correctmyphotos

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays-Take photos of your holiday decorations.
Another use of your digital camera is to take photos of your holiday decorations so you can remember what you did last year. No, I am not being facetious.  A month or so ago my wife, Pat, and I were talking about Christmas decorations for this year and asked the obvious question, “What did we do last year?” So, I went to my photo files to locate a picture of last year’s Christmas tree and low and behold I couldn’t find one.  Apparently, I didn’t take one. Well, I got one of those looks that suggested I better not forget this year.  Actually, it really didn’t matter all that much because her tree decorations haven’t varied too much over the past several years. But, this year she came up with a new Christmas tree idea so I made sure I took some photos.  Then I started to play around with them and here is what I did with one of the photos.

A Greeting from Dickens 

Merry Christmas from Dickens-A Greeting Card Created with CorrectPhoto and ImageTitler

Pat decided to simplify the Christmas tree this year and just used poinsettias and red and white stockings with the first initials of family members. Using CorrectPhoto and ImageTitler I created a greeting card with Dickens. (Dickens, our Westie, was actually named after Charles Dickens of Christmas Carol fame.) First, I cropped and color corrected the original photo. Here is the before and after comparison.

When taking the photos I experimented with using both flash and a couple of natural light fluorescents. This shot was taken with the fluorescents which created some undesirable shadows that I didn’t want in the photo. The color was fixed with the OneClick feature in CorrectPhoto.  The next step was to add the text with ImageTitler, a process I wrote about in a previous post on creating greeting cards.

Special Effects with Color

Special effect Black and White photo created with iCorrect EditLab ProApp

I then decided to get a little creative and by using PictoColor’s iCorrect EditLab ProApp I made the black and white with color accent photo above.  Here is the screen shot of EditLab ProApp.

PictoColor's iCorrect EditLab ProApp Screen Shot for special effect

Using the one click auto black and white feature I first converted the photo into B&W.  Since the color information is still retained I then click on one of the red stockings to select the hue (color) I wanted to restore.  It only took a couple of seconds to do this using iCorrect EditLab ProApp.  It is a standalone application that was created for digital photographers with lots of photos to color correct and it probably overkill for most amateurs. But, if you use Photoshop or Elements there is a plug-in version, iCorrect EditLab Pro plug-in that is great for making fast and accurate color corrections special effects like the Christmas greeting example.

Lessons learned
The primary point of this post is to suggest or remind you to take photos of things like holiday decorations so you won’t forget what you did. Your spouse will thank you. The second point is that you can have creative fun with the photos you take.

Well, if you have been watching the weather in the US you know that the upper Midwest is getting hit with significant snow falls during the Christmas holiday and many people will have to cancel holiday plans and stay home or at least delay their departure. In Burnsville, MN we had 7 inches overnight and expect up to 20 inches before it stops on Saturday.  I usually can’t resist taking snow pictures so you might see a few in a future post.  If you find yourself stranded this weekend and you get bored why not sit down at your computer and edit and organize your photos.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season.

Wayne www.correctphoto.com

Using Sepia Tone and Color Photos Creates a Dramatic Affect
Yesterday it was a rainy day in Minnesota and I decided to spend the afternoon at a concert given by the Dakota Valley Symphony a the new Burnsville (MN) Peforming Arts Center. The final selection was Dakotah, a sympony created by a local composer, Randall Stokes, a number of years ago commemorating the history of Burnsville. The symphony was accompanied by a video slide presentaion with photos of the Burnsville area from the 1800’s through today. Many of the early photos were sepia tone so, for continuity, many of the current color photos were converted to sepia tone.

As I listened to the music and watch the slide show I couldn’t help wonder how long it took the person who created the slide show to convert the color photos to sepia tone. I, of course, new the easy way with iCorrect OneClick, but decided to see if I could figure out how to do it in Photoshop Elements. After several minutes I gave up and used iCorrect OneClick Plug-in which accomplished the task of converting a color photo to sepia tone with one click. If anyone knows an easy way to create sepia tone photos in Photoshop Elements let me know and I will post the instructions.

This was the first time I saw sepia tone images used in a slide presentation and I was impressed with the way the photographer used this effect.

Wayne, www.pictocolor.com, www.correctphoto.com.

Snapshots to Great Shots  is a new photo tips tutorial written by Craig of PictoColor.

Sometimes, the most interesting images can come from unexpected sources.  All it takes is a little creativity, the right tools, and, in most cases, a few extra minutes.

Turning Snapshots into Greatshots

We can turn this ordinary snapshot into a stunning portrait in minutes with the simple, intuitive tools found in CorrectPhoto and iCorrect EditLab Pro Plug-in or iCorrect EditLab ProApp).  The tutorial takes you step by step through the process. (http://www.pictocolor.com/turning_snapshots_into_greatshots_tutorial.htm)

 If you prefer Black and White instead of a Sepia Tone iCorrect EditLab Pro all it takes is a click of the mouse with iCorrect EditLab Pro.

Black and White with iCorrect EditLab Pro

 Yes, all it takes is a little imagination and the right tools and you can easily turn and average snapshot into a great shot. Read the full tutorial at http://www.pictocolor.com/turning_snapshots_into_greatshots_tutorial.htm.

Craig at PictoColor, www.pictocolor.com

Turn Your Color Photos into Stunning Black and White

Convert Color to Black and White with Software

 

While many of the newer digital cameras are equipped with a digital effects function that will allow you to create a black and white photo, I suggest you shoot in color and use software to create the black and white or sepia tone photo. It is really easy to do with Photoshop Elements or CorrectPhoto. (continue reading…)