Simple, Versatile Photo Enhancing Technique

All of this was done using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.

Here is the original photo:

And here is the end result:


Steps:
1. First I cropped the image. I really liked how the lines lead your eye to the bee, so I didn't want to cut too much of that out. I also really liked the shadow and the out-of-focus area at the top left corner of the photo. With that in mind, I cropped as much as I could out of the image.

2. I always sharpen my image. Even if it doesn't look like it needs it, I am always surprised by how much sharper my image is afterward. I went to the "Enhance" drop-down menu at the top of the screen and clicked on "Unsharp Mask". Normally I have the numbers set at: amount 175%, radius 2 pixels, and threshold 3 levels. But this photo is more detailed, so I set the numbers to: amount 150%, radius to 1.5 pixels, and threshold 4. It all really depends on what works for the individual photo.

3. The color was really good, so next I just adjusted the contrast (go to "Enhance" and click on "lighting" and then "Brightness/Contrast"). I really love contrast, so I increased the contrast to +100.

4. Next, I wanted to emphasize the bee more, so I used the selection brush and made a selection of the bee and it's shadow. I made sure to include lots of the surrounding leaf as well.

5. Then I pressed shift+ctrl+I to invert the selection. Now everything BUT the bee and the surrounding leaf was selected.

6. Next I went to "Select" clicked on "Refine Edge" and set the numbers to: Smooth 0, Feather: 250 px., and Contract/Expand: -71%.


7. Next I clicked the bucket tool and set the numbers to Opacity 55%, Tolerance 255, and set the mode to "Soft Light". Then I clicked inside of the selected area.

8. Then just ctrl+D to deselect, and I have my enhanced image! I use this simple process on most of the photos that I enhance.

Something not clear? Have a question? Feel free to ask by leaving a comment below!

Nikon P90 Superzoom Camera

I just bought a Nikon Coolpix P90 super-zoom camera.

My favorite things about it:

• The optical zoom goes up to 24X (624mm equivalent).
  
• It can focus up to 1 cm without the zoom for ultra-macro shots.
• It is smaller and lighter than a DSLR and ideal for traveling while still getting quality shots.
• It also has 12.1 megapixals while my DSLR has only 6.1 megapixals.
• The shooting modes include:
• sports
  
• video
• shutter priority
• aperture priority
• manual
• auto
• program
• dusk/dawn
• night landscape
• close-up
• food
• museum
• fireworks show
• backlight
• panorama assist
• voice recording
  
• Manual and automatic focus.
• Tilting LCD

Example shots:

The first pictures are strait from the camera (not cropped or edited). Not as good of quality as a DLSR, but still really good for a point-and-shoot camera.

These first three pictures demonstrate the camera's zooming capabilities:

Widest shot:



This picture was taken from the exact same spot as the previous shot, but with the 24X optical zoom (zoomed into the bleeding hearts bush in the center of the picture above):


Again, this picture was taken from the exact same spot as the previous first two shots, but now with the 5x digital zoom on top of the 24x optical zoom:



With a little editing in photoshop elements:

Lighting levels adjustment was applied.


A little touching up and lighting adjustments,
and this picture turned out pretty well!

Close-up pictures with the P90 (no cropping):

Overall, I really like this camera and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something better than a point-and-shoot camera but lighter and smaller than a DSLR.

Macro Filters

What are macro filters?

They substitute for macro lenses. They are filters that you can screw onto your dslr camera. They extend the focus range, allowing you to move in for closer pictures. The results aren't as good as with a real macro lens, but filters are more easily stored and much cheaper. Macro lenses cost around $500, while I got my macro filters for $15.

You can buy macro filters with different magnifications such as 1x, 2x, 4x, 10x, and others. You can use each filter on its own, or combine them for closer magnification. I have a 1x, 2x, 4x, and 10x that I use combined together.

All of these pictures came directly from my camera and have not been edited or cropped.

Without macro filters.

With macro filters (1x, 2x, 4x, 10x).

Some more pictures using the macro filters: