Photography - Jake Ludington

How to Photograph Fireworks

Each year I get several questions about photographing fireworks around the 4th of July and again around New Year's. I always intend to post an article on shooting fireworks photos, but the holiday seems to conspire against me and I never get it done. This year, I've managed to pull it off. While I can't promise you'll be the Ansel Adams of fireworks after reading these tips, I'm confident you'll take better photos than you did last year....

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Digital Camera Document Scanning

"I almost never need to scan documents, so I don't own a scanner. Today I need to scan in something I signed, can I just use my digital camera as a document scanner since a scan is a picture?" There have been many occasions where someone needed me to sign a document and fax it back when I was no where near a fax machine or a scanner. In those cases, my solution has always been to take a picture, clean it up with photo editing software and upload it using an online fax service like MyFax. So the answer to your question is yes, but I'd also like to share something I found that makes it easier....

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How to Get Deleted Pictures Back

"I accidentally deleted photos from my digital camera memory card. Is there any way to get my deleted pictures back?" I will warn you up front that there is no guaranteed method of recovering deleted files. When you delete anything, there's always a chance you won't get it back. There are solutions for recovering files and in many cases you can recover deleted pictures from your camera's memory card. You can pick from several choices in software for recovering deleted photos, but I happen to like Zero Assumption Image Recovery. The first thing to do before attempting any photo recovery is to stop taking pictures on your memory card (until you've recovered the deleted photos). Every new photo you take increases the chance you will overwrite the portion of your memory card where that deleted picture was stored, making recovery almost impossible....

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Picnik - Free Online Image Editing

There have been several occasions where I wanted to upload some photos and images to post online, but I didn't have immediate access to my computer with Photoshop Elements installed on it. I've used Adobe's Photoshop Express a few times, but it feels far to cumbersome for minor edits and it doesn't support common image types like GIF. More recently, I'm finding Picnik to be a great alternative for editing images from any computer. There's nothing to install, so you don't need to worry about having administrator permissions. Picnik supports JPEG, GIF, and PNG, which are the primary formats I'd work with in a pinch. Features include resize, crop, sharpen, minor color correction, exposure and contrast, and the ability to save out more than one file format when you're done. If you upload images to Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, PhotoBucket, Picasa, Webshots, or FreeWebs, you can edit those images using Picnik. I also have a plug-in for editing images uploaded to Movable Type, which further extends the usefulness of Picnik. There is a $25 version, which is useful if you need to upload many files at a time, but for quick edits on the go, the free version of Picnik will likely be all you ever need. In addition to bailing me out in a pinch, I'm looking at Picnik as a handy way to edit files on a netbook without needing to use precious disk space for a bulky application.

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Windows Pro Photo Tools

Windows Pro Photo Tools makes an interesting companion to Windows Live Photo Gallery. If you travel, this is a handy way to add location data to images without necessarily needing a GPS. Browsing images with Pro Photo Tools, you can add a location, automatically look up GPS coordinates for the image, store them in the file, but have the image display a human readable location entry. If you already have GPS data, the app will help you look up the location name fairly quickly. Additional EXIF and metadata include description, details about the photographer, usage rights, and a bunch of additional information. Location data of images can be used to plot your photos on a map to either create a route map, or to simply get a birds eye view of where you took photos during a trip or event. If you work with RAW images, an additional photo codec may be required for your digital camera.

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Windows Live Photo Gallery with Plug-ins

Back in April I recommended Windows Live Photo Gallery as an essential upgrade to the built-in photo browsing of Windows XP. It also enhances Vista, but the difference isn't nearly as dramatic. Since my initial recommendation, the Windows Live team made additional enhancements and exposed some features to allow other people to make Windows Live Photo Gallery even better. In addition to better tagging of images, basic photo cropping and red-eye removal, there are vastly improved online sharing features. At the time I first wrote about the app, Windows Live Spaces was the only place you could upload photos. Now Windows Live Photo Gallery supports uploading to Flickr, Picasa Web, SmugMug, and any Drupal installation via a set of handy plugins. In theory someone could write a plugin to upload almost anywhere. The nice thing about the way its done is you only install the upload tools you need. [Windows XP/Vista $0.00]

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Fisheye-Hemi Plug-In Lens Distortion Correction

I tend to only use a fisheye lens when I want to distort an image, but there are times when you might use a fisheye lens for other purposes. For instance, say you want to capture everyone in a room in the same photo, but your lens doesn't have a wide enough angle or you simply can't move far enough away from your subject. The fisheye effectively shoots to the corners in those scenarios, with the downside being you get a warped image. Fisheye-Hemi plug-in to the rescue! Shoot with your fisheye lens to get everything in the shot, then use the software to 'fix' the image and make everyone look normal. In most cases you can get the image to appear as if you started with the correct camera lens in the first place. This is made by the same people who do ShineOff and PearlyWhites. [Windows XP/Vista $29.95]

Before Fisheye-Hemi

Fisheye Hemispheric Distortion Correction

After Fisheye-Hemi

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Digital Camera Drop Protection

Scott writes, "I've dropped my digicam (Casio EX-V7) one too many times, and so I'm looking for some kind of "armor" to wrap the camera in to give it some protection. Cameraarmor.com sells a kit for SLRs. I wonder if anyone sells something for the more common fixed-lens digicam like mine?"

In a world with what seems like thousands of different cases for the iPod, you'd think there would be more choices for protecting your digital camera from drops. As you point out, the digital SLR market has some great solutions to protect both camera bodies and SLR lenses from drops. I have yet to find anything that guarantees your camera won't get broken if you drop it, but there are a few solutions that should improve the chances if your point-and-shoot digital camera takes a fall.

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Photoshop Express - Online Photo Editing

Adobe officially joined the world of online photo editing with Adobe Photoshop Express. This online service allows you to upload photos, edit them, store photos in online albums, and selectively share some or all your photos online. This means you now have access to many of the basic Photoshop editing features without needing to own Photoshop and without needing to have your computer with you. In addition to having a photo repository with Adobe's Photoshop.com site, you can also pull in photos from Facebook, Photobucket, and Picasa, which might get me to try uploading some photos to one of those services, instead of my personal preference Flickr.

Photoshop Express Online Photo Editing

I wasn't entirely sure I'd like editing Photos in a browser, but even testing the service from my AT&T BroadbandConnect account worked easily enough to convince me this could be a great way to edit photos going forward. Most of the editing features offer you multiple choices, so you can test several variations live, which makes editing just as fast as using desktop software. Editing is non-destructive, so you can always go back to the original version of the file, with a version history that allows you to look back through many undo iterations. Of course if you need automated actions, you'll still want to have Photoshop CS and many of the advanced features of Photoshop Elements aren't found here. For free Adobe has done a great job of exposing popular features, making editing easy, and paid attention to the need to store photos outside of the Adobe universe. Give Photoshop Express a try and you may think twice about tying up system resources with additional photo sorting and editing apps on your desktop.

While I'd like to see support for more online services (especially Flickr), in the meantime Photoshop Express will be one of my keyword bookmarks, so I have it when I need it.

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Digital Photography Success - Training Guide

Taking pictures with a digital camera is a piece of cake. Just point the camera in the direction of your intended subject and push the button. Taking great pictures is a little more complicated. You need to know the basics of image composition, lighting, and how to develop an eye for detail. Digital Photography Success shows you how to do all that in with detailed examples over 174 pages, with tips, tricks and information that won't require a degree in photo journalism or expensive gear to comprehend. Instructions are straight forward and the examples will dramatically improve your pictures along with some photography practice. The details page for this guide is a little over-the-top with marketing hype, but in general it's a great resource for learning to take outstanding photos. Get your copy of Digital Photography Success today.

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