Beginner's Guide to Photoshop Quick Mask

The recently introduced Photoshop CS5 has all the editing tools that can help even an apprentice. For a new comer, the best thing would be to first scroll through the entire apparatus and its offerings. Once familiarized with the structure, it begins to reveal its magic to the user. Take a look at the panels and palette. This will help build the confidence and stack the images that need to be worked on. It is like creating a space 'up and around,' like a preparation ground. While it is easy for the apprentice to get overwhelmed with the number of tools that can be used for editing, the need of masking can be a spoiler. It takes time to adjust to this technique. It can be mastered over a period of time with different projects. One can then learn the basics, quick masking for layer adjustment or for clipping path. Depending on the image that lands up on the editing table the designer can manipulate which masks will be useful.

What is Quick Mask?

Certainly it does not happen in a jiffy nor does it conjure the final image as espresso coffee. It is actually a method whereby the editor needs to select the subject, which needs to be actually masked. It is not intended to conceal or overtly expose any aspect of the image in particular. This tool is usually used when difficulty arises in using the lasso or marquee.

Take a shortcut on the keyboard and press "Q" to start the project. Black color can be used for the foreground for the painting. Since painting is going to be used, the brushes of varying hardness and thickness can be selected also. The image area that needs masking can be brushed up. It can either be isolated completely or the rough edges can be refined later. When "Q" is pressed again the area looks selected (notice the marching ants). Copy, cut and paste where every required. The recipe was simple and quick.

The quick mask is applied in conjunction with the clipping mask. The clipping mask is fluid like water and can take the shape of any object in the image. It can be applied to a text also to create effect. The quick mask can be likened to a digital mask tape. It brings together areas, which are selected and not selected when editing is being done. This is one way to ensure that while one part of the image is being changed the rest remain the same. With the change of opacity of edges also one is able to produce clearer and sharper pictures. This is a great way for the new comers to get introduced to the Photoshop features and work confidently. There are many clients who are looking for affordable photo editing services.

Offshore photo editing firms have a combination of apprentices and senior designers who are able to work together to help many kinds of clients for diverse needs. With their large portfolio they are able to provide a range of services for digital imaging needs.

Atiqur Sumon
Chief Executive, DTP & SEO Expert at Outsource Experts Ltd.
Quick Mask
Graphic Design

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Camera Buying Guide: What Camera Is the Best for You?

Choosing the right digital camera to best suit your needs is an important decision. As you consider which digital camera to purchase there are several important factors to consider. This article shows how to choose and buy the right one for you.

All the major camera makers, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc make high quality equipment. The brand's not that important. Or the camera either for that matter. After all, the camera just does what its told - the photographer actually makes the picture.

The first step in choosing the right camera is to determine what features are most important to you.

Choose a digital camera body that feels good in your hands. This is a personal matter depending partly on the size of your hands but also on factors that no one can quantify. Expert reviews recommend comparing cameras in person before buying. Note that a camera that feels too small for your hands may feel more comfortable if you add a battery grip, which holds an extra battery, boosting the number of shots you can take between charges.

Megapixels: Instead of film, a digital camera has an imaging sensor consisting of millions of pixels. To record an image, each pixel builds up a tiny charge of electricity in response to the light it "sees." A megapixel is the term used for a million pixels - and the more megapixels an imaging sensor has, the higher the camera's potential resolution.

So if most cameras can deliver the print sizes you need, how do you decide between, say, a camera with 8 megapixels and a camera with 10 megapixels? You may not need to. The difference in resolution between their photos can be difficult to detect, unless you're a pro who looks for the tiniest details, or you plan to make really enormous prints.

With that in mind, you may want to instead consider your photography habits and decide what other camera features are particularly important to you. Do you want extra zoom capability to capture close-ups of your child across the baseball field or wildlife in a distant tree? Are you mainly interested in automatic functions, or do you want to experiment with camera settings on your own? Are you looking for an ultra-slim model that you can easily carry everywhere?

Optical zoom is necessary to view the object in large size. Almost all digital cameras will have this optical zoom facility. Before buying the camera, you must check the optical zoom present in it and you must not afford it if it has the optical zoom less than 2.

Digital zoom is used to increase the size of the picture. Most of the digital cameras offer this digital zoom facility. Check out the clarity levels of the picture clearly when you increase the size of it because some of the pictures will loose their clarity if you apply digital zoom to them.

SLR or POINT AND SHOOT?

SLR's (Single Lens Reflex) are fairly large, more fully featured cameras that permit you to change lenses according to the situation. They also allow use of powerful add-on flash units, offer more controls and more accessories. Also, importantly, you focus, compose and meter exposure using the picture taking lens with an SLR. This allows great accuracy in composing and metering. SLR's are ideal for sports, wildlife and nature photography. They are also a good choice for people photography because they are fast and have good lens choices. I use a digital Olympus SLR system mostly and a film Nikon SLR system occasionally.

Point and shoot cameras are everything SLR's are not: they are small and light, mostly simple to use and inexpensive. Modern digital P&S cameras are rich in features such as exposure compensation, high quality fill flash, white balance settings and metering choices. Lens quality is usually very high. P&S cameras don't allow you to change lenses, have fairly weak on-board flashes and usually do not permit add-on flash. They offer more limited exposure and metering choices than SLR's. You compose through a separate lens resulting in some inaccuracy with close-in subjects; your picture will be slightly to the left/right, or up/down from the way you composed it (with close-in subjects).

Budget: This is a very crucial element that will determine the limit price that you are willing to pay for the camera. A low budget doesn't necessarily mean you will get a bad camera. But, it's very important that you know exactly how much money you are going to allocate in order to narrow down the range of choice.

If you have plenty of time before you need to buy the camera, do some price comparisons. After you've narrowed your list to two or three different options, write down the price and exact model number. Use the Internet to visit various retailers and compare prices on the models. Read through some of the opinions others have posted about the models. Return to the store and see whether it will match any prices you found online.

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A Guide to Selecting And Buying Lenses

Background: The more complex zoom lenses used in high end digital SLR cameras can be made up of up to 20 elements - some of which are themselves a compound of elements. The most common material used is glass due to its resistance to scratching and excellent optical properties, however acrylic, quartz glass, fluorite, germanium and meteoritic glass are also used. The surface of most modern lenses is coated to reduce flare, have a UV coating to help with colour balance and elements to minimise abrasion.

However, a set of the most expensive, complex lenses will not enable you to take great photographs if you lack imagination, intellect, creativity and resourcefulness. Many great photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson - the father of modern photo journalism - used just one lens most of the time.

However, if you are looking to become a professional, you will be looking to optimise your talent with the help of one or all of the following: standard telephoto, wide angle/mid-range zoom and ultra wide angle.

A standard telephoto lens is advisable for taking portraits. It will give you excellent definition in both head and shoulders shots and in close ups. If you take portraits regularly, you will see the difference in clarity between even an excellent zoom and a standard telephoto lens. It is also good for wedding and party photography when you want close ups taken discreetly.

For group shots and wedding photography, a mid-range wide angle lens is excellent especially with a zoom that will let you alter the focal range when the group size increases or diminishes.

An ultra-wide lens is essential when taking shots of the inside of a church during a wedding service and similarly for large group shots. Some landscape shots benefit from an ultra-wide lens too.

For interiors and architectural photography, an ultra wide angle and a wide angle zoom will help you get as much in the frame as possible. However, you may get distortions, so it's worth bearing in mind that a standard 16mm lens on a normal film SLR, with cropping to take out any distortion, can be perfect for interiors, and therefore preferable to your digital camera.

Nature and sports photography tends to involve motion - fast-moving animals or sports people or vehicles, and usually some distance between the subject and the camera. Dealing with the first issue of rapid movement requires a lens which allows in plenty of light, flash, faster film or high ISO settings if using a digital camera. However there are issues with each. Letting in plenty of light can be a problem with the long telephoto lens you might need for a close up, yet your flash may not provide sufficient illumination, especially if there is a fair distance between camera and subject. A fast lenses can be heavy, large and expensive, and lastly using fast film or high ISO settings can mean diminished picture quality.

So, get the fastest (i.e. largest aperture) lens affordable, alongside a long telephoto zoom, be prepared to crop, but not too much as this can diminish resolution in digital, use image stabilization, use fast film or high ISO settings to minimise shutter speeds (although this too can affect picture quality) and use a camera with fast focus and minimum lag time.

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Lens Filters: A Beginners Guide For DSLR and Digital Camera Enthusiasts

Despite the advances of post processing thanks to Photoshop, filters are anything but redundant. So, what do they do and which lenses might a digital photographer need in his or her kit?

UV Filters
This is probably the most commonly used and useful digital SLR camera filters to purchase. It will filter out excess ultra violet light, whilst having no effect on exposure. Ultraviolet light can be a real problem for anybody taking landscape photographs as it can manifest as a haze that diminishes contrast from an image and becomes noticeable over a long distance.

However, given that this is much more of a problem with film rather than digital SLR cameras, because image sensors in digital SLR cameras are less sensitive UV light, why do you still need a UV filter? To protect your lens. A UV filter, unlike many other lenses, has no effect on exposure required or on the colours and will protect your expensive lens from knocks and scratches.

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Neutral Density filters

ND filters cut down the amount of colours and light entering the lens in equal measures so allowing you more creative freedom choice of aperture and shutter speed.

Therefore you can select a slower shutter speed (i.e. longer exposure) than might be achievable in bright conditions, for example, if you wanted to achieve a blurred waterfall effect on a sunny day without over exposing the image. Similarly one can be used when photographing action shots with blur to convey speed. Neutral density filters can also be employed in situations where one part of the scene is darker or brighter than others.

Polarizing Filters
Landscape photographers frequently use polarizing filters to diminish light reflected from outdoor surfaces like glass and water, for example if you want to capture images of water which doesn't lose its colour to the reflected sunlight on its surface. They can also saturate and darken colours, which make them useful in black and white as well as colour photography. A polarizing filter can intensify a field of oil seed rape, the green of a meadow or add richness to a blue sky. Similarly, in architectural photography, a polarizing filter helps with shots of modern glass buildings.

Graduated Colour Filters
To a certain extent, use of graduated colour filters can be avoided with use of Photoshop. However, if you want to cut out the post processing, or if you're not au fait with Photoshop, one of these can be very helpful in emphasizing the colour and tone of parts of a photograph. One part of the filter has a certain colour, which either gradually or abruptly changes to clear elsewhere on the filter. Commonly used graduated colour filters include orange to clear, for enhancing the appearance of sunsets, and blue to clear, which can enhance either water or sky depending on which way round it is used.

Contrast Filters
Because it can be difficult balance scenes where the contrast between light and dark is severe, there are two types of contrast filters available. A low contrast filters makes highlighted areas brighten up darker shadows around, while a soft contrast filter darkens the highlights. Both of these things can be difficult to pull off convincingly in Photoshop.

IR (Infrared) Filter
This type of filter blocks visible light and allows only infrared light to pass through to the camera lens. Skies darken and greens can become almost white.

Star filters
These have a thin lines etched onto a clear surface, creating therefore points of light that streak outwards from a central source, creating drama and visual interest.

Watch out for a few things. Light reflected from the inside of your filter can create flare. Stacking filters can create black shadows around the image, known as vignetting. You will lose clarity if filters are scratched or dirty.

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The Ultimate Guide on Digital Photography

Digital technology has taken over in the field of photography too. But if you have no experience in using a digital camera, then you can get into a little of trouble with the adjustments and technicalities. Here is a brief guide to get you started with a digital camera and how to click some wonderful and memorable pictures with this equipment.

First of all, the market is flooded with many different types of digital cameras. It is important to choose the right one depending on the usage, kind of pictures and also your level of expertise. The first thing to understand before buying your first camera is that these are not exactly cheap. Well of course, there are inexpensive options but I am talking of good quality cameras which will cost you a decent amount. So save up and invest in the right equipment for the perfect photos.

Before buying a camera for photography, make sure that you keep factors like battery life, zoom lens, megapixels, user and exposure controls in mind. Get a camera which has an extended battery life; if you intend to spend a lot of time outdoors with your camera, then you can also buy an additional battery and keep this charged all the time. It is important to note the megapixel number of the camera before deciding to purchase one. If you are only interested in small snapshots or intend to take only family pictures, then a camera with a megapixel of 2 to 5 will suffice. But if you are interested in photography and want to capture some amazing pics, then go for the higher numbers like 8 and above.

Remember to always get a camera with a good optical zoom. It is better to get a digital camera with a higher optical zoom than digital zoom for clearer pictures. This is because optical zoom denotes the physical movement of the lens in and out to zoom on the object while digital zoom only magnifies the image in the microchip and hence delivers a blurred and poor quality picture. So when you hear a high zoom number, make sure that the person is talking about optical zoom and not digital zoom.

If you are looking for a no fuss camera to start off your interest in photography, then make sure that you get a camera with less number of user controls. But if you are into serious photography, then you will find this no trouble and in fact prefer equipment with more user controls allowing you more room to experiment. My advice would be to play around with these controls and understand a little bit about them in the store itself before deciding to buy the model.

Do not go in and purchase a digital SLR camera if you are a complete novice. Instead buy a low budget equipment and practice taking photographs before moving on to clicking some great pictures. Experiment with your new camera and try out different angles and shots, get confident and then go in for a higher end model.

Looking for great photos?
Visit the Hotel Photographer website and look through a range of great photos. There are lots of great Photography Websites out there so have a good browse and find some inspiration today.

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