correctmyphotos

Vista Image Preview
The other day while searching my photo files for images I mistakenly clicked on Open instead of Preview to brows photos in a folder. Up pops the window asking me what application I want to use.

Click on Open to select an application to priview or edit a photo

Since all I wanted to do was browse the folder I didn’t need the extra step of selecting an application. I should have selected “Preview” which would have taken me directly to the Windows viewer allowing me to quickly cycle through the photos. An honest mistake since Open is the only selection in bold. But,that made me wonder how many people don’t even know about the preview feature in Vista or know the difference between Open and preview. The Open feature is used primarily to select and/or launch a photo editing application. You can set a default application such as CorrectPhoto or Elements to always launch when you click Open by checking the little box below the selection window. However, since I use both of these programs on a regular basis I choose not to automatically launch one of them.
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Do the people in your photos have red eyes?
Do you know why? How do you avoid red eyes?
How do you get rid of red eyes in your photos?

I don’t normally have the red eye problem when I take flash photos. So, when I received this photo of the winner of our Rotary Fund Raiser Raffle winner (he won the scooter) it occurred to me that many amateur photographers have spooky red eyes in their photos. So, let’s me try to answer the questions. If your photos don’t have the problem you can probably skip this post and go on to something more exciting. If you do you should continue reading.

Red Eye is a reflection of the flash off the retina of the eye

 Do you know why? How do you avoid red eyes?
The red color comes from the light that reflects off the retinas in our eyes. When taking flash pictures of humans (animals have a different effect) the flash is so bright that it causes a reflection off the retina–what you see is the red color from the blood vessels (yuk) nourishing the eye. (For more information on red eye causes go to www.howstuffworks.com/question51.htm)

The easiest way to avoid red eye is to use the “red eye reduction” feature on your camera. I keep this feature turned on in my Canon camera. With this feature turned on the camera flash goes off twice. The first flash causes the subjects pupils to contract, reducing the red eye significantly. If you don’t have this feature you can turn on all the lights in the room, which also contracts the pupil. However, in cases like the scooter picture this is not possible so, if your camera doesn’t have the red eye reduction feature you are probably out of luck. If you have a camera that has a “hot shoe” for an external flash attachment you can point the flash away from the subject (i.e. bounce the flash off the ceiling) you will also avoid the red eye problem. If I am shooting indoors I almost always use my flash attachment instead of the built in flash in the camera. The best way to “fix” red eye is to avoid the problem in the first place. But, if your camera doesn’t have the feature or (which often happens) you forget to turn it on, what do you do?

How do you get rid of red eyes in your photos?

Red Eye Can Be Fixed CorrectPhoto Editor

There are a number of ways of fixing the red eye. Some photo printing services claim to be able to eliminate the red eye before making prints. I don’t have experience with these services so I can’t say how well they work. I prefer to be “in charge” and would use a photo editing program to eliminate the red eye.  Here again there are many different approaches and since I only use CorrectPhoto and Photoshop Elements for photo editing I will discuss these two options.  CorrectPhoto’s Red Eye reduction feature is a direct interaction whereby the user positions a variable size cursor over the red eye and when in position clicks the mouse to activate the red eye reduction technology.

CorrectPhoto Red Eye Reduction Feature

Before correcting the red eye I did use the OneClick color correction feature of CorrectPhoto to correct the color. The red eye does take a little time to position the curser, but the results are very good.

Photoshop Elements has an Auto Red Eye feature that worked on one eye, but not the other. It is not clear why that occurred. In order to activate the Auto Red Eye (I am using Elements 6.0) I had to first use the Auto Color feature. If the Auto Red Eye would have worked on both eyes it would have been faster than CorrectPhoto, however, the Auto Color feature seemed to distort the color of the photo as it tried to enhance the very dark background. It may be that this particular image didn’t lend itself to the Elements correction and it may work much better on photos where the background is brighter.  Here is the Photoshop Elements corrected photos.

Photoshop Elements Red Eye Correction worked on one eye

In summary, the best way to avoid the red eye problem is to turn on the Red Eye Reduction Feature in your digital camera. If you forget use a photo editor to get rid of it before you send the photo to someone or get prints made. If you know of other ways to eliminate red eye please add a comment. If anyone knows why Elements Auto Red Eye worked on one eye and not the other let me know.

Wayne http://www.correctphoto.com

Greetings,

I am a little behind in postings. The last couple of weeks have been a bit hectic with other things and it is finally spring in Minnesota and if you lived here you would understand. Last weekend a few of us guys went to Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota to “open” Bill’s cabin. I will talk about the trip and show some of the photos I took in a future post. But, first I want to touch on the process of downloading (or uploading, if you prefer) picture files from your digital camera or memory chip to your computer. This discussion is prompted by Bill’s question, “I forgot how to download pictures to my computer, can you help me?” Since he hadn’t transfered pictures from his camera to the computer for quite some time (his chip was full) he had photos from a number of events. Before detailing the process I want to point out that Bill is not alone in his lack of understanding of  “digital picture/computer” processes, nor is he a dummy. In fact, he is quite intelligent and is a tax accountant by profession. So, take heart if you have similar questions and frustrations.

Here is the process I recommend and the one we used with Bill’s photos.

Use Windows Explorer.   When we plugged his camera into the computer the software that came with his camera insisted on taking control of the process.  The first suggestion I made was to close the application (and recommended he delete it from his computer) and use the Windows Explorer system to manage the process.

Windows Vista Options for Downloading Photos

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Digital Photography School!  Explore how to use your digital camera to its potential. DPS is a community of digital photographers of all experience levels who gather around a number of blogs and a forum to learn, share and grow in their understanding of photography.

Digital Photography School-A Resource for Digital Photographers

Digital Photography School is a website with simple tips to help digital photographers get the most out of their digital cameras. Darren Rowse, a digital photography enthusiast,  is the guy behind DPS.  DPS is not a formal school by any means. There are not classes,  no teachers, no exams-rather it’s a learning environment where Darren thinks out loud about what he knows and there is a forum for sharing what the participants are learning by showing photos and ask and answer each other questions. Also, unlike most schools the information is FREE.

I found DPS by accident earlier this week and was impressed by the information, format and professionalism of this website. Regardless of your experience level in digital photography you will find the tips, articles, and other digital photography information helpful. And, if you have tips to share Darren invites you to write an article.  To check it out for yourself go http://digital-photography-school.com .

Wayne  http://www.correctphoto.com 

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