Got A New iPad For Christmas? Here’s How To Get Started

Electronics are a popular gift choice for many people around the holidays. After all, they are both sleek and attractive, and they keep us connected in our fast-paced society. One of the fastest growing electronics markets over the past couple of years is tablets, with the Apple iPad leading the pack by a wide margin. These thin, fast, and capable gadgets are the perfect go-between for smartphones and full-on computers, and are the perfect accessory for anyone who likes to stay connected on the go.

The Basics of Working With Digital Color

We are now officially living in the digital era, with online and computerized media fast outpacing print applications. In the coming years, some speculate that age-old analog and print utilization will be on its way to extinction, and that tomorrow’s generation will consume all of their media by way of smartphones, tablets, and laptops. So what does that mean for today’s designers? Plenty of changes are afoot for sure, but one of the basics is making sure you understand digital color, how it’s different from print color, and naturally…how to use it to make your designs stand out.

Are You Making These 3 ISO Mistakes?

When a photographer makes the courageous leap away from the “auto” setting on their camera, they have to keep a dozen things in mind every time they compose a shot. Shooting in manual mode allows for individual control of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and focus point (among other things), and often takes a while to get the hang of. One must master the concepts and execution of all the technological aspects of digital photography, but once that happens the quality of work can improve exponentially.

Of the main pieces that go into making a digital image is the ISO, which represents your camera’s sensitivity to light. It has a direct correlation, meaning that a low ISO reflects a low sensitivity and a high ISO indicates a high sensitivity.

Digital Photography: Why Metering Modes Matter

  Metering matters. As you can see in our image of a catnap, changing the metering configuration makes a big difference in the brightness of a picture. Correctly setting the metering mode will ensure your photographs have the best exposure possible. This is especially important for high-contrast scenes, like the example above. What does metering mean? And what are the different settings? Continue reading and we’ll explain metering and introduce three common modes. Applying these concepts will make an instantaneous improvement in your photography skills! The Meaning of Metering Metering is how the camera sets exposure. Specifically, the camera meters the incoming light to set the shutter speed and aperture correctly. Remember exposure is based on the quickness of the shutter, the width of the aperture, and the ISO setting. You can now see how metering directly relates to exposure. It is important to understand this only applies when the camera itself is in certain modes – such as Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Manual. (The on-camera symbols for these modes vary) Stepping out of Automatic mode lets you have more control over your photographs. We’ll teach you about three metering modes below to help you develop new skills beyond automatic snap shots. 1. Matrix/Evaluative Mode Multi-zone metering is the camera measuring the levels of light across the scene and combing the readings to set the exposure (Matrix on Nikon, Evaluative on Canon). This mode typically prevents under exposing or over exposing the image. We recommend using this mode when the subject and surroundings are similarly bright. Our catnap picture shows an even level of exposure and detail with this setting. Here is another example taken with multi-zone metering. Notice how the brightness of the scene is similar throughout.   2. Center-Weighted Metering Center-weighted metering is giving the highest consideration of brightness to the center area of the image. This mode is consistently named on Nikon and Canon cameras. This is a less common setting as the lighting conditions that require center weighting are rare in nature photography. The difference in our example is that the picture as a whole looks under-exposed. The metering considered the white light right next to the black cat and adjusted for that brightness. It read it so bright that the rest of the image ended up too dark; therefore, center-weighted metering is the wrong mode to use with this scene. Let’s look at an example that required center-weighted metering. Notice the wide range of contrast between the plant in shadow and the back-lighting from the sun on the rock. Setting the camera to concentrate the metering on the center lets the plant be well-exposed, and it’s irrelevant that the sunny area is over-exposed. We recommend this mode when the subject is centered and its surroundings are considerably different in brightness. 3. Spot Metering Spot metering determines the exposure by considering a circle at the center of the scene. This mode is also called the same thing on both Nikon and Canon models. How big is the circle? Not very – it ranges between 1 – 5%. Let’s consider our example, as spot metering creates a drastically different image. The camera read the brightness of the black cat, which is much darker than the rest of the scene. The exposure shows the most detail in our sleeping subject, but much of the picture is over-exposed. We introduce spot metering to our students for photographs that are all about exposing the subject correctly. What better example to consider than a circular moon against a black sky. Obviously exposing for the brightness of the moon...

Adobe Photoshop Tutorial: How to Perk Up Your Digital Images

As a Photoshop instructor, one common complaint I get a lot from older photographers is that their digital images just don’t have the “snap” and “color” of their film images. In the days of yore when we shot only with film, we would sometimes even pick up certain brands of film for those special looks. In fact, it was said that if you wanted good-looking portraits, you used Kodak. For landscapes, it was Fuji film. With today’s digital cameras you no longer have different films, but you can still get just the look you want – either by using the dialed-in settings on your digital camera or by using Photoshop© to enhance your images. Or both!