Professional Portrait Retouching – Removing Dark Circles
June 30, 2008
In our previous portrait retouching lesson, we looked at the simple task of brightening a subject’s eyes. This time, we’ll be working on removing the dark circles under your subject’s eyes. With the use of some of Photoshop’s healing and retouching tools, we can easily paint away wrinkles and blemishes and make your subjects look years younger.
CSS Colors, Practices, and Theories
June 27, 2008
CSS is often thought of as a way to layout a website or position your page elements. However, CSS is just as useful in controlling the style or design of your site with the use of color. But before I get into the technicalities of it all, let’s use our imaginations for just a moment.
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Midweek Geek Links for 6-26-2008
June 26, 2008
It’s time for this week’s Geek Links!
- I have no hesitation in saying that if I could only choose one program to have installed on my computer, it’d be Photoshop. I’ve probably learned more about Photoshop from Deke McClelland than any other human alive. I’ve always been a huge fan of his books and videos. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard much from him lately. That is, until I read that he accomplished what they said couldn’t be done; he dropped 101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes. Check out the hilarious video for a healthy overdose in Photoshop tips.
- Interested in HDR Photography? Check out Matt Kloskowski’s article on HDR tidbits (links, news, inspiration).
- Adobe recently released Adobe Air, a cross-OS platform for deploying Internet applications as desktop programs. The guys over at Lifehacker have detailed the Top 10 apps worth installing Adobe Air for. Makes it sound a good bit more enticing for me.
- DIYPhotography.net did the grunt work and provided us with a great portrait lighting cheat sheet. This is a great resource for those getting started in lighting as it shows how simply moving the positioning of your light can have a dramatic effect.
- Interested in learning more about design? Learn the basics over at JustCreativeDesign.com.
Off-Camera Flash Photography Tips – How to Trigger Your Flash
June 25, 2008
Previously, we discussed which flash to buy. It should go without saying that, once you have a flash, you must have a way to trigger it off-camera.
There are various ways to do this, both wired and wireless. We’ll be covering both methods here, but be forewarned that it’s easy to sink a lot of cash into triggers, as you’ll soon see.
Open Programs Faster – Use Keyboard Shortcuts
June 23, 2008
When I working on my computer, I like to be as efficient as possible. In my quest for efficiency, I’ve found a few little tricks that speeds up my work flow. One of these tricks is defining keyboard shortcuts in Windows.
You can assign a keyboard shortcut to anything shortcut on your Desktop or Start Menu. Once you’ve assigned a shortcut, all you have to do is press the key combination you defined to open that particular shortcut. In this post, I’ll explain how to set up your own keyboard shortcuts and how they can be helpful.
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Off-Camera Flash Photography Tips – Choosing a Flash
June 20, 2008
Last week we discussed off-camera lighting with small flashes. In order to get started in the world of off-camera flash photography, there are a few things that your flash will need in order to work correctly.
1. Your flash must have a way to be triggered off-camera. This could be your typical hot-shoe adapter or PC connection.
2. Your flash must have the ability to be controlled manually. That is to say, you must be able to change the amount of light that’s being emitted from the flash.
Midweek Geek Links for 6-19-2008
June 19, 2008
It’s time for the weekly Geek Link explosion!
- Intel is looking at integrating DRAM into their CPU’s which could result in crazy processor speeds and efficiency.
- The New York Times has an interesting article about a 1930’s man, Paul Otlet, envisioning a network of “electric telescopes,” which basically describes what we think of as the Internet.
- Wine 1.0, which allows you to run Windows applications in Linux, was released this week. Wine has been in development and testing for the past 15 years.
- Electronista.com claims that 92 percent of developers are ignoring Vista. Personally, I’m not surprised.
- Last but not least, there’s a fun article over at WebUrbanist.com about some neat steampunk designs, mods, and inventions.
Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW
June 18, 2008
I’m not the guy who usually writes about photography gear, but thanks to the fact that my first child is on the way, I’m slowly getting into it the photography scene. I picked up my first digital SLR (a Canon Rebel XTi) around a month ago. Since then I’ve learned a fair amount about my camera and how to take some decent shots. Beyond that, I’ve come to appreciate all the sweet gear that’s out there.
I soon realized that I needed a way to carry my camera around. I also knew that I would purchase a new lens and flash soon. So I started looking around online and reading reviews.
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Firefox 3 Download Day
June 17, 2008
Firefox users rejoice! Firefox 3 is being released across the world in a celebratory fashion. Today is Firefox Download Day 2008.
Not only are we about to get a upgrade to the best browser in the world, we can help set a record for the most downloaded software in a 24 hour period. You can go to the official Firefox Download Day website to join the other millions of users who have pledged to download Firefox 3.
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Professional Portrait Retouching – Brightening the Eyes
June 16, 2008
One of the easiest ways to make your portraits really stand out is to brighten your subject’s eyes. This is a quick and easy photo retouch technique used by professionals that you can use on most any portrait.
Check out the video after the jump, as well as a step-by-step rundown of the technique used.
