The difference between a web design portfolio and a photography showcase is huge. The focus has to be on pictures, not on content, while the normal way of designing, with the header, content box, sidebar and footer changes totally from a layout to another. The more inspired and original you can be, the better your design will be. When you are a photographer, it is very important to have a platform where you can show clients your work – this has the same importance as for a web designer.

Most of the time the photography portfolios are heavily reduced to a showcase – which can be the home page, a contact section and maybe an “about me” page. It sounds simple, but there are still many things to figure out before being able to design properly such a layout.

1. Think of your target

Yes, you’ve heard this before so many times – and I know it annoys you. It is so simple to just overlook it and why not do it? In the end all of us want as many clients as possible and don’t want to make our audience narrow. Well, I tend not to agree with you, and I would suggest you to think seriously about who you want to work with.

A good example is a wedding photographer – this page would be totally different from the one of a roadshow photographer. It will probably be white, including many circles (which suggest continuity), will have maybe floral arrangements and might be full of happiness and sunshine. If you are a roadshow photographer, you might want to design with a darker color, keeping a balance between organized and chaotic (although do not get too close to organized) and so on. Think of what kind of clients you want to attract and then design for them. It is so important!

White and clean - wedding photographer portfolio

2. Think of the number of images

You have to do this because most of the layouts look good with a small number of pictures uploaded, but how will it look when you will have an odd number of pictures to show? There needs to be a balance between the number of pictures on the page and the negative space you leave between or around them. If you have many pictures, consider using pagination or categories to separate them – and do it for the sake of the user. Don’t forget that they never saw you pictures before and if you are really interested in them, it takes a lot of effort for the human eye to analyze them. Don’t make it even more difficult for the visitors.

This page is a good examples of how to present your work.

3. Make the images stand out

When I say this, I usually mean keeping a high contrast between the pictures and the background; and I usually recommend having black as background, because there is most of the time more contrast than when viewing the showcase on white. This tip is good for bringing out the contrast of the photos and it is also a good idea to try to look at the pictures on different backgrounds, so that you make the best out of them.

Good example of contrast between background and picture

4. Consider the quality

When I visit a photography portfolio or even a showcase, I expect all the time to be able to see the pictures in full size if I click on them – and it would better be huge. I want the pictures to look good and fit my screen if I would like to have it as a desktop background. And not only about this – but if I want to see all the details, I can’t do it properly on a small picture.

To avoid keeping the visitors wait too much, have two versions of each picture (you can resize them with a JavaScript too). This way if somebody is interested in seeing one of your pictures larger, he knows that this comes with the price of loading time.

5. Be flexible

According to official statistics, less than 1% of the internet users have 800×600 displays. However, this does not mean 800×600 is the smallest resolution you have to design for – think of mobile devices as well. It is not highly probable that a potential client will want to use his bandwidth with your pictures, but what if they are on a wireless connection? This means you have to think about all the possible resolutions.

The showcase bar disappears after a few seconds and the picture is in full screen in the browser

You can do this by making you pictures be 100% of the width of the div which displays them, and the height can be set to auto. This will make the pictures resize according to the screen. It is not difficult to do and is very useful, so why not spend few more seconds to customize this?

6. Show only the best work

This is also for the web designers, not only for photographers. It is always good to make a point fast and then let the visitor make a decision – the World is moving fast and we don’t have time to view all the crap work people have done. Therefore only show the top-notch work and let the potential client move on, if he wants to. Don’t keep him tight – he will leave without seeing every piece of your work anyway.

Is is also a good idea to order your pictures. Even if you select your best work, some of your pictures simply have to stand out. Put them first and leave the other good ones for the second page.

7. Describe the photos

When potential clients look at pictures, they want to know who it is they are looking at. They might also want to hire one of the models, which is not a bad thing either. Write short notes about each one of your pictures and let the client know what is he looking at. It is also much more important to give each picture a short description than a title. Naming the tools you’ve used for shooting and post-processing might be a good idea too.

Kenn Reay talks about his pictures in the description.

8. Emphasize the contact information

Sure, the most important thing is to show your work, but how does this help if you do not get clients? It is important to lead the visitor to your contact page if possible, otherwise always make it clear that he can contact you right away. Having the e-mail address in the footer might work too, but it depends a lot on your layout. It is entirely your decision which information you give out, but I would also show them I am present and active on social media.

By having a normal navigation, the contact link does not have to be emphasized, because it is where the user knows it should be.

9. Ask for feedback

I never release a website before asking for feedback – it is just in the manual. Always ask the others – experts or not – about their opinion on how your site looks. It is really important to know what the others think, especially because after hours and hours of looking and analyzing your portfolio, you do not notice the small details anymore – and this is crucial. Never release a website before asking people for opinions.

10. Keep it dynamic

By this I mean that you have to keep your portfolio updated. It is not difficult to do this anymore thanks to the bunch of tools we have at our disposal. Nobody wants to see a good photographer not uploading his latest work and potential clients do not enjoy this for sure. Never replace old strong images with bad ones. Don’t forget about tip #6, showing only the best work.

Conclusion

Having to design a photography portfolio is not an easy task, as said in the beginning, not even for an experienced designer. There are many small tips you have to take into consideration and I hope this list helps all of you in designing better for our fellow photographers out there. With this is mind, I share with you a list of good links on the same topic.

8 Tips for a Great Photography Portfolio on I Shoot Shows

Great Photography Portfolios for Your Inspiration on The Photo Argus

10 Cool Photo Portfolios and Gallery WordPress Themes on Inspired M

Top Five Photography Portfolio Tips on All Art Schools

Five Tips for Building Your Photography Portfolio on Digital Photography School

What is Infrared Photography?

First we need to know what is infrared. Remember the saying that what you see is just an illusion? That is actually true, and that what you see is the only thing you’re ‘made’ to see. Look above you, you’ll probably see your ceiling. That is because the light that touches its surface is seen by you, called visible light. To give you an idea of the things you can’t see, think of ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays, infrared, microwave, and radio. These compose the electromagnetic spectrum, and only the visible light part is what we can see under naked eye.

Chart taken from Wikipedia

If you’ll take time to study the chart above you’ll be amazed at how little our eyes can see of our surroundings. We only see a portion of the world as it is, and that’s a good thing. Imagine seeing every wavelength, I think that would be like looking at an old television’s static.

So, the point here is, before you even begin infrared photography you need to have a grasp of what it is you’re doing in order to pass on the knowledge. In infrared photography, you basically take a peek into the unseeable by manipulating your tools. You can either use a standard camera or a digital camera, but alterations and post-processing is needed to achieve a great photo.

In a sense, infrared photography is an attempt to view the world in a different manner, similar to using a microscope to see little life forms or using an x-ray to see through things. Venturing through Flickr I’ve been awed by the amazing world out there that we can’t see, but now can due to advances in technology.

Before the introduction of color photography, photographers used filters and black and white negatives to manipulate the final result, especially when they wanted to achieve infrared photography.

I’m not a photographer nor do I claim I know how to do infrared photography, I am simply so amazed by the process that I thought I’d share this with you. I did some research for people who want to enter infrared photography and found this very in-depth guide by Rob about infrared photography. Tutorial includes how to setup everything up to post-processing.  Here is his Flickr page.

Examples of Infrared Photography

Take note that you can buy their prints if you happen to fall in love with them! Don’t forget to click on the links for more IR photographs.

Straightforward Path Infrared by ilimel

Orchard Infrared II by dingodave

iNfraRed series – terengganu 1 by shin-ex

Barn in Infrared by Pak T

The gilded River by Anrold

Barbados Infrared by Infrared-Land

Arte moderno en IR by Goku Abreu

Cloudy Day by RoeiG

Monroe Arts Center-IR by Marc Kohlbauer

Warm Feelings IR by caithness155

Zen Dream by RoieG

Butterfly by gary99099

The Secret Garden by failingjune

Ecco’s Horns by Djinn Photography

Infrared Trees by Danny Valentine

Infrared HDR Lake by lorni3

El Torito at Pine Beach by RTsan

The Golden Path IR by caithness155

Mount Stewart by Paul Hanley

Lake Cumberland Infrared by GothicAmethyst

Caterpillar by smurfzombi

Infrared Sunrise by konczy77

Japanese Road by Enkased

Itzel by The-Definition

Summer or Winter by Litz Sanz

Untitled by d3sign

Niagara Falls by Kofi Kumi

Summer time at Upton by Dave Dupere

Watermane by boomslice

Fantasia di Primavera by Giacomo Cattaruzzi

Springtime III by blackdaddy

Horses Dreams by MichiLauke

La tour by Anrold

Sydney Opera House by  La-Vita-a-Bella

Midnight Palace by 32tsunami

Bale IR by BilSign

It’s a Frog II by  tlbendele

The Old Man by Gwarf

Pano Bramhall Park 1 by Okavanga

Le vieux moulin by Anrold

Are you into Infrared Photography?

Feel free to post the link to your portfolio so that we can enjoy them too!

However, lomography is expensive and time-consuming. A toy camera can be as cheap as $25 and more than $100. Plus you can’t see your pictures until the whole roll is over, and then you have to have it processed and scanned afterwards. Not to mention how disappointing it is when you found out that nothing from your roll came out. Even as a big fan of lomography myself, I also find it a bit too overpriced for a piece of plastic.

So whether you’re a cheapskate, you’re too impatient, or you simply find lomography too hard, there is a faster way to get those yummy lomo photos; thanks to the technology otherwise known as Adobe Photoshop.

Vignettes

Vignettes are a common feature in lomo photographs. Vignettes are characterized by a loss of clarity in the sides/corners of the image. It is often darker and blurry in the sides, but sharp and bright at the middle.

Do you know that creating a vignette in Photoshop is extremely easy? It can be done in less than five steps. The first thing to do is to open the image you want to add a vignette to. Copy the image and paste it in a new layer. Thus you have the same images in both layers.

On the top layer, select the elliptical marquee tool. Select and drag, making sure to include the whole image apart from the sides and corners. After you’ve made your final selection, right-click inside the selection and click on ‘Select Inverse’. This will swap the selected area, thus selection is now on the outer areas.

Now adjust the Brightness of the outer edges by selecting Image – Adjustments – Levels.  On Output Levels, drag the light arrow to the left to make it darker. Afterwards, go to Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur to create soft edges. I adjusted my Gaussian Blur to 35, but you can adjust settings to where you are satisfied.

Of course, we are not yet done. Be sure though that only the topmost layer has been edited, leave the bottom layer of the same image untouched. To smoothly blend the vignette to the image, select the erase tool, set the brush tool to a big brush at 0% Hardness.

The final output should look more or less like the image below. You can also adjust the Brightness/Contrast of the image so that it can simulate the image more.

Cross-processed Photos

Lomography photographers often cross process their film, giving their photos weird colors and saturation. Cross processing is an old darkroom technique, the process involves deliberately processing film  with a chemical solution intended for another kind of film. This method was maybe discovered by photographers who accidentally used the wrong chemicals by mistake; and found the results interesting.

Here’s how you can do cross-processing through Photoshop. Let’s start with this image:

Pretty photo, but not retro funky enough.

Adjust the contrast level of the image until you are satisfied. Next is to open Image – Adjustment – Curves. Basically you just increase the Red and Green Channels  in the Highlights, and drop the shadows. In the Blue Channel on the other hand, raise the Shadows and reduce Highlights.

You can experiment with the effects yourself to get the desired cross-process effect you have in mind–go crazy or be subtle, whatever you want.

Multiple Shots

Many lomo cameras feature multiple shots in one single image: the Action Sampler, the Super Sampler, the Oktomat, etc. These cameras are great toys, but one has to admit that the novelty tends to wear off quickly.

Super Sampler Shot

There’s no doubt it’s easy to create this effect with Photoshop. All you need is to take continuous shots of the same place and subject, juxtapose it together in the Action Sampler / Super Sampler / Oktomat layout and it will look just the same. You can even add the vignette, noise and contrasted effect to make it more lomo-ish.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

Photo above is an Action Sampler effect I created through Photoshop, done in less than ten minutes.

Fisheye Effect

The Fisheye is a cool effect, which takes a 170 degree photo of your surroundings. SLR cameras also have fisheye lens to achieve this effect. If you don’t have a fisheye lens or a Fisheye camera, here’s a quick way to get it in your photos.

Choose the image you want to create the fisheye effect. Crop it into a square by holding down ‘Ctrl’ while dragging to the desired area.

Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and hold down ‘Ctrl’. Hold down until you select the whole image. Right click and select inverse, and fill the inverse area with black or white.

To create the fisheye effect, Simply open Filters – Distort – Spherize. Choose 100% and click OK.

Fisheye Effect

How About a Lomo Action Set

If you’re too lazy to do the editing yourself, there are downloadable action sets where you can simply click on ‘Play’. The computer does the rest for you, lomo-izing your photos in one second.

There are plenty of action sets online, such as the Lomo PS Actions by photoshop-stock. It’s free to use and download, with 6 available lomo actions that you can try. Here is the original image I selected:

Original photo, untouched

And here are the 6 lomo actions I tried, with their different colors and effects:

Lomo Mobile Application?

Lomo shots are now really popular, and because of this, mobile application developers are now taking a piece of the pie. Applications are now available to simulate lomo effects of your digital photos for both the Android and iPhone.

One of the more popular lomo applications is Instagram, which gives lomo filters to your otherwise dull iPhone shots. Moreover, you can instantly share your images on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and more.

The rise of these popular iPhone applications gave rise to a new term: iPhoneography. Essentially, this means the art of taking photos with your iPhone. You can post-edit the photos or not, if you are one of those purist photographers.

Is Photoshop the Answer?

Thing is, it’s not the effects that make lomography so great: it’s the experience. It’s about not knowing what you get, it’s about the surprise and the suspense, being thrilled and sometimes being disappointed. It’s about clicking the shutter with the picture in your mind and finding out it looks very different in print. Finally, lomography is about practice and experimentation, knowing more about your camera and yourself.

I once read from a book ‘Manual cameras are romantic, digital cameras are democratic’. To me it evoked the romanticism of old vintage film and polaroid cameras. Off colors, wrong focus, vignetting effect–these is what traditional photography defines as a ‘bad picture’, but for lomographers, that isn’t the case. They use these ‘wrong’ settings to their advantage, creating one of a kind photos.

What is Lomography?

If you haven’t heard of lomography, it’s time to educate yourself. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or a self-confessed newbie, everyone can be a lomographer.

Image taken by Ethermoon

Lomography is a pretty recent type of photography invented by the Lomographic Society, founded in the early nineties in Austria. The founders first experimented with Lomo LC-A, a cheap Russian toy camera. They were taken by the unique, high contrast photos with vignettes and soft focus. The original lomo cameras are the LC-A, Holga, Fisheye, Colorsplash and Supersampler (more on that later…)

According to Lomography.com, There are 10 rules that define ‘lomography’:

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.
2. Use it any time – day and night.
3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.
4. Try to shoot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.
6. Don’t think.
7. Be fast.
8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.
9. Afterwards either.
10. Don’t worry about any rules!

Lomography is considered an art movement; as there are now several stores, galleries, groups, competitions and embassies around the world aiming to spread and support the art. The Lomographic Society International headquarters is in Vienna, Austria, but it maintains a website where lomographers can purchase their cameras, interact with fellow photographers, share their photos and techniques, etc.

Taken by scarecrowindisguise with a Lomography Diana F+ loaded with Lomography X-Pro Slide

Pros and Cons of Lomography

Ironically, the disadvantages of lomography can be used as an advantage, and vice versa.

• Light Leaks

Photo from http://www.danedwardsphoto.com/

Image by Angelwulf, taken with her LC-A camera and Kodak Colorplus film

But then again, they can also ruin the photo. Examples are light leaks that get in the way of the subject, or even entirely ruin the whole photo.

Massive light leaks (Taken by Superlighter using a Braun Paxina and Agfa Portrait 160 film)

• Unpredictability

This is what makes lomography so fun–and so frustrating. Lomo cameras are highly unpredictable–like it has a life of its own. That’s why most of the beautiful lomo photos are ‘happy accidents’. So if both a professional and a beginner in photography takes up lomography for the first time, both are likely equal in the field of lomography. Coming up with beautiful photos taken by toy cameras require you to understand your camera, develop a friendship with them and this understanding will take some time and practice.

Double Exposure shot taken by kylewis using the Original Diana 151 with expired film

• Plastic lens

The lens is made out of plastic and not glass, so the lens is largely responsible for the quality of the images: vignettes, saturated colors, off hues, and the like.

Taken by kernow_and_cambria with a Lomo LC-A+ with Fuji Sensia 400

Taken by mephisto19 with a Lomo LC-A+ loaded with Kodak EBX

The best way to learn about working with available light is by trying a lomography camera. These toy cameras work best in broad daylight, where it’s sunny and warm. Most lomography cameras work poorly indoors, cloudy or at night, except if you switch it to bulb mode or if you have flash.

Is Lomography worth it’s hype?

The Lomographic Society is criticized for their overpricing, one point saying that the company sells their cameras, film and equipment for far more than it’s worth. The LC-A is sold for aroud US $30, when the first lomographers bought it, but now they sell for around US $250. The original Diana+ was sold for only US $1, but the new, updated version by Lomography sells for US $50.

Aside from Lomography, there are now recent companies that now sell toy cameras, often much, much, cheaper, like the Four Corner Store.

Love it or hate it, lomography is fun and addicting, and I still buy the cameras and the expensive film even if i know I’m being ripped off. So even if it’s an overpricing venture, they’re still making good money out of it.

How to Get Started?

1. Choose your weapon

There are many different kinds of lomography cameras! How do you choose which one is best for you?

Different cameras have different uses, features and effects. For example, the Fisheye takes a 170-degree view around you, creating an almost circular image. The Supersampler takes four photos within 2 seconds or in 0.2 seconds. Colorsplash has some really colorful flashes, and the Rocket Sprocket takes wide shots with the sprockets in them.

Different effects of different lomography cameras

Do your research and determine the type of photos you want to achieve.

2. Choose your film

Also note that some lomo cameras use different kinds of film. The Holga and the Diana F+ uses 120 film, which has to be done in a film specialty store. If you don’t want the additional expenses and hassle, opt for 35mm film cameras (Fisheye, Diana Mini, Superheadz, etc.) where you can have it developed in any drug store. There are also 110 film cameras, a smaller and even rarer film (thus harder to develop).

For beginners, we recommend you choose the regular 35mm film first. Don’t buy expensive film just yet–if it’s your first time, expect to fail miserably. If your rolls come out with nothing, don’t give up just yet–it’s part of the learning process.

Thus, buy cheap rolls of film first to use as your test roll. 400 iso film is great for most conditions. You can have your rolls cross-processed to give that saturated, high contrast result popular in lomography.

4. Experiment with different effects!

Long exposures, double exposures, red scaling, these are just some things you can do to create funky pictures with your lomo camera.

Red scale effect. Image by Rachel Arandilla with Holga 120CFN using expired Solid Gold Film

Multiple exposures are a fun effect in lomography you can try. This feature is often not available in regular film cameras and film SLRs, since the shutter and forward button is locked together, requiring you to move forward to take the next shot.

Taken by doubleswithlomodirk using Kodak EIR Infrared

Long Exposure shot. Taken by mightymouse with a Lomo LCA+ RL loaded with Kodak EBX (35mm, 100 iso) film

Try to have fun and play with the ‘rules of lomography’ or break them. Instead of loading the 120 film into your Holga, improvise by using a 35mm instead. There are unlimited options.

5. Finally, meet and share with fellow lomographers

So you’ve already learned a thing or two about photography. You finally got a few brag-worthy shots. Many lomographers enjoy creating lomo walls. These lomo walls look really amazing and psychedelic, all thanks to the funky colors lomography shots create.

Rainbow Lomo Wall, Image from Peek London

You can also share your lomo shots online! You can register and log in at Lomography, where you can upload and share your lomo shots. Other websites where you can share your lomo shots are Flickr or Deviantart.

You can also check out other people’s shots, so you can be inspired by them. Read blogs to learn new lomo techniques, or check the latest news to launches of new lomo cameras, film and other products. There are also online competitions available where you can win prizes.

Apart from the reasons that gave birth to street art, the brilliance, endowment and ingenuity of graffiti artists is undeniable. There are as many examples of street “doodles” as there are boulevard virtuosos in the world. Many of them are so picturesque and breathtaking that you can not keep stop looking. Here are some that I can’t stop looking at, enjoy.

1. Autumn 3D ish Pavement Art

2. Taupo

3. ZHE 155

4. Cuba Gallery

5. Street Art Off Degraves Street

6. 3D Street Painting Step By Step

7. Rotterdam

8. Panty Graffiti2

9. Contrast Layout

10. Doter

11. Dibs 2011

12. Japan

13.Chalk Art – Cause On Uproar

This chalk art was developed for a chalk walk art event at Hyde Park village. The theme of this work is National Geographic’s “cause and uproar”. The look of the lion has been captured tidily in this image.

14. Wall In The Mall

15. Setik 01

16. Graffiti 1013

17. Stencil work

18. Retard

19. Pilipinas Street Plan

20. Graffiti 863

21. Mushism

22. Wood Morning Wall

23. CStyle

24. A Revolutionary Let Down

25. The Wild Ones

26. Shades

27. Homeless Not Smiless

28. This Is Bandung 2011

29. Bokito

30. Artist At Work

31. 1134 NYC Stencil

32. 3D Jupiter Postcard

33. Valparaiso, Chile

34. Tiger

35. Street Art In Colors

36. Street Art

37. Octopus

38. Swan

39. Excavation Of Dinosaur

40. Mucha Chalk Art

41. Street Art Amsterdam

42. Design Conditioner

43. Street Art Monster

44. Ruined Building Art

45. Street Art From Spain

46. Street Art Of Monkey Man

47. 3D Dog

48. Street Art With Eastern Look

49. Melbourne Street Art

50. Sweet Art-PAC Milan

These are all different and incompatible, though. These image formats have their own pros and cons. They were created for specific, yet different, purposes. What’s the difference, and when is each format appropriate to use?

Let us tackle the five most common image formats for the web and computer graphics: JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF and PNG.

JPEG

JPEG is short for Joint Photographic Experts Group, and is the most popular among the image formats used on the web. JPEG files are very ‘lossy’, meaning so much information is lost from the original image when you save it in JPEG file. This is because JPEG discards most of the information to keep the image file size small; which means some degree of quality is also lost.

Original File:

JPEG Medium Compressed File:

As shown above, image compression is not that evident at first glance. But if you take a closer look, the JPEG image is not as sharp as the original image. The colors are paler and the lines are less defined and the picture is noisier. If you zoom in there are JPEG artifacts like any other JPEG files.

JPEG compression of varying levels, from highest to lowest.

Almost every digital camera can shoot and save in the JPEG format. JPEG is very web friendly because the file is smaller, which means it takes up less room, and requires less time to transfer to a sites. Moreover it is less grainy then GIF, the old king of the internet roost. Since 1994, JPEG has been considered the standard.

Pros of JPEG:

• 24-bit color, with up to 16 million colors
• Rich colors, great for photographs that needs fine attention to color detail
• Most used and most widely accepted image format
• Compatible in most OS (Mac, PC, Linux)

Cons of JPEG:

• They tend to discard a lot of data
• After compression, JPEG tends to create artifacts
• Cannot be animated
• Does not support transparency

GIF

GIF, short for Graphics Interchange Format, is limited to the 8 bit palette with only 256 colors. GIF is still a popular image format on the internet because image size is relatively small compared to other image compression types.

Image by If.ufrgs.br

GIF compresses images in two ways: first, by reducing the number of colors in rich color images, thus reducing the number of bits per pixel. Second, GIF replaces multiple occurring patterns (large patterns) into one. So instead of storing five kinds of blue, it stores only one blue.

Image by Cloudsper

GIF is most suitable for graphics, diagrams, cartoons and logos with relatively few colors. GIF is still the chosen format for animation effects.

Image by Westnet

Compared to JPEG, it is lossless and thus more effective with compressing images with a single color, but pales in detailed or dithered pictures. In other words, GIF is lossless for images with 256 colors and below. So for a full color image, it may lose up to 99.998% of its colors.

One edge of the GIF image format is the interlacing feature, giving the illusion of fast loading graphics. When it loads in a browser, the GIF first appears to be blurry and fuzzy, but as soon as more data is downloaded, the image becomes more defined until all the date has been downloaded.

Pros of GIF:

• Can support transparency
• Can do small animation effects
• ‘Lossless’ quality–they contain the same amount of quality as the original, except of course it now only has 256 colors
• Great for images with limited colors, or with flat regions of color

Cons of GIF:

• Only supports 256 colors
• It’s the oldest format in the web, having existed since 1989. It hasn’t been updated since, and sometimes, the file size is larger than PNG.

BMP

The Windows Bitmap or BMP files are image files within the Microsoft Windows operating system. In fact, it was at one point one of the few image formats. These files are large and uncompressed, but the images are rich in color, high in quality, simple and compatible in all Windows OS and programs. BMP files are also called raster or paint images.

BMP files are made of millions and millions of dots called ‘pixels’, with different colors and arrangements to come up with an image or pattern. It might an 8-bit, 16-bit or 24-bit image. Thus when you make a BMP image larger or smaller, you are making the individual pixels larger, and thus making the shapes look fuzzy and jagged.

BMP files are not great and not very popular. Being oversized, bitmap files are not what you call ‘web friendly’, nor are they compatible in all platforms and they do not scale well.

Pros of BMP:

• Works well with most Windows programs and OS, you can use it as a Windows wallpaper

Cons of BMP:

• Does not scale or compress well
• Again, very huge image files making it not web friendly
• No real advantage over other image formats

TIFF

TIFF was created by Aldus for ‘desktop publishing’, and by 2009 it was transferred to the control of Adobe Systems. TIFF is popular among common users, but has gained recognition in the graphic design, publishing and photography industry. It is also popular among Apple users.

Above is a screenshot of how a TIFF image looks like–TIFF is not compatible for all systems; so to be sure, I uploaded a screenshot in JPEG of a TIFF image preview instead of uploading the original TIFF image here. Notice the crisp quality and rich colors of the photo.

The TIFF image format is easy to use with software that deasl with page layout, publishing and photo manipulation via fax, scanning, word processing, etc. TIFF is very flexible, it can be lossy or lossless. TIFF is a rich format and supported by many imaging programs. It is capable of recording halftone image data with different pixel intensities, thus is the perfect format for graphic storage, processing and printing. This makes TIFF the superior raster image format.

Pros of TIFF:

• Very flexible format, it supports several types of compression like JPEG, LZW, ZIP or no compression at all.
• High quality image format, all color and data information are stored
• TIFF format can now be saved with layers

Cons of TIFF:

• Very large file size–long transfer time, huge disk space consumption, and slow loading time.

PNG

PNG or (Portable Network Graphics) is a recently introduced format, so not everyone familiar with it. But PNG has been approved as a standard since 1996. It is an image format specifically designed for the web. PNG is, in all aspects, the superior version of the GIF. Just like the GIF format, the PNG is saved with 256 colors maximum but it saves the color information more efficiently. It also supports an 8 bit transparency.

Image by Hello eBoy

PNG was actually created for the intent to replace the GIF as an image format that doesn’t require a patent license. PNG can support 24 bit RGB color images, grayscale images, both with and without alpha channels. RGB cannot support CMYK color spaces, and is not designed for print graphics.

Pros of PNG:

• Lossless, so it does not lose quality and detail after image compression
• In a lot ways better then GIF. To start, PNG often creates smaller file sizes than GIF
• Supports transparency better than GIF

Cons of PNG:

• Not good for large images because they tend to generate a very large file, sometimes creating larger files than JPEG.
• Unlike GIF however, it cannot be animated.
• Not all web browsers can support PNG.

In a Nutshell

There is no universal image format that is best for all scenarios. Every type of image format has their own advantages and disadvantages. Here is a summation of each image format, their pros and cons, as well as when and where it’s best to use them.

Print Graphics: TIFF is the best and only choice for professionals when images are intended for print. Its ability to read CMYK and YcbCr color, plus its ability to store such high pixel intensity makes it the only choice for designers, photographers and publishers.

Web Graphics: PNG, JPEG and GIF are the most web friendly image formats there is. JPEG is great for images when you need to keep the size small, such as when you need to upload it online. If you don’t mind compromising the quality of the image a bit, use JPEG. If you want to keep the size small, but still retain the image quality, use PNG. GIF is the worst choice, although file sizes are very small, and they load very fast. Plus, if you want to add animation effects, use GIF.

PC & Mac Compatibility: If you are using Mac or PC, or constantly shifting from one to another, JPEG is the best image format for PC and Mac Compatibility.

Logos & Line Art: JPEG is the worst choice, it tends to add artifacts and blur the text, line and edges. JPEG also cannot support transparency, which is often a need for logos or icons. GIF is a good choice, but it pales in comparison to TIFF and PNG. Both of the latter image formats are lossless, store as much image information, and are not limited to 256 colors, unlike GIF. They also don’t add artifacts (the downfall of JPEG) and keep the logo or line art sharp and concise.

Clip Art: GIF is the best image for clipart and drawn graphics that only use few colors and precise lines & shapes.

Photography students and enthusiasts must educate themselves with many technical terms such as aperture, shutter speed, focus and exposure. You’ve probably read enough about that elsewhere, so how about a few photography effects? In this post I will share some photography tips and effects. They can enhance the beauty of your photos and they can be very fun to do, too.

1. Bokeh

Bokeh refers to the aesthetic quality of blur, the out of focus area of the image. It’s how the light renders lighted areas that are out of focus. The difference in lens aberrations and aperture shape causes the area to blur, creating the look that’s aesthetically pleasing. Many photographers deliberately use the shallow-focus technique to create images with prominent bokeh areas. The term comes from Japanese ‘boke’, which literally means haze or blur.

There’s good bokeh, but there’s also bad bokeh when the blur is so distracting or harsh that it takes the focus away from the subject. Thus, good bokeh can enhance an image while bad bokeh can ruin it.

Example of bad bokeh.

Use of Creative Bokeh

by Jean Fan

You can also create other shapes of bokeh, such as the heart and star bokeh photos shown below. This can be done by using a filter with the desired shape. You can even create your own. Tutorial can be found here.

by CT Pham

Photo by Astig

2. Panning

Panning refers to the horizontal, vertical or rotational movement of an image still or video. It’s an age-old technique. To achieve panning, you must have a moving subject that you must ‘stay with’ whilst framing the shot before and after you press the shutter. This will create an interesting effect, with your subject being sharp amid a blurred background. Great for shooting moving subjects or racing and sports events.

by Sofia Duarte

Panning will take a lot of practice, but you’ll get used to it and the effort is all worth it. Of course, it is easier to ‘follow’ a human subject than faster subjects like a dog, a motorcycle or a car.

by Statesman

3. Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is one of the most basic principles of composition. It has been used for many centuries by artists, painters and now, photographers.

With the Rule of Thirds, the photographer breaks down the photo into thirds, horizontally & vertically so that you have nine equal parts. The main subject is not placed in the middle of the frame, thus it looks dynamic, moving and interesting.

When you are taking a picture you must mentally divide your viewfinder or LCD display into three to frame your shot. With the grid in mind, identify the important points of interest and frame. For some photographers, this comes naturally but for others, it will require practice.

by Rachel Arandilla

Effective use of the rule of thirds create movement and interest in any photograph.

Photo by Majoy Chua

Keep in mind the rule of thirds for post production. If you find an image’s composition boring, you can always post process it by using the cropping and reframing tools of Photoshop. Experiment with the tools at hand to improve your photos.

4. The Golden Hour

The Golden Hour, also referred to as the Magic Hour, refers to the first hour the sun rises and the last hour the sun sets. It creates a different quality of light; it adds interest and drama to the scene. It’s the perfect time of the day for creating magnificent photos–but be quick, because lighting quickly changes and fades away.

by Torontoist

What really happens during the golden hour? During sunrise and sunset, the sun is near the horizon so the daylight is of the indirect light from the sky, reducing intensity of the sun’s bright light. There is softer lighting, warmer hues and longer shadows. In other times of the day, the sun’s light can be too bright and harsh. The sun’s harsh light is particularly a problem in portrait photography, for the light can create unwanted strong shadows around the face and body.

by David Giral

With landscape photography, photographing landscape during the golden hours enhances the colors of the scene.

by Karen Bangcot

5. Golden Rectangle

The Golden Rectangle, (also the Golden Mean or the Golden Ratio) is another guideline for composition and a variation of the Rule of Thirds, but more intricate. The Golden Rectangle is the mean of the ratio of numbers on the Fibonacci Sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and so on). The ratio creates a golden rectangle, which is comprised of a square and half of the square in the same dimension.

Again, the concept goes back to several centuries. The Golden Rectangle is even used to frame Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Paintings, artworks and photos following the Golden Rectangle tend to be stunning and pleasing to the eye. It’s because it’s an aesthetic proportion that can be found naturally: flowers, shells, butterflies and even the human body.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

It is very hard to frame the image to the Golden Rectangle means directly from the LCD or viewfinder. Thankfully, there are now several programs that you can use to crop your photos to the Golden Rectangle dimensions during post-production.

by Chris Ganes

6. Fill Flash

Fill Flash is a technique in photography where the photographer uses flash to ‘fill in’ dark areas of the image. It’s perfect for backlit environments. The background is usually a lot brighter than the subject. To create fill flash, adjust the aperture and shutter speed correctly to expose the background, use flash to lighten the foreground but still retain the qualities of the background.

You can use flash when: the subject is in a shadow, when there is more light on the background than on the foreground, and when you are close enough to the subject for flash. Remember that your built-in flash is only powerful enough to reach up to 9 feet only. Fill Flash can brighten deeply shadowed areas, improving the image without overexposing the other areas of the image.

by Mike Baird

Fill Flash is great for illuminating the eyes, especially on bright days and the subject is wearing a cap.

by Don Giannatti

by Adrian Biondi

by Eduardo Muriedas

7. Long Exposure

Long exposure is another interesting photography effect which entails a narrow aperture and long duration shutter speed. This is done in order to create dreamy landscapes, capturing the stationary elements while blurring the moving elements of the image.

Long exposure can be tricky. It should be taken in low light situations, most often photos will be overexposed because having long exposure on sunny days can be a problem, as too much light will enter the lens.

It is often referred to as ‘night photography’. Interesting subjects to shoot are stars, moving cars and lights.

by Cretique

by Matthew Fang

by Tyler Westcott

However, there are many beautiful long exposure photographs taken during low light daytime. Shooting fog and water on long exposure is popular in photography.

by Dene Miles

by Stan Mason

8. Contre-jour

Contre-jour is a popular photography effect. It is French for ‘against daylight’, the camera is directly pointing towards the light source. Countre-jour is, basically, is the fancy speak of ‘silhouette photography’. The light source is located directly behind the subject.

The contre-jour effect produces high contrast photos between light and dark. It hides details yet emphasizes contour of the subject and shapes. Contre-jour is more popular in nature & landscape photography. The effect is often used to add a more dramatic mood and intense ambiance to the scene.

by ArtBible.net

by Karlos Portillo

Ironically though, contre-jour can enhance or reduce the quality of detail in the photo. Some recommend using a lens hood to enhance the effect of contre-jour in photographs, significantly reducing the glare coming into the lens. If too much light enters the lens, it will cause overexposure, causing the photo to lose definition.

Conclusion

You don’t need to follow these terms to the dot in order to create a beautiful and interesting image. In fact, rules are made to be broken! Art is about exploring yourself and your medium, after all. But to be an artist of your own you have to learn the basics first before you break them. That’s what Pablo Picasso and Van Gogh did.

Of course, these are not the only effects in photography. There are dozens more, and you can even create a photography effect through your own experimentation. Photography’s only limits is the photographer’s creativity.

During those old times, I did not think of myself as a pro. Even until now, I am not taking photographs thinking that I’m a pro with my DSLR hanging around my neck. I just take photos because I love photography.

Everything’s all and well until I had this very odd encounter with a friend. I was enjoying myself photowalking when I bumped into one of my friends. I let him borrow my camera. He pointed the camera on the streets and then pressed the shutter. We looked at the photo. Then he said,

“Wow! Even I can become a pro with this…”

I was surprised actually. Then I began to ask myself these questions:

1. Is Photography Really that Simple?

This photo was taken a few days ago using Canon EOS 1000D and that pretty girl is my “Iyaan” (this is our endearment). I uploaded it on Facebook and friends started commenting. Most of the comments are really flattering, but there are also comments that are quite saddening, really.

For example,

“mao…!!!!mupalit ko ana na cam pra tanang maot mugwapa..!!!aw….peace..!!!!hehehe….”

The exact English translation would be,

“correct…!!!! I will buy the same camera so that everything that’s ugly will come out beautiful..!!!”

That’s when I thought that maybe photography has become really, really easy.

With today’s technology, everything’s available to the public. The significant boom in digital cameras makes photography as simple as point and shoot.

2. Is there even Art in Photography?

Image by: Colin Brough

In seeking answers to my questions, I learned that there has been a lot of debate not just about whether or not the art of photography is dying, but if we can even consider photography an art?

There has been a lot of treatises on whether it is or it isn’t. To the opposing side, the primary objection is that taking a picture of something does not create art. The mechanical process handles all the work –  can a photographer capturing the image of something which is already present be considered ART?

Well, according to Tolstoy, which I know many of you guys know,

“Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously by means of certain signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by those feelings and experience them.”

From that definition of art. There is no doubt for me that Photography is ART.

This brings us to my next question.

3. What makes Photography an Art?

Image by: purple21

I wanted to define art for the sake of the discussion but it would just lead to a much wider debate. So let me just quote William Faulkner.

“The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.”

No other words can define photography any better than this. So, what makes photography an art?

• Photography shows the Photographer’s Vision

It is true that when we look at a photograph, we are looking at a scene that already existed in this world and that’s just a mere image recorded. But definitely that’s not all. We are also looking at how the Photographer viewed the scenery and how the photographer chose to capture and present it to make it his art.

• It makes a Statement

A beautiful, expressive face; a transient moment in nature; the aloofness of a splendid cliff; the warmth of fire; the coldness of ice; the passion and love of a mother for her child; the sorrow of an old man mourning at his wife’s grave…a photograph is life distilled and preserved for eternity. Sometimes, a photograph is just a very ordinary scene in the real world but a photographer can capture that scene in a such a way that it makes a statement. Let’s take for example street photography, a picture of a little kid so innocent and so pure. The scenery alone is very ordinary in the real world, but the innocence of that kid can be captured and preserved for eternity, and the image has the power to move the audience.

• Photography “infects” the Audience

A photograph delivers a message, an emotion, a feeling, in a way no words can. A sense of beauty and magnificence of life, nature, and experiences of mankind. Through photography, these messages contained in a photograph have the ability to grab and “infect” the viewer with the idea the photographer wanted to convey.

This is just my humble opinion and I might be able to make some of you think of photography as a true form of art. Actually, I can’t think of reasons why photography is NOT an art so I did my research and I found this one site that says “10 Reasons Why Photography Sucks and Isn’t an Art Form“.

The author made some strong points and I agree with some of his points, but I will leave it to you. If you want, you can even bring the discussion here and we’ll start our own little debate (thrilled!).

Art or Not, photography has made its way to the mainstream and along with it some allies and also some naysayers. With the advent of “reasonably priced” digital photography, here’s my next question:

4. Where does Photography stand today?

Image by: Pam Roth

When I was a kid, I remember having a neighbor named “Julian”, pronounced as “Hulyan”. In our little town, I remember him being the star photographer. His camera at that time was one of those cameras that uses traditional film. He was there when I graduated grade school. A few years later, he’s nowhere to be found.

While writing this post, I think I know why Julian disappeared. People no longer pay for him to take pictures. Five years ago, moms are already running around with their digital cameras to take their kids’ graduation pictures. Mr. Julian got put out of business.

It also made me think how many professional photographers must have gone out of business because of the ever-changing world of photography. Not just film photographers but also the pioneers of digital photography can have a tough time when it comes to making a living out of photography.

5. Is the art of photography REALLY dying?

Image by: ilker .

With the exponential growth of technology in the photography industry, many professional photographers are worried about how easy photography is these days. Plus with the help of Photoshop, their concern is that someone with a half decent camera can put their camera on AUTO and just shoot without thinking about the meaning behind each shot.

Thus the debate, is the art of photography really dying?

Well I think that, while a lot of photographers are worried about losing their business, or that the professional side of photography is not as respected as it once was because almost anybody can call themselves pro, it really doesn’t concern photography as an art.

Professional or not, getting paid or not, photography is for everybody, just as art is. The important thing is to successfully communicate to the audience the passion and emotion the photographer felt when they pressed the shutter.

My 5 Most Favorite Photographs/Photographers

1. Iwo Jima Flag Raising

A very inspiring photo taken by Joe Rosenthal on Feb. 23, 1945. This is one of my favorite photographs. An ultimate symbol of patriotism and valor.

2. Richard Murai

Shooting the world’s sacred sites using film, Richard Murai’s photos teaches us that becoming sensitive to unfamiliar cultures can encourage tolerance and compassion.

3. Takeoff

Utterly stunning, this photograph showcases the beauty and magnificence of nature and you get the feeling of satisfaction and life itself.

4. “Den Battle”  Kits Playing

Photographer Mark J. Harlow spent six days with these magnificent creatures. They look like kids trying to get their parents attention.

5. Luanne Mae Manreal (>.<)

Really who can understand your shots better than yourself. In this photo I wanted to let my audience know the beauty of the tropical islands of the Philippines!

Now that you’ve finished reading my top 5 favorites in the photography world, let me tell you guys that one photo there dates back to 1945, one photographer prefers film photography, and all of them depict beauty and magnificence. Really, the art of photography is not defined by time, people, and medium. It may change and evolve, but it certainly won’t die.

Note:

This is just my humble view with regards to photography. I’m sure a lot of you guys also have a lot in mind regarding this topic. I said everything in my heart and  on my mind, now it’s your turn. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas. That’s art.

A Little About Free Photos

Free photos are awesome because they are, well, free. But, to be honest, most of the time they really aren’t that awesome at all. They are usually of lesser quality, require links or are far too small to use for anything practical. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Check out the pros and cons I’ve outlined below.

Pros

• They’re free
• They are sometimes very large photos like the ones you’ll find on Stock Exchange (see below)
• You can use them pretty much wherever you want, even commercial projects
• Occasionally you can find really good ones
• Can alter them if you need

Cons

• They are of lesser quality for the most part meaning less MP
• Also have bad or sub-par composition and color
• Often too small
• Will be seen in multiple places since anyone can get ahold of them
• Most likely you won’t find exactly what you need and you’ll have to settle
• You’ll also have to sift through ads to find the photos…they have to generate income somehow
• Sometimes require a link or attribution

I’m an advocate for using free photos during the composition of a client project. The reason why lies in cost. I’m not going to pay for photos for a client to change them anyway, it’s just not being smart with your money. That said, I definitely have to do some explaining as to why the photo isn’t exactly what they are going to end up using or why it has a watermark on it. Most clients are okay with it if you tell them the alternative was charging them for stock photos they may never use. However, I proceed to push the sale of professional photos for the live launch of a project. They will make or break or design no matter how great it is.

A Little About Paid Photos

Paid photos on the other hand are a whole different breed. They are usually the opposite of free photos but also come with their own set of pros and cons. Let’s check these out.

Pros

• Usually professionally shot
• High Quality
• Can purchase different sizes
• Good composition
• Plenty to choose from

Cons

• Can get a bit pricey
• Multiple usage restrictions
• Many times can’t be used in commercial projects
• Require additional research to find exact usage

Photo by Kozumel

Difference in Quality

There’s a definite difference in the quality you will get with free versus paid photos. Free ones are often shot by amateurs or as candid and it was an afterthought to upload it for use by others. You can tell in the composition, the coloring, and even the actual pixels or picture quality. That’s not to say that all paid pictures are fantastic, but you’re much more likely to find paid photos with better quality all around.

It would be my assumption that the people uploading pictures for free don’t take as much time or have near as much experience as those who upload to paid sites. I think it’s safe to say that. But don’t feel free ones are useless, they can serve their purpose and then be replaced by a professional image for the final product.

What are you using it for?

If you’re using photos for a personal project, you might be able to get away with using free or very cheap photos. And by personal I mean like a poster for your child’s classroom or something along those lines. However, if you’re a web designer building a site for yourself, I highly suggest you get some professional photos. These are going on your portfolio and whether you’re a photographer or not, clients will expect perfection from you for the most part.

Client projects nearly always require professional photos. Clients don’t always want to pay for them, but I urge you to do your best to explain to them the difference it will make for their clients. You don’t ever see major brands like Dell or Nike using cheap or free photos for their marketing. It makes a difference and it’s your job to translate that to your clients.

Photo by opensourceway

Photo Copyright Infringement

Copyright is a huge deal these days as well. It’s difficult to trace exactly where photos have gone once they’ve been uploaded to a site. Paid sites use watermarks but those are easy to cover up if you know Photoshop very well. And free photos have their own issues even though they may be considered “free.” For example, if there’s a person in a photo, that person is supposed to give a model release to the photographer so it can be used in any way. But I’ve personally come across hundreds of photos with many people in them that I know they didn’t get model releases from all of them.

On top of model releases, the photographer still owns the photo and all copyrights to it regardless of whether it’s posted on a free site or not. They have to sign a release to the person that wants to use the photo in order for it to be legal. I know it sounds crazy, but there are some very strict guidelines for photo copyright and people infringe on it everyday. And the thing about copyright is that it’s different from country to country, and in the US, from state to state even! So it’s best to contact the photographer directly before using the photo in any way such as client work or on your own site.

A Few Good Free Photo Sites

Stock Exchange is probably my personal favorite of the free ones. Some of it has to do with the fact that it’s the only one I really use. Like I said, I use these images for mockup purposes, not for the final launch of a project. Their search has always been pretty lame so you’ll have to deal with that should you decide to use them.

Flickr is another great resource for some free photos. You’ll have to give attribution for most of them but they definitely work and there are tons to choose from. Be sure to check out the copyright restrictions on this site as well as the other ones.

FreeDigitalPhotos has some great stuff as well. However, they only offer the small size images for free, the others are paid. Most likely you could use their photos for a small image on a project but they wouldn’t work for a large banner that would be on the homepage of a design…at least not without pixelation.

EveryStockPhoto is a great place as well. They’ve got plenty to choose from and most of them are actually very good shots. They come in a variety of sizes but many of them will work great for mockups.

A Few Good Paid Photo Sites

I’m pretty sure that mostly everyone has heard of iStockPhoto. They’ve been just about the only place I go to buy photos when I decide to. Over time their pricing has crept up a bit but they are still very reasonable and allow you to purchase small photos for as low as $1. Most of the web ready ones will run you about $3 or so, which is awesome for the quality you get here. They also have stock video, audio, illustrations, and a plethora of other things.

Ah, Getty Images. Seems these guys have been around since the beginning of the internet. They have some pretty awesome stuff, but it also gets a bit pricey and quick. If you can push the cost off on your client, which you should do if it’s for their project, they are a great choice to find what you’re looking for.

Yet another great resource for paid photos is ShutterStock. You’ll find what you’re looking for here for sure but again, it will cost you a bit to get the quality they provide. I’m not against quality but sometimes it seems they’re charging a bit much for it.

DreamsTime has some good stuff as well. I personally don’t use this one but it’s another place to visit should you not be able to find what you’re looking for at any of the above ones.

So In Closing…

Keep in mind that photos can make or break your design. Obviously it’s your choice as to whether you want to fork over the money to pay for them, but most of the time when working on a client project you can pass the cost along. Just make sure you thoroughly explain your stance on using professional photos and maybe give some examples comparing free versus paid photos. Point out some differences and let the client make that call, even if it is against your better judgement. What do you think of free versus paid sites? Are they truly worth paying for or just a waste of money? What other sites do you use?

Post processing is just as important as the photo shoot. No matter how good a photographer is, everyone needs to tweak a few flaws and emphasize details. Glamour, landscape, events, micro and portrait photographers need a handy photo editing software to improve their photos. Adobe Photoshop is a must have program for designers, artists, art students and now photographers as well.

After the birth of digital photography, photo processing is no longer done in a lab, but in a computer. As a photographer, you don’t need to learn Photoshop inside and out; you just need to know a few Photoshop tools that will help greatly in your picture taking hobby or profession.

Cropping

Cropping is an essential Photoshop tool for all digital photographers. You can improve your picture by leaving out unnecessary or bothersome elements through cropping.  With the right cropping skills, you can make any ordinary shot into a noteworthy, interesting photograph.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

Cropping can be used to increase focus of the subject. It can improve the composition of the picture. During a shoot, you may not have the right lens, the time or the position that allows you to take photos with perfect framing all the time. Cropping through Photoshop will later save you from that.

Dodge and Burn

Dodge and burn are common techniques used in the traditional film dark room, and now you can manipulate photos by dodging and burning through Photoshop.

The Dodge and Burn tool is found on the Photoshop tool box. The burn tool is used to make an area of the photo darker, while dodge tool blocks the light to make the area of the photo lighter. The Dodge tool can even create the photographers’ favorite ‘Glassy Eyes’ effect in photos.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

See how different and beautiful it looks when dodging and burning is applied? Dodge and burn is used to improve photos by:

1. Improving the exposure
2. Bringing out details
3. Directing your viewer’s eye movement and
4. Adding drama and impact through the use of highlights and shadows

Clone Stamp

Repairing photos and hiding flaws are now made easier through Photoshop’s Clone Stamp tool. Clone Stamp could remove annoying phone wires, leaves, freckles, people, and other unwanted elements. You can even clone other items to make the photograph more interesting–maybe add books, fill in background with people or add more flowers–these are all possible through the Clone Stamp Tool.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

As you can see in the picture above, the rock and leaf are removed by cloning the grass into the area.

Blur / Sharpen tool

The Sharpen tool in Photoshop increases contrast in areas you want to emphasize. You can sharpen edges, or pop highlights on shiny objects for effect. It can save a blurred photograph, but don’t use the sharpen tool too much or it will end up overdone.

Blurring can also create creative effects to a photo. It sounds ironic, but too much sharpness can be too much of a good thing. This is true especially if a sharp background distracts viewers from your real, intended subject. When you blur unneccessary details, your subject pops, creating focus. Gaussian blur creates the soft, blurry look while Motion blur creates the impression of movement.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

Black & White Tool

Black and White provides a dramatic and gritty effect that cannot be found in colored photos.

Photo by Rachel Arandilla

Unlike other editing softwares where they simply desaturate the image and throw away valuable color information, Photoshop provides you full control of how your final output will look like. It separates lightness values per color through the Black & White adjustment. The tools allows you to emphasize and de-emphasize areas of your whim.

Have full control of the black and white tones of your image. Light is separated by color: reds, yellows, greens, cyans, blues and magentas.

If black and white is too extreme for you, you can also try Photoshop’s Photo filter tool and adding color tints. You can see how a tint can change the overall mood and feel of an image: Sepia tones make it look nostalgic, blue tones make it look cold and unwelcome, and so forth.

These are not the only tools for photographs to utilize, but in my opinion, they are the five crucial tools to master – they’re easy to learn and very important. If you feel confident on learning more Photoshop skills to use for your photographs, try to experiment which you can use for your hobby or profession. However, don’t overdo post processing – your main objective is to improve or enhance your photo, and not to digitally alter the whole photograph from scratch.