Tag: Image Processing How To
Article: Toolbox: HDR Magic
One of the wonders of digital photography is that there’s always something new to experiment with.
Article: Better B&W With Digital Toning
Long ago in the darkroom, just when I thought I understood black-and-white printing, my teacher introduced another challenge: toning. ...
Article: A Sharper Image
A common misunderstanding about image sharpening is that it can save a blurry or out-of-focus image.
Article: RAW Workflow Basics
Capturing digital photos in RAW mode provides a variety of benefits, such as the ability to fine-tune color temperature after capture, greater exposure latitude than JPEG capture and the opportunity to work with high-bit data.
Article: Content-Aware Fill
We’ve all taken images that are perfect except for some unwanted element in the frame.
Article: The Fine Art Of Self-Publishing
Uploading images to Facebook, Flickr and other popular online sharing sites is fun, mainly because of the instant gratification it provides. ...
Article: Basic Tech: Get To Know Your Metadata
Every photo captured with a digital camera has metadata attached to it. Metadata literally is “data about data.”
Article: Expand Your Range
Look, ma! No HDR (high-dynamic-range) program or HDR plug-in! That’s right, HDR fans.
Article: Exposure Rescues
A confession: I’ve made every photo mistake in the book. But, hey, I’ve been at this game for 331⁄3 years.
Article: Haute Shot
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Article: Practical HDR
Sooner or later, a photographer will run into the brick wall of the limitations of the digital camera sensor. Sensors today are very good, but they’re incapable of capturing the full range of tonality—from extreme shadow to bright highlights—that our...
Article: Classic Black & White
In an over saturated world, the elegant, timeless appeal of black-and-white is in its simplicity. To get frame-worthy results, with a beautiful range of tones, you don’t have to be a student of the Zone System—but you do need to start with a proper...
Article: From Flat To Fab
This is a bad news/good news story—one with a happy ending. This past November, I had the opportunity to travel to the bottom of the world to photograph emperor penguins. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. I planned this trip to Antarctica f...
Article: Pro Tips: Demystifying Image Resizing
Depending on how we want to use an image, we often need to create new copies at different resolutions. You might be making your image smaller for use on the web or increasing the resolution to make a larger print.
Article: Quality Of Light
You may not believe it at first, but all the photographs in this issue of PCPhoto have something in common. That something in common is, of course, light.
Article: Add A Creative Touch To Your Pictures
We all strive for pictures that look unique, artistic and creative. That goes for when they're framed and hung on a wall, when they're posted on the web, and maybe even when they're published in a book or magazine article. One creative idea is to...
Article: Photoshop Actions And Batch Processing
I frequently hear photographers talk about maximizing their time behind a camera and minimizing their time at the computer. It's not the creative postproduction that these photographers want to avoid—it's the digital drudgery that can consume so much o...
Article: Keep The Noise Down In Your Digital Images
Noise, the digital equivalent of film grain, can be a challenge to overcome. It appears as an irregular, sand-like texture that, if small, is essentially invisible; if large, it can be unsightly and a distraction from your image. Noise can have...
Article: Adventures In Aperture
I made this image during my trip to Carnevale in Venice, Italy, this year. Sure, the model is terrific, and the location, an 800-year-old palace, is fantastic. From a technical standpoint, the image is super-sharp, the lighting is flattering and...
Article: A Cloning Primer
No matter how hard you try to keep everything looking good in the picture area, sooner or later something creeps in that doesn't belong. Visual trash creates a distraction from your subject and your composition. It keeps you from enjoying your...
Article: Selective Sharpening
Digital photos typically need some sharpening in Photoshop to bring out the original sharpness of the scene as imaged by the lens. But not all photographs have everything in sharp focus, so they don't need overall sharpening.
Article: Favorite Plug-Ins
Photoshop and...
Article: Color Saturation: Getting It Right
While black-and-white photography has enjoyed a rebirth of interest, color is still how the world appears and is mostly photographed. Yet colors you see and experience often don't quite translate to the picture you compose. We also sometimes want to...
Article: Tame The Contrast Monster
Although digital camera sensor technology has made big strides in recent years, there still are limits to the range of tones sensors can capture. So we often end up with highlights that are too bright or dark, muddy shadows.
Article: Fast Efex
The trouble with creativity in Photoshop—going beyond the basics to more imaginative, artistic changes—is knowing where to start. The possibilities are almost endless and therein lies the rub. That's where Photoshop plug-ins like Nik Color Efex Pro 3...
Article: Photoshop Faster
I think most photographers have a somewhat love-hate relationship with Photoshop. It's a great program, to be sure, and it offers the most comprehensive and expandable set of tools for photographers. But on the other hand, it takes time to learn...
Article: Seven Steps For A Better Image
Constructed in a remote area of Peru in the 15th century, the lost city of Machu Picchu, the grandest of all Inca sites, is truly one of the photographic wonders of the world. Adobe Photoshop and its little sister, Adobe Photoshop Elements, can be...
Article: Lightroom Hearts Photoshop
Check out the opening...
Article: Simulating In-Camera Effects
Article: Saving A Backlit Shot
One of the most challenging situations for a...
