The Mobile Photo Revolution: Do’s and Don’ts





Image from cnn.com

  

Welcome back everyone!!  Today I will be talking about the recent phenomenon of mobile photo sharing.  With the advancement of cell phone and social networking technology, photo applications have become incredibly popular.  This can be an extremely useful tool to use to share photos of yourself amongst your peers.  It can also be trouble.





Image from googleimages

  

The most popular photo sharing takes place on Facebook.  With the increase of sales with smart phones, Facebook has become an easy tool to use to connect with friends and exchange photos.  According to Facebook, There are many other photo sharing tool that consumer may choose from.   

“There are more than two hundred and fifty million active users.  People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook as non-mobile users.” 

  That goes to show you the direction the World Wide Web is moving towards, it's going mobile.   According to cnn.com,

“Picplz and Path represent the next generation of photo sharing, where high quality photos are snapped and shared in seconds on your mobile device.  Instagram and Picplz focus on the instantaneous point-and-share functionality of smart phones while providing users with filters to fancify and enhance photos and the tools to share them with the world.  Path makes the same bet that users will capture important moments in their lives on their mobile devices, but instead assumes that users prefer to share these intimate memories with just friends and family.”

Image from googleimages

All of these photo application tools are very helpful to keep in touch with friends and family.  In some cases they are abused and not used properly.  According to an article from wisn.com, a father from Milwaukee County discovered a naked picture of a fifteen year old boy on his daughter’s phone.  The father ended up taking the phone to the police station.  The police then contacted the boy and found nude pictures of the fourteen year old girl on the boy’s phone.  This is a prime example how these types of technologies can be abused.

3D Technology

3D technology has been around for many years.  According to 3dgear.com, the first 3D film presented in front of a paying audience took place on June 10, 1915 at Astor Theater, New York.  The first featured film in 3D came shortly after on September 27, 1922.  It’s safe to say that 3D technology has been around for a while, but it hasn’t been until recent years that it has started to gain more popularity because of the new digital age.  With the expansion of technology, 3D has not only gone digital on our big screens, but it also has gone digital with new standardized cameras.     

Image from googleimages

One of the most recent 3D digital cameras that just came out this month is the “Sony Bloggie 3D MHS-FS3 HD Camera.”  It’s priced at two hundred and fifty dollars.   It looks like a great camera, but honestly I don’t think it will take off.  I’ll let you be the judge; here is a video that goes into more detail about the “Bloggie 3D HD Camera.” 

There are a lot of cool features built into this camera, such as: a swivel USB extender, HDMI output, and the Bloggie software that comes along with it.  The demand for 3D photography technology isn’t that high.  The three main reasons the demand for 3D technology isn’t higher is easy.  The first reason is because it requires you to wear 3D glasses.   The second reason is because 3D technology is expensive, and third being that there is a small amount of other 3D format consoles to integrate and work together with.  Not all 3D technologies require glasses.  The camera I mentioned above being one of them.  Here is a five minute video I found on YouTube that explains the fundamentals of 3D technology.  It also explains how 3D works when you aren't wearing glasses.

According to asiaonedigital.com, 3D technology is going to be incorporated into games very soon.  This would expose a whole new group of people that don’t necessarily go to 3D movies, or use 3D cameras.  Within the next five years it should be fun to see what will happen with 3D technology. 

Fun Editing Software

Welcome back everyone; today we will be talking about two editing software programs used to edit digital images. The two main editing software programs are Photoshop, and Illustrator.  In previous blogs I’ve mentioned some of these programs, but never explained what they are and how they are different.



Adobe Illustrator CS5 screen shot
Image from googleimages



According to an eHow article “Uses of Adobe Photoshop,” Photoshop provides the user the capability to edit images, touch up photos, move pictures, and create 3D Graphics.  These are all important features in that all are used frequently in the photography or graphic design industry.  Illustrator is great editing software. 



Adobe Photoshop CS5 screen shot
Image from googleimages



Illustrator is a fun interactive editing software.  For those of you who have used “Paint” that comes with most computers under the application file folder, imagine that software on steroids, and that’s Illustrator. Illustrator is used most often by graphic designers.  A lot of digital artists use this software as a substitute to the older means of art such as sketching and painting.  Personally I don’t have a lot of experience with Illustrator because I tend to use Photoshop for most my needs.  I have used it on occasion; I didn’t seem to have any problems.  There’re alot of technical differences as well.  According to an eHow article “How to Understand the Difference Between Illustrator and Photoshop,” Illustrator creates vector graphics and text while Photoshop creates bitmapped graphics. 

“Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitive such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon(s), which are all based on mathematical equations, to represent images in computer graphics” While a bitmap “is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images (wikipedia)."

Adobe is the company that makes both Illustrator and Photoshop along with many other software programs.  One amazing element about using any Adobe software is that they’re structured the same way.  Having the design features similar make it easier for the user to learn new software more efficiently.

The Giant Leap from Film to Digital

Film vs. Digital photography has always been a top debate amongst photographers.  They’re several pros and cons for each.  But as we all know, digital photography triumphed film.  Today I will be talking about old film technology and its progression towards the digital age. 



Image by Michele Clement



I would imagine most people now days don’t have much experience with film cameras because it is becoming more obsolete with modern day technology.  The way film records data is essentially the same as digital, but with different means of delivery.   According to “How Does Camera Film Work,” by Josh Baum; each film strip is coated with silver halide and silver nitrate.  Together they are layered with other chemical to make the film sensitive to light. The film is placed in the back of the camera.  When someone takes a picture, the shutter is released inside the camera exposing the film to light which records the image; it then goes through the developmental process in the dark room for print.  This whole process sound complicated compared to modern day photography. 



Image by Toni Frissell



Digital cameras work similar, the only difference is they have a digital light sensor in the back, rather than film.  Manipulating images, copying, and printing are very convenient factors with digital photography.  There are unlimited changes you can make in Photoshop, Illustrator, and editing software programs.  Film on the other hand produces a greater tone of value that you can’t get with any other means of photography.  To validate my statement, Ralph Gibson is a world renowned photographer who only shoots in black and white film.  His work has more texture and value compared to anything digital.  The two images above are great examples as well. 

Even though digital photography will continue to grow, film will never be completely obsolete.

What Is a DSLR Camera?

Welcome back everyone!!  Last week I talked a little bit about what you should look for when you decide to buy a digital camera.  I used the term DSLR quite a few times without thoroughly explaining exactly what it means.  Today we'll talk about the DSLR camera in a lot more detail and what features it has to offer.

The first question you might ask yourself is: What does DSLR stand for?  According to "The Digital SLR Guide," DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.  To get a better understanding of how a DSLR camera works, you have to understand the anatomy of a camera. 

Here is a short diagram courtesy of digital-slr-guide.com that explains the anatomy of a DSLR camera:

Image from digital-slr-guide.com

1. Light passes through the lens and strikes a mirror (green)

2. The mirror reflects the light up to a focusing screen

3. Light passes through the focusing screen and enters a block of glass called a pentaprism (orange)

4. The pentaprism reflects the image so that you can see it in the viewfinder

5. When you take a photo, the mirror flips up and a shutter (blue) opens that exposes the digital sensor (red) to light.

If you look at picture above, the main difference is that red bar.  In the diagram it represents the digital sensor, whereas older cameras it would represent film.  Because there is a digital sensor that records the light into pixels, the camera now becomes interactive and editable like a computer.  So what features does a DSLR camera have?

I will use my DSLR camera as an example.   I own a Nikon D700.  It has countless features that take a long time to learn and utilize properly.  The main features that are most relatable to a computer would have to be the HDMI video capability, the LCD display screen, and the live view which would be similar to a computers web camera.  There’re a lot of other fun features. 

My favorite little feature on my personal camera is the virtual horizon feature.  Basically all it is a digital level so you don’t get cockeyed photos.  It just gives me peace of mind knowing that its level and I don’t have to change it later in Photoshop.  There are many more features, but that might be another blog.

I hope you have a better understanding of what a DSLR camera is and some of its capabilities.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at my website at: scovillephotography.com, or leave a comment.

Choosing the Right Camera

Choosing the right camera is very difficult process.  I would compare it be as equally as hard as buying a new car.  You want to know what features it has.  You want to know how long it’s going to last.  And of course, you want to get it for the right price.  Today I will briefly go over what type of cameras I’d recommend for beginners, amateurs, and professionals.

For beginners I would recommend a normal digital camera, even though they don’t have all the cool features of a DSLR camera.  You can still develop an “eye” for taking photographs.  There are a lot of digital cameras out there that you can choose from that are quite reasonable.  Amazon.com would be a great place to start looking for good deals.  As far as camera brands, personally I like Nixon.  Canon is probably my second favorite brand, only because I own a Nixon.  These brands are my favorite.  A lot of local photographers I’ve talked to in the past have recommended those brands to me because they're very reliable.  I’ve also read a lot of different camera reviews in recent years.  I would highly recommend doing your own research though.  Reading reviews of different cameras is extremely beneficial and strongly encouraged.  There are a lot of good review websites out there. Digitalcamerareview.com and Cameralabs.com are two great examples.  Remember don’t base your decision off one site.  The more reviews site your go to, the better you will be on making an educated decision.

For amateurs I would recommend buying a low scaled DSLR camera.  These types of camera will come with most features so you can begin to learn all the different modes and features they have to offer. Buying a used or refurnished DSLR cameras is the best way to go. 

For the professionals I would recommend getting a high scaled DSLR camera.  If you buy a professional camera I’m assuming you want to make money for your services.  Depending on what type of photography you’re doing is going to determine what type of camera you need.  Keeping everything I said in mind, here is a link from videojug.com that goes into more detail about purchasing a good DSLR camera.

We talked about digital cameras for beginners.  It’s important to develop that “eye” for photography.  Buying a low scaled DSLR camera for amateurs would be best.  Old or refurnished cameras will save you a few bucks and you will still reap the benefits of having what you need to continue learning.  And a high scaled DSLR cameras for the professionals.  Purchase what’s best for you and your future business.

New Photoshop CS5 Features

Hey there everyone, welcome back!!!  Today we will be talking about the new features in CS5 Photoshop.  I’m sure everyone has had personal experience with older versions of Photoshop.  Here are two features that are new this year and that will make your life a lot easier while working on your personal photos at home.  The two features that I personally like the best is the new Mini Bridge and the Content-Aware option.

The new mini bridge is super awesome.  Yes, it is basically the same thing as the original Adobe Bridge CS5.  In fact I believe you need to own the original version of Bridge to access Mini Bridge in Photoshop or in Indesign.  Mini Bridge provides an instant access to many features that are useful in Adobe Bridge CS5 without having to actually start the program itself.  From my own personal experience, I’ve always preferred tweaking photos in Bridge before bringing them into Photoshop.  Reason why is because Bridge contains an excellent set up for adjusting photos super-fast.  The feature that I used in Mini Bridge is called camera raw 6.0.  This allows you to do a variety of different changes quick, while being able to preview your images.  Mini Bridge also helps the user navigate and organize files in a more productive way.   The following video talks about Mini Bridge and how to navigate through it: 

Content-Aware option is a feature that I just recently discovered.  It’s a cool feature that can remove objects in photo while digitally filling in the background for you.  It’s a major time saver for making major changes to photos, such as removing unwanted objects, lens spots, or garbage.  I wish I had this feature four years ago; I could’ve saved so much time.  It’s depressing to think about, but I'll cry about it later.  On serious note, an important element to remember while working with the content-aware option or any feature in Photoshop is practice.  We’ve all heard the infamous saying, “practice makes perfect.”  Well, there is some truth to that.  I would highly recommend playing around a bit until you feel comfortable.

Today we’ve talked about using the new Mini Bridge which is basically the baby brother of Adobe Bridge CS5.  We’ve also talked about the Content-Aware option briefly, which allows contain to be removed and replaced automatically.

If you have any questions regarding this blog or any other blogs, feel free to leave a comment or contact me at through my site @ scovillephotography.com or at my facebook page.