Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Shutterbug's Best Friend


Yes! I did take all the photos (no videos) on this blog, except the one of my grandmama. Thank you for asking and for your encouragement, JeannieBuck.

I use a Minolta DiMage 7i (five megapixel*) digital, with a 7x optical zoom*. The zoom lets me bring the action close, and five megapixels are plenty, since I don't make prints larger than 8x10. The camera also has macro (close-up) capability, which is how I can record the backside of a caterpillar's eyeballs.

But my real secret weapon is not my camera, but Adobe Photoshop Elements. I have a lurking suspicion that I'm not a very good photographer, but may be a decent photo editor. Photoshop Elements, an image editing program, can breathe life into the dry bones of a mediocre photographer's work. With it, you can fix red-eye, increase contrast, remove distractions, change the lighting, and adjust the colors in a photo.

Even more fun, you can add filters to your photos to turn them into art.

To illustrate, here is a photo of Erica from our county fair a couple of years back:

And here is the same photo with a variety of filters applied:














WARNING:
Photoshop is highly addictive!!



I'm working on becoming a better photographer, but, in the meantime, Photoshop Elements is my set of training wheels.

*Tomorrow: More on megapixels and optical vs. digital zoom.

4 comments:

Lil red said...

Mrs. Wood,
I will have to talk to Dad about getting photoshop. It looks like a fun program. I really like the middle right picture, where everything is a blur. I like how it makes Erica and Cindy look like they are going faster than they really were. I'm looking forward to more photography tips! Annie

An Old Fashioned Girl said...

AUNT ALICE!! I had no idea you had a blog!! It's in my favorites now!!

I'm SO exsited about coming to visit!!!!

Lydia

P.S. There was 10 exlamation points in that comment...

Anonymous said...

you are too modest! can Photoshop trim a double chin? jeanniebuck

Katie said...

Awesome!!!