correctmyphotos

What will our Gourmet Group do with the photos?
Last weekend our gourmet group (a group of 4 couples– the guys are the chefs) went to one of the couple’s cabin in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota. The theme of the meal we prepared on Saturday was Greek and it was, if I may so, outstanding and we had a great time. The floor of the canyon is 5000 feet above sea level so there was still a fair amount of snow around and the famous waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls, was frozen solid.  As usual, I am the one in the group that takes the most photos and I give a CD of edited photos to the other couples. Normally, I select the photos worth editing, crop to a 4×6 print format, color correct, and save the fixed photo. But then I remembered that Ron and Karlyn just bought a new super HDTV set and might enjoy viewing the photos in HDTV format. But, Dick and Hope will most likely want to get 4×6 prints made at Sam’s Club and I suspected Bill would just look at them his laptop and maybe send a few to their kids in Dallas. Or, he might pick one of the photos to create a “post card print” to put in the new 5×7 frame he and Mary Kay received as a hostess gift. So, what did I do

 Crop To Digital Camera 3×4 Format and Color Correct.
If you have previously visited my blog you know that I believe every photo needs to be cropped and color corrected. I decided to go through the photos, discard the bad ones, color correct  the remaining photos, and leave them in the 3×4 format, the aspect ratio of the digital camera.  If there was an obvious crop that should be done, such as removing someone’s elbow from the photo, I cropped it, however I used the 3×4 cropping format that is in the new version of  CorrectPhoto. Now when I give the photos to others they can crop to whatever format they desire. And, since they all have CorrectPhoto and know how to use it they can crop to whatever format they want. BTW, none of these guys would have the interest or patience to learn a complicated editing program.  Here is a set of photos showing several different cropping formats. 

Bridal Veil Falls, Before and After Color Correction, No Crop Crop to Digital Camera 3x4 Format Crop to 3x4 digital camera format

 Crop to 4×6 Format 

Crop to 4x6 print format Crop to 16x9 HDTV FormatCrop to HDTV 16x9 Format

Crop to 5×7 Portrait Format  Make a Post Card
And, if you want to finish the post card with some text it would look like this.

Bridal Veil Falls, 5x7 with text

 If you do not know how you or your friends will show the photos you take I suggest you Crop to the standard digital camera 3×4 format (or 4×3 if you have a vertical shot) and color correct. then you can crop to the desired format and create a set of photos for the specific use.

Wayne www.correctphoto.com

One of the real benefits of digital imaging is printing photos on a desktop printer.  The quality of photos printed on most desktop printers available today is truly remarkable and the inks are archival quality.  And, it is easy and relatively fast to print photos from your computer. That said, I generally prefer to upload photos to an online print service for a number of reasons which I will discuss in a future post. (For information on online printing go to http://www.correctphoto.com/online_print_services.htm). But, when you need a photo fast, like when your wife wants a current photo of the grandkids to show her friends and is leaving in 15 minutes, the desktop printer is real handy. But, how do you print photos from your computer? Do you need special printer software or a complicated photo editing program to print photos? The answer to these questions may surprise you.

Microsoft Windows XP and Vista Print Wizard
Most people don’t realize that Windows XP and Vista operating systems have an easy to use print function for photo printing.  You really don’t need anything but your computer, printer and glossy photo paper (I recommend Premium paper from the printer manufacturer) to print photos. Here is a step by step procedure. (continue reading…)

Does your email inbox get full with large photo attachments?
If you are like me you cringe every time you get an email with a photo attachment from one of your friends because you know it is a huge file. My friend Dick does it to me every time he sends a photo. A more personal question is, “Do you do the same thing when sending a photo to a friend?”

Should you Resize the photo before emailing?
As with most questions, the answer is “It Depends.” It depends on what the recipient will do with the photo attachment.  If you are sending the photo so that a high quality print can be made it is better not to resize. However, if the recipient is simply going to view the photo on a computer screen, which is probably the case with the majority of photos sent via email, you should resize the photo before sending it. When you compare the file size of an original photo as it came out of the camera to “screen resolution” files you will understand why resizing is the prudent thing to do.

I will use my Canon G5, 5MP camera as an example. When shot at the max resolution (5MP-2592×1944) the jpeg file size is 2.9 MB (million bytes). Resizing the file to the historic standard computer screen resolution of 640×480 reduces the file to 90 KB (thousand bytes) or today’s more common size of 1024×768 yields a file of 230 KB. That is quite a difference. And, with the resolution of newer cameras at 7, 8, 10, or 12 MP the difference is even greater.

Therefore, I suggest you resize photos to at lease 1024×768 if you are going to email them. If you have more than a couple photos you want to send to someone for printing I suggest you upload them to an online photo service and give the recipient access to the files or record them on a CD and mail it.

How To Resize Photos for Email
There are certainly many alternative ways to resize photo ranging from free online services to photo editing software. These alternatives are worth considering when you need to resize photos for other purposes, such as website design, eBay, Facebook, etc. When you are simply going to email a photo(s) I suggest using the email resizing function in Windows XP and Vista. (The Mac probably has something easy as well, but, as I have said before, I am a Windows guy.) If you are like most of my friends they look at me with a blank stare when I tell them to use Windows to resize the photo. Yes, there is a function in the OS that will resize the photo for emailing, it is FREE, and it is easy to use.  What could be better? Here is how you do it. (continue reading…)

Let’s continue with the Digital Camera Basics presentation with the topic “How do I get photos from my camera to my computer?” This was the first question my friend, Bill, asked when his memory stick filled up and he couldn’t take any more pictures. Or, was it when his wife wanted to email pictures of the grand kids to a friend.  Whatever the reason, this is usually the first obstacle the new digital camera owner encounters. Fortunately, it really isn’t that complicated.

You probably already know a bit about the Windows Explore File Management system and how to create and name a folder for email and Word documents. Maybe you have even downloaded a file from the internet.  Well, downloading (yes, it’s called downloading when you are putting something into your computer and uploading when you are taking something out) from a digital camera is basically the same. Windows XP and Vista even have a special folder for your pictures, My Pictures in XP and Pictures in Vista. The first thing to do is to create a new folder within the My Pictures folder.  For example, “Rotary Chili Cookoff-2008″, where you want to put the photos.

The basic steps are outlined in this slide, however, an excellent step by step guide written by Tony Northrup can be found on Microsoft’s website at, http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/takeit/transfer.mspx

Transfer Pictures from Camera to Computer

(continue reading…)

In my last post I talked about the basics of taking pictures. This morning I ran across a clipping out of The Rotarian, the Rotary International publication, about taking better photos. The following tips came from Kodak.com and were written by AP photographer J. Walter Green who attributes good instincts to his ability to take great photos.  His tips focus on taking pictures of people and are applicable to all those family photos we take.

• Get down on their level: Hold the camera at eye level to capture the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles.
• Use a plain background: A cluttered background can be distracting, while a plain background will empasize you subject.
• Use flash outdoors: Even outdoors, use a fill flash to improve you pictures. It’s great for lighting dark shadows under the eyes and nose.
• Move in close: To create more impactful pictures, move in close and fill your picture with the object.
• Lock the focus: Lock the focus to ensure a sharp image when the object is off center. (Note: Look in your camera manual to see how to do this)
• Move it from the middle: Imagine a tic-tac-toe in your view finder. Now place the subject at one of the intersections of the lines.
• Know your flash’s range: Pictures taken beyond the maximum range will look too dark.  Read you manual.
• Watch the light: Great light makes great pictures. For people, avoid overhead sun that casts harsh shadows across faces.
• Be the director: Don’t just be a passive picture taker. Add some props, rearrange your subjects (your family might hate this, but do it anyway), or try a different view point.

These tips of course apply to film and digital cameras. With a digital camera you generally have another opportunity to make the picture into a great photo. First, you can take a number of shots (because they are free) and pick the best one. And, you have the opportunity to edit a photo. As you will hear many times from me, every digital picture needs two edits as a minimum: crop and color corrected.  We will cover editing photos in future post.

I have been taking pictures for more years than I care to admit to, with both film and digital cameras, and I found the above tips very helpful. We are never to old to learn from a pro.

Wayne  http://www.correctphoto.com