Either I would [...]

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