For the last number of months I've been receiving a photography course emails in my inbox, and I've gotta say that there is some quality advice in them. Even though he originally said that my course would only run for three weeks, a guy named David Peterson from Melbourne who runs the website, has been regularly sending out tidbits of his free advice on digital photography over that entire time. His site is quite aptly named www.digital-photo-secrets.com. At the end of the original 3 week course he asked me to buy his book a couple of times and then he pretty much said, bugger it, and kept sending on more and more tips anyway (well it seemed to go like that at the time). Sometimes he also gets hold of a pro photographer or two to give some of their own advice on how they capture their best images, in weddings, candid photography and such. I've had many a good read and listen (to podcasts) and I highly suggest signing up for his course (no I don't get paid, and no, I'm not asking you to put my name in any referral box, I'm being quite serious).
His tips are very straightforward and easy to follow. From the amateur, to the amateur (except he has a shit load of experience). I've also gotta say that I recently received a lot more comments about my photographs after having put some of his ideas into practice.
Recently, he has added a new site to his repertoire and I have only just received the second installment today, and it just happens to be exactly what I was looking for. His latest addition is a new tips site that explains how to use a group of image editing programs, Photoshop CS2, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro and also Google's free image editing program Picasa (sadly not for mac at the moment). His new site goes by the equally ambiguous name of www.image-editing-secrets.com.
I don't know if I'm the only one, but there have been a number of occasions in my life when I have opened Photoshop (well in detail, I clicked on the icon, and then waited the five minutes it seems to take to think about opening), with high hopes of taking advantage of its powerful image editing capabilities (that's what everyone says, you know... everyone), only to search aimlessly around, press a few buttons, and after only a few minutes, run screaming with my tail between my legs, leaving a folder full of unedited photos that I am sure that I will get to polishing up later. The program was definitely designed by a bunch of guys who like to add a bit of daunt to their programs (which probably explains the large number of Adobe haters that I've read about out there, not even mentioning the price).
Anyway, to cut to the chase, after a twenty minute extremely easy to follow tutorial (all of the editing hints are done by video podcast, where all his usage of the program can be followed on screen), I can't wait to get home and try it out on a photo or 20. Today he only covered the use of the levels tool, in order to show its vast superiority over the brightness tool, and he also briefly explained the benefits of making such changes to layers instead of the original image. It was so simple and yet it was amazing. Go check this out!! Do yourself a favour, sign up and learn a trick or two. I just know that it's for my benefit too, the next time you ask me to check through your photos I'll be sure to have a better time because of it. he he he
No comments:
Post a Comment