My Mini Photoshop Express (Beta) Review

Now they've done it. Adobe released an on-line version of PhotoShop. Here is my take on it.

First off, PhotoShop Express is not at all like PhotoShop. The full version of PhotoShop is a pixel editor. PhotoShop Express it is an image editor, so don't expect the to be able to make changes as fine as you could with PhotoShop CS3. Now that I have cleared that up... PhotoShop Express is for people looking to edit and share their photographs. It is all done on-line, no software to install (well, you need Flash installed with a Web Browser such as Firefox). And its FREE! So, how does it all work? Let me tell ya!

First, open an account here. Registration is fast and simple. Then upload some photos. PhotoShop Express is giving people 2 GB of storage on the web, a nice amount to play with for sure! You can also use it to edit your photos on Facebook, Photobucket and Picasa.

What can you do with your images? Check out this list!

• Crop and Rotate
• Auto Correct
• Exposure
• Red Eye Removal
• Touchup
  
• Saturation
• White Balance
• Highlight
• Fill Light
• Sharpen
• Soft Focus
• Pop Color
• Hue
• Black and White
• Tint
• Sketch
• Distort

Some list, huh?

Now that you have edited your images you can also organize them into online albums and choose what to share or not to. You can also download the edited image onto your computer. There are a couple of restrictions. You can't upload images larger then 4000 pixels per side (not a problem for most cameras). You can also upload .jpg images only, no .tiff, .png, raw, etc.

I uploaded three images and played around with the features a bit. (The upload speed depends on how fast your connection is to the web and how large the image is.) I cropped a family portrait and converted it to Black and White in less then a minute. I then downloaded it to my PC and found the quality to be quite nice! The other affects were fun to use and produced some good images.

Die hard PhotoShop mavens need not look here, but for the average person who does not want to learn a program as daunting as PhotoShop its a great place to start! More and more applications are moving onto the web, its only natural that Adobe released a site as great as this. I give it 5 stars!

Backing it all up - Don't lose your Pictures!

I think one of the greatest advantages that Digital Photography has over Film is how easy it is to make a copy of a photograph. The real big problem is that not many of us do. We tend to store everything on a small, mysterious device called a Hard Drive, never thinking about what would happen if the drive crashed. This is a device that has replaced the family Photo Album but will never last as long. Lets look at what can happen if things go bad with your hard drive.

A hard drive has one or more disks in it called platters. A typical Desktop Hard Drive spins about 7200 Revolutions Per Minute, faster then the engine in your car. A small read/write head hovers over the surface of the platters, less then the thickness of a human hair away, reading and writing data on the disk. The head moves so fast you can't see it. The drive also has a controller board attached to the bottom that tells the read/write head what to do, where to write the data on the drive.

Here are some of the things that can ruin a drive, and your photographs:

• A Lightening Strike can destroy your drive, even if it is not close to your house.

• Power fluctuations from your electric company, including blackouts, brownouts and surges

• Fire or Theft

• A virus can wipe all of the files on your drive, or even hold them ransom for money

• The read/write head can come into contact with the surface of the drive, “crashing” the drive.

• Some or all of your pictures can be accidentally deleted.

• The controller board can fail

• The drive motor or bearings can fail or wear out

Well, as you can see, there are many reasons a drive can fail. In fact, some 3% of all drives fail every year! (Not so much IF your drive will fail, but WHEN!) So, how do you safeguard your photographs as well as other files? BACK IT UP! Backing up your pictures is so important, yet not many of us do it. Is backing up easy? It can be. Here are a few options:

1. Back up your data to an external hard drive and store it away from your computer. And by away, I mean far away! Your backup should not be stored in the same building as your computer. A good rule of thumb is to store your work files at home and store your home files at work. IN this case I would get in the habit of backing up your data every week.

2. Back up your data to a recordable CD or DVD, then mail it to friends or family. This is a great, not too expensive way of backing up. It does take some time but the important thing to remember is that your pictures are away from the computer. Please note: Recordable CD and DVD disks do not last forever. To maximize their life store them in a cool, dry, dark place. Replace them after 18 months.

3. Use an on-line service to back up your pictures. Carbonite is the one I use. Mozy is another good backup service. They back up your files to the Internet for a fee. It is best to have a broadband connection, it would be way to slow if you had dial-up!

Two things to keep in mind. First, back up often. Second, keep the backup off site, away from the building where your computer is. It is not a backup if it is sitting on top of your computer!

Questions or comments? Just click on the Comments button below!

5 tips for buying your first dSLR

In the last few years photography has experienced an explosion of not only new cameras but also new photographers! There has been a massive amount of new digital camera offerings bringing about Photography Version 2.0. The ability to take a photograph and then retake it if it does not look good on the camera's LCD screen is nothing but revolutionary compared to where we were in the good old Film days.

Due in part to lowering cost as well as fast performance, the Digital SLR (or dSLR) is one of the hottest electronic items today. But where do you start, how to decide what camera is best for you? Read on and pick up a few things to look for when you decide.

1) Try it on for size! - Before buying a new dSLR go to your local camera retailer and handle a few. For me, Canon just seems to fit better in my hand then other brands. The controls work well for me, but that's just me. You need to go to the store and see what works for you. It may be a small consumer model, such as the Canon XTi or Nikon D40, or perhaps a larger body will work better for you. There is only one way to find out!

2) Megapixels don't matter (that much!) - Lets be honest here. Have you ever made a print larger then an 8x10? Are most of your prints 4x6 or 5x7? Then 4 megapixels are enough. Today's offerings of 6, 8 or even 10 megapixels in a consumer dSLR is plenty, so don't base your choice on megapixels alone. It is more important to consider image quality.

3) Get an extra battery - Most dSLR cameras come with great battery systems, capable of taking hundreds of shots without recharging. But what do you do when the battery runs out? Dropping in a few AA batteries is not an option. Be sure to get an extra battery so you don't run out when you cross paths with a great shot.

4) Buy a fast Memory Card - Your camera will bog down with a cheap, no name memory card. It's important to buy a card that will keep up with your camera and given how inexpensive they are today its a no brainer! I prefer Sandisk Ultra memory cards for my cameras, don't skimp when buying yours.

5) Don't buy a deal that sounds too good to be true! - Too many people have fallen victim to scams when they fall for the deal of a lifetime. There are many camera stores that advertise a low (way too low!) price for an expensive camera, only to try to sell you hundreds of dollars of "required accessories" that you don't need or could buy on your own for just a few bucks.

When you turn down the offer for the accessories (perhaps for the fourth or fifth time!) all of the sudden the camera will no longer be in stock! Ordering online is not an easy way around this either! They will call you to confirm the order and then try to up-sell you, and when you turn them down, again, it will out of stock. Just walk away, it is not worth getting involved with these shady companies. Go with a reputable store like B&H, Adorama, Calumet and other good businesses. This is a great time to search for them on resellerratings.com to see what kind of a business they run.

BONUS Tip!!! - When you buy a camera you are buying into a camera system. Make sure that the camera line you buy into will be able to grow with you. Some camera lines have more lenses, flashes and accessories then others. Take this into consideration when it is time to buy.

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter." - Ansel Adams

Good luck with your new camera!

How to shoot film for less - Bulk Loading your film

Bulk Loading 35 mm film has been around for may years. It's a great way to save some $ for those that shoot a bunch of film. Cost savings run up to 45% over the cost of buying single rolls. This is a great savings for students taking a course in Photography or those of us who love to shoot film.

So how do you get started? You need to pick up a Bulk Film Loader, a changing bag (not the diaper kind!), some 35mm Cassettes For Bulk Film and bulk rolled film. Here is the break-down:

Bulk Film Loader - There are a few models to choose from, the most popular being the Watson Bulk Loader and the VERY similar Alden 74. Arista makes a bulk loader as well. They work by transferring film from the bulk reel into a 35mm film cassette, all in the dark. Its important to read the manual to ensure that you don't let light hit the large roll of film. ebay is a great place to pick one up on the cheap but don't pay too much since they are less then $35 new.

The Alden #74 Winder

Changing Bag - You need to load the film into the loader in 100% darkness. You can wait till dark and use an interior room, but total darkness is a must. The easier way is to use a changing bag, basically double layer cloth bag that has two arm holes in it that will block all light.

35mm Cassettes - The film will be loaded into empty 35mm film cassettes. They go for less then a buck each. I prefer the metal cassettes over plastic since the plastic ones don't work well in my camera.

Bulk Film Cassette

Bulk Film - There are a LOT of choices for bulk film, even in 2008! Just be cautious of buying E-6 or C-41 film (color slide film and color negative film, respectively) as not many labs will develop bulk film. This is because developing the wrong type of film can ruin an entire batch of their chemistry, causing them to throw it out and potentially ruining other customers film as well. Be prepared to develop it all yourself unless you have a good relationship with a pro lab. Fortunately, developing B&W film at home is quite easy. Developing Color film or slides at home is a bit harder but can be done. There are a lot of bulk film choices, here is what I found with a 2 minute search of only two photography supply sites, just be sure that it has some indication along the lines of "Perforation for Bulk Loading" or "Perforated":

Bulk Film Roll

• Kodak T-Max 100 and 400 B&W Film
• Kodak Plus-X Pan B&W Film
• Kodak Tri-x Pan B&W Film
• Kodak Portra 160NC and 400NC Color Print Film
• Kodak Ektachrome 64T Color Slide Film
• Kodak Ektachrome E100VS Color Slide Film
• Kodak Ektachrome E100G Color Slide Film
• Ilford Pan-F Plus 50 B&W Film
• Ilford Delta 100 and 400 B&W Film
• Ilford HP4 and HP5 B&W Film
• Efke KB25, KB50, KB 100 and KB400 B&W Film
• Foma 100, 200 and 400 B&W Film
• Forte 100 and 400 B&W Film
• Rollei Retro 100 and 400 B&W Film
• Arista 100 and 400 B&W Film
• Arista 400 Color Print Film

Quite a list! If you know of a film that is not on this list please add a note to the comments, I would be glad to add it!

Bulk loading film can save you some bucks and also enable you to make custom length rolls of film. When I shot the article Kodak Tri-X 400 35mm in D76 and Diafine I used 10 frame rolls of film!

Get out and SHOOT!

What is Digital Zoom?

We have all seen cameras with specifications such as 4X Optical and 4X Digital Zoom. Seems great, right? Not quite...

Digital Zoom is not nearly the same as Optical Zoom. Optical Zoom uses Optics (A.K.A. the Lens!) to zoom in to your subject. When a Camera uses Digital Zoom it actually throws away pixels from your image, and this is not something you want to do if you want great looking images! The Digital Zoom feature uses less of the sensor to capture the image. It basically ignores the pixels towards the outside edge of the sensor. The downside is you loose image quality.

What do you do if you want to zoom in closer? The easy answer is to get closer to your subject! Sometimes that is just not practical so your other solution is to use software on your computer to crop the image, "zooming" into your subject. Why is this better then Digital Zoom? The better software packages out there will add pixels to help make the image look better. PhotoShop and PhotoShop Elements does this quite well as well as other competing products.

So, how do you avoid using Digital Zoom? Most cameras will have a "Digital Zoom? YES NO" setting in their menu systems like I found on my Canon PowerShot. Check your manual, it should be easy to find if it is available. If you don't have a setting to turn it off most cameras will give some indication that they are going from Optical to Digital zoom. Sometimes there is a visual indication on the screen, it might just be a line on the zoom scale. It may also have a slight pause when zooming if you use Digital Zoom.

Menu from my Canon PowerShot

Good luck and take a lot of pictures!