For Windows users—Vista, XP, Windows 7 or 8—Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor), version 1.4.4, generates single or multi-row panoramas with a speed and accuracy that leaves Photoshop eating dust. It’s a free, no-frills, stand-alone application. I downloaded it last month after having some difficulty with Elements 10’s Photomerge Panorama. Re-loading Elements 10, as well as […]
Photo Tip: Ligthroom 3 Black and White ____ 2011/11
If Ansel Adams had had the darkroom power of Lightroom 3 to manipulate black and white imaging, he’d do a leaping victory dance like Jack Black in The Big Year. Ansel artfully dodged and burned his negatives, and controlled light in the field with filters, one filter per shot. Today, digital age tools boost control […]
Photo Tip: Composition for Panoramas ____ 2011/09
I had some fun shooting panoramas in August. Some worked out well and some didn’t; there were a few pleasing surprises. A successful pano requires not so much mastery of the technical aspects, easily done, but thought and imagination with composition that is especially demanding with rapidly changing light or with people on the move. […]
Clipped Bird Wing Repair in Photoshop Elememts 8 ____ 2011/07
A throw-away image rises to four-stars. I was in Eastern Washington last week at a Williamson’s Sapsucker nest site. They’re interesting birds, and unlike other woodpeckers, the male and female look completely different. The male is a black and white typical of woodpeckers, but the female is brown with spectacular white barring on the wings. […]
Photo Tip: Focus Stacking ____ 2011/06
Focus stacking is a relatively new digital imaging technique, especially useful for macro and scientific photography, and an occasional aid for landscapes and small portraits as well. It’s a clever digital answer to lens optic limits that conspire to demolish resolution and depth-of-field (DOF). Image resolution falls precipitously at high f-stops (f/22 and smaller). Depth-of-field […]
Photo Tip: A Matter of Numbers ___ 02/2009
If you work at composition—and what photographer doesn’t—you’re probably aware that number is a compositional element, and a powerful one. Consider that composition is a way of organizing a photograph. The best compositions paring down, simplifying, gett to the essence. It puts a stamp on who you are as a photographer.Number is one of many […]
Digital Thinking: A Vertical from a Horizontal __ 01/2009
For many of us, shooting verticals takes a conscious effort. The comfortable grip of most cameras—especially most dSLR’s—induces “landscape” shots. Only high-end dSLR’s have a built-in vertical grip that helps make “portrait” shooting routine. Still, rotating the camera 90° involves either a thought like “I should get this in a vertical for its cover potential”; […]